Thanks for the reviews. :) I'm not sure if anyone's missed me, but my absence over the past few days has been a combination of getting hooked on Invasion and being fairly upset about the new Eggtown spoilers. I was on the verge of writing a very bitter, very angry Jack-centric one shot but after a mammoth discussion with SassyLostie (We talked for exactly 8 hours and 15 minutes, which we're very proud of! I know, we have no lives!) I realised that anything else was just wishful thinking... ;)

Chapter 21. Later

Closing the door behind her, the first thing Kate noticed was her son's hysterical chuckles echoing through the apartment.

Curious as to the cause of it, she crept down the hall to the guest room, where Jack was undressing him on a towel on the bed, blowing on his bare stomach to keep him amused.

"You like that, don't you?" she heard him say, lowering his head to do it again, and J.J. shrieked with laughter, rocking and gripping his toes as Jack slid the diaper out from underneath him.

He seemed to like it too, at least, the reaction he was getting; he was still grinning as he hoisted him up off the bed, his expression turning sheepish when he saw that she'd witnessed the whole thing.

"What're you smiling at?" he asked, feigning nonchalance as he shifted their son onto his hip, and her own smile grew.

"Nothing," she told him, leaning back so that she was hugging the doorframe. "Just… you."

Suddenly, for the first time in a long time, she was deliriously happy, her happiness increasing when instead of continuing past her, he stopped, bringing his hand up to her cheek and closing the gap between them.

"Later," he murmured when they broke from each other, and he didn't have to say anymore because they were both grinning like love-starved teenagers.

"Later," she agreed, filling the word with the same promise as she pulled him back down to kiss him again.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asked her when she released him, steering the conversation onto safer things, and as she followed him out of the bedroom, she couldn't resist teasing him by countering, "Why? Are you gonna cook for us Jack?"

Realising that she'd backed him into a corner, he laughed, scratching his head with his free hand. "Actually," he explained, seemingly embarrassed that that wasn't what he'd meant, "I was thinking we could make it together."

There was something about the everyday domesticity of it that made her jump at the suggestion. "Okay," she agreed, and his expression brightened.

"Great. Just let me wash my hands, and I'll meet you in the kitchen," he told her, transferring J.J. to her as he turned and headed further down the hall to the bathroom.

Sun had left them a note encouraging them to help themselves to whatever they needed; Kate settled J.J. in Ji's old highchair with his bear and a pile of blocks, and when Jack returned, they found the ingredients for a rice dish Sun had saved the recipe for.

Jack insisted that it wasn't possible, but somehow, she managed to burn the rice, so that most of it ended up stuck to the bottom of the saucepan; even so, it was hands down one of the most perfect meals she'd ever eaten just because they'd cooked it together.

Everything about the evening was wonderfully, painfully normal; once he finished feeding J.J., Jack washed the dishes while Kate dried them and put them back where they'd found them, then they bathed their son together, and tucked him into Ji's crib.

"Alone at last," Jack whispered, wrapping his arms around her from behind, as they watched his eyelids flicker shut, but tilting her head to look at him, she knew he wouldn't have traded the moments leading up to it for anything.

"I had fun today," she told him softly, settling back into his embrace. "I'm glad you talked me into it."

Letting go of her, he led the way out of the room, closing the door partway behind them. "Why did you need me to talk you into it?" he asked, rounding on her once he was sure that the sound of their voices wouldn't disturb J.J., his brow furrowing in confusion. "Kate?"

For a moment, she was afraid she'd said something wrong, until she realised that the confrontation would have happened eventually, whether or not she'd given him an opening. "Jack…" she began, unsure how to explain how she felt, but the look on his face told her that he wasn't giving up without an answer.

"Don't tell me you were afraid of getting caught, because we both know it's more than that."

"I don't know," she confessed with a sigh, and he softened towards her, taking her hand, and urging her to come sit with him in the living room. "I guess I'm still uncomfortable with this. I mean, we were never really together, even when we were together, if that makes sense."

"Yeah, it does," he agreed, staring down at his hands. "But that doesn't mean we can't try now. Isn't that what all this is about? Us, being a family, like we should have from the beginning?"

"It is, but…" she bit her lip, thinking of that moment in the park. What if this really was it? What if they never had another day like it?

She could see that he was losing his patience, with her, and with the situation in general. "But what? Say it, Kate," he prompted, finishing the thought for her when she still couldn't bring herself to voice it, "We don't know what's gonna happen?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," she agreed, even though she could see in his eyes that he already was at hearing how ready she was to give up on him, on them.

"You don't want me to get hurt? Or you don't wanna get hurt yourself?" he insisted, and it was all she could do to keep from yelling back.

"Both. I don't wanna hurt you, Jack, and I don't wanna hurt our son."

"Then how is pulling away from me the answer?" he asked sharply, surprising her by leaning forward, massaging his brow with both hands. "I know you're scared," he added softly. "I am too. I don't know how to be a father – it's not like I had the best role model. The only difference is I'm doing the best I can, and you keep fighting me on it."

He sounded so tired and sad that she found herself scooting over to him, slipping her arms around him so that her chin rested in the crook of his neck. "You're right, I am scared," she confessed, her voice muffled by her position, and he lifted his head to look at her. "I'm not used to sharing this with someone, so I'm scared it won't work out, and I'm scared that it will. I know I'm not perfect, but I'm trying, Jack."

"You don't need to be afraid of me, Kate," he told her, disentangling himself from her arms, and turning so that they were facing each other, taking her shoulders gently. "I'm not the enemy here."

"I know, trust me – I know," she told him, her eyes filling with tears as she remembered how happy he looked every time he got to be their son's father. "And I'm sorry – the last thing I want is to be fighting with you."

Some of the weight left his expression then, and he smiled, holding his arms out to her; accepting the olive branch he was offering, she sank into them, pressing her cheek to his chest, feeling the steady pulse of his heart. "So how about we stop fighting each other, and worry about fighting them instead?"

"Okay," she agreed swallowing against the lump in her throat as she lifted her head to kiss him.

Their eyes locked when they broke for air, tentative until she whispered, "Is it later yet?"

His response was a soft chuckle as he pulled her back in. "Come here," he murmured, weaving his fingers through the hair at the back of her neck as he brought her lips back to his.

"So I guess that's a yes?" she asked to tease him, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, sliding it up over his head when he didn't object.

"That is a yes," he assured her as she cast it aside, and laughing, they fell back onto the couch together. Propping himself up with his elbows on either side of hers, he smiled down at her, his eyes full of love and reassurance, before leaning in to kiss her again. "Definitely a yes."

Next chapter: Babysitting... ;)