Author's Note: And we're back! The time off was restorative with this being perhaps my favorite chapter thus far. Thank you to all who have reviewed, anonymous or otherwise, it is so appreciated! Please forgive any errors and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

"Killer Queen" rang out from the confines of Elizabeth's purse as she exited the car. Throwing Will an apologetic look, she rolled her eyes and took the call, falling behind him going up the steps to Corrine's quaint home.

"Bria, we're walking into my appointment right now. I can't talk."

"Dr. Julian Brown-Selton. He practiced for over twenty years at Royal London Hospital and delivered thousands of healthy children. He's living outside Montego Bay now. Just let me make one-"

"No," she said, keeping a tight hold on the container of scones in her free hand.

"He's a professional, Lizzie! A trained physician, not some floozy who's-"

"Competent, compassionate, and completely above board, registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in Wales before she moved here. I've told you a hundred times already. I like Corrine. I want her to deliver my baby. Besides, Will says that she-"

"Well, if Will told you to do something, I'm just wasting my breath, aren't I?" Elizabeth could hear papers being shuffled about violently over Bria's inelegant snort of derision. "God forbid I have an opinion regarding the safety and well-being of my dearest friend that goes against Will Turner's."

She ignored her friend's slight against Will, though she found that it was getting harder and harder to do. "This isn't London. I don't have health insurance yet. I've only been working for two weeks. Anamaria is pushing everything along, but it'll still be a bit before-"

"Listen, I love you and if you want to go on living a fantasy in the tropics with no sophistication or electricity, be my guest. I support you fully."

"Thank you, darling," Elizabeth said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You're welcome. But if you keep being this willful little demon where your health and the health of that bairn is concerned, I'm going to have to start being less polite with my worries."

"This has been you being polite and friendly?!"

"Yes, it has. If you would like to avoid dealing with the alternative, let me ring up the good doctor Brown-Selton. You'll thank me six months from now after your lovely epidural wears off and the incision from your elective caesarean heals."

"Dear Lord, you're impossible." Will knocked on the door and she stepped away from him to other side of the porch, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I left England to avoid my father planning out my life, not for you to take over the reins from him."

"That isn't what-"

"Maybe not intentionally, but you are and it needs to stop! I will decide how this baby comes into the world. No one else but me." She glanced over her shoulder quickly. "And Will. We'll decide together what's best for our baby."

There was silence on the other end. Elizabeth was almost certain they had lost their connection when she finally heard Bria murmur, "I miss you. I know I've been a right nasty slag lately, but I'm just gutted here without you, Lizzie."

The front door opened and Corrine greeted them. Elizabeth motioned that she'd be a moment and Corrine nodded, leading Will inside. "I miss you, too. Every hour of every day."

"Yes, but it's different on your side. You have your new job, your new friends, your…whatever the hell he is to you. All I've got is a sparsely decorated office I can't escape and whomever I manage to drag home with me from late night cocktails at the Purple Bar."

"Bria…"

"And I'm overjoyed for you, I promise. No one deserves it more. Seeing you stifled and unhappy all these years was torture. I just wish I could see you now that it's all been flipped on its head is all."

"You can. You're welcome here whenever you want." Elizabeth tried to smile, aching to see her best friend. "I'll make two dozen batches of sticky toffee brownies just for you."

It was Bria's turn to sigh tiredly. "I know you would. I'm absolutely swamped with work right now though."

"Me too. There's this enormous festival in town in a few weeks that's taking up every spare minute at the café. Apparently, we're doing a massive desert buffet for it, only Anamaria keeps changing her mind on what she wants us to serve."

"Sounds like more fun than I'm having. I swear, every female client this past week has wanted to kill their sod of a soon-to-be ex off for diddling the au pair. Don't hire one of those. They could turn monks into bloody wankers with a bat of the eye."

"I won't."

"Good. Now, speaking of bloody wankers…"

"Careful. You're about to veer into slag territory again."

"How is the dashing Mr. Turner these days?" Elizabeth could perfectly picture Bria leaning back in her chair, a lecherous grin on her face. "Shag him in the shower yet?"

"Ugh," Elizabeth groaned, propping herself on the railing and doing her best not to conjure up the image of Will, shirtless and gleaming, when she was about to be in a confined space with him. "I should never have told you about that."

"We learn these things the hard way. Now, spill it: what's going on with you two lately?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I mean, everything is going great between us," Elizabeth replied, keeping her voice as steady as possible. "Listen, I've got to run. We're having a scan today. I love you."

"I love you, too. Which, by the way, is why I know you're not telling me the truth about everything being so great between you and the Condomless Wonder."

"Briana!"

"But I'm going to let you get away with it for now. Do you know why?"

"Because in your own maddening way, you love me?"

"Top of the class, my Lizzie is. Go have a look at that beautiful bairn of yours. Call me later."

"Bye." Turning the phone off, Elizabeth shoved it back in her purse, wishing she could shove her crowding thoughts into it as well.

Serves you right for opening your trap to Bria, she scolded herself silently, taking another minute alone in the Caribbean heat to collect herself. Now she's taken him off first name basis again. That'll take at least a month to rectify. And for what? It isn't like there was a big fight or anything crazy. It's just you acting crazy.

Except she wasn't, not truly. The moment she had started working, things had been different. Some of the changes were fantastic. Nearly every morning, she went to work and let her creativity flow in ways she had never imagined, tweaking old recipes and creating brand new ones on the spot to the delight of Dulzura's customers. According to Anamaria, profits were up almost ten percent from the same period last year, which she wasn't shy about giving Elizabeth the sole credit for. And as draining as it could be sometimes to put in a full day on her feet in a scorching kitchen, especially as they were also prepping for a huge event that could bring them even more business, Elizabeth never felt it when two o'clock rolled around.

Not when she got to see Lucy's bright smile at the end of her workday.

There had been fears, certainly: fears that Lucy wouldn't listen to her; fears that she'd would grow to resent someone besides her father taking care of her; fears that she'd run to Will when he came home and say how horrible Elizabeth was to her. Thankfully, every fear was baseless. From the time she climbed into Elizabeth's jeep until the moment she jumped into Will's arms when he walked into the kitchen in the early evening, joy permeated the time Elizabeth and Lucy spent together. Every day, she got to know Lucy a bit better and every day she fell further under the spell the little girl had started casting that first afternoon on the park bench. It didn't matter if she wanted to hear pirate stories or play on the beach or draw an endless amount of Christmas trees; whenever they were together, they were encased in happiness.

Even Lucy's qualities that some might have found exasperating – the constant questions and chatter or the innate stubbornness that she had clearly inherited from Will – only endeared her more to Elizabeth. And on the rare occasions when a firmer voice was required, be it needing to be told to put toys away more than once or to stop construction on a particularly large sandcastle to wash for dinner, Lucy never blinked or threw a fit. She accepted that Elizabeth was in charge almost at once, long before Elizabeth did herself. Her stomach would explode with butterflies whenever Lucy's behavior needed a slight correction. She didn't want Lucy to hate her, but she wanted to know that when the time came, discipline was something she was capable of with her own child. It made her realize that perhaps Will's ideas about practicing hadn't been as farfetched as she had first believed.

What wasn't farfetched was the evidence slowly building that something was pulling Will away. There was nothing concrete that she could point to, just a series of subtle changes she had noticed since her job began: constantly checking his phone, hushed conversations with Jack when they were at his place, and more time spent alone in his shed, even with him being able to work longer hours at Brown's. He was keeping something from her. It was what made her hesitate with Bria earlier.

She was carrying his child and he was keeping something from her.

Or, when her hormones were running roughshod, as they were now, he was keeping someone from her attention.

Elizabeth wasn't a fool. She didn't own him. She had no claim on him, no matter how much her chest tingled and fluttered when he gifted her with one of his smiles. There had obviously been women before her and when she was finally out of his house, there'd be women after her. Why wouldn't there be? Will was charming, intelligent, and utterly caring, all wrapped up in a devastatingly handsome package. What sane woman wouldn't want him? He was free to pursue whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. But did he have to do it right under her nose, like she was…

He's not pursuing anything with anyone, the voice of her better angels insisted before she went completely off the rails. He's a good, honorable man who would never disrespect you like that. You know that, Elizabeth.

She did know that. She had known that even at the bar of the Black Pearl. But she was also desperate to know what was holding Will back from her.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to the present. "Is everything okay?" Will asked her gently, concern lacing his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, quickly schooling her features when she turned. Gathering her treats, she followed him inside past the waiting/sitting room. "Sorry I took so long. Bria can be grueling when she wants to be."

"No worries. I've got one of those too."

"Yes, but I doubt that Jack could go on a ten-minute soliloquy about certain parts of the male anatomy."

"You'd be surprised," Will said, giving her one of his grins. The all-too familiar pull in her chest accompanied it and his hand on her lower back didn't help matters along at all as they went upstairs into one of the bedrooms Corrine had turned into an exam room, complete with a medical table and all manners of equipment. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice as she sat on the table how much older everything in here seemed compared to what she had seen on her one visit to the clinic.

Whatever qualms she felt alleviated when Corrine joined them, wearing a stethoscope and carrying a folder. "Hello, Elizabeth," she greeted her with a warm smile. "How are you feeling today?"

"Great." She paused and then admitted. "Nervous."

"Every mother is on a scan day." Corrine patted her arm in support, glancing down at Elizabeth's lap. "I hope whatever is in that box isn't for me, young lady. There's still nearly half a loaf of sourdough in my breadbox."

She grinned sheepishly. "Guava scones with honey butter."

"Thank you. You're an angel, but I swear I'm going to gain more weight with this pregnancy than you are," Corrine huffed as she took the proffered treats and set them aside before opening the folder. "So, all your bloodwork came back looking fine. You're not anemic, iron levels are normal, no genetic markers for anything worrisome. Everything is progressing splendidly so far. Any symptoms or pain that's troubling you?"

"No. Still a little cramping sometimes. Not anything too painful, though, and no bleeding."

"Good. How's the morning sickness?"

"Mostly gone. I'm almost feeling brave enough to make a breakfast scramble again."

"Any dizziness or swelling anywhere?"

"No, I feel fine. Lots of energy actually."

"Enjoy it while it lasts."

"She's had headaches the last couple of nights when I've come home," Will offered from his spot next to her. "Not bad ones I think, but she-"

"How did you know that?" Elizabeth asked him, frowning. "I didn't say anything."

"You were rubbing your forehead a little during dinner and you were quieter." He shrugged a bit and she flushed slightly, unaware of how much attention he had been paying to her. "I just figured it ought to be mentioned in case it was…"

"They're normal," Corrine said to Will as she started to take Elizabeth's blood pressure and other vitals. "Elizabeth and I discussed them on her first visit. Lots of hormones surging right now that can cause them, plus the caffeine restriction that you are hopefully adhering to and the stress from a new job can all play a part. If your vision isn't blurred and the pain isn't too severe, we don't need to worry about them." Releasing the cuff after she recorded the reading, she turned her gaze back to Elizabeth. "However, it is important to speak up if you feel that anything is amiss, even something that seems minor. Everything that affects you affects the baby. I can't help either of you if I don't have all the information."

"I understand." She shot a playful glare at Will. "Apparently this one won't let me get away with anything, will he?"

"Sorry," he apologized ruefully, shuffling on his feet slightly. "Old habits die hard."

Rebecca, her mind answered before the question fully formed. Poor man. He must have had to watch every move she made to make sure Lucy was safe.

A chill suddenly swept over her at the idea of Will not being there to protect that sweet little girl before she even took her first breath; of there not being someone to pick up from school when she left here that would hug her like she was the only thing tethering them both to the ground. Without looking at him, she took his hand in hers and squeezed, laying their joint hands next to her on the table. A current of heat shot up her arm at the contact, rushing straight to her chest.

Did he feel it too?

It couldn't all be just her, could it? Her eyes refused to move, equally afraid of what she would or wouldn't find in his.

Oblivious to the subtle charge in the room, Corrine put the folder down and plopped down on a rolling stool, pulling the ultrasound machine over and gently pushed Elizabeth until she was laying on her back. "Now the main event. Are you ready?"

"Very much." Corrine lifted the bottom of her shirt and unbuttoned her shorts until her stomach was exposed. Elizabeth fought hard not to squirm. There was only the tiniest bit of roundness to her figure, barely even noticeable to Elizabeth herself, but it was there and she was acutely aware that this was the most of her body that Will had seen since their night together. Still, despite her discomfort, she wouldn't – couldn't – release Will's hand.

"How about you, William?"

"A-Absolutely."

"Good. Let's have a peak then." Squirting a bit of cold gel on Elizabeth's bare skin, Corrine pushed the wand down onto her stomach and pressed a button on the machine.

After a few maneuvers of the device, a steady thrumming filled the room, akin to the pounding hooves of horses Elizabeth had seen in her youth during many tedious polo matches Father had dragged her to. Her mouth fell open in wonder as she heard her baby's heartbeat for the first time; immediately and indelibly it was imprinted into Elizabeth's mind, a core memory she would never let go of. "Oh my God," she breathed, her eyes falling closed, a smile gracing her lips. "It's so fast…That's amazing."

"Best symphony in the world," Corrine agreed with a small laugh. "Only one thing that can top it."

"What?"

"If you open your eyes, you can see for yourself."

When she did, Elizabeth turned her head to see the black and white profile of her baby projected on the small screen. What was once the size of a raspberry just a few weeks ago was now more akin to a plum, something tangible that she could hold in the palm of her hand.

"Look at you," she whispered reverently, no one in the universe for her except that tiny being that seemed to be waving at her. "Look at those arms and legs and tiny little fingers. You're getting so big." Like she had at the clinic, her fingers reached out towards the screen, caressing the shadowy picture, hoping somehow that her baby could feel her love across the barriers that still divided them.

"No visible abnormalities or defects," Corrine said, squinting slightly at the image. "Excellent heartbeat and movement. Almost six centimeters long. I'm putting your pregnancy at over thirteen weeks along." She smiled at her oblivious patient. "Congratulations. Welcome to the second trimester."

Corrine's words penetrated her dazed mind, but it was the feel of Will's hand tenderly squeezing hers that truly registered. She finally drew her eyes to find him staring down at her, a shy smile lighting his face as his gaze flickered between hers and the screen her fingers were still tracing. Everything about that sweet, doting look pulled her in deeper.

I hope he looks just like his father, she thought helplessly. I hope he looks exactly like Will.

"Can you tell yet if it's a boy or a girl?" Elizabeth heard herself ask Corrine.

"You want to know now?" Will asked, his brow furrowed.

"Of course. Didn't you find out with Lucy?"

"No, it was kind of fun having a bit of mystery to it. Made for a nice surprise at the end."

"You don't think this," Elizabeth looked down at her stomach, "was enough of a surprise already?"

He chuckled in agreement. "True enough."

Elizabeth smiled eagerly and turned back to Corrine. "Well, blue or pink?"

The practiced midwife studied the screen closely before she shook her head. "Sorry, love. The little one wants to keep it a secret a bit longer. At the next scan in a month or so we should be able to tell then.""

There was a small burst of disappointment, but it was tempered when the picture was printed and placed in Elizabeth's hand. She was still staring at it, smitten, when they made their way outside to their respective cars, he to go back to work and her to go pick up Lucy from school. She finally took her attention away from the scan to thank him for coming with her when he pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked neutrally as he skimmed through a long text.

"Nothing," he replied at once, quickly putting the phone from sight and offering her another smile. Only instead of lightening her heart, it darkened it considerably because he was using it to distract her, to hide something from her.

He was using it to lie to her.

"Fine," she said, turning swiftly and clutching the photo as she went to her jeep, willing her emotions into control. She wouldn't let this moment be tainted by anything.

"Elizabeth, what's-?"

"I need to go get Lucy. I don't want her to wait."

His hand on her wrist stopped her and he compelled her to face him. "What's wrong? Why are you-?"

Elizabeth freed herself from his grasp and pressed the photo of their child into his chest, unable to stop herself. "Do you know what this means? This means you can't shut me out of your life."

His eyes flashed something that bordered on dangerous. "How could you possibly think that I've been shutting you out? You're here, living in my home, taking care of my daughter, every single day. How is that anything within the realm of-?"

"Who keeps calling?" He closed his mouth and she pounced. "You keep getting these texts and calls that take you so deep into your own head I almost have to throw something at you to bring you back."

"It's…It's a work thing. That's all it is, I promise."

"What kind of work?" His eyes left hers and her shoulders sagged. He wouldn't tell her. Sighing, she put the picture safely in her purse. "I've got to get going." Without giving him a chance to reply, she climbed in her car and pulled away from him.

His turn to see how it feels, she fumed silently.

It was good that it was a long drive to Lucy's school. Elizabeth needed nearly the whole length to calm herself. When the bell finally rang, she was already out of her car, searching for the little girl amidst the rows of other children and was promptly rewarded when Lucy flew to her, wrapping her arms around Elizabeth's waist so tightly that Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if the baby could feel it too.

There, that's better, she thought, running her hands through Lucy's unruly strands. Now that she was going in before Lucy woke up, Will was back on hair duty in the mornings with unsurprisingly horrid results. We'll go home, straighten out this rat's nest, ignore the fact that her father is…why is she so quiet?

Elizabeth went to her knees and gently tipped Lucy's chin up to get a good look at her. There were no tears, but the despondency in her hazel eyes was so absolute that Elizabeth wanted to scream aloud. Trying hard to quell the panic stirring within her, Elizabeth asked, "What is it? What's the matter?"

Instead of answering, Lucy asked plaintively, "Can we please go home?"

Unable to deny her, Elizabeth ushered her into the car, past the curious stares from the mothers that hadn't abated since she had begun picking up Lucy from school. It wasn't the time, though, to worry about being the subject of town gossip. She only wanted to get Lucy somewhere where she'd feel safe enough for that dreadful look to disappear.

It was their quietest ride home yet. Lucy seemed content to listen to the wind rushing past them through the open-air vehicle while Elizabeth was nearly paralyzed with indecision as she drove: Should she call Will, have him meet them at the house? Should she sit Lucy down to talk? Should she just ignore it? What if it was serious? A teacher or classmate hurting her? Maybe she should just whip the car around and start interrogating anyone left on the school grounds who might have seen…

Yes, because that's not the behavior of an insane person, is it? Elizabeth gritted her teeth in frustration. How the fuck does Will do this? How does he just know what the right thing to do to help her?

There were still no words between them when they arrived back at the house and Elizabeth felt her heart cracking watching Lucy walk up the porch steps with her head down, heading straight for her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. It was maddening; to go from such a high no more than hour ago of hearing the baby's heartbeat to now, powerless to help such an innocent child shoulder whatever was troubling her mind. She had an almost insurmountable urge to rip her shoes off and fling them in a fit or stomp across the floorboard screeching to find some outlet for her crushing sense of inadequacy.

Who would that help, though? Not her and most certainly not Lucy. Forging ahead was her only course of action, except she had no idea how to. Her steps timid, she made her way she went to Lucy's door to knock when something caught her eye and she stopped.

Anamaria was truly a gifted photographer. Elizabeth had seen enough evidence of that over her time with the woman, her work decorating both Will's house and hers, in addition to various spots of the walls at Dulzura. The photo she was staring at now had long been her favorite since the day she had arrived. Like so many around the house, it was of Will and Lucy together. By the looks of it, Lucy was only a few months old. They were both asleep on a sofa somewhere, Lucy on her stomach against Will's chest, a touch of a smile ghosting his scruffy face. It was easy to understand why she loved it so much: Lucy was a breathtakingly gorgeous baby and the sight of Will – nurturing and serene – sent a stronger spike of desire through her faster than any of Elizabeth's shirtless imaginings of him ever could.

Yet it wasn't until this very moment that it struck why that one picture captured her more than the others. Somewhere across the ocean, in Father's study on his desk at the country house, there was a picture remarkably to the one she was looking at now, only the people inside the frame where herself and her mother. Father always said her mother had been happiest holding her and that's what he wanted to see every day, his late wife happy.

A rush of shame washed over her as she realized how little she had thought of her mother lately, outside of those first few harrowing days of her pregnancy. The medallion she always wore felt heavier now. What would her late mother have thought of all this, the pregnancy and the current living situation Elizabeth had chosen? Would she be like Father, difficult and ignorant, or would she have adopted a more diplomatic approach? What would she have said when she heard the news? What would she do if she had…?

Inspiration hit like a bolt of lightning. What would Mum have done now? That one was easy.

"Lucy?" Elizabeth asked softly as she knocked. "I could use your help in the kitchen."

There was a long pause. Elizabeth waited, holding the chain of her necklace loosely, until she heard, "With what?"

"I feel like making some biscuits. Would you like to help me?"

Another pause, this one shorter. "What kind of biscuits?"

Elizabeth smiled in relief. "I'm not really sure. Maybe…Maybe we could come up with a new flavor together. Would you like that?"

Bit by bit, the door opened until Lucy emerged, holding her bear to her. "Can Felix help too?"

"Hmm…" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Alright. But if he causes any trouble, I'm making him drink a broccoli and tuna fish milkshake."

Lucy scrunched her nose, smiling tentatively and cuddling into Elizabeth's side. "With clotted cream on top?"

"Two heaping spoonful's," Elizabeth promised, leading them into the kitchen, her hold on Lucy's shoulder never wavering.

"You're late," Jack told Will needlessly as Will burst into the hotel lobby, still trying to put on his one blazer.

"You're an unhelpful prick," Will threw out. For once, his oldest friend was dressed fittingly for the environment and it threw Will off even more than he already was. He followed Jack into the dining room of Panas, the Strathwood's only restaurant. The opposite of Tortuga in every way, it was immaculate and chic, perfect for the patrons of the hotel. Will remembered clearly the money rolls carried by most of the men who dined here, having waited on them in his youth, all the while knowing he'd have to work at least a month to afford a meal here on his own. He never felt like he had belonged in here, even back then, but now he felt it all the more as he prepared to meet with a man who Will knew for certain had a money roll that would probably put all others to shame.

With Jack steering him through the cavernous room, it was easy to spot the enigmatic DeMarcus already nestled into a private booth in the back. Middle-aged with black and grey hair that curled slightly over his forehead, he looked more appropriate for a leisurely sail on one of Jack's boats with no jacket and the first few buttons on his shirt left opened then he did sitting in a four-star restaurant. Will immediately tensed up, seeing up close the coolness Jack had warned him of, and understood at once that this was what DeMarcus wanted: total control of the situation and the environment, as a man of his stature and reputation had whenever he wanted it.

They arrived before Will had a chance to get his nerves under control. "Hank DeMarcus, William Turner," Jack said in introduction. The other man didn't rise when Will shook his hand and they all sat down, something Will was grateful for as his legs were about to give out.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Will managed to say, keeping a grip atop the portfolio he had worked with Jack over the last couple of weeks to put together. Inside was his (fairly scant) resume in addition to photos of restoration projects Will had worked on over the years, some with Jack for leisure and some from years ago when he had been a teenager, eager for nothing more than to spend his days bringing ships back to life and preserving a history he had always secretly longed to be a part of.

But that was a lifetime ago, when it was all just for sport. Before Lucy. Before Elizabeth. Before the heartbeat he had heard today for the first time that still pounded in his ears over the sound of his own.

Now it was a game he had to win.

DeMarcus ran his stoic dark eyes over Will's form, reading every inch of him and Will fought to keep his eyes level with the man. "Glad you could finally find time in your busy schedule for me, Mr. Turner," he finally said passively, his accent surprisingly familiar: Australian, exactly like Rebecca's had been.

"Couldn't be helped. He's a workin' stiff and a slave to the whims of bills and repairs that care not for such lucrative opportunities as the one we're here to discuss," Jack said without missing a beat. He turned to look for a waiter. "Perhaps we should partake in-"

"Actually, Jack, why don't you leave me and Mr. Turner here to discuss this lucrative opportunity amongst ourselves?" Will forced himself to keep his breathing even as the man opposite him leaned back into the booth, taking a sip of brandy. "In my experience, two people alone together for an hour can get more accomplished than the wholes of most governments can in a year."

To his credit, Jack attempted to dissuade his associate. "Frankly, Hank, I was hopin' to enjoy some of the delicious-"

"If he needs you by his side for interference, I'll end this little meeting right here and now. I've got much better things to do with a wife who has much more appealing parts than either of you gentlemen." Eyebrow raised in challenge, he regarded Will once more. "Well, Mr. Turner? Do you need Jack here to hold your hand?"

At the mention of hand holding, Will flashed back to earlier at Corrine's and of Elizabeth's soft hand in his as she gazed adoringly at their child, speaking words of love to the baby that couldn't hear them yet. The memory of it, of how perfect that one moment had been, filled him with a poise he hadn't imagined he'd be able to feel in the presence of such a wealthy man. Even if she didn't know he was here right now, she needed him to land this job.

He wouldn't fail her.

"Thanks for setting this up, Jack," Will told his friend. "I'll ring you later, let you know how it went."

"You sure, mate?"

"Yeah." He met the gaze of his potential benefactor head-on. "I've got this."

With a quick nod to the pair, Jack took his leave, leaving the other two men engaged in a standoff. Whoever blinked first was the loser and there wasn't anything that would make Will look away.

"Strange fellow, that Sparrow is," Hank said after a moment, signaling the waiter for another drink. "What would you like?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. Thank you, though, Mr. DeMarcus."

"It's just Hank. If I had had a daddy, he would have been Mr. DeMarcus." The second brandy was promptly delivered and Hank swirled it in the glass. "Jack tells me that's how you ended up in his life, searching for your father after your mother died."

Will's skin prickled uncomfortably at a stranger knowing such things about him. "Uh, yeah. I suppose." Trying to redirect the conversation, he opened his portfolio. "So, I've put together some of my work to give you an idea of-"

"Mr. Turner, why do you think we're in this establishment right now as opposed to a shipyard or even the waterfront?"

That gave Will pause. He had been wondering that since they had set this meeting three days ago. "I'm not sure. You tell me."

"I've come to this island because I've made my fortune – and the fortunes of many, many others – and it is now time for me to put my own pleasures ahead of my businesses."

Will couldn't help his small snort. "Due respect, I imagine a man as wealthy as Jack claims you are wouldn't have any trouble indulging in any pleasure he wanted."

Hank took a long sip without replying, his eyes betraying nothing. Will started dying a little inside.

You are a fucking moron! Will berated himself, his palms beginning to sweat. You blew this thing inside of five minutes! What were you thinking?!

Finally, a small smirk emerged at the corner of Hank's mouth and Will's heart attack was averted for the time being. "Perhaps you're right. But none of my businesses themselves brought me any pleasure. I went from working in a mailroom and scratching my way through night school to trading stocks, then on to investing in technology, real estate, pharmaceuticals, weapons development…basically, I've helped to both save and destroy the world a few thousand times over. Now that I've grown bored with capitalism, I've come to the Caribbean. You have a lot of something I love dearly down here."

"Ships," Will answered for him.

"Aye, ships." Hank smiled fully at him for the first time, relaxing Will as they met on a common ground. "Ever since I was boy, visiting the penthouses my mother cleaned nearly every day of her adult life, I'd stare out into Sydney Harbor and see the most magnificent crafts passing through, all the while knowing I both belonged on them and couldn't have them. Even as young as four, I knew what my class was. I contented myself with model ships and nautical history, biding my time until I could put myself above any station I wanted to, which I have. I've owned or leased every conceivable luxury sailing vessel money can buy, but none of those love affairs ever lasted. Do you know why? Because they were boats, not ships."

"What's the difference?"

"A boat takes you someplace. There's amenities, if you're lucky, and some degree of comfort. A ship, though, Mr. Turner, a ship is something glorious," Hank said, the timbre of his voice displaying the reverence he placed on the subject. "A ship is something men built with their hands decades or hundreds of years ago and put their blood, sweat, and heartache into. A ship traveled the world when the borders were still undefined and mysterious. A ship carries with her the hopes and dreams of every passenger or crewmen that sailed on her. A ship is-"

"Freedom," Will finished, his tone matching Hank's. "It's freedom, pure and simple, untamed and messy when it strikes the fancy of the sea. You can go where you want, be whomever you to be, with no rules or restrictions tying you down. It's a dream for some people."

"Is it yours?"

Will didn't have to think about his reply. "It was. Until I had better dreams."

Hank nodded slowly and Will hoped with everything he had that the shift he could see in Hank's eyes was one of respect. "I want to establish a company in Arbor Bay that will restore ships," he explained. "Not just the more modern ones for the local businesses but larger projects as well; film and television use, museums, private ownership, things like that. I want it to be the premier operation in the Caribbean."

"Yes, that's what Jack was saying. I've brought with me-"

"You can put that fancy portfolio you've brought with you away. We won't be looking at it." Will frowned. Was all this a gambit or a prank to play on Jack over a long-forgotten offense? "Jack Sparrow, from my experience, is a man who doesn't take anything seriously except for making money. He's never pointed me in the wrong direction when I've asked his advice on matters of business. When I brought up this venture with him, yours was the first and only name that came up."

Will flustered slightly. "Well, he's always been supportive. In his way, he's been more my family then-"

"Which is exactly why you weren't sent a contract to sign already and why we're meeting now face-to-face for a chat. I don't mix business with personal. Not since the secretary who became my second most expensive divorce. Jack was the first local I went to about this idea, but he wasn't the only one. Others I spoke to had concerns about you when asked; some from past jobs while others more just had…stories."

Stories. Right then. Polite way of saying that he knows I was a bit of stoner who liked to pick fights when someone got in my face.

Will wasn't particularly comfortable with his past. He had been an angry teenager a lot of the time, thanks to lingering wounds from a traumatic childhood and an unhealthy lack of supervision from Jack. When he could focus on school or work on the docks, he was the most agreeable chap you could come across. If he was provoked, on the other hand, by a stray comment from someone who knew Bootstrap or in a strop over another three-hour fight with Rebecca, all bets were off. There had been more than a few brawls that had left him bloodied and in police custody and one horrible incident when he had to stand before a judge, praying for mercy instead of a jail sentence just after his seventeenth birthday. He had gotten himself right by the time Lucy was born, unwilling to let his daughter ever know one second of fear from him, but the memories of many in this town were hard to erase. It was one of the reasons why before Hank DeMarcus had wandered his way that Will had never been able to land a local job with any reputable repair shops or dock crews or gotten a chance at a small restoration project before now.

"You want to make sure I'm trustworthy with something you're investing time and money in."

"Partly," Hank capitulated. "Truthfully, this business won't make me any richer than I already am. It'll be fun for me, a point of pride I can brag about to other masters of the universe, but odds are after a couple of years I'll get bored and want to move on to the next thing. It's what I do, even with things and people I love. When that happens, I'll probably sell it to the person I've hired to run it, at a fair market value of course. For someone in these parts, that would be lifechanging. I'd like to make sure you're worthy of such a chance, Mr. Turner."

A test of character then. Why didn't he just ask for the moon to be lassoed or the ocean to be parted, something far simpler and easier for him to pass?

Best get this over with then. You've got a healthy amount of self-flogging to do before you head home.

"You can call me Will," he said, trying to hide his unease. "What would you like to know?"

"Well then, Will, where does the honorable Mr. Brown think you are right now?"

"If he's capable of thinking at all at this hour, he probably believes I'm sitting at home, lamenting that swing I tried to take at him a year ago."

"So, you don't regret almost knocking an old man, your boss, on his ass?"

"Not after what he called my actual boss, I don't."

"Which was?"

"A term for African-Americans that should have been forgotten long ago. Samuel, the man who runs the business that supports Brown's drinking habits, let me take a half-day. My first in almost three years," he added. "I'm not afraid of hard work."

Hank nodded. "I'd think you wouldn't have a choice, becoming a father at such a young age."

"I'd agree."

"Some might say you were too young."

"Tell me who those people are that think my daughter shouldn't have been born. There's words I'd like to have with them."

"Not what I meant by it. Most men – myself included – would have run very far away at a very fast speed when presented with that situation. Why didn't you?"

Will shrugged and gave the only answer he could. "Because she was mine. Like you said, I grew up searching for a father I never ended up finding. She wasn't going to go through that. The second I knew about her, about Lucy, there wasn't anywhere else or anyone else I could be. It's not something you can really understand unless you have children of your own."

"Probably a good thing I don't then. But seriously, at only nineteen, you never had any doubts? You never thought about giving her up?"

"No," Will said at once, years of careful practice and internal denial making the lie seem real. So real that the memory of that awful day sitting in the lawyer's office in Kingston, Lucy asleep in her carrier beside him, almost seemed like a hazy dream at this point.

Almost.

He gave himself a strong mental shake to bring him back to the here and now when Hank started speaking again. "What about the mother? She's not in the picture?"

"Never really was, even when she was pregnant."

"Jack said you lived together for a time, to keep her off heroin." Will nodded the affirmative. "Did you offer to marry her, do right by the situation?" Again, he nodded, although it was slower this time. The proposal hadn't been born of any feelings of love for Rebecca. He wasn't proud of it. "From what Jack said, probably for the best she turned you down. He said your daughter is a wonderful little girl, all thanks to you."

"There's always been help," Will deflected. He never would have made it entirely on his own. "Jack and Anamaria where with me from the beginning, along with other friends that always pitched in to sit with her while I worked or helped out at her birthday and holidays." He smiled a little. "She's…She's brought the best out of a lot of people that others wouldn't have given a chance to. She's the greatest thing that ever happened to my life."

Hank gave him his own smile. "Tied for that privilege now, wouldn't you say?" At Will's questioning look, he elaborated, "You've got another one coming, correct?"

"Jack was thorough," Will quipped. "Yes, that's true. I, uh, saw the first scan today actually right before I came here. And before you ask, yes the baby's mother is staying with me and my daughter at our home."

"You're a fan of sequels then, I take it?"

Will felt himself begin to glower at the insinuation. "Elizabeth's different. The baby doesn't need protecting from her. She's a good person and she'll be a fantastic mother. She's the one that turned her life upside down to come here, all for-"

"You?" Hank asked knowingly.

"For my help with the baby, yes," Will answered diplomatically, his neck heating underneath his collar. It heated even further when he remembered how upset she been with him when they left the appointment earlier.

He hadn't meant to lie to her. Frankly, he still wasn't convinced that he had. All the phone calls and little meetings with Jack had been about landing this job that Hank was dangling in front of him. He only hadn't wanted to burden her with worries over his own employment when she was still adjusting to a new job, but she had noticed nonetheless. He made her believe he was pulling away when he was trying to attain more for her and his children. In trying to better their situation, he had disappointed her.

He had failed her.

She gave up everything for you and you can't even bother to have a bloody conversation with her about a future that affects her as much it does you?

Seems the self-flogging would begin before the car ride home.

"Will?" He hadn't realized how far away he was until Hank addressed him. "Have a fun trip?"

"Sorry," he said, running a hand across his face. "I'm sorry, truly. It's, uh, been a long day."

"No worries." He drained the last of his glass and pulled out a money roll that, just as Will suspected, was enormous. He'd have to work three months straight to hold that much cash in his hand. Hank laid several bills on the table and stood. "We're all done here."

Will joined him, his knees shaking ever so slightly. "We are?"

"Yup. Nothing left to discuss."

"Right," Will said, not even trying to hold back his sigh as he reached to shake hands with Hank. It wouldn't do Jack any good for him to lash out screaming about the man's invasive interviews practices. Best to part on good terms.

Hank took his hand, shaking it and his head in amusement. "Give Samuel your two weeks' notice when you get a chance to. I'll start getting the shipyard I bought ready for you. We'll go over financials tomorrow with Jack. He'll get you a fair deal from me."

"W-What?" Will blinked, trying to force himself to wake up, straining to hear his alarm clock over the white noise speeding through his brain. "Are you…Did I…What just happened?"

"You're a decent, hardworking man who doesn't tolerate bullshit, you're devoted with all your heart to your family, and Sparrow vouches for you." Hank clapped him on the shoulder in farewell. Stunned with every fiber of his being, he couldn't respond. "We're going to do good things together, Will."

So great was his shock and awe over conquering such an insurmountable goal that it could have been minutes or hours or even days that he stood there in the middle of Panas, unmoving and staring into nothing, Hank's words turning over and over in his mind. With nearly every odd stacked against him, the job was his. In the very near future, he'd find himself in a warehouse, studying the ship that his hands and his mind would help bring back to life. It was every boyhood dream come to life.

So why the hell does it feel so empty?

Will felt Elizabeth's eyes on him as surely as if she were standing in front of him, filled with the same twinges of sadness from earlier, and he knew then where he needed to be.

He wasn't sure how, but he eventually found himself in his car heading back to the house, the Friday evening traffic downtown slowing the trip enough that the sun was starting to set as he pulled in next to Elizabeth's jeep. The quiet that greeted him inside only unsettled him further until he glanced out to the deck and saw Elizabeth sitting at the foot of the stairs, legs splayed out in front of her as she watched Lucy playing in the sand, affording himself the luxury of viewing Elizabeth unobserved.

It still staggered him sometimes, even after living together all these weeks, how lovely she was without even trying. Sitting there, with the wind quietly blowing her loose hair and the last rays of orange lighting her skin just so, she put women who graced billboards to shame. Usually, pangs of lust followed those musings. However today, after seeing their baby growing and moving, he could only think of their daughter; of what it would be like to see Elizabeth holding a miniature version of herself in her arms. He wasn't certain, but he had the distinct notion that such a sight would bring him right to his knees.

Spending my days catering to the needs of three beautiful ladies…I suppose there are worse fates in the world.

Almost as if she heard him, Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, catching him staring. After a beat, she gifted him with a small smile. Relief spread through him as he joined her on the steps, peeling off his jacket as he did.

"What is she building?" he asked, nodding towards Lucy and the three misshapen blobs of sand she was carefully scratching something onto with a piece of driftwood.

"She claims they're Christmas trees. I doubted her and was banished here." In the silence that followed, he tried to figure out how to maneuver the conversation to an apology when she said, "Congratulations on the job."

He blinked at her seemingly psychic abilities. "How did you-?"

"Jack came by, told us all about it when we were eating dinner. Your new boss called him and he wanted to take you out for drinks to celebrate. When you weren't here, he went out to celebrate by himself."

"Ah."

"I have no idea how you survived being raised by that man."

"We sort of raised each other, I guess. Do you know he had never even owned a set of sheets until I moved in?"

Elizabeth shivered in disgust even as she laughed. "God, I can just picture that poor mattress."

"Believe me, you don't want to," he replied, grinning. There was quiet again as their laughter faded until he finally found the courage to speak again. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about any of it. I just didn't…"

"What?"

It took him awhile to respond. "I'm used to doing it all on my own. It's only been me and Lucy for so long that I got used to making all the decisions. This job is going to mean different hours, probably some travel, and with you just starting at the café, I didn't want to add anything else on you that you might not have been-"

"I'm not Rebecca, Will." Her tone was soft, almost inaudible, but her words hit him like a whiplash. Elizabeth was Rebecca's polar opposite in every way. Anyone could see that, most especially him. "I don't need to be handled or guarded or watched over. You can't keep things from me because you think I'm going to run away scared. You don't need to protect me from anything." Her eyes shifted back to Lucy, playing obliviously with her imaginary trees. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know that," he whispered to her, hoping for the second time that day that his lie was believable.

He needed her to believe him. He needed her and their baby to stay with him.

He just couldn't understand why she would.

Because why should she stay? For sure, all her actions and words had been spot-on until now, but in almost every conversation he could feel the guillotine hovering over his neck. She'd see soon enough that he wasn't capable of giving her the life she wanted, the one she deserved. True, he could win all the games he wanted with the likes of the Hank DeMarcus' of the world, but he couldn't change who he was deep down: nothing more than the son of a poor seamstress and an alcoholic sailor that had happened to stumble his way to a wonderful little girl and to her, Elizabeth. If he was any kind of man, he would have let her go a long time ago; he would have never tried to keep her to begin with. Something inside his soul clung to her, though, refusing to let her and their baby go back to the world to which he knew they both belonged, refusing for the first time in almost six years to be selfless.

"She had a bad day at school today," Elizabeth told him eventually as he sat next to her in contemplation.

His pity went to the back of the line at that. "What happened?"

Bringing her knees up to her chest, she sighed. "I'm not sure. She wouldn't tell me, but she looked just…wrecked when I got her."

"Before you got here, she was having trouble with a girl in her class. Remember the pier, when I got that phone call? It was about that. The kid was saying awful things to her and Lucy tried to wallop her on the playground."

"What was the girl saying?"

"No idea. Lucy wouldn't tell me and you can't…you can't force it out of her. She'll just clam up even more. There haven't been any more incidents so I hoped she had gotten past it. I'll talk to her teacher Monday when I drop her."

"Good. You should have seen her little face, it was awful. I wanted to go back and burn the bloody building down."

"Because seeing you be arrested for arson would make everything all better."

She elbowed him in his side. "It isn't funny. I had no idea what to do for her. I thought if we baked some biscuits together it would help, get her to relax a little maybe and open up to me. All she would talk about is the festival coming up. I didn't help her at all."

"Of course, you did."

"I told you, she didn't tell me anything important: not a name, not what someone called her or told her. Nothing."

"Maybe, but look at her now." He waited until she was examining Lucy closely before he continued, "She's not crying. She's not buried under a blanket alone with a book, ignoring you. She's making abstract Christmas trees and smiling. You didn't solve it for her, but you helped her forget about whatever's bothering her for long enough that she remembered it's more fun to be herself than worry about what another kid might say to her. Trust me, Elizabeth, that's not nothing."

His little pep talk seemed to work as she nodded, blushing a bit at his praise before she frowned again. "I'm never going to be as good at this as you are, parenting that is."

"Well, not that I think I'm all that great at it most of the time, but I've got a bit of head start on you. In time, you'll catch up and until then, I'll be happy to give you some spoilers."

"Ok." She looked on him expectantly when he didn't answer right away. "Well, go on then. Enlighten me."

"Um…" He thought over the past six years, of what he wished someone could have told him at the beginning. "Alright, here's the big one, the hardest one: the world isn't going to bend for them. Not matter how precious they are to you, there's always going to be obstacles you can't break past and most of the time, the biggest obstacles are them." He nodded towards Lucy. "She could have made it easy on herself and you today. She could have laid it all bare for you or me to fix, but…she's fighting to get it done on her own terms. She's determined to keep it all inside, no matter what it does to herself or anyone else."

Elizabeth's eyebrow arched at that remark. "I wonder where on Earth she gets that from?"

He was saved from responding as the object of their conversation ran up and climbed right into his lap for a snuggle. "Hi Daddy," Lucy told him, tucking her head underneath his chin. "Guess what Elizabeth and I did?"

"What?"

"We made a new kind of biscuit: oatmeal, peanut butter, and raspberry jelly. They're yummy!"

"Did you leave me any?"

"Some. You have to eat your dinner first, though. That's the rule."

Granules of wet sand were getting all over the slacks he had carefully pressed and worn for his interview, and would soon make a mess of the washing machine. He pulled Lucy in tighter, kissing her temple. "Deal."

"Hey." Elizabeth lightly tickled Lucy's bare foot to get her attention. "What did we say we were going to tell your father when he got home?"

"Oh! I forgot! Congratulations Daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, getting sand down the back of his shirt and all he could do was laugh.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"Captain Jack said you're going to make broken ships all better. Can I help?"

"Maybe." He pulled back to catch her eye. "Do you want to talk about what happened at school?"

She shook her head instantly, as he had, unfortunately, known she would do. "Nothing bad happened. I just forget to remember to ignore stupid things some kids said to me."

"Hey, 'stupid' isn't a good word to use."

"Captain Jack says it all the time."

"Which is all the reason you need not to use it," Elizabeth told her with a smile.

"Ok, I won't," Lucy told her, moving in even closer to Will, making him filthier and not caring at all in her desire to be held by him as Elizabeth looked on at both them with tenderness. Without warning, Will couldn't keep the words inside any longer.

"Say Lucy? Do you want to know a secret?"

"About what?"

"About why Elizabeth came to live here in Arbor Bay." His eyes met her startled ones, begging for permission to continue. They hadn't discussed how to tell Lucy about the pregnancy, only that they would when Elizabeth was safely in her second trimester. There's was something about this sunset they were sharing that told Will this was that time. Slowly, she nodded and he continued, "She came here because she's having a baby."

Lucy's head shot up at that, her expression pure indignation. "No, you're not! You're not fat!"

Elizabeth positively guffawed at that while Will closed his eyes, groaning. "Lucy, that's…that's not something you blurt out like that."

"But it's true! She isn't! How does her belly have room for a baby if it isn't big?"

"Because," Elizabeth said as she regained control of herself, "the baby is very small right now." Scooting closer, she took Lucy's hand and traced her palm. "It's only about that big, but it's growing every single day until it's ready to come out." Lucy still didn't look convinced, glancing between her hand and Elizabeth's stomach. Reaching into her pocket, Elizabeth pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lucy. "I had that picture taken before I got you from school. That's inside my belly and that," she pointed to the rounded center, "is the baby. Can you see it's little hand near its face?"

"Uh-huh," Lucy replied after a time, biting her lip in concentration. "But I don't understand. Why did you have to move here to have a baby? Don't people have babies in London?"

As nervous as he had been during his interview, it didn't hold a candle to how he felt now. "They do. You see, Elizabeth came here to have her baby because…it's mine too. I'm it's dad, like I'm your dad." He joined her in holding the picture. "That means that this is your brother or sister."

"It is?" Will nodded and gave her time to process this information. She pulled the picture up almost to her nose, squinting as if to make sense or to see into the future. "What's its name?"

"Um…we don't know yet. We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."

"I think it should be a boy," she declared, handing the picture back to a bemused Elizabeth.

"Why is that?"

"Then I don't have to share my toys," she said matter-of-factly, earning another loud laugh from Elizabeth.

"Well," he shifted her in his lap until she was facing him, "what if it's another little girl who is just as wonderful as you are? I don't think it would be that terrible, do you?"

"No," she admitted quietly, playing with the button on his collar, "I guess not…"

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Would you…you wouldn't love her more than me, would you?"

Cupping her face in between his hands, he waited until he had her full attention before he said, "I have loved you from the moment I knew you were coming and it's the exact same for this baby too. Neither of you will ever be loved more or less than the other. Things are going to change when the baby comes, no doubt, but I promise what won't is that you will always be right in the center of my heart. Got it?"

"Got it." Smiling, she kissed his cheek as she clambered off him to go inside.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling Felix! We need to find good hiding spots for my toys because I'm really not sharing!"

He was ready to haul off and lecture her about good manners when he caught Elizabeth staring reflectively out at the water again. "What is it? Did I…Should I not have told her just yet? I didn't mean to-"

"You were so wrong before."

"W-When?"

She scoffed, shaking her head as she said, "You are an amazing parent and there is no way that I am ever catching up to you, William Turner."

Whatever arguments he was about to make vanished as she leaned over and kissed his cheek on the same spot his daughter just had a moment ago. When he finally opened his eyes, she was already walking into the house, leaving him alone, his hand against his chest trying to keep the current of heat her touch ignited from spreading through the rest of his body.

Did she feel it too?

It couldn't all be just him, could it?