He stood in his office staring out the window at the beautiful day that was slowly developing outside, waiting patiently for them to arrive, allowing his mind to go back and recall the events he didn't question, much less replay and attempt to dissect. It was safe to do that now and he believed it was time, time to process all of it, maybe even try to make sense of it and then put it away and continue on with the business of living.

He and Celeste had brought Madison back from the full arrest her broken little body had succumbed to and then they performed the first surgery. They had to repair what was torn and leaking inside in order to stabilize her and allow her body to gain enough strength to survive the hours of surgery she would need to repair all of her broken bones. So, in a four hour procedure they removed her ruptured spleen, removed the piece of the rib bone that had lacerated her liver and repaired the damage and then repaired the damage to the small bowel. With all the internal bleeding stopped, they closed her up and returned her to ICU heavily sedated and a machine doing her breathing for her, hoping she would gain enough strength to go under again within the next 24 to 36 hours,.

He remembered putting her odds of survival right around 10 percent even though he never verbally expressed that to anyone, especially Kate. With Madison stabilized and in need of time, he went two floors up to check on his wife. She was awake and antsy, having suffered no internal injuries and even though she was in a great deal of pain from the c-section she was demanding to see her daughter and being as difficult as possible. If the situation with Maddie hadn't been so grim hearing how difficult Kate was being from the nurses would've made him smile, but instead he simply nodded at them and told them he'd see what he could do settle her down.

The sight of her lying in the bed alone and helpless and crying for her child nearly tore down the tough exterior he was displaying for the benefit of everyone, especially himself. He didn't try to comfort her or try to tell her she had to stay put. He simply lifted her out of the bed, carried her to the elevator and took her to see her daughter, knowing that it might be the last time she'd see her alive, but choosing not to share that with her. Kate was weak and in a great deal of pain, but with his support she managed to stand beside Maddie's bed and talk to her for a few minutes, finding a part of her head that wasn't covered and kissing her before giving in to her body's weak state.

He carried her back up to her floor, but went past her room and straight to the nursery where their sons were, their overall health and size enabling them to transfer from the neo-natal unit just a couple of hours after they'd been delivered. He sat in a chair beside their incubators with her in his lap and they watched their boys for awhile, reaching in and touching them and deciding which one would be Dylan Christopher and which one would be Jacob Christian, both beautiful babies with thick dark hair, one weighing in at 4 pounds and one weighing in at just barely over 3 pounds. The smaller one made the most noise so they decided he had to be the one that would get Christian's name, finding a moment to laugh lightly about it before returning to their grim reality.

She'd agreed to let them give her some pain medicine if he would lay down with her and since there was nothing more he could do for Madison at the moment he made Kate and taking care of her his focus, lying with her in his arms and watching her emotionally exhausted brain finally shut down, knowing that the pain medicine would knock her out for hours. He lay with her, closing his eyes and trying to find sleep, knowing he needed to be fresh and alert for Madison. He had never been what he'd consider a religious person, always assuming there was something bigger than all of us out there, but never one to put anything on faith. However, as he fought for sleep he found himself praying or begging, he couldn't be sure, for steady hands, for just one more miracle, one more chance to get it right, promising not to question things or consider his gift a burden, but the gift that it was. The last thing he would remember before being awakened by the nurses was a feeling of peace just before his brain shut down and slept.

Less than 24 hours after first surgery he and Celeste were once again working feverishly over the small body on their table, so much damage that neither were sure why the child was still alive, but weren't going to question the why or how because he'd promised he wouldn't and when he ordered her in no uncertain terms not to question it she didn't flinch, much less argue, the sheer determination in his eyes making her realize that the Jack Shephard she'd know for so many years had changed and for the better if that were possible, relying on faith while he used his skills to slowly repair the damage.

Jack stood in front of the window of his office remembering the events, realizing that he was for the first time really feeling it as tears streamed down his face, tears he wasn't aware he had until now and his mind went back to the hours upon hours of repairing bone after bone, his breath catching and a moment of slight hesitation as he held the drill to his little girl's head, ready to install the cranial pins that would hold the halo device in place, a procedure he'd done so many times he could do it in his sleep, but for a moment, however brief, he was a father and he was about to drill into the skull of his child and he saw his hand shake. He closed his eyes and willed his emotions to shut down, found that place again, that place he had to be in, completely focused and unable to see anything but the part of the patient that needed his attention and he continued on, neither doctor willing to give up and nearly 15 hours later he sat in the surgeon's locker room, head in his hands, so exhausted he couldn't move or speak.

He was collecting himself, pulling all of himself back together and trying to find that guy that was a husband and father, having pushed him so far down in order to keep the surgeon front and center that he actually felt confused and a little sick, his final act that day as a surgeon was injecting his child with a drug that would put her in a coma so her body could heal and now he needed to explain all of it to Kate. He wanted to be free of his clinical demeanor before he saw her though. She needed her husband, not some doctor describing her daughter's condition in cold medical terms that left little hope of a recovery, much less a full recovery.

He wouldn't have to work for very long to find the husband and father though. He heard the door to the locker room open and saw her out of the corner of his eyes, his mother, slowly approaching him, her face tear-streaked, her body language showing the pain a mother feels for her child and he looked up at her, not wanting to know what was wrong, but knowing he had to know because the man that in the past would've turned away, would've run for the nearest liquor cabinet or bar didn't exist anymore.

He listened to her describe how Dylan had suddenly stopped breathing and despite all their efforts they couldn't bring him back, how nobody knew why, but were willing to do whatever needed to be done to find out if that's what he wanted and the last part, the part that immediately snapped him out of his doctor mode and allowed the husband to return, how Kate was in her room, holding her dead son and refusing to let anyone take him from her. They had brought the infant to her to give her a chance to say goodbye, but that had been over two hours ago.

He allowed his mother to hug him in an attempt to comfort him, even though his face remained stoic, unsure of why he couldn't find the tears for his son. He went to her and he sat with her and he eventually convinced her to let go of the baby and then he lay with her and held her while she cried for her daughter and for her dead son and he wanted to be angry and ask why but he'd promised he'd stop questioning things and even though he was too much of a scientist to believe it mattered, he was too much in love with the little girl two floors down to risk it, knowing that he had done all he could do for her and that she truly was in the hands of someone or something else.

They didn't have their infant son cut up in search of answers, deciding that for whatever reason Dylan wasn't supposed to be a part of this world and that was all they needed to know. They buried him next to Jack's father in a quiet, private, graveside service.

Madison's fight for life remained touch and go for nearly four days, needing to be resuscitated three times in that period, but then suddenly turning a corner and starting to heal and strengthen, waking from the medicine induced coma two weeks later in a great deal of pain. The pain was managed with heavy doses of pain killers that kept the child sedated and having no real concept of the time that was passing.

Two months after the accident most of Madison's injuries had healed completely and she was home, learning to walk again, her mind as sharp as ever. He would never forget the first day she was awake and lucid, looking up to him with all the seriousness and compassion a child that age could muster and telling him, "Daddy it's okay, Dylan is with grandpa."

She would later describe the silver haired man that had kept her close and made her feel safe, telling her that he was her grandpa and was there to take care of her and her baby brother, his final words to her as he held baby Dylan in his arms were that it was time for her to go back to her mom and dad. He wasn't sure what to make of it, perhaps a hallucination brought on by the powerful drugs they were giving her or something that just couldn't be explained and shouldn't be questioned. Madison had seen pictures of Christian, asking her grandma about the grandfather she never had a chance to know so dreaming of him while fighting for her life wouldn't be out of the question.

He had no idea that relaying the story to Kate would be the thing that helped her find some peace with losing Dylan, reminding Jack immediately that Madison didn't know Dylan had died, yet it was the first thing she communicated to him when she became alert enough to pull her thoughts together. He could've argued with her, suggested that Madison's subconscious retained conversations going on in the room while she was unconscious, but he couldn't find one single medical reason why Madison was alive, much less on her way to a full recovery so he simply hugged Kate and smiled as he watched Jacob latch onto her breast, never fully appreciating how beautiful a nursing mother was before his tiny son came into the world, desperately needing all the benefits his mother's milk would provide.

Jacob or "Jake" as they called him, had celebrated his first birthday the day before and today was Madison's ninth birthday. It had been a year since they'd been clobbered with tragedy and blessings all at once and while it could've torn them apart and understandably so, it didn't, it only strengthened what had already been a strong relationship and made their family closer, choosing to focus on the positives and not dwell too much on what could've been.

Jack wiped the tears from his face, feeling better for having shed them, but never wanting to appear regretful because even though his son had been taken away from him, he knew how blessed he and his family were. He should've been celebrating the birthday of two sons the day before, but it wasn't meant to be, however today he would be celebrating the birthday of the child that obviously was meant to be, the little girl that was meant to change his life forever and for the better and today they were going to celebrate by going into the judge's office and making it official.

It was the only thing the child wanted for her birthday and the only celebration she wanted. She wanted the only man she would ever consider a father, the man she called daddy with so much love and adoration it choked him up at times, to make it real and by doing it on her birthday she said it was like she was brand new again, their little girl and nobody else's.

He heard the door to his office open and turned around. She was as pretty as a princess, her dark curly hair combed and pulled back, a nice bow complimenting the green and yellow dress she wore, the dress making the green in her eyes shimmer and sparkle, a miniature version of the woman he loved more than his last breath. She was still small for her age, the accident and the recovery slowing down the growth process even more, but her small stature just made her that much more irresistible to him, still very much a little girl, in no hurry to grow up and them in no hurry for her to grow up, usually a tomboy that hated dresses, but dressing up for him on this special day.

He kneeled down and she walked toward him, a slight limp still hampering her right leg, the tights she wore covering the scars that hadn't faded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he scooped her up, hugging her tightly and standing. She looked at him with concern.

"Why were you crying daddy?" She asked.

"Because I'm happy munchkin." He told her.

"Me too and I can write Shephard real good in cursive." She said proudly.

"You can huh? Can you teach me? My handwriting is really bad." He teased.

"Can we go to my school after we see the judge daddy?" She asked.

"Why?" He asked.

"I want to show you to my teacher and my friends and mommy maked cupcakes for my class for my birthday." She said.

"Made, your mommy made, and Madison I've been to your school before and met your teacher and your classmates." He argued.

"I know, but now we are both Shephards. Please daddy." She begged.

"Okay." He chuckled, remembering the day she'd proudly showed him off to Amy's parents and just like that day, not feeling worthy of the admiration, but not hating it either.

They made their appearance in the judge's chambers, the woman taking note of the importance of the event to the child and doing her best to stay professional, the urge to smile and laugh at the giggly bundle of excitement making it difficult, finally losing the battle when she told the family in front of her that they were officially a family and the little girl high-fived her.

"I'm sorry your honor, she's just very excited. Maddie we don't high-five judges." Jack told her.

"Sorry." Madison mumbled softly, her excitement meter immediately dropping to zero.

"In your case little miss, I am happy to make an exception. Good luck to you Madison Shephard." The judge said and held her hand up to high-five the child once more.

"Yes! I'm finally a real Shephard!" Madison squealed and jumped into Jack's lap, hugging him tightly and then moving to her mother's lap and repeating the procedure.

They escorted the excited little girl out of the court house and made a brief appearance at school, Madison showing Jack off like he was an item for show and tell and the kids not really understanding but excited to get the cupcakes.

The family had cake and ice cream and presents for her that evening and Jack and Kate were planning on taking Maddie, Tara and Amy to the lake house for the weekend. Madison had expressed the desire to spend a day at Disneyland with Tara and Amy, but Jack wasn't comfortable with the idea of her surgically repaired skeletal system being bounced around in roller coasters and tilta-whirls, not yet.

Tara had been a godsend during Maddie's recovery, managing to get the child to do things that Jack and Kate and Grandma couldn't, helping take care of her, helping her dress and fixing her hair and most importantly, keeping her company while she was confined to a chair or a bed. They had become very close and Tara, with the help of a therapist seemed to be moving past the sexual abuse. The piano became her private escape when the painful memories became too much and Margo had pulled some strings and got her accepted into a summer program at one of the private performing arts schools in the area. If she liked it, she could enroll in the fall.

The twins had shown no ill affects of being bounced from home to home and were growing and thriving and talking in complete sentences. Kayla was still a daddy's girl and there were major jealousy issues while Jack so preoccupied with Maddie, but a swift kick in the butt from Kate got his attention and he stopped obsessing so much over just one of his children and managed to make amends with his youngest daughter.

Andrew was a tornado trapped in a three year old's body, the boy never slowing down unless he was forced to, his endless supply of energy exhausting to his parents and often landing him in time out. He adored his mommy-Kate though and she always made sure that once she was done feeding Jake and cuddling with Hayden that she pulled Andrew into her lap, these being the few times he actually sat still, having dropped the Kate and adopting her as his mommy a long time ago.

Hayden was a big boy and quiet, content to sit and stack blocks or play with toy cars. He was a studier and a thinker and according to Margo a carbon copy of Jack, anal and a serious planner before the age of two. He looked a lot like Jack too and he enjoyed his moments with his dad, happy to sit in his lap while he read to him and it didn't matter what Jack was reading, the latest medical journal or a Dr. Seuss book, he just seemed to enjoy the sound of his voice and the security the moment of bonding brought.

Jake started out so small, but the steady diet of breast milk helped him stay healthy and grow, still a little smaller than most one year olds, but otherwise healthy and bright, beautiful eyes and a constant bright cheerful smile completed his adorable little face, a very happy and well-adjusted baby.

Kate had been weaning him from the breast for the last six weeks and Jack wasn't sure who was taking it harder, Jake or Kate, the intimate bonding not something she was eager to give up, but it was time and Jack was a most eager cheerleader for the cause, missing his own intimate bonding moments with her breasts and dodging the slap on the arm his admittance earned him.

With their family tucked away for the night they retired to the peace and quiet of their bedroom. The room where they could close the door and forget about the world and all of their responsibilities, the room where they laughed, cried, fought and loved and the room where five months ago they had made the conscious decision to not have anymore children, the brood they currently had more than they could handle most days, but mostly neither wanted to tempt the fates again, their baby boy a picture of happiness and health and Madison returned from the brink of death and for the first time in her life adjusted, relaxed, safe and being allowed to be a little girl.

Two very special gifts with apparent messages that neither would question, but be happy and satisfied that this was where they were supposed to stop, that if they were meant to be responsible for anymore children Dylan wouldn't have been taken from them. Perhaps some day another child that needed them might be dropped into their laps and they'd know never to question it or how to handle it, as Hayden was a complete joy to them, not to mention Kayla who was one hundred percent the apple of her father's eye regardless of the fact that she didn't share his DNA.

Neither would've believed that their voracious appetite for one another could improve or that the sex could improve, but once Jack had been given the all clear eight weeks after his vasectomy their time in the bedroom heated up to an explosive level. Knowing that they could make love ten times a day, every day if they wanted and never create a baby seemed to alleviate stress and fears that neither were aware existed.

He exited the bathroom stripped down to his boxers, took one look at the bed and smiled. He wasn't sure what she had cooked up for them, but the large piece of plastic covering the mattress, the baby oil, the silk scarves and her wearing the sexiest lingerie he'd ever seen her wear told him that he was glad he had the day off tomorrow because he would be too tired to deal with sick people.

"What's all this?" He asked.

"We're celebrating." Kate said.

"What are we celebrating?" He asked.

"Besides life you mean?" She asked, smiling at him as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Yeah, besides that." He replied wrapping his arms around her lower back, pulling her closer and kissing her.

"Well there is Maddie's adoption to celebrate, but I thought we might celebrate the new position you're about to accept, but haven't told me about yet." She told him.

"How?" He asked.

"Jack, did you really think I could make it all the way to your office today without hearing about it from every nurse and doctor I passed along the way?" Kate said and laughed lightly.

"I was going to tell you this weekend. I thought we'd fly there, spend the weekend, see if we like it. My acceptance was contingent on my family accepting it as well." He told her.

"We go where you go Jack." Kate told him.

"It's a great opportunity Kate. Chief of Surgery in a hospital that is big enough to stay cutting edge, but small enough to keep from consuming all of my time. But it is Michigan and I hear it gets really, really cold there in the winter." Jack warned.

"Then I guess we'll just have to find new and inventive ways to keep warm." She told him and kissed him, their bodies pressed together and his responding immediately to her as he always did.

She worked her way down his body, taking his boxers with her, had him step out of them and led him to the bed. She had him lay on his back on the plastic while she tied his hands to the headboard with the scarves. She stood above him on the plastic and slowly stripped out of the lingerie, watching his cock twitch and grow through the slow tantalizing strip tease. She lowered herself onto his stomach, straddling him and allowing him to feel her wetness, eliciting the groan of approval she'd grown accustomed to. He looked at her and without realizing it, licked his lips, her plump breasts less than a foot away from his face.

"It's your lucky day Dr. Shephard, not only did you get a new daughter and a new job, but your wife stopped lactating and your son has agreed to let daddy have his turn again." Kate teased and moved forward placing one of her nipples to his mouth.

He didn't waste any time getting reacquainted and immediately began licking, sucking and gently biting the nipple perhaps a bit too eagerly at first, but then relaxed into a rhythm that satisfied both of them as she alternated the nipples to his mouth and watched his hands fight the restraints, the need to touch them nearly driving him crazy.

She pulled back and reached for the baby oil, starting with his upper chest, squirting a small amount onto him and rubbing it over his body, greasing him up for what would eventually be quite a ride on the slick plastic, that much he was sure of, his cock swelling and throbbing in anticipation of the event.

She looked at the throbbing appendage and smiled at him, squirting some baby oil into her palms and then rubbing them together, her eyes never leaving his and enjoying the hunger that his eyes displayed as he waited for her to rub the oil over his most sensitive area.

"You're pretty worked up Jack, I think maybe you should come so you'll last longer once I untie you. What do you think?" She teased and bent down, taking the first couple of inches into her mouth and gently rolling her tongue around him, humming "Mmmm" the entire time, the vibrations nearly putting him over the edge.

She pulled back and scooted further down his legs, taking his cock into her hands and rubbing the baby oil up and down his entire length, stopping long enough to dribble some of the baby oil onto his balls and then continuing on, gently squeezing and rubbing and then placing her slippery hands around his cock and moving up and down, stopping to lick away the precum and then eyeing his right hand while licking her lips.

She reached up and untied his right hand, turned it over so his palm was face up and squirted the baby oil into hand, rubbing it and until his palm and fingers were covered with the oily substance and then moving the hand to his cock, not having to verbalize what she wanted because he knew, watching each other masturbate to orgasm was a game they played often, except this time she was only watching him and not fingering herself.

He moved his hand skillfully over his swollen cock and when his release came she moved his hand away and helped him finish, slowly jerking on it until the last eruption ran down her hand and then she went up onto her knees and rubbed his come all over her dripping, wet pussy, making him fight to free his left hand so he could pull her hips to his mouth and make her scream.

She turned around so he would have a good view and pulled his hand to her center, moaning as he pushed a finger inside, followed by a second and then a third, fucking her from behind with his hand while she reached between her legs and rubbed her clit. It was so erotic he wished he could capture it on film so they could watch it together and she could see how fucking hot she was, instead he chose to verbalize how fucking hot she was and coaxed her into an explosive orgasm that had her walls locked around his fingers, him shoving them in as far as he could and holding them there while she panted and moaned through it.

When she finished, she dropped her shoulders and head down and let them rest on his thighs, letting her body come down from the high and regain its strength. He kept two of his fingers inside of her, and began moving them in and out again, wishing his cock was hard again so he push it inside her and fuck her until her body was covered with sweat and no longer able to come.

"You want me don't you?" He taunted as he continued to move his fingers in and out, while his balls and penis slowly recharged.

"I always want you. When you aren't home I find ways to imagine you are." She taunted back.

"Yeah, how do you do that?" He asked in a breathy tone, pulling his fingers out, sliding them forward through her wetness and then back, reinserting just one of them, slowly teasing her with it.

"I take a bath and I push my fingers inside, but I can't get as deep as you so I close my eyes and imagine you're cock moving inside me." She told him and he felt his cock twitch as a new erection began to develop.

"Is that what you were doing when you called me at work the other day and forced me to jerk off in my office?" He asked and inserted a second finger as her pussy was heating up again, hungry for something bigger and stronger.

"That was so hot Jack, I came twice during that phone call and the sex that night was incredible." She told him in-between her moans, the pleasure he was giving her all but paralyzing her in the position she lay in, head still resting on his thighs, eyes closed and working herself into another orgasm.

"Sex with you is always incredible. Untie me Kate. Now." He ordered in a husky, forceful tone that made her flood his hand with wetness.

She moved away from his eager hand and the blissful penetration it was providing, snaked up his body and untied his other hand. He quickly rolled her onto her and took control of the situation, his cock starting to stiffen again, another few minutes and he'd be ready to push it inside her as deep as she could stand it and make love to her until she was satisfied to the point of exhaustion.

He grabbed the baby oil and dribbled it in a straight line down her sternum, across her stomach and over her center before setting the bottle down and using his large, strong, warm hands to spread the baby oil over her, taking his time with her breasts, enjoying being able to have them in his hands again and making a mental note to kiss them at least once day from now on. He wanted to bury his face in her pussy and lick and suck and make her scream some more, but he wanted to fuck her more and she wanted it too, legs spread wide and bucking up into him.

"You want it bad don't you?" He said, pinning her arms to the bed and hovering over her, refusing to enter her just yet.

"Yes Jack I do. Please make love to me." She whimpered.

"We're going to make love all night long baby and you'll have to hang on tight because this is going to be a slippery ride, literally." He told her chuckling lightly at the last part as he felt his knees slip on the plastic.

He finally managed to maintain a firm position between her legs and pushed inside her, feeling his hands start to give away and afraid he might hurt her if his weight suddenly dropped onto her, pulling her up as he went up, his legs folded underneath him and her sitting in his lap his cock buried deep inside her. He laid them on their sides, face to face and they held tightly to one another as he pushed in and out of her, their oil covered bodies sliding all over the bed, making them both start laughing and stop their movements.

"I think this was a bad idea." She giggled and then apologized her laughing making her walls clench painfully around his swollen cock.

"No, it's been fun, but if you don't mind I'd rather finish this on the floor and then we can take a bath or a shower or both and see if we can find a place or position in that bathroom we haven't covered." He suggested with a grin.

"Won't all this oil stain the carpet?" Kate asked.

"Who cares, we're moving." He said making her laugh again and then pull away from him.

She slipped off the bed and he followed, grabbing the pillows and tossing them to the floor. She laid on her back and he wasted no time rejoining them, pushing back inside of her, holding one leg in his forearm and pushing it back further as he began making love to her again, finally letting go of the leg and focusing his attention on her breasts, sucking and licking, taking a nipple into his mouth and driving into her hard, feeling her orgasm building and then feeling her clench and go over the edge letting go of a scream that he muffled by swallowing her up in a deep, wet kiss, never slowing down, his hips moving at a steady pace, skin slapping against skin and her fingers digging deep into his back as another orgasm followed quickly, exhausting her.

He pulled out of her and looked at her, his eyes full of need and desire and she knew what would bring him relief. She went up onto her hands and knees, moving toward the padded bench at the foot of the bed and encouraging him to follow. She draped her body over the bench, holding tightly to the bed's end board and let out a loud groan as he plunged his dick back into her hard, taking her from behind, his entire body draped over hers.

"Oh god that feels so good Jack, this is the best." She moaned excitedly.

He briefly flashed back to that moment a couple of years ago when the first time he'd hovered over her from behind had terrified her and then he smiled, not a cocky, self-absorbed, I'm a sex god kind of smile, but a smile of happiness over the fact that she too had recovered from Michael's abuse, the idea that being fucked hard from behind was something she considered the best, making him happy for her as well as eager to oblige. He lowered his mouth to her ear and began moving in and out of her.

"You are the best Kate, the best wife, the best mother, the best friend I've ever had." He told her, shoving himself into her hard with each word while rubbing her clit with his thumb, making her come again and then coming hard himself with the final thrust the thrust in which he once again promised to love her forever.

It was a promise he would fulfill, taking all of them to Michigan, including his mother, a move that for all of them left behind everything that had ever hurt them in their lives. His mother, the mother he'd longed for his entire life came with them, both happy to forget about the failures on both their parts while he was growing up, just grateful that they finally found each other.

Kate and Madison had both moved past the abuse Michael had inflicted on them and while spanking would never be a part of their lives in a serious or playful way, love, acceptance and complete peace would be. Tara would continue her music studies and eventually be accepted into Julliard, proof that a strong resolve and a lot of love and support could help a person overcome anything.

Andrew, Kayla, Hayden and Jake grew up together as brothers and sister with the only parents any of them would ever know. Sarah had signed her children over to Kate and Brian had signed Kayla over to Jack. Jack never heard from Sarah after that day, but he learned through mutual friends that she and Brian had moved to Europe, a move that would hopefully keep her from ever resurfacing and forcing him to tell his children the truth about their arrival into this world.

Kate sat at the table watching them, tears in her eyes as they slowly moved across the dance floor.

"Please tell me your happy for me daddy." Madison pleaded as Jack held her close and moved her across the dance floor.

"I'll always be in your corner Munchkin, but don't expect me to be thrilled that my little girl got married at the ripe old age of 20." He told her.

"I'm too old for you to call me that you know." She reminded him.

"You'll always be my little munchkin and you're entirely too young to be having sex and I don't even want to think about it so just promise me that the two of you will wait to start a family." Jack pleaded with her.

"Daddy I'm 20 years old, I'm not exactly a virgin." She reminded him.

"Not wanted I wanted to hear Madison and not helping to endear what's-his-name to me. Please tell me you aren't already pregnant." He said.

"I'm not pregnant daddy, but I love him and I want to have his children some day. He's in medical school, I thought you'd be thrilled." She reminded him.

"I'm just thrilled that you're staying in school and I can see that you're happy sweetheart and that's all that matters to me. I'm grateful for this day and this moment and I'll learn to love what's-his-name eventually. You had to know that there was never going to be a man good enough for you in my eyes." Jack told her, kissing her on the cheek and making her smile.

"His name is Matt dad, and he's just like you, that's why I love him." Maddie told him.

"I hope he's not just like me, but that's very flattering, thanks." Jack told her.

"I love you so much daddy, you are and always will the most important man in my life. " She reminded him.

"I think I have been be replaced as the most important man in your life, but I'll learn to accept being second if he proves to be worthy of the title." He assured her with a wink.

"You are the reason that we are here having this moment, you and Dr. Morrison. I'll never forget that dad." She told him, the admiration she felt for him that he still didn't feel worthy of, showing in her eyes.

"We've had a lot of special moments and I cherish every one of them." He told her and carefully spun her around before pulling her back into his arms.

"Me too, there was my first fish, my first time on a boogie board, my first crush, my first heartbreak that you took harder than I did and even though it should've been mom, my first period." Maddie reminded him making him chuckle.

"Your mom was so disappointed and even mad at me, as if that was really something I wanted to be there for instead of her." Jack said.

"That's okay, Kayla gave mom her menstrual cycle bonding moment." Maddie teased and they both looked over at Kate and smiled.

"I love her as much as you do kiddo. You look and act just like her, so I can understand why what's-his-na……um, Matt wants to spend the rest of his life with you, but how about we don't talk about him and you just let me enjoy this moment with you." Jack told her, hugging her close and smiling as he felt her tighten her grip on him, a feeling he'd grown to love since that night on the porch swing at the lake house when she'd asked him if he might be able to love her some day and then hugged him with every bit of strength her tiny arms had.

While Kate sat with her new son-in-law and watched the traditional Father/Daughter dance her mind slowly drifted back to the day that the polished, overdressed surgeon working off his community service walked into her clinic and she quickly decided that the reason she still remembered the exact date and time that Jack Shephard had walked into her life was because it was the day that Kate's old, miserable life ended and the only life that mattered had begun.

THE END