Chapter 13

Later that evening, Claire and Kate left to go to the tailor to make sure the dresses fit. As luck would have it, Claire was off by one size, leaving the tailor most displeased. They wrote down the correct sizes and left the shop for dinner. Claire chose a small café and they took their seats at a table outside on the patio. They placed their orders and were left alone.

"So, how are you doing?"

Kate looked at her curiously. "I'm great."

Claire nodded, then smiled sweetly. "Getting a lot of morning sickness yet?"

Kate diverted her glance down at the table. She sighed.

"Did I say something?" Claire asked, concerned.

"Look. Claire. It's nothing against you. Really. I just…don't feel comfortable talking about it yet."

Claire stared at her, and nodded, looking down. "Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I understand."

There was an awkward silence between them, for a few minutes. The waiter returned with their orders. Claire smiled weakly up at him, then looked at Kate who was staring at her food.

"Look, Kate, I'm sorry. If I had known – "

"No. It's okay. You didn't know. It's just…a touchy subject I guess."

"Well, I know it can be hard but…" She trailed off, seeing Kate's cynical stare, and laughed. "Sorry. No more talking about it. I promise."

Kate smiled. "Thanks." She used her fork to poke at her food while Claire ate. "So what about you? Are you excited?"

"You know, everyone keeps asking me that. But I'm really not. I keep thinking, 'Oh when it gets closer to the day I'll be more excited'" she raised her eyebrows. "But I'm still not."

Kate nodded, smiling. "Are you nervous?"

"Extremely." They laughed. "What about you and Sawyer?"

Kate stopped chewing for a moment, then slowly continued. "What about us?"

"Are you two going to get married before or after…" she glanced down at Kate's stomach.

Kate felt her stomach twist, suddenly losing her appetite. She accidentally dropped her fork and it landed on her plate with a loud clang. Why did that question make her feel like she couldn't breathe?

"You all right?"

"Uh, I'm fine. It's just…we uh…" Kate focused on her food. "We haven't really discussed it."

"Oh."

They were quiet for another few minutes, both avoiding eye contact with the other. Kate felt bad. She knew Claire was only being polite and making conversation. Trying to be a friend was the appropriate phrase. But she asked all the wrong questions. Claire let out a nervous laugh.

"I feel like every time I open my mouth I say something stupid."

"No, don't feel like that," Kate assured her. "I guess it's just strange for me. For a while now the only person I've had to talk to is Sawyer. I'm not used to talking about things like that with anyone else."

Claire nodded in understanding. "Yeah. Well I don't mean to be too personal or anything."

"You're not. Really."

Sawyer meanwhile was at the apartment with Charlie helping him "take care" of Aaron. In reality, he was in the living room flipping through over 1000 channels trying to find something to set his mind on, while Charlie was in the kitchen feeding Aaron. Everything seemed to be going well until a loud wailing echoed through the house. When it didn't stop after a few minutes, Sawyer got up, concerned, and went into the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doin' to that kid?"

Charlie looked up innocently. "Feeding him."

"That ain't what it sounded like."

"What?"

"He was screamin' like a damn banshee."

"He's impatient," Charlie explained, spooning baby food into Aaron's mouth.

It figured he stopped crying when he came into the room. Sawyer looked at Aaron and grunted.

"You want to give it a try?" Charlie beamed, holding out the spoon.

Sawyer took a step back. "No."

"Oh why not, man? It'll do you good to know what you're in for."

"I said no!" he snapped, leaving the room as quickly as he could.

He sighed as he sat back down on the couch. There was no way he was going to feed that kid. Hell, he wouldn't do anything for it. He hated kids. That's when he realized…what the hell was he getting himself into?

He pushed the thoughts away, having finally found something to watch on TV and sat back in the couch to get more comfortable. Just as he was getting into the show, Aaron's cries loudly interrupted. Charlie walked out with the crying toddler in his arms.

"Christ. Can't you shut that thing up?" Sawyer asked, annoyed.

"Sorry," Charlie muttered, heading towards the nursery.

The crying still didn't stop after five minutes, and Sawyer was growing more and more irritated. Charlie came back out in a rush. Sawyer saw him coming his way and filled with dread.

"Think you can do me a favor and watch him, mate? I need – "

"Oh no you don't," Sawyer put his hands up, pushing Aaron away. "I don't want it."

"I just need to run out and get more diapers for him. It'll only be a few minutes."

"No. I don't think – "

"Here," he said, shoving him in Sawyer's arms. "I just – "

"I CAN'T!" Sawyer shouted, panicking.

"You'll be fine!" Charlie called heading down the hall. "He'll calm down in a few minutes!"

The door slammed and Sawyer was left holding Aaron two feet away from him. He stared at Aaron who seemed to be wearing himself out with his tears. He stared at Aaron, hopelessly. What was he supposed to do!?

Sawyer put him down on the couch next to him, but he only continued crying.

"Uh…be quiet," he said.

Aaron was still crying, but it lessened. Sawyer was suddenly struck with remembrance of the island. Charlie made him read to the baby to keep him quiet. Sawyer got up and turned to Aaron.

"Stay…" he said, cautiously. "That's it, good boy."

Aaron stared at him dumbfounded. Sawyer nodded, slowly backing away.

"You, uh, you just stay right there," he said, heading to the nursery.

About twenty minutes later, Kate and Claire walked in the house. It was silent, except for a muffled voice. They exchanged glances and listened to see if they could hear where the voice was coming from.

"Oh. You wanna turn the pages now? Fine. Go ahead." the voice said. "So, then the wolf said, little pig, I'm gonna eat you up. I'm gonna climb down your chimney and get you. G'head. Next page."

Kate stopped next to Claire in the doorway of the living room. They found Sawyer sitting on the couch, Aaron on his lap, reading the story of the Three Little Pigs to him.

"So, into the pot fell the big bad wolf, with a big splash," he read, glancing up. "And…"

He stopped and looked up again, realizing that Kate was standing in the entryway. His eyes widened, but she only smiled at him. Aaron patted his hands on the pages, breaking Sawyer's concentration. He cleared his throat, nervously.

"And uh…that was the end of the wolf. The end," he finished quickly, closing the book up.

"No! More!" Aaron protested.

"Aw come on, Huey. I read it three times already."

"Again!"

Claire walked past Kate. "I'll take him. It's past his bedtime anyway."

"Oh. Right," he said, holding him up for her to take.

"Thanks, Sawyer."

"Yeah. Sure."

She left the room, leaving Kate and Sawyer alone. Kate wandered over and sat down next to him. He looked away, wishing she hadn't walked in. She would never let him live it down. He knew exactly how this conversation was going to go.

"Looks like you had a fun night," she grinned.

"Yeah, right."

"Where's Charlie?"

"Said he was goin' to buy more diapers. And that was about half hour ago."

She grinned, knowingly. "And you actually babysat?"

"Not like I really had a choice, Freckles."

Kate picked up the book beside her. "The Three Little Pigs, huh?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. 'Til he made me read it again. And again."

She laughed and saw him smile a little. He looked up at her and she smiled at him. He saw something in her eyes, not sure of what it was. Maybe it was admiration. Maybe it was love. Whatever it was, it made him happy. He watched her eyes lower to his lips, and back up again, questioningly. He leaned toward her to kiss her, but, unfortunately, they heard Claire's footsteps nearing the room. He leaned back again. Claire stopped at the entrance, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Where's Charlie?"

"Said he went to buy diapers," Sawyer answered, disappointedly.

"Oh. Well," she lingered for a moment. "I'm going to head to bed. See you two in the morning, okay?"

Sawyer nodded, bidding her farewell.

Kate smiled. "Good night."