As I promised, double chapters! Yeah! It's twins! The chapters are twins, not Claire's baby(s), anyway if you're not completely confused by now, read on!
Pangs of GuiltChapter 9
Is She, Or Isn't She?
"Jack!" Charlie called as he ran into his cave.
Jack looked up from sifting through what medical supplies he had left. He looked at the man before him, Charlie was out of breath and panting, he could seem to catch his breath.
Jack shot up from his spot and rushed over to Charlie, trying to steady him, "What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's Claire," replied smiling, "She's having her baby."
"What?" Jack answered shocked, "Okay, okay, I'll need some clean blankets, a lighter, and a pair of scissors."
"What are you planning on doing, Man?" Charlie exclaimed.
"That blankets are to dry off and wrap the baby in, the lighter is used to sanitize the scissors for when I cut the umbilical cord," Jack explained rushing out of his cave.
"Jack," Kate shouted as she saw him leave his shelter, she ran up to him, "Jack, I…"
"Kate, I really have to go, Claire's having her baby," He explained leading her to Claire's cave.
"Can I help at all?" Kate asked.
"You might be able to help comfort Claire," he suggested.
The entered the cave, the early morning sun provided good light into the cave. Claire lay sprawled against the wall with Charlie at her side.
"Oh, am I ever glad to see you, Jack," Claire explained. Her face contorted and rouged in color.
"How far apart are your contractions?" Jack asked.
"They're two minutes," Charlie explained, "I've been timing them."
"Well, looks like the little guy's finally going to make an appearance," Jack explained. He was referring to the fact that Claire's baby was almost two weeks late. Jack had told her not to worry though, firstborns usually came a little late.
Jack checked Claire, "Alright, you're on your way," he added, "I'm just going to go outside and wash my hands."
"Charlie," Claire cried, "I'm scared."
"Oh, don't worry, Love, you'll be fine," Charlie consoled as he grabbed and held her hand.
Kate sat down on the other side of her, and grabbed her remaining hand, "Don't worry Claire, we're all here for you, and Jack knows what to do."
She smiled in return to Kate's comment, but the thankful look was immediately wiped away when another contraction came.
Jack returned when he heard Claire scream; he started to put sterile gloves on.
"Where did you get those?" Kate asked confused.
"I have a limited number, which I plan on only using for births on this island," he answered her, the other's thought the answer was humorous, but Kate knew the real meaning. Kate blushed immediately, but Claire began pushing at that time, so no one in the cave was focused on her.
Jack was ready to deliver the baby, as Charlie and Kate were on the brunt side, receiving strong hurtful grasps from Claire. She was screaming as tears fell down her face.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Charlie asked concerned for Claire.
"Yes, all fathers' have to learn how to deliver babies," Jack answered concentrating on Claire.
"Fathers'?" Charlie asked confused.
"I mean doctors'," Jack corrected.
Kate looked off to the distance, until she felt Claire tug at her sleeve and grasp her hand hard, Kate looked down at her.
"Kate, promise me something," Claire, asked calmly.
"Sure," Kate nodded grasping her hand back.
"Never have a child!" Claire screamed as another wave of pain tore through her.
'Never have a child?' Kate asked herself. The words echoed through her mind over and over and over again. Like they were put on repeat. She sighed and looked down at Claire and whispered to herself, "a little to late for that."
After one long hour of pushing, Claire was rewarded with her child.
"Congratulations, Claire," Jack smiled as he held up the child drying him with a blanket, "It's a boy."
"It's a boy," she smiled, tears escaping her eyes.
Jack turned to Charlie, "Do you want to cut the umbilical cord?" he asked smiling.
Charlie smiled and looked at Claire, "I want you to Charlie."
"Okay," Charlie agreed, and took the sterilized scissors and cut where Jack told him.
"You did a good job," Kate congratulated Jack, "Especially with limited supplies."
"Thanks," he smiled as she entered the cave and sat beside him, "They should get some sleep now, because when the baby wakes up, he's going to want a lot of things," he paused, "What did you want to tell me before?"
She sighed, they hadn't talked of the possibility of a baby since the night she stopped him from asking questions. She didn't want to deal with it, because at first she couldn't fathom being pregnant; she thought maybe she was one of the lucky percentages who don't get pregnant.
But once she had gotten sick on the beach that day, she knew she was. She also thought Jack knew she was; yet neither of them were willing to come forward and admit that they knew. Both were waiting for more evidence, other then the nausea and vomiting that plagued her oftenly.
Now here they were, trapped in quite a complex maze. The others would soon know, and things she could do would become limited. But overall she was afraid, afraid for their child, what if it wasn't strong enough for the island? What if they got rescued, would Jack take her with him? Here he was on the same island with her, and she had barley seen him in two weeks.
"Kate?" Jack asked as he lifted her chin to meet him. Jack hadn't spent much time with her in the last two weeks, not as much as he usually did. But by the look in her eyes, he knew what was wrong.
He sighed and pulled her closer to him, "It's going to be okay."
"Sure it is," she replied as warm fat tears slid from her eyes, she had made a promise to herself, that she would never need Jack to give her false comfort like he did the others, that promise had long since been broken.
He held her head close to his chest, "We'll get through this Kate, I know we will."
"Really," she cried, as she buried her head into his shirt, trying to forget the mistakes she'd made, "What make's you so sure of that?"
"Because I love you," he didn't hesitate to answer; she pulled away from him, looking into his eyes for a brief moment.
"I love you too," she replied, surprised by her own words. She did love him, what worried her most about the pregnancy, wasn't the baby, but the fact that he felt this was a mistake.
She leaned back against him; this was how it was meant to be. Her and him, Kate and Jack, soon to be plus one.
He mussed his hands through her curls; "I guess it wasn't easy seeing Claire today."
"Nope, especially after she told me not to have kids," Kate answered.
"That was just the pain talking," he chuckled.
"I guess I have a lot to look forward to," she said sarcastically, then added, "I don't want to tell the other's, I'd rather have them figure it out on their own. I don't want to be like Claire was. No one wanted her to help because they were afraid she was going to get hurt. I couldn't stand to be benched."
"All right, but no doing anything dangerous," he asked.
"Do I ever do anything dangerous?" She asked him back.
"Well, you ran into the jungle at night by yourself, got yourself chased by a monster, fell down a hill…"
"Okay, okay, nothing dangerous," she promised.
"And no climbing," he told her.
"Okay," she closed her eyes, "I promise."
There you have it, so fluffy it makes cotton candy and dryer lint look like shredded glass!
And now that you guys have reviewed I figure I outta thank you guys individually (And not be so rude/lazy/etc) So… (I'm starting with recent reviews, so sorry if I don't thank you specifically but you know you got some love coming your way)
Freckles-101 Yes Jack and Kate are awesome, I'm just fathoming how long it will take for reality to clue into the writers sigh, by the by I love your name ;)
Lara Chubb of DeephollowYou were my first reviewer! Thankies for getting the ball rolling. And yes Jack was mad, and I'm glad Charlie gave him a backhand with his tongue. And it made sense to me…I think…
MizSniz I will
I will
I will
And yes, very soap operatic
Sailor-Sara-Moon I will update more often, I promise, I was just coloring lol, have to give my writing senses a break, 'cause I'm in the middle of a very, very, very, very, VERY important scene, probably the most important scene ever made! In this story that is…
MusicMonkey88 LOL yes, very much like Linus, I'm not quite sure if he made it into that sports coat though…
Thefragile7393 I adore you all (everybody) so far! And I will keep updating quickly
JasmineHR Maybe Kate is Preggers (or Preggos they both mean the same thing, I think…) maybe she's not, I'm not telling (Although this chapter just told you.. But you didn't hear it from me, you heard it from them!) And I can assure you they find out interestingly enough, maybe not on a happy note… cue angsty music And yes I did leave you with a cliffhanger, only a lil' one though, there will be far greater! And men do have PMS it's a proven fact. Lol and your response is longer 'cause you did a double time and wrote 2 reviews!
Evermore a thank you on my interpretation (that is a long word!) on angry Jack, hopefully he's gone for a while and we can just have cuddly Dr. Captain Pilot Hero jack back for a lil while
Gqsecondact Thanks very much for the fav, and the kind words. No one's told me I'm a good writer before, so now I guess I know although I'm better at writing humor then angst. I'm trying as hard as I can to stay in character, but sometimes you gotta slip and make them say something stupid.
Well we're officially 1/3 the way through what I have SO FAR, but you know, my life is, reading, writing, drawing Lost. I'll update tomorrow but I'm sorry to say I can't on Wednesday, Lost (duh) is on, and I have to write my review for it which takes a good chunk of the night (I add pictures lol) so I might do a double update on Thursday if homework permits (crosses fingers SNOW DAY COME ON!)
Next Chapter- Oh if you thought you've seen angst, like Bachman Turner Overdrive said, 'You ain't seen nothing yet' There some Sawyer and Kate interaction, and when push comes to shove, let's just say that maybe Kate didn't keep her promise…