Disclaimer: I don't really own anything, if you catch my meaning.
It was Christmas Eve, yet on the island where our comrades are shipwrecked, or rather airplane wrecked, the weather was still hot and humid as usual. Some would say that they'd rather be back home no matter what the weather, yet others still said the weather was better than where they came from.
But Charlie Pace was one of those people who were undecided. Of course he wanted to go back home to be with loved ones for Christmas, but then again, it was better to be here because his family was too nagging for his own good, especially when his brother Liam managed to get himself clean from drugs and the like. Of course Charlie was clean now also, but the step would be for Liam to tell Charlie to quit Drive Shaft and he couldn't possibly do that, no matter what the price.
Staring out into the ocean, Charlie once again wondered where they were. This had to be somewhere because nowhere was somewhere and vice versa. He hoped that somebody out there was searching for all of them, but he couldn't keep his hopes up.
"What are you thinking about, Charlie?" Claire came up to Charlie, watching the waves with him.
Charlie shrugged. He wasn't very good at expressing his feelings with anybody other than anger, really, either that or a passionate love for something such as his band that Charlie wished he could go back to.
Claire rolled her eyes and laughed. "You've got to be thinking about something, Charlie. Everybody has thoughts going through their minds almost every second of the day. Will you tell me what you're thinking?"
"I'm really not thinking about anything, Claire. Seriously. Please, don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Charlie snapped.
Claire took a step backward. Inwardly, Charlie wanted to reach out and grab her, hold her close, and tell her that he didn't mean to snap at her, it was just from the want of getting off this island and to stop being continuously hungry.
"Sorry for asking," Claire said softly. "I'll just leave you alone, how about that? I hope that makes you happy. By the way, Merry Christmas."
Charlie didn't say anything as Claire slowly made her way up the beach to the main encampment. He didn't really care whether he hurt her or not. Or did he? He was starting to feel guilty to snap at her. He turned around and began to trot up the beach.
"Claire! Hey, wait up," Charlie called out and Claire stopped in her tracks to let Charlie catch up to her. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry for snapping at you back there. It's just that I've been thinking about back home and wishing I was back there. You know what I mean?" Charlie said.
Claire gave a small smile. "I know you mean well, Charlie, but—"
"Please, Claire. I should've said what I was thinking the first time you asked. But I was thinking what kind of Christmas this is. I'd rather I'd be back home, not here out in the middle of nowhere. But unfortunately I'm here instead of there so I'm asking, would you want to spend Christmas with me?" Charlie asked nervously.
Charlie watched Claire as she stood thoughtfully. He hoped that she would say yes, after all, there was nobody else on this island. Well, yeah, there was—Hurley, Jack, Boone, Kate—but the person he wanted to spend Christmas the most with was Claire.
"Charlie, I really appreciate it, but you don't want to be with me for Christmas. There are so many other people who deserve to be with you than me. I'm just a fat, pregnant girl along for the ride, not good for anything," Claire said.
"Oh, you're not that, Claire. I think you help a lot around here. I mean, a lot of people here would've gone crazy if you weren't there to keep them crazy and to have somebody to talk to," Charlie pleaded, "all I want for Christmas is you."
Claire sighed. "If it really means that much to you, yes, I'll be with you for Christmas. But what are we going to do for it, there's no presents, no nothing on this forsaken island."
"Now you just leave that up to me, Claire. My own older brother said I was the best at making each Christmas better than the last one because of the simple stuff I do. After all, I do presents from scratch. Don't worry," Charlie exclaimed.
"I'll trust you," Claire said, smiling.
Charlie gave a nod. "Now, let's get you back to that waterfall place. You need to rest, and tomorrow's a big day."
Claire nodded and the two of them headed back. As they walked, Charlie could hardly believe himself. He was actually going to be with the girl he liked all day tomorrow for Christmas. He never really had a girlfriend before, but his older brother Liam had millions of them before settling down with the love of his life. Charlie couldn't remember what Liam's girl's name was, or his child's name, but the last time he visited them, they all seemed so happy together. Well, that was before Charlie stormed off in anger to get on a plane when Liam said that his younger brother needed some help. Well, Charlie certainly didn't need any help now and when he got home, he was going straight to Liam's door, laugh and say how about that now? But that might not be for a long time.
They finally reached the safe haven and Charlie left Claire sitting comfortably on a rock. He hurried away to find his guitar. Christmas wasn't Christmas without any music. He was going to make sure that Claire and anybody else near them would get some Christmas cheer. Even if this wasn't the best place for holiday cheer, somebody had to try.
Charlie finally found his hiding place for his guitar under some ferns and picked it gently up. The guitar was a little damp and Charlie cursed softly under his breath. This was going to be more work than he figured. He sat down amongst plants with his guitar in his lap and looked up at the treetops. There was moss and vine ropes dangling down, barely moving in the wind.
Just then, Charlie had an idea. He stood and began climbing the nearest tree to him. If he could just get some of the vines and moss, he could make a Christmas present for Claire and maybe for some of the others on the island. That could kill some time while his guitar dried out so he could practice some Christmas carols.
Managing to get enough for what he wanted to do, Charlie let it drop to the forest floor before dropping down himself. He settled down on the ground and began to work on his Christmas surprise for everybody.
Meanwhile, Claire sat comfortably, watching the activity going to and fro. She loved the Christmas season, especially all of the hustle and bustle. During this time of year, she usually went to the mall area just to sit and watch everybody hurrying about making their last minute shopping errands. Since she wasn't anywhere near a shopping mall, Claire contented herself to watching the hustle and bustle of the people trying to survive on the island.
"Merry Christmas, Claire," Hurley exclaimed as he walked over to her and sat down. "Hope you are doing alright on this fine Christmas Eve."
Claire smiled. Hurley always managed to put a smile onto her face, no matter how desperate the circumstances seemed at times.
"I'm doing quite fine, thanks, Hurley," she answered in a joyous reply.
"You know, I thought I saw Charlie walking with you to this spot. Where did he go?" Hurley asked.
Claire shrugged. "I have no idea. I was wondering about that one, myself. I hope he's alright."
"I'm sure he is, he's got that streak of survival in 'im," Hurley answered.
"Then why did you bring up?"
Hurley shrugged. "I don't know; I was just looking to strike up a conversation. Everybody else is busy, as you can tell."
Claire gave a small smile and nodded. "You can say that again. All everybody talks about now is surviving and how we can get off this island. I mean, yeah, that's the main problem, isn't it? But we all need to get our minds off things and start having a little bit of fun. But that's just me."
"And your absolutely right," Charlie said, appearing out of the brush. He was holding his guitar in his hand, strumming the strings gently, making the most beautiful sound Claire had ever heard.
"Where the heck were you, dude?" Hurley asked, standing up.
Charlie gave a mischievous grin. "Why, creating some holiday cheers, of course. Christmas won't be Christmas without it, you know."
Claire shook her head. Charlie was crazy, but she was beginning to appreciate everything that he was doing. At first, she was a little apprehensive because after all, Charlie was a famous rock star with an attitude. He was constantly reminding everybody that he was the bass guitarist and seemed to imply that he should bask in the limelight constantly. But Claire noticed as the days, weeks and months wore on he inflated a little bit and seemed to be getting common sense. He was even trying to help out around the camps and was always trying to help Claire out especially.
Charlie glanced at Hurley. "Why don't you gather up the others and we'll sing some Christmas carols?"
Hurley nodded. "Of course, dude." He stood up and was soon out of sight from Charlie and Claire.
Charlie turned back to face Claire and sat down. Claire gave a small smile up at Charlie as she rubbed her stomach. She wasn't feeling all that great tonight, but she wasn't going to let anybody notice that she was. She hoped that the baby wouldn't come tonight, but if it did, she hoped that Jack would be nearby because he was the doctor and knew what he was doing.
"What are you thinking about, Claire?"
Claire looked up into Charlie's eyes. She smiled shyly and shook her head. "Nothing, really. I was just thinking about how grateful I am to you as everybody else is."
"Ah, I haven't done anything. I don't contribute to much other than to get into other people's way," Charlie said.
"Oh, you're doing more than you realize. You entertain us alongside Hurley and it keeps our minds off things. We wouldn't have been able to otherwise," Claire exclaimed.
"As long as you think so," Charlie said just as the others began to gather around.
"Charlie, what is this exactly all about? We have other things to do other than sitting around," Jack said as he sat down next to Kate.
"Just thought I'd bring in a little Christmas cheer, if you catch my meaning. And anyways, the sun's about to sink and you won't be able to do anything no how," Charlie stated. "What shall we sing first? How about Sleigh Ride?"
He launched into song and soon everybody else was joining in. It was hard to resist, after all, Charlie truly was a talented singer and guitarist. It was hard not to sing along with him.
Several hours later, Charlie put down his guitar and stood up. Everybody groaned and begged Charlie to do some more. Charlie raised his hand for silence.
"I will, I will. I just thought I'd bring in my Christmas presents a little early. I know that we have to work tomorrow despite it being Christmas and it wouldn't be much fun and I'm sure we won't have time to open them," Charlie said. "So I will be right back and don't disappear on me."
He bowed slightly and hurried off into the woods. Soon he came back with the presents and everybody opened their eyes in astonishment, for there was everything, scarves and blankets made out of moss and belts made out of vines.
"How did you make all of this stuff?" Jack asked in astonishment as Charlie handed it all out to everybody.
"Now, that's my little secret. It's for me to know and you to find out," Charlie said with a wink.
Claire immediately wrapped the moss blanket around her and grinned in spite of herself. Charlie had honestly outdone himself this time.
A pain tightened suddenly in the pit of Claire's stomach. She gasped and clutched her stomach in pain. Oh no, the baby couldn't come just yet, not now. Jack noticed Claire's pained expression and immediately got up and hurried over to her.
"Is it coming?" Jack asked.
Claire nodded painfully. "Yes, the baby is coming. Help me, please, it hurts so much."
"Just relax, it's not going to be over in a hurry," Jack said.
Charlie hurried over them. "What's wrong? Is she all right? What can I do to help?"
"Just take her hand there and she'll be fine. Moral support is everything, sometimes," Jack said as he quickly yanked of Claire's pants and underwear.
"What about the rest of us? What can we do to help?" Kate spoke up.
Jack rolled his eyes and turned around to face Kate. "Just take everybody back to the beach. You all don't need to watch this and there's nothing you can do, anyway. Please, go."
Kate stumbled backward and then, catching her senses, began moving everybody out. They all soon disappeared and finally it was only Claire, Jack and Charlie.
Charlie clutched Claire's hand, making sure she had enough support. As he did this, his mind went deep into thought. This turned out to be a fiasco. One minute everybody was sitting there happy and joyful because he had brought the Christmas spirit to the island and the next minute, Claire's baby decided it wanted to come and turned the whole situation back to a serious one.
Jack noticed Charlie's sadness and gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't be gloom, Charlie, this wasn't any of your fault."
"Yeah, but it doesn't help the situation. I still feel like it's another Christmas lost," Charlie said softly so Claire wouldn't here.
"Why do you say that?" Jack asked as Claire cried out again and as he helped her with the birth.
Charlie shook his head. "I just haven't gotten a decent Christmas in years. Since I was eighteen, really. I was on the road too much and my father didn't really want me to go with Liam to get Drive Shaft started up."
Jack nodded and the two of them let their attention get back onto Claire. After all, she was the one who needed the attention, now. Not on Charlie no matter how anguished he looked right now.
Claire rested with her eyes closed. The birth had been a long one, and it had drained a lot of energy out of her, but she was happy. She finally had the child of her dreams, almost. She hadn't wanted the child, but since coming onto the island, Claire had wanted the baby more than anything.
Claire glanced down at the baby at her side. It was a baby boy, much to Claire's delight and had named him Christian in honor of Christmas and the boy that was born December 25 so many years ago.
Charlie silently watched Claire from the tree line. She seemed so beautiful right now with her baby at her side. The baby looked so much like his mother that it didn't seem possible that they were two separate people. Claire suddenly looked up and caught Charlie watching her quietly. She smiled and motioned for him to come and sit with her. He obliged and went to her.
"Isn't Christian the most beautiful baby boy you've ever laid your eyes upon?" Claire asked as Charlie sat down.
Charlie nodded and smiled. "He's a beautiful baby."
Claire sighed. "I'm sorry for ruining your Christmas present to everybody."
Charlie swatted at several flies that decided to come around him. She had to mention that, didn't she? He wished that she hadn't, but there was nothing he could do about it, after all, he couldn't control what other people said. Charlie gave Claire a weary smile.
"Don't worry about it, Claire. It doesn't matter, really. Christmas doesn't really mean much to me anymore, not since I was a teenager, at least," Charlie said.
"Jack said that you had said that this was just another Christmas lost," Claire exclaimed, "why do you say that?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. Thanks a lot, Jack, he thought silently. He grabbed a stick and began absentmindedly-drawing lines in the dirt.
"Because I have no family. Yeah, my parents are still alive, but since I went to be with the band against my parents' will, they said they didn't want to see me ever again until I come to my senses. And that was on Christmas Eve," Charlie explained.
Claire's eyes widened. "Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry, Charlie. I didn't know, really I didn't."
Charlie gave a short laugh. "It's ok, you didn't hurt my feelings none."
Claire sat up and gathered Christian into her arms. She rocked him thoughtfully and Charlie watched her do this. She was so tender and gentle about it and Charlie wished he could be that gentle. But old habits died hard and Charlie didn't think he could change himself, though he did manage to shake off his drug addiction.
Claire looked up at Charlie. "If you want, you can be a part of my family, me and Christian's. I'm positive his biological father won't mind. He didn't really care about me several months after I found out I was pregnant."
"I would love to become part of your family, that is, if you don't mind," Charlie said.
"Of course, I don't mind, or I wouldn't have asked you, because I love you, Charlie Pace. All I want for Christmas is you…and Christian," Claire exclaimed.
Charlie burst into a wide grin. "Well, then, what am I waiting for?" He jumped up and ran around whooping like crazy before settling down next to Claire again and giving her a kiss.
He had finally gotten himself a girl that he loved with all his heart and hopefully will live with for the rest of his life. Once they got of this godforsaken island, he was going to make sure Claire and Christian had everything they ever needed. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. This wasn't a Christmas lost after all.
Author's Note: I've intended this as a one shot story and I hope you've all enjoyed the story. It's a little choppy, but please forgive me for it considering this took me a while to write. But anyways, happy belated Christmas to all and a happy New Year.