Thanks for the kind reviews! I hope Part Two doesn't stretch the canon of the show too far! I feel like with what was given by the writers, this scenario is indeed possible! ENJOY!
Kate stared proudly at Claire, Charlie and Aaron, completely captivated by their moment of remembrance, of family. It made her ache so much for her own.
She turned to Desmond, relieved, yet solemn tears in her eyes.
"Do you understand now?" Desmond asked.
She nodded sadly, yet knowingly, completely aware of where she would end up, but unsure of how she would get there.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Now, you say goodbye to your son" Desmond said with a sad, yet knowing grin.
"My son? How did you know…?" Kate began, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"He's here Kate. He's out there. Table 23. You were sitting with him this whole time" Desmond said.
"I don't understand." Kate said, anger rising in her tone.
"He's here because Jack brought him here" Desmond said.
"What? Jack didn't know that I was pregnant. There's no way that David can be here" Kate said.
"You still don't understand, Kate. Jack knew about David. His peace in this place was threaded together because of the son that you two created together. Jack needed David just as much as you did." Desmond explained.
"So, you're telling me that Jack raised David too? We raised him…together, but not together?" Kate asked, still confused.
"Yes. Exactly. The David that you gave birth to and the David sitting out there at that table are no different. They're the same person completely, but this David, who's here, is being held onto by Jack, because he doesn't know what this place is yet. He needed to raise him, know him and spend time with him before he could move on, before he would be ready to leave" Desmond explained.
"Is he dead too?" Kate asked frantically, not being able to take the news that their son was dead, even if she was.
"No. He's the only one here who isn't. Some people here are apparitions of what our minds and hearts can't let go of just yet, and once the dead cross, those who stay behind, those who are still alive, are able to grieve less and less. David is just waiting, not to leave, but to be let go of. You have to let him go, Kate. You have to say goodbye, for yourself and for Jack" Desmond urged.
"What about Jack? If I let David go, Jack won't be able to say goodbye" Kate asked.
"No, he can't. If Jack were to see David before you help him remember, he'll never want to leave, he'll resist the inevitable even more than I predict he will anyways. So you have to go out there and let David go, before Jack arrives" he said.
"I can't do that to Jack. What is he going to think when our son is there one minute and gone the next?" she asked, truly conflicted by what Desmond was asking her to do.
"You and Jack taught David everything that he would ever need in order to survive both of your deaths. You do want Jack to come with you, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, of course I do" she said, the chance to live an eternity with Jack after a life without him too enticing to pass up.
"We all had to let go of people we love. David will be okay. He got to know both of you, in different ways and separately, but when he walks away from this concert, he'll know that both his parents love him, because he lived it, and he felt it, from you both, every day of his life" he said.
She moved from backstage, with Desmond behind her and simply watched him. There he was. David. He simply sat there as people started to disperse from and mingle around their tables, the concert having ended awhile ago.
She approached him tentatively; completely awestruck by how Jack's rendition of their child was so perfect, so spot-on. She held back the tears that were threatening to fall when he finally felt her presence, and stood nervously, as if expecting bad news.
"My aunt Claire…is she okay?" David asked, watching as this mystery woman who knew his aunt about as well as he did bore holes into his face, with a small, sad smile on her lips.
"Erm…she's fine. She had her baby, a boy. She's on her way to the hospital" Kate said, the words all too appropriate as she stood in front of her own son, so grown-up, with his suit and tie, and a little shadow of facial hair on his chin.
He was just as she remembered him to be in his teenage years, anxious and excited to show her what new, complicated Mozart piece he'd perfected for the annual spring recital at the music conservatory, playing to his heart's content, and to her pride and pleasure. A man stood in front of her, molded by his father's influence, and presence. She was so happy that their son got to know and spend time with Jack that she was a beat away from breaking down.
"Wow, that's awesome" he said, creating a smile that was so much like his father that she physically shook from the nostalgia.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving closer to her.
"I'm fine. Are you waiting here for your dad?" she asked.
"Yeah" he responded with this big grin, his icy blue eyes now twinkled. "He had some important surgery, but he said he would meet up with me later. I called the hospital, but they told me he just finished."
"Yeah, I think it might be awhile before he gets here" she said.
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm on my own then" he said, looking towards the crowd of people who finally started to disperse.
"Do you have a way home? Do you need me to take you?" Kate offered immediately. She didn't even have a car at her disposal, but was awfully nervous about him taking a cab or going anywhere all by himself.
"No, I'm okay. I got it" he said confidently.
"Don't tell me you're driving already" she teased, delighted by yet another one of his boyish smiles.
"Not yet, my mom is trying to hold that off for a little while longer, but Dad is trying to help me wear her down" he said.
"Well, Jack has always been pretty hard to resist" she said with a smile.
"How do you know my dad's name?" he asked, somewhat startled that he wasn't too shocked that this woman knew his father somehow. He too felt an undeniable connection from the moment she approached him.
"Umm…Claire…she told me that she would call him while on her way to the hospital" she lied.
"I don't know your name" he said with a light laugh, as he extended his hand in her direction.
As soon as he said it, Kate flashed to the moment with Jack by the fireside on the Island, having felt such a strong connection to him that she forgot to introduce herself.
"I'm Kate" she said, taking his hand.
At the contact, they both felt a rush of mystical warmth, vision blinded by the stinging intensity of bright lights, as if they were falling into a pit of stars, with no end in sight. It felt like it lasted forever, but only occurred for mere seconds.
He pulled his hand away, shaking. When he opened his eyes, he saw something different, as if he knew her somehow, but couldn't place where or when. Then a look of fluid recognition flooded his face, his eyes glued on the woman in front of him. His mother.
"Mom?" he asked, his voice cracked.
Kate nodded, tears in her eyes. He smiled happily and pulled her into a hug. He didn't know how, but he knew what was happening as he started to sob in her embrace. They were going to leave, because they were both dead and he wasn't. He also knew that he had to go before his dad arrived. This was goodbye.
"It's okay, baby. I got you" she cried.
"I'll miss you and Dad so much" he sobbed as she wrapped her arms around him, comforting him with every fiber of strength she had left.
"We're going to miss you too, baby, oh so much" she sobbed, holding him so tightly she was afraid that she might break him, but that fear was overcast by the incredible bout of love and pride that washed over her. He broke down even more in her arms, steadied by her unrelenting grip.
She pulled back to get a look at his face, tears strewn down his freckled cheeks. She wiped them away with her thumbs and kissed his forehead. Desmond watched solemnly from backstage, the moment so heartbreaking yet pure that it brought a tear to his eye.
"You be good, okay? You live your life. Me and your dad will watch over you and protect you and love you forever and don't you ever forget that" she said, swiping her fingers through his thick dark hair.
He nodded sadly, and then smiled, understanding what gift he'd been given. Kate would always tell him about his father's bravery, how he saved her life, risking his own so that she, they, would be able to survive. He was blessed to have been raised by them both, as unconventional and out-of-body as the experience was.
He pulled completely away from her, as agonizingly slow as he possibly could, and backed away, walking off onto the lawn that lay outside of the tented arena, hands in his pockets, now at peace with what had to be done. He looked back one more time at his mother, so beautiful and waved before he vanished into the night air.
Dizzy and disoriented, she fell into a chair, trying to hold back more tears, but simply couldn't find the strength as she shook and heaved with sadness. Once she'd let it all out, she took a nearby cloth napkin and dabbed at each eye. She pulled her hair out of the bun she'd thrown it in, combed her fingers through it and waited for Jack. He would be there any minute, and when he did arrive, she would do anything she had to in order to finally bring him home.
Up Next: Part 3 of 3!