Thanks for the reviews, and for not making that a one time token effort! As a reward, here is pointless baby fluff chapter number 2 ;)

For anyone who's wondering, doctors only insist on about half an hour's rest after giving birth, and then technically you can be up and around again. Sometimes, if the hospital needs to send you home quickly, that's pretty much all you get. So it's not that unrealistic for Kate to be back on her feet the same night...

Chapter 48. One Big Happy Family

The sun had risen by the time they trudged into camp, weary but triumphant, Kate still clutching the baby as if nothing in the world could ever make her let go. Both Jack and Kevin had offered to take him for her, to lighten her load, but she'd flatly refused, determined that if they were ambushed, and it came to that, it would be her cold, dead arms that the Others pried him from. She couldn't fight her exhaustion forever, though, giving in once Kevin went off to find Libby, and she and Jack reached their tent, letting him bond with their son while she allowed her body time to heal.

He was sitting with Claire when she remerged hours later, feeling rested, and eager to hold her son again, grinning when she saw him sprawled on a towel with Aaron, the two babies ignoring each other for the most part.

"We were just introducing him to his cousin," Jack told her, reaching up to help her as she eased herself into the sand beside them.

"You should have seen them before – they were holding hands. Jack said it was just a reflex, but it was so cute. I wish I had a camera," Claire said wistfully, offering her a sympathetic wince as she added, "How're you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore. Ecstatic," Kate confessed, her grin broadening, unable to conceal her joy now that the worst was over, and she and Jack had a beautiful healthy little boy.

"Until I had Aaron, I had no idea that I could feel that that good and that lousy at the same time," Claire agreed with a laugh, looking down at her son affectionately. "I'm glad I went through with it, though, 'cause I just love him to bits, don't I, little man?" She tickled Aaron's bare belly and he laughed in response, kicking his legs in the air.

As they watched them, Kate glanced over at Jack, and she knew that he was thinking the same thing: that even though their son was the result of carelessness on both of their parts, he wouldn't change it for the world, and neither would she.

"What's his name?" Claire asked when Aaron crawled away, prying a bug out of his hands before he could put it in his mouth. "Ta, Aaron, ta. Give that to Mummy. Good boy."

"All the ones we had were for girls," Kate admitted, realising that they were still yet to discuss this. "I tried coming up with some boys' ones, but Jack wouldn't let me. He kept telling me I'd jinx it," she reminded him with a teasing nudge in the ribs.

"We could still use Emma," he told her with a playful grin, and she hit him again, harder this time.

"It reminds me of that Johnny Cash song, 'A Boy Named Sue'. He kept getting into fights," Claire agreed with a giggle, "so at least you wouldn't have to worry about him not being able to defend himself."

"Call me old fashioned, but I'm not giving my son a girl's name," Kate said, fixing Jack with her most piercing look, causing all three of them to dissolve into laughter when she couldn't maintain it for long. Aaron laughed too, glancing from Kate, to Claire, and back again, to let them know that he was in on the joke, though Kate doubted that he had any clue as what they were talking about.

"I actually have a suggestion," Jack said seriously, scooping the baby up off the towel, and settling him in his arms. When Kate looked at him expectantly, eager to have it resolved, he licked his lips, his eyes darting to Claire before meeting hers. "If it's okay with both of you, I'd like to call him Christian, after our father, since we did sort of agree that he was indirectly responsible for all this." He gestured around their little circle: himself, Claire, Aaron, Kate and their son: one big happy family.

"I think that's a good idea," Kate agreed, knowing how much it meant to him to be able to honour his father that way when he never had the chance to make amends. Considering that the baby was born less than nine months after his death, she thought it was almost fitting, like fate.

"I think he would've liked that," Claire said, looking sad, as she always did, at the mention of the father she would never know.

"Christian Samuel Shephard," Kate tried out once it looked like it was unanimous, deciding that she didn't mind it as much as she thought she would.

Any doubts she had evaporated when Jack beamed at her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he leaned in to kiss her, before setting Christian back down on the towel with Aaron. "This is your cousin Christian," he told his nephew proudly, running his fingers through his sparse hair to get his attention, exchanging a grin with Claire as he added, "but we're gonna make sure you guys are more like brothers."

Later that night, while Jack debriefed Sayid on their visit to the Others' camp, Kate was sitting on the beach with Christian, watching the waves, when Kevin sat down beside her.

"You look like you've bounced back well," he said after a moment, glancing over at her before returning his attention to the water. "Motherhood suits you, but then I always knew it would."

"I guess it does," she agreed, knowing that this wasn't what he'd come there to say. Deciding to make the most of the time they had alone, she cleared her throat. "Thanks for being there for me last night – I don't think I could've done it without you."

He let out a low laugh, turning to her with a lopsided grin as he said, "You didn't need me, Kate. You never needed me – not as much as I needed you."

She wasn't sure what to say to this, whether or not she should agree, but fortunately, she was saved from having to make a decision when he changed the subject. "Has the little guy got a name yet?" he asked, nodding at Christian.

Kate smiled, looking down at her son. She'd just fed him, and he was sleeping peacefully swaddled up in his blanket, his brow furrowed, his lips slightly parted, his fingers curled against her. "We're calling him Christian, after Jack's father. He died in Sydney, a couple of days before the crash," she explained.

Kevin nodded. "That's nice. If we'd had a son, I think I would've wanted to name him after my father too," he told her with a rueful smile, watching Christian's tiny chest rise and fall.

Seeing how transfixed he was, Kate felt a pang of guilt, knowing that it if weren't for the strange turn their lives had taken, it could just as easily have been their baby in her arms. "You wanna hold him?" she asked, hoping that it would make him a little less sad.

He looked up at her, surprised, but he was smiling for real when he said, "Sure."

She transferred her son into his arms, watching his expression soften as he settled him against his chest. "He's beautiful, Kate," he told her, studying the baby's face carefully as he stirred and looked up at him. "The colour's wrong, but his eyes are definitely Jack's. He's got your mouth, though… and your stubbornness. No wonder you had such a hard time of it last night – I think between you and Jack, he's got you both beat."

He seemed so at home with the baby, even though he wasn't his; another awkward silence fell between them, but this time, Kate was the one to break it. "This might be a little weird, but would you like to be his godfather? You risked your life for us last night – I want him to grow up knowing that."

Stunned, Kevin tore his eyes away from the baby, his expression dubious, as he seemed to realise how spontaneous the decision had been. "And Jack's okay with this arrangement? Because if the situation were reversed…"

She knew what he was going to say, but she shrugged, cutting him off. "I'll have to run it by him," she agreed, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't thought to do it before, "but I'm sure he'll be fine with it." She wasn't, but she figured that he owed her for letting him choose the baby's name.

Kevin didn't answer, so she nudged him with her elbow, teasing him by adding, "I'm gonna ask Libby to be the godmother."

He chuckled at her not so subtle hint, his face splitting into a grin. "In that case," he agreed, "I'd love to."

They sat together for a long time, adjusting to the change between them, until Christian started to fuss, and Kate excused herself to put him to bed.

Jack appeared at the entrance to their tent as she was laying him down in Aaron's old cradle, and they both kissed him goodnight several times, watching him drift off in silence until Kate cleared her throat.

"I asked Kevin to be Christian's godfather," she confessed, waiting for Jack to pick a fight with her about it as she rushed on, "I know how you feel about him, so I hope you're not too pissed off at me, but I just wanted him to know how much we appreciate everything he did for us."

She was so busy making excuses to justify her decision that she almost missed his nod. "I'm not mad, Kate," he said, running a hand over his hair as he stifled a laugh at how neurotic she was being. "He's a great guy – I'm beginning to get what you saw in him."

"So you don't mind?" she checked, surprised at how well he was taking it. Not only was he not bothered by it, but he seemed to be agreeing with her.

He grinned, pulling her into his lap, and wrapping his arms around her. "Why would I mind," he agreed, brushing his nose against hers and kissing her, before pulling back so that they could see into each other's eyes, "when I get to be his father?"

I know some of you are gonna challenge me on the name, but I happen to believe that in spite of how complicated their relationship was, Jack worshipped his father (All he ever wanted was to be worthy of being his son -- he never came to the conclusion, like Christian did, that he was actually a better man!). That's why he took it so hard when he caught him drinking on the job, because it was one of those shattering moments where we realise that are parents are capable of making mistakes just like we are. And that's why he agreed to help cover it up, until his conscience got the better of him.

Next chapter: There's only one or two more depending on how I split the material. I can't tell you too much, but I'll probably skip a few months into the future. ;)