The story of how Dr. Juliet Burke and Dr. Jack Shepherd came to adopt a seven year old foster child and a twelve year old orphan was one that few people would be able to guess at. Herself infertile, Juliet loved children and had been planning to adopt as soon as her own doctor gave her the traumatic news that Juliet's chances of conceiving and carrying a child for the full nine months (without bed rest and thousands of dollars spent on crippling medications which may give her cancer).

Jack had wanted kids too. At some point. They had met in medical school, being in the same year, and gotten married halfway through their residency. At the wedding, Jack had been thirty-three and Juliet had just turned thirty-one. Their intention regarding children was to wait until their residencies were completed. Juliet had been thirty-four by the time she was finished, and Jack thirty-six. It was still early enough to have at least one child, and more if things went well after the birth. Juliet would be able to see what kind of a toll pregnancy would take on her work life, and whether it was practical to stop at one or try to have more. Or even, though she considered this a last resort, have a few children and give up work. Temporarily, of course. So, thirty-four was young enough to avoid the risk factors associated with later pregnancies. Specifically, thirty-five and up. As a fertility doctor, Juliet knew that she'd do no one a favor by waiting.

They had purchased a cat shortly after their honeymoon. This had been Juliet's idea. A cat would be easy enough to take care of and would give them some sense of what it would be like to have a small child in the house. Weren't pet owners always referring to their pets as their children? Frisky, named so by her previous owners, had been a two year old rescue. The previous owners had given Frisky to an animal shelter after their daughter was found to be nearly deathly allergic to cats. Frisky ended up being a good addition to the Shepherd household, having already been trained.

Having children proved to be significantly more difficult. They tried for a year before going to the specialist. That was when Juliet got the bad news. Or, as she put it, the Bad News. She was infertile. It had nothing to do with waiting, the doctors emphasized. She just couldn't have kids. Something was wrong with her womb. She could conceive, but she would never be able to carry a child to term. Her body just wouldn't work in that way.

Juliet, more than Jack, was devastated by the news. Partly to appease her, Jack agreed to look into adoption. There were plenty of babies who didn't have parents, weren't there? They'd have their pick.

A neighbor told them, after another six months of searching, that they'd do better looking into becoming foster parents. Told them around a foster home just an hour away. Technically, it was two homes, but wanted the stress of taking in a teenager. The official division was thirteen and up in one home, twelve and under in another home.

Katie was one of the few truly young kids. Most of the kids were pre teens, overlooked by visiting families because they weren't cute little kids. Truth be told, they wouldn't have seen James Ford if the two hadn't been practically joined at the hip.

It was an unlikely pairing. One of the social workers explained that Sawyer—as everyone called him—had been at the home for two years. Just after his grandfather died. Katherine Anne Austen, better known as Katie, arrived after a teacher discovered that she had been physically abused by her birth father. There was also some suspicion, mostly on the part of the teacher, that Katie had been sexually abused. There was no way to prove this without putting Katie through significant physical trauma. She claimed, later, to have no memory of sexual abuse, but it was possible that these memories had been blocked out. In any event, there was clear evidence of physical abuse, and the fact that Katie's mother refused to deal with the situation—added to the fact that her only other potential guardian, a stepfather, was deemed an inappropriate choice of guardian—meant that Katie was sent to a foster home shortly after her seventh birthday.

The "best" foster home was located in another state, but the judge handling Katie's case had heard good things about the home and had sent other abused children there. There were two buildings, one for children twelve and under, the second one being ages thirteen thru eighteen. At least half of the children there did not have serious psychological problems but were simply the children who had not been adopted. Or, if they had been adopted, it hadn't worked out for one reason or another. There were a few kids there who had parents in prison or in rehab, but those were in the minority. It was, in short, a safe and relatively normal place for kids like Kate, who had been victims of abuse, and Sawyer, who had no remaining family members.

There were always more people in the teen house, as it was called, than the kid house. Unless the teen was waiting for relatives, his or her chances of adoption were fairly small by the time they reached thirteen. Sawyer was closer to thirteen than twelve when Kate entered the kid house, but he was technically within the younger age bracket and, besides, the kid house had more resources at the moment. Some employees would admit, if pressed, that thirteen and even fourteen year olds could be moved to the kid house if the teen house became too crowded. It wasn't exactly desirable, because the teens were more likely to have behavioral and drug problems, but it was still a valid option. The owners of Safe Place were working to obtain grant money to build a second teen house, but this project had been in the making since Sawyer first arrived at age nine.

After Sawyer's parents died, at age seven, he lived with his grandparents in their trailer. None of the Fords had been particularly well off, but his father's side had done better than his mother's side. Unfortunately, it was his mother's parents who were alive to take care of Sawyer.

Older than the parents of most of Sawyer's friends, his grandparents were prone to health problems. His grandmother died roughly six months after he moved in, and his grandfather was only able to hold on for another year and a half after that. It was fortunate that Sawyer's neighbors were aware of the situation and, by the time Sawyer's grandfather was near death, there was always someone bringing over food or checking in on him. None of them felt particularly obligated to Sawyer, mostly because he was fairly rude and disrespectful. The foster home was located less than an hour from the trailer, so one of the neighbors cared enough to make sure Sawyer had an official place to live.

Few adults knew how Sawyer and Katie became friends. Only that about a week after Katie entered Safe Place, she seemed to be with Sawyer at all times. Sawyer more or less tolerated her in front of the adults, and his toleration appeared to grow into a caring friendship over the course of a month or so. Katie was the youngest child at Safe Place when she arrived, not wholly unusual for the shelter. Sawyer was the oldest, by over a year, and it had been a few months since new kids arrived. He was probably curious about Katie, a quiet but unusually stubborn child who hated being touched and was plagued by nightmares.

"Why are you screaming?" he asked the first time he was woken up by them. He wore a pair of oversized green pajamas, donated by some charity, and his sandy blonde hair was disheveled from sleep.

Katie, dressed in a white nightgown, pulled the covers closer to her.

"None of your business," she shot back, glaring. "Get outta here."

He tried to hide his surprise at a girl almost half his age bossing him around.

"Well, freckle face, you're gonna wake everyone up if you don't shut it," was his reply.

The second time, he stayed in the doorway. Heard her crying and rocking herself. Pulling the covers around her tightly, even though it wasn't that cold out.

She didn't notice him right away, and when she did, she gave Sawyer a fierce glare.

"What do you want?" she practically hissed.

"Just checking to see if you're still alive," was his half hearted comeback.

"Hmph."

Sawyer remained in the doorway. "There are more blankets in the hallway closet. They won't care if you take them," he suggested cautiously.

Katie just stared at him, arms folded around her chest. "Who said I was cold?"

"Fine, I'm leaving."

The third time was the loudest. Sawyer was surprised that no one else had been awoken.

He came in with one of the aforementioned blankets, figuring at least he'd have an excuse this time. He'd sneaked a look at her room the next day, but the bed looked normal, so she obviously hadn't taken his advice. Sawyer felt vaguely annoyed that Katie had ignored him, but he tried not to care too much. She was just some six year old crybaby. Probably missed her parents.

She was buried in a ball of covers, sheets mixed in with blankets and the customary quilt provided in all rooms. She kind of looked like she was drowning.

The extra blanket he carried seemed unnecessary, so he just wrapped it around himself and sat down in the chair next to her bed. All of the rooms had one, in case one of the shelter workers had to talk to the kids. They were kind of like rocking chairs, but not as comfortable. Like whoever built them gave up halfway through and figured they were good enough for foster kids. Built for adult bodies, not kids, so if Katie had been sitting there, there was no way her legs would touch the ground.

Sawyer's legs barely reached the floor.

He just sat there for a few minutes, feeling increasingly stupid by the second. What was he thinking, anyway? Just because Katie seemed to follow him around at meals didn't mean that she liked him. Why, it could be because he was more than a head taller than her and could reach the food more easily.

That was probably the reason, he decided. It had nothing to do with actually liking Sawyer. He was just convenient.

He supposed he couldn't blame her. He'd only been nine when he entered Safe Place, and it had felt pretty alien and scary. It would be worse for a five year old.

Or was she six? She was short, so it was too hard to tell. Especially at night.

So he just sat there, not saying anything, and gradually the tears stopped, and Katie sat up in bed and tried to fix the covers. Sawyer stood up, figuring the best way of making a semi decent impression (on any adult who came by, not on Katie) was to help her.

And it just made sense to tuck her in after that was all finished. And her hair was in her face, so he moved it away. Katie didn't audibly protest to either.

He went back to the chair until he was sure she was asleep. Because the last thing he needed was for her to almost be asleep, wake up from some nightmare, and start screaming because Sawyer wasn't there.

Even though that was unlikely.

It took some effort to get out of the chair and go back to his bedroom. But that was because it was late and his foot was falling asleep. And because Katie could still wake up at any minute.

She slept through the night, though. Must have, because Sawyer wasn't woken up by any more screams.

The next day, she smiled at him as he handed her what he recognized to be her favorite cereal. Cheerios. And grabbed an extra milk container for her, since it was pretty high up on the shelf. No way she'd be able to reach it.

And a banana, because growing kids needed fruit and she seemed to like those more than apples.

They didn't say anything as they ate their breakfast together, but Sawyer thought he saw Katie smile at him at one point.

The next time Katie woke up from a nightmare, Sawyer was there, standing awkwardly over her bed in the same blanket.

"Stay with me," she pleaded, moving to the edge of her bed.

Sawyer sat on the chair, but moved it closer to the bed. Held Katie's hand as she fell asleep. A few weeks later, in the middle of the day, Sawyer was reading a book on one of the couches when Katie crept up next to him. Stretched out, and fell asleep against his shoulder. When he put down his book, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, repositioning Katie so that she'd be more comfortable.

As though it were no big deal.

The shelter workers smiled, the idea that the two were close cementing in their minds. How sweet, that the abused little girl and the orphan boy had developed a brother-sister bond. They loved that sort of thing, encouraged it. Found Sawyer extra books that he might enjoy from the library. Also, picture books that he could read to Katie. If he felt so inclined. There were never any verbal expectations.

Also, a few of the shelter workers gave them extra treats. They tried not to be conspicuous. If Katie was practicing her reading, one of them might show up with a plate of graham crackers and two glasses of orange juice.

"In case your voice gets tired," one would explain, smiling encouragingly at Sawyer as though to say, "They're yours, too."

Sawyer worried that other kids would find out and get jealous, but the shelter workers were smart. The extra attention was administered when other kids weren't there, to all of the kids, or in such a way that the kids saw nothing unusual about it.

Maybe it was favoritism, but of the ten kids who currently lived at Safe Place, none had been abused or been orphans.

Also, who's to say they didn't get special treatment in other ways? Maybe that was how the workers acted with everyone else. Neither had paid much attention beforehand. Sawyer had been lost in his own world. Lost in books.

At any rate, the two did not make any enemies.

When Juliet came down, Jack behind her and trying to look enthusiastic, the shelter workers introduced them to all of the other kids first. Maybe they wanted to keep Katie and Sawyer for a little longer. Maybe it was overcompensation. They made it clear that Katie and Sawyer had a brother-sister bond. They were not related by blood, but Katie had latched onto Sawyer as soon as she arrived at Safe Place. It was easy to see that Sawyer felt protective of her.

The shelter workers must have found out about Katie's nightmares, and moved Sawyer to the room next door to her. So he could hear her more easily before the rest of the staff did. They didn't seem to care if they found Sawyer sleeping next to her, over the covers. She was always curled up next to him as though he were some giant, protective stuffed animal. Privately, some members of the staff referred to Sawyer in this state as Katie's Sawyer Bear.

At first, Juliet had only wanted to adopt Katie. Sawyer was too old, and seemed too stubborn. This was ironic, because Katie could go without talking to someone for days if she got mad at them. She usually got her way with Sawyer when they played games. With a few compromises on his part. Three games of Candyland, one game of Monopoly, and whatnot.

Katie flat out refused to go without Sawyer. The staff reported that the Shepherds could not take Katie unless she was willing to go. Jack, who had initially been ambivalent about the whole adoption idea, spent more time with Sawyer as they wavered on whether to adopt both or look around for another child entirely. Jack ended up developing a closer bond with Sawyer that Juliet's, reinforced by the assumption that a boy would be able to do things like play baseball and watch sports on TV. Juliet would always leave the room when a game was on, and Katie would probably take after her. In a basic way, even though both adults cared for both children, Sawyer was Jack's kid and Katie Juliet's.

It didn't quite work out in the easy way the adults had expected.