50 / 50 Chapter 3
by Mystic
February 2005
Kate watched Claire a moment. She wasn't eager to start playing 'girl' now. But the little boy spotted her and waved a wet arm at her shouting her name. The blonde woman who sat on the ground turned and gave her a smile. "Oh, hey Kate."
"Hey," Kate repeated back, taking a few steps closer.
"Wanna Baf?" Adam asked her, water dribbling out of his mouth. He'd grown up with an Australian mother and a British father, so it was only natural he had a soft accent. He had Claire's bright eyes and sandy blonde hair Claire had once told her came from his real father. But Adam took after Charlie and it eased Claire's feelings about who his real father was. Or so she'd told Kate.
"Up," Claire instructed. The child obeyed, letting his mother dry him off with a beach towel before stepping out of the water so she could tip it over and replace it on the side of the hut. He stood, wrapped in the towel, staring up at Kate.
"How's it goin'?" Kate asked him, running hand through his wavy hair. It had already started to dry in the soft morning breeze.
The boy shrugged, "Goin' fine, I guess. Mum says you're having a baby. Is that the baby?" He asked, poking her with a small finger in the stomach.
Kate laughed. "Yeah, that's the baby."
"Mum says you have to be careful in the jungle, there's bad people there who might want your baby." Adam's bright eyes went wide as he let his vision move towards the jungle behind the caves.
She often wondered what the boy imagined when he heard the howls at night, heard the trees being smashed over onto their sides. He didn't have movies to show him what a Tyrannosaurus looked like, or television to show him giants and monsters. He knew polar bears though. Polar bears and iguanas.
"Come on, Adam, time to get some clothes on." Claire looked up at Kate. "So what's with you? Don't you normally go disappear into the jungle all day with Jack doing all sorts of naughty stuff?" The other woman smiled at her, a devilish smile that made Kate laugh.
"We get fruit, we talk. It's nice."
"Daddy says you do the hibbedy gibbedy out there," Adam offered as Claire pulled a pale brown shirt over his head. Kate wondered if the boy knew the origins of his clothes were probably a boy not older than himself who died in a plane crash.
She handed Claire a pair of small shoes that had been cut open so they could tie them better onto the feet that were too small to fit into them. Adam sat down on a log and watched his mother put his shoes on. "So why aren't you out in the jungle with Jack? I saw him leave with Sawyer."
Kate shrugged, sitting on the log next to the little boy. "Tired."
"I remember that stage. Five months? Nearing six? I was tired and hungry all the time."
Wrinkling her brow, Kate straightened Adam's shirt over his shoulders, "How did you deal with it?"
"I ate all day and slept all night."
Adam brought a hand up quickly and placed it on Kate's belly. She was amazed at the gentleness to his touch. He was careful not to press too hard. She leaned back as he pulled his feet away from his mother and turned, placing his ear to her stomach. Claire smiled at his wide eyed expression. He was always curious. Kate had had to pull him from many trees, holes and had at least three times ripped him away from the clutches of… something. Claire was just glad the older woman wandered as much as her son did.
"Can it hear us?" The boy asked.
Touching his head, Kate pushed back his waves to see his pale cheek. She stroked his hair once and saw his eyes close ever so slightly. "Jack says it can."
Claire watched the two and smiled at Kate. "Can he tell what it is?"
Rolling her eyes, Kate gave her a grin. "He says he needs a lab for that."
"What does he want it to be?" Claire went to folding the clothes Adam had worn the day before. Some of the more domesticated people took loads to the lake to wash clothes with the knowledge Sun had left them of plants.
"I think Jack wants a girl," Kate told her, her attention focused on the small boy who had begun falling asleep.
"What do you want it to be?" Claire pressed on, her smile growing playful.
Kate looked up at her. "I don't know. I've never been the type to dream up fantasies about having kids."
"You've never wanted to have kids?" Claire asked, sounding amused.
Shrugging, she told her, "Well, I did, but I didn't sit around naming them. You didn't know you were going to name him Adam until you had him, right?"
Claire nodded. "Yeah, if we hadn't crashed, I probably wouldn't have named him."
Kate's head jerked up. "What? Why not?"
She felt almost ashamed five years later. "I was on that plane to take him to adoptive parents in the states. It was already set up for me, all I had to do was deliver."
Looking down at the boy now sleeping on her stomach, Kate touched his neck gently, then let her hand rest on his shoulder. She looked back at Claire who looked away, guilty. Kate knew that feeling well.
"You gonna wake him? Or should we move him somewhere more comfortable." She wanted to say for herself, she was leaned back awkwardly on the log. Claire lifted the boy up into her arms and began walking towards the beach. "Where you going?" Kate asked.
"Beach," Claire said, as if it should be obvious – because it was – and smiled. "We usually spend the day running around there, making sand castles. Sawyer gave us some kid books last week, we're starting to learn words now.
"You're teaching him how to read?" Kate let her brow furrow curiously as she fell into step with the woman and they made their way on the paths towards the beach. "He's barely five."
"When did you start reading?" Claire asked.
Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Kind of beyond the memory there. I guess five is a good age. Is he picking it up?"
"He's more interested in the pictures. Guess he's like his father that way."
"Char…" Kate started, but she raised a finger to the space between her upper lip and nose as Claire turned to look at her.
The other woman smiled. "His real father, was an artist."
Getting the impression Claire didn't want to talk about her child's father, Kate went back to talking about the beach and Claire started letting her in on tips for an easier pregnancy. It was strange for Kate, who'd gotten so used to only talking with the boys. The female she'd gotten closest to got herself knocked up and kidnapped. Kate found herself wondering who the father had been. She wouldn't know. Both Michael and Jin had disappeared into the jungle after Sun.
Jack emerged from the jungle to the edge of the caves first, dropping two loads of fruit onto the ground with a grunt. They'd made three trips. This one held his own bounty, not to be shared with the others. It was mid-afternoon and he reached into the bag to pull out a Guava fruit. He didn't particularly like it, but it was food. He'd learned to eat a lot of strange fruit since landing on the island. There were things they didn't even know the names of. Usually Walt named them.
They had Pringlies, Fart Starters, and Jack's new favorite – Peeinaball. Had enough juice to send anyone to the bathroom minutes after drinking from it. They were good for dehydration though.
"Man, ya'll do this every day?" Sawyer whined dropping his fruit on the ground next to Jack's. He collapsed onto a rock and took several long breaths. Jack reached into his bag and gave Sawyer a small green fruit.
"Eat this," Jack instructed.
"Dunno, I've heard the names of some of these. This ain't that fart one, is it? I gotta get a good night's rest after all this hiking and I can't sleep if I'm in the shitter."
Jack laughed. "Nah, it's a Grall."
"Grall?" Sawyer questioned.
"Green Ball. Grall. Walt said it sounded funny."
Sawyer pointed. "Now you see, that's what you get when you let a weird ten year old name the food."
"Just eat it and shut up." Jack smiled and glanced around. He was looking for Kate. They'd taken a quick stroll along the beach before heading back to camp, because he thought that's where she'd be, but the beach was fairly deserted. It would be dark soon, everyone would be back in the caves ready to sleep. A man reached for Jack's backpack and he almost growled at him.
"Sorry," the man muttered, limping away.
Jack lifted his bags off the ground and left Sawyer, going towards the cave entrance. He passed Claire as he went and raised his chin at her. "Hey, you seen Kate?"
Claire smiled and nodded, pointing to the farthest door. Jack's own. She followed him back, and he glanced at her, wondering why she was going after him, but when he pushed open the door he got it. Kate was sleeping with Adam. The little boy had his head on her shoulder and his arm draped across her chest just under her breasts.
"How long have they been out?" Jack asked Claire.
"Oh, about half an hour. We just got back from the beach."
He looked towards Kate again, at the red that spread across her cheeks and forehead. "What were you up to?"
Claire shrugged. "Usual. 'Cept I was resting under a tree while Kate did my usual. Running Adam ragged, and herself apparently."
Jack laughed. "Thanks Claire."
"I'd take Adam, but he seems comfortable. Is he good to sleep in here the night?"
Nodding, Jack entered. "Yeah, we'll bring him out in the morning."
He kicked off his shoes and placed the fruit down at the entrance. Pulling off his shirt and pants, Jack stood in his boxers a moment, letting the cool night air invigorate him again before pulling out several fruit. Looking up, he saw Claire had poked her head back in. "So you know, they caught some fish, we ate about an hour ago. Don't worry about her, I made sure she had her fill."
Jack grinned, "Good job, mom." She gave him a thumbs up and left again. He could hear Charlie entering the caves talking about the 'sodding boar' that chased him up a tree before vanishing into the brush. He laughed quietly, then turned, afraid he'd waken Kate, but she lay sleeping. He watched the rise and fall of her chest a moment and then went to join her.
Her stomach was thumping. It was something she was getting used to. Kate leaned against a tree and smiled, bringing a hand up to her swollen abdomen while watching the way the leaves swung in the breeze. It would rain in about thirty minutes, so she knew she had to get back to the campsite. Jack would be angry she was by herself. He didn't like her by herself, especially now that she was eight months pregnant and easily exhausted.
"Freckles, what you doin' out this far? Doc's gonna have himself a good ol' panic attack when he finds you missin'." Sawyer strutted out into the clearing, a smile playing on his face.
Kate watched the way the silver had meshed into his dark beard. She figured he was closing in on forty five now. Amazingly, his hair had remained the same sandy color it always had. He kept it longer now, pulling it back into a short ponytail. She often wondered why he didn't just keep it trim like Jack.
But if he kept it trim, she knew, he wouldn't think he was sexy. "Needed to pee," she admitted, not one bit embarrassed.
Sawyer gave a nod. He rushed to her side as she grunted, pushing off the tree. His hands held her back and elbow, supporting her. They all did that now, even though she didn't need it.
Kate smirked and pulled away from him. "I'm fine, Sawyer."
"Doc told me the baby's really kickin' now."
Nodding, Kate put her hands on her stomach again. "Keeps me up at night."
Sawyer shrugged. "What's it like?"
She stepped towards him, watching the panic flow across his face as she moved his hand to her belly. He concentrated, his dark eyebrows lowering as he bit his bottom lip. Then his eyes widened just a bit and the left corner of his mouth went up into a loopy grin. Kate laughed in response. "Never felt a baby kick?"
"I ain't never been around a pregnant woman before."
She gave him a look.
"What, ain't like I was jumping to help Claire when we crashed." He removed his hand and shoved it into his pocket. "Whole thing makes me nervous."
"Nervous? Why would you be nervous, Sawyer?" Kate began walking back towards the tree she'd been trying to get to. The one with the banana's. She was craving banana's.
The man followed. "What if you get hurt?"
"Doing what?" Kate asked. "I never leave the camp anymore. No one lets me."
"You left now."
"I was going to pee."
"We're pretty far off from the camp," Sawyer pointed out as she stopped at the tree.
Kate glanced up. Her mouth was salivating for it, but it was too high. The day before she'd tried to knock some down with a rock before Walt came out of the brush and screamed at her, thinking she was trying to climb a tree. He ushered her back to camp before she could tell him all she wanted was a stinkin' banana.
"Whatcha lookin' for, Freckles?"
She pointed.
"Awe hell, gotta be in a high tree. Can't want those stupid Pee balls that hang low, can you?" He smiled at her and grabbed ahold of a branch, climbing skillfully up and dropping the giant group of yellow fruit down to the ground.
Kate went towards it, grabbing a bright yellow one and pealing it open. She ate three before he reached the ground.
"Damn, girl, slow down."
"Hungry," she told him, shrugging and turning pink.
Sawyer looked back towards camp again. "We should get you mov…" something whacked him hard on the back of the head.
Kate gave a shout and dropped the fourth banana, looking at the man who stood there, staring down at Sawyer. She tensed, her legs bracing for a fight that never came because something large and hard thumped the back of her own head just hard enough for her to lose consciousness.
End Chapter 3