Alright guys, this is just a gap filler, seeing as it's shorter than I wanted it to be. However I have a load more deadlines over the next two weeks.
Unlike the children, Jack had a restless sleep that night. Every second he tossed his head from side to side, unable to stay in one position for too long, it was a miracle that he didn't wake the children at one point, yet they slept through the night oblivious to their father's nightmare. He was seeing things, confusing things that when he eventually awoke, left him confused and disorientated for a few moments.
He was back in on the island, standing on the beach. Kaia came running up to him, and tugged on his hand. "Dad, we've got to find him. We've got to find Curtis. She's going to do something to him if we don't get back in time."
Then he had seen Curtis sitting in a bath, his skin bright red, yet he was smiling up at him. The bathroom wasn't one he recognized. The room was filled tightly with so much steam that eventually it crowded over his eyes and when he reached for Curtis, he was gone, and his hands could only find the steam. Yet he could hear Curtis calling him. "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?" Then he looked to his side, nothing, then behind him, and saw Curtis being carried away from him by a blonde woman.
Then there was his mothers face. "You've got to move on, Jack." She told him somberly. "She isn't coming back."
Then, of course, was Kate's face. She was running towards him, and when he saw her, and heard her call out of him, he didn't hesitate in running towards her as she was to him. They got closer, and when they reached out to touch each other, he couldn't get to her. Their hands touched an invisible force that stood between them. It became a window, and suddenly he was looking at Kate with a phone held to her ear. "Help me." She begged.
Then he woke up.
The first thing that he heard was the sound of children laughing softly, their tiny voice chirping away to each other without a care in the world. He listened for a moment, trying to get his bearings from the dream before he attempted to open his eyes.
"No, not like that." Came Kaia's voice, laughing softly. "Through that hole."
"That one?" Curtis asked, his voice strangely muffled.
"Yeah, that's it!" Kaia said triumphantly. "Got it?"
"My arms stuck!" He complained.
There was a silence for a minute, while Jack wondered what on earth was going on, and then Kaia spoke again. "That better?"
"Thank you, Kai." Curtis said.
Jack's curiosity got the better of him, and he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything but the ceiling above him. His face felt damp with a cold sweat, and he wiped it away with his wrist, taking a deep breath. He looked over, and saw the two children standing in the doorway that lead to their bathroom. The pile of clothes that had been on the dresser next to it was lower than usual, and Jack noticed straight away that this was because yesterday's clothes and their nightclothes were strewn across the floor around them, and they were dressing themselves … by themselves. It explained why Curtis was getting his arm stuck, and he realized that Kaia must have helped him to get his arm through. Both were wearing a pair of jeans, and both wearing matching red sweatshirts. Kaia was just pulling hers on over her t-shirt, and after a small struggle, got hers over her head. She pulled the rest of her hair through over her shoulders and let it hang down her back.
Jack couldn't help but smile at the scene. It was always a good thing for a parent to see their children working together in normal tasks. Of course, he had seen them working together on the island. There were always times when they were running around in the sand, and during the time when Curtis had began taking his first steps, Kaia was always there with him at his side when he walked between Jack and Kate, and she would help him up when he fell down. Even if he stumbled she would reach out and steady him, or sometimes he would reach for her to stop himself from unbalancing. When Jack had started to teach Kaia how to look after simple scratches and cuts if he wasn't around at the time, something he taught both her and Aaron, Kaia listened intently. Once when he and Kate were coming back from a walk when the kids had been left with Sawyer, they came back to Sawyer spying on them, and upon closer look, they saw that Curtis had received a cut on his arm when they were playing up on the golf course with Sawyer, and Kaia was using some of Jack's supplies, cleaning the little cut and covering it for him.
Although it was cute watching the children, Kaia went and did something extremely unexpected after she had finished with her hair. She went around to all the clothes on the floor, and picked them up. Curtis picked up the small things, like socks, that had slipped through her tiny hands, and together they piled them all up, somewhat neatly, beside the clean clothes that were still in a pile.
"See." Kaia said to Curtis. "Daddy will be so pleased when he sees what we did."
"Then he won't be sad anymore?" Curtis asked.
"I don't think so. Usually when Mom's sad, she feels better when Dad does something that helps her." Kaia explained.
"How does this help him?" Curtis asked.
"Well, now when he wakes up, he won't have to do all of this." Kaia said happily.
"Oh." Curtis said. "Okay."
"Told you."
"Kai?" Curtis asked sweetly. "I'm hungry."
"When Daddy wakes up, we can go have some breakfast."
"Don't worry, guys, Daddy's awake." Jack announced.
The two kids came over to where Jack was now lying awake and jumped onto the bed laughing. "Dad!" Curtis called as they did so.
"Did you two clean up for me?" He asked.
"Yeah. Kai said you won't be sad because we helped you." Curtis said. Jack looked around, the clothes had been put away, and all of their toys had been put to one side. Kaia had even brushed her hair. Kate normally fought tooth and nail to get Kaia to allow a comb through her hair.
"Good idea." He said, and was silent for a minute. They came closer to him cautiously. Then, Jack jumped, roaring playfully and they screamed happily, leaping off the bed.
Jack chased them around the room for a while, before the three of them went up to breakfast. That's when they had been told the news. They weren't docking that evening anymore. They were docking at noon.
What happens when they dock?
Will Kate actually be coming back?
What does the start of Jack's dream mean for the future of the Shephard family?
