Since we all know it's not in Jack's make up to let go of someone he loves without a fight, I decided to try my hand at building on what we saw in the flashforwards. (Just in time too. There seem to be a lot of Skate fics about this!) Most of it's complete wishful thinking (Although the last time I said that it all came true!) so for those of you who'd prefer to see something a little more canon, I've thrown in some foreshadowing. Feel free to read it whichever way you want! ;)

TRUST

"Kate?" a voice whispered from somewhere outside her dream and she groaned, burrowing deeper into the comforter. "Kate, wake up."

She didn't want to wake up, but she could feel a hand against her shoulder, shaking it.

When she willed her eyes open, she could just make out a man's silhouette perched on the edge of the bed. "Jack?" she checked as the details began to form: his cropped hair, his dark suit, the familiar slump of his shoulders. After what had transpired earlier he was the last person she expected to see.

She fixed him with an expectant glare, struggling to sit up once she was alert enough to remember that she was supposed to be mad at him. "What're you doing here?"

At these words he stared down at the sheets, smoothing the wrinkles out with the heel of his palm to avoid looking at her. "I came back because I wanted to tell you how sorry I was," he explained before he worked up the courage to meet her eyes.

She could tell that he was being sincere, but she wasn't sure that she was ready to hear it. "You can't just say sorry and expect it to make everything better, Jack," she told him. There was too much at stake. "You got drunk while you were alone in the house with Aaron—what if something had happened to him? You had no business sending Veronica away while you were like that."

She waited for him to defend his actions; to fight back; but whatever had possessed him earlier was gone. "I know, Kate – believe me, I know," he told her. "And I'm sorry. It was stupid – I'm not saying it wasn't."

He sighed, running a hand over his face. "How is he?"

He looked awful: so tired and broken; so ashamed and sick.

Despite her anger at the way he'd behaved – so much like the man she'd abhorred – she could feel her heart softening towards him. He didn't mean any of it. She could never find it in herself to hate him, even if he'd earned it this time. "It took me almost an hour to get him back to sleep but he seems okay. I don't know if he—"

"About that, Kate," he cut in before she could repeat what were without a doubt the most hurtful words he'd ever uttered to her, "I never should've said what I said. You're the closest thing he has to a mom in the real world – and if you decide you still wanna marry me, you'll be his aunt too."

He flashed her a lopsided grin, well aware of his powers. "I don't think he realises how lucky he is to have someone like you taking care of him."

She didn't mean for it to happen, but the ghost of a smile crept into her features.

"You're smiling," he teased her, seizing on this. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

She couldn't let him off the hook that easily so she forced the frown back onto her face. "It's not that simple, Jack," she reminded him. "It's not just us. I need to know that I can trust you – that you won't pull a stunt like that again."

"You mean Aaron?" he guessed. "Kate, I—"

She knew that he was going to try to give her another excuse for why he couldn't cope with his nephew, but that wasn't all that this was about. It was about him: about the fact that he had responsibilities now. And so did she.

"I'm pregnant, Jack," she confessed, watching his expression shift from one of shock to confusion to disbelief. "I was gonna tell you tonight when you got home, but you didn't really give me a chance."

His guilty look intensified. "Pregnant?" he repeated. He almost choked on the word. "Are you sure? When—?"

"This morning, when I went in for a check up," she told him in case he thought she'd been lying to him about this as well. "If it helps, it came as a surprise to me too."

"Kate, that's—" He moved to touch her arm, his smile tentative, but she jerked it away before he could make contact.

"This doesn't change anything, Jack," she assured him. "I still meant what I said. You have to promise me you're not gonna do this again – that you're not gonna drink like that anymore – or you won't be allowed to set foot in this house again."

He stared at her for a long moment. "The baby…" he stammered, licking his lips as if trying to decide whether or not she would ever actually carry out this threat.

It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives; it hurt her to use it against him, but it was for his own good. It was the best incentive she could think of for him to straighten himself out. "I'll raise it on my own if I have to – I did it with Aaron – but that's not what I want. I want you to be part of this family, Jack, but you have to want it too – more than whatever you were taking tonight."

She knew she was getting through to him when she smiled, reaching over to cup her belly through the thin fabric of her camisole. "I do," he agreed in a low voice, his eyes shining with happiness as he pressed his fingertips to his lips and returned them to her abdomen. "I really do."

He brought his mouth down to hers, kissing her softly, sweetly and she found herself melting under his touch. This was Jack. This was the man she'd fallen in love with. He was home and they were having a baby. Nothing else mattered.

"Our first real fight, huh?" he quipped when he released her.

It was the first serious fight they'd had since becoming a couple and they'd survived. She kissed him again, resting her forehead against his with a breathless laugh. "Hopefully the first of many."

Grinning, he let go of her, slipping out of his jacket and shoes and climbing up onto the bed with her. She wriggled over to make a space for him beside her, and once he was settled, he pulled her in so that she was spooned against his chest.

As they lay together, enjoying the renewed closeness, the only sound was the mingling of their breaths; Kate almost drifted off again until he broke the silence. "Kate? When you said you were doing something for Sawyer – is that really where you were?"

She could hear the doubt and fear in his tone; breaking the embrace, she turned over to face him, resting her head beside his on the pillow so that their eyes were level. "There's nothing going on if that's what you're asking," she assured him. "You were right when you said you're here and he's not – and I don't want him to be either."

She took his fingers in hers, replacing his hand against her belly under the sheets. "This baby is yours. I'm yours. You need to trust that, like I'm trusting you."

He swallowed hard, nodding slowly before drawing her in so that she was nestled against him. "I trust you," he agreed, his thumb caressing her skin, tracing gentle patterns over her bicep. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that before."

Ah, Jabies again. I can't seem to get away from them! For anyone who's wondering, the idea came from that shot in the last flashforward where Kate puts her hand on her stomach after Jack scares her. I'm pretty sure it won't happen but then that's what I thought about "Middle Ground"! ;)