Summary: James & Juliet are now married, and James still lives to make Juliet happy. He's smuggled another gift onto the island for her, but Juliet has a surprise that may be their best gift yet.
Takes place in 1978, a 100% fluffy epilogue for the (eventually alternate/canon-divergent) Dharmaville continuity started in 'Blue-Eyed Kitten', and continued in 'Her Island Family' and 'Already Home'.

Rated T for innuendo.


Berry Patch


Laying on her back in a sunny clearing, Juliet closed her eyes and listened to the birds chirping. The blanket beneath her was damp, like the rest of the jungle around them, fresh from a summer rain. But she wasn't worried about the weather. She was used to it by now. She was more concerned with the company she kept, and how he'd told her he had a surprise.

James propped himself up on one elbow and made sure her eyes were shut tight. Without taking his eyes off her, he reached into his knapsack and took out a small container of raspberries.

Sometimes Juliet wondered exactly what James had to do to get all these special gifts for her, shipped in from the mainland on what was supposed to be a secret and very limited submarine supply run. Then she remembered he could charm the fish out of the ocean if he wanted to. He'd gotten past all of Juliet's deepest defenses. Procuring a little basket of fruit was nothing to him.

They grew berries on the island, but Juliet said they didn't taste right. So James had taken it upon himself to get some real ones for her, from her hometown on the mainland of the USA.

"Now open your mouth."

Juliet's eyebrows furrowed, and she kept her eyes and mouth closed. James laughed.

"Come on," he said, pleading in his most charming drawl. "You trust me, don't you?"

Juliet snorted, and her body shook with giggles. Of course she trusted him, just not when he said it like that .

James leaned down close. His lips brushed her ear, and his breath tickled her neck. It spoke to Juliet's endless patience that she didn't tackle him and pin him to the ground right then and there.

"Open your mouth." he said quietly.

Every single fish. Right out of the ocean.

Like she'd eventually done with the eyes, after giving him an appropriately difficult time convincing her, Juliet obeyed. Her lips parted cautiously. She was unsure why she was so nervous about this. James had never put anything in her mouth that she didn't want there.

James took a single raspberry out of its tiny box. He moved slow, making her wait. Eventually he touched the berry to her bottom lip. Her jaw moved, mouth opening a little wider, anticipating James placing whatever was between his fingers onto her tongue. He let it linger. She could already smell its sweet scent. Her tongue crept out, searching for the exact location. She wouldn't mind having James' fingers in her mouth too.

He watched her taste it. He felt her mouth surround his fingertips for just a moment as she took it from him. When she opened her eyes, she caught him staring at her mouth, looking hungrier than she was, and not for the homegrown raspberries.

James smiled softly, his gaze flicking up to her eyes as she chewed. "Do these ones taste right?" he asked.

Juliet nodded, savoring the first taste before she swallowed. "Yeah." she whispered, licking her lips afterward. She tilted her chin up, asking for a kiss. James leaned down, and got a hint of raspberry when he kissed her lips.

"Mmm." James smiled again. "Tastes right to me, too."

Juliet reached for him, placing her hands on his neck and shoulders and lifting herself up to a seated position so she could wrap him in a warm hug.

"Hey, the game's not over yet." James protested lightly. He had blackberries and blueberries waiting in his bag. But he returned her embrace, happy to have her in his arms.

"Why are you so sweet to me?" Juliet asked him.

Her soft voice was a downy feather on his soul.

"Cause I love you." he answered easily. "And you deserve to be spoiled."

Juliet squeezed him tighter. Emotion welled up inside, and made her throat tighten with the threat of tears. She had something to tell him, and until that moment she'd had no idea how to say it. He didn't know it, but he'd said just the right words to make it okay.

James chuckled at her reaction. "It's just fruit, baby."

Juliet's face came around to his. Her kiss declared it wasn't just the fruit. It was everything he did. It was the loyalty, protection and love, given fiercely and completely. It was support and understanding, and his own personal growth when it was needed to meet her where she was. It was forgiveness after their fights, and being able to admit when he was wrong. It was everything she needed from a life partner. And everything a child would need from a parent.

Juliet rested her forehead against her husband's. James thought it was one more sweet moment in a perfect afternoon. She was about to change his entire world with two words.

"I'm pregnant." she said, her heart beating faster. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, thrilled to see elation building there as the wheels slowly turned.

"You're what?" James asked, even though he'd heard her perfectly. It was a placeholder for all the other questions tumbling through his mind.

"I'm pregnant." Juliet repeated. She smiled at the look of pure astonishment taking over his features.

"Since when?!"

"I was late, so I took a home test last week." she explained. "I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, so I had Terry do a real test, and…he confirmed it, two days ago."

James laughed, one happy, high-pitched chuckle at the subterfuge happening within his own home. She'd been quiet the past week, even a little moody, if he was being honest. He figured it was her period finally hitting her. Now it all made sense.

"But how?" James asked. "I thought we were careful…?"

And they had been. Knowing firsthand that birth control wasn't as effective as expected on the island, Juliet insisted on using other forms of protection. And they succeeded… most of the time.

"We've been getting a little sloppy lately." she admitted, trademark sarcasm slipping into the conversation. "It had to be the night of the Fourth of July celebration."

James smiled wickedly at the memories. "That was a good night." he murmured, planting another kiss on his wife's lips. "A good, long night…"

"Uh huh." Juliet agreed with a grin.

James chuckled again, and studied Juliet's face with renewed wonder. The cautiousness of her excitement tugged at his heart. There was a deep river of doubt alongside her joy.

"Are you happy?" she asked, pleading with her eyes for an honest answer.

"Yeah." James answered immediately, stricken that she would consider any other possibility.

"I know we joked about it, last year -"

"I'm happy." James declared, kissing her again.

Those jokes had been spurred by their wedding, when the other Dharma folk started asking the happy couple when they would start popping out kids. The jokes continued at home, until Juliet asked for his honest opinion. James deflected at the time, asking her for her honest opinion first. Juliet admitted she wasn't ready yet, and James confirmed he felt the same. The idea had germinated in their minds and grown into a comfortable thought since then, just like their baby was growing now.

"I wanna have a baby with you, Juliet." James said, as clear as he could make it. He was more than ready.

"I want to have a baby with you, too." she said, pulling him back into an embrace. James squeezed her tight, and pulled her down on top of him as he laid down on their blanket. She giggled as he rearranged their bodies, and she stroked his shaggy hair when James scooched down to kiss her belly through her linen shirt. When he looked up at her with giddy excitement she placed her hand on the side of his face, caressing his clean-shaven cheek with her thumb.

"Boy or girl?" he asked.

Juliet beamed. "It's too early to tell."

"Well," he sputtered in mock frustration. "When can we tell?"

"It'll be a few months before we know for sure."

"A few months ." James harrumphed playfully. He kissed her belly again, then situated himself on the blanket so their eyes were level again. He looked off into the jungle, as something else occurred to him. "Damn…" he muttered.

"What?" Juliet inquired wryly. She'd been with him long enough to know when a punchline was coming.

"I'm gonna have to smuggle twice as many gifts onto the island now."

"You better hope it's not twins." Juliet joked back.

"You still want to go to Tunisia?" James asked her. "Once they open the site?"

That was the question, now that they'd erased any doubt about accepting this surprise pregnancy. Their departure was already scheduled for October.

"I bet we could arrange to go to the Los Angeles site instead." James suggested. "If you wanted to be there to have the baby."

Juliet had the same thought; she was certain the Initiative would allow them to change their plans due to their new family situation. They employed a lot of couples, and were eager to induct more children into their scientific ranks. Staying on the island wasn't an option. Neither was an extended research project in the Arctic. No more polar bears, James had said. Los Angeles in the eighties just didn't sound as exciting as what awaited them in Tunisia. James was being trained in mechanical engineering for the purposes of site excavation, and Juliet was refreshing her medical expertise to prepare for the move.

She went over it again in her mind, and came to the same conclusion she had before.

"I still think we should go." Juliet said.

James smiled, seeing the confidence in her eyes. "It'll be our next adventure." he said.

As if having a baby wasn't adventure enough. Juliet filled the clearing with the sound of her laughter as James grabbed her into another all-consuming hug and celebration of their news. They would make it work. They always found a way.