A/N: -Takes a deep breath- Man it's good to be back. Well, I posted three chapters today as a Christmas gift to all of you! Hope you enjoy them! I'll be posting soon. Review!

The Storm-Part 2

The rain pelted against everyone's skin. It was really coming down. Everybody was gathered in the caves with their few belongings as to escape the rapidly rising tide. No one seemed that worried about the storm – even if it was the worst one they'd seen in a long time.

And although Jack didn't show it to Casey or anyone else, he was extremely worried about the fact that Aaron and Taylor weren't back yet. She'd left the beach over and hour ago to find him. She'd reassured Jack that she'd be back in the caves as soon as she retrieved her husband.

'It's alright. She's a smart girl. She knows what to do if anything happens.' Jack repeated the statement over and over in his mind. Trying to bring himself so comfort. It didn't work.

000

Taylor was soaked to the bone…literally. Every part of her was drenched to the skin. Her hair clung to her face, as her cloths did to her shapely body. She held herself as she walked, trying to stay even the slightest bit warm.

"AARON!" She called out in vain. She'd been looking for hours or at least it felt like it.

It wasn't long after she left the beach that she realized the sick feelings she'd been having since that morning were actually labor pains. Now they were much worse and she tired to stay focused for her sake and Aaron's. She wasn't about to go back to the caves without him.

"AARON!" She called again. She quickly leaned against a tree for support as another pain gripped her. She bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, causing rain droplets to run down her face. She clung to herself in a desperate attempt to keep the pain at bay for just a little while longer.

As the soreness passed she yelled again for her loved one. "Aaron!" She yelled but with not as much gusto as the last plea.

It was then that she heard rustling in the bushes--besides the rain. Hope filled her as she thought it might be Aaron. Her hopes were soon realized when his figure came into view. She sighed heavily and wanted to cry in relief.

He looked at her happily but with much confusion and asked her why she was there.

"I came to get you. The storm is really bad and the tide is rising. We tired to get everyone back to the caves so we could all be together." She yelled over the rain, which was now pummeling both of them. She was still breathing heavily from her last contraction and Aaron took notice of it.

"You alright?" He asked with concern.

She nodded her head in response. "Uh-huh. Just need to catch my breath is all." There was a pause between them and Taylor smiled at something. "The parents came back."

Aaron smiled widely and walked through the rain over to his wife. He hugged her gently and smoothed out her wet hair. He pulled out of the hug to kiss her.

"I'm sorry." She said simply.

"For what?" He asked pulling her back in to his hold.

"For being so…stupid lately." She snuggled up to him. "I didn't mean to ignore you. I love you. I guess I just assumed you knew that. But, still. I shouldn't have treated you like that…"

"Shh…," Aaron cut her off. "Don't worry about that now."

"We should get back to the caves." Taylor said making a general observation. Aaron released her in response and picked up his backpack. It came unzipped as he flung it over his shoulder. With a curse or two he bent down to pick the few things up.

"Can you hold this?" Aaron handed a compass behind him to Taylor. He thought he felt her take it from him but he heard it hit the soft muddy ground. He turned to see what had happened.

Taylor hadn't grabbed it. She was leaned back up against her tree, clutching herself with her eyes shut. She mumbled something under her breath that Aaron couldn't understand. She then let out a noise close to a whimper.

"No…," Aaron whispered to himself. "You're not alright."

000

"Has anyone seen Aaron or Taylor?" Jack was beyond the point of worry. They'd been gone for almost two hours and the storm was just getting worse. The wind had picked up and the rain just kept falling harder.

"No." Someone replied to Jack question. His eyes scanned for someone to help him. He suddenly stopped on Walt. He was sopping. 'He must have just been out in the jungle? Maybe he's seen them.' Jack thought with possibility.

"Walt!" The young black man looked up at him. "Have you seen either Taylor or Aaron? Or better yet…have you seen both of them?"

Walt shook his head. "No, but I'm going back out there anyway. I'll look for them." Jack didn't want to leave camp and he didn't want Walt to anymore but he was way to worried to let them go.

They agreed that Jack should stay at the cave, incase they came back, and Walt would go out and search for them. Strange but it Jack some ease knowing Walt was involved.

000

"Here, here." Aaron took Taylor by the shoulders and helped her to sit down on a rock at the opening of a small near by cave. "I should get your dad." He said as if it had just hit him.

Taylor rocked back in forth in a mad attempt to relieve the pain. She nodded fiercely. "Dad would be good right now." Her voice was breathy. Aaron immediately took off.

'No.' He thought. Her turned back to her. She was still rocking herself with her eyes shut. "You're dad is going to want to know how far apart they are." He mentioned referring to her contractions. Her eyes opened and she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"'Bout five, six minutes apart." She said hesitantly. The husband turned around to leave again but then took it back all over again.

"I don't want to leave you like this." He was squinting because of the rain. He didn't want to be away from her.

"JUST GO!" She yelled at him. With the fear of god put in him, Aaron sprinted in the direction of the caves.

He looked behind himself one last time. She was still sitting there. He didn't know what to do for her. But getting Jack was the best thing. He'd know what to do.

He redirected his attention to ahead of him. With all of the rain falling he couldn't tell what was in front of him. He slowed to a safer pace as to not hurt himself.

000

"Jack? What's going on?" A worried Casey came up to her husband who was just kind of doing nothing at the moment. "Where's Taylor? And Aaron for that matter? And another thing…where is Walt going?"

Jack took her by the shoulders so she would be quiet. He looked at her very seriously and her mouth instantaneously shut. "Walt went looking for Taylor and Aaron."

"What?" Casey said frightened for her offspring's safety. Jack just nodded.

000

Aaron stopped and rested his hands on his knees. He'd been running for a few minutes now and his side was giving out on him. He sucked the air in and exhaled with force trying to get a rhythm going. He failed.

"Aaron?" The man looked up from his spot at who ever called his name. It was hard to see for the rain but there was Walt. Relief washed over Aaron when he saw him. The camp wasn't far.

"Walt! You have no idea how glad I am to see you. Listen, I need you to do me a favor. Back that way…" Aaron pointed behind himself with his index finger. "Taylor's there. She's in labor and I'm going to get Jack. I should be long. I just need you to go and sit with her. Can you do that?" Aaron didn't give Walt a chance to reply before he took off running again.

Walt was left standing in the rain trying to process what his friend had just asked him to do.

He began walking back in the direction Aaron had pointed and contemplated going after him. 'No' he finally decided. He would go help Taylor.

000

Taylor had scooted back to the back of the cave. It was fairly shallow and she could still feel the wind from outside from where she was but it was out of the rain. She had shed her jacket and shoes so she was more comfortable. God only knew she needed all the help she could get.

She leaned her head back on the cold rock wall and shut her eyes gently, trying to rest. She breathed deeply and evenly trying to stay calm.

She was starting to relax. That was good. Taylor let herself go; her muscles started to unwind and she was getting a little warmer. It felt nice. 'Now, if only it'd stay like this,' she thought sarcastically to herself.

Footsteps startled her from her restful state. Her eyes fluttered open and saw Walt coming into the cave. She pushed herself up a little more so that she was more equipped to talk. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"Your frantic husband sent me. He's going to get you dad." Walt smirked. He'd never been a very emotional person so Taylor took that as a sign of hilarity. She giggled to herself at the image of her Aaron running through jungle looking for help. Her laughter was cut short by another shooting pain.

"It…it sounds like him." She said quickly in response to Walt's statement through clenched teeth.

Walt, who was more than out of his element, made his way to Taylor's side. He didn't know what to do but instinctively picked up her hand and placed it on his. She held onto him with a death grip and it hurt like no one would believe but it was helping Taylor so he really didn't care.

000

Aaron had found the camp and was now screaming for Jack.

"Jack!" People's heads turned and looked at him like he was insane. Everyone was so crowded he at the caves that Aaron found it hard to see and move as fast as he wanted too. "Jack!" He called again.

"Aaron?" Someone called in response. It was a woman's voice. Casey no doubt.

The two met up and gave each other a much-needed embrace. Aaron didn't realize how much he'd missed Casey over the last few months.

"Aaron what's wrong?" Casey asked soon remembered the urgency in his voice.

"Oh!" Aaron snapped back into reality. "Um…Taylor's in labor. Walt's with her. I came here to get Jack. Now I can't find him. And the storm isn't helping. And…I'm scared Case." Casey couldn't help but smile at the young man.

"It's alright. I'm sure Walt has everything under control. I'll help you find Jack." She took his hand and they looked around the camp together.

000

"Ow." Taylor voiced as another contraction finally ceased. She ran her hand over her active stomach. Her legs were covered with a blanket that Walt had conveniently packed in his backpack. They were lucky it wasn't wet.

Walt had also built a fire, so that they both had a chance to dry off. Taylor had an overwhelming sense of relief, mainly because he was there.

"How are you doing?" He asked quietly.

"I'm hanging in there." She said breathlessly. There was a silence between the two. It wasn't uncomfortable…just quiet. Taylor exhaled heavily. "Thank you for staying with me Walt."

He looked up at her. What else was he supposed to do? Leave her. Go about his business like nothing was wrong. He smiled. "You're welcome."

"Taylor!" Her eyes darted to the entrance of the shallow cave. There was her father and husband.

She sighed in relief. "Thank god." She whispered under her breath.

Walt watched as Jack went to work as being both doctor and father to the girl, while Aaron went all…husband-ish. Walt had witnessed many births on the island and he thought that it was funny because all of the father-to-be's acted the same; Aaron was no exception.

000

Walt just sat and listened to the baby cry. He sat closer to the entrance of the cave, away from all of the hubbub. It was a girl. A beautiful baby girl. It was very befitting for Taylor and Aaron; Walt had always seen them having a girl. He smiled at the thought of having a new baby on the island.

He glanced at his side. The rain had stopped. Walt smiled to himself. He didn't want to take the fact that the storm had passed right as the child was born as an omen but he couldn't help but have a funny feeling about her.

"A girl." Aaron whispered. "My daughter."

"My granddaughter." Jack added happily. He looked to his other 'daughter' and smiled. He kissed her forehead quickly and affectionately. "I'm proud of you monkey." He stated admirably.

"Thanks Pop." She closed her eyes and still for a moment. She could hear the soft cries from her daughter and nothing else. That means that the storm was done. Relief was the only way Taylor knew how to describe what she felt. She had a healthy baby girl, the storm had passed with few complications, her parents were back, and…she had a healthy baby girl. Life didn't get a lot better. "I'm really tired." She exhaled lightly.

"You have a right to be!" Aaron joked making faces at the infant in his arms.

Jack smiled at the new parents and glanced over toward the entrance of the cave. Walt was sitting there, just staring out into space. He decided to keep the young man company. "I'll leave you guys alone." He told the two, then got up and walked to Walt.

Aaron followed Jack with his eyes. He was an amazing person. But his daughter, his wife, was even more amazing. And for that he bent down from where he was sitting next to her and kissed with all of the love he had.

"What was that for?" Taylor asked with a smile.

"Just because." He answered simply. There was a long silence before it dawned on Aaron that they had no name for the new baby. "You know, Tay…we have no name picked out."

"You're right. Did we even talk about girl names?" She propped herself up so that she could face Aaron when she talked. "I guess Logan Aaron is out. Huh?"

"Not necessarily." Taylor looked at him strangely. What are you talking about?" She asked confused.

"Well, who says we can't name a girl, Logan?" He stared down at the girl in his arms for the millionth time in two minutes. She looked like a 'Logan'.

"Alright. Logan it is. But Aaron is still a boys name." She remarked.

"Not if you spell it differently." Walt piped. Aaron and Taylor's heads turned simultaneously to the older man standing over them. He sat down at Taylor's feet, with a broad smile on his face; those were rare. "If you spell Aaron 'E-R-I-N' it's a girls name."

Logan Erin. Taylor grinned. It was still the same name both of them loved enough to agree on just…altered slightly. She liked the loophole and said the name out loud for everyone to hear. "Logan Erin."

"Sounds like we have a name." Jack who had slipped into the conversation mentioned.

Taylor smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I guess we do." She gently took the baby from her husband and held her close. This feeling of happiness that she thought she was never again have after her family left (which she still had a bone to pick with the parents about) was back. With the little warm bundle, known as Logan, pressed against her, her father and husband and good friend sitting next to her made her feel as thought she were as light as air; and she was never letting that feeling go.