"Isaac, your eyes are handsome." The boy just snorted, but Juliet knew he was lucky she hadn't gone with her first distinctive description, 'beautiful.'

"They're your father's, you know."

Isaac knew mom rarely talked about him. The boy asked, "Where is he?"

Juliet told him he died in a shipwreck, and that was that; for now, the boy felt too guilty to ask for more detail.

Later when trying to avoid her own guilt, Juliet shared what happened with Isaac and the scissors that afternoon with the others at the poker table.

"God, he's gonna be a nightmare when he's a teen, isn't he?" James muttered even as Miles snickered, and even Jin and Daniel laughed, while Juliet just gave a tired smile.

###

1 year later

In the morning, Juliet pressed her nose into James' back, her arms tight around his waist; the man rustled in the covers, pleased. They were barely awake, which suit them just fine--it was a real nice, sleepy morning--

Something bounced excitedly in their bed, and James moaned into his pillow, while Juliet moaned into his back.

But they groggily got up, and James even managed a smirk at Isaac's beaming face.