Disclaimer: None of this story is mine save its idea.
Here's another one shot I've been working on this weekend.
Note: Eve is from my story The Eve of Her Return. For those of you who don't know her, she is Elizabeth's daughter who was conceived after Elizabeth had been raped. She was given up for adoption and later they found her again.
It was early in the afternoon of Will and Elizabeth's technical second anniversary. It was really their twelfth but since Will went away for ten years they decided to only count their years together only.
Will had sent her out of the house with the kids. He had made arrangements for them and hopefully they were enjoying themselves.
Now it was time to get busy. He bought all the supplies he needed and Will began to crack some eggs. For a special gift to his wife, Will decided to make Elizabeth a cake. He planned on doing this for awhile now and he managed to procure all the necessary ingredients and hide them in his shop. Will mixed the eggs in a big bowl and added some flour when someone knocked on the front door.
He quickly hid the bowl in the closet and answered while still sporting an apron.
"Ello William."
"Jack?" Will said. Will moved slightly to the left and that was enough room for Jack to come in.
"Where's the wife and little ones?" he asked, taking a seat on the couch.
"Out," Will said retrieving his bowl and continuing to stir.
"Isn't it your anniversary?" Jack asked while picking his teeth.
"Yes Jack," Will said automatically. He added a little flour and continued to stir.
"And what are you making over there then?" Jack asked as he walked over.
"It's a cake," Will said shielding it from Jack's view. "For the occasion."
"Ah," Jack said right before he dipped a finger into the batter and tasting it.
"Jack, what the..."
"You have no idea what you're doing do you?" Jack asked while shaking his head.
Will cocked an eyebrow. Jack plucked the bowl from Will's arms and washed it out. He then proceeded to crack the eggs once again (as Will had a few extra), add some flour and sugar, and start from scratch.
"Jack, I didn't know you could..."
"What? Bake a cake?"
Will nodded dumbly and Jack chuckled.
"It's not something I spread around much but aye, I do know a thing or two about baking. My Mum taught me a bit when I was a lad and some of it stuck with me." He added a little butter and continued. "She ran an Inn that was in the family for years. Then after she passed away, I found myself homeless without any family. Me Da was gone and we hadn't heard from him in ages," he said sharing a secret look with Will. This story was entirely too familiar to him.
"So what'd you do after that?" Will asked placing his elbows on the counter.
Jack transferred the batter into another pan and placed it on a rack in the fire. He wiped his hands together before starting to look through the cabinets.
"I hopped on a ship and haven't looked back since. Do you know where she hides the drinks?" Jack asked moving on to another cabinet.
Will knew what he was getting at. "Third on the left; behind the basket."
Jack found a bottle of rum, took it out and gave it a shake. He grabbed two small glasses and went back to Will. Will pulled out the cork and poured them into the two bottles. They clinked them together and gulped them down quickly. Jack quickly refilled them and they drank again. Will wiped his mouth and sighed which Jack quickly picked up on.
"Something wrong?" Jack asked.
Will shook his head. "I don't really know Jack; I feel like something's missing. I just...I'm not really quite sure what it is."
"How long 'ave you felt like this then?" Jack asked.
Will looked to his side and walked towards the window and leaned his head against the side. "A little while now. The sea...it's calling out to me. I can feel it and it frightens me." Will turned and Jack saw anguish in his eyes. "Jack, I don't know how much longer I can fight it. I don't know that I can."
Jack strolled forward and stood by his side. "William...you are not like me."
"What...?"
"Let me finish," Jack said holding up two fingers. "You are not like me, but, the sea air calls within your veins."
"Aye," Will whispered and nodded.
The two men looked out the window; one fearfully, the other shining slightly as though with hope.
"Lucky for you, I've got a solution. Just hope the little murderess agrees," Jack whispered in Will's ear.
Elizabeth, William and Eve returned in the middle of the day to find Will asleep on the couch. He had a book and his glasses on his chest and looked absolutely at peace. Elizabeth leaned over him and gently shook his shoulders.
"Will, wake up. We're home."
Will slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. "Must've dozed off..."
"Mum look, a cake!" William exclaimed. Elizabeth looked and indeed there was a freshly baked cake sitting on the counter.
"Where'd it come from?" Eve asked. She made to put her finger in it stopped just a few inches away. "What's that on top of it?" she asked.
"Will, did you make that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Um, sort of. Happy Anniversary Elizabeth."
He reached out and pulled her into a kiss. The two became lost in it until they remembered that they had to breathe.
"Can we have some cake now?" Eve asked.
"After dinner," the parents responded at once.
While Elizabeth made dinner, William read a book and Eve played with her doll. Will on the other hand sat at the kitchen table and stared into the fire while thinking. Elizabeth found this odd but didn't mention anything about it.
They ate in semi-silence; only the children talked as they told Will all about the day they had.
"And the lady with the fruit cart, you know that one who smells of cats, she let both of us have an apple each," William said as he cleared the table.
"It was excellent and juicy too," Eve said.
Elizabeth brought the cake to the table and cut a slice for each of them. "What's this glaze on top?" she asked placing it in her mouth.
"A surprise," Will said.
Eve made a face. "I don't like it very much." She pushed it over to William who ate it after finishing his own.
Will put his fork down and there was still half a slice left. "Elizabeth, I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise? You mean there's something else other then the cake? Which, by the way I now know what is on this cake and I don't want our children subjected to this so young," Elizabeth said giving him a knowing look and mouthing the word 'Rum' to him.
Will shook her off. "Right; anyway I want to show you something outside. The children too."
Everyone followed Will outside to where he led them, the lake.
There, floating on the water was a ship. Overall it wasn't very big, only a little bit bigger than the Empress.
As the children ran to try and examine it closer, Elizabeth clutched at Will's hand. "Will, where did you...?"
"Jack stopped by. We had a bit of a talk and he won it in a raid. Rather than keep it for himself he decided to give it away."
Elizabeth frowned. "But we already have a ship."
"I know. This one's mine."
Elizabeth turned to stare at Will who was still staring at the floating vessel. "Your ship?" she asked.
"I need...just a little bit of freedom in my life Elizabeth. The sea is in my veins, my blood. It's in yours, our son's and yo-our daughter's too. Blacksmithing isn't what I want anymore. What I want...what I want lies just beyond this horizon."
Elizabeth was shocked beyond words. "So that's it then?"
Will turned to her and didn't say anything so she continued.
"The Horizon! What about our family? What about our marriage? What about me; don't you love me anymore?" she asked in tears.
"Elizabeth," Will said pulling her into a hug, "I never said I was going to leave you. Don't you ever think that'll happen again."
Elizabeth pulled away and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Then what?" she asked with a sniffle.
"With your permission of course, I'd like to start a Merchant service. We can hire a crew and we can transport goods to others. Heck we can even use the ship to bring others to visit their families from England as a transport service.I would be acting Captain at times and that would take me away for a little while but it won't be all the time. I'll appoint someone else for other times as well."
"Are you sure this is what you truly want Will?" she felt compelled to ask.
"It is," he said with a nod.
"Then its fine by me Will," she said with a nod and a sigh. She laid her head on his shoulder. "What are you going to call the ship?"
Will placed a kiss on the top of Elizabeth's head. "The Living Heart."
The cake they were eating was basically a pound cake with a rum glaze on it. Jack's full of surprises. I originally set out to write about Jack and Will making a cake and getting drunk on rum in the process. Maybe next time then.
I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.