The ending of this chapter throws in another storyline before this ends...but not as you might think. I was writing this thinking that it might end soon because I'd covered everything but nope...Silly me forgot one of the most important storylines. Sighs Whatever will I do without people to remind me. However, as the ending isn't all that happy, I thought that I'd give some fluffy Jate first :D
Chapter 50: Sweet Dreams
When Jack was finally allowed back into the hotel room with the kids later that day, he was surprised to see not a single spot of mess in the room. He had expected, after hiding out with Charlie, Sayid and Aaron all afternoon, that the room would be filled with food wrappings and beauty products, judging by what Charlie had told him about these "girly thingamajigs". As he was eventually let back into the room, he nearly collided head on with a grinning Shannon.
"Hey. Good day?" He asked casually.
"Brilliant." She grinned. "And Jack, I never knew you could be such a sweetheart." She cooed, patting him on the cheek like a well behaved child as Claire, Sun and Libby came over as well.
"What?" He asked curiously. What had Kate told them exactly?
"What you did was so……..cute!" Claire almost squealed.
"Okay, whatever it was that I did, can we please not use the world 'cute'?" He asked them with a soft laugh. "I'm a man, I have my pride, and we are certainly not 'cute'."
"Whatever you say." Libby shook her head. "I'm surprised you don't have a fan club, Jack. Hundreds, no, millions, of willing women flocking to your doorstep."
"Okay, first off, what have you guys been talking about all day, and second, fan club or no fan club, the only woman who I want to be willing on my doorstep is Kate." He pointed out to them.
The girls all went "aaww" for another time, and Shannon patted him on the shoulder. "That is what we've been talking about all day." She confirmed. "See you later!" She said as she and the others said their goodbyes and left.
"Daddy…why would women be willing on your doorstep?" Kaia asked when the door had closed.
"Because they want autographs, baby." Jack covered up without thinking, definitely not explaining to her what Libby really meant after narrowly avoiding the 'where to babies come from?' talk only a few days ago.
"Oh." Kaia said, and seemed satisfied with this, until another question popped up in her mind whilst Jack was removing Curtis's new coat from his shoulders. "So, you only want Mommy to have your autograph?" She asked.
Given what Jack really meant by this conversation compared to what Kaia meant, he had to let out a small laugh. "Autographs are special things, Kaia." He told her, noticing her struggling to get her arm out of her sleeve, and went over to help her. "And so is your Mommy."
"Okay." She nodded, having got enough explanation, and Curtis tugged on Jack's trouser leg.
"What's up, little man?" He asked his son.
"Watch TV?" He asked in his cute voice that Jack was unable to resist.
"Sure." He said, going to switch the set on whilst the kids crawled onto the couch.
He wondered whether it was normal for his kids to have adapted to the television after only a week, but then decided that if it was making them happy in the new environment he wasn't going to argue. After all, it wasn't like they were becoming zombies from it, they were interacting with each other as they sang along with any songs that came along. They liked to sing, probably an interest they had picked up from Kate singing to them all the time when they were going to sleep.
"You kids stay here for a minute, I'm going to go check on Mommy." He said as he went over to the bedroom.
"Okay." They replied in unison.
Jack smiled and went into the bedroom, peeking his head around the barely-open door to see Kate laying in bed with her eyes closed, a peaceful smile on her face. He knew from the smile that she wasn't asleep, but he crept over to the bed as silently as he could. He stood beside her, smiling softly at the expression on her face. This day had been good for her. The past few days she had been restless and searching desperately for things to do, but now she looked happy and content to sit there feeling relaxed.
"I know you're there." She said, still smiling but without opening her eyes.
Jack laughed gently. "What, are you psychic now?" He teased her. He sat down on the edge of the bed before her, watching as her eyes opened slowly.
"I always know when someone's watching me." She told him. "And I can always tell whether it's you or not."
"How?" He asked.
"Because if it's someone else, they'll stay for a while, being quiet, and then they'll go. When it's you, you'll stay for longer, and you'll be trying to be quiet, but I can hear that little breath you let out when you smile." He did this as she said it, not purposefully though. "Yeah, that one."
He leaned closer to her. "If you didn't look like such an angel when you were asleep, I wouldn't have to smile." Their lips met, and her arms wrapped around his neck as he parted her lips, deepening the kiss. He knew she wouldn't argue to that - she never did.
As they broke apart, Kate sighed sweetly. "I hate it when you do that." She muttered with a laugh.
"Why?" He asked with a smile, knowing exactly what she was going to say because she told him at least three times a week.
"Because it makes me feel like agreeing to anything." She said, finally opening her eyes and resting her forehead against his.
Jack raised and eyebrow and smirked. "Anything, huh?" He asked slyly. She nodded, grinning softly. "A guy could have fun with that." They kissed again, and as Jack's hand rested on her hip, caressing the skin exposed there lightly. He laughed, and pulled away from her lips. "And here's me thinking you were wearing jeans." He smirked.
"I was, I took them off a second ago." She said. "Just before you came in here."
He gave her a strange look. "Why? Because you knew that I'd come in here and want to lock the door straight away?"
She smiled. "Well, you did say that you'd make this worth my while." She reminded him.
Jack went in to kiss her again, but didn't allow the kiss to deepen this time. "Kate, as much as I'd like nothing better than to get the rest of your clothes off and not leave this room until tomorrow morning, you do realise that our kids have the amazing ability to interrupt every single time." He pointed out.
She gave him an evil smirk. "Then it's a good think that I have a plan for that." She nodded, and on cue, there was a knock on the front door. "Go answer the door." She told him, kissing him chastely before he went.
Curiously, he went to the door, wondering what was going on inside that little head of hers, and realising that within a few minutes, he would probably know. As he left the room, Kaia was running over to the door.
"I'll get it!" She called out.
"Kaia, stop." Jack told her, and she turned to him just before she got to the door. "Can you tell me who's on the other side of the door?" He asked her.
"Uh…no." She answered.
Jack smiled but shook his head. "Then you wait for me or Mommy before the door is opened, don't you?" He reminded her and she nodded. They had gone through this new routine that morning when once again, Kaia had opened the door to the hotel staff or a complete stranger. So now they had the understanding with her that unless she could tell them specifically who was at the door, she couldn't open it herself.
Kaia stood by and waited whilst Jack opened the door. "Uncle Sawyer!" She cried as she saw who was standing on the other side. "See, I knew who was there!" She protested to Jack.
"But you couldn't tell me." He pointed out. "What can I do for you, Sawyer?"
"You can give me your kids." He grinned, pointing to a collection of sleeping bags over his shoulders and Aaron standing beside him.
Jack laughed at the sight of Sawyer with children's sleeping bags over his shoulder. "Oh, Sawyer, a slumber party? Were you jealous of the girls having one today and not you?" He teased.
Sawyer smirked. "If they can sit around with their friends and eat junk food then I can sit around with my friends and eat junk food." He said proudly.
"They're kids, Sawyer." He reminded him.
"Heck, I may as well be." He shrugged.
"You got talked into this, didn't you?" Jack realised.
"After being confronted by a lot of women earlier I was told that tonight is Mommy and Daddy's night, so babysitting duty doesn't change because of where we are now." Sawyer revealed. "Even if Mohammed and Sticks aren't Mommy's and Daddy's yet, if they keep at it, they will be soon. Besides…what better reason for me to be childish than to hang around with a bunch of kids?" He grinned.
The prospect of spending a fun night with Sawyer was definitely inviting to the kids, and within five minutes, the kids had been in to see Kate and say goodbye to her before they left, and not long after, Jack leaned against the closed hotel door, and grinned to himself. It was 5pm…Sawyer had told them that he would bring the kids back tomorrow afternoon.
For one second, Jack actually considered calling Sawyer an angel.
"Jack?" Kate called from the bedroom, and he went willingly to the door. Standing in the doorway, he stared at her, and put his hands on his hips.
She was now wearing a t-shirt, one of his button up shirts, and a sweater over the top, and knew from this that he probably had her jeans back on as well. "Is there a reason why you've put more clothes on?" He asked her strangely.
She grinned at him. "Because I know how much you love to take them off." She said innocently.
Jack crossed the room and within seconds, had all of the clothing except their underwear on a pile on the floor. He had to admit that Kate knew all the right ways to tease him, but it never took him long to reverse the situation and bring her to his complete mercy.
"So…why was Shannon telling me that I was 'cute' yesterday?" He asked, trailing a hand up and down her bare back.
Kate laughed, wide awake in the early morning light. "We were telling stories about our guys." She said innocently. "Like you said we would."
Jack raised a curious eyebrow. "Nothing embarrassing, I hope." He checked.
"I told them a nice one, a really nice one. A special one." She told him.
"What one would that be?" He asked.
"The one about how we got together." She smiled, and he felt her lips curve against his naked chest. "I can't believe that in ten years, no one knew how we got together." She said with a gentle laugh.
"Me neither." He said, kissing her. "Besides, it wasn't 'cute'." He protested.
"No, it wasn't." She agreed, looking up into his eyes. "It was special, just like you wanted it to be." She smiled.
Jack was about to say something when a distant knock at the door interrupted him. Frowning, wondering who could be calling so early, he slipped out of bed, pulling on his boxers and jeans, and went to the door, opening it to see the hotel receptionist there.
"Forgive me, sir, I didn't mean to call so early, but they insisted that I deliver the message immediately." He said awkwardly.
"What message?" He asked.
The receptionish handed over an envelope. "For Ms Austen." He said, even though Jack had read Kate's name on the front of the envelope already.
"Thank you." Jack said and closed the door. He went back into the bedrooom, and handed it to Kate. "Letter for you." He shrugged, and she opened it curiously.
He watched as her face changed from curious, to worried, and then she started to bite her lips with fear. She reached the end of the letter and let out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"Kate?" He asked her softly.
"What day is it?" She asked quietly.
Jack thought for a moment. "Friday." He answered. "What's wrong?"
She handed him the letter and he read it. "My trial's been moved because of my health." She explained as he read it. "It was meant to be two days ago. It's been moved to Monday…after my bed rest is up." Jack looked up at her, into her scared eyes that begged him to hold her. "I'm going to jail, Jack."
He gathered her into his arms, and she held him tightly. "Kate, I promised you that I was never going to let you go." He reminded her. "That's not going to change now. You're not going to jail. I won't let them take you away from me again."
