Disclaimer: Not mine blah blah
Author's Note: Retconning OST because I've only seen it once (haven't bought it yet -.-) and frankly I can't remember all the details. This is set some time during the third movie after Jack is rescued from the Locker but before the Pirate's Council. Please have a care, this is my first fic in a very long time, though I feel I've become a better writer in the meantime. Anyway Enjoy!
Family Man
The Pearl had docked in the harbor of a small port town late in the afternoon and the sun was setting over the water by the time Jack set foot on land. Accompanying him were Mr. Gibbs, Will, and Elizabeth though two of the three didn't know why they were there in the first place. Jack had been tight-lipped about their reasons for landing here when all of their lives were in such peril and Mr. Gibbs, usually willing to share when asked the right questions, would only shake his head. They'd know soon enough.
Jack led them through the port, nodding at several men who seemed to know him—but then again, was there anywhere Captain Jack Sparrow wasn't known?—and past the initial cluster of houses. When the houses thinned out and yards could be seen, music could also be heard wafting on the air and getting closer. The entire time they were walking Mr. Gibbs had walked slightly ahead with Jack, their heads bent together in some intense discussion. It was like Jack to be secretive but not this secretive. Will and Elizabeth exchanged cautiously curious looks.
Finally the four travelers reached the source of the music: a party being held in someone's yard, though it seemed to spill into those of the neighbors on either side. Paper lanterns were strung between trees and candles melted into stubs on tables and tree stumps. On the side farthest from the backs of the houses was a band comprised of a guitar, a banjo, an accordion, and a fiddle. It looked like most of the town was there, dancing and laughing amongst themselves as children ran about playing games between the adults legs. All in all it seemed a scene too…wholesome for the likes of Jack Sparrow. The captain crept up behind a short blonde woman with a grin and tickled her sides, causing her to start. His face clearly showed she'd not been who he was expecting, though they were on friendly terms.
"Jackie! I were wonderin' when you were gonna show up!" The florid-faced, rotund woman wrapped her arms around Jack's middle and he hugged her gently back. He looked nervous and impatient. Will and Elizabeth looked at each other again, the woman's familiarity indicating he'd been here before and the lack of being slapped across the face indicating his reputation perhaps wasn't quite as well known here.
"Fan, have you seen Jenny?" he asked quietly.
"Jen-? Of course! Of course! Right over there, lad!" Fan pointed with the hand that held her mug, accidentally slopping some of her drink onto the ground.
Captain Jack thanked her with a hand on her shoulder and jerked his head in the direction she had pointed, indicating that they should follow. After about five minutes of searching he apparently found this "Jenny," though from the concerned look he exchanged with Gibbs he wasn't entirely happy about it. He tried again, walking up behind a woman and spinning her around. The woman screamed in surprise and laughed when he set her down and turned around to see who her assailant was.
"Jack Sparrow!" she cried with a smile before throwing her arm around his neck. Jack grinned and wrapped both arms around the woman's waist, closing his eyes and hugging her close. Jenny was an attractive woman around Jack's age, late thirties or early forties, with dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The top of her head barely brushed Jack's chin and he seemed used to resting it there.
"And who's this handsome stranger?" Jack tickled under the chin of the baby in Jenny's other arm. The child was about six months old and looked at Jack with that sort of starry-eyed amazement at a new person. He grabbed the pirate's finger and started directing it toward his open mouth…but got distracted halfway through by the paper lanterns hanging above him.
"This is Steven," Jenny said almost tersely, suddenly not as happy as she had been upon discovering Captain Sparrow had been the one with an arm around her waist. That hand still rested at her hip as if it belonged there, other hand still captured by the baby. "I wrote to you, you know. Six times."
"Well I'm always on the move, and—"
"Sent the letter to Captain Teague."
"Oh. Well er…he didn't find me. If he had, I'd have—"
"He came. Left about a month ago. Stayed nearly half a year."
"Well bully for him! I'm a bit busy!" Jack snapped, pressing his lips together in annoyance.
Already this conversation seemed to be devolving quickly and Gibbs could see the direction it was headed and tried to usher Will and Elizabeth away but they refused. The scene unfolding before them was yet another layer of mystery to Captain Jack Sparrow to which they wanted to see the truth. The burgeoning argument was interrupted anyway, however, by a strapping youth striding up to them. The fiddler from the band had dark hair and eyes and a long, thin nose. The awkward, gangly look to his limbs indicated that puberty hadn't quite finished ravaging his body yet.
"Mum, I—" He stopped short upon seeing Jack and his face fell into nothing short of a glare. "I just wanted to let you know it looks like it's going to be a late night." His voice had gone flat and his gaze didn't turn from Jack though he addressed Jenny.
"That's fine John. I'll let you know when Steven starts gettin' fussy and just wake me up when you're home. Alright?" Young John nodded. "Well aren't you gonna say hello?"
"Evenin', Jack," John said coldly through clenched teeth before turning to leave. Jack looked as if he'd been slapped.
"Johnathan!" his mother scolded. Jack started into the crowd after the youth, but the woman grabbed his arm to stop him.
"He may be thirteen, but he's not too old to—"
"Fifteen, Jack."
"What?"
"He's fifteen. And he's angry. And to be honest he has every right to be. I mean, can you blame him?"
Will was starting to piece the story together. The woman was a widow or something and Jack had gotten her pregnant then left, leaving her son to help raise the baby left behind. Captain Teague, whoever he was, was the link that connected them and Jack had ignored her letters for help. The pirate opened his mouth to argue with the woman when two knee-high blonde blurs shattered Will's version of the story.
"Daddy!" Jack staggered as a pair of twin girls attached themselves one to each leg. "Daddydaddydaddydaddy!" Looking down he laughed at the little imps clinging to his calves.
"There's my girls!" Bending down Captain Jack Sparrow took each little blonde in one arm and rested them against his waist. It was clear he'd done this many times before, particularly as they hugged him tightly around his neck.
"Uncle Joshee!" Jack almost lost his grip on the girls as they both flopped forward to hug Gibbs around the neck. He flushed and hugged the girls back, explaining with an embarrassed expression to Will and Elizabeth that when they were younger Joshemee had been a little too much of a mouthful. The couple were still reeling from the shock of seeing Jack Sparrow respond so readily to cries of 'daddy.' They'd thought that was one sound he'd have turned and run from.
"This is Celia and Layla," Jack introduced them to Will and Elizabeth, hitching up first one then the other.
"No, she's Layla, I'm Celia!" the second girl insisted, pointing to her sister. Jack raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.
"Really? Because, you know I could have sworn…Celia was ticklish…here!" He wrapped his arm around the twin who had been introduced as Celia and tickled her belly. "And Layla was ticklish here!" The other girl got it behind her knees. He chuckled as they screamed with laughter and squirmed in their father's grip.
"They're seven," Jenny added with a tired smile, seemingly as much for Jack's benefit as for the strangers'.
"Seven and a half Mummy!" Layla corrected, recovering from the tickling and clinging to her father's neck again.
"You're right, seven and a half," the woman conceded graciously with a nod.
"And these," Jack addressed his daughters, "are my friends Will and Elizabeth. They're helping me find—"
"The magical horse to Tirnanog?"
"The Fountain of Youth?" Celia and Layla, at least, seemed familiar with Jack's adventures and delighted in guessing where he was going next.
"The Dead Man's Chest!" Jack grinned at their wide-eyed reactions.
"But Daddy! Davey Jones he'll…he'll…he'll make his pet kraken swallow you whole!"
"Nah! Ain't nothin' can keep your dear ol' Dad away," Jack grinned, neglecting to tell little Celia that the kraken had already done just that.
"Jack…" Jenny's voice carried a tired, warning tone. She'd clearly heard all of this before.
"Then once I got that I'll be comin' back." He grinned, ignoring the woman.
"Jack! Girls…you haven't eaten dinner. Go find Widow Blankenship and get something to eat."
"But Mummy-!"
"Daddy'll still be here when you're done eatin…I think. Nothin's to keep you from starving to death." The twins sighed and wriggled out of Jack's arms and he let them slide to the ground. He watched them run off with a look of longing in his eyes; he'd missed them very much while he was gone.
"What?" he demanded, whirling on Jenny when they were out of earshot.
"No more, Jack," she said firmly, pursing her lips together. "No more Holy Grails or Fountains of Youth or Aztec treasures or whatever other crap you can find! We can't take it anymore." She was angry, but more than anger her voice carried the tone of one pleading. Jack heard the sorrow in her voice and his expression softened. He took a step toward her and put his hand on her hip again. Baby Steven began to fuss.
"Jenny…I can't just give up." He seemed to have forgotten that the others were there, at least for the moment. His eyes widened momentarily in fear. "Unless…?" She shook her head and the baby started to cry a little.
"Not yet. But you're needed here, Jack…she needs you. We all do. She needs a father…it's been ten years…" She closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. Jack put his hand to her face and wiped it away before it could reach her chin. Steven was starting to cry louder as his mother seemed to get more upset.
"Soon, love." He kissed her forehead gently, bringing his hand around to cup her neck. "I promise. Just as soon as I—"
"No! No just as soon as anything! We need you here, now." Jenny's eyes were bright with tears as she opened them. "It's time to come home, Jack." She turned and began to walk away briskly.
"Jenny! Jennifer!" The pirate started after her and grabbed her arm. She whirled around and looked like she would have slapped him had she not been holding a child.
"Your son is hungry and unless you want me showing my tits to your new friends I'll be thanking you to remove your unwashed digits." Jenny's voice was cold and he let go of her wrist. He trudged back over to the others.
"Well, that went better than usual," Gibbs said in an attempt to be cheerful. "I think the baby's done good for 'er." Jack sighed and rubbed his face and looked up at Will and Elizabeth.
"Meet the missus," he said wearily, gesturing behind himself. "And the kids. Except where's…?" He straightened and looked around, then seemed to spot who he was looking for. With a grin he strode forward.
Will and Elizabeth watched as Jack walked up to a pretty little girl as dark as he was, no older than ten or twelve. Her legs were atrophied from some crippling sort of disease and she had to use a pair of canes to stilt around; in a century or so this disease would come to be known as 'polio,' but for now all Jack and Jenny knew was that she was lucky to have even survived this long. The pirate wrapped his arms around his eldest daughter's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. In a moment everything became clear, and Mr. Gibbs confirmed their suspicions.
"If you ever wondered why Jack takes to the seas after treasure what'll make you immortal…Sally Sparrow's why," he said quietly, solemnly, watching the pair reunite as though it were a sad occasion rather than a happy one. "Doctors told 'im she wouldn't live past three and it's a miracle she's gone on this long."
"What's wrong with her?" Elizabeth asked. Gibbs shrugged.
"Who knows? They don't…they just know it's killin' 'er real slow-like. Ain't painless, neither. Jack won't give up lookin' fer somethin' to save 'is li'l girl." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "But Jenny's right. More'n a cure she needs a dad."
"Papa, I asked John to play a song real slow for us. Will you dance with me?"
"Course, sweet'eart." Jack could barely hide the tears glistening in his eyes. "Course I'll dance with ya."
He helped her set her canes aside and picked her up bridal style to carry her out where everyone was dancing. The youthful fiddler looked at his father and nodded slightly before playing a slow, somewhat somber tune. Jack set his daughter down gingerly and placed her feet on his, holding her up to dance with her as best they could.
Will stood somewhat flabbergasted. He'd never thought of Jack as a family man, nor had he ever imagined he was after treasures for more than himself. He had always assumed that Jack simply had a fear of death a little more irrational than most. But the treasures untold that would work miracles, cure the sick, make the holder immortal…all of it had been for his daughter. Little Sally Sparrow whose only wish was to dance with her father.
Jenny had invited her husband's three companions to stay the night at the Sparrow homestead after the party instead of on the ship and they graciously accepted. Blankets and pillows were laid out for them on cushions in the sitting room and Elizabeth smiled at Will as down the hall Jack could be heard telling a bedtime story. His voice changed pitch with the character talking and it sounded like he had lunged upon the twins and was tickling them again at certain scarier parts, just so they didn't get too scared. Jenny had already put the baby to bed in Sally's room and young John was helping her make tea for the guests. The two strangers to this secret life of Jack's could only imagine this was how every night had been before he'd left.
Later in the night when all of the candles had been blown out Jack and Jenny Sparrow retired to their own room at the other end of the house. Were anyone to pass outside their door they would have heard the sounds that always accompanied one of Jack's visits home. It always started out a soft but serious discussion, then their voices raised as it became a fight and behind closed doors they were standing on opposite sides of the bed yelling at each other. Then Mrs. Sparrow's soft weeping soon followed, accompanied by her husband's voice trying to soothe her. It ended as all of their fights did and the sounds of gentle love-making could be heard just outside their door until an hour or two before dawn.
Late the next morning the Pearl was off again. Jack kissed his wife goodbye along with each of their children, promising to return soon. They all knew that was a bluff; he didn't know when he'd be back. They just hoped, as did he, that he would be back in time. In time for Sally to live or die was anyone's guess…but either way, one day hopefully soon Captain Jack Sparrow would come home.
I'm a review whore and this is my first fic in a looooong time. Leave me some love and I may let Little Sally live...
Please?