Quickie:

SassyLostie - "Glad someone thought of that": I'm surprised that was a reaction. Because other readers were disappointed in Kate! Believe that?? Hehe. P.S. Growing up with two baby brothers gives me some good experience in writing Aaron. :-)
bonboni - Aaron isn't sleeping in their room. Oh could you imagine what kind of fight Sawyer would have put up?? No, there's a guest room down the hall from their room that Aaron is taking residence in.

So so so so sorry I haven't updated lately! I hate having to deprive anyone. (Not like this is some kind of drug or anything. LOL That would be a little odd...) My cable has gone out, and with that goes the internet, so I'm internetless for a short while now. I'm at my mom's - who has internet, obviously - so I'll try to update while I'm here during the week. Sorry this is so delayed. ENJOY!

Chapter 32

A new day dawned. That morning, Kate was forced to get Aaron, yet again, due to Sawyer's heavy sleeping. Or…so he seemed to portray. She barely minded, however, and took Aaron downstairs to the kitchen to feed him. As she carried him down the stairs, she realized he felt warmer than he probably should have. She sat him in his highchair and inspected him, finding no other problems. Thinking she was just overreacting, she began to prepare his breakfast.

A little while later, Sawyer walked into the kitchen and saw Kate spoon feeding Aaron.

"Sawer!" Aaron cried happily.

"Mornin', Huey." He looked at Kate with a smirk. "Mornin' Freckles."

She smiled and put the bowl down on Aaron's tray as Sawyer leaned over for a long good-morning kiss. Aaron took this opportunity to grab the bowl and dunk his fingers into it. This caused the bowl to turn over on the tray and emptied the contents. Kate broke away from the kiss after hearing the noise.

"Oh! Aaron, no, no."

She lifted his fingers and turned the bowl back over, while Sawyer went to get a cloth to clean it. He handed her the wet cloth and she covered Aaron's hands with it, washing off the mushy baby food. Sawyer peered at Aaron.

"What're those spots?"

"What spots?" Kate scrunched her eyebrows.

"Lookit him."

She lifted the cloth and saw little red bumps on Aaron's hands. Then she looked up at his face and noticed a few there too. Her eyes widened.

"They weren't there a few minutes ago." She felt Aaron's head again. "Does he feel warm to you?"

Sawyer sighed and hesitantly put a hand to Aaron's head, and nodded. Kate's face melted into an expression of worry.

"You think it's – "

"Chicken Pox," Sawyer nodded.

Kate sighed and sat in thought, trying to think of what to do. How was she supposed to treat Chicken Pox? She didn't know who to ask either. She couldn't bear to call Claire. It would only worry her and probably ruin the rest of the honeymoon. But who else was there to call? She stared at Sawyer who seemed to be sitting farther away than he was before, and strangely quiet.

"Hey," she said, getting his attention. "What's the matter?"

He stared at her, pained. She could have sworn there was a look of fear in his eyes. Now he was worrying her.

"I never had Chicken Pox," he admitted.

She gazed at him sympathetically, then down at the floor. She looked up again, nervously.

"I don't remember having them either," she said.

They exchanged a worried glance. Kate looked back to Aaron who was scratching his face, frowning.

"Oh. Aaron don't do that, okay?" she told him, pulling his hands away gently.

His lips began to quiver and he tried to pull away. Kate frowned now, knowing what was coming. In an instant, Aaron began to cry. She lifted him from his chair, whispering "shhs" to him.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. But you can't scratch it."

"Mommy!" he cried.

She looked to Sawyer, miserably, wishing she could do something for Aaron. Having never had Chicken Pox before, she didn't know what to do. Then suddenly, her expression changed and she handed Aaron over to a bewildered Sawyer.

"Oatmeal," she said as Sawyer took Aaron from her arms.

Sawyer stared at the crying baby, unsure of what to do. He sat Aaron on his lap, holding his back, and watched Kate start rummaging through cabinets.

"Oatmeal?" he stared at her, bemused.

"I had Poison Ivy when I was a kid. My dad gave me a bath in oatmeal and it stopped the itching."

Sawyer stared at Aaron. Even he looked repulsed by the idea.

"And you think it'll do the same for him?"

"I hope it will." She looked at him. "You have to have oatmeal, don't you?"

"Hell if I know. I hate the damn stuff."

She sighed and Aaron started to cry louder. Sawyer looked back at him with wide eyes.

"C'mon, Huey. It ain't that bad, is it?"

Aaron quieted, but he still frowned at Sawyer. Sawyer tapped his foot lightly and let Aaron bounce gently, which seemed to soothe him. He stared at the boy. Was this what it would be like when they had their kid? They wouldn't know exactly what to do and everything would be harder than it seemed? He didn't know how to tend to a sick kid, nor did Kate. Maybe he was just overreacting, but the whole idea of fatherhood was starting to scare him. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Ah!" Kate broke his concentration. "Found it."

"Good."

"I'm gonna go draw him a bath. Don't let him scratch," she said, leaving the room.

He rolled his eyes. What did she think he was holding the kid's hands for? The more Sawyer thought about it, the more he started to realize he wasn't cut out to be a father. He didn't do well with feeding, and bathing – he barely even liked the bedtime stories. He almost didn't want anything to do with Aaron. The kid was cute, he'd give him that. But with him came all the responsibilities. What if he'd wind up being the same kind of father his father was? He scoffed. He couldn't take a chance at letting that happen.

Kate returned a few minutes later, seemingly more assured. He stared at her, and stopped tapping his foot. Instantly, Aaron climbed into Sawyer's arms and hung onto him, yawning. Kate sat down at the table with them.

"The water's running," she told him. "And I called up a doctor to ask about what we could do for him."

"Who, Jack?"

She rolled her eyes. "He's not the only doctor whose number I could call."

"Fine."

"They said not to let him scratch it because it would only make it worse."

"But you knew that already."

"He'll probably sleep a lot today," she ignored him. "He'll need to rest so he can bring down his fever and get better."

"Good. That'll give us a break," he said, watching quizzically as Aaron backed away and sat on the table in front of him.

"Yeah. That's if we can get him to sleep."

"What do you mean if we can get him to sleep? He passed out to the 'Three Little Pigs' last night."

"But it was his bedtime. He's used to going to sleep at that time."

"So? Babies take naps all the time."

That was true, she realized. She looked down silently, wishing she wasn't so uneducated when it came to kids. Sawyer noticed Aaron was scratching his arm intently, and pulled his hand away to force him to stop. Aaron looked at Sawyer, displeased, but Sawyer's gaze was transfixed on Kate. He sighed.

"Look. I'll just read him his story after the bath. Hopefully that'll do it."

"Sounds good." She got up from her seat. "All right. I think the water should be ready by now."

"Good luck, Huey," Sawyer said, lifting Aaron for Kate's taking.

As luck would have it, Sawyer's plan worked. After Kate gave Aaron his oatmeal bath – difficulty included – she left the two of them alone and went back downstairs to call Claire. After all, she couldn't keep this from her, but at least she could assure her that he was okay. Sawyer came down a little while later – two readings of The Three Little Pigs later, to be exact – and joined Kate in the living room.

"He's asleep?" she looked at him, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Just promise me we won't have The Three Little Pigs as an option when it comes to bedtime stories."

She smiled. "I promise."

"I could probably recite the whole damn thing by heart now."

"You know, I don't think I've ever actually read that story," she grinned, teasingly.

He eyed her suspiciously. "You ain't gonna ask me to read it to you, are you?"

She laughed. "No."

"Good."

"You could give me the short version though, if you want," she said playfully.

"How 'bout I give you the short version of somethin' else?" he said jokingly, forcing her down into the couch.

"Sawyer!" she shrieked, trying to shove him off her.

He climbed on top of her, holding her arms down. She grinned up at him, and he knew she was bound to start up her refusal any minute. Well, she could lie all she wanted and say it would be strange or whatever, but he knew that she truly thought otherwise.

"Now that I got you where I want you…"

"Cheater," she murmured.

"You owe me, remember?"

"Well who said that meant now?"

"I don't think you have a choice, Freckles."

She stared up at him for a moment, then broke her gaze and tried to wriggle free. It was no use, she was stuck. She turned her head to the side, looking at the floor for a moment. Then, she grinned back up at him.

"Fine," she said. Just as he was about to lean down and kiss her she opened her mouth to speak. He paused. "But if he wakes up, he's your problem."

Sawyer scoffed and decided she needed to forget about Aaron for a while. And he was just the guy to help her with that…