Chapter 51: I Don't Like Mondays
Monday morning came, and with it, followed Kate's nerves. Jack had tried to keep her calm through the weekend by keeping her busy. They had taken the children to the zoo on Saturday, and introduced them to all the different animals they had only ever seen in books. On Sunday they had an early breakfast and took them to the beach, spending the day on the sands. It was a good day, one they needed to remind them that even though their home had changed, they didn't need to be truly rid of it.
However, now, the day of Kate's trial had come: the day that she had feared the moment she had caught sight of that dot in the sky that Michael had pointed out to her and Claire on the beach. She stood in the hotel room, dressed in a new suit; black trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket. Jack had already told her that she looked beautiful, but she had responded by telling him that she didn't need to look beautiful when she was walking to her doom.
She held Curtis to her, who she had dressed in blue demin jeans and a a blue t-shirt. He had a sweatshirt on as well, as the weather looked just as miserable as Kate felt, and she didn't want him to be cold. Kaia was dressed the same, matching blue jeans and the same red sweatshirt as her brother, just in a bigger size. With Curtis settled on her hip, and Kaia standing obediently at her side, resting her head on her side, she couldn't help but give in to the fear that pulsed through her.
"Mommy?" Kaia asked quietly, her voice cutting through the silence in the room like a knife.
"Yeah, angel?" She replied, trying not to reveal the quivering in her voice, but it was a useless attempt. Her voice was shaking as much as her hands were.
Curtis touched her hand. "Your hands are all wobbly." He told her, sounding confused.
"That's because Mommy's scared." Kaia told him.
Kate stroked Kaia's hair, and leaned down to give her a kiss. At that moment, Jack came out from the bathroom. He was wearing a suit as well, but had taken off the tie when Kate told him that he looked like he was going to a funeral. He came over to her, and kissed her cheek whilst she looked at him sadly.
"Mommy's scared, Daddy." Kaia said quietly from her place beside them. Jack stroked her hair as Kate had done a moment ago, and nodded, before turning to Kate again.
"I know you're scared." He whispered. "I'm scared too." She leaned her forehead against him, letting out a heavy sigh, and blinking back the tears that appeared in her eyes. "We're going to be okay."
She nodded against him. Curtis looked around the room in confusion. "Is Mommy going away again?" He asked strangely.
Kate couldn't answer that. She couldn't explain a possible prison sentence for murder to a two year old. So she did the only thing that she could do. "Momma loves you, Curtis, you know that?" He nodded. "I love you with all my heart, and I never ever want you to forget that."
"I don't need to forget that, Mommy, 'cause you're going to be here, right?"
Kate raised her eyes from Curtis to look at Jack, and then looked back down at her son. "Curtis, baby, today is a very important day." She told him. "Now, do you remember what we told you about being naughty?"
"Naughty people get punished." He remembered obediently.
Kate nodded. "That's right, sweetheart. You see, a long time ago, Mommy did something naughty, before we lived on the island, and today, some people are going to decide whether or not Mommy gets punished for it."
Curtis understood, and nodded. "But, it won't be for long will it?" He asked her. "Will they just tell you off or take away your toys?"
Kate sighed. If only it were that simple. "I hope it won't be for long." She told him.
"What if it is for long?" He asked her.
"If it is," She started, telling him what she had told Kaia when she toweled her off after her bath that morning. "If Mommy has to go away for a while, I want you to help your sister look after your Daddy, okay?"
"Kaia told me that Daddy won't be sad if we help him. We tided our room and got dressed all by ourselves on the boat." Curtis told her.
Kate gave him a smile. "That's good, honey." She told him. "Because Daddy will tell me that he'll look after himself, but he won't." Jack looked down beside her, knowing that she was right. "I need you to be a big, brave boy, and make sure that Daddy remembers to eat dinner with you, and make sure that he eats it all up."
Curtis nodded. "I'll be a big boy, Mommy." He told her.
Kate passed Curtis to Jack, after giving him a big kiss and a cuddle. Then she went down to Kaia's level on the ground, giving her a cuddle.
"I don't want you to go away again." Kaia complained quietly, playing with Kate's hands in her own. Her fingers fiddled with the new engagement ring on her finger.
"Me neither." Kate agreed. "Do you remember what I told you last time?" Kaia nodded, and Kate stroked her hair, her hand trailing down the side of her face. "Good girl. Kaia, honey, I want you to have something." Kate reached into her pocket, and pulled out a necklace. It was a gold chain with a golden horse pendant on it. "My father gave me this yesterday, and I wanted to give it to you. This necklace belonged to my Mom, and when I was about your age, she gave it to me, so I think now it's your turn to have it. It's very special, so I want you to take good care of it, okay?"
"I will, Mommy." Kaia nodded firmly, and Kate placed the necklace around her neck. "And when I'm a Mommy too, I'll give it to my little girl." Kaia said, causing Kate to smile sadly, not wanting that development to happen whilst she was in prison.
There was a knock at the door, and Kate straighened up. It was Charlie and Claire. So many people wanted to come to the trail, that there was no one to stay behind to watch the children, so they were all going with them. They had been told already that they needed to be on their best behaviour and not shout out.
Things happened so fast. One moment, Kate was standing in the doorway, taking in every detail before her. She watched how Kaia raced down the hall with Aaron, trying to imprint every inch of her in her mind. She watched Curtis holding on to Jack, but most of all, she watched Jack. She stared at the face that had given her so many smiles, so many happy memories. She looked at his hands; hands that had delivered her two children, hands that had roamed every inch of her body. She gazed at his lips, those wonderful lips that had taken her breath away every day she was with him. She didn't want to go to prison and end up forgetting his face.
Next, she was in a car. Sawyer was driving, and they all sat together in the back of the car. Kate finally came to a decision, and spoke out in the silence.
"Jack?"
"Yeah, babe?" He asked her as he turned his head up from where he was watching Curtis staring out the window
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "If something goes wrong today...I want you to keep on." She told him, and he looked at her in confusion. "I want you to go and buy a house, to put the kids in school, but most of all, I want you to give them Christmas." She told him. "They deserve a real Christmas this year, with the tree, the presents, all the traditions. I want them to have that."
He squeezed her hand which he had already been holding. "They will have that." He told her, and kissed her. "So will you."
It was November 23rd. Kate hardly thought that if she got sentenced, she would be home for Christmas, but she nodded all the same.
When they got to the courthouse, they found that most of the others were already there. Immediately, Kate was led away by the guards, and she said goodbyes to Jack and the children, already getting teared up. She tried not to look at the others, who all gave her the sympathetic looks which begged for her to get off altogether. She was led into a side room, where she was to await her lawyer, and during that time, the others would have all entered the courtroom.
Eventually, the smartly-dressed man she knew to be Ben Leonard, her lawyer, entered the room.
"Kate Austen?" He asked, shaking her hand. She nodded. "Jack was right, you are beautiful." He complimented, and she managed a smile. "Don't worry, I'm going to do everything I can and more to get you back to him. He got me out of a few spots in high school, I more than owe it to him to get his fiancee out of a tight spot."
"Thank you." Was all Kate could say. She was standing beside one of Jack's oldest friends, and whilst she was waiting to be led into a courtroom, all she wanted to do was to stand there and ask Ben questions about Jack. What had he been like in high school? The same as he was now? Was he a rebel? Did he know how he got the tattoos?
Before any of the questions could leave her mouth, they were called into the courtroom. Kate looked around her and gasped. The room was filled with people who knew her.
The front row, behind where she would be sitting, was accomodated by Jack and the kids, her father, Jack's mother, who was keeping the children entertained, Charlie, Claire and Aaron, Shannon and Sayid. Behind them were Sawyer, Ana-Lucia, Michael, Walt, Sun and Jin. Behind them were Hurley, Steve, Faith and Libby. The rows of seats were filled with the survivors of Oceanic 815. It reminded her of how much things had changed since the time when Sawyer had first outed her as a criminal.
As Kate stared at the people supporting her, Ben led her over to where she would be seated, and poured her a glass of water. She would have done so herself, but her hands were shaking. A hand appeared on her shoulder, and she didn't have to turn to see who it was, but she did anyway.
"Jack." She murmered.
"It's going to be okay." He told her. "I love you, forever and for always."
"I love you too." She replied.
"Don't worry, mate," Ben winked at Jack, "Your girl's in good hands."
"All rise for the honourable Judge Wilson." A cop called from the side of the courthouse.
Everyone stood up, only Kaia was rather slow on the uptake, and by the time she had stood up, the judge had also taken his seat and it was time to sit down again.
"We are here today to decide the case of Katherine Austen." He began. "The offences are as follows: Theft, attacking a police officer, resisting police force, breaking and entering, and murder."
That last word sent shivers down her spine. Murder. She was on a murder charge. She was a murderer.
How the hell was she going to get out of this one?
A/N: Sorry this update has been slow. The next few chapters might be just as slow getting up because I've got a lot going on at the moment, so because I can't write regularly, I'll be writing as and when I can. I'm going to take that opportunity to write the rest of the chapters of this story, and possibly plan a sequel, that way, if I can get a good enough storyline, I can do one. The more I can get written ahead, the quicker I can update later on.
