Pangs of Guilt

Chapter 36

Patriarchy

Jack sighed; he was ten feet up in a giant fruit tree, tenderly picking mangoes for Kate. She was having cravings for them recently, and he wanted to be ready incase she had any tonight.

He was feeling guilty about reprimanding Kate like that, but he was worried about her and the baby. She should be taking it easy, but he knew she wanted to spend as much time with Maverick as possible before the second baby was born.

He reached for the smooth fruit and stared at it momentarily while he tried to fathom how all this happened so fast. Two years ago he would've been single Dr. Sheppard, with no children. He had a luscious apartment, a great car, and brought in more then two-hundred thousand dollars a year.

But he was miserable, lonely and thought that his life really had no meaning. Sure he saved people and operated on them and got to see the ecstatic faces of their family members when the surgery went well, but what about him? When was he supposed to start a family, find the women he'd loved more then life itself.

He placed the fruit in his bag and climbed down from the tree, deciding on spending the afternoon with Kate and Maverick rather then working. Commencing climbing down the tree he was interrupted by Locke's voice.

"Jack!" his yell tore through the serene quietness of the early morning jungle.

Jack climbed quickly to the ground, his fingers coursing over the rough bark of the mighty tree. As if scheduled Locke and Boone ran though a path of bushes to Jack's left, Jack hurriedly approached them.

"Are you guys okay?" He questioned, his eyes scanning looking for any noticeable injuries.

"No man," Boone huffed. His hands were on his knees and he was leaning over slightly, "It's Kate."

"What?" Jack questioned dropping his bag, "What about Kate!"

"Jack, she went into labor at the beach, Sawyer brought her up to the caves, and in my experience, she isn't looking to good," Locke informed desolately.

Before he barely finished the sentence, Jack shot through the shadowing trees, to the direction of the caves.

"What do we do now?" Boone asked regaining his stature.

Locke picked up Jack's bag and tossed it over his shoulder, "We've done all we can, it's up to him now."

Kate insensitively suffocated both Claire and Charlie's hands as another contraction swept through her. It had been fifteen minutes; Claire timed the distance between contractions in her head, and thought it best not to tell Kate, that if Jack didn't get there soon, someone else would have to deliver the baby in inexperience.

She released the strangled hands and sighed as she sat back against the gathered pillows, closing her eyes as she gasped for air. Then after a few seconds brought her hand up to her stomach and rubbed it lightly.

"Just get some rest Kate," Charlie suggested as he patted her hand, "You've got a long afternoon ahead of you."

Kate didn't answer; she seemed to have drifted into a light blissful sleep. Claire looked over to Charlie and shook her head, "Charlie," she whispered quietly, "This baby's coming in less then fifteen minutes," Claire explained.

His eyes grew large and round with concern, "But last time it took her seven hours!" he whispered loudly, then turned to Kate and was relieved to see she was still sleeping.

"She must have been having faint contractions yesterday, and didn't realize it," Claire suggested, "All I know is that if Jack doesn't get here soon, someone else is going to have to deliver this baby."

Charlie looked up from Kate, "Not me," his voice cracked. Claire raised an eyebrow to him, "What happened to you being able to deliver a baby if you could do drugs?" she asked playfully. "I meant your baby," he murmured.

"Guys," Kate whispered weakly as she started to rub her stomach again, "Something's wrong."

"No Love, I promise Jack will be here soon enough," Charlie stated calmly as Claire replaced the rag on Kate's head.

"No," Kate started as she grabbed the blanket beneath her and scrunched it up in her balled fist. She sat up quickly and grabbed her stomach, "Something's wrong with the baby," she wheezed before she fell lifelessly back to place.

"Kate?" Charlie asked as he shook her limp arm, "Kate wake up."

Claire quickly grabbed Kate's other arm and checked for a pulse, which she gratefully found quickly and with ease. "She still has a pulse," they both paused for a moment to watch Kate's chest rise and fall. "She's still breathing," Charlie offered.

"Charlie, what if something happened to the baby?" Claire asked nervous and frightened.

"We need to get her awake," He stated gravely as he began to call her name and shake her arm. Claire gently patted the side of her face, but neither had luck, "What do we do now?" Claire asked, tears visibly welling in her eyes.

Charlie sighed, "We pray Jack gets here fast."

"Where's mama?" Alex asked as he looked up at Shannon from his toy car that he plowed through the dirt with. He watched intently as he drove it through the soft soil of the cave, and laughed amused at the lines it left from the tiny tires.

"You're mom and dad are busy for a little while," Shannon explained as she bent down and adjusted Alex's tiny baseball cap, "But Sayid and I are here, so if you need anything just tell me," she reassured.

"Nah," Alex dismissed the fact that he needed anything, and began to drive his car across the ground before them. Sayid chuckled at his naïveté.

Maverick stood against the log gripping it beside where Shannon was sitting, in between her and Sayid. She didn't make a noise as she stared at the cave her mother had been taken to.

She pointed to it and made some small sounds, indicating that she wanted to see her mom. Shannon picked her up and held her, "Sorry, but your mommy's busy right now," she disclosed gravely but held a smile to comfort.

Maverick leaned into Shannon, placing her head on her shoulder, and kept watching the cave until she started to fall asleep from keeping her eyes open so long. Sayid grabbed a blanket and spread it across the ground where Shannon laid Maverick to sleep.

"Are you sure you can wait to have one of these?" Shannon asked sitting on the ground before Sayid. His arms wrapped around her and he smiled, "I can wait for anything, as long as it's with you."

She leaned up to kiss him, but Jack emerged from the jungle, sweating and out of breath, yet he didn't hesitate a moment, "Where's Kate?" he asked coughing for air. Sayid sat up and ran to him, "Take a second to regain yourself my friend," he suggested as he handed Jack a bottle of water.

Jack agreed and stood for a few seconds, then gulped down the water, "Where is she? Is she okay?" he asked quickly.

"She's in your cave, she only came here twenty minutes ago," Sayid explained as Jack ran off to his cave.

"Kate," Jack called as he entered the cave, "Kate I'm here." He stopped short in his tracks when he received no answer form her and Charlie and Claire sent their worried looks his way. "What's going on?"

"Kate passed out a few minutes ago," Claire explained desolately, "We've been trying to wake her up, but haven't had any luck. Her contractions are a minute apart and she was complaining that she was tired and the contractions were to strong."

Jack moved to in front of Kate, Lifting up the blanket that covered her, and her dress, Jack sighed, "We've got to get her awake, she's fully dilated and the baby's coming. If she doesn't push he'll get stuck and he could get an infection," Jack explained.

He moved and placed his hands on Kate's face, she was burning up, "Kate, Kate, you have to wake up," he told her tenderly, "Kate, come on," he pleaded with her. She let out a quiet, painful moan which got Jack back on track.

"Claire hand me that bottle of water," he asked as he stroked Kate's cheeks, "Kate, please, open your eyes," he begged.

She cautiously opened them to tiny slits, "Jack?" she asked weakly. "Yeah," he smiled, as he grabbed her hand, "Yeah it's me."

"I'm sorry I went to the beach," she apologized as he helped her sit back against the wall.

Claire passed him the water, and he gave it to Kate, "Don't worry Kate, but you've got to deliver the baby, you're fully dilated," he spoke as she took a drink.

"Jack," she said quietly, "He's," she paused and look away to the ground, "He's not kicking anymore."

"He could…" Kate interrupted him with a fit of pain, her respirations increased ten fold, her face turned beat red as she gripped Jack's hand hard, the comforting words he whispered not having any effect.

"Claire, take Kate's hand," he instructed, as moved to stand in front of her again, "Make sure the cloth on her head is always wet, otherwise she could overheat and pass out again," Claire nodded in comprehension and rewetted the rag.

"Charlie, find the scissors, a lighter, and a clean blanket," he coached, as he reached into a near by bag and found a pair of gloves again.

"Okay Kate, when I tell you to, push as hard as you can," he declared calmly to her, she nodded her head and Claire grabbed her hand, bracing herself. "Push," Jack instructed.

Déjà vu came to Kate's mind as she seemed to relive Maverick's birth all over again. Though this time she was much more frightened, her baby hadn't kicked for almost an hour, not since that big boot on the beach.

All the frenetic feverish actions going on inside the cave seemed to be dulled and muted out. Jack screaming for her to push and Claire's friendly encouragements seemed to progressively become hushed, soon the only sound Kate could hear was a rhythmic heartbeat, thumping in her ears.

She didn't feel the frostiness of the clothe as it was replaced on her inferno consumed skin. She didn't notice Charlie trip over Jack's backpack and fall onto the ground, nor did she see Claire rolling her eyes.

She felt her body begin to tremble, as quakes jaunted though her, she felt herself becoming weaker as pain tore through her, like strong hands slowly ripping a flimsy piece of paper. Her strength was diminishing quickly as was her ability to stay focused, she saw Jack speak to her, but she didn't hear a word he said.

She pushed again, knowing that if she had to repeat the action, she wouldn't be able to. Claire pushed her back to relax against the mountain of airplane pillows that had been so quickly gathered for her. She closed her eyes and felt the sweat trickle down her forehead, in a slow ticklish manner.

Slowly the hectic pounding heart that she recognized as her own subsided and the sounds of the cave came back. She felt the soothing frigid rag replaced on her head and she sighed. Jack asked for something, she wasn't sure what, but Charlie gladly obliged.

A few more words were exchanged, then she heard Charlie and Claire leave the cave, presumably going to check on Alex. Maverick, Kate instantly thought, She doesn't understand what's going on, she must be terrified.

"Kate," she heard Jack call her from close by. She opened her eyes and he sat against the wall beside her, with a small bundle in a beach towel in his arms, "Meet the newest addition to our family," he introduced the baby to her as she sat up.

Before Kate understood what was happening a happy sob had escaped her as she held on to the tiny child in her arms. He was premature, like Maverick, but not as small, and he looked much healthier compared to her at birth.

"Is he okay?" Kate questioned as Jack inched closer to her, "He's a he right?" she questioned again. Jack chuckled as he wound his arm around her and kissed her hair, then leaned his cheek against her head, "Yeah, he's a he, and he's fine."

"We never thought of a name for him," Kate reminded, Jack thought for a moment but came up with nothing. "What about your father's name?" Kate suggested, "You said he passed away in Australia."

Jack smiled ruefully, it seemed like so long ago, "His name was Christian, but that seems more like a middle name to me," he enlightened.

Kate nodded and looked back down at the newborn, his eyes were closed and he was sleeping peacefully at the moment, she brought up her finger and stroked the side of his tiny face.

"What about your brother's name, the one that took care of you," Jack suggested, Kate looked up at him and a smile played on her lips as she mentioned his name, "Liam."

"Sounds like a good first name to me," Jack divulged. Kate shook her head in agreement, "Liam it is."

"Liam Christian Sheppard, born April twelfth at 11: 07 in the morning," Jack stated, "He's nine months and fourteen days younger then Maverick."

"Maverick should be in here," Kate explained as she adjusted Liam as he began to whine, "She needs to meet her baby brother."

"Her little brother needs to be fed," Jack declared as he got up, "I'm going to tidy up a bit before I bring her in, I don't want her to see the mess you made," he smiled. Kate sent him an unimpressed smile, and began to nurse Liam.

Yes I am aware that Charlie's brother is named Liam too, and that the baby is named Liam, but you know what? I like that name, so I named the baby Liam.
Ethan: You should've named it Ethan