A/N: Oh boy...I am truly sorry that is has taken me sooooo long to update this little series I have going. There are no excuses, but I have been working on a couple of other stories...but they are not doing too well at the moment in the planning stage. This I had started right after finishing Never Alone, but I just finished it tonight and it is not long at all, I think it is about 988 words. Rest assured that they will be getting longer the further we get in the story. Also, in my profile here, there is a link for my LJ, just click on the homepage link, and then you can see my Captain Jack doll I made. You might have to click on the tag that says mini captain jack or something like that.
I also want to thank people who voted for Never Alone for the Sparrabeth Awards, it won first place for the best tear-jerker.
Without further ado, I will let you read...Stay Forever. Read and review and I shall share Jack!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, so leave me alone!
Elizabeth stared down at her ever-growing belly, willing the child within to cease its kicking so she could sleep. The moon was shinning brightly outside the window, casting shadows about the room. Just as the child quieted, Elizabeth relaxed back into the overly large bed and closed her eyes. As she was about to drift away, the child kicked hard surprising her out of her daze. She had no doubt now who the father was, though she could never doubt it from the beginning. Will had left her long before she discovered she was with child, leaving only one possibility.
Jack.
She smiled as she said his name in her head. He would have made a wonderful father and perhaps if she had let him, a husband. The thought almost brought tears, but she pushed them away. There was no point in dwelling on the "what ifs", they would only destroy her. She had duties to the people of Shipwreck cove and her unborn child; there was no room for craziness or longing. She dragged herself out of bed to find something to eat in the kitchens. It was always at this time of night that she was hungry, for apples no less. Maybe the child had a thing for apples, but the image only conjured up an image of Barbossa and she did not want to waste her thinking on the man. He had betrayed Jack more than once and the last time had cost Jack his life. Barbossa had better watch his own back.
The kitchens were empty, but that was to be expected, it was after midnight after all. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and took a bite, her thoughts wondering to Jack's childhood here at the cove. It was massive; all kinds of boats, ships and galleons served as home and community to the wayward people that were her own. It had gotten slightly easier as the months progressed, but Teague still had to help her with many of the duties, which he said he would do until the babe was old enough to be taken care of by the other cove mothers. As he liked to remind her, he wasn't getting any younger and even though she had a child, she still had a duty to fulfill.
The apple gone, Elizabeth left the kitchen to go back to her room and try to get some sleep before the sun rose. Maybe she would have to ask Teague about using a different room for when she got too big to walk up so many stairs. She also did not want to risk a fall and lose her only part of Jack she had left. The moment her right foot hit the first step of the fourth flight of stairs, the baby starting kicking again.
"Going to be just like your father…"Elizabeth whispered while rubbing her stomach soothingly. "Just promise me you won't drink like he--," but her musings were interrupted by a deep voice humming to a song. She recognized that voice instantly and made for the room at the end of the hall. The door was open a crack and she peeked in. There he was, sitting by a window with his guitar in hand, strumming it lightly.
"Come in Elizabeth," his voice was hardly above a whisper, but she heard him as if he had said it in her ear.
She opened the door looking around his room, which she had only been in a couple times before. It was warm and exotic, the yellow candlelight casting dancing shadows around the room. He continued with the song and began singing, the words describing distant lands she had never before visited.
"The babe keeping you up?" Teague asked his dark brown eyes locking with Elizabeth's.
"Among other things," she smiled. "Though the kicking has stopped finally, which I am thankful for."
"This is the song I used to play for Jack's mother, for when he was kicking. Should have taken that as a warning, that boy was always difficult."
Elizabeth smiled, hoping that her child would not be difficult, because if he or she looked anything like Jack, she would not have the heart to discipline. That would have dire consequences, and Teague would be, lets just say a hurricane would be more pleasant to deal with than Teague, if that child somehow managed to burn down the cove. Just because Jack hadn't succeeded did not mean that his child would also fail.
"Relax lass; stop thinking about the future so much. You need your mind in the present and aware of your surroundings."
Elizabeth could not be surprised that Teague had known what she was thinking about, because he always knew. It was part of his mystic, it was just Teague. She hoped one day to be almost as mysterious to the inhabitants of the cove, but she also knew that Teague had been around longer than was possible, she never questioned that either.
"What did I tell you about your mind?"
"To keep it in the present and to pay attention to my surroundings. It is also good to meditate and release your mind."
Teague raised an eyebrow and began playing another song. She recognized it as a sea shanty she had heard while on the Black Pearl with Jack a couple of years before. Jack must have learned it from his father and that thought brought a bright smile to her face. As long as her thoughts of Jack were memories, she was happy and able to move on, to live life how Teague had told her she had to. In a few months time she would be giving birth to this child, and she knew the answer to Teague's question he had asked so long ago.
"I'm going to stay forever," she laughed out, her outburst swallowed by the upbeat song Teague had started playing.
All right, that was my second completed fanfic, hope you all enjoyed and let me know what you think!