She could feel the warm wetness on her nipple, her brain trapped somewhere between sleep and consciousness. The tightness of the warmth clamped over her nipple intensified and she felt the familiar ache between her legs as she opened her eyes and looked down at him. His mouth was clamped over her nipple, sucking softly and slowly while his hand moved slowly over her other breast. She ran her fingers through his hair and he looked up at her and smiled. He moved up and kissed her softly.
"I hated to wake you, but you said you wanted to be up by nine." He said.
"That's a nice way to wake up, seems like I went to sleep that way too." She teased.
"No, I distinctly remember being wrapped around your warm, sexually spent body and you begging me to stay inside of you all night." He said.
"Yeah, so why aren't you still inside me?" She asked with a grin.
"You thrash around too much. I didn't want anything to get broken." He laughed.
She rolled onto her side and they lay quietly looking at one another. She remembered their bath and the way that he had loved her afterward and she smiled at him.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing, I'm just happy." She answered.
"Yeah, it's kind of scary huh?" He said.
"What's scary?" She asked.
"Everything going so well, makes me wonder when something really bad is going to happen." Jack said.
"There's no such thing as a lifetime of happiness Jack. If we didn't have bad times to get through, how would we ever be able to recognize the good times?" Kate reasoned.
"That's true I guess, unfortunate, but true. So, are you ready to get up and face the day?" He asked.
"No, I'd rather lay here with you." She said.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, pushing him onto his back and rolling on top of him, kissing him deeply and slowly as his hands gently held to her sides, no desire to resist her. She slowly slid down his body, kissing his chest and stomach while her fingernails scratched gently through his chest hair. She continued to move down and gently kissed the head of his semi-erect penis. His breath hitched and he she looked up at him, licking gently over his tip while he watched her, his eyes dark and fixed on her, his brain slowly being lulled into that state of bliss that left him unable to speak, much less think.
"Come back up here." He whispered in the sexy tone that made her wet instantly.
She was perched comfortably between his legs. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees, her arms on either side of his body, and began licking and kissing and lightly sucking every part of his balls and cock that she could get to until he was fully erect, his head pulsating in her mouth. She wanted to suck him in deep and hard and finish him off, but she also wanted to make love so she pulled her mouth away and sat up on her knees, looking down at him and lightly gliding her hand over his hardened length.
She moved forward and positioned his hand between her legs, encouraging him to penetrate and explore all of her wetness with his hand. She was so hot and wet and he wanted nothing but to bury himself inside her. She pulled his hand away and moved back, the look of confusion in his eyes making her smile. She moved his hand to his cock and in her sexiest voice explained what she wanted.
"Show me Jack." Kate whispered.
"Show you what?" He asked.
"Show me how you like it. Show me how you'd want me to jerk you off." Kate pushed.
"I wouldn't, I can do that myself." He chuckled in a lusty, sexy tone, playing along with her game and slowly moving his hand up and down his shaft, spreading her juices over his hardness.
Kate sat back and watched him, biting her bottom lip, completely enthralled by what she was watching. He finally took hold of her hand and pulled it to his throbbing member, encouraging her to wrap her hand around it. He felt her warm, soft hand grip him and sucked his breath in, letting it out in a long, breathy release before wrapping his own hand around hers and guiding it up and down.
"Squeeze just a little tighter." He said and then groaned when she complied.
"Is that too tight?" She asked.
"It's perfect, too perfect. You're going to have to stop or only one of us is going to come this morning." He told her.
She smiled at him and let go of him, sliding forward over him. He put his tip into position and she slowly slid down onto him, his swollen, throbbing hardness stretching her walls and filling her to the brim.
"God Jack you're like crack." She moaned and began moving over him.
"You're a poet and don't know it." He teased and sat up, pulling her into his chest and kissing her deeply.
He thrust up into her and she began riding him and once they found a rhythm they rocked together in harmonious pre-orgasmic pleasure, slowly loving one another and keeping each other on the edge of release, their bodies connected at the middle, chests lightly sliding up and down against one another and hands gently moving over each others shoulders, arms and backs, their mouths locked in a passionate kiss. She pulled her mouth away and locked their foreheads together, the tips of their noses gently rubbing together.
"So close, so close, don't stop." She panted softly and felt him deepen his thrusts, hitting the spot she needed him to hit and making her start to clench around him.
"Come on baby, come on, let's get over the edge together." He whispered in her ear as he thrust into her.
She stopped moving and cried out, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing as tight as she could. He stopped his thrusts and held onto her, holding firmly to her back while he let his own release go, his mouth sucking and biting at her neck as his body jerked slightly with each spurt of his juices. They both finally stilled and held onto one another, trying to refocus and regain their senses along with the ability to breathe at a normal rate.
"Did you just compare me to a street drug Kate?" He asked and laughed lightly.
"I did. I'm addicted to you. No matter how many times I fuck you, I just want more." She said and felt his cock twitch inside of her.
"Apparently, we just finished and you're trying to get me going again." He teased.
"I love you so much Jack, more than I've ever loved anyone." She told him, her head resting on his shoulder, their bodies still connected and him holding her in his arms.
"I love you too." He said and pulled back some so she would look at him.
He brushed the stray hairs away from her face and pushed them behind her ear and smiled at her. She was the only woman he'd ever known that could look so cute in such a disheveled state and when she wasn't looking cute she was so beautiful she took his breath away. He kissed her softly, rubbing his thumb over her cheek.
"I guess we should get out of bed huh?" She said.
"Yeah, I need go to the hospital before I pick up Conner. Do you need me to grab anything while I'm out?" He asked.
"Nope, just the birthday boy." Kate said.
They finally separated, took a shower together and dressed for the day. Jack left for the hospital and Kate spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the party. Jack pulled into the driveway of his parent's house closer to 1 PM than noon and knew his son wasn't going to be happy with him, but decided it wouldn't be as bad as the scolding he'd just received via cell phone from Kate. He had no good excuse. He got busy and lost track of the time. Conner opened the front door before Jack had a chance to ring the bell.
"You're late." Conner accused.
"I know son and I'm sorry, but we still have a whole hour before your party." Jack told him.
"Come inside and see the room Grandma and Grandpa made for me." Conner said as he grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him into the house.
Jack followed the excited child up the stairs to the bedroom that used to be his. Conner opened the door and Jack couldn't believe what he saw. The entire room had been redone to suit Conner. One entire wall was for painting and there were paints and easels in that area of the room. A new bed with bright, colorful bedding had replaced his old bed and on another wall was a television stand with a brand new 19 inch flat screen television with a DVD player and Conner's favorite game system, along with a few movies and games. Jack turned around and saw his parents standing in the doorway.
"Are you planning on adopting him?" Jack asked.
"Look daddy, grandma can paint with me sometimes and grandpa played a video game with me last night. I creamed him." Conner laughed.
"We're hoping he can spend more time with us and if he's going to do that he needs to feel like he's at home." Jack's mother explained.
"This is great. Did you thank them Conner?" Jack asked visibly moved by the effort his parents were making to be a part of his and Conner's life.
"Uh huh, didn't I grandpa?" Conner answered.
"Yes he did. He's a good boy Jack." Christian said.
"Grandpa said I could have a trampoline, but only if you say it's okay." Conner said.
"Dad, you know how dangerous those things are, why would you make an offer like that?" Jack asked.
"I didn't. He asked and I decided I'd let you be the bad guy." Christian smirked.
"Sorry Conner, no trampoline." Jack said.
Conner didn't get overly upset. He'd been begging for a trampoline for over a year and knew his dad wasn't going to budge on his decision, but his young mind thought maybe that he'd have to do it if his grandpa told him to.
"I hate to run you off son, but if you want your mother and me to pick up Tony for you we're going to have to leave now or we'll be late for the party." Christian said.
"Yeah okay, I'll see you guys there." Jack said feeling both grateful and confused.
Jack managed to get Conner home with 25 minutes to spare. He hurried him upstairs and helped him find the shorts and the shirt Kate wanted him to wear. She'd hired a photographer to capture the party and bought him a new pair of cargo shorts and a navy blue polo to wear. Jack had rushed Conner up the stairs so quickly the child had no time to notice just how fun his party was going to be. Jack brought him down the stairs on his hip, talking to him and then set him down in the living room. Conner began looking around at all the balloons and streamers and decorations and when he spotted the moon walk through glass windows of the double doors that led to the back yard he grinned from ear to ear and ran for the door.
"Don't go out yet Conner. We have to wait for your friends to get here." Jack told him.
Conner looked out the windows at the carnival like atmosphere his backyard had been turned into and ran back to Jack, who knelt down to his level.
"This is for my party?" Conner asked.
"Yes, it's all for you. Do you like it?" Jack asked.
"I love it!" Conner exclaimed with so much excitement Jack laughed.
"You should go find Kate and thank her. She planned all of this." Jack told him as the doorbell rang, announcing the first guests to arrive.
Jack left to answer the front door and turned to find Conner on his heels. He pushed in front of his dad and opened the door to find his Aunt and uncle and their children.
"Aunt Jenna!" Conner yelled happily and reached out for a hug.
Jenna hugged him for a long time, kissed him on the cheek, told him happy birthday and handed him a gift. She straightened back up and looked at Jack.
"Why don't you take the gift to Kate and see where she wants you to put them Conner and take your cousins with you." Jack said.
"Daddy, you keep saying Kate, it's mom." Conner reminded him.
"You're right, sorry. She's in the kitchen I think. Let me talk to Jenna for a minute." Jack said.
Conner took his cousins into the house and left his dad at the door with Jenna and Mike.
"Mom?" Jenna asked in a disapproving tone.
"We aren't going to do this Jenna. It's important to Conner that you are a part of this day, but so help me God if you do anything to ruin this for him we'll finish what we started in this same foyer the night you brought him home with bruises on him." Jack threatened.
"There's not going to be any problems Jack. We just wanted to see Conner, celebrate his birthday with him." Jenna's husband Mike assured him.
"Come on in, have a seat." Jack said and moved to the side so they could enter the foyer.
"Did you and Kate get married?" Jenna asked.
"Not yet, we're engaged." Jack said.
"But he's already calling her mom?" Jenna asked.
"Yes. Come on Jenna, you know how much I love Emily, but Conner never knew her and he loves Kate and wants to call her mom. Please don't make him feel like he's doing something wrong." Jack pleaded with her.
"She won't, come on Jenna, you promised you'd let this go." Mike prodded.
Jack watched them walk away and saw more guests arriving so he decided to stay at the door and greet them all. Some of the parents dropped their children off and left, while others chose to stay since they really didn't know Jack or Kate and weren't comfortable leaving their children with strangers. The day went very well. Jack and Kate got to meet many new potential friends and two of the dads volunteered to take Jack's place in the dunk tank. Conner's entire class as well as many of the neighborhood children were in attendance and a few of the mother's as well as Jenna and Margo helped Kate keep all the kids entertained and fed and worked the various games she had set up.
When Jack spotted his father in the moon walk with Conner he decided he couldn't take it anymore and had to know what was going on, who these people were and what had they done with his parents. When he saw Christian enter the house he decided he'd find a quiet corner some place and demand some answers.
He found his father sitting on the couch with Tony getting ready to play a video game with him. Jack hadn't had a minute to spare for Tony the whole day and wasn't sure why, but he felt a little guilty.
"Hey Tony, are you having fun?" Jack asked.
"I wish I could jump." Tony sighed.
"I wish you could too bud. Have you been using those crutches and playing some of the games?" Jack asked.
"I'm tired Jack and my leg hurts." Tony whined.
"Maybe when some of the guests leave he'll feel more like moving around." Christian offered.
"Yeah, okay. Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jack asked.
Christian followed Jack into the office he had in his home. Jack closed the door and paced, trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say.
"Is something wrong Jack?" Christian asked.
"Wrong? No, not wrong, just weird. Why are you and mom acting so……..nice?" Jack asked finally settling on nice for lack of a better term.
"We weren't nice before?" Christian asked his tone a mixture of confused and condescending.
"Come on dad, you were jumping in the moon walk. What's going on?" Jack asked.
"Your mother and I are starting over Jack, trying to recapture a time when we hadn't yet destroyed everything we touched." Christian explained.
"Why? I mean why now?" Jack pushed.
"What is the big deal son?" Christian asked.
"It's a big deal because I've never known these people my parents have become. You've been fucking with my head my entire life dad, why would I believe this isn't another mind game?" Jack snapped.
"First of all, your mother has always been what you are seeing lately, I just never had any tolerance for it so she kept it inside and your are right Jack, the games I've played with you, games I thought would make you mentally strong have ruined my relationship with you, but this isn't a game. I promise." Christian said.
"So why the change dad?" Jack asked.
"I've stopped drinking and my hands shake. They shake and they get stiff. What good is a surgeon with stiff, shaky hands?" Christian said.
"So what? You've made some deal with God? If he'll give you your hands back you'll be nice?' Jack asked the venomous sarcasm stinging as badly as intended.
Christian looked at Jack. He typically avoided his eyes because the hurt and anger he always saw in son's eyes bothered him. Today he saw the hurt and the anger with a hint of confusion and distrust. He shook his head and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack looked down at the hand and brushed it off, backing away from him, not about to fall prey to another round of Christian Shephard's mind manipulation.
"No Jack, I'm retiring." Christian answered watching Jack's facial expression immediately to go a look of pure shock.
"Retire? Everything you love is at that hospital." Jack argued.
"Should everything a man loves revolve around his chosen profession?" Christian asked.
"According to you, yes. Remember, I was supposed to marry a woman like my mother who would understand that I'm supposed to be committed to my work 120 percent." Jack said.
"We could go back and forth over all the wrong information I've given you over the years, but what good would it do Jack? I've admitted I screwed up badly with you, yet somehow you still managed to become someone so much better than me and I mean that Jack. I'm proud of you." Christian said.
"What are you going to do if you retire?" Jack asked.
"Travel, enjoy my grandchildren, enjoy my wife. She's planning on turning one of the bedrooms into a nursery you know." Christian told him and noticed the glint of happiness in his son's eyes.
"No more nurses on the side?" Jack asked.
"No, no more of that. We're also going to take Tony in." Christian said.
"What?" Was all Jack could manage.
"We've been spending our evenings with him Jack and we've decided that he needs a home, a good home with two people who can give him the attention he needs." Christian explained.
"So that room you fixed up, it wasn't for Conner?" Jack asked.
"Yes, that room was for Conner and for your mother. He gets his artistic talents from her you know. She always wanted to teach you to paint, but I already had other plans for your hands and well, you know I always get what I want. We fixed up one of the bedrooms down the hall for Tony. Now all we have to do is tell him." Christian said.
"So what are you waiting for? He's scared and lonely dad, maybe finding out he's got a place to call home when he recovers will help settle him down." Jack suggested.
"That's it? You're not going to say how crazy this is, how awful we were to you and how we shouldn't be allowed to be responsible for another child?" Christian asked.
"Jesus dad, if I really felt that way do you think I'd let Conner be around you, although that threatening to send him away to school thing was pretty sick and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it." Jack said.
"I talked to him Jack and let him know I was wrong." Christian said.
"I know. He told me. Look dad, I know we have our issues, but I think it's great if you're serious about taking him in and giving him a real shot at a happy, stable life, especially if you really have stopped drinking and are planning on leaving the hospital." Jack said.
"We'll tell Tony as soon as the people at social services tell us we can take him in. We have to go to some classes and pass a home inspection. We should get back to the party Jack." Christian said.
"So mom is excited about the baby?" Jack asked his tone heartbreakingly hopeful.
"Your mother is excited that you have found a reason to be happy again, and she did say she hopes it's a girl. You should talk to her about it Jack. She'd probably even help you plan that wedding you seem to be putting off." Christian said.
"You're right; we should get back to the party." Jack said, ending their conversation abruptly.
"What are you afraid of Jack?" Christian asked.
"Nothing and everything, come on dad let's go back to the party." Jack said and left the room.
Christian followed behind taking his place beside Tony on the couch again. He picked up the game controller and looked over at Tony.
"You'll probably have to teach me how to play." Christian said to the boy.
"I left my game in the car in my backpack. Sorry." Tony said.
"I'll go get it." Christian said.
Christian walked out the front door and toward the driveway. He could see Kate at the end of the long driveway talking to a man and the man appeared to be holding Kate's attention, by keeping a firm grip on her arm. He strolled down the driveway quietly and was on them before the man noticed him. He quickly let go of Kate's arm.
"Is everything okay Kate?" Christian asked.
"Yes, this is Cray. He's an old friend. He was just leaving." Kate said.
"Yes, I was just leaving. You've got my number Kate?" He asked.
"Yes." Kate answered quickly obviously upset by whatever was going on.
Christian watched the well dressed man climb into his Mercedes and drive away. He looked at Kate until she finally sensed him staring and looked up at him.
"What?" Kate asked.
"You're still lying to Jack aren't you?" Christian asked.
"What makes you say that?" Kate asked.
"If you were being honest with him, I wouldn't have walked up on some guy bullying you far enough away from the house that Jack wouldn't see it." Christian said.
"I'm not lying to him; I just didn't tell him everything." Kate said.
"There's a difference?" Christian replied with a sarcastic laugh.
"If it means not hurting him then yes there is a difference." Kate snapped.
"Kate, whatever this is, he's going to find out and maybe he gets hurt less if you offer up the information instead of waiting until you're forced to come clean." Christian reasoned.
Kate wrapped her arms over her chest hugging herself, unsuccessfully fighting the tears that wanted to escape. She was shaking ever so slightly and Christian could tell that whatever her secret was it was big, so big she'd found herself trapped, unable to find a way to fix things.
"I'm sorry, I'm just, I don't know how I let things get this out of control. I'm not a bad person, I'm stupid and gullible and found myself in a desperate situation that made me go along with things without thinking them through and now I don't know how, I don't know what to do anymore." Kate cried.
"Talk to Jack and do it tonight." Christian told her.
"I can't." Kate argued.
"You better or I will." Christian said.
"You don't like me much do you?" Kate asked.
"How would I know the answer to that Kate? Have I met the real you yet or she still hiding under all the lies some place." Christian said and walked away from her.