Jack could hear muttering before he even put the key in the door. Kate gave him a quick smile before spinning around to work on dinner, her cell phone up against her ear.

"Yeah… Oh? I … I …Really? That…" she stammered, giving him that glance she does when she's being interrupted. He studied her face for any hint of who she was talking to. "Lunch? Oh, you have? Ummm… of course, lunch would be fine."

"Who was that?" Jack asked when the phone call ended.

"Hello to you, too!" Kate chuckled as she turned to pull by the tie into a deep kiss. "That was Sam."

"And what did he want?" Jack said gingerly. It was still a sensitive subject between the two. He had hoped Kate would open up more by now, even if it were something as simple as calling him her father.

"Lunch, actually."

"You're okay with that?"

"I didn't know how to say no," she admitted. She glanced up, her eyes wide and hopeful, "do you think you think you can make it?" She pleaded.

He grabbed her hands and pulled them to his lips for a quick kiss on the hand. "I promised. Every step of the way."

Kate nodded, leaning in so he could kiss her forehead. "There's a little boy who's pretty excited to see you."

Jack nodded and headed down the hall.

The next day, Sam came by Jack's office once again. "Mr. Austen, I'm surprised to see you," Jack admitted.

"I've come to ask you a favor."

"This is becoming a pattern," Jack ran a hand through his hair. It hadn't been easy to bring this up to Kate and it had been even harder on Kate. How much more could he ask her to endure? "Well? What is it?"

"I'm here to ask you not to come to lunch."

"I can't—"

"Jack, it's just one meal. She'll never open up when you fill all the long pauses and gaps in conversation. I need to force her to open up."

"You can't exactly force Kate to do anything…" Jack scratched his head.

"I need to give her a push in the right direction."

"Believe me, she's being pushed!"

"One lunch, Jack. I've accepted that she doesn't think of me as a father. I've accepted that I may never meet my own grandson. What I cannot accept is that I can't hold one conversation alone with my daughter!" Sam raised his voice, his face turning red and a vein bulging from his forehead. "I miss my little girl."

"This will be the last favor, got it? If you can't fix things by yourself, that's on you. I have patients to see," he held a hand towards the door.

"I do appreciate this, Jack." Sam turned and walked out, leaving Jack with a pit in his stomach.

That night, Kate came outside with two beers and climbed into the hammock with Jack. "He didn't even fight it."

"He was exhausted. Maybe soccer lessons are good for him," he chuckled as he took a sip of beer.

"I'm nervous for tomorrow," she added, taking a much bigger swig of beer than she usually did.

"There's nothing to worry about. It'll be fine."

"And you promise you'll be there?" She asked with those big green eyes he couldn't resist.

"I promise," he lied. She curled up against him, leaving a few quick pecks against his chest. He had never felt so worthless but he couldn't bring himself to tell her and break her heart. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight against him, silently wondering just how mad she'd be if she found out. He prayed the lunch would be so successful that she wouldn't even be upset to learn the truth.

The next day, Kate put her hair in a loose side braid and wore a black tee, jeans and black flats. She had added some layered necklaces, unsure how formal she should dress. In the end, she didn't know that she wanted Sam to know how much thought and effort she put into their relationship.

She had just grabbed her keys when her phone rang.

"Kate, I have an emergency surgery. I'm so sorry but I have to do this," he said quickly, trying to say it exactly how he had rehearsed in his head. "I'm sorry, I have to go. I love you and I'm sorry." He hung up quickly, before she could say a word. He couldn't stand to hear the heartbreak in her voice. He struggled to keep his composure as he walked down the hall, the tears building at how easily he had betrayed the woman he loved.

Jack hadn't heard from Kate, which he hoped meant she had a good lunch with Sam but worried it meant she was mad at him for cancelling. She had never gotten upset when work came up; unlike Sarah, she understood what went into being a doctor. But this was different. This was something he had promised her.

"Hey gorgeous," Jack smiled as he walked in the door. "It smells delicious in here."

"Chicken cacciatore," she smiled softly and he saw the pain in her eyes.

"Kate, about today…" she shook her head, silencing him. "How did it go?"

"Okay. He asked me a lot of questions," she admitted. "And at the end of lunch he told me to thank you for giving us this time together!" Tears were falling to the floor before he even knew they were there. "You promised me you'd be there and you lied! You lied on the phone! You lied when you promised!"

"Kate," he put his hands up in surrender. "I was just trying to help."

She grabbed the porcelain plate from the table and flung it against the wall causing a noise so loud Aaron started crying. "You let him convince you to put me into a situation you both knew I was uncomfortable with! Neither one of you gave a shit what I thought or felt!"

"That's not true!" Jack glanced down the hall towards the cries. "Let me just calm Aaron down," he tried.

"Go ahead. I'm leaving anyway."

Suddenly Jack noticed the bags that had already been packed and by the door. And just like that, Kate was gone without even bothering to close the door.