Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing. Sorry it has been a couple of days since I updated. School ended and some family came up to visit. Enough of my chitchat though. Here is the next chapter!

"Mommy, Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! School today! School today! I have to go to school!" Iz yelled, jumping up and down on her parent's bed.

Kate groaned and Jack rubbed his eyes.

"Momma! Mommy! I want Mommy to take me to school!"

Jack turned and looked at her. "Nice little alarm clock, huh?" he asked, laughing slightly, as Kate looked over at him.

She nodded. "A cute little alarm clock too."

"Mommy!" Bella exclaimed, flinging herself at her mother.

Kate hugged her daughter. "Mhm. Morning Elle."

"Can you take me to school?"

Kate blinked, fighting the tiredness out of her eye. "Do you want to stay with Mommy today? And miss school?"

Izzy grinned. She looked at her father. "Can I Daddy? Can I stay home with Momma? Can I Daddy? Please?"

Jack nodded. "Sure." Then he got out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and jeans.

Kate rubbed her daughter's back. Isabella turned slightly and looked at her father.

"Daddy, where are you going?" she asked.

Jack turned and looked at her. "Daddy has to go to work soon," he said.

Izzy frowned and crossed her arms. "Why can't Daddy stay home?" she asked, pouting.

Kate, sensing trouble, quickly spoke. "Izzy, don't you want to have time along with Mommy?"

Iz turned and looked at her mom. "Yeah! Mommy, can we go shopping? Please?" she asked.

Kate smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Yay!" Isabella exclaimed, hugging her mother tightly. Kate hugged Izzy back and Jack watched the two of them. Kate glanced up at Jack and grinned sheepishly. He returned the smile and changed into a suit.

Kate watched him, smiling to herself. "Oohh, Mr. Fancy," she teased. Then she looked at Isabella. "Daddy looks nice, doesn't he, Iz?"

Jack chuckled as Izzy nodded. "I have a meeting with a patient today," he said. As he stood there, he looked at a beaming Kate. It feels like she's been here since we were rescued, he thought.

Then Jack turned around and walked to the closet. He grabbed one of the ties and walked back into the bedroom. Jack smiled to himself as he watched Kate tickle Isabella. Their daughter squealed with laughter and tried to pull away from her mom.

"Mom…Mom…stop," Isabella gasped.

Kate stopped and kissed Elle's head. She glanced at Jack and smiled. Jack, who was putting on his tie, returned the smile. Dr. Shephard fumbled with his tie.

Kate stood up and walked behind Jack. She steered him over to the full length mirror and began to fix his tie. Jack watched as her soft fingers moved quickly. He stared aimlessly at her fingers.

Once Kate finished she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and kissed his cheek. She pulled away and stroked his cheek.

"Dr. Shephard, you have a stubble!" she exclaimed, smirking.

Jack chuckled, grabbing her hand and kissing it lightly.

"Eww! Momma and Daddy kissed!" Isabella exclaimed, hiding under the covers.

Kate turned around and looked at the lump under the covers. She glanced back at Jack, pretending to be shocked. "Oh no, Jack! Out baby's gone!" she exclaimed.

There was a noise under the covers.

"Oh my God, Ella's gone? Oh, what are we going to do?"

Again, there was a noise and Kate realized Isabella was giggling. She strode over to the bed and then sat on it.

"Oh my, Jack! There is a gigantic lump on our bed! What are we going to do?"

Jack walked over to the bed and sat next to Kate. He felt the bump and Izzy giggled. "Oh no, Kate," he said.

"What, honey?" she asked, looking at him.

"If Iz is gone, you won't be able to take her shopping."

Kate's eyes widened. "Oh my. You're right, Jack. What am I going to do?"

Dr. Shephard shook his head. "I don't know, Kate. You might just have to go shopping by yourself while I look for her. And once I find her, I'll take her to school."

At those words, Isabella came out from under the covers.

"Daddy! Mommy! I was under the covers the whole time!" she exclaimed, giggling.

Kate's jaw dropped. "You were?"

"Uh-huh. I hid under them and you and Daddy had no clue where I was!"

Jack shook his head. "You weren't under the covers. Me and Momma looked under there."

"No, Daddy! I was under there!"

Kate laughed and pulled Isabella onto her lap. Izzy snuggled close to her mother and closed her eyes. Kate rubbed Belle's back and the young girl sighed.

Jack stood up a minute later as the phone rang. He grabbed the cordless and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Jack, it's Mark."

"Hey, Mark."

"You're coming today. Right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, we need you to come in now."

"What was the accident? And what do I have to fix?"

"You don't have to operate, Jack. It's your sister."

"Claire?" he asked, worries crawling up his body and out of his mouth. Kate shot him a quizzical look. "What happened?" he asked, avoiding Kate's glance.

"She was driving to the school to drop your nephew off and there was an accident."

Jack, slightly annoyed with Mark's vagueness, snapped. "Mark, what the hell happened?"

In the back, Jack heard Izzy gasped. "Daddy said a bad word!" she exclaimed.

Dr. Shephard ignored her. "What the heck happened?" he corrected. "Is Aaron okay?" Jack added.

"Who?" Mark asked.

"My nephew. Is he okay?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah. He's okay. Lucky little fella he is."

"What about Claire? What happened to her?"

"Ah, now Mrs. Pace…" Mark sighed. "Couple of broken ribs and a broken leg."

Jack sighed out of relief. "Is she out of surgery now?"

"Yeah. Mr. Pace and your nephew, Aaron, they are visiting with your sister now."

"Could my girlfriend, my daughter, and I come?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. See you later, Mark." Jack hung up the phone and turned to look at Kate.

"What happened?" Kate asked.

"Clare. She got in an accident."

Both Kate and Isabella gasped. "Oh God. Is she okay?"

"Daddy, is Auntie Claire okay?"

"Don't worry, she's okay. We can go see her."

Kate sighed. "Oh thank God."

"We should take two cars. I'll just stay at work and then you and Ellie can go shopping."

Kate nodded as Isabella jumped up and down on her parent's bed.

"Yay! Shopping!"

Kate laughed and pulled Izzy to her. "Calm down sweetie," she said, setting Iz on her lap. Isabella twisted and turned in her mother's lap but Kate kept a firm grip on her daughter.

"No, Ella."

Ellie turned to face her mother and pouted. Kate looked at Jack, surprised.

"That's my pout," she said, laughing slightly.

Jack smiled. "And now you know why our baby girl is spoiled," he said.

Kate grinned wider and tapped Bella's nose. "You're so cute. And you're my baby girl."

"Momma, I'm not a baby! I'm a big girl!" Isabella exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Izzy. I forgot," Kate said.

Bella turned and looked at her father. "Daddy, can we go see Auntie Claire, Uncle Charlie, and Aaron now?"

Jack glanced at her and nodded. "Mhm. Mommy needs to get dressed and so do you Miss Isabella Hayden Shephard. Then we can go."

Iz got off her mother's lap and ran out of the room.

Jack groaned. "I better go make sure she puts on an outfit that matches."

Kate laughed and Jack walked out of the bedroom. Then she changed and walked down the hall into Isabella's room.

A protesting Bella sat on the bed.

"Daddy," she whined, "I don't wanna wear that."

Kate stepped into the room and said, "Hey."

When Isabella heard her mother's voice she turned and looked at Kate. "Mommy, Daddy's making me wear an outfit I don't wanna wear!"

Kate walked over to the bed and looked down at the outfit Jack had picked out.

"Aw, Iz, why don't you want to wear it?"

"I don't wanna. I wanna wear my boa!"

Kate looked over at the boa and laughed. "Aw, Jack, why won't you let her wear it?"

Jack didn't say anything, but looked away.

Kate looked down at her daughter and said, "Ellie, that outfit is cute."

"But I don't wanna wear it. I wanna wear my boa!"

Kate was silent for a moment. Then she thought of an idea. "Hey sweetie, if you wear the outfit that Daddy picked out for you, I'll let you wear your boa."

Isabella thought about it for a moment.

"Okay!" she exclaimed, starting to change.

Kate helped her daughter into a pale pink skirt and a white shirt. Once Kate finished dressing her daughter, Isabella immediately put on her boa.

Kate looked at Jack who smiled. She smiled back. Then the three of them left for the hospital.