What We Have Known (Claire, PG)
Title: What We Have Known
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Claire, Jack. Mentions of Juliet, David, Christian Shepherd, and Carole Littleton.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 6 spoilers, very minor.
Summary: She is still unused to the sound of his name. 699 words. For ciaimpala .
Claire moseys into the kitchen, still unused to the foreign layout of the Los Angeles home. She finds Jack Shepherd, the (until recently) brother she never knew about sitting at the table, newspaper in hand and sipping on a mug of steaming coffee.
Oh, morning, Claire. David just left for school. Do you want some breakfast? I don’t have to be at the hospital until later. He folds the paper in half and makes a move to get up.
She shrugs her shoulders and clenches the ends of her sleeves into her fists.
No worries, Jack. She is still unused to the sound of his name. I’ll, um, I’ll just fix some tea, thanks.
Just tea? That’s not a good breakfast for an expecting mother. He stands up and sets the newspaper on the table. Sit down, Claire. Trust me, if you knew my ex-wife, you’d know she’d kill me if I just let you walk out of here on an empty stomach.
Well, it’s not truly empty, is it? she jeers, offering him a small smile while patting the protruding roundness of her stomach.
Sit down, Claire, I’ll fix you some eggs and toast. He turns on the stove and opens the fridge to pull out the egg carton. How do you like your eggs?
Um, scrambled, please.
My dad -- he pauses and bites the inside of his cheek as he opens the carton. Our dad liked his eggs scrambled, too.
Huh, small world, she shrugs. She finds it uncomfortable to talk about the father she met only once.
He cracks the eggs on the edge of the pan one at a time, quick and precise.
So how is your mother? Carole? Jack asks, breaking the tension. He looks over his shoulder at her when she doesn’t answer. Claire? Are you alright?
I’m, uh, I’m fine. She’s fine. She’s…She’s been in a coma for the past couple years.
I’m…I’m sorry.
Oh, no, it’s fine. Actually, she breathes in deeply before continuing, our dad came down when it happened and paid for the care. Christian, right? That’s what it said on the will. She leaves out the part where she told him that her life was just fine without him. That she was better off not knowing his name. Thanks him for the coffee. Leaves. And now this, here in Los Angeles, a guest in her own brother’s home. She is unsure if the coincidence makes her want to cringe or chuckle.
Yeah, yeah. His name was Christian.
His name was Christian, but that was the very beginning of the small sliver of things Jack knew about his deceased father. The double life he led is just beginning to reveal itself and he wonders if his life would have been just find without knowing about any of it. But then he looks at the small girl seated at the table, the unborn child (his nephew: it dumbfounds him to even think it) in her womb, days from being brought into this world.
What would you like on your toast? He peers into the cabinet and starts going through its contents. We’ve got some peanut butter, and in the fridge, we’ve got some grape --
A small chuckle slips past Claire’s lips. He looks over at her over the fridge door.
Are you alright? Did I say something?
Nothing, it’s just that…We never really had much peanut butter. Mum always worked two jobs, and my shifts at the Fish n’ Fry barely paid half the rent. It was always that lousy spread you’d pick up at the corner store, none of that brand name stuff.
Peanut butter it is, then? He holds up the jar and smiles.
She nods and he soon hands her the small plate with the stack of toast. She smiles as the taste of peanut butter lathers the top of her tongue, making her eager for more.
Thanks, Jack. I really appreciate it.
And she does. She appreciates everything: the place to stay, the warm welcome. And most of all, she appreciates that, for once, Fate has been kind to her. And for once, she is not afraid of what the future holds for her.
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Claire, Jack. Mentions of Juliet, David, Christian Shepherd, and Carole Littleton.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 6 spoilers, very minor.
Summary: She is still unused to the sound of his name. 699 words. For ciaimpala .
Claire moseys into the kitchen, still unused to the foreign layout of the Los Angeles home. She finds Jack Shepherd, the (until recently) brother she never knew about sitting at the table, newspaper in hand and sipping on a mug of steaming coffee.
Oh, morning, Claire. David just left for school. Do you want some breakfast? I don’t have to be at the hospital until later. He folds the paper in half and makes a move to get up.
She shrugs her shoulders and clenches the ends of her sleeves into her fists.
No worries, Jack. She is still unused to the sound of his name. I’ll, um, I’ll just fix some tea, thanks.
Just tea? That’s not a good breakfast for an expecting mother. He stands up and sets the newspaper on the table. Sit down, Claire. Trust me, if you knew my ex-wife, you’d know she’d kill me if I just let you walk out of here on an empty stomach.
Well, it’s not truly empty, is it? she jeers, offering him a small smile while patting the protruding roundness of her stomach.
Sit down, Claire, I’ll fix you some eggs and toast. He turns on the stove and opens the fridge to pull out the egg carton. How do you like your eggs?
Um, scrambled, please.
My dad -- he pauses and bites the inside of his cheek as he opens the carton. Our dad liked his eggs scrambled, too.
Huh, small world, she shrugs. She finds it uncomfortable to talk about the father she met only once.
He cracks the eggs on the edge of the pan one at a time, quick and precise.
So how is your mother? Carole? Jack asks, breaking the tension. He looks over his shoulder at her when she doesn’t answer. Claire? Are you alright?
I’m, uh, I’m fine. She’s fine. She’s…She’s been in a coma for the past couple years.
I’m…I’m sorry.
Oh, no, it’s fine. Actually, she breathes in deeply before continuing, our dad came down when it happened and paid for the care. Christian, right? That’s what it said on the will. She leaves out the part where she told him that her life was just fine without him. That she was better off not knowing his name. Thanks him for the coffee. Leaves. And now this, here in Los Angeles, a guest in her own brother’s home. She is unsure if the coincidence makes her want to cringe or chuckle.
Yeah, yeah. His name was Christian.
His name was Christian, but that was the very beginning of the small sliver of things Jack knew about his deceased father. The double life he led is just beginning to reveal itself and he wonders if his life would have been just find without knowing about any of it. But then he looks at the small girl seated at the table, the unborn child (his nephew: it dumbfounds him to even think it) in her womb, days from being brought into this world.
What would you like on your toast? He peers into the cabinet and starts going through its contents. We’ve got some peanut butter, and in the fridge, we’ve got some grape --
A small chuckle slips past Claire’s lips. He looks over at her over the fridge door.
Are you alright? Did I say something?
Nothing, it’s just that…We never really had much peanut butter. Mum always worked two jobs, and my shifts at the Fish n’ Fry barely paid half the rent. It was always that lousy spread you’d pick up at the corner store, none of that brand name stuff.
Peanut butter it is, then? He holds up the jar and smiles.
She nods and he soon hands her the small plate with the stack of toast. She smiles as the taste of peanut butter lathers the top of her tongue, making her eager for more.
Thanks, Jack. I really appreciate it.
And she does. She appreciates everything: the place to stay, the warm welcome. And most of all, she appreciates that, for once, Fate has been kind to her. And for once, she is not afraid of what the future holds for her.