Julie truly lost her sense of time as she kept on waiting for Desmond to come back to her. The sun was already low on the horizon and she grew cold, but still refused to abandon her post. She hugged herself, trying to keep warm and waited some more. He had to come back to her. Desmond had to come back and she couldn't lose her faith. He would be back.
Only after a while of thinking those words over and over again in her head, she started to doubt. They didn't even seem to be words anymore, just a strange assemble of letters with no sense whatsoever. She found herself growing numb, just blindly looking into the horizon and at the sun setting down. And then… she stirred, actually seeing something moving, something that wasn't the water, something solid. An object.
She seemed to be waking up and she slowly raised to her feet, trying not to even blink, so she wouldn't lose the sight of it. It must've been the canoe Desmond had taken with Charlie when they'd set off to their journey. After a while longer, Julie was able to actually spot a person inside the small boat. Just one person rowing systematically, trying to get back to the island. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her that Charlie didn't make it, Julie thought when she recognized the shaggy longish hair which could only belong to one person she knew. Still, she felt an unexpected pang of pain in her heart. The rest of the survivors must've been on their way back to camp by now. Maybe they were even close. Once Julie knew that Desmond was safe, she started to be scared of her upcoming encounter with Claire. How was she supposed to tell her friend that her boyfriend was dead? That he sacrificed himself, so the rest of them could go home? How was she supposed to look relieved and happy that Desmond came back to her while Charlie didn't come back to Claire?
She pushed all those uncomfortable thoughts aside and focused on the canoe again. Desmond was getting closer and closer and she could nearly make out him looking for something on the shore until his eyes settled on her. She felt a cold shiver running through her body as the temperature dropped significantly in the evenings on the island and then she hugged herself tighter. Added to that, she felt a little awkward, didn't know how to act right now that she and Desmond were past their first kiss, but still hadn't talked about what it was between them. Only when he actually jumped out of the canoe and made his way to her, all wet from the ocean, his face showing off the anguish and pain because of what he'd been through, all that fear escaped Julie and all she could actually feel was bittersweet happiness. He didn't say anything, he just opened his arms and Julie threw herself into them, hugging him tightly with all the strength she could muster, holding onto his neck, pressing her whole body into his, not bothered by the fact that he was wetting her. She didn't even feel the cold anymore and it didn't matter that his body was actually freezing. She felt warm and at home in his arms. They stood like that, embraced, for a very long time, breathing each other in. Julie felt Desmond's heartbeat against her chest, his breath on her cheek, his body alive and whole and there was a soothing feeling of calmness washing over her, taking all her worries away. They didn't talk as they knew that the time for that would come later. And there was so much to talk about. So much to explain. Only not in this moment. Now they just needed to be close to each other.
When Julie finally let go of him, her hand fit into his naturally and they turned to make their way back to the beach camp. As they reached it, the feeling of calmness left Julie as abruptly as it appeared because she spotted the rest of the survivors making their way back as well. It wasn't long till she noticed Claire with Aaron in her arms. Claire who was looking around, hoping to see Charlie, hoping to welcome him back just as Julie had Desmond. In that moment, Julie's and Jack's eyes met and she could see the frown on his face before understanding actually washed over him. He truly felt sorry for Desmond and for what must've happened and then shifted his eyes towards Claire as well. The blonde by now spotted the couple and the expression on her face broke Julie's heart.
"Oh, God," Julie just whispered, moaning quietly and squeezing Desmond's hand. "I can't… How am I…"
"Together," Desmond assured her when looking at her and brushing his fingers over the palm of her hand. "We'll do it together."
Julie just nodded and they made their way to Claire.
"Claire, I… I'm so sorry. Charlie is… gone. I… I couldn't safe him…" Desmond said, his voice actually breaking. "I wanted to so badly, but… I just couldn't." There was genuine compassion and pain on his face.
"I know that you did everything you could," Claire said as the reality sunk it, her own voice wavering. She was fighting tears bravely.
Julie truly admired her friend's strength at the moment. After all, Claire just told Desmond he shouldn't feel guilty instead of choosing the easy way out and blaming him for everything. Julie was very grateful for that since she knew Desmond wouldn't take the blonde throwing the blame at him well. He felt guilty enough himself, overburdened by his gift - or maybe a curse was a more suited word - that had been bestowed upon him. If Julie wished for anything at the moment, it wasn't even going back home. It was for Desmond to finally be free off his duties on the island since it didn't seem to end. First the button, now this. Someone else for a change should carry that burden.
Claire couldn't find other words to say and she just retreated silently to her tent, Julie's heart breaking at the sight. The blonde didn't feel like being around a happy crowd of people. She didn't feel like joining their excitement about the boat that was coming to the rescue.
"Des, I think I…" Julie started when turning to him, but he seemed to know already what she was going to say.
"Of course. Go. I'll wait," he assured her.
"Will you be ok?" she made sure. She knew that Claire really needed a friend at the moment, she could feel the silent plea coming from her, but she also didn't want to leave Desmond all alone. After all, he'd been through so much today. He'd watched one of his best friends on the island, die in front of his eyes, so the rest of them could live.
"Don't worry about me, lass," Desmond just said when touching the side of her face with affection. "Go to her. I can wait. She needs you more."
Julie only managed to smile at him sadly and then made her way to Claire's tent. Desmond was right. He could wait. Even though he'd been through a lot, he had the chance to get past it all. Charlie didn't. Charlie was just dead.
Julie was right. Claire did need a friend. She'd actually been crying in her arms for quite some time before she managed to calm down, still shaking a little and releasing a sob here and there.
"Thank you," she finally expressed her gratitude. "For being here for me."
"Of course," Julie just said, "it's what friends do."
"Yeah, but I know you'd rather be somewhere else right now, so I appreciate it that much more," Claire added when wiping the tears from her face once again and blowing into what was pretty much the last stash of tissues they had on the beach.
Julie just shook her head and said, "Claire, I love you. You're my best friend and I wanted to be here for you. You needed me and I knew that."
"I love you, too, friend," Claire said in a touched voice and suddenly, Julie was afraid the woman would start crying all over again. "And that is why now I need you to just go to him. I think sleep will do me some good anyway. At least that way I can get through this day. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Rose offered to watch over Aaron as long as I need her to, so I guess I'll take her up on that."
Julie just nodded, said her goodnight and left, but before that, she also told Claire that if she needed something, she shouldn't hesitate to ask.
It was long dark when Julie finally came to find Desmond. She didn't even have to look for long as he was sitting in her favorite place on the beach, near the shore, staring into the dark vastness of the ocean.
"I don't think I'll ever look at it the same way," she said when she came near him. "It's the only thing here that I truly love, but once we get back home, I think I'll avoid any big tanks of water for quite a while." She lowered herself to the ground right next to him and then she didn't know what else to say, how to even start. Her heart fastened up significantly as it recently tended to do in his presence.
"We need to talk," she finally chose to say the most cliché thing in the world, but it was a start, after all, she decided since Desmond remained silent. "What happened back there…" she tried again, but then suddenly, he looked at her and just said, "I love you."
This abrupt confession rendered her speechless and for a moment there, she was only able to look into his eyes, completely stunned as his words were sinking in. Only then, once that was out in the open, once she registered the truth she so badly wanted to hear, she felt calm and happy. Maybe truly happy for the first time that day since their affectionate goodbye and Desmond's return were marred with anxiety and worry.
"I love you, too," she finally found her voice to say these words back and it sounded so right, felt so right. She actually said it to someone for the very first time, so the moment was that much more special to her. She'd always imagined someone telling her he loved her when making a huge fuss about it. She'd imagined a romantic scenery, a bed or dinner. Yet, none of those fantasies could be compared to the simplicity of how it actually happened. And she discovered that she was happy about the way he said it. There was no complications, no understatements, no wondering whether what they had was real and whether he was telling her the truth. She just knew he did. And he did either. That was how it was supposed to be. Private. Small. Precious.
Then their faces came closer and their lips touch in a sweet, full of promise kiss. Soon, Julie felt heat overcoming her body and before she knew it, she was cupping Desmond's face and bringing him closer, opening her mouth to taste him, to meet his tongue. His arms were around her, his chest grazing against hers, causing her to nearly moan in desire that was suddenly awoken in her. She'd never felt this way about anyone before, she realized, once again learning a lesson of how a real affection, real love, should look like. It wasn't something she could plan. It was something that just found a person in the least expected moment. It could truly find you anywhere, bring two people together in circumstances which seemed nearly impossible, yet they happened anyway.
Desmond was the first one to pull away, resting his forehead against hers, breathing heavily which indicated that he wanted her just as much.
"We should probably talk about the age difference," he suddenly said and the moment was broken.
Julie actually pulled away, looking at him with a frown. "What about it?" she asked.
"Hold old are you, exactly?" he inquired. "I realize that I shouldn't be asking this of a lady, but considering the circumstances…" he quickly explained himself.
"I'm 24," she answered reluctantly.
"Does it bother you that I'm 11 years older than you?" he just followed.
"Not in the least. In fact, it's perfect."
"Perfect?" He seemed to be surprised by that answer.
"I never liked them young and stupid anyway."
"All right. Good, then," was all he said.
"That's it?" Now she was surprised for a change and also slightly dazed by their exchange of words.
"What else do you expect from me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, a small smile appearing on his face as he was clearly teasing her. "That I'll give you a whole speech of how we shouldn't be together and how you should find someone younger? It's not a harlequin and I'm not some wounded, troubled hero who is trying to protect your virtue."
"Good." She smiled at him. "Because that's long gone. We live in the twenty first century for a God's sake."
"We do, indeed." He nodded in agreement. "And who am I to deny destiny? We found each other in a God forsaken place and I love you. I want to be with you. There's nothing in life I want more and without you I will truly have nothing. It's as simple as that."
"Well, you have me," she assured him and he kissed her again.
"It's getting cold." He noticed the goose bumps on her arms. "Let's get you to your tent, yeah?"
She just nodded, allowing him to take her hand into his and lead her there. She didn't say anything on the way since her head was quite busy planning how she would approach the subject now. They were already going to her tent anyway.
Once they reached the place, Desmond stopped right by the entrance and leaned towards Julie to kiss her again. Now that he was allowed to, now that everything was out in the open, he could finally kiss those lips as often as he liked to. And he'd been wanting to do that for quite some time now. He didn't expect Julie to cling to his body so eagerly, to put her arms around him again, her body so close to his that she could as well melt into it and once she felt the growing erection there, she grazed herself against it shamelessly.
"Stay," she whispered into his ear when she broke the kiss and then she gently bit on his earlobe.
"I'm not sure you…" he started awkwardly, torn between just taking her inside and leaving for fear she might actually not be ready even though her body seemed to be.
"We can all die tomorrow," Julie said when pulling away to look at his face. "Well, actually… we'll be probably saved tomorrow as we've made contact with that boat, but you know what I'm trying to say here. There is no time to waste, Desmond." She reached to his face and caressed it with her hands. "Charlie just died today and… and it made me realize how fragile a life can be. I survived a plane crash and that was truly a miracle. We found each other and that is another one. I'm done wasting time. I'm done waiting. I love you and you love me. I want you. I want you right now," she told him and he knew right then and there that he wouldn't be able to resist her. Not after all the time he'd spent on the island, living like a monk he'd once been. And then he thought of something else.
"Are you sure you want to risk it?" he asked, barely holding himself back. Her body was too close again and in the same time, it wasn't close enough. He just wanted to kiss her, undress her, bury himself deep inside her. He wanted to forget about his past, he wanted her to forget about hers as well. He didn't want to see Charlie dying in his head anymore. He wanted to move on. To live. With her.
When Julie understood what Desmond was implying, she actually laughed.
"Suitcase full of lingerie and birth control, remember?" she asked him. "I still have a few boxes."
"Why didn't you stop taking them?" he asked in surprise as he finally walked inside her tent after her and settled himself on the blanket that was on the ground, her following.
"It's convenient," she just said. "We, women, didn't salvage much of the necessary stuff from the wreck, if you know what I mean. While being on the pill, I just need the minimum of that and let's just stop right here because I do want to get some tonight and you so don't need a detailed explanation of what birth control does to my body."
"Well, all I need to know is that it prevents us from having kids," Desmond said, nearly laughing. "And don't you worry. I'm still much in the mood."
"Oh, good." She smiled to him and captured his lips again, this time kissing him deeply and not stopping. They soon lowered themselves to the ground, Desmond hovering over her body and driving her completely crazy with his lips and hands. She wanted him so badly. She'd thought once that she'd known how it was to desire a man, but she'd been clearly wrong. Now she knew. If she didn't have him right away, she would simply die. She knew she was being melodramatic and she wouldn't actually perish, but that was how she felt.
"Do you have any idea what this freaking open shirt of yours was doing to me?! You've been driving me crazy when wearing it! Couldn't you just button it up the whole way?" she complained when she her hands came in contact with the offensive fabric and pulled on it.
"Well," he chuckled with his lips against her neck, clearly pleased with the fact that he had such an effect on her, "you can take if off now and have all that's underneath."
"You don't have to tell me twice." She smiled at him naughtily and her hands were already working on the remaining buttons. Still, she got frustrated pretty quickly and decided that ripping it off would be more effective. Yes, definitely more effective, she thought as she wouldn't be able to undo the buttons anyway since Desmond disposed of her upper garment and paid a lot of attention to her breasts at the moment. As wonderful as it felt, it only increased the ache between her legs. She didn't need so much foreplay, she just needed him to… Finally, she managed to open his pants and push them down his legs, happy that he took the hint and soon, they were both naked and then he was right there, exactly where she wanted him to be. And oh, yes, it was so, so much better than how she imagined it would be.
When Julie woke up the next morning, Desmond was still sleeping by her side with one arm draped over her body. She enjoyed that possessive gesture and it was surely something new to her. She didn't remember him stirring while they were sleeping, so maybe for once, he slept through the whole night. He'd told how about his nightmares, about waking up almost every 108 minutes, wanting to push the button and then realizing it wasn't really there anymore. If she managed to tire him enough or maybe just make the nightmares go away by simply being next to him, she was truly happy about that. Maybe together they could really have something amazing. Maybe they were each other's constants, the people they could always turn to, the people they could always count on. Julie smiled as he watched Desmond sleeping. All the creases of worry were gone from his face, his skin smoothing out. Seeing him this relaxed and this calm brought joy to her heart and once she remembered last night, she smiled brightly. The future wouldn't be as dark as she'd once thought. When she'd left that apartment back in Australia, she'd found herself at the lowest and worst point of her life and it'd only gotten worse from there. Now she was finally happy, now she finally picked herself up and she actually found the kind of a love she'd always been looking for. Or maybe love found her. She was fine with it either way.
"You're my reason, too," she suddenly whispered when watching Desmond and remembering what he'd told her the day before.
"What?" he suddenly asked, opening his eyes and meeting hers.
"I thought you were sleeping," she said when he kissed her softy.
"Just woke up," he answered. "So, what were you talking about?"
"I meant to say that you're the reason I crashed on this island, too. The reason I was on the plane. Maybe even the reason to my obsession with that jerk. Why else would I be so blind? All that time I was chasing my happy ending and it was with you all along. Destiny truly works in mysterious ways."
"Aye," Desmond agreed when smiling and then shifting his body and stretching. "I, too, was making my way to you all my life. It was hard and I was about to give up a few times, but in the end, I'm happy that I kept on fighting. What's real doesn't come easily," he said when thinking about it some more.
"Oh, tell me about it!" she agreed and then straddled him and started kissing again while her hands kept on wandering all over his delicious chest and lower until she finally took him inside her.
"Aren't we impatient?" Desmond asked and then groaned deeply at the pleasure he felt.
"Are you complaining?" she asked, smiling at him sidelong. "Because you know, I can stop… I can do this on my own."
"Don't even dare trying," he threatened her when placing his hands on her hips and keeping her in place.
"We need to catch up on every night we spent apart," she decided when rocking into him.
"Oh, yes… we do…" he agreed, not able to come up with a better response.
Once Julie and Desmond emerged from the tent, she ran straight towards the ocean and he chased her until he caught at the shore, grabbed her and swung around. They kissed again and then Julie went further into the water, wanting to take a swim at least one more time before the boat came.
"I feel guilty that I'm so happy today," she confessed to Desmond as they swam next to each other for a while.
"Why?" he wanted to know. "Is it because of what happened to Charlie?"
She just nodded and stopped swimming, keeping herself afloat. "Should I be this happy? Isn't it disrespectful to Claire? I mean, I'm still so sad that Charlie is gone, but… also so happy that we are together and that you're ok."
"Nothing about this is disrespectful," Desmond assured her when cupping her face and meeting her eyes evenly. "You should be happy while you can because from what I know, it can go away any second. You never know what tomorrow will bring. Besides, I think Charlie would want us to move on and be happy for him. He wouldn't want his sacrifice to go to waste."
Julie just nodded, a stray tear escaping her eye.
"What will we do once they rescue us?" Desmond asked when he let go of her.
"What do you mean?" A frown appeared on her forehead. "I kind of assumed we would stay together…"
"Of course, we will," Desmond calmed her down immediately. "But… I don't have a job and you've just gotten your degree. I can't be unemployed, but I have no idea how to find a job that would provide for you the way you…" he started and she interrupted him immediately, actually getting angry.
"Wait a sec! I don't need you to provide for me! I need you because I love you!"
"I know, but... I don't want to be a disappointment as a man. Here everything's great because we don't really have to worry about money, but out there, back in civilization…"
"I don't care what kind of a job you will have or if you will even have one. I don't care how much you'll be earning either!" she cut him short. "Don't you get it? I'm one of the survivors of the flight 815. I'm sure I'll get a lot of money from Oceanic and that is how we'll start."
"Oh, yeah, that… I didn't think," Desmond admitted. "But I still think that I need a job."
"We'll figure everything out as it comes. Don't stress about it now," Julie advised, her voice going back to normal. "The most important thing now is that we have each other and that we're together. We don't have to worry about money, so we just take everything as it comes at us," she repeated.
"All right, I think we won't figure out a better plan anyway," he agreed.
"I think Jack's waving at us," Julie suddenly noticed when pointing at the beach. Desmond turned around, so he could see and he had to admit that she was right. Jack clearly wanted them to come back to the shore and he was smiling. It could only mean one thing - the boat was close. They would soon say goodbye to this place and come back home.
It was supposed to work out just fine. They were supposed to get out of the island and come back to their lives or start new ones. They should've known better. They should've predicted that something bad would happen, that the island wouldn't let them all just leave after so many failed attempts. The chopper got to them without any problems since the boat couldn't swim too close. The first group of people taken, the promise to return for the rest made. The first bad sign was that they couldn't find Claire. Aaron was still with Rose and Julie took him with her to the chopper, knowing that Claire would want him to get out the first opportunity that would present itself. Rose promised to look for the young mother and to get her to the chopper once it came back, but that never happened. They never actually reached the boat. They went off course just like it'd happened to the plane before and this time, there was no button or magnetic field to blame for that. The next thing they saw was the island just disappearing right in front of their eyes. All that was left was the ocean with no visible end and they were stuck in the air in a chopper that would eventually run out of fuel. They knew that Ben and Locke were plotting something, but they never realized that it actually involved moving the island. Such things just weren't possible, but after everything they'd seen, they shouldn't really be that surprised. Julie was shaking all over, clinging to Desmond, seeking comfort in his arms while holding Aaron. She thanked every deity that was out there that she and Desmond had gotten to the chopper together, that he wasn't left behind. No one had told him to stay since they all knew how desperate he was to get out of the island and what kind of a toll it'd taken on his psyche. Jack was there with them, too, because as their unofficial leader, he wanted to talk to the captain of the ship. Kate, Sayid and Hurley were also present. And then, there was Sun. Sun whose husband was left behind and Julie couldn't even imagine the pain the woman must've been feeling. Once the island actually disappeared, Sun started screaming for Jin and Kate with Jack's help had to hold her, so she wouldn't jump out of the chopper.
Eventually, they ran out of fuel for real and the chopper started going down. All that Julie managed to register before they violently crashed into the ocean, was Jack's scream to hold on and then nothing. Her world just turned upside down and she struggled hard to keep her hold on Aaron, praying that that boy survived. Praying that she would never have to look Claire in the eye and inform her that her son was dead because of her. She didn't try to hold on to anything else as she was so focused on Aaron. She couldn't even stay close to Desmond and she started panicking when the crash sent her up and then down towards the water, Desmond's hold on her loosening and she was suddenly in the ocean, panicking which way to go since she didn't know anymore where was up and where was down. Then she remembered that she still had air in her lungs and she held on to that, trying to stop moving, to just trust her body to find a way up and once she was pulled into the right direction, she swum, finally breaking through the surface and taking a deep breath.
"Julie! Over here!" someone called to her and a moment later, she realized that it was Kate, her hands reaching for the boy and bringing him into the raft that they'd thrown out of the chopper before it crashed.
Julie sputtered water when coughing and then she could finally ask, "Is he ok? Please, tell me he's ok!" she screamed as she tried to make her way up into the raft. Hurley helped her and she could only sent him a thankful smile since her throat was too sore by that point to speak.
"He's all right!" Jack yelled to her. "Don't worry!"
Once Julie was finally seated in the raft, she realized something horrible.
"Where's Desmond?!" she screamed, panic welling up in her as she looked around and couldn't find him. "Oh, my God! Where is he?!" And then, when she looked back into the ocean, she could make up the body drifting there, face down. The shaggy brown hair was enough for her to know who it was. "Desmond!" She screamed and wanted to jump right back in, but Jack was faster, diving into the water and getting to her lover. Kate held Julie back and Hugo was paddling with his hands, then taking Desmond's still immobile body from Jack and pulling him into the raft.
Julie sobbed in Kate's arms as she watched Jack performing CPR. There was really no one else she would rather trust with Desmond's life than the doctor. He, after all, had brought Charlie back when finding him hanging on a tree.
"Oh, God, please…" Julie moaned quietly, not able to accept the horrible truth. Desmond couldn't be dead. He just couldn't leave her now when they were finally on their way back home. She suddenly regretted ever leaving the island. If staying there forever meant keeping Desmond alive and safe, then she was ready for such a sacrifice. But now it was just too late. They'd already gotten out. And they were stranded in the ocean with no way of knowing whether they would even be rescued. Julie's heart was about to give up from grief. Charlie died, so Claire could get out and they'd already lost her. Julie lost a friend and needed to take care of Aaron and if Desmond…
"Please… please…" she kept murmuring, her body going completely slack in Kate's arms. She could only watch Jack who was now actually punching Desmond's chest in desperation.
"Come on! I know you can do it! Come back! Desmond, come on!" Jack kept on screaming without even realizing it.
Just then, when Julie saw the defeated look on his face, when she knew he was about to give up, Desmond suddenly opened his eyes and took a deep breath, then coughed out the water that was in his lungs.
"Oh, God!" Julie yelled and Kate finally let her go, so she could crawl over to the man she loved. "Desmond, thank God! You're all right! You're alive!" Julie kept on repeating as she found herself by his side, cupping his face and smiling to him through her tears. He was a little dazed, trying to remember what had happened to him and then his eyes met Julie's and his breathing started to even out. "You're ok," she repeated one more time and pulled his head onto her lap, so desperate to hold him. "You're gonna be ok," she said one more time. Desmond put his hand on her arm and squeezed gently, assuring her that he was, indeed, ok. "Thank you," Julie turned to Jack who was just watching them, breathing heavily himself from the exertion he'd put into resuscitating Desmond.
"You're welcome." He nodded and propped himself against the rubber wall of the raft. Kate took Aaron from Sun who was just sitting there, absently looking into the distance like her brain hadn't registered anything in particular ever since she'd watched the island disappear.
They were drifting, not knowing what was out there, not knowing if they were even going in the right direction. They had two, maybe three days and then they would die from dehydration. It was too hot out in the open ocean to give them more and they all realized the horrible truth. It was the most painful when looking at the little boy cradled in Kate's arms. Julie was idly running her hands through Desmond's hair, his head still on her lap, his eyes closed, but his breathing even. He must've fallen asleep.
"If they find us, we'll have to lie," Jack suddenly said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Kate asked, frowning. "What do you mean? We have to come back for the rest of them!"
"We have to go back to where, Kate?" Jack just asked. "There is no island. At least not where it used to be anyway. How are we ever going to find it? How will we ever convince people that we're telling the truth? A hatch underground? A button that needed to be pushed, so the world wouldn't end? Polar bears? Black smoke killing us one by one? Who's going to believe us? They'll lock us away if we tell them the truth."
"It makes sense," Desmond spoke, clearly not asleep and then, he gently heaved himself up and settled right next to Julie, one of his arms immediately going around her, so she could rest her head on his chest and listen to his heart beating again.
"One of us would have to take care of Aaron, too," Jack said when pointing the baby. "We can't just give him away. We owe it to Claire to make sure that he's safe and happy."
They all nodded in agreement, but it didn't make the decision any easier. Who was going to take care of the boy? How were they even going to do that? Julie felt like she owed it to Claire to keep Aaron, but again, she wasn't sure she was ready for such a big step just yet. Still, it wasn't about her own comfort or her insecurities where it came to babies. It was about Claire who must've been worrying sick about her baby right now, probably the only calming thought being that Julie and Desmond would make sure he was ok.
"I could say it's my child," Julie suggested and then, she actually thought about it. "Oh, no, sorry, I can't. I was… involved with the wrong person before I landed on the island and the bastard would surely point out that I wasn't pregnant when I boarded the plane." She bit her lower lip, clearly out of ideas. She did want to help Claire, but if the guy who'd hurt her in Australia, talked, then the lie would be out in the open immediately.
"Then I'll take him," Kate suggested. "Let's say that I was six months pregnant when I landed on the island. We don't really have any other choice, considering our options." Her eyes shifted to Sun and even if they thought the woman was ready to take Aaron, which she wasn't after losing Jin, she was a Korean whereas Aaron had a very fair complexion and blond hair. No one would ever believe that Sun had given birth to him, not even if the father was white and blond.
"All right. Then that's settled."
Julie snuggled more closely into Desmond, desperate to feel him next to her body. She came so close to losing him again that she didn't even want to talk or think about it. She was just grateful that he was there with her and that he was alive. She wouldn't be the same if he died. Despite her promise to herself, her mind started generating scenarios in which she came back home without him and she trembled.
"Hey, it's all right," she heard Desmond's soothing voice. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He pulled her closer to his body, not caring about such display of affection in front of the rest of them.
They made it out together and that was all that mattered for now. Julie couldn't think of Claire, of Charlie, of any other person who was left behind. She was right here, in the raft, with the love of her life. And for now, it was enough.