A/N: This story was co-written by AO3's obsessivedaydreamer and posted here with her permission.

Kate

"Promise me you'll never let me drink again."

Jack chuckles as he hands her a glass of water and an aspirin and she thanks him. Auggie is in his arms, reaching for her, but he holds on until she's done downing the pill before giving him to her.

He settles comfortably against her chest and she welcomes his warmth. Jack sits at the end of the bed, his hand on her leg, and watches them, like he always does. "You girls had fun last night, huh?"

There's teasing in his tone and she rolls her eyes, which only makes her head hurt more. "Yeah, we actually did. Juliet is really nice, I wish we'd done this sooner." She drinks more of the water, hoping some hydration will help ease the pounding in her head. "Maybe with a little less alcohol."

She's not entirely sure how she made it back to her room. There's a vague recollection of Jack, his arms wrapped around her waist, the kids laughing. Somehow, she's in different clothes than the night before, and she's not sure how she got into those either.

"I didn't make a fool of myself last night, did I?"

"No," he answers, shaking his head with a smile. "You were fine, just… wobbly. James and I had to bring you girls upstairs. You insisted on taking a shower, I had to make sure you wouldn't fall, but you did surprisingly well at staying upright."

"Go ahead, Jack. Call me stubborn," Kate says, looking sly.

"Your words, not mine."

She gets up to wash her face, hoping that the cool water will make her feel better. When it doesn't she opts for a cold shower. The water feels good on her skin, refreshing, taking with it part of the ache in her muscles.

The trip is going better than she expected it to. There's been progress with all of their relationships. David and Clementine are glued to each other, best friends, and do everything together. Jack and Sawyer bicker like a pair of siblings, but they've learned to engage with less animosity. And Kate and Juliet, well, they finally have a relationship and she's grateful it's a friendly one.

When she comes out of the shower, Jack is still there, sitting on the bed. She watches as he entertains Auggie, who is holding onto his fingers with his feet planted firmly on the floor. He'll start walking any day now and then they'll be in real trouble.

She gets ready for the day. Jack whistles jokingly when she puts on the purple bikini he got for her for Christmas, and she slaps his arm playfully. "Shut up."

"What? It looks good on you."

"You always say that."

"It's always true."

Kate goes around the room gathering items they'll need later in the day, trying to make sure they have everything for their day out and about in the resort. She really underestimated how much junk she'd have to carry around with a baby. Jack had warned her, back when she was pregnant, that they wouldn't go anywhere without at least two bags, but she hadn't believed him.

Once she's sure all of Auggie's necessities and beach toys are handy, she packs up their things in a much smaller bag. All they really need is their room cards, sunscreen, and her camera. But she can't seem to find it.

"Jack, did you see my camera? The black one?" She sees her vintage chrome Nikon, the film camera, but the digital one, the one with the vast majority of their pictures from this trip is nowhere in sight.

"No, didn't you have it with you last night?"

"No, I didn't take any cameras down to the bar. I could've sworn I brought them both here when we arrived."

"Maybe you left it in the shuttle, we can ask someone at the reception to check if there were any forgotten items, maybe they have a lost and found of some kind." He stands behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, kissing her neck. Auggie seems to have noticed her stress, as he has crawled over to her and is playing with her anklet.

"It's a camera, Jack. Who would turn in a camera to a lost and found, just like that?" She's frustrated, her anger bubbling in her chest. She's angry at herself for losing all of their pictures, all the memories they've made so far. All gone.

"Have some faith in people, Kate." He presses another kiss to her neck.

She turns around and lets him pull her into a comforting hug. His arms, his touch, always make her feel better. He's her safe haven, her home.

There's a knock on the door and it startles her, but Jack is quick to clarify. "I ordered room service for you while you were in the shower. You need food and I thought you'd enjoy getting more time in bed."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I ask myself the same thing every day."

James

James looks up from his laptop when Juliet groans, reaching across the bed to touch her shoulder.

"You good?"

She responds with yet another groan. After a moment, she musters, "I'm gonna be sick."

"I got ya." He sets his laptop down and stands up, walking around to the other side of the bed. He helps her up to her feet and walks with her to the bathroom.

She's quick to get down on her knees in front of the toilet, and he looks away wincing when she vomits. He gently pulls her hair back in his hand and rubs circles into her back.

"I feel so gross," she complains, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Just a little gross." She glares at him, and he adds, "You're the one who got wasted."

"Ugh. I don't even remember drinking that much."

While she complains, he takes one of her hair ties from the counter, carefully pulling her waves back into a bun. He's been long educated in the art of hair since Clementine's been making him do hers since she was a toddler.

"What time is it?" she asks, getting up to her feet and grabbing her toothbrush.

"Uh, ten? I got breakfast earlier, while you were sleeping. Brought back a pastry but I got a feeling you ain't gonna want that."

The mere suggestion seems to make her sick. She shakes her head.

Once she's done, they return to the bed and she curls up in a ball against his side as he returns to his laptop.

"Writing?" she asks weakly.

He runs his hand over her thigh. "Work stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"They're trying to pin down dates for the book tour."

She turns to look at him, face drawn up in a deep frown. "You have to go?"

"Yeah. You know that, I always do." He puts out a novel every year, usually just before summer. As much as she loves his profession, he knows she dreads the months surrounding the release. Every time he has to go she acts like he's leaving her for good.

"But this is different," she says.

"Why?"

She looks away, frowning toward the wall. He tries not to be frustrated with her, but the feeling bubbles up in his chest. It's such a her thing to do, to tease an issue and then shut up and brood and make him feel guilty for something he doesn't even know he did.

She isn't feeling well, he reminds himself and takes a deep breath.

"If you ain't gonna talk to me, I don't know what the hell's wrong."

She sighs. And then, in a soft voice, says, "What if I get pregnant?"

There it is.

His stomach turns. They haven't really talked about this for a long time.

"Yeah? What does that have to do with this?"

"I can't go through that by myself."

He hates how she makes it sound, like he's choosing to go off and spend a year abroad. "Juliet, it's three weeks."

"I can't."

He runs a hand over his face, and up through his hair. "We can just stop trying 'til I come back then, if it's that big a deal."

"No, we can't."

"Why not?"

She looks like she's going to cry. "You don't understand."

"I don't understand 'cause you ain't explaining it to me." She doesn't say anything, and he lets out a frustrated exhale. "It's three weeks, Juliet, it ain't the end of the world. You're lucky I got such a flexible job and I'm home most 'a the time."

She still doesn't say anything, frowning and curling up closer into herself. He's so done with it. He can't read her mind, as much as it feels that way sometimes.

He shuts his laptop and gets up off the bed, picking the room key up off the nightstand.

"I'm getting you Advil," he says.

She doesn't say anything, still.

He just sighs and steps out of the room. There's nothing more he can do.

Kate

When Clementine asks her if she can go kayaking with her, she wants to say no.

Her head is still pounding, despite all the food and water she ingested. Her body is still recovering from the drinking binge with Juliet the night before. She could only wonder how the other woman was since she remembers her having at least three drinks more than she did. Her absence at the beach this morning only proved her theory that she was worse off.

She agrees and Clementine's squeals of joy make her ears ring. The only reason she said yes was because the girl had been scared before and they'd had an entire conversation about how important it was to face her fears. She had promised her that, if she wanted to go, they could go together and she wasn't about to break that promise.

"Can David come too?" the young girl asks, eyes hopeful.

"Of course he can."

David scowls, a look Kate is all too familiar with; a look he has inherited from his father, even if neither would like to admit it. He looks from Clementine to Kate and back to Clementine, before agreeing with a sigh.

The water is cold as it splashes against her arms from the kids' inexperienced paddling. David does a better job, keeps a steady rhythm, but Clementine is all over the place, at the very front and Kate can feel her starting to freak out. "You know," she starts, trying to distract her. "My dad and I used to do this all the time when I was your age."

"Really?" Clementine asks, turning around and making the kayak sway. Kate uses her weight to counterbalance it and tells her not to make sudden movements before answering.

"Yeah, I used to spend summers with him and we would go out on the lake or the river, depending on where he was stationed. My dad's in the Army so he moved around a lot."

"Only the summers?" David blurts out curiously.

"Yeah, my parents got divorced when I was five." A sad smile blossoms on her lips but neither kid can see it. It had been a tough time and to this day, she still wishes her dad had taken her with him. "I lived with my mom in another state."

"But only the summers? If I only saw my dad during the summers I'd be so sad." Clementine stops rowing and slowly turns to look at her, pouty lip standing out.

"Yeah, it was kind of sad. It was always hard to say goodbye. But we had fun together, we went on a lot of adventures." She tries to keep her voice from cracking but fails. Her childhood is still a sore topic for her, there is still a lot of pain from that time. "We would go hiking and kayaking and fishing. We both love the outdoors so we camped a lot, too."

"That's so cool! I've never been camping." They start rowing again, all of them and Kate tries to pace them by counting by fours. When they start to fall into a rhythm, she lets the conversation continue.

"Maybe someday, when Auggie is a little older, I can take you, if your parents say I can."

Clementine is ecstatic, talking about all the things they can do if they go camping, how they could have s'mores, just like they'd had with Jack and James at the beach the night before.

"Can I come too?"

David's question is quiet and she barely hears it even though he's right in front of her. There's a sadness to his tone that she wasn't expecting and she can't quite put her finger on why that would be. "Of course you can!"

"Thanks," he says. "My dad never took me camping."

"I don't think your dad's ever been camping. But maybe we can take him too, watch him complain about being outside, what do you say?"

"That'll be fun," he retorts with a sly smile. "He's not really into outdoor stuff."

"Did you have fun with your mom too?"

"Yeah," she lies as best as she can. She didn't have the best of relationships with her mom, in part because of her stepfather, but the kids don't need to know about that. "I used to go to work with her sometimes and help out and that was always fun. She was a waitress at this diner that had really great milkshakes."

"Do you see her a lot?"

"No, she died a few years ago, after she got sick. I miss her sometimes."

They continue rowing in silence for a while, following the kayak ahead of theirs. Kate checks her watch to make sure they still have time with it before they have to return it. The sun is harsh as it shines upon them and she prays that the freckles on her arms and cheeks don't get any worse. As much as Jack loves them, she doesn't feel the same way. But she knows there isn't enough sunscreen in the world to keep them at bay.

"What about your dad, do you still see him in the summers, Kate?" Clementine's curiosity always gets the best of her, but Kate thinks it's one of her best qualities.

"I do," she answers sweetly. "He didn't come over last summer because he was still working, but he came for a couple of days around Christmas." David looks up at her, a confused look on his face. He hadn't spent Christmas with them, instead opting to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at his mother's house, and then staying there past New Year's. "He's retiring this year, though, finally, so he'll be here in the summer. Maybe he can take us all camping."

"I'd like that," Clementine exclaims all the way from the front.

"Me too," Kate hears David mutter.

And as they row back to shore, all she can think about is how good this trip has been for them as a family. Even if a blended one.

James

With Juliet out of commission — and clearly pissed at him about something — James has opted to try and hang with the kids for the day. They all went to lunch, minus Juliet, and it was so apparent how much he truly relied on her presence. He frowned the whole meal, picking at his food and missing her hand on his thigh.

He still doesn't know what the hell she's angry about.

He's been contemplating flowers, or some sort of apology — Hi, love I don't know why you're mad, but I'm sorry for whatever it is. But it feels too dramatic. And she's got Kate now. He'd originally begun heading back to the room, but he bumped into her heading in the same direction. Turns out she was bringing Juliet food and checking in, so that pushed him to look for the kids. Issue is, he can't find them.

He's walking past the pool when he runs into Jack, whose eyes are big in semi-permanent panic.

"Hey," James says, not wanting to get into what's caused his clear distress, "you know where the kids are?"

His eyes get bigger, somehow. "You haven't seen them?"

"Uh, no. Last I saw they were with you."

"Fuck," he mutters, running a hand over his head.

James raises an eyebrow. "It ain't a big deal. They've been roaming plenty. They're responsible."

"No, it's not that. They have Auggie."

"What?"

He shakes his head. "I had to go to the bathroom and Clementine said they could watch him. But when I came out they were gone."

It sounds like something they'd do. "It ain't like you left him in a supermarket. They've taken care of him before, I'm sure they're fine."

"What if someone took them?"

James' brow pinches together, and he stifles a laugh at the absurdity of the idea. "Took them? It's a five-star resort, not Compton."

"You don't know who's staying here."

James rolls his eyes and puts a hand on Jack's back, leading him away from the pool. "C'mon. I'm sure they're around here somewhere. They mention anything during lunch?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe they went to the beach. The baby loves the sand, don't he?"

Jack contemplates the idea. "Yeah, maybe."

"We can check the basketball court and the ping pong table," James adds. Jack nods, worry still tight in his face.

They walk silently, neither wanting to start anything with the other, until Jack sticks his arm out and stops him.

"The arcade," he says, "they wanted to go back to get more tickets. I think Clementine mentioned it again earlier."

"Well, there we go," James says. They turn and head down the path to the building, stepping inside. The AC is refreshing, and when James spots them, he grins, "Ding, ding, ding."

"Dude, take it easy," Clementine's telling David as the two play skee ball beside each other, and she struggles to balance Auggie on her hip, "I got a squirming baby over here."

"There you are." Jack rushes over, grabbing Auggie from Clementine's arms. His voice is loud and stern, and James can see the way she tenses up at the tone. "You can't just run off like that, especially not with the baby."

"Hey," James says, "don't talk to my kid like that."

"We were just trying to get enough tickets to win something cool for Mom," David says, looking between them. "You said she wasn't feeling good."

James' heart melts a little. It's crazy how these kids can do that to him. "That's real sweet of you guys. She'd love that. Right, Doc?"

Jack bounces a grinning Auggie, who's unphased by the chaos around him. "Yeah. That's nice."

"I'm worried Kate will feel bad though," Clementine says, bending down to get her tickets.

Jack shakes his head. "Don't worry about her. Kate will be happy to see you do such a kind thing."

"We just gotta play the ball drop game like, one more time, and then we'll probably have enough," David says, and they run off.

James follows them, for lack of something better to do. "What're you gonna get?"

"They have a stuffed dolphin," Clementine says excitedly, feeding a token into the game. He thinks about how his credit card is the one connected to their room and holds back a sigh, knowing that's how they got those. "That's her favorite."

"She's gonna love that," he says.

He watches them each take a turn, and then rush to the counter with their tickets. Jack joins them, the two men watching as the kids excitedly point to the dolphin. James is grateful it isn't too large, hopeful they'll be able to stick it in someone's luggage.

Auggie reaches out and grabs a tiny pig figure that's sitting on the counter, making a happy noise.

Clementine grabs it from his hand, shaking her finger. "No, Auggie! You don't have any tickets."

"I can get it for him," David says, causing everyone to turn and look at him. "We have some extra tickets."

Jack's eyes flick to James'. He just smiles. He doesn't think David would've done that at the beginning of the trip. Something's changed, and they all see it.

David gives the teenager behind the counter some more tickets and then hands the pig to Auggie, who squeals happily.

"He loves it!" Clementine says. She grabs his arm and waves it, speaking in an exaggeratedly deep voice, "Thanks, David. You're the best big brother ever."

David frowns. "He doesn't sound like that."

"He doesn't talk, so you don't know for sure what he sounds like."

"He does talk, it just doesn't make sense."

As if responding, Auggie babbles nonsensically. Clementine giggles.

"You guys wanna play some basketball?" James asks. "We can bring the dolphin to Juliet afterwards."

They both seem excited and head toward the door. James glances at Jack and the baby. "You gonna come."

He shakes his head. "You got them. Auggie's gonna need a nap soon, anyway."

James nods and then follows the kids outside. He doesn't have to like the guy, but it seems they've come to a sort of agreement to tolerate the other. He hates to admit it, but it's nice not to fight.

Now, he just has to clear the air with Juliet.

Kate

It takes her knocking three times for Juliet to open the door.

As predicted, she looks like hell, tangled hair making her look like Auggie when he wakes up from a nap and dark circles under her red, blotchy eyes. She's been crying, Kate can tell, but she's not entirely sure why.

Juliet lets her in but leaves the door open for her to close as she heads back to bed and curls into herself under the covers. The curtains are drawn, the room is dark. Kate can only hear the quiet sniffling coming from the blonde and she starts to worry. "Are you okay? James said you weren't feeling great."

When he showed up at the restaurant by himself, Kate was the first one to voice her concern. The kids didn't seem to care that Juliet wasn't feeling well. Jack seemed to just brush it off. But Kate, who was feeling better but was still battling a hangover of her own, wanted to help and ordered some food to go.

There is no answer. The bag seems to get heavier in her hand as the silence weighs on her.

Kate's not sure if she just doesn't want to talk or if she wants her to leave. Although they had a great time the night before, they're not exactly friends, even if they'd gotten to know and like each other during this trip.

When Juliet starts whimpering, Kate's worry increases and she decides, at the chance of getting yelled at, that she'll open the curtains. Juliet flinches when she does, covers her eyes with her arms, and lets out a groan.

She rolls in bed, trying to avoid the harsh sunlight that comes into the room and Kate watches as her eyes widen and her hand flies to her mouth, another groan leaving her body as she tries to scuffle to her feet. Kate jumps into action and drops the paper bag on the nearest surface — a small corner table, rushing to her aid.

Juliet empties the contents of her stomach in the toilet as Kate holds her hair back, trying to soothe her with reassuring words until she stops heaving. "This is the third time, already," she says, her voice raspy.

"Third time you've been sick?" Juliet nods in response, her face pale.

Kate helps her get to the sink so she can rinse her mouth and brush her teeth, then helps her back to bed, holding off on mentioning the food for now. Once Juliet is settled, still pale, but slowly regaining some color, she takes a sit at the foot of the bed. "Is this why you didn't come to lunch? Because you keep getting sick?"

"That and I didn't want to be around James for a while," the blonde admits, looking away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kate's scared to butt in, to push too hard on the invisible boundaries she's still so unfamiliar with. "We don't have to, but it could help."

"He's leaving." Kate's eyes go wide at the statement, surprise taking over her features, but Juliet is quick to correct herself. "Not like that. Even if it kind of feels like that. He's going on a book tour in the summer."

"Okay and… that's bad?"

"He's going to be gone for three weeks, wants to push trying for the baby until after the tour."

"That's not too bad, it's just three weeks and you can start trying again when he comes back. He'll miss you so much, maybe that'll help." Kate tries to joke but it lands flat. Instead, Juliet's eyes fill with tears that she tries and fails to fight.

"I just feel so lonely when he leaves. Even if I have work and even if I have David and Clementine with me while he's gone, it's just not the same. It always feels like the bed is too big when he's gone."

"You can always come over." Kate offers, trying to appease her, though it's genuine. "Auggie loves you and Clementine. I'm sure Jack would love more time with David and, if it's his week with us, I'm sure you'd love more time with him too."

"Thanks, I might take you up on that," Juliet responds with a smile. Her eyes travel to the small corner table behind her. "What's in the bag?"

"It's food," Kate answers, standing up to pick it up. She brings it over and places it in front of Juliet, carefully pulling the container out of the paper bag. "It's just some roasted salmon and vegetables. I figured you could use a light meal-"

Before she's finished talking, Juliet bolts out of bed again, the smell of food too much for her to handle. Kate puts the container back on the table hastily and enters the bathroom just in time to see Juliet's whole body shaking as she hurls into the toilet again.

Kate's stomach sinks, the smell of vomit is starting to make her feel a little nauseous too, especially since she's just eaten, but she tries to hold back from joining her as she continues to comfort her like she did earlier.

When Juliet's done, she doesn't get up. She sinks onto the floor, leaning against the cool tiled wall, a coat of sweat covering her face.

"Juliet…" Kate starts, eyes trained on her. "Are you sure you're not already pregnant?"

A hearty laugh leaves Juliet's lips but Kate just stands there, waiting for a reply. The woman stares incredulously at her, thinking her question is nothing short of absurd. "You can't be serious."

"I'm just asking a question. Are you sure?"

"I think so. I took a test before we came here."

Kate lets that sink in. She remembers how worried she was when the thought of pregnancy crossed her mind almost two years before.

She had been so preoccupied with her trip to Iceland for work that she hadn't even thought about it when she skipped her period. She knew the result before the line showed up on the test, bright pink, officially sealing her fate. Telling Jack had been her biggest worry and he had seemed as scared as her, but he was supportive from day one and she didn't regret any of it.

"But you said you guys were trying right?" Juliet nods, her eyes on the floor. "Did you try before the trip too?"

"Yes," she mumbles in response.

"Then we're getting you a new test."

Juliet doesn't fight her, but she doesn't really leave room for her to do that. She spins around and walks out of the room swiftly, turning down the hall and nearly jogging to the elevator. The quicker she gets it, the quicker they'll know.

The elevator ride feels longer than it is. She bounces her leg the entire time, watching as the numbers change on the light-up display above the door until it ultimately stops at the lobby.

She beelines to the concierge sitting behind the counter at the reception. She asks the chubby man behind the counter where she can get a pregnancy test and, while there isn't any place on the property, they can have one delivered. At her request, he promptly arranges for it over the phone.

Kate sits in the lobby for the longest fifteen minutes of her life before a young man in a bright blue and yellow uniform parks his bike at the door and stumbles in, plastic bag in hand. She pays him with a mispronounced Gracias to both him and the concierge before she takes off in a jog to the elevator.

This time, when she knocks on the door, it opens right away.

"What took you so long?"

"They don't have drug stores here, the guy had to call in for it and I waited there." Juliet practically rips the box out of her hands and heads straight into the bathroom as Kate talks. "Do you want me to go get James?"

"No, not right now," she answers quietly, popping the test out of the box and pulling the cap off so the absorbent tip of the strip is ready. "Can you stay?"

Kate puts her hand on Juliet's shoulder. "Of course I can."

She looks away as Juliet takes the test. The blonde warns her the moment the cap is back on the test. All they have to do is wait.

They sit on the floor and Kate does her best to be comforting. She was alone in the bathroom when she took the test and found out she was pregnant with Auggie. She was scared, but she didn't want a kid, not then, not so early into her relationship with Jack. Juliet wanted this, both her and James. But with Juliet being so worried about the book tour and James wanting to wait until after he came back, she wasn't sure what result to hope for in this case.

"At least this time we want a baby," Juliet suddenly says. It catches Kate's attention, her curiosity getting the best of her. But she says nothing, waiting for her to continue. "With David, we weren't planning on having a kid. We had residencies to finish. We'd just gotten married, everything was so new, and adding a kid to the mix wasn't exactly what either of us wanted."

"For most people, there's no right time to have a baby. Things happen when they're meant to, as they're meant to."

"If Jack heard you right now, he would vehemently disagree," Juliet jokes with a sad laugh. "I'm sure it wasn't easy for you either. You guys had been together, what, before Auggie came along?"

"Just under six months, I think."

"Yeah. Gosh, that must've been hard."

"I think I was overthinking it more than I had to. And so are you," Kate says, honestly, placing her hand over Juliet's. "Whatever the result is, it'll be okay."

Kate checks her watch and five minutes have passed. "It's time."

"Can you look? I don't want to."

Kate nods and stands up, wiping the sweat off her hands on her shorts. The test sits on the counter, and she can hear her heart beating even though the test isn't hers because she's the only person there, she's the one responsible for telling Juliet whatever the results are.

She looks at the lines, both shining brightly, impossible to deny, and then at Juliet, whose expectant blue eyes have no left her hands. "It's positive."