ozmissage: (Lost. Jack/Kate. Home.)
[personal profile] ozmissage
Title: Family Portrait
Characters: Jack/Kate, Aaron
Rating: PG
Words: 444
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: They eat and she counts how many times Jack refills his wine glass as she listens to Aaron babble about his toy train.
A/N: For queens [livejournal.com profile] angela_weber and [livejournal.com profile] we_are_as_gods who requested the Shephard family.

The ring twists on her finger, half a size too big; Jack promises to get it resized, but he never remembers, not even when she slips it into his jacket pocket before work. She’s glad she doesn’t believe in signs.

She takes it off while she’s making dinner, puts it in a little saucer shaped like a cow. Aaron picked it out one afternoon when she forced him to come along on a shopping trip; it was the only thing that could shake him from his sullen mood.

He’s watching her make the spaghetti, his blue eyes staring intently at the bubbling mess of sauce simmering on the stove top. He reminds her of Claire when he gets that look, so curious and open, just like his mother. She shakes the noodles into the boiling water and tries not to remember that she’ll never see herself in him.

Jack comes home, follows the smell of garlic into the kitchen. He grins too widely for it to be real, kisses her on the cheek. She smells the liquor on his breath, but she grins back. It’s an easy lie.

They eat and she counts how many times Jack refills his wine glass as she listens to Aaron babble about his toy train. This is good, Jack says between sips. Really good.

After the plates are cleared, she kisses Aaron goodnight, smooths his wispy bangs out of his eyes and hands Jack a copy of Goodnight Moon. He smiles and picks Aaron up, swinging him through the air making the room echo with his happy squeals. Night, Mommy! he calls over Jack’s shoulder as they head towards the stairs.

Kate leaves the dishes in the sink and heads upstairs to sit on her own bed, in her own room, to practice telling him to leave. This isn’t going to work out, Jack. Not if you won’t stop…

She leans back on the bed and stares at the white ceiling until her eyes begin to blur. She’s not sure what exactly it is she wants him to stop doing. Drinking, fading, fighting---the door opens and she feels the bed dip as he sinks down beside her.

Hey, he says. This time the smile is real, she can always tell. She smiles back.

Hey, yourself.

They lie facing each other, Jack’s hand resting on the slope of her hip. She reaches out to run her hand across the stubble on his chin, and her ring slips from her finger. Jack laughs and sets it on his nightstand. I’ll get it fixed tomorrow.

Kate kisses him then, forgets about telling him to go, at least for one more night.

Date: 8/19/10 11:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] irishunicorn03.livejournal.com
Wow. Love this! It's heartbreaking, beautiful, and tragic. Everything Jate is.

Date: 8/20/10 03:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ozmissage.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! :)

Profile

ozmissage: (Default)
ozmissage

June 2020

S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Links

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated 7/10/25 05:27 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios