Author's Notes:

This was fun to write but sometimes hard too. It's hard for me to picture them always happy and content with each other. But anyways, this Chapter is mostly to demonstrate how happy they are with each other, but also to kinda pave the way for the following chapters to come. Bear with me, most of it will have a point in the overall story that is Skate! Please read and review if you like it! Thank you for still reading! Some parts of these tidbits of their life together were inspired by the songs Perfect and I just want to be mad for a while. Thought I should give credit.

5am – Sawyer and Kate's home

Last night they went to bed not talking. Cause they'd already said too much. She faced the wall he faced the window. Bound and determined not to touch. They've been married 5 months now.

She tries to sleep some more, but can't seem to find any rest. Thoughts of them filling her mind.

A few hours later in the kitchen

He smiles at her walking in as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

She doesn't smile, looks at him and says, "I'm still mad at you this morning."

He holds up the coffee and answers, "Coffee's ready if you want some." He takes his cup and starts walking over to the cupboard, getting him a bowl out and then the cereal. Trying to ignore her mood, but then she says.

"I've been up since 5." He turns his head, looking at her, she continues, "Thinking about me and you. And I've got to tell you the conclusion I've come to."

He doesn't say anything, just leans against the kitchen counter, folding his arms in front of him. Wondering why she's still so mad, he didn't think their little argument yesterday was worth all the trouble.

She leans against the counter on the opposite side of him, facing him and also folding her arms, mirroring his stance, before she just blurts everything out that's on her mind,

"I'll never leave. I'll never stray. My love for you will never change. But I ain't ready to make up, we'll get around to that. I think I'm right. I think you're wrong. I'll probably give in before long."

A big smile forms on his face, as his arms unfold and are now just casually holding onto the counter behind him.

She says, "Please don't make me smile. I just wanna be mad for awhile." And with that she turns around and leaves the kitchen.

"Duly noted." He stands there and sighs, then turns around to get that cereal out to pour himself a bowl. He pours the cereal and the milk and settles down on one of the barstools surrounding the island in the middle of the kitchen. Still not seeing what the big deal was about last night. A stupid argument about men and women, and going out on a boys night, relationships and what not's … for what? They were fine.

He'd leave her alone for a little while; let her cool off … although he'd figured she'd be cooled off by this morning. He took another bite of the frosted flakes, turning the cereal box around to read the back. Anything to take his mind off of Kate is appreciated. She's a drama queen, that's for sure, he thought.

He's done with breakfast, pours himself another cup of coffee. He had to admit, he doesn't like to go to bed fighting either … definitely needed the caffeine right now, didn't really get a good night's sleep. Every time he tried to get closer to her, even ever so slightly, she made a point of pushing his hand off of her. As he pondered that thought, he shook his head to himself. This has to stop right now.

Right that moment she walked back into the kitchen. She had obviously taken a quick shower, and got dressed. Ready to leave the house. The smell of her perfume filling the kitchen.

He looked at her. Damn she's beautiful with her hair falling down like that. She ignores his obvious stare and walks over to get herself a cup of coffee.

He watches her every move. As she's standing there, back turned to him, putting sugar in her coffee and steering it, he walks up behind her.

He puts his hands around her waist, trying to pull her close to him.

"For now you might as well forget it," she says.

His fingers playing with her curls now.

She hisses at him, "And don't run your fingers through my hair"

He uses his sexy bedroom voice on her, his lips hovering right by her ear, "Damn you're stubborn, freckles."

She turns around to face him, "Yeah that's right, I'm being stubborn."

He leans in and whispers into her ear again.

She looks up at him as if he's lost his mind. "No James, I don't want to go back upstairs."

She pushes him out of the way, "I'm going to leave."

"Leave and go where?" he's a little irritated now that she just blew him off like that.

"Claire's" She grabs her purse and heads for the front door, then adds looking back at him as he followed her out of the kitchen into the hallway, "Without a goodbye kiss."

He makes a face as if he's hurt, saying "Ouch" as he's putting both his hands over his heart, suggesting she just broke it.

Why does he have to look this good. His tan skin, in his dark blue boxers, no shirt, no shoes … his hair falling ever so slightly in his face. those piercing eyes and adorable dimples. She sighs. He smiles now. She smiles, looks away from him … DAMN IT!

She looks back up at him, "Okay."

"Okay?" he says.

She shuts the front door, tossing her purse on the little table in the hallway. She grabs his hand, pulling him up the stairs with her.

-
Later that day at Claires

Claire and Kate sitting on the porch swing, watching Aaron playing with one of the neighbor kids in the backyard.

"He thinks I'm making a big deal out of nothing."

"You kinda are, Kate." Claire looked over at her friend.

"So you're agreeing with him now?"

"I'm just saying that if he wants to have a guys night out, I don't think his intentions are to meet other women. We were back from the island for what? 7 or 8 month before both of you finally got back together? The entire time he was single, not once showing interest in anyone or meeting anyone. And I gotta tell you, when we went somewhere, just me, him and Aaron, there were more than enough women eyeing him. He is really good looking … he didn't have to wait around for you, but he did!"

"But see, that's exactly my point. You, him and Aaron together, looking like a happy little family, and still women checking him out. What's gonna stop some slut from hanging all over him when it's just him and Miles?"

"He's not like that. He's happily married to you. You just have to trust him."

"I do trust him, I don't trust those other women. Why are you so okay with this? Why don't you care about Miles going out and possible meeting other women?"

She sighed, "I don't know. I'm content the way we are. But …"

"But what?"

"But he's not Charlie, you know."

Kate understood. This conversation had come to an abrupt stop. She never talked about Charlie. They stayed silent for a while.

All of a sudden Claire spoke again, "Did you know that he told him about Charlie?"

Kate was confused, "Who told who?"

"Sawyer. I walked in the other day, and I guess he didn't hear me walk in. Anyways, he was sitting on the couch with Aaron, reading a book. Or so I thought. But then I heard him tell Aaron about a man named Charlie. He said to Aaron, Charlie used to carry you around all day. Always making sure you were alright. He's the one that made me read to you, so you'd stop crying." Claire looked over at Kate.

Both women wiping tears away.

Kate said, "I didn't know he did that."

"He did. And it was heartbreaking and yet so nice to hear someone else think about Charlie."

Claire looked over at her and then put her hand over Kates. "I know how Sawyer is sometimes. He talks a big game. Acts as if he's right, even when he knows he's wrong. But so are you sometimes. It's like the two of you are one and the same. Anyways, my point is this. He loves you, you love him. You both made it off the island together, found each other again after everything that happened. There is no way he would ever throw that away. Trust me, because I had to take care of him when you left and stayed with Cassidy for 3 weeks. He loves you more than anyone he's ever loved, I'm sure of it."

-
Another couple weeks had passed. They always had their little fights now and then, but nothing too mayor. Overall they were happy. They loved each other, no doubt, and despite their always clashing personalities, they made it work … it was hard sometimes, but they made it work.

Sawyer was driving around Los Angeles, when he noticed Kate's car parked by the hospital. That's weird he thought, cause Kate hadn't mentioned anything about having a doctor appointment. He had a few errands to run, had a meeting with someone today about writing a book himself. Possibly getting published.

Later that evening …

When he walked in he immediately smelled something burning. He walked in the kitchen to find Kate standing there with what looked like a burned steak on a plate. In her hand.

"Hey." He said and immediately when she saw him, tears started rolling down her cheeks. "What's going on? Why are you crying?"

Through tears she said, "I burned dinner. " She held the plate up for him to see, then put it down on the counter. Then held up her arm that had a red mark on it, "And I burned my arm."

"Whoa", he said, walking over to the freezer, he grabbed a bag of frozen veggies and walked over to her. "Let me see." He inspected her arm and held the frozen peas on the red spot.

She calmed down, resting her body against him and sighed.

"What's going on? It's just a steak, it's no big deal. Damn sure no reason to cry." He looked down at her, then kissed her forehead, before he added, "I don't even like steak."

She looked up at him, "Liar, you love steak, that's why I was trying to make it for you, but then I got distracted talking to Cassidy on the phone … before I knew it the smoke detector was going off."

"Hey, look on the upside, at least the house didn't burn down." He tried to cheer her up. He could tell something was bothering her. "What's really going on? The steak isn't really the reason you're crying, is it?"

"Yeah, actually it is. I had this whole nice dinner planned, and I even put a dress on." She stepped back to show him her outfit. "Nice." He chimed in.

"Anyways, the steak burned, I got hurt, the stupid fire alarm wouldn't stop beeping, and right after it stopped you walk in. That's not how it was supposed to be, I wanted tonight to be perfect. I wanted to surprise you."

"That's why you're cryin?" He looked at her, she looked up at him, nodding her head, tears stinging at her eyes again. He picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter, wedging himself between her legs, taking the peas in his hands again and holding it onto the burned spot on her arm. With his other hand, he gently cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. His eyes locked on hers, when he began to speak,

"If we never make it to Paris on a lovers getaway, it's alright. If you rather wear one of my t-shirts then a sexy negligee, it's alright. If Cassidy doesn't like the way I treat her best friend, it's alright. If in every wedding picture, your Daddy looks close to tears and Captain Bunny-killer grins like the Cheshire Cat, it's alright." She started smiling, he always knew how to bring a smile back on her face.

But he wasn't finished, "I've read a lota books in my life, freckles. Don't you know that all the fairy tales tell a lie? Real love and real life doesn't have to be perfect. Baby, every little piece of the puzzle doesn't always fit perfectly. Love can be rough around the edges. Tattered at the seams. But honey if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me." He raised her arm up and kissed her little burned mark on her arm, before putting the icy pea bag back on it. All her tears had disappeared, but still he continued "I don't mind if you show up late for everything. And when you lose your cool it's kinda cute to me. Every dinner doesn't have to be candle lit. Ain't it kinda nice to know that we don't have to be perfect all the time." She nodded at him. He leaned down and kissed her.

He looked around the kitchen, the smell of something burned still lingering in the air. "Alright, I tell you what. I go get changed, and then I'll take my wife out for dinner tonight. What do you think?"

"Sounds perfect." Kate looked at him. She loves him so much, especially when he was like this, saying all the right things, being a gentleman … how did she ever get so lucky.

-
A little while later at a restaurant across town

They had already ordered their food. He had ordered them a bottle of wine, and they were toasting to themselves at how far they'd come.

"So, besides the burned arm, how was your day honey?" He said, putting the glass back down.

She said, "Fine. I went shopping, that's where I bought this dress actually, … and that's about it." She couldn't look him in the eye. He noticed it, … why was she lying. What the hell was going on?

"That it? That's all you did today?"

"Yup, that's it. I went shopping, then went straight home. I took a long nice bath and started dinner. We know how that turned out." She finally looked up, shy smile on her lips looking at him.

Alright then, don't know what's up, but I'll figure it out eventually.

She asked him, "What about you? You haven't even told me about your meeting?"

"It didn't go so well. They are more interested in what really happened, as in if anything happened between me and Claire while we were all alone for 3 years." He smirked.

"Nice." She raised her glass and took another sip.

"Yeah, they're not interested about a mystical island story. They want an autobiography."

"Maybe you should write a book anyways, just for me to read." She winked at him.

-
They seemed fine, happier than ever actually. No fights, none. Life would've been great if he only knew why she didn't tell him about going to the hospital. Being the suspicious person that he is, he followed her 4 days later. She said she's going shopping again, that alone was suspicious enough, … she wasn't that kind of girl. So he'd followed her, and sure enough, she went back to the hospital. But later that night gave him pretty much the same story again, about how she just went shopping. At his wits end, and afraid to rock the boat, especially since they were so happy right now, he turned to Claire.

"So why don't you just ask her?"

"It's too late now, I could have asked her that first night. Could have said that I saw her car by the hospital, but I didn't. And now, days later confronting her about it? I'd have to admit that I knew she'd lied, and then I'd have to admit that I followed her." He looked lost.

"Look, I swear she hasn't said anything to me about going to the doctor. But if I had to guess what this is about, I would say it's the whole baby issue."

"What baby issue?" he was clueless.

"She said that you guys decided to have a baby after all, while you were on your honeymoon."

"Well, I wouldn't really put it that way, we kinda just said if it happens then it happens."

"Yeah, I know. She said that too. But she really wants a baby with you, and it hasn't happened yet. So, maybe she went to the doctor to get checked out, to see if there is a reason why she hasn't gotten pregnant yet."

He shook his head in disbelieve. "I had no idea she was so serious about this." He felt a pain in his chest. And then the sudden urge to punch something. Why wasn't he able to give her babies … maybe something was wrong with him. He was 40 already. He sighed. "I gotta go."

He stormed out of Claires house, mad at himself for being so oblivious of her needs, her wants. How did he miss the whole baby thing … how could he not have seen that. Here he thought they were fine. Perfectly imperfect together. The only thing really imperfect was him, not being able to get her pregnant.

He hadn't said a thing. Everything seemed fine. She wouldn't leave his side, spend every minute of every day together over the last few days. Claire had promised not to say anything, to keep their little discussion to themselves, as always. That's where Kate was right now, over at Claires. He'd pretended that he'd started to write his book, said he needed some time alone to get at least one chapter done. Everything of course top secret … she wouldn't be allowed to read it until it was finished. When in reality, there was nothing to read. She'd lied to him about just going shopping, not mentioning the hospital, and now the lie had come full circle with him lying to her about the book and why he didn't want to go over to Claires and Aarons.

He stared at the phone lying in front of him on the table. This is probably a really bad idea he thought, but he wanted to know. He had to know what she was up to. The last time he'd talked to Gordy was after he'd left Cassidy's house with her money. Splitting the profits with him. Cassidy had filed charges against him, Gordy got away, cause he didn't give him up. Suppose he owes me, and with that he picked up the phone and started dialing, and sure enough that son of a bitch answered.

He'd set up a meeting with Gordy.

"Find out anything you can about Kate Austen."

"You mean Kate Ford? Last thing I heard, you two got hitched. So what's going on? What do you want to know that you can't just ask your own wife about?"

Sawyer wasn't gonna discuss his life with this scumbag. "100k, mainly I need to know about medical records, or why she keeps going to the hospital."

"Maybe Karma came to bite you in the ass my friend. Maybe your wife found herself a rich doctor, having meetings in the on-call room." Slick grin forming on Gordys face.

Sawyer could feel the anger building up in him. He had to leave before he'd lose his temper. "Call me when you got what I need." And with that, he just walked away. He didn't want to be seen with that scumbag … he wasn't that guy anymore. Hadn't been that guy for a long time.

-
Several weeks later – Sawyer and Kate's home

Entangled in each other's arms, naked. She closed her eyes. He looked at her, so beautiful, ... and to think this beautiful woman is my wife.

"We have to get up eventually." She said when she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"We got all the time in the world right now. I don't have to leave right this minute."

She looked over to his packed suitcase and frowned. "What if I leave you all alone? All to yourself and go over to Claire's first thing in the morning, that way I wouldn't be distracting you from writing."

He frowned at her. "You'd still be too close, and I wouldn't be able to think about anything but this, right here. You. Naked. Sex." He grinned from ear to ear. "It's like I'm reliving my twenties, except that it's only you and not a different girl every night."

She punched him on the shoulder, and he let out a laugh. "It was a joke, sugarplum." She knew it was a joke, but none the less, he deserved a punch from her every now and then.

"You know what I just realized." She looked over at him, while running her finger over his chest … again and again.

"What's that?" He asked while playing with her curls again, holding her naked tiny body close to him.

"The only time we ever spend apart from each other was when we had that fight that time, after we made out. And then when I went to Cassidys … that's it. Even when we weren't dating, we still were together pretty much every day."

He leaned closer to her, kissing her hair, "Guess you're right, freckles. And considering all of that, spending so much time with each other, it's kinda nice we never fight anymore."

She got up and leaned over him to kiss him. "It's real nice." She climbed on top of him and getting lost in the moment, his kisses and his touch once again. She wished it could always be like this, but life doesn't work that way.