Hello to my faithful readers! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, and I am SO sorry that it took me so long to finish it. I was in a major case of writer's block, but I eventually just gritted my teeth and got through it! Thanks for sticking with me this whole time and being so patient, and I hope you enjoy the LAST CHAPTER of Heartbeat! Please review after you've read it; it means a lot to me!
Chapter Four
Does she like blue or pink?
Charlie was surprised when he realized that he didn't know if Claire liked blue or pink, or what her favorite color was, or anything about her color preference, and was even more surprised when he realized that he really didn't know much of anything about Claire at all. This could have been partially do to the fact that many of his conversations with Claire consisted mainly of Claire talking while he stared at her, too mesmerized by her beauty and charm to retain anything she was saying, but filling the lulls in her chatter with an offhanded 'uh-huh' to divert suspicion.
But there really wasn't any hurry, Charlie told himself as he gathered handfuls of both blue and pink flowers. After all, Lord only knew when they would be rescued, if they ever would, and if everything went well when he got to the beach, he and Claire would soon be getting to know each other a lot better.
The very thought of it made his heart skip a beat. He was finally going to do it. He was finally going to tell Claire how he felt about her. He could only hope that Jack was right about the way she felt about him.
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"Good afternoon, Claire."
She turned her gaze away from the baby nestled in her arms to beam up at a bashfully grinning Charlie.
"Hello, Charlie. Are those for me?"
Charlie looked confused for a moment before Claire indicated the bouquet of flowers clutched tightly in Charlie's hand, causing him to blush and stutter slightly.
"Oh, yeah. That's-that's right. I, um, I picked these for you."
"Thank you, Charlie. They're beautiful!" said Claire, shifting her baby to one arm, so that she could take the flowers from Charlie. Claire smelled them briefly before standing up with Charlie's help and carrying the flowers into her small shelter to set them down on a small wooden table that Locke had made for her.
Claire plopped back down on the sand outside her shelter and rocked her little baby in her arms, humming softly a tune that Charlie failed to recognize. He shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other before taking a seat next to her in the sand.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly, resting his arms on his knees.
Claire stopped humming and for a moment the only sound was the roar of the ocean.
"Exhausted," she admitted with a sigh.
"I could watch after the baby for a while if you want to rest," Charlie offered, knowing perfectly well that he was stalling to get to the inevitable.
Claire considered for a moment, gazing down at her beautiful baby boy before her face broke into a smile and she replied, "That would be wonderful, Charlie."
She gently handed the baby over to Charlie, kissed him briefly on the cheek, gently brushed her fingers across her baby's face one more time, and went back into her shelter to rest on her makeshift bed.
Charlie looked down at the small bundle that had been placed in his arms. It's skin was soft and smooth, white as cotton, and two of its chubby fingers were in its little pink mouth.
Charlie slowly moved one of his shaking hands up the baby's body so that it rested directly on top of the left side of the baby's chest. The tiny heartbeat drummed against his fingers, so soft, yet so strong. So full of love and trust. The baby didn't know anything yet. It didn't know about Charlie's past. It didn't know about all the bad things that Charlie had done, or even the bad things that Claire had done. All it knew was trust. Nothing but trust for everything and everybody around it.
A tear fell on the baby's cheek. Through watery eyes Charlie could see the baby open up its beautiful blue eyes, take its fingers out of its mouth, and smile at him.
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"How was your nap?"
"It was great. Thank you so much Charlie. I really needed that," replied Claire, taking her baby back from Charlie's arms.
"It was my pleasure. Hey, do you want to take a walk? We can take Turniphead with us."
Claire looked bewildered.
"Turniphead?"
"I just thought maybe we could call him that until you decide on a name, because his head sort of looks like a turnip."
Claire laughed.
"Sure. Let's take a walk along the shore here."
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"Claire?"
"Yes, Charlie?"
They had stopped at the end of the beach and were standing just far enough towards the ocean that the waves occasionally lapped at their ankles.
The cool ocean breeze was rippling through Claire's wavy blonde hair and blowing it into her face. Charlie reached over and tucked a piece of it behind her ears, letting the palm of his hand linger on the side of her face.
"Claire, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now. As a matter of fact, I probably should have told you already. I've been putting it off for far too long."
He took her hand gently in his before continuing.
"I want to take care of you, Claire. I want to protect you. And I don't just mean from all the crazy things on this island. I want to help you whenever you need me. I know I've done some bad things in my life, but I want to move past that. Right now, all I want is to be there for you and the baby every single day. And not just while we're on the island either. If we ever get rescued, I still want to take care of you both. I love you Claire, and I always will."
"Oh Charlie," Claire whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. "There's no one else in the world I would want to take care of me more."
Charlie wasn't sure what he thought kissing Claire would be like, but he was sure that he never could have possibly imagined that it would be like this.
Claire's lips were warm, dry, and slightly chapped. They felt soft and delicate against Charlie's own lips.
The kiss was short, and quite chaste, but it made Charlie's heart pound against his chest, the sound of it so loud and so deafening that Charlie thought there was no way Claire couldn't hear it too.
But, then again, Charlie thought as he gazed into Claire's beautiful blue eyes, maybe it was Claire's heartbeat he was hearing. Or perhaps it was the baby's heart pounding. Perhaps, just maybe, the tiny baby could feel the passion that was rushing through the air between Charlie and Claire.
Or maybe it was all of their hearts; all three of them pounding together in perfect, steady rhythm, all full of love, longing, and hope for the future.
And somehow their heartbeats were telling them that from this point on, everything would be the way it was supposed to be.
The End! Thank you so much for reading, and please review!
Love, 3
Lindsay