Having finally managed to pry Kaia's mind away from dogs for ten seconds, Jack made his way up to the fifteenth floor. Kaia and Curtis watched with wide eyes as the elevator came with lights that flashed down on the numbers, both of them counting down together, and Curtis going just that little bit slower so that he could copy whatever number his sister announced yet. Inside, asked many questions. Why was the door closing with no one pushing it? Why were they in the little room? Where were they going? What was that buzzing sound?
After a long ten minutes of questions about where they were, what this did, and why, Jack finally managed to get the two children into their room. It was immediately better than the one on the boat, even though that had seemed like heaven before hand after spending so long on the island. But after a few days, the once comfortable mattress there had begun to show its lumpy side, and the once plumed pillows needed to bit punched several times to get comfortable with again. This room, at first glance, however, was a palace in comparison.
The first room that they walked into had their few bags over by the couch, which was a large three seater with an armchair to the side of it, in the same rich green colour as the walls. Hanging from the ceiling above that was a small chandelier that wasn't on at the moment because rays of sun were streaming in from an open patio door which led to reasonably large balcony area for them. Instead of the small window in their last room on the boat, this suite had windows facing outwards all over the wall opposite them, giving a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour in the near distance, and the sea stretching out behind it.
Kaia immediately went over and tested out the couch by jumping on it, and then quickly composed herself when she saw another - and considerably bigger - television opposite her, framed into the wall. The widescreen wonder kidnapped her attention and she sank down into the large cushions of the couch and just sat, transfixed by it. Jack pressed the on button when it was clear that she wasn't going to start looking for it, and now that the picture on screen was so much bigger than before, he hoped that this meant she wasn't going to sit three inches from the screen all the time. Curtis crawled up beside Kaia and watched what appeared to be the news, talking about a car accident on a highway up to the north of Australia which had included a lot of cars.
Jack decided to take a look around the rest of the suite while they were occupied safely, and first found himself wandering into the room to the side of the television. It turned out to be a double bedroom. The large master bed in the centre with a matching bedside table, each with a matching lamp and a reading light above the bed. Everything in the room was symmetrical, and so picturesque. Off of that room was another door, leading into an en suite bathroom, with a large bath, and a shower in the corner.
Going back into the main room, he discovered that this housed the lounge and kitchen areas together, with clean marble surfaces and a shining silver sink. On top of the counter was a peice of paper with addressed to Jack, so he read it.
Dr. Jack Sheppard.
To make your stay at our hotel more enjoyable and comfortable, please do not hesitate to inform a member of staff of anything that comes to attention that you may require through. In the downstairs facility of the hotel, there are indoor activities for the children free of charge should you and your family wish to use them...
He stopped reading there, as Kaia called over to him.
"Dad, is this our new house?" She asked him. "Are we going to live here?"
Jack put the letter back on the worktop and looked up to see Kaia and Curtis leaning their arms on the top of the couch, watching him intently. It was the kind of moment that you'd want a picture of.
"Just for a while," He said to them. "Then when your Mom comes back we're going to get one all on our own." He said.
Kaia's face fell a bit.
"Without everyone else?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, but we'll still see them."
"But we won't be sleeping near Aaron anymore?"
"Can't we play on the beach anymore?" Curtis asked.
Jack sighed and went over to them. "Guys, don't worry. We'll see Aaron and the others all the time. And you wait until you see Sydney's beaches."
Kaia and Curtis looked at each other. "Who's Sydney?" Curtis asked. Kaia shrugged, and they looked back at Jack.
"Sydney is a city. The city that we're in now." He told them.
Kaia cocked her head to one side. "I thought we were in Australia..." She mused wit a cute confused expression on her face.
"We are." Jack told her with a smile.
"But then how can we be in Sydney as well?" Kaia asked, getting more and more confused by the second.
"Because, Sydney is in Australia." Jack said.
"Oooohhh!" Both children said in understanding of where they were now. "That's confusing." Kaia told her dad.
"You'll get the hang of it one day." Jack said, ruffling her curly hair.
"So, we're going to live in Sydney?" Kaia asked, actually knowing where Sydney was now, and that it was a place, not a person with a collection of beaches.
Jack nodded slowly. "Probably." He didn't know for sure. Maybe Kate would want to move back to the states, if she could stand to get on a plane again. He wasn't sure if he could.
"Is Aaron?" Kaia asked. Jack had been waiting for that question.
Curtis starting singing. "Kaia and Aaron sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."
Kissing. Probably the only word that Curtis knew how to spell every time he tried. That was Sawyer's fault. He had started that song off.
"Stop it!" Kaia moaned.
"First comes love...then comes marriage...then comes Kaia with a baby carriage..." Curtis continued. Then for the first time in his life after singing that song, he also got a confused expression on his face. "What's a baby carriage?"
Jack was going to answer him, but there was a knock on the door that interrupted him. Kaia immediately jumped up and ran to the door but Jack called out to her. "Kaia! What did we say?"
"When the door knocks that someone wants to come in?" She asked.
"No. You're not allowed to open the door unless you can tell me who it is." He had needed to make this rule after she had, on countless times on the cruise ship, opened the door to a complete stranger and started to have a conversation with the cruise attendant, or worse, the marshals.
"But.."
"No buts, wait for me."
Jack crossed the room, and then opened the door, with Kaia at his side, curiously. It turned out that Kaia wouldn't have known who it was, and that it was a hotel attendant.
"Good afternoon, Sir." He said. "I'm told to inform you that this even in the hall there will be a reception dinner and musical entertainment for all the survivors and their families."
The attendent couldn't have been more than twenty, probably a college student. His monotonal voice sounded like he was trying to remember a speech that he had to get word for word otherwise he lost his job. Jack was taken aback.
"Our families are coming?"
"Many of them are flying in today, sir."
"Oh...alright then." Jack nodded.
"It starts at 7.30." The attendant said, and then left them.
Jack closed the door and, once again, was met with questions.
"Dad, are we going to a party?" Kaia asked.
"We've been invited to a big one, yeah." Jack said, leading the little girl over to the couch and sitting down between her and Curtis.
"Can we come?" Kaia asked him.
"You bet. You two are guests of honour!" Jack told them to make them excited.
"Wow..." Curtis said, then got confused again. "...What's that?"
"A special person." Kaia told him.
"But, there's someone there that you're going to meet." Jack told them. "If you she comes, you'll get to meet your Grandma."
"Who's that?" Kaia asked.
"You're Grandma is my Mom." He explained.
"You have a Mom?" Curtis asked.
"Do you have a Dad too?" Kaia asked again.
"I used to, but he's gone away now."
"Where did he go?" Curtis asked.
"He wasn't very well, and he died." Jack told them.
Kaia frowned. "But when we get sick, you make us better?" Kaia reminded him.
This saddened Jack, reminding him how that he wasn't there when his father died. He knew that Christian had a drinking problem, but he had never known that he was so close to a heart attack. "I know, but I wasn't there when my Dad got sick." He said softly.
"But then he's in the sky with Vincent right?"
Oh, the day that the children learned about Doggy Heaven. It was a shock to everyone, especially Walt when the healthy labrodour simply wouldn't wake up one morning. Walt had been inconsoluble for days. Kaia and Aaron had been confused as to why the dog who chased them around and played with them wasn't moving, and Curtis had only just been born, but knowing there was sadness in the air. Everyone had become attatched to the dog over the years.
"Yes," Jack said, "He watches us and makes us safe."
"Does he like Curtis and me?" Kaia asked.
"Yeah, he loves you both very much."
He was sure that his father would have loved his grandchildren. They were smart, and beautiful, curious and yet no different from a child growing up in a real civilisation.
"Does Mommy have a Mom and Dad?" Curtis asked.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, but her Mom got sick like my Dad."
"So she's in the sky too?"
"That's right. She watches over your Mom, and makes sure that she's Ok." Diane had passed away shortly before the plane crash.
"Is she watching her now?" Curtis asked.
"Of course she is. They're watching all the time."
"How do you know that?" Curtis asked.
"Because I'm your Dad, and I know everything." He said seriously. "Now, what do you want to wear tonight to the party?"
Kaia smirked. "I thought you knew everything?"
There is nothing more deflating to a man's ego than being caught out by a five year old. "Let's go find Aaron, yeah?" He suggested, changing the subject before she tried to find another weak spot in his armour.
