Thanks, as always, for the reviews. With a couple of exceptions, disinterest in my stories appears to have peaked. (Some of you might have noticed that I've already discontinued the "Picking Up The Pieces" one shots.) It can't just be the time of year, because a lot of other writers seem to have recovered from that, so if you have anything to say that might explain this, I would love to hear from you. For someone who wants to do this for a living, even criticism is welcome feedback, since it will help me to fix whatever I'm doing wrong.
That said, after all the exposition I've been dumping on you recently, this chapter is pretty mythology-lite... ;)
Chapter 18. A Normal Evening
In her wildest dreams, Kate never thought she would be one of those harried mothers who spent the flight shooting apologetic glances at the people around them, but over the course of the next few hours, she came to understand her father's warning about forcing fussy six month olds to sit still.
For some reason that she couldn't discern, J.J. didn't want to be on the plane; in fact, his mood had been deteriorating since they left the hospital. Each shrill wail made her want to sink further into her seat; by the time they landed in Seoul, she was so embarrassed that it was a relief to slink into a cab and leave all of those piercing stares behind.
To her dismay, Sun and Jin's apartment was in an elaborate skyscraper at the heart of the city: the kind with its own doorman, that Kate hadn't known existed outside of Hollywood movies. She felt conspicuously underdressed in her dark t-shirt and jeans as she scrambled into the lift with a grubby infant perched on her hip; more so when a Korean girl who looked like she could have been a model stuck out a hand to hold the doors for her.
Kate smiled and thanked her in English, but the whole time they were riding up together, all she could think was that she could put J.J. in day care for months on what that dress must have cost her.
Jack must have told them that she was coming, because Sun answered the door before the doorbell had even finished ringing.
"Kate!" she said, throwing her arms around her and pulling her in for an enthusiastic hug. "It's so good to see you."
Her attention shifted to J.J. as they stepped back and she smiled. "And this must be J.J. He's beautiful, Kate. He has his father's eyes." She gave Kate a knowing look, and Kate couldn't help sharing her grin.
"Let's see this little girl of yours," she said as her friend took her luggage and led the way to the living room.
Jack was there with Jin, trailing off in mid-sentence, his eyes widening with surprise when he saw that Kate wasn't alone.
"You didn't tell me you were bringing him," he whispered as he stood to kiss her, but she shot him a look that said 'I'll explain later', and he seemed to decide against forcing the issue.
"Hey, little guy," he murmured instead, mussing their son's hair, and J.J. turned his head to look at him, babbling something that almost sounded like 'Da da'.
"You can put him down with Ji," Sun told them, looking slightly uncomfortable at witnessing such a private moment as she gestured to where a little girl in pigtails was playing on the floor, and the spell broken, Jack took his hand away and returned to his seat.
Glad to give her arms a break, Kate set her son on what she hoped for their friends' sake wasn't an expensive rug, watching as Ji Yeon eyed him with mistrust, scowling when he picked up one of her toys and put it into his mouth. She was obviously spoilt; Kate found herself wondering if, without a brother or sister to teach him how to share, that would be her own child in a few years' time.
"Jack has been telling us what you are doing," Jin said in carefully enunciated English once she was seated on the sofa with Jack, and coming back to the moment, Kate found herself almost speechless at how far his skills had come in such a short time. "If there is anything else we can do to help…"
"We've already told him everything we know about my father's dealings with Alvar Hanso," Sun added with an encouraging smile, and Kate managed a polite smile back, swallowing her disappointment at the subtext.
As far as she could tell, that wasn't much more than they'd gotten from Penny and Desmond, in spite of the fact that she and Jin were still in that world.
"We couldn't let you go to a hotel, so you'll be staying in the guest bedroom with Jack," Sun told her to break the silence, her confidence faltering as she rushed on with a sheepish look, "I hope that's all right," and exchanging a shrug with Jack, Kate nodded.
"That's fine," she agreed, amused by Sun's less than subtle way of confirming the status of their relationship when she clapped her hands together, looking simultaneously relieved and pleased.
"Good. I'll get Jin to move Ji's old crib in after dinner."
Over dinner she explained that if anyone asked, while they were staying with them, Jack was a visiting American language professor helping Jin with his English, and Kate was his wife.
"Why can't I be the professor? I thought you guys were pretty modern," Kate complained, mostly to tease Jack, fixing him with a challenging stare, and he laughed, lifting his hands above his head in mock surrender.
"Hey, wasn't my idea," he assured her, and she found herself laughing too, enjoying what had to have been one of the most normal evening they'd had in a long time.
"If it was up to me, you could be anything you want," he continued sweetly, and she slapped his thigh under the table.
"Suck up," she mouthed, but she squeezed his hand to let him know that she wasn't serious.
"Because then my father would ask why I allowed such a beautiful young woman to be my husband's teacher," Sun explained with a wry grin, and Kate took a sip of her wine to hide her blush.
"Just so long as that's it," she agreed, swatting Jack again, this time in the ribs, when he raised an amused eyebrow at her.
"That's right – other people think I'm beautiful," she reminded him, daring him to disagree.
After dinner, while the men took care of the dishes, she and Sun caught each other up on their lives as they bathed the children side by side, and dressed them in their pyjamas.
It was past J.J.'s usual bedtime by the time they were ready for sleep, but knowing that Jack would be disappointed if she put him down before he got the chance to see him, she let their son play with her on the bed until he came into the room.
"Where's Jin?" she asked, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up on one elbow when he kicked his shoes off and sat on the end of the bed, noting for the first time how quiet the rest of the apartment was.
"Sun made him go to bed early – I think she wanted to give us some time alone," he explained, and Kate made mental note to thank her friend later.
"And what exactly did she think was gonna happen?" she teased him with a coy nod at the pink wooden crib Jin had moved in for their son.
It was a good thing he was too young to care about these things, she decided, or else she'd never get him to sleep there.
"Not that," he agreed, glancing at J.J. with a look of horror. "I think she just wanted to give us some space."
He crawled up onto the mattress beside her, mirroring her position so that they were facing each other with J.J. between them.
"I know I probably shouldn't've brought him—" she began, feeling the need to justify her decision to him now that they were alone, but he silenced her with a kiss.
"It's okay," he agreed, stroking her jaw with his thumb when he pulled back. "I know what you were thinking – he's as safe here as anywhere else."
"Safer, because I know you'd die before you let them hurt him," she told him, and he smiled, kissing her again.
"I'd die before I let them hurt either of you."
A comfortable silence fell over them as they both turned to watch him, sitting up with one of his toys in the middle of the bed.
"Hey, is that…?" Jack asked when he registered what it was.
"Yeah," she agreed softly as J.J. continued to suck on the ear of his bear. "I haven't been able to get it away from him."
"Do you think he knows where it came from?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her, sounding hopeful, though they were both aware that this was next to impossible. He probably just liked the taste or the texture or something.
"I don't know," she told him truthfully, and he looked disappointed, until she added, "But it was the only thing that could get him to stop crying on the plane."
This seemed to be enough for him for now; with a faint smile, he got up to turn out the light, and after kissing him, and each other, goodnight, that was how they fell asleep: side by side with their son nestled between them.
For anyone who hasn't heard, Ji Yeon is the official name of Sun and Jin's daughter in the flashforwards. ;)
Next chapter(s): The two familes spend more time together, and Jack and Kate come up with a new plan... ;)