Thanks again for the reviews. I think I lost a few readers, hopefully people are still enjoying this. This chapter is the longest I've ever written, so it should make up for some of the shorter ones.

So, in celebration of my birthday, here is the newest chapter of Bittersweet Beginnings.

Chapter 7.

Once again, as the sun was rising, Desmond walked. It had become a habit of his to wander meaninglessly, along the beach, through the jungle, wherever his feet took him. Every morning he went on this stroll. He used the time to think. He usually had a lot to think about.

Though years had passed, little had changed. There had been deaths, many of them, some of which he had foreseen, yet for those who still managed to survive life on this island, everything was the same as it had always been.

He still had his visions. He was used to them by now. No matter how horrible the things were that he saw, he accepted them. He'd given up trying to change things; he'd learnt by now there was no point. It was a depressing thought, and it did nothing to alleviate his guilt whenever someone died a meaningless death, though it had helped him come to terms with his own end.

There was a set time frame now. He knew roughly how many years he had left. In a normal situation, he would probably plan to make the most of them, do the things he'd always wanted to do. Seize the day. But this wasn't a normal situation. So he continued going about his days as though nothing had changed. It was surprisingly easy.

The jungle was clearing now. He was back on the beach. Out of habit, he looked over towards Kate and Sawyer's tent. He'd gotten closer to them in the last few years, ever since he'd told them about their kids. At the time he was sure they hadn't fully believed him. He'd told them what they wanted to hear, and while they had been grateful, they'd quickly passed it off as nothing. The way Desmond remembered it, they'd actually avoided him for a little while. They probably thought he was crazy. It was what Desmond would've thought had he been in their position.

But then Desmond started to tell more people about what he was seeing. Not everything, just little things. That tent will collapse in the storm tonight. A sudden wave will knock over the sandcastle Claire helped Aaron build, even though they'd taken care to build it up the beach, away from the tide. A boar will run through the camp just after dark. When his 'predictions' came true, time after time, people started believing him. Even Kate and Sawyer. He could see them staring at him at times. He imagined they were wondering again if what he'd told them was true, if it would actually happen. He could see fleeting glimpses of a kind of cautious hope at times. They started talking to him again. Never about what he had told them. There seemed to be an agreement between the three to never mention that conversation again. Nevertheless, they'd become unlikely friends.

Today, Sawyer was sitting alone outside his tent, with his baby daughter in his lap. Desmond stayed where he was, hoping to watch the two for a while without being seen. Sawyer was a different person when he was with the baby. Especially when he was alone with her. It was a time when he truly let his guard down.

Desmond wasn't as well hidden as he'd thought, though. Sawyer spotted him almost immediately. Desmond studied the look on the other man's face. He didn't seem to be annoyed at being watched. Desmond decided it was safe to go and talk to him.

After briefly exchanging pleasantries, Desmond sat opposite Sawyer. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Desmond could tell Sawyer had something on his mind. He watched the baby, pulling faces for her amusement, while he waited for Sawyer to decide what he wanted to say. He knew by now there was no point in rushing him. Over the sound of the baby's giggles, Sawyer finally spoke.

"Did you know we were gonna call her Laura?"

Desmond was surprised; it was the first time he'd brought up the subject of his visions. It was dangerous territory. Desmond wasn't sure exactly how much he should reveal. He decided to play it by ear. He reminded himself, they only knew about he first vision. There was probably no harm in telling him more about that one.

"Yes."

Sawyer seemed to struggle a little with this answer. Desmond didn't blame him. It wasn't like it was the easiest thing to consider.

"What if we'd called her something else?"

"But you didn't." It was confusing; even though Desmond was the one living it, he found it hard to explain. He knew how it must have sounded to Sawyer, that he no longer had any real choices.

"Well, what about those twins we're supposedly gonna have? Do we have a say in what we name them, or is it already decided?"

Desmond had thought about this himself. He didn't really know what the right answer was, so he gave what he thought the answer was, as confusing as it was.

"You always had a say. You named them."

Kate chose that moment to join them, relieving Desmond. He was glad he didn't have to try to explain it anymore.

She sat beside Sawyer, taking the baby from him. Laura nuzzled into the crook of her neck, yawning. Her parents watched as she quickly fell asleep in her mother's arms. Desmond felt like an intruder in this moment, as Sawyer planted a kiss on Kate's forehead, asking her if she'd slept okay. She leaned against him, mumbling something Desmond couldn't hear. He thought he'd better leave the family to themselves, and started to get up. Before he could, however, Kate spoke to him.

"So what's all this talk about baby's names?"

Desmond started to answer, but was interrupted by Sawyer.

"You heard all that? You were supposed to be sleeping!"

"I was. Then I woke up." She replied, rolling her eyes. Sawyer's protective streak hadn't ended with Kate's pregnancy. He was still very concerned with her well being, ensuring she got plenty of rest and insisting that she have Juliet check over her every couple of days. Desmond didn't really blame him, the past few months had been very tense. After what had happened with Sun, and Kate's last pregnancy, everyone had been concerned about her.

"So, are we picking out more names already? Don't you think it's a bit soon?"

Desmond thought she had a point, but he was surprised to see Sawyer looking a little embarrassed.

"No harm in being prepared" he said, looking at the ground. Kate laughed. Desmond tried not to chuckle as well.

"You're excited, aren't you? What, Laura's growing up too fast? You want to relive the whole pregnancy thing again? Is that it?" She always enjoyed teasing Sawyer.

"Yeah, well…" He didn't have any response. Kate kept laughing, until Laura awoke, objecting to her mother's noise with a cry. Only then did Kate stop, and the three grew quiet again until she had soothed Laura back to sleep.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked Sawyer, quietly, so as not to wake her daughter again. She still looked like she was trying not to laugh.

For a few seconds it looked like Sawyer wasn't going to answer, sure that Kate was just going to laugh again. But she kept staring at him, silently waiting for his response.

He shrugged, trying to make it look like he didn't care that much. "I like the name Molly for the girl." Kate saw right through his charade, and nodded, considering the name.

"Molly's cute." Both looked at Desmond expectantly, trying to sense any kind of reaction. Desmond had been expecting this, and had fixed his expression in a way that he hoped gave away nothing. Particularly after talking with Sawyer, he wanted them to think they had a choice, that it wasn't set in stone. He knew how much they'd enjoyed picking out the perfect name for their firstborn.

Sawyer smirked. "Guess it's not gonna be that easy, Freckles."

Desmond smirked back at him. It looked like his plan had worked.

Kate had other things on her mind now. "I wish I didn't know we had twins coming. Everything's hard enough with just one, and you're telling me in a couple of years we'll be doing it all again with two? Are you sure?" She seemed genuinely worried.

"I'm sure. And don't worry, you'll be fine." Not exactly the most reassuring words, but Desmond thought she seemed to take some comfort from them, however small.

"Guess we better pick out a boy's name too then." Sawyer looked determined to get this sorted out now.

Kate didn't even take a second to think about this one. "I want to name him Thomas."

"Why?" Sawyer asked.

Kate paused. Now she was the one avoiding the other's eyes. If anything, this only intrigued Sawyer more.

"What, he some old boyfriend you don't want me knowing about?" He tried to sound flippant, but Desmond detected a certain amount of worry in his voice.

Kate sighed. "Sort of. He was my best friend when I was a kid. We did everything together." She was clearly dredging up some sad memories. "When we grew up, when I…went on the run from the feds, we lost touch. Then my mom got sick. Tom was a doctor. I thought he could help me, so I went back to him. He got killed because of me." She was rambling, not making much sense.

Sawyer understood the gist of it anyway. "No. We aren't naming our kid after someone who died."

"Why not?" Kate was obviously upset by his disagreeing. She really seemed to want to name her son after her friend.

Sawyer was getting angry. "Because it isn't right! It isn't fair to put a burden like that on kid! We're not naming him that!"

"Fine! You can name him!" Laura woke up again at the sound of her parents yelling. Sawyer stormed off. Kate burst into tears, her cries mixing with her daughter's screams.

Desmond took the baby from her, embarrassed to have witnessed such a private argument, and wanting to calm both of them. He let Kate cry for a few minutes while he settled the baby down again. Both their cries subsided at the same time. The baby fell asleep again. Kate looked embarrassed.

"Sorry you had to see that. I don't know what's wrong with me lately." Desmond knew that wasn't what she was upset about. He decided to give her something, another little insight.

"Don't worry love. He won't be able to think of another name."

"How do you know that?"

"Because he didn't." Desmond watched as a look of slow dawning comprehension came over Kate's face. She smiled, silently thanking him. She watched her daughter for a few minutes, yawning every so often. Desmond didn't fail to notice this.

"Why don't you go and get some more sleep? I'll watch the little one until Sawyer comes back."

She nodded, and got up. She leaned over and gave the baby a kiss, before getting up and going back into her tent. Desmond stood up with Laura, and decided to go and find Sawyer.

"Come on, princess, let's go see if your daddy's calmed down any."

It didn't take Desmond long to find Sawyer. He was fairly predictable; whenever he got angry he'd storm off in a huff and chop firewood for a while. Desmond had seen it many times now, and had to admire him. He never completely lost control in front of anyone; he always made a choice to go off on his own until he calmed down. Desmond sometimes wondered what had happened to make Sawyer that way. It was like he was afraid he'd actually hurt someone if he stayed.

Desmond approached Sawyer slowly, wanting to see if he was still angry. If he was, Desmond decided he'd leave him be. He'd come back when he was ready. If Sawyer was a bit calmer, he'd approach him. He just hoped the sound of the axe wouldn't wake the baby again. She wasn't getting much sleep today.

Luckily, Sawyer noticed Desmond almost straight away and put the axe down. He seemed a little ashamed of himself. That was a good sign, Desmond thought. This would probably be another one their arguments that would blow over in no time.

Desmond figured, now that Sawyer seemed to be himself again, he'd pass the baby back to him and go about his day. However, much to Desmond's surprise, Sawyer had other things on his mind.

"So, they're definitely all gonna be okay?"

Desmond didn't bother pretending he didn't know what he meant. "I only saw you the one time. But the five of you will be on that beach in a few years time. The kids, and Kate, will be fine."

Sawyer nodded, a little relieved, but still, Desmond imagined, picturing a thousand different scenarios where something could go horribly wrong.

"I know you're worried, brother. I don't blame you. But Juliet's serum works. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

"That's great, brother, but you don't know everything. So we know they'll be fine for a few years, what happens after that? I'd feel a whole lot better knowing for sure they'll all live to see their teenage years."

Through the sarcasm, Desmond detected very real concern in Sawyer's voice. The thing that stood out the most, though, was that he only seemed to care about his kids. He wasn't worried about whether or not he'd live to see them grow up. It was times like this that Desmond hated knowing what he knew.

"You know more than most parents do. It's not every day a person can look at their child and know for absolute sure what they'll be doing in the future."

"Yeah, well…" Sawyer paused, kicking at a rock. Deliberately not looking at Desmond, as though what he was about to say was the most embarrassing thing he could ever possibly admit to. "I just need to know the kids will be safe. That's all that matters now. Kate says the same thing. They're what matters."

Desmond wondered then if he was right in withholding what he knew. Obviously, Kate and Sawyer would be fine with knowing they were going to die, as long as their children survived. At the same time, he didn't want them to have that shadow hanging over their heads their whole lives, the way he now did. Luckily, Juliet entered the clearing at that moment, saving Desmond from his thoughts.

"Hi guys. Hi, little Laura, how are you today? Are you good?" As Juliet cooed over the baby, Sawyer seemed to notice for the first time that Desmond had his daughter.

"Why do you have Laura? Where's Kate?"

"You left her in a right mess. I thought I'd take the baby off her hands for a while, let her sleep." Sawyer looked worried at hearing this, as Desmond had expected.

"She alright?" Sawyer asked, trying to hide his concern. In all the time Desmond had known him, Sawyer had never been good at showing his emotions in front of a crowd. Apparently, Desmond and Juliet counted as a crowd.

"Why don't you go and see for yourself?"

Sawyer turned away and picked up the axe again. "Nah, sounds like she just needs sleep. Probably better if I leave her in peace for a while. Besides, I gotta chop some more wood…" he trailed off. It was clear to everyone that he was making excuses. Desmond decided to not push him. They'd figure it out on their own.

Just then, Laura started crying. Desmond tried to shush her again, but Juliet interrupted his efforts to say she was probably hungry. Desmond sighed inwardly. It looked like Kate was going to be disturbed after all.

"I guess I'll take her back to her mum then." He wasn't expecting any arguments about this, so he was surprised when Sawyer asked Juliet to take her instead.

Juliet rolled her eyes at the request. She was constantly being asked by Sawyer to check on Kate, make sure she was all right, despite both women insisting that she was fine.

"Do you want me to check on her again? James, she's fine. You don't need to worry anymore."

Sawyer didn't respond to this. He looked uncomfortable though. Desmond guessed that he didn't quite believe her. Juliet noticed too.

"All right, I'll go." Sawyer seemed grateful for this, but, of course, didn't say anything.

Juliet took the now screaming baby from Desmond and headed back to camp. Desmond decided to follow her, leaving Sawyer alone again. He figured he still had a bit of pent up frustration to vent before he talked to Kate again.

Juliet was nearing Kate's tent, Laura's cries attracting stares from onlookers. She felt a bit of resentment at this; after everything, they still seemed to expect her to take the baby and disappear to the other side of the island. She ignored their looks, focusing on her destination.

Kate had apparently heard them coming. She met them outside the tent, looking slightly alarmed at the sound of her daughter's screams. She relaxed as Juliet passed the baby to her.

"I think she's hungry." Kate only nodded; Juliet guessed she'd probably figured that out already. She headed back into the tent. Juliet followed, with no objection from Kate.

"Why do you have Laura? I left her with Desmond." Kate asked as she started to feed Laura.

Juliet briefly explained how she'd run into Sawyer and Desmond talking. When she mentioned hearing about their argument, she noticed Kate looked a little embarrassed. Not sure what to make of that, Juliet decided to tread carefully.

"Anyway, Sawyer asked me to come and check on you."

Kate scoffed at this. "Again? Is it just me, or he being a little overprotective?"

"He's just worried." That didn't seem to be the answer Kate was hoping for.

"He doesn't need to be." Juliet had a feeling she was still thinking about their fight, whatever it had been about. She was a slightly more defensive than usual.

Juliet sighed. "He has a right to be a little concerned. After your miscarriage, and with Sun dying…" She paused seeing the pained expression on Kate's face.

"So how are you feeling?" She had an idea that Kate was feeling a lot more than she let on.

"Well, I burst into tears at the end of a stupid argument about nothing this morning. These hormones are still driving me nuts."

Juliet smiled. "Maybe. Or maybe Sawyer was just being an ass." That got a smile out of her. But Juliet wasn't satisfied. She wanted Kate to open up.

"How are you feeling generally?" From Kate's expression at being asked this, Juliet guessed she was finally going to get an honest response from her.

"Overwhelmed. I never imagined I'd feel this way about anyone." Juliet smiled. It was something she heard quite often from new mothers.

"But I can't help thinking about the one I lost. And I feel so guilty that I survived when Sun didn't."

Juliet had been expecting an answer like that. She was glad Kate had finally admitted to it.

"That's perfectly normal." She said, trying to reassure Kate. "You were lucky. Sun wasn't. As horrible as the miscarriage was, it gave us time. I needed those few extra years. I wish I could have helped Sun, too. But I believe everything happens for a reason. You have a beautiful baby girl now. That's all that matters."

Kate smiled gratefully. Juliet decided to leave and give her some space. She guessed she had a lot to think about now.

When Sawyer returned to the tent later, Kate was lying down with Laura on her chest. Upon seeing Sawyer, Kate sat up, watching him warily, wondering how things were between them. Sawyer sat down opposite her, taking the baby, giving nothing away.

For a few minutes they sat there, watching each other, quickly focusing on the baby whenever they accidentally made eye contact. Neither spoke. Eventually, Sawyer broke the silence.

"Sorry about before." He said gruffly, looking embarrassed. He wasn't comfortable with apologizing. It meant letting his guard down, something he'd avoided for so long.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I bet you are. I know how much you hate it when I start crying."

Sawyer looked at her sharply, hurt by her accusation. "That's not what I meant."

Kate looked at him, her expression softening. "I know."

They smiled at each other. In their own private language, they'd just forgiven each other freely.

Sawyer was determined to have his way in their argument, no matter how much they'd managed to mend things. "I'm still gonna think of another different name for the boy though."

"Okay." When Kate agreed so easily, Sawyer grew suspicious. He wondered why she was giving up now, when she'd felt so strongly about it before.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Nothing." Kate barely managed to hide a smile as she said this. Of course, Sawyer noticed.

"Desmond said something, didn't he." It was more statement than a question. Kate's only response was to shrug, smiling. Sawyer realised he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. He gave up, deciding to save it for another day.

Kate reached over to stroke Laura's head, lost in her thoughts. "Can you believe how fast she's growing?" she said softly. She sounded completely amazed by the fact.

Remembering one of the points from their fight that morning, Sawyer couldn't help but tease her a little. "Just as well we've got another two coming." Kate rolled her eyes again at this, but her smile denied her true emotions.

"How the hell are we gonna manage?" She could not seem to get past this point. What would they do with three children?

"You heard Desmond, we'll be fine." Sawyer's tone was flippant, yet reassuring. Kate wasn't so sure.

"Desmond said he saw us with them as kids. Can you imagine what it'll be like when they're older? Can you see us with three teenagers?"

From what Kate could tell, Sawyer enjoyed the image. "They're gonna be troublemakers. I bet they'll make us proud." It was impossible to miss the pride in his voice.

"Yeah, I'll have to keep an eye on our son to make sure he doesn't follow in his Daddy's footsteps."

"Whoa, what about the girls? They're gonna be beauties. I'm gonna have a hard time fighting the guys away from them." Kate shook her head and laughed at Sawyer's protective streak shining through again.

"You're gonna have to let them date eventually, James." Sawyer seemed appalled at the thought, to Kate's amusement.

"No way. No guy is ever getting near my little girls." As though she understood what her father was saying, Laura shrieked loudly at that proclamation, causing Kate and Sawyer to burst into laughter.

"If we're still on the island we probably won't have to worry about that anyway." Kate said, still giggling.

"Maybe we won't be on the island." Kate grew silent at Sawyer's suggestion, her smile fading. Sawyer didn't fail to notice this.

"Don't be like that, Freckles. Things'll work out. The five of us will get off this island one day. Oceanic will probably give us a nice big check for our troubles, and we'll use it to buy a big house with every modern convenience known to man."

"And every summer we'll have to put up with the kids demanding to know why we won't take them to the beach on vacation like all their friends." said Kate, getting into the spirit of the conversation again.

"Well, I guess we'll have to make some sacrifices," countered Sawyer.

Kate grew quiet again, clearly uneasy about the topic about the future. "How do you know they won't throw me in prison?"

Sawyer wished more than anything he could answer that the way she wanted. But he didn't see the point in lying. Believing in happy endings for the sake of it wasn't what they did.

"I'm not the psychic here, Freckles. For the sake of arguments, let's just assume they won't, okay?"

Kate smiled. Although the answer wasn't perfect, it was enough for now. "Okay."

Together they lay down on the bed, their daughter nestled in between them. Several minutes later, when Kate was almost asleep, Sawyer spoke again.

"Things are finally looking up for us, Freckles."

Kate smiled in the dark. She believed it.

I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter. Was it okay?