Prompt: Pumpkin
Her shoes were off the second she closed the door behind her, the exhaustion of the day quickly catching up to her.
After being in heels all day, the relief was immediate, even if it felt a little weird to step barefoot on the hardwood floors, as if her feet were permanently stuck in the odd bent position she'd kept them for nearly ten hours.
After she left the house, it hadn't taken long for her to wish she'd listened to Jack and picked different shoes. "I don't think the shoes you're wearing will be the reason they hire you or not.", he'd said. And he'd been right; her record had been much more of a problem than she'd expected it to be.
He'd reminded her daily that she didn't need a job. She had the settlement from Oceanic that set her up for life and she had him. Not that she had any intention of using his money. If anything, she wanted to avoid that at all costs. And while that was true, while she could have a cushy stay-at-home mom life if she wanted to, what she needed was to feel useful and nothing made her feel more useful than working.
She'd been as confident as she could be when she left the house, excited that so many companies were willing to see her after she'd sent them the short resume Jack had helped her put together. But with each interview, she'd deflated a little more.
They hadn't been interested in hiring her, they wouldn't, knowing the crimes she'd committed. But they'd recognized her name, they knew about the plane crash and they wanted to hear all about it, as if she had something to share that the magazines and newspapers hadn't already shared. (She did, but they would never know that.)
She could hear her boys from the door, which immediately made her smile. Aaron's giggles always made everything better; they'd help her forget the day's rejections. There was nothing like coming home to them. If she could tell her childhood self that they had the life she'd always dreamed of but deemed impossible, she would. But her childhood self probably wouldn't have believed her, anyway.
It didn't take much for her to see them from where she stood, yet still, she moved subconsciously towards the sound. Straight ahead, in the kitchen, stood both of her boys, back to her. Aaron on one of the bar stools, leaning onto the island counter, both hands firmly placed atop it, all his focus on Jack to his left. "There, buddy! Now all we need are some candles."
She watched, leaning against the back of one of the dining chairs, as Jack went around the island to the counter by the fridge and started looking through the drawers for the candles. "It's on the one to the far right, below the one where you keep the measuring cups."
Her words startled him. "Kate, I didn't know you were home!"
Before she could say anything, Aaron wiggled his way off the stool and ran straight into her legs. "Mama, come see what we made!"
Letting him guide her the few steps to the kitchen island, Kate took a good look at the mess that covered it. Towards the edge where they'd both been just minutes before sat two large pumpkins of the brightest shade of orange. "I picked them out," Aaron said proudly and she ruffled his hair like she always did in a silent show of affection.
"But I carved them, don't worry." Jack added, giving Aaron a fake stern look before approaching them with two candles in hand."
"We carved them."
Jack kissed her softly, their routine way of welcoming each other home that she didn't think she'd ever grow tired of, just before adding the candles to the pumpkins and letting Aaron help with closing the top.
Aaron urged them to go outside, rushing ahead, eager to show them off at the entrance like some of the children in the neighborhood already had with theirs. Jack carried them both and placed them on either side of the stairs that lead to the porch, so they'd be visible to whoever walked past the house.
"Ok, kid. Let's light them up."
Kate stood back, watching their interaction. She had to fight back tears whenever she realized how far Jack had come in his relationship with Aaron, how he'd been putting in the effort and embracing his role of father figure in the boy's life. At times like these, she was reminded of why she'd always loved him and of why she'd said yes to his proposal.
The pumpkins came to life the moment the candles were lit. Aaron's had Jack's best rendition of Superman, the young boy's favorite superhero, whose cartoon he would watch incessantly. Jack's however, had as intricate of a lighthouse as he could muster. "Your surgical skills came in handy, I see."
"What I lack in artistry, I make up for with precision," he joked.
"Why a lighthouse, though?"
"So I can always find my way back to you."