A/N:

A/N: Okay, here's the next installment. I hope you like it. As always let me know what you think. Your responses are always great and really push me I appreciate the time you take to read this and then let me know what you think. Thanks!!

As usual, don't own Lost or the characters nor the song You Were, You Are, You'll Always Be sung by Rick Trevino. I really liked this song when I heard it and I think it fits what Jate means to each other in this story – even if they're not admitting it yet!!

CHAPTER 48 - You Were, You Are, You'll Always Be

I had no direction
I had no plan
In this big world
I was the great of sin
The first time ours eyes met
And you spoke my name
I felt the bondage
Only heavan could change
Don't even Question
Don't ever doubt
This kind of river
Will never run out

You were, you are ,you always be
My home,my dream, and all i need
My light in the dark
My soul, my heart
The only love for me
You were, you are, you'll always be

I won't make a promise
That i can't keep
This love i feel for you
Runs way to deep
God as my witness
By his design
I'll be with you until the end of time
You stood beside me
You been so true
I can't imagine my life without you

You were, you are ,you always be
My home,my dream, and all i need
My light in the dark
My soul, my heart
The only love for me
You were, you are, you'll always be

My light in the dark
My soul, my heart
The only love for me
You were, you are, you'll always be

"Aunt Louise, what time is it?" Emma asked the older woman for what seemed like the tenth time that morning. She was dressed in pink Capri pants and a pink and white shirt and white sandals. Her hair styled in two braids.

Louise smiled and remained patient. "Sweetie, you still have half an hour before your daddy gets here. Why don't you go watch TV? How about I put some cartoons on for you?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders and followed the woman out to the living room. She sat on the couch and watched the cartoon until the front doorbell finally rung.

Jumping up to her feet in excitement she ran around the couch and out to the foyer as Louise was coming from the hallway.

"Hurry!" Emma said excitedly.

Laughing at the little girl's excitement Louise opened the front door and found herself face to face with a dark haired, handsome man dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. "Hello, you…"

"Hi Daddy!" Emma exclaimed, interrupting Louise.

"…must be Jack." Louise finished with a chuckle.

Joining her laughter he nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Well, come on in. We've been expecting you." She said moving to the side to let him in.

Jack took no more than two steps before he dropped to his knees in front of the little girl. "Do I get a hug?" he asked with a teasing manner.

Nodding, Emma practically jumped into his arms and gave him one of her biggest hugs.

"Woah! I guess you missed me, huh?" Jack chuckled as he returned the hug.

The little girl nodded happily. "Ah huh."

"Well, that's good." Jack replied softly as he stood up with Emma still in his arms. "Because I really missed you too." He poked her tummy with his finger causing her to giggle.

Remembering the woman who had greeted him at the door Jack turned and extended his hand. "We kind of got interrupted. I'm Jack Shepard."

The older woman smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Louise Reynolds, Claire's aunt." She led Jack into the living room. "I help the girls out around the house."

"She takes care of Awron and me when Mommy and Aunt Claire are at work." Emma added.

"Oh really?" Jack sat on the couch and pulled Emma onto his lap. "Sounds like a big job."

"And she makes the best oatmeal cookies." The little girl told him.

"Is that right? I guess those are your favorites?"

"Ah huh."

Smiling Jack tapped her on the nose with his finger. "Mine too." He confessed.

Giggling Emma smiled. "Weally?"

Nodding Jack leaned in a little as if he was sharing a big secret. "Yup. They are my most absolute favorite cookie in the whole world."

Pleased, Emma looked up at Louise. "Aunt Louise he like oatmeal cookies too!" she gushed.

Louise gave the little girl a smile. "Well, look like I'm going to have to make up a batch this afternoon."

"Yea! Cookies!"

"But only…" Louise continued trying to sound stern. "…if you behave for your daddy today."

Emma nodded her head without hesitation. "I promise. I be good."

"I'm sure she'll be very good." Jack agreed. "Are you ready to go eat?"

Again the little girl nodded and this time reached over and slipped her small hand into his. "Weady!" She announced with a grin.

Chuckling, Jack stood up and placed Emma on the floor still holding her hand. "Where would you like to go?"

"McDonalds" She replied firmly.

"McDonalds, huh?" Jack nodded. "Okay, McDonalds it is."

"Kate left the car seat for you." Louise told him, walking him over to the dining room where the booster seat was waiting. A few minutes later, with a cheerful goodbye to Louise, the two left the house and made their way over to a McDonalds.

"Okay, angel, what would you like?" Jack asked as they approached the cashier.

"Chicken nuggets!" Emma exclaimed. "And fwies."

Receiving their food a couple of minutes later Jack guided her over to a corner table where the two settled in and started to eat. With a grin Jack observed Emma as she carefully dunked her fries in the ketchup cup before bringing them up and into her mouth. She was just as careful with dunking a chicken nugget into the sauce, her face scrunching up into a smile as she chewed the piece of chicken.

"So, Kate…mommy, told me you go to school." Jack said trying to start some sort of conversation.

Emma nodded. "Twee times a week." She said proudly.

"Do you like it?"

"Ah huh. We get to color and pway with blocks and clay." She said happily. "We get stories and snack time."

"Snack time?"

"Mommy gives me a snack to take with me." She explained as she took a sip of her chocolate milk.

"Do you like your teacher?"

"I have two." She put up two fingers to illustrate. "Ms. Clarke and Kelly."

"Oh really?" Jack was pleasantly surprised at how easy Emma was being about talking. "Are they nice?"

"Ah huh." Emma dipped more fries into the ketchup as they continued to eat and talk about things that the little girl found interesting. She told him about some of her friends at school and chattered about her home life. Jack told her a little about Los Angeles and the fact that she had a grandmother who was very interested in meeting her soon. That fact excited Emma as so far she only knew her grandfather.

When they were done eating Emma politely asked if she could go use the restroom. Here was Jack's first dilemma as a dad. Men's room or women's? Not thrilled with the idea of letting her go in by herself and not wanting to take her into the Men's room due to the open setting her he settled on the women's.

He knocked on the door and after receiving no response pushed open the door and led Emma inside.

"Okay, angel, do you need some help?" He asked tentively.

She shook her head and went into the stall. "Wait here, Daddy."

At that moment an older woman walked into the room and jumped back in surprise at the sight of Jack. "Excuse me?!" She questioned.

"My daughter is in there." He stammered quickly as color rushed into his cheeks. "She's too little to come in alone and I didn't really think the men's room was the right option."

The woman nodded but continued to stand there with her arms crossed as if debating whether to go into the empty stall or not while he was there.

"All finished!" A little voice came from the inside the stall and a moment later Emma appeared, much to both Jack and the woman's relief.

Emma looked at her father. "Daddy, I need to wash my hands."

Realizing the sink was a little out of her reach Jack picked her up by her waist and held her just above the sink. Emma turned on the water and rubbed soap on her small hands. As she rubbed Jack heard her quietly singing the alphabet. When she came to "Z" she stuck her hands back under the water and rinsed them off.

As she dried off Jack asked. "How come you sang the ABC's?"

"Mommy says that's how long I have to wub the soap on my hands…until I get to 'z'" She told him matter of factly.

The woman, who was still standing outside the stall, gave a small laugh. "That's cute." She said softly to Jack.

Guiding his daughter out of the restroom he nodded to the stranger. "All yours." He told her as they went out the door.

Once back in the lobby Emma asked if they could get some ice cream. Having scouted out the area earlier that morning Jack suggested a trip to the park where they could get some ice cream later.

"Come on Daddy!" Emma grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him from the parked car towards the swings. As they approached the playground he noticed there were a few women and their kids enjoying the park.

As Emma got to the swings she stopped and looked up at her father with a frown.

"What's wrong honey?" he asked.

"There's no swings for little girls." She declared sadly.

"What? What'd you mean?" Jack asked confused as he looked over at the row of regular looking swings.

"They're too big." She replied looking down at the ground disappointed. She was used to the park she and her mother normally went to where they had a lake and ducks and swings designed for smaller children with safety harnesses to prevent them from losing their grip and falling.

When Jack realized that the seats of the swings in front of them were indeed too wide for a child of Emma's stature to be able to sit and grab the side handles he got an idea. "Well, they're not too big for me." He announced and pulled Emma over to the closest vacant seat. Sitting down he picked up the little girl and placed her on his lap then draped one arm across her protectively.

"Okay, Emma, you hang on to my arm and we'll ride this together."

Glancing back Emma gave Jack a big, bright smile before latching her small hands on his arm. Pushing off the ground the two began swinging back and forth much to the delight of the little girl. They swung through the air with Emma gleefully squealing "Higher Daddy!"

From the swings Emma led her father over to the slide, the climbing gym and then to the small merry-go-round where she joined a couple of other children on the ride while Jack stood on the side catching his second wind.

"You have a beautiful daughter."

Jack turned in the direction of the feminine voice and found a sandy-haired woman a few years younger than him standing there. He nodded. "Thank you." Then turned back and continued to watch the merry-go-round again.

"I haven't seen the two of you around here before." The woman continued.

Jack turned back to her again. "I'm sorry?"

She gave him a smile. "I bring my sons here a lot and I've never seen you before." She explained.

Giving the stranger a small smile he nodded. "This is the first time we've been here."

"Oh? New to the area, huh?"

Before Jack could answer a tiny dynamo came flying up to him, tears spilling. "Daddy, I fell." Emma told him tearfully and pointed to her knee which was scraped and bleeding.

Bending down Jack pushed back Emma's bangs and wiped her cheeks. "You're okay, angel. We just need to clean it up. I think I have some Kleenex in the car."

"It hurts." She cried bending her injured leg to take the weight off.

"I've got some band aids and antiseptic, if you'd like." The sandy haired woman offered up as she opened her purse. A second later she pulled out a clear zip lock bag that contained items from a first aid kit. "If you'd like I can fix her knee up for you."

"Daddy can do it." Emma cried as she slipped her little arms around his legs, burying her face in his pant leg.

Picking her up and gently cradling her injured leg in one of his hands he walked over to a nearby picnic table and sat her down. The woman had followed and handed Jack the bag. Assessing the situation quickly he realized that there was a small cut on the front of her knee that was bleeding and some scrapes. 'Nothing broken or twisted.' He thought.

Calming his daughter down he went to work and gently and expertly cleaned the wound with antiseptic and then covered it with a band aid. "There you go, angel." He wiped the tear marks on her cheeks and kissed her forehead. "All fixed."

"Okay, Daddy." Emma sniffled, letting out a small breath of relief.

Zipping up the bag Jack turned back to the woman. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem." She smiled at him. "Playground accidents are a common event so I come prepared." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Casey."

"Jack." He replied shaking her hand.

Casey's grin grew wider. "And this little princess?" She looked over at the little girl in braids.

"Emma." Jack replied placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, nice to meet you, Emma." Casey said cheerfully. "That's a very pretty name."

Emma bit her bottom lip but didn't say anything to the woman.

"Can you say thank you?" Jack asked his daughter.

"Tank you." Emma replied bashfully.

"You're most welcome." Casey told her then turned back to Jack. "She's very sweet."

He nodded. "Thanks. And thanks again for your…supplies."

"You're welcome. As I said, I come prepared." Casey pointed out towards the playground jungle gym. "The one in the blue shirt there and the one in the brown are mine." She told him. "Bradford and Bailey."

"Daddy?" Emma tapped her father's arm to get his attention.

He looked over at her. "Yes, Emma?"

"Can we get ice cream now?" She asked flashing her best puppy dog eyes.

He chuckled. "That sounds good. Then we have to get home. Mommy's going to be waiting for you."

"Is she home?" Emma perked up at the mention of Kate.

"She will be by the time we finish eating our ice cream and go home." Jack stuck out his arms and pulled the little girl into his embrace. He turned back to the woman they had just met. "It was nice meeting you." He told her politely.

"Yeah, you too." Casey replied hiding her disappointment at his apparent lack of availability.

Carrying Emma back to the car they drove over to the corner where the snack shop was located and bought two cones.

"Does your knee still hurt?" Jack asked as they enjoyed their ice cream.

Emma shook her head. "Ice cream makes it better." She declared proudly causing her father to laugh.

"Okay, good to know."

By the time they arrived back at the house Emma was tired and ready for her nap. Kate greeted them at the front door and quickly took custody of the little girl and after directing Jack into the living room she retired to the bedroom to put the child down for her nap.

"Did you have a good time with your daddy?" Kate asked as she sat Emma down on the bed to take off her shoes.

"Yeah. We had fun. We went to the park." Emma nodded. "And McDonalds"

As Kate removed her shoes she noticed the band aid. "Doodle Bug, what happened?"

"I fell, Mommy. But Daddy made it better." The little girl explained with a yawn.

Kate touched the area around the cut gingerly. "Does it hurt, sweetie?"

She shook her head. "He put mecine on it and kissed it like you do."

With a smile Kate pulled back covers and helped Emma settle in for her nap. Handing her Snuggle the rabbit she kissed the little girl's forehead. "Have a good hap." She whispered as she smoothed down Emma's bangs.

"Mommy?" the little girl spoke up sleepily.

"Yes, Doodle Bug?"

"Will Daddy still be here when I wake up?"

Kate nodded her head slowly. "I'm sure he will be. Now go to sleep." Kate instructed.

Quickly slipping out of the bedroom Kate made her way back to the living room to see what Jack though of his time with their daughter. Entering the room she found herself smiling. There was Jack on the recliner chair sound asleep.

"Looks like Emma wasn't the only one tired out this afternoon." She chuckled to herself. Grabbing the soft throw from the couch she gently draped it over Jack, careful not to wake him.

When Jack woke later it took him a moment to figure out where he was and what had happened. Noticing he was covered with a blanket he guessed that he must have dozed off after he had brought Emma home.

"Are you awake?" a small voice asked in a whisper.

Glancing over Jack saw Aaron standing near him with a toy train in hand. "Yeah, I am." He answered his voice still a bit dry from his nap.

"Good, 'cause Mommy said to be quiet while you were asleep." The little boy came over closer and held out his toy for inspection. "Wanna see?"

Pushing himself up into a straighter sitting position Jack gave his upper body a quick stretch before looking at Aaron and his offering. "That's nice." He commented as he looked over the toy. "You like trains, huh?"

The little boy nodded. "They're my favorite." He said with a grin. "I have all kinds of trains and when I grow up I'm going to work on one."

"Really? Well, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun."

As Aaron cheerfully went on about his collection of trains Emma came wandering into the livingroom. Noticing Jack sitting and talking to Aaron she walked over and started to crawl up on his lap. Pulling her the rest of the way up and settling her on his lap Jack gave her a quick kiss on the side of her head. "Hi angel." He greeted softly as the little girl laid against his chest.

Aaron watched the exchange with envy. He understood that Jack was Emma's father and Aaron thought his friend was lucky not only to have her father here, but for him to be a nice man. Aaron used to think he was lucky because he had two dads, but with Daddy Thomas so far away and mainly available by phone and Daddy Charlie's phone calls getting less frequent he had started to think maybe he wasn't so lucky.

"Jack?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Will you help me fix my train track?" Aaron's voice had a tone of anxiousness in it that touched the man's heart.

"Is it broke?" he asked.

The child nodded. "My friend, Larry, bwoke it today and now the train won't go around."

Nodding Jack flashed him a smile. "Okay. We'll look at it in a little bit, alright?"

Aaron broke out in a big grin. "Okay! Thanks!" he replied, confident this man would be able to get his train set working again.

Leaving Aaron to his cartoon Jack carried Emma into the kitchen where he found Claire pulling things together for dinner. Insisting the doctor stay to eat Claire accepted his offer to help prepare the meal in exchange.

With Emma standing on a chair next to Jack at the counter to watch, the two adults chatted cheerfully, filling each other in on survivor gossip. As Claire was mixing up the ground beef Sawyer came walking in.

"Well, ain't this a happy homemaker scene." He cracked as he started to the refrigerator.

Claire bounced over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Hi Honey," she greeted in a sugary sweet voice. "How was your day?"

"Oh grand." He said as his cheeks reddened, catching Jack's smirk in the background. "What's for dinner?"

"I thought, since it's nice out, we could grill some burgers." She told him as she returned to the counter.

Nodding in approval Sawyer grabbed a couple of beers from the refrigerator and offered one to Jack.

"Hi Saw Saw." Emma greeted the blonde man with a little giggle.

"Hey, Little Freckles, what'cha doing there?" he glanced over her shoulder at the counter where there was a bowl of lettuce.

"I'm helping make salad." Emma told him proudly as her little fingers tore the lettuce apart like her father showed her.

"Well good for you." Sawyer took a long sip of his beer.

"Saw Saw?" Jack asked softly with a raised eyebrow.

"Drink your beer." The southerner replied. "I'm gonna get the grill up and going." He announced as he walked out of the room, spared the giggles that broke out between Jack and Claire.

A couple of minutes later Kate came into the kitchen also surprised by the scene she found. It had been a long time since she had seen Jack working in the kitchen.

"Look, Mommy, I made salad!" Emma called out.

With a grin Kate walked over and grabbed the little girl by the waist giving her a kiss on the top of the head. "I see that. You did a really good job, sweetie."

"Daddy helped." The child admitted.

Kate glanced up briefly at Jack before returning her attention to her daughter. "Well, it's still a very nice salad." She said and then gently picked her up and placed her on the floor. "Why don't you go watch some cartoons with Aaron since you're done, okay?"

With a quick wave to her father the little girl was out of the room in a flash. Kate turned back to Jack. "So, you're staying for dinner, huh?" she asked when Claire slipped out to go check on the grill.

"Hope you don't mind." Jack smiled as he leaned back against the counter.

"No, of course not." She hesitated for a second. "I'm actually having dinner with Phillip tonight." She announced.

"Oh," Jack's face lost it's smile as he glanced down at the floor for a second. When he looked up again his expression was neutral. "Okay." He wasn't sure what more to say.

"Yeah…we go out to dinner two or three times a week." Kate said, not sure why she felt the need to explain.

Nodding jack took a sip of his beer. "So, what's he do for a living?"

"He's a commercial businessman. Owns his own trucking company and is an investor in a couple of businesses in town." Kate told him.

"How did you two meet?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders and she pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "I used to work at the country club he belongs to."

"Oh really?" Jack asked amused.

Kate shot him a look. "What? You'd never think of going out with someone that works at your country club, Jack?" she asked defensively.

"Well, if they looked like you I'd definitely consider it" he retorted trying not to grin, but failing.

'Leave it to Jack to find a way to diffuse a potential argument' she thought. "Thanks." She mumbled as she took a swig of her water. She wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. "Just so you know, I turned him down the first couple of times he asked me out."

"Oh really?" he replied with a smirk.

"Yes really. But we ran into each other at a club, one that he owns a part of, and we got to talking and he turned out to be a nice guy." Kate explained further. "A nice guy who is also handsome and successful, so I said yes."

Nodding again, he took another sip of beer. "Okay."

For some reason Kate wasn't satisfied with his reaction. She wanted more. She wanted…jealousy. "Yeah, he turned out to be a great guy. He loves to take me to dinner, even flying me to San Francisco one night and Vancouver another. And he's generous, always buying little gifts, jewelry, dresses…" she bragged, hating the way she sounded the minute the words came out of her mouth.

Jack's expression turned serious. "Does he treat Emma well?" he interrupted.

Kate looked at him confused for a moment by his question. She hadn't expected him to ask that, but now that she thought about it, she shouldn't have been surprised. "Ahum…yeah…" She stumbled.

"And Emma, does she…ahum…like him?" Jack's voice became nervous, almost uncertain, as if he really didn't want to her the answer.

"She's still getting to know him." Kate replied, not wanting to get into the issues she was having in building a relationship between her daughter and her fiancé. A job made more difficult now by the arrival of Emma's father and their budding relationship.

"Getting to know him?" Jack asked surprised. "Jesus, Kate, how long have you two been dating?"

Kate drew her hands to her hips and narrowed his eyes. "Long enough!" she snapped. "Long enough to know he's a good man and that he's going to make a good husband and father. Long enough to appreciate how lucky I got and how he's not going to hurt me!"

Jack sucked in his breath for a moment, knowing full well that the last comment was directed at him. But while he would acknowledge to himself that he had caused her hurt, he'd be damned if he was going to shoulder the whole blame and let her get away with acting like this was his entire fault.

"Well apparently, you haven't known him long enough for our daughter to decide if she likes him or not!" he replied angrily.

"Oh that's rich…how do you know what Emma likes?!" She fired back. "You probably don't even know her favorite color!"

Jack put the near empty beer bottle down on the counter hard. He stood in front of her, his brown eyes a dark hue. "And who's fault is that?" he told her.

Kate felt like the wind had been taken out of her by his verbal blow. She closed her eyes in part to keep the tears back. She felt him move to the side to go around her, satisfied he had won this round.

"I'm going to go see if Sawyer needs help." He mumbled. As he reached the doorway, he stopped for a moment but didn't turn around. "Her favorite color is pink." He announced before exiting the room.

Letting out her breath she brushed back the tears determined not to break down. What steps they had taken towards civility had taken a blow; she in her childish attempt to make him jealous and Jack's inability to completely let go of all his anger.

Taking another deep breath she went to the sink and splashed some water on her face. That had to have been the stupidest argument she and Jack had ever had, and they had had a couple of stupid ones on the island. She knew it had been silly trying to brag about Phillip. It had all sounded so hollow standing there talking about gifts and trips when the man in front of her knew her well enough to know those things weren't a priority for her. And yet all he had asked was whether Phillip treated Emma well. It was a legitimate question and a telling one. He had responded as a father, not as a jealous ex-boyfriend and if Kate was being honest with herself she would admit she was a bit disappointed. But she wasn't being honest with herself, not about this. What was post is past and she had to move forward with her future. So, slipping out of the kitchen she went to her room to get ready for her date.

By the time the doorbell rang announcing Phillip's arrival, Claire, Sawyer, Jack and the kids were out on the patio enjoying the fresh night air with a barbeque.

Kate, in a knee length soft blue tank style dress and strappy heels, greeted Phillip with a quick kiss before quietly letting him know Jack was there.

Phillip's face remained neutral. "So, do I get to meet the world famous Dr. Jack Shepard?" he asked in a grand manner.

Kate stared at him for a moment then nodded. "I guess this is as good a time as any."

She led him through the house to the back where the group was at. The smell of grilling meat and hotdogs greeted them as they stepped out.

Standing at the grill tending to the food, beer in hand, was Sawyer. Claire was busily shifting through the plates and utensils to make sure they had everything, while Aaron was sitting in his sandbox playing. Jack was sitting in a chair with Emma in his lap talking to Sawyer. It was Claire who noticed the couple first.

"Phillip…hello." She greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Claire."

"Hey, Phil, you joining us for dinner?" Sawyer called out with a smirk.

Phillip shook his head and as he spied Jack, his hand reached down for Kate's. "No. We've got reservations at a new Thai place." He announced with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Thai, huh? Never liked that food myself." The southerner replied. "Wrong kind of spices for my tastes."

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable Kate cleared her throat and looked over at the dark haired doctor, trying to forget their earlier fight.

"Ahum…Jack Shepard, this is Phillip Weiler." She said softly.

TBC

Next Up: Phillip and Jack continue sizing each other up. And a little bonding time with Jack and Claire.