Home Sweet Home

He was home. Will breathed deep as he walked upon the shore of the island that his wife, Elizabeth, had inhabited for the last ten years. He now had all of the time in the world to spend with her and their son, and he intended to spend that time well. As he traveled further inland he saw Elizabeth standing near a sizable hut with a young boy. A huge grin lit his face.

"Elizabeth!" he shouted ecstatically. The woman in question stood still with an impatient look upon her face. Will paused a moment in confusion, but quickly decided to keep approaching her. As he reached her, he put his arms around her thin frame. To his surprise, she moved away.

"Elizabeth?" he asked feeling even more confused. She looked down in shame. After a moment, she shook herself and looked up with a smirk.

"About time you showed up," she reprimanded.

"Elizabeth, you know I could only come onto land once my ten years was over," he started to explain, but stopped as she gave him an exasperated look.

"I bloody well know that, I just meant you took your time getting here," she replied. She turned to the boy. "Joshua, come greet your father."

The boy ran over, looking very excited.

"Hullo, Dad! I've been waiting ever so long to meet you! Mum talks about you all the time. She says you tell the best stories! Can you tell me about the Kraken or the Pelegostos cannibals?" Joshua gushed out. Will smiled in amusement at the boy's enthusiasm.

"I would love to, but I'm afraid your mother exaggerated a bit. I'm not that good of a story teller."

Joshua looked confused. "But Mum says your stories are the best. That's why she named me after you so that I could tell good stories, too." Elizabeth paled and grabbed Joshua by the shoulder.

"Joshua, dear, why don't you go inside? Mummy and Dad have a lot of catching up to do." Joshua looked disappointed, but nodded.

"Wait, just a moment," Will interjected, "What do you mean, you were named after me? My name is William."

"About that," Elizabeth laughed nervously, "Well..." She scratched the back of her neck.

"Yes?" Will asked. Elizabeth dropped her head in shame once again.

"Joshua, go get your brothers," she whispered.

"Yes, Mum," he answered.

"Brothers..." Will gasped. Elizabeth seemed to want to shrink into the ground. Joshua, who had entered the hut then exited with five other boys in tow. One of the boys had beads and sticks tied into his long, messy hair, while another had a pet parrot sitting on his shoulder. The next two were walking side by side, one tall and lanky and the other short and stocky. The final child was the youngest, a toddler holding a stuffed monkey.

Will stared as the boys formed a line, oldest to youngest, beginning with the tall, lanky youth and ending with the messy haired boy holding onto the toddler's hand. He slowly turned to Elizabeth who was still staring at the ground. He opened he mouth to comment but found himself too flabbergasted to even begin to speak. As if sensing his reluctance, Elizabeth began to talk softly.

"I'm so sorry Will, it just that, well, after their unsuccessful voyage to the Fountain of Youth, Jack and the others stopped by to see if I was settled in alright. One thing led to another, and the rum certainly didn't help, but it's not like I wanted it to happen, and, and, they kept coming back with supplies and more rum, and I'm sorry, but I was just so lonely the first time they came! It had been so long since you had left, and I NEEDED someone, and like I said, the rum didn't help." Elizabeth took a long breath. While she was recovering from her spiel, Will turned to the oldest boy.

"And how old are you, uh, who are you?" Will questioned. The boy straightened himself proudly.

"I'll be nine and one half in three weeks! Oh, and I'm Getty. This here is Telly," he pointed to the chubby boy next to him, "and Eli," he then pointed to the boy with the parrot who was standing next to Joshua. "Mingo is the one with the baby," Getty said in a mocking tone.

"He's not a baby!" Mingo shouted, "He's almost three!"

"And that makes him a ba-aby!" Getty sing-songed, getting laughs from Telly and Joshua. The youngest started to cry as the other boys started to point and poke his stuffed monkey. Mingo growled at his older brothers.

"Leave Bossanova alone!" he shouted as he tried to stop the others from making the little one cry. He shoved Telly down to the ground and bit Eli on the hand. The parrot on Eli's shoulder started to squawk loudly as tears ran down his owner's face.

While all of this was going on in front of him, Will's thoughts were elsewhere. In his mind, he was counting up the months after his departure from this world. He did not notice when Elizabeth snapped into action, her maternal instincts finally kicking in.

"Mingo, stop biting your brother! And don't shove down Telly! Joshua, why didn't you stop your brothers from fighting? You know that they don't listen to Getty. Eli, baby, calm down. It couldn't have hurt that bad." Elizabeth shouted out orders to the boys while walking over to Eli and caressing his injured finger. She turned to Will.

"I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but perhaps in time..." Elizabeth started but was interrupted by Will's train of thought.

"If this boy, Getty, is almost nine and a half, you would've had him six months after I became captain of the Flying Dutchman. Then that means..." Will pointed accusingly at Elizabeth, "You...you...!"

"I was a young, foolish woman, and it was a long ride to Singapore! It's not my fault that you were so wrapped up in the whole "Is she in love with me or with Jack?' thing that you didn't even notice that your fiancé was in need of some sweet pirate lovin'?!" she cried. Will looked shocked.

"But how could you? And why would you? With him?" Will sobbed in desperation.

"Well, when you don't have what you want, you have to go with the next best thing," Elizabeth explained. Will just looked sick.

"What matters now is that you're here, and I love you so much," Elizabeth walked over to Will and took him in her arms. He still looked a little green around the gills, but he didn't move away from Elizabeth's embrace.

"I've missed you these ten years, and I hope you'll forgive me for my misjudgments. I never meant any harm. Think of it this way: you now have six, strapping young lads to help around the house. You are their father, no matter what anyone else says. Those rum-soaked pirates are only interested in a good time. They could care less for these boys, that's why they think of you as their father," Elizabeth snuggled up to Will. He smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

"Well, as long as you promise that it won't happen again," Will joked. Elizabeth laughed nervously again. "What?" he asked.

Elizabeth put a hand on her stomach. "I won't tell you about Jimmy then."

THE END

Author's Note: If you're wondering about the meaning behind the names of the boys, here you go!

Telly - short for Pintel

Getty - short for Raghetti

Mingo - Swann Sparrow Flamingo

Eli - Eli Whitney was the inventor of the Cotton gin

Bossanova - sounds like Barbossa

Joshua - kinda like Joshamee

Jimmy - short for James