Chapter Nine: Raised by Another

Claire waited impatiently in the waiting room for Kate. It was almost morning, and she felt very much out of place.

Who needs medical treatment anyway? She thought. I must've broke a thousand bones out there in the jungle and I did fine. . . Kate only got shot.

People kept staring at her. . . more than they had stared at Kate. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"Claire?" A voice from the doorway asked. Claire turned to look at the speaker, but before she knew it, she was being hugged.

"Mum?" She asked, stunned. Kate had said she was all right, but seeing her here. . . it was suddenly real.

"Claire!" Her mother cried, stroking her matted hair and sobbing into her shoulder. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought I'd lost you too." Claire sobbed. "Mum, I'm so sorry. I don't hate you. I didn't mean it."

"I know." Her mother said, smiling as she looked at her. "I know."

Her eyes fell to the little boy standing next to her mother, and a sudden rush of joy filled her heart.

"Aaron?" She asked softly, walking over to him.

"Mommy!" Aaron cried, running to her. . . running past her, into Kate's outstretched arms.

Claire's heart sank as she watched Kate pick up her son, and as he kissed her cheek, wrapping his tiny arms around her neck.

"I missed you so much, baby." Kate whispered, shutting her eyes and kissing his blond hair. "I love you."

He mumbled something in return, something that sounded very much like, "Don't leave."

Tears of anguish welled in her eyes as Kate walked carried him over to her.

"Aaron, this is your mom, Claire." She said.

"You're Mom." Aaron said confusedly.

Kate looked thoughtful. "Claire's your other mom."

"No, just you." Aaron said, kissing her cheek. He looked over Kate's shoulder, and said something that Claire couldn't understand.

Kate understood perfectly.

"Uncle Jack's not here." She replied sadly.

He muttered something else incomprehensible.

"Of course we can go home, baby." Kate crooned. "And Claire's coming with us, okay?"

"No!" Said Aaron, Claire could understand this. "Just you!"

"Claire should stay with me." Her mother said, putting a hand on Claire's shoulder. "Maybe get Aaron used to the idea."

Claire nodded numbly. She wanted to hold him, but he was glaring at her.

Kate put Aaron down and leaned closer to the two of them.

"I'm sure you two have catching up to do, but please visit tomorrow." She said. "I'd send him with you now, but I don't think. . ."

"No, he's not ready." Her mother said, and the words pierced Claire heart like knife. "He cried every night you weren't here, Kate, and asked me every day when you'd be back. Spend some time with him."

Kate smiled ruefully. "I think we're going to need to take it slow."

Claire's mother nodded.

"How slow?" Claire asked quietly, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I know it stings, Sweetheart." Her mother said softly, putting an arm around her. "But he's only three."

Kate felt guilty as she and Aaron sat in the back of the taxi, but at the same time, glad he was in her arms once more. A selfish part of her didn't want Claire to have him. . . after all, Claire had only been his mother for a little over three months. She had been his mother for a little over three years. She had been there for every nightmare, every birthday, every bad day, and every good one. But he was still Claire's son. She had gone back so they'd be reunited.

"Did you have a good time with grandma, Baby?" She asked.

"No." Aaron said flatly. "But she gave ice-cream."

"What kind of ice-cream?" Kate asked, tousling his hair.

"Chocolate." He answered, squirming on her lap.

"Listen, Aaron, I want you to be nice to Claire, okay?"

"No." Aaron replied. "Scares me."

"Aaron Austen!" Kate exclaimed. "She's a very dear friend of mine."

She felt she couldn't properly explain an adoptive relationship with a three-year-old, especially Aaron. Calling Claire a friend would have to suffice for the time being.

"She creepy." Aaron protested. "Like witch."

"You've only seen her this once, honey." Kate protested.

"Her hair spider webs."

"Aaron, that is not nice!" Kate exclaimed.

But Aaron was no longer listening.

When Kate stepped out of the taxi at her house, carrying a sleeping Aaron, the lights were already on.

What in the world?

Wishing she had a gun, she crept towards the walk-way, but the door flew open.

"Cassidy?" She exclaimed, running to hug her friend and at the same time trying not to jostle Aaron. "You scared me!"

"Well, I wanted to make sure the house was ready when you came back." Cassidy said warmly. "I saw that you on the news, so I drove over, straightened up, and made dinner."

"You're the greatest, Cass." Kate said gratefully. "But how'd you get in?"

"You now have a broken window."

"Ah." Kate laughed. "Well, I forgive you."

Clementine came bounding out the door after her mother.

"Hey, Auntie Kate!" She exclaimed, grinning widely, revealing dimples as well as a missing front tooth.

"You lost a tooth?" Kate asked.

"You're supposed to be asleep." Cassidy chided.

"The couch is like a concrete floor." Clementine protested.

"Have you ever slept on a concrete floor?" Kate asked, amused.

"Uh, well, it was wood." She clarified. "And it was because I was pretending that Darth Vader locked me on the Death Star."

"Oh." Kate said seriously. "But how'd you lose a tooth? You're far too little."

"I was scuba-diving-"

"By scuba-diving she means going down the slide head-first and it was a bloody mess." Cassidy groaned.

"I got stitches on my lip too, see?" Clementine said proudly. "The doctor had to sew it up with a real-life needle and thread. It hurt though."

"You've had an eventful week." Kate mused.

"Yes." Cassidy agreed. "Now go on to bed, it's almost 3:00 A.M."

"Wow!" Clementine exclaimed. "I ain't never been up that late before! Can I watch a show?"

"No." Cassidy said flatly. "And ain't isn't a word."

"I learnt it from Animaniacs. Yakko said it."

"Learnt isn't a word either, now go to bed."

"Yakko said that too. 'Night, Auntie Kate." Clementine said winningly, giving Kate a hug. "Can I play with Aaron tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." Kate said, smiling.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, giving her mother a hug and skipping back to the house.

"You missed a call." Said Cassidy. "And it looked important, as much as we need to discuss all of this."

They walked inside and Cassidy handed her the phone. "It was long-distance from Korea. Came in about an hour ago."

Kate picked up the phone, and redialed the number.

"Hello." Said a heavily accented voice on the other end. "Is this Katherine Austen?"

"Yes." Kate said. "You called earlier?"

"I did. My name is Eun Lee, and I am the late Sun-Hwa Kwon's lawyer. I would like to discuss the legalities concerning her daughter, Ji-Yeon."

"Ji-Yeon?" Kate asked. "What about her?"

"It says in Mrs. Kwon's last will and testament that you are Ji Yeon's godmother. There are some legalities to discuss, so I will be flying over to finalize the adoption, and clear up any difficulties. I am bringing the child with me, and will arrive at Los Angeles Airport a week from today at noon. Does that sound all right to you?"

"Yes." Kate said weakly. "That sounds fine. I will. . . see you then."

"Who was that?" Cassidy asked.

"Sun's lawyer." Kate said. "I'm apparently going to adopt Ji-Yeon a week from now."

"You're what?" Cassidy exclaimed. "You're her godmother?"

"Sun failed to mention it to me." Kate said. "Her kid doesn't even speak English! How can I communicate with her? And with the whole Claire and Aaron thing-"

"You found Claire?"

"Yes- she's been on the island for three years by herself, and nearly lost her mind. Aaron hates her- says her hair looks like spider webs."

"I thought the rest of them were on the island too- Sawyer and-"

"No. They were all stuck in the 70's for three years."

"I think I heard you wrong, Kate. Stuck in the 70s?"

"You heard me right, and you can ask anyone who got off that plane. There was weird electromagnetism stuff- I don't know what happened, but I ended up there too."

"So they all lived on the island in the 70s except for Claire?" Cassidy asked.

"In essence." Kate replied. "And then we got out of the 70s, and only six of us made it off the island at all. Me, Claire, Richard, Miles, Lapidus, and Sawyer."

"I saw him on the news too." Cassidy said. "He looked like a wreck."

"He is." Kate told her. "Juliet died about a week ago, so he's still-"

"Who's Juliet?"

"His would-be fiancee if she hadn't been killed in an accident." Kate said dryly. "She died in his arms after getting crushed by tons of falling metal."

"He had a fiancee?" Cassidy asked, looking slightly surprised.

"Sawyer actually had a relatively normal life working for Dharma- in fact, he was in charge before we wrecked everything- head of security."

"What was his plan, to steal their treasury?" She scoffed.

"None of that, he did a complete 180."

"Really?"

Kate nodded.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Where is he now?" Cassidy asked.

"No clue, but I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up." Kate said.

Cassidy looked hesitant. "He wants to see Clementine?"

"I know he does." Kate replied.

She nodded slowly. "Okay." She said slowly. "I'll think about it."

"It'd mean a lot to him."

"But he'd better be saint." Cassidy warned. "Now let's go in- I bet you're starving."