55. Happy 21st Birthday, Kate

November, 2000

"My birthday?" She would have sat up in excitement, save for the giant baby that prevented her from doing anything quickly.

"Your birthday," he confirmed. He moved much faster than she could, leaning over and brushing her lips with his in a tender kiss. Resting his forehead on hers, their intimate embrace made her heart pound. How she loved this man.

"Happy birthday to the best person I've ever met." He punctuated his words with another soft kiss.

"To my love, my better half," he whispered, kissing her more deeply this time.

"The mother of my child." This kiss was demanding, and she gave in readily. She was panting slightly when he finally broke it.

"The person who makes me a better person." He moved slightly so he had better access to her mouth, kissing her senseless. She didn't object.

"I'm yours; you're mine. Together, we exceed what we can do alone." She was now past even caring about what exactly he was whispering to her. Lost in the sensations he'd created within her, desire flaring and demanding attention from him. It was time for him to stop talking and to start doing a lot more than kissing.

She trapped his head with her hands, preventing him from moving back.

"Are you sure, Kate? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I will be uncomfortable if you don't finish what you've started. Besides, it's my birthday."

He grinned at her, bright smile lighting up the still gloomy house as full dawn had yet to break. "You're right. I have a present for you."

"I sure hope so," she chimed, pulling him down to her and resuming her kisses and caressing of his body. Rick gave himself over to pleasing her. It was her birthday, after all.

He lay behind her, arm draped over her belly. Their baby was quiet for the moment, giving Kate a short time to doze. He wanted to tell her that he really did have a birthday present for her, but he knew better than to wake her up. She got so little rest these days—a short nap was a gift in itself.

She was now just past 31 weeks. He couldn't believe how fast it was all going. Soon they'd have their baby with them, and their lives would change yet again forever. Kate had been such a trooper through it all. He knew she was suffering heartburn, that her back was often aching, and she was more short of breath than before. She was carrying the baby all in front; he wasn't sure if that was just how the babe was positioned, or if it was because she'd been so thin going into the pregnancy.

Stroking her belly, he resolved to tempt her with small meals through the day. It should help cut down on the heartburn. There was a plant she might chew on as well, though he'd not seen any on their island.

He started to drowse off as well, thoughts full of love for his wife and unborn child. However, he was startled awake when his arm was kicked, quite hard by the baby.

Rubbing her abdomen where he'd felt the kick, he tried whispering to the baby.

"Hey there, you let your mom sleep a while longer. It's her birthday, you know. You'll have one of your own soon, and I can't wait to meet you."

Unfortunately, there seemed to be even more kicks in response to that information. Kate was soon stirring next to him. She reached down and stroked her belly as well. "Ouch."

"He's apparently awake," Rick apologized.

"I can tell. So much for sleeping in for a bit."

"I can help you up, then I'll go fix you a special breakfast," he told her.

"Sounds good to me. I've got to go empty my bladder anyway."

She shuffled off to the outhouse, while Rick busied himself in the kitchen. He had the pearls wrapped in a ti leaf, and set it down next to her plate on the table.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Sit, Kate. Please?" he begged. He wanted to make the day as special as possible.

Giving him an eye roll, she acquiesced.

"I made you an egg, just how you like it, and some fruit." He served her plate with élan, making her giggle at his dramatic movements.

Grabbing his plate, he joined her at the table. He saw her eyeing the ti leaf package.

"That's for after breakfast, Kate. Eat up."

She complied, though gave him a bit of a smirk at his commanding aura.

"I was thinking you might do better with smaller, more frequent meals. What do you think?"

"I'll try anything. The heartburn is really painful."

"So, we'll aim for around 6 light meals a day? Sound good?"

"Sure, Rick. And maybe we could try making some limeade again?"

He'd tried to make a juice of sorts from their limes, but it had been awful. It had been extremely bitter and very acidic.

"I'll leave that recipe up to you, Kate. But you like my papaya juice, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Keep making more of that."

Luckily, the papayas were fruiting like crazy. The apparently liked the volcanic soil here on the island. It was very pleasant to have more than just water or coconut juice to drink.

"You know, it's your 21st birthday. You could go out drinking, legally, in the States." He made sure he said it in a light, teasing manner. He hoped she wasn't sad she wasn't able to do anything like the normal rite of passage into adulthood. Here she was stuck on an island with him, married and expecting a baby. Not what most 21 year olds expect on their birthday.

"Yes, well it's a good thing I'm not in the States then. I can't drink while I'm pregnant, so it would be a useless privilege for me this year, anyway."

"And if you weren't pregnant? If none of this, of us, would have happened? What do you think you'd be doing?"

She was a little taken aback by his suddenly serious tone. All thoughts of teasing him went right out the window. "Rick, my father is a raging alcoholic. Do you really think I'd want to go out bar hopping on my birthday? I love the one I'm having, here with you. I wouldn't trade it for any stupid birthday I could have in the States. It would be meaningless without you."

He stared at her, thinking about what she'd explained. As her meaning sank in, he gave her a relieved smile. "You're right," he beamed, reaching for her hand, "I just feel guilty sometimes that you ended up here. You could be living a much different life out there somewhere—experiencing all the things that women your age do before they settle down."

"I have everything I need right here, with you and with our child. Besides, knowing what I suffered through before I left on the trip that led me here, do you really think I'd be out enjoying myself in the carefree manner most people have at this age? You went through all of that, to a degree even more than I would have been able to as I didn't have the millions you had to enjoy yourself with. Do you cherish those memories? Would you trade any of your time here for them, to live like that again?"

"No. You know I wouldn't."

"Well, neither would I, Rick. Never forget how much I love you. I have all that I need with you. In New York, I was a shell of a human. My father is dead to me, my mother is gone. I was an orphan with no one to love me and no one for me to love. The trip, meeting you, the shipwreck—it all changed my life, but for the better."

"So, you don't want off of the island? You'd be ok staying here?"

"No, not forever. Neither of us can pretend that we're safe here, without access to health care. That scares me. And I worry about our baby growing up here. We're the only two people he'll know. What kind of problems will that degree of isolation have on him if we're not rescued for a while? We can teach him lots of things, but when your entire world is bounded by the high cliffs of this island and the infinite view of the empty ocean, how much sense does history make?"

"You're right. I worry about books, too. They've been my life, and I can reproduce a few of them, but certainly not verbatim. Kid's books don't seem too hard—we can rhyme things together. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can remember a lot of Dr. Seuss books, for example. But I can't write out word for word classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or the Wizard of Oz."

"We'll just have to do the best we can, Rick. There's no way to change it, short of building a giant boat to get us out of here. So, please drop this silly notion that you have that I would rather spend my birthday somewhere else. You're my life, all that I need or want. You're stuck with me. If we are ever separated, for whatever reason, I'll find my way back to you. I can't imagine my life without you."

"I'd do the same, Kate. Every night, I'd look up at the stars and know that somewhere you're underneath them, looking up at the same sky that I am. I would move heaven and earth to get back to you—wherever you may be. Don't ever forget that." He leaned over the table and gave her a quick kiss to punctuate his words. Sitting back, he motioned towards the little package.

"Now, it's time to open your present."

She granted him a megawatt smile, and picked up the parcel.

"You know, I didn't get you anything for your birthday, back in April. You shouldn't have done anything for me."

"Kate, we'd just gotten married. You were my gift. And what a gift you were," he trailed off, eyes glazing over as he remembered those heady days and nights after their ceremony on the beach.

"Well, if that's the kind of present you want, I'll have an easy time of it each birthday," she teased.

"That's fine with me, Kate. Seriously."

"Then I already got my present, this morning."

He laughed. His wife was certainly not materialistic. He suddenly had an image of Meredith being stranded here with him. Shuddering, he tried to wipe the image away as quickly as it'd appeared. She would have never made it—complaining incessantly, unwilling to pitch in and work hard. They would have driven each other quite mad within days, he was certain.

"What's wrong? You look upset."

Coming out of his reverie, he saw her look of concern. "Nothing, nothing at all. Just an unpleasant association."

"From this morning? What was wrong with that?" She looked very apprehensive, and he knew that he wasn't going to be able to brush this aside, much as he might want to.

"Oh, goodness, no not that, Kate. I was just reflecting on how you're not at all driven by material concerns or possessions. You agree with that, right?"

She nodded. "I was definitely more materialistic when my mom was still alive. I was a teenage girl, after all. And teenage girls live to shop. But with my mom's death, I realized that none of that mattered. The people around you matter, not the things that you have."

"Exactly. And now that we're stuck on an island where essentially everything has to be constructed by hand, it's even clearer that things, that possessions, don't hold the ultimate meaning. I'm so lucky to have you in my life, Kate. And I suddenly had this image of Meredith being here with me. She wouldn't have lasted more than a day or two. Honestly, there aren't many women who could have done what you've done. You're an amazing, remarkable woman."

"You're not so bad yourself, Rick. But now you want me to open up this present after that incredible speech? You won't think less of me if I like whatever it is you've given me?"

"No, I could never think less of you. But I didn't say we wouldn't have any possessions. It's just that Meredith valued them more than she did the person behind them. She judged the strength of someone's affection based on what they could and did buy her. You would never do that."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Which is why I wanted you to have this gift from me."

He watched as she methodically opened the leaves, finally revealing the necklace inside.

"Oh, Rick! They're beautiful. So this is what you were doing when you'd sneak away when we were visiting the beach."

He grinned at her accurate accusation. "Yep. Not all oysters have pearls, and many that do have little ones. These are the best that I've found. They match the incredible beauty that I see every time I look at you."

She smiled, eyes watering at his words. "Put it on me, please?"

He reached over and took the cord that he'd attached them to and looped it over her neck. Not having any kind of equipment that would allow him to drill through a pearl without breaking it, he'd instead crafted tiny nets to house each one, then attached the individual net to the cord.

"When we're rescued, I'll have them strung into a proper necklace," he declared, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Until then, this is the best I can do."

"I think it's a magnificent gift, Rick. But it pales in comparison to what you've already given me."

"I wanted a gift fit for a queen for the woman who rules my heart and soul."

These words set the tone for the rest of their day, as he tried to spoil her—as much as was possible on a desert island where they still had to fight, to a degree, for their very survival.

That night, as he massaged her back and legs, she raised her head sleepily from the pillow. "This was such a perfect day, Rick. Thank you for everything." She collapsed down onto the pillow, asleep nearly before her head even touched it again. As he gently placed her leg back down, he prayed once more that nothing would go wrong with the remaining weeks of her pregnancy and the delivery.

December, 2000

Kate was in the orchard when she first felt it. A pain in her abdomen that was not related to the baby kicking or moving around. She'd been picking fruit, and while she'd promised not to stretch up too high or bend down to get weeds, she might have bent the rules slightly when she saw an especially ripe fruit just out of normal reach.

She was mostly done with the chore when the pain came. Dropping the full basket, she clutched her belly. The pain trailed off after a minute or so, and she breathed a sigh of relief. At only 34 weeks, it wasn't time to deliver yet. She retrieved the basket and had almost convinced herself that it had all been a simple overreaction when another pain hit.

This time she dropped the basket and grabbed a nearby branch. This was not good. Rick was somewhere nearby, she just didn't know where. Deciding this was the kind of situation that merited help, she grabbed the whistle around her neck and gave it a few sharp blows. Then she waited, concentrating on breathing evenly and staving off the panic that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Kate? Kate? Where are you?"

Not feeling up to yelling, she blew on her whistle again.

"Kate?" He was much closer now. She could hear the fear in his voice as he yelled for her.

"I'm here, Rick. Right here."

He burst into the orchard, coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of her clutching the tree for support.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

She grimaced, then reached for his hands after he extended them to her.

"I've had two sudden pains in my abdomen. It's too early for labor, right?" She was desperate for him to agree with her.

"It might not be anything. Might just be false labor pains. They're pretty common in the last trimester. C'mon, let's get you back to the house."

He assisted her back to the house and insisted that she lay down for a while. She fell asleep, and when she woke up, he was sitting next to her on the bed. Judging by the light, it was late afternoon.

"Hey there, sleepyhead."

She just smiled at him. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Not long. Maybe twenty minutes. You're pretty adorable when you're sleeping, you know it?"

"Don't you have better things to do than sit and stare at me?"

"Nope. Not when it comes to my wife."

"It's kind of weird, Rick."

"Well, after the fright you gave me today, I think I'm entitled to a little weird, don't you think?"

"When you put it that way, I suppose so."

"How're you feeling?"

She considered the question for a minute. "Fine. No more pains at all."

"I'll bet they were just non-labor contractions. I can't remember the name of them that Hina told me, but she said sometimes you can make them go away simply by peeing, or making sure you're hydrated."

"Seems counterproductive."

"Yeah, well, not everything that she taught me always made sense. I'm just a man, after all."

"I won't even touch that one," she smirked.

"I brought you dinner, my lady."

"In the house? In bed?"

He nodded, eager to please.

"Do you mind if we don't?" His face fell. "Rick, it's not that I don't appreciate it. I do. But, I've been lying here for hours, and I'm sore. I want to get up and walk around. I want to walk with you."

That was enough for him to agree to moving the meal back to the kitchen.

"Do you know what day it is today, Kate?"

"Some day in early December. Oh, wait," she exclaimed, looking up at him. "Is it…"

He nodded, too excited to let her finish. "Yes. Exactly one year ago today we landed with the rickety raft cobbled together from odds and ends, and packed to the brim with whatever we could find and 28 chickens to start a new life on this island."

"Things sure have changed in that one year," she mused. "We now have over 60 chickens, and look at how we've changed."

"It is amazing. I had no idea when we first met in Papeete that you'd play such a huge role in my life. Thank goodness for all the small events that coalesced into where we are today."

She smiled at him; they had much to be thankful for, not the least was the fact that they'd found such love under incredibly taxing circumstances.

Christmas loomed rapidly. This year, Kate wasn't paralyzed by the grief that she'd been under during the same time the prior year. In fact, Rick could tell she seemed to be hiding something from him. She thought she was being all sneaky, but he kept such close tabs on her these days, she couldn't really get away with much.

Rick did most of the decorating again. Kate was exhausted most of the time, anymore. She couldn't sleep at night for more than a few hours, and she was having an even harder time catching her breath. At 36 weeks, she was nearly all baby in the front. Rick marveled at the sight, though sometimes he found himself panicking when he thought about what could go wrong during the delivery.

They'd not made any more trips to the ocean, so he'd not found any more pearls for her. Instead, he'd concentrated on practical gifts. Much of it baby related.

Christmas day dawned hot and humid. Not the best weather for Kate. November had brought back the rainy season, and they'd both been more than thrilled to be spending all of it snug under a thatched roof and not flimsy plastic tarps.

He decided to let her sleep in. This year, he'd put the conical Christmas tree back together, but located it in the house. He was planning to keep Kate under the roof all day, as it looked like it would storm. He'd festooned the walls with flowering vines, and even tied some green leaves together and called it mistletoe in an area near their bed. He'd 'caught' her there as often as she'd let him.

He jogged the few steps to the kitchen and set about making breakfast. Finished in twenty minutes, he loaded it all on a tray and wended his way back to her. She was still sleeping, so he sat the tray down and tiptoed to the shelf where he'd hidden her gifts. He'd wrapped them the night before, after she'd gone to bed. Placing them around the 'tree', he was quite pleased with the festive appearance.

"Rick?"

Turning, he saw her slowly trying to sit up. He raced to her side to help pull her into a sitting position.

"Thanks," she grunted. She took a minute to recover, then held her hands up in front of her again. "Help me up?"

Complying, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Kate," as he stole a kiss from her.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Rick," she replied.

"I have breakfast for you all ready," he stated, motioning towards the table.

"Can we go use the outhouse first? I swear this kid is going to be a kidney specialist, as much as he wants to see me pee."

Rick nodded, already guiding her out the door and over to the pathway to the bathroom. He followed her now, worried that she'd slip and fall on the pathway. It was slick after rain, which they often had now both day and night. Kate hated that he felt that he had to follow her around, but after her fall that night weeks ago, she'd not been able to convince him to leave her alone.

When they returned to the house, he made her sit down and eat first. He was also very aware of how much liquid she'd been drinking; dehydration would complicate things. Finally, he worried every single day about fluid retention and headaches: these might herald the onset of a complication that Hina had worried about, especially in a first time mother. Unchecked, it could lead to seizures and even death in the worst cases. The treatment was to lower the mother's blood pressure, and deliver the baby if it couldn't be controlled. Unfortunately, they had few options available to them. Thus, he comforted himself by checking her obsessively for any signs.

So far, so good. She had no signs of anything complicating the pregnancy so far; even the false labor pains had disappeared as quickly as they'd come on.

"Can we open our presents now?" she begged. Rick nearly laughed out loud, thinking about how different this year was compared to last year.

"Yes, Miss Impatient. We can open them now."

They settled on the couch, Rick ensuring her legs were elevated. Normally she would loathe his nearly overbearing attention. However, she was exhausted and sick of being pregnant. Her body was no longer hers to control; she had to have help doing even simple tasks. And he was so eager to help, to make her more comfortable. She couldn't take that from him.

Rick opened her gifts first. She'd knitted him some protective chap-like pants, for when he went foraging through untamed jungle. She'd also woven him a couple different hats for various occasions.

"Thank you, dearest," he grinned, already putting one of the hats on his head.

"My turn!" she exclaimed.

She oohed and aahed over the pretty shells he'd found to give her. However, her face absolutely lit up when she saw the glider he'd built for her.

"Rick, this must have taken forever to do."

"It was a bit hard to figure out, but once I did, it went together smoothly. I can't wait to see you rocking our baby in it."

They then spent some time deciding where to put the crib he'd put together and the glider. Kate wanted them near the bed, and Rick moved them several times before she was content with the locations.

He then moved an empty bookcase to the grouping, and she placed the clothing and other items they'd made. Everything was ready. Now they just needed the baby to decide it was time to make an appearance.