Jesse McCree, second mate aboard the Splitstream, slowly made his way through the crowded port, his son in one arm holding both his arm around his father's neck to secure himself, while Jesse's opposite arm was wrapped around Leslie's body, pulling her against him as they made their trail through the traffic, ensuring the two wouldn't be separated, his daughter being held up in his wife's arms, a look of wonderment on both children's face at the sights and sounds surrounding them.
Nathan's grip tightened in subconscious tension as the mass of bodies thickened, forcing his father's body to sway in between clumps of people as he pulled Leslie in front of them, to keep her in sight, Jesse's voice coming out at steady as always, "It should get better as we get to the docks, don't worry. It tends to be less crowded when it threatens people with falling into the bay."
"It already looks like an ocean of people!" Heather observed, with her brother nodding furiously in agreement.
Jesse smiled lightly, "I suppose it would, yeah. Get a good look; you two will have to help your mother get out of here. Think you two can do that?"
"Yeah!" "Yep!" they cried in unison, sending Leslie's Head back over her shoulder to watch her husband with a playful eye.
"Leaving me in the care of our two children again?" she teased.
He nodded with a knowing smirk, "Hey, I'd bet quite a bit on the two of them. Look at how strong Nathan is; I can feel it around my neck."
Heather spoke up quickly, "Yesterday, he lifted a milk crate right above his head!"
"See?" Jesse assured with a smile, quickly lifting his arm to give his son a playful jolt, "You're probably in better hands than anything I could provide. Anything you can think of that you need before a go?"
Leslie thought to herself for a moment before shaking her head, "Nope. We've got tuition ready for school, plenty in the way of food stores, everything necessary for emergencies."
Jesse smiled, "I wouldn't have this life if not for you managing it all so masterfully."
She cocked a devilish grin, "What is it they say about greater women behind men?"
Her husband rolled his eyes with a light chuckle, "I'm sure you'll have me pleasantly enlightened when I return. I wouldn't want anything less, dear. We're not supposed to be for a couple months, so it won't be as long as-"
"Bay!" cried out Heather excitedly, pointing a tiny finger out toward the circle of water surrounded by the crescent land, "There's the bay!"
The young child began fidgeting in Leslie's arms, the mother trying her best to keep her child aloft as she spoke up, "Heather, calm down! I'll let you down when we get down to the port."
"Eh, let 'em go," Jesse shrugged, "I've got my eyes on 'em. Besides, I have some stuff to go over with you."
"Eww!" "Gross!" came from the two children in disgust.
Jesse smiled, turning to his son, "Now calm your self. I absolutely do not mean I'll be kissing your mother feverishly."
"Eww!" shouted Nathan, though with a giggle this time, as though merely displaying his reaction because of his parents' reaction.
Leslie sighed before bending down, letting Heather slide to her feet as Jesse emulated her, the two children excitedly running off toward the edge of the harbor, dropping onto a sandy embankment that allowed them entry into the waters of the bay, Nathan dropping into the salted water excitedly as Heather looked on, aghast.
Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets, turning to run his eyes along the line of ships in port, spotting the Splitstream as he spoke up, "Are you sure about this?"
"Jesse, your heart belongs out at sea," Leslie answered, slightly disheartened, a teasing smile managing its way across her face, "If not for the sins of the flesh, I doubt you'd have ever wandered into my loving arms to begin with. I don't care about superstition; look at you."
She spun her body so that she faced him, pressing herself closer so as to hide her hand as it reached up into his shirt, her fingers running slowly across the dips and ridges that made up his muscular stomach, her warm hand causing Jesse to tense at the gentle breeze seeming, now, to be biting him. As her hand rubbed against his skin, she was nearly rendered breathless, her mind wandering to any number of nights they had already shared, though she composed herself, running two lost eyes up to meet her husband's with a quiet voice.
"The only thing I need- Who's gonna keep me warm at night?"
Jesse grinned, "The kids. I know you all sleep together when I'm gone; there was that time Nathan kept having nightmares after having to reacquaint himself with sleeping alone"
His wife frowned, "Well, they kick."
"So do you."
Leslie broke a smirk, Jesse not removing his eyes from hers while his arms entangled themselves around her body, pulling her close, "More than anything, I miss that the most when I'm at sea, you know."
"Liar," she smirked, "Looks like I still have a part of you to tame yet."
"Were it a habit in need of breaking," Jesse assured sincerely, lowering his head in a pensive motion as he spoke softly, "I'd already voiced my concerns, but… What if this were my final trip out to sea?"
Leslie sighed defeatedly, her head falling to the side as she watched up toward her husband with saddened eyes, "Jesse, I already told you about these superstitions; you haven't a thing to-"
"I've been putting money aside," he interrupted, lifting his head just enough so his eyes peered through his scraggily vines of dark hair.
His wife's eyes trembled, "…how much?"
"Enough," he answered, "Enough for me to take you three away and live where I want my heart to truly reside. With the sea as my mistress, it's given me nothing but a torn back, cracked skin, and troubled thoughts. With you, I am eased, and I've been given two children. Not much of a competition."
Leslie's eyes fell as she sighed longingly, "I don't- Jesse, this is-"
"Am I so unwanted?" he asked with a teasing air, though he only received a disarming stare in reply.
Her lips tugged unsurely, "It's not that, I- Look, I know you think you can just walk away from that life, but I know you. I speak of it in humorous tones, but I know how much of your heart lies with the ocean. It frightens me to think of us stealing you away and you waking up one day only to decide you're tired of such a life."
Mulling over her words, Jesse bit his lip, knowing full well that this woman had, indeed, come to know him quite a margin better than he did himself. Still, her words caused his heart to ache; he hadn't a single inkling of daring to ever tire of this life he lead at home.
"Okay, how about this," Leslie suggested, "Go enjoy yourself. When you come back, we won't do anything crazy, alright? The kids are starting school, anyway. We'll sit on your earnings and do a trial run of sorts, with the ocean being right down the hill, alright?"
A heavy breath left Jesse's nose as he breathed deep in acquiescence, nodding his head, "Okay. You've not once steered me wrong, my love."
A light sort of chuckle left Leslie as she pressed her body closer into his, resting her cheek against his chest, "You know… When I signed them up for schooling, I had to write my name. Leslie McCree. Kind of nice, I thought."
"I thought you hated it," he replied, his chest rumbling against her as he gave a muted laugh.
"Only the whole 'misses' part. I like seeing your name after mine. Reminds me of how you took my heart, so I had to take your name," she spoke in thoughtful reverence, sighing sweetly at the thought, "Just don't do anything too crazy out there."
Jesse rolled his eyes as a he replied lightly, "You're the only one who says that. Everybody else tells their sailors to come back alive or whatever."
"Well, I know you won't do that; you'll find some way to come back just to tease me about how I should have mentioned that," Leslie teased, "Now come on, it's almost time for you to shove off. Let's go let the kids know and we'll all see you off."
Her husband nodded, taking her hand into his own as the two of them walked down toward the embankment where the two children were still playing some game of tag with the ocean tide rhythmically rolling up the tiny beach. Jesse made sure to pull her close enough to him that her shoulder came up against his arm, leaving her with a gentle giggle like a high school girl being shown off.
"Alright kids, time for me to head on out," Jesse explained, leading to an immediate chorus off 'aww's from the two as they tarried back up the beach as though trying to buy time, though Jesse managed a quick hop down onto the sandy shore, swooping down and reaching around each child's waists, swinging them upside down into the air, leaving them with a bevy of laughter and joyous shrieks as the ground flew away from them.
He mused, turning back to his wife, "That does it; I'm just gonna have to take them with me."
"You wish," she replied with a grin.
Heather was quick to spout out, "But mom! We can fit in a suitcase! We'll be good!"
"Yeah!" shouted Nathan in chorus.
Leslie eyed her husband with a droll expression, hoping he'd noticed what he had started, though as he returned the two to the ground, groaning as he did so, Jesse began, "No, no; mother's right."
He pointed up to his forehead, "You two need to be strong up here before you can be strong out there, right? So get your schoolwork done once you start all that. I never had the chance to learn all that stuff, so make sure you two make the most of it, alright?"
"But daddy!" "Dad!" came the replies.
Jesse frowned weakly, "Now I don't want to hear that, you two. Be good for your mother, alright? and if you're good, I might just bring you back something neat, okay?"
"Like a panda?!" Heather exclaimed in awe.
"No no! A chest full of treasure!" came Nathan's request.
Jesse stroked his chin, "Well, if you're good, who know what I'll bring."
He turned up to his wife with a critiquing glance, "That goes for you, too."
"Pfft, what am I gonna do?" she scoffed with a wry sort of smirk as Jesse stepped back up onto the dock, taking her into a hug before reaching his head back around to offer her a kiss, accompanied by another ritualized set of 'eww's from the kids.
"Just don't do anything too crazy back here," he repeated with a grin, forcing a playful punch from Leslie as her eyes rolled.
"Oh hush," was all she could manage, lost in the man she had married, still very much a teasing boy at heart, that attitude of his keeping the both of them younger than their bodies had become.
Jesse made sure to bend down and hug each of his children, kissing them both upon their foreheads, before doing the same thing for the woman he loved, readying his backpack over his shoulder as he stepped away backward, keeping them in his sight until the crowd between them grew too dense for them to be seen. He then turned round, making his way through the mass of bodies when, suddenly, he heard a piercingly loud pair of voices break the air, albeit faintly by this distance.
"Bye dad!" "Bye dad!"
He could only smirk, catching a curious glance from some old timer on the pier, Jesse nodding proudly to him as he rounded his way onto the lengthy dock, making careful steps toward where the Splitstream sat floating atop the waters, his brow furrowing as he came closer to the vessel. He reached into his backpack for a tiny pocket watch, finding it strange for Captain Morrison to be loading cargo this close to their departure. He increased his gait, now strolling along the dock until he could examine the crate being slid up the ramp up onto the ship, his confusion only increasing as he turned toward his Captain, who was supervising the effort from up aboard the Splitstream, instructing the dockhands pushing the crate aboard.
"Jack!" Jesse shouted, the Captain's head turning toward him with a start.
Morrison waved him aboard, Jesse making the effort to speed up the ramp, crouching low and helping the men with a final budge until the crate hit the deck, leaving it for the crew to take over. Captain Morrison appreciatively handed the dockhands a handful of coins each before shaking each of their hands and sending them off with thanks, turning to Jesse with a droll look on his face.
"I thought only stupid men go to those auctions," Jesse noted with a cheeky grin.
Jack's head rolled along his shoulders in exasperation, "There's a first time for everything, McCree. This won't be the only example of that, I assure you."
"Oh?" Jesse wondered, "Did Lena manage to sit still for a full minute? or did Lucio finally make up a decent chili? Don't tell me you're engaged, Jack."
The Captain frowned, "No… You remember my daughter, Angela, right?"
Jesse thought for a moment before offering a nod, "Yeah; it must'a been back when she was still an infant when I came by. She ain't aboard, is she?"
Jack nodded, leaving Jesse with a surprised expression, his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his head, "Fuck. It's been that many years already?"
"Seems so," Jack agreed with a smirk, "You think you're old; think how I feel! She's been taking to everything as quickly as I could have expected, given her parents, but I'd like her to get really acquainted with you and your work. I don't think any of my crewmen would take much of any offense to me saying you're the best of any of us aboard."
Jesse frowned, "Now, I ain't the best, Jack. I'm just the one whose crazy enough to get some of that shit done."
"Still, without you having her spear fish off the stern side, I'd like her to learn a thing or two from you if at all possible," Jack sighed, reaching over to pat the crate, "Obviously, I'm doing a piss-poor job at being an exemplary sailor for her to learn from."
"Where's it going, anyway?"
"All it said was 'far away', which is where we're headed. Don't ask about the payment," Jack groaned, turning back onto the deck and making his way toward the wall that made up the entryway into the ship, pulling open a block of wood that slid along its frame to reveal a small hole in the woodwork, his mouth reaching over to bark aloud, "Jamison! Lucio! Report to the deck!"
He slid it closed once again, turning back to Jesse, who was already ascertaining how to move the giant crate, throwing his pack to the side and stretching his back with two deliberate twists at his waist, "Ready and willing, Captain."
Jack nodded in approval, though before he could reply, he was interrupted by the gradually increasing pitter-patter of feet up the stairwell, just managing to step out from the doorway as Angela excitedly leapt out onto the deck with an exuberant voice, "Is it here?! What all's- Oh, hello. Jesse?"
'Jesse McCree, Second Mate aboard the Splitstream, yes'm," the man introduced, bowing his head respectfully, "'n you're Angela Morrison, knee high to a pig's eye, at least last time I saw you."
Angela's face fell in utter lack of enthusiasm, her eyes slowly crawling toward her father as she muttered aloud in a droll tone, "You didn't tell me he was a dad."
"What?"
"That was totally something only a dad would ever say," she frowned, though as she returned to Jesse, she grinned as the second mate was chuckling under his breath, leaning an arm atop the crate as he eyed his captain.
"Guess that's why I picked it up from your old man," he teased with childish abandon.
Jack grumbled lowly as he threw a hand into the air, "Just- get that thing below deck, will ya, McCree..?"
"Aye aye, Jack.."
"Aye aye, dad!"
Captain Morrison's shoulders tensed before turning around slowly, staring the two down from over his shoulder, "That's 'father', to you. and 'captain' to you."
He knew he couldn't do much of anything to quell the laughter building up behind Angela's careful hand, though she politely did her best to remain quiet amidst her father's serious tone. She turned to help Jesse lean the crate near its side as Junkrat and Lucio scampered onto the deck, the four of them carrying the giant piece of cargo into the hull as Captain Morrison looked on with a sigh, this journey already proving to be far out of the routine he'd come to love about these trips.