Chapter 10- In Time

Hey everyone, last chapter here. I'll let you take a moment to calm yourselves. Just Kidding. LOL! It's been fun, and I enjoyed every second of it. I hope you did too. I've mentioned before that this was my second fic and you were all very supportive with reviews. It has made 51 reviews for 9 chapters, which is really great. So, I'm taking this time to thank all of you for the reviews and your time. You have been great. Long live "LOST" and long live our favorite duo Claire and Charlie. AND J.J. CAN WE PLEASE SEE A KISS! JEEZ! LOL! Here's the last chapter of In Time.

A man walked to the front of the boat. "Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention." Everyone quieted down and turned their attention towards the tall, masculine man. He stood on a step, with two men standing beside him. One to his left and the other to his right. All three were in uniform. "Thank you… Your families have been informed that you are arriving and they are waiting for you as we speak. Everyone… you may exit the ship. Welcome home!"

People began storming off the ship into the arms of their families. Claire had gathered a list of numbers and addresses from the other survivors and quickly stuck it in her bag while she balanced Adam in the other arm. Charlie took the bag from her and kissed her forehead.

"You ready?" He asked slinging the bag around his shoulder as he pulled the other one behind him.

"Yeah." She said smiling down at her son in her arms. "We are totally ready."

"Alright luv, let's go." He said as they began to join the crowd of people leaving the ship. They eventually made it onto the actual ground of Sydney, and began to look around for any family or friends that had come.

"Charlie!" A voice shouted above the others. Charlie and Claire walked out of the crowd and sat on a bench. Charlie put down the bags and looked around for who had called his name. Liam emerged from out of the crowd and took Charlie into a hug. "Hey baby brother!"

"Hey Liam! Did you miss me?" Charlie asked pulling out of the hug and smiling at him.

"Of course I missed you! I thought you were dead!" He said putting his hand on his shoulders and looking him straight in the eyes.

"Well, I'm alive." Charlie said laughing.

"So I see… you look good. Clean… did you kick the drugs?"

"Yeah, Locke helped me."

"Locke?"

"Another survivor."

"I'm proud of you Charlie."

"He said that too." Charlie said with a laugh.

"I like this guy already, taking care of my baby brother."

"Yeah, but he wasn't the only one. Everyone helped each other out." Charlie motioned for Claire to come over. "Liam, this is Claire."

"Hello Claire." Liam said shaking her hand, smiling.

"Hi." She said returning the smile.

"And who's this hansom young man?" Liam said looking down at Adam in Claire's arms.

"Oh… this is Adam." She said smiling. "Would you like to hold him?"

"Yeah." Liam said as Claire placed the baby in his arms. "He's adorable." Liam said looking up at Claire with a smile.

"Thank you." Claire said watching Liam smile down at her son.

"So, are you two dating?" He asked looking up at them.

"Engaged actually." Charlie said wrapping his arm around Claire's waist.

"Wow, a couple months on that island really straightened you out baby brother."

"Well, it wasn't that bad. I had a lot of company." Charlie said smiling at Claire.

"Claire!" A man shouted waving his hand in the air.

"Thomas?" Claire said looking over at him. "I'll be right back." Claire said to Charlie as she walked over to Thomas.

"Claire, I'm so glad you're alright." He said hugging her.

"Thomas, what are you doing here?" Claire asked, not hugging him back.

"I came to take you back with me." He said smiling.

"Why?" She asked as her released her.

"I want another chance, Claire."

"You don't just get another chance whenever you feel like it. You know, you can't just walk back in my life an expect things to be how they were."

"Claire, we can start over. Have a whole new beginning."

"Thomas, you walked out on me, and now I'm engaged to someone else."

"To who?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I love you."

"If you loved me, then you wouldn't have left me."

"I made a mistake." He said, now yelling.

"Yes, a big mistake. One that almost made me give away my son."

"Our son." He corrected.

"No Thomas… my son."

"Claire, I'm ready to take care of you and our son. I'm ready to be a father. You can't take him away from me now."

"I didn't take him away from you. You left him, you left both of us."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but…"

"Thomas, we're through. Charlie and I are happy together." Claire explained calmly.

"I'm not going to let you and some jerk take my kid."

"Charlie isn't the jerk… you are."

"Like hell I am."

"Thomas, just back off. Charlie and I are going to raise Adam. The best thing you can do for him is to leave him alone."

"I'm not going to do that. Claire, I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

"For you to leave. I don't want to be with you."

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Claire. He's my son."

"You have no choice." Claire said beginning to walk away.

"You and our son are coming home with me, not some jerk you have known for a few months." He said grabbing her wrist to get her attention.

"Let go of my wrist." She said in a low tone.

"Don't do this." He whispered trying not to make a scene. Charlie looked over at the two of them.

"Excuse me, Liam." Charlie said with anger in his voice as he stormed over to Claire and Thomas. "What's going on here?" Charlie asked putting his arm around Claire's shoulder as Thomas let go of her wrist.

"I was just asking Claire to come back with me, but she seems to be refusing." Thomas said looking at Claire.

"Yeah, karma's a bitch." Charlie said nodding his head.

"She'll change her mind." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"You keep telling yourself that." Charlie said smiling. "You ready to go luv?" Charlie asked softly.

"Yeah." She said faking a smile.

"I just want my son." Thomas said yelling again. "I can't another girl as easy as you were anyway." He said, hoping to get a reaction. Charlie turned to look at him and punched him. Thomas fell to the ground and put a hand to his newly cut lip. He stood up and looked at the two of them. "This isn't over." He said walking away.

"Like hell it isn't." Charlie said in a low tone. He turned to look at Claire. "You okay, luv?" He said, taking her into a hug.

"Yeah." She said relaxing in his arms.

"I love you." He said kissing her cheek.

"I love you too." She said smiling up at him and lightly kissing his lips.

"You ready to go home?" Charlie asked taking her hand and walking towards Liam.

"As long as you'll be there." She said smiling straight ahead of them towards Liam.

"No need to worry about that, luv. You'll never get rid of me."

"Why would I try?" She asked stopping him and interlocking her fingers in his. She kissed his lips softly a few more times. They made it over to Liam and Claire took Adam from him. They went home to continue their life together.

THE END

I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Now you have read the whole story. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe a sequel will come out, but I'm but promising anything. Check out Hearts Grow Fonder as it comes to an end. Be looking for the sequel, which I will announce the name of in the final chapter of Hearts Grow Fonder.

I'm going to thank anyone who has ever reviewed the story. Please don't be offended if you only get a short note. I just write whatever comes to my mind.

SO HERE WE GO:

Christina B- Thank you so much for reviewing it was fun hearing from ya.

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