A/N:

Recap/ guide from chapters 21 & 23: Let's keep in mind that we have not moved past the day of the custody hearing. Back in chapter 1, it was early in the morning and by chapter 21 we're at 11:41 am of that same day. All post-island scenes after chapter 21 are flashbacks.

IMPORTANT: Just like in the Dharma time line we're moving towards the incident (July 1977), in the post-island time line we are moving towards the day of the hearing as the crucial reference point. Indeed back in chapter 12, we learned that 'something' is to happen that day.

In chapter 21 the judge at the custody hearing asks James how many times he's seen Jonah. "Twice," he replies. Then, there is a flashback to when James travels to New York to see Jonah at the hospital after his birth. It starts with the words: "The first time he saw Jonah had been one of the longest days of his life."

In chapter 23, James goes back to visit Jonah at the hospital later that same day. That's when he catches a glimpse of J.J at the elevators with Rachel and her family.

If you're confused at any point in time, Please drop me a line. I'm more than happy to answer any questions. There have been longer gaps in the post-island storyline so it's easy to lose track of what's been happening.


I Saw a Polar Bear on Rollerblades with a Mango

Prologue:

Charlie (to Locke): You know when I used to get high, I'd watch nature programmes on the Beeb. Polar bears are meant to be quite clever, very clever. They're like the Einsteins of the bear community (episode Further Instructions).

From episode 2.17, Dave:

Hurley: "Did either of you see a guy run through here... in a bathrobe... with a coconut?"

Charlie: "No... I saw a polar bear on rollerblades with a mango."


2014

It was the middle of October and the weather was a sunny 75 degrees, not exactly typical for this time of year. Rachel and Mark discussed the weather with several New Yorkers as they strolled around the Central Park Zoo.

"See, I told you…it's a myth, New Yorkers are far from rude," Rachel proclaimed happily, giving her husband a friendly nudge once they were no longer within earshot from the couple they had befriended by the monkey cages.

That's when Julian announced that he was starving for the third time since their arrival. It just so happened that his mother had barred video games for the rest of the day. Julian's reaction? If you can't have fun, why not also make sure that no one else has a good time either.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "We'll be stopping for lunch in an hour…no more snacks."

"I want to see the polar bears next," J.J said enthusiastically.

The polar bear exhibit was just around the bend. They arrived in the middle of a tour presentation.

J.J was immediately drawn to the narrative.

"Gus was an icon and a remarkable ambassador of his species" the zoo keeper noted with perfect diction. "He was 27 years old when we had him euthanized. He was our greatest attraction for a long time. He was a true joy to our visitors and staff. Over 20 million visitors since 1988…"

"Why was he killed?" A little girl in the audience wondered loud enough for everyone to hear.

The zookeeper addressed the girl in a patient voice. "He wasn't really killed…we had to put him to sleep… He wasn't eating properly because he was very sick with a tumor near his thyroid." He added this last statement looking out into the audience.

One of the polar bears put his paw against the underwater glass tank. Several overjoyed children gathered closer to the exhibit and pointed.

"How long do these bears live in captivity?" J.J asked. He had heard the zoo keeper say the number before but the murmuring of the crowd had kept him from taking note of this.

"20.7 years. So in a way, Gus was luckier than most bears in captivity…he lived a long happy life" the zookeeper smiled. "27 years in all," he reiterated after a pause.

J.J gave the zookeeper a dubious look. "How can you be sure he was happy? He interjected. He didn't believe that Gus could have been truly happy given that he did not have the freedom to roam outside the zoo exhibit.


The second time he saw Jonah was a day like no other.

Jonah sat banging a rattle repeatedly on the food tray of his stroller. For a moment, Lisa thought her son's excitement was related to the polar bear exhibit only a few steps away, but then she realized that the noisy rattle was what truly captivated him.

James sat beside Lisa on a backless bench, his body leaning slightly forward facing the exhibit. Again and again he would glimpse at his son. He knew he was nothing but a stranger to 8 month old Jonah, who had already shrieked away from him when he had first tried to approach him. If jealousy was a green eyed monster, guilt was no lesser of a monster.

And then Lisa released a tidbit of information that appeared quite harmless. She told him that her marriage was over.

James blinked a couple of times, raised his brows in cautious interest. Then, without changing his posture, he turned his head slightly to give her a sideways glance.

"He found about Jonah…he overheard a conversation," Lisa took a deep breath. "Long story short, he now knows that Jonah is not his."

He bit back the series of sarcastic remarks already forming on his tongue. Unconsciously, his body posture adopted a 'back off' defensive stance. It all was starting to make sense now… so that's why she had called him after all this time… … why she finally agreed to him visiting Jonah.

"Hope you ain't coming to me for relationship advice," he grumbled, his eyes focused on the polar bears swimming underwater in the enormous water tank.

"Of course not" she edged closer to him, smiling flirtatiously. "We already what you're really good at."

"As long as we're on the same page, Covergirl," the corners of his mouth twitched into a slow smirk.

She smiled at the familiar nickname. Her father had been a Maybelline CEO for as long as she could remember.

The smirk finally reached his eyes. "Maybelline, CoverGirl, makes no difference," thinking of the all too famous slogan: Maybe she's born with it, maybe its Maybelline. "Not when you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth and truckload of makeup to boot."

Lisa pursed her lips and decided to ignore all that. "Look…I may have been a bit rash when I left… anyways, maybe… we could still work something out," she gave him a not-so-subtle wink, licking her lips. "Why don't you come over tonight for dinner so we can talk?" she swiftly glanced at her watch before he could answer. "Hey, you know, I got an appointment I can't miss…so why don't you keep Jonah for like…hmm…let's say until six, bring him back and we'll have dinner?" she concluded arching a sly brow.

He was due to fly back to Alabama in a couple of days, so maybe he should play it cool. Taking a look at his son, he reminded himself of the reason he had traveled to New York in the first place.

"Okay, then, see ya," he replied nonchalantly with a lackluster smile.

In a sudden rush, Lisa hunched over to talk to her baby and kiss him on the cheek. Then, she left with a quick goodbye and a certain swagger in her step.

Jonah scrunched up his face and wailed as soon as he realized his mother had left.

"Hey, there…" James gave him the pacifier that dangled around his neck. "Hey, Little Buddy did you know I came all the way from the South just to see you?" he smiled. "The least you can do is put up with it…cause I'll be out of your hair before you know it," he added feeling a tad foolish. But then, he reminded himself that it couldn't possibly be so hard. After all, parenting an infant was not new to him. He had done this before. But then he noticed Jonah staring at him attentively, happily sucking his pacifier. "Promise ya, I can be more entertaining than them bears over there…"

It seemed that the more he talked, the more it seemed to comfort Jonah.

James smiled warmly and stared past Jonah at the thick glass tank where a polar bear stuck out its paw against the glass, making a group of children squeal in delight.


January 1977

Back at the barracks, the monitors had shown the lights flickering at the underwater aquarium on Hydra Island. Either the light bulbs needed replacing or someone had deliberately messed with the electrical.

"Oh, oh, the boss is having a bad hair day," Miles sneered.

James sighed impatiently, hopping off the fishing boat and onto the dock. This was one of those days when his shift had extended past into the wee hours of the night. As head of security, he was expected to take over whenever someone called in sick.

"Remind me again why I chose you as my patrol partner instead of Jin…Oh, yeah, that's right, you can't ever keep your mouth shut and you speak to the dead…"

They did not expect to find anyone when they arrived given that all personnel usually stayed at the Barracks during the night. As it turned out, the main overhead lighting had burned out.

James shone his flashlight at the sharks and other fish swimming liberally in an over sized tank. This was his first time stepping foot inside the facilities. He thought of bringing Juliet and J.J to visit the aquarium, and make it a family event. He made the mistake of thinking aloud.

"You ought a wait until he's older to give him the tour. Right now all he'll do is drool and smash peas into his hair," Miles snickered. It was so like Miles to not waste a single opportunity to show how much he thought babies were a drag.

"Yeah, right." James nodded, his lips curving into a shrewd smile. "Okay, so that's why you use my kid to win brownie points with Rosie," he made a faint attempt to stifle a chuckle.

Miles blinked and his pupils widened three times their size. "Wh-what?"

"Heard it on the coconut telegraph…" James sneered. "Trying to show off as Mr. Sensitive, ha? He laughed. "How did that work out for ya, by the way?"

"That was just one time!" Miles snapped back defensively, walking towards the outdoor polar bear cages. "I only borrowed him for 5 minutes!" He turned to make sure that James had followed him outside before doing a quick inspection of the area around the cages.

Miles thought it was strange that they would be huddled together as though they needed to conserve energy like they normally did in the Arctic's cold temperatures.

James stood back, staring at the two sleeping bears that shared a cage. One of the bears was curled up with its head resting across the other bear's body.

It was the same cage. "Let's go," James said gruffly. He shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"Look, they're waking up," Miles flashed his flashlight inside the cage and noticed a tall box with speakers. Right in the middle there was a button with a fork and a knife painted om it. "Look at that," Miles chuckled curiously.

James scowled.

One of the bears stretched out and shot the two humans a disinterested look before stepping onto the platform.

They heard loud music.

"Hey, you got yourself a fish biscuit! Tom grins. How'd you do that?"

"Figured out your complicated gizmo, that's how."James grins back.

"It took the bears only two hours."Tom mocks back.

Fascinated, Miles watched as a large fish biscuit and kibble fall down a pipe. Soon afterwards water starts streaming down a feed bunk.

James crossed his arms defensively across his body. "Them bears ain't nearly as smart as they seem," he said trying best to sound cool and relaxed, yet he couldn't help the trace of anger in his voice. Whoever had said that freedom was highly over-rated had never been inside one of those cages.


2014

"Oh, great," James peered at Jonah squirming and fussing in his stroller. "Just great!" He pursed his lips and shook his head, strongly suspecting that Jonah was in need of a diaper change.

Jonah protested even louder when James tried to reach in and unbuckle him.

It was clear that his stranger anxiety issues were far from over.

Out of the corner of his eye, James noticed a couple of women giving him 'what-are-you-gonna-do about this looks. "Go to hell" he mumbled to himself. He had never been one to care much about what others thought of him and he wasn't about to start.

Right then, the crowd started to disperse as the zookeeper's presentation came to an end.

Yet he didn't see him coming until he stepped forward from behind the two women.

It was him.

He approached the bench where James sat without breaking eye contact.

James just stared back in awe.

"It's not a polar bear…but it'll do," J.J said while handing Jonah his brown teddy bear…the same teddy bear he had slept with since he was an infant…the one thing he had that reminded him of home.

Jonah clutched the bear and stopped fussing. His smiling hazel eyes peered at J.J in silent devotion, the kind that infants generally bestow upon older children.

in that special way that infants generally regard older children.

"Do you like polar bears?" J.J casually asked James.

James continued to quietly listen to the sound of his child's voice. Confident yet not conceited … friendly but not overly friendly.

"Did you hear about Gus the most famous polar bear that died two years ago?" J.J inquired seemingly not bothered by the fact that James had not answered the first question.

James shook his head to indicate a wordless no. It dawn on him that even though J.J had an air of innocence about him similar to that of much a younger child, he also had a deeper understanding of things that the average child would not even consider…a type of emotional intelligence if you will, that would make him stand out in any crowd.

J.J thought it was a good time to retell what he had heard the zookeeper say word per word. "Gus was a neurotic polar bear known for his obsessive daily swim…he used to swim endless laps around the pool." He concluded with a wide smile.

How could he ever forget those eyes?

"I saw you at the hospital… a few months ago," James stammered, his heart pounding fast.

Jonah dropped the brown bear on the ground near his stroller. J.J retrieved it and handed it back to Jonah. "I'm glad he likes it," he commented turning to gaze at James.

James did a quick scan of their surroundings. "Are you here by yourself ?" They were finally face to face…all these years later. … …and that's all he could think of saying.

"JAMES!" A voice shouted about a second later.

Both James and J.J turned at the sound of a very authoritative female voice.

"Don't you ever walk away from us like that again, young man!" Rachel hissed at J.J through clenched teeth. "I was about to call security…"

For a moment, J.J drooped his shoulders and looked at his shoes. "I'm sorry, Aunt Rachel…" Then with renewed confidence his gaze shifted back and forth between Rachel and James. "But you know, I really thought you would like to meet my dad."

James and Rachel gauged each other with a long, cautious look.

J.J's words hovered over them like a thick cloud of smoke.

A/N: 1) All facts about Gus the bear are true facts.

2) I recently posted We Should Get Coffee Sometime: Everything You Wanted to Know. It's basically an unedited overview and commentary of the first 25 chapters. It's relatively short (under 5k words). I think it will be especially useful for those of you that have been following along since March and it's been a while since you've read most chapters.

3) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try to get the next one out before the end of the year, but can't promise, December is a hectic time for me. Until next time, would you leave a review and help spread the holiday cheer? Happy holidays and thanks for reading!