Illusions of the island *A LOST fanfic*

Chapter 1: Illusions of the island

It'd been a hectic few days since the incident at the swan hatch, and James and Juliet were both settling into a semi-normal routine back on the beach. Juliet paused with washing the soap out of her shirt and twisted it in knots for a minute. I should just tell James. He's going to find out sooner rather than later.

"You making an escape ladder to go somewhere blondie?"

She averted her eyes up to James with a confused and blank expression on her face.

"Huh?"

Looking down at the long pile of shirts all knotted and tied together, she put a hand up to her face and sighed.

"Now I'm going to have to wash these all over again. Forgive me James, I don't know where my head is. Is that mango for me?"

James nodded and tossed it to her. Catching the fruit, she looked at it and tossed it back.

"Thanks, but I'm actually not that hungry James. You can have it."

James narrowed his eyes at Juliet as he caught the seemingly offending fruit.

"You need to eat sweetheart. Think about the baby."

Juliet's eyes softened more as she looked up at him with an invisible question mark lining her pretty face.

"How... How did you know? I was just going to tell you."

Smirking, James sat down in the sand next to Juliet and helped her begin unknotting the pile of shirts and pants she'd made into a rope.

"I saw it in your eyes when you said you weren't hungry. Does the doc know?"

Nodding, she continued unknotting the pile.

"Yes. He said he wants to do an ultrasound later to make sure the baby is healthy. Are you ok with this? I mean us having a baby?"

She felt unsure of herself at the moment and very self-conscious. James put a hand up to her cheek and she leaned into it.

"Course I am darlin'. Besides, my bets on a boy."

Juliet tried not to scoff at James, but it came out anyways.

"Really? A couple of years ago if I'd told you we were having a baby you would have bolted for the door and never looked back. You've changed."

James stopped and pulled her in for a kiss. When they came up for air; he smiled.

"Your worth changin' for blondie."
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"Moment of truth here Juliet. You ready?"

Juliet nodded towards Jack and watched the black and white screen in front of her. It seemed like every other ultrasound she'd seen while
doing it for the women she tried to help on the island. James was sitting next to her and squeezed her hand. A smile graced her lips when she began to hear a heartbeat. Tears sprung from her eyes, happiness was the top layer, and sadness was just beneath.

"This island makes it so easy to get pregnant. But it also makes the chances of losing them greater. To be honest, I'm a little scared."

Jack's eyes softened and he put a hand on Juliet's.

"You have every right to be scared Juliet. Remember how scared Kate was right before Megan was born? You said all the right words to keep her calm. Everything is going to be just fine. Look how Megan turned out, healthy. Now she's an active 2-year-old who's probably driving her mother crazy by now getting into everything."

Juliet managed a little laugh.

"Yeah an active 2-year-old going through their terrible 2's. Jack, Megan wasn't entirely healthy. Remember we fixed that left ventricle in her heart that was almost closed? She would've died had we not fixed it. Desmond said he'd bring back help, but didn't say when he'd be back."

Juliet was certain that everything was going to be better now. She'd survived jumping through time, living three years in the Dharma Initiative, which translated into 6 years on the island, and now she was having a baby. James ran a hand through her blond locks.

"Don't you worry. He'll be back with help. With any luck, our baby will be born in a hospital. Away from this awful rock."

With a confident nod, she turned back to Jack who explained his findings.

"Everything looks good. The baby's got a strong heartbeat and is healthy."

Her smile remained, even though she knew the injections of her serum were coming and it wasn't going to be a picnic. She couldn't let fear dominate her, she had to be strong, for the both of them.

"I like the names Cara or Isabel. What do you think James?"

James looked at her and smirked.

"Don't count your votes for a girl just yet blondie. My bets on that it'll one hundred percent be a boy."

Juliet shook her head and continued to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Somehow it made her feel like everything was going to be alright.

To Be Continued...