"Let me tell you about the birds and the bees....and the thing called love."

– H. Newman

Elizabeth stood alone in her cabin, dressing herself for the day after enjoying a luxury she very rarely partook in anymore: sleeping in undisturbed till midmorning. The night before, Will had finally managed to convince her to take some time for herself, resting and relaxing at her leisure. Apparently, her husband had been right, for she awoke but a few minutes prior feeling blissfully rejuvenated, completely at ease, and ready and raring to start the day.

One by one slipping each leg into her pants and pulling them up over her hips, she experienced a trace of the now familiar quickening that she loved so. In the past eight days, she had felt the baby move two other times. Though it was infrequent, Elizabeth considered it a sort of motherly gift, the flutter of their unborn child that for these first few weeks she alone could feel. And, indeed, the newest little Turner was increasingly making its presence known, not only through its tiny movements but in its mother's belly, which was undeniably puffing outward now in a distinct, though diminutive, baby bump. It still could not be noticed while clothed in her loose fitting trousers and tunics but, nonetheless, it thrilled mother and father alike.

While things were advancing beautifully with their youngest child, the same could not be said for their first born. Elizabeth had thought herself quite clever in her arrangements for William, but all had not gone according to her plan. He had immediately balked at the suggestion of such dueling with Carmen, insisting he wanted no part in it. Thinking perhaps it was in fact more attention from her that William wished for, she made a point of spending plenty of time with him, even shortening his daily grammar lessons so they could all spend the afternoon together as a family. Yet it did not seem to help, and after a while, unless it was with his father, the child seemed not to wish to take up his sword at all, a behavior that was in stunning opposition to all he previously desired.

Still, Elizabeth soldiered on, determined to get to the root of what was bothering him. William insisted he was fine; there was nothing occupying his thoughts. But she knew her son too well and Will was inclined to agree with her. Something was definitely on the child's mind. Just exactly what remained the mystery. Nevertheless, persistent as she was, Elizabeth was determined to have William back playing his favorite game, certain that would help bring him out of this peculiar behavior, for whatever was troubling him seemed to be directly linked to swords. In every other aspect, he behaved perfectly normally.

Satisfied that she looked presentable, Elizabeth climbed the stairs to the main deck, finding her husband already in the process of attempting to coax their son into his sword game with Carmen. Walking over to the trio, she instantly saw the look of consternation on William's face and her own dissolved into a concerned frown.

William, however, was too embroiled in his dilemma to notice his mother's attendance or her softened expression he would ordinarily prey upon to bring about his reprieve. Instead, he stood clutching his little practice sword, contemplating the woman before him. Carmen was his friend. They had great fun together and she taught him the most fantastic new games. But still, he was not ready for a step such as this – not that he knew what to do anyway, but by not knowing there was no way to know if they were doing it. Perhaps it wouldn't work if the swords were wooden? But if there was even the smallest chance…..

"I don't like this game anymore," he uneasily proclaimed, dropping the sword to the ground.

"But you used to love it," Elizabeth maintained, joining them unseen.

William turned to regard his mother nervously. "I….I don't….I just don't want to."

"Is there something wrong, son?" Will gently asked. "Some reason why you no longer wish to play?"

"I won't practice swords with any woman but Mama," William answered firmly, though evasively.

Carmen, holding a second wooden sword, now thought she understood the cause of his qualms. Smiling sweetly at the child, she softly encouraged, "Truly, William, it's all right. You mustn't be afraid of hurting me. I'm ready."

Elizabeth picked up William's sword, bending to his level and placing it back in his hand. "You love it so. It's one of your favorite games. I'm sorry it isn't me, but we'll have our own fun, and it will be just the same with someone else…..Eventually you can advance to real swords," she whispered to him, believing this the potential reason for his hesitation. "Go on," she continued, lightly nudging him forward. "It will be good for you, and you'll enjoy it; you'll see.

William took a step closer to Carmen, who raised her sword in a rather novice way…..So it seemed she didn't know what not to do either. "I can't. I won't," he declared in mounting agitation as he dropped the sword again. "Not with her."

Now it was becoming clear to his parents. William was not resistant to practicing at swords in general, but with Carmen in particular. Elizabeth gazed at Will warily, the two sharing a meaningful look. They certainly couldn't have this. One thing the two of them were unwaveringly adamant about in the raising of children – long before they even had any – was that no child of theirs would grow up with narrow-minded prejudices based upon a discriminatory caste system and the unjust ranking of social classes. They both knew the pitfalls of such ignorance all too well. While they certainly would not want their son freely associating with indecent immoral persons at will, Carmen was a special case and had left her old life behind. Surely a boy raised on the notion that one could be both a pirate and a good man must see that such ideals transferred to both sexes.

"William, there is no reason you can't play with Carmen," Elizabeth said definitively.

Carmen had always thought the boy held a fondness for her, but she supposed he must have heard something amongst the crew. She was so accustomed to such treatment that it hardly fazed her anymore, but she must admit that with William it did hurt a bit. Still, she quietly said, "It's all right."

"No, it isn't," his mother continued to chastise. "William, I won't stand for – "

"NO! I WON'T! I WON'T DO IT!" he shouted at her.

"William! That's enough," Will said firmly, shocking the child from his hysteria.

It was the first time William had ever heard his father raise his voice. That, coupled with the stress of the encounter, was too much for him. "But….But I can't," William said pitifully, heavy tears welling in his eyes. "I don't want to be a father. I'm just a boy."

"What?" Elizabeth asked, wondering if she could have possibly heard her son correctly.

"I don't want to make a baby," he said, his voice wavering. "I…..I'm too little."

"You don't want to make a baby?" Will repeated, astonished. "....But….but why would you – "

"I don't know the secret sword maneuver," William desperately explained, tears now rolling unchecked down his face. "And – and if I don't know it, we might do it on accident and make a baby. And I – and I can't," he sniffed.

Elizabeth and Will exchanged a dumbfounded glance.

"All – all right," Elizabeth finally stammered, drawing the child into her comforting embrace. "All right, darling. Don't worry your mind over it. You needn't play at swords now. It's all right." Now that William knew he wouldn't be forced into such an unthinkable position, he began to grow embarrassed of his childish tears, hurriedly brushing the evidence from his eyes and cheeks. "There now," his mother continued, loosening her hold as he began to pull back. "Everything will be all right now. Why don't you run along and perhaps Mr. Gibbs will let you borrow his spyglass. That's a good boy," she said as he began to scurry away, the familiar bounce back in his step.

Turning about, Elizabeth looked to her adult companions. Will's eyebrows were still raised in a frozen expression of stunned astonishment. Carmen, for her part, found it adorably hilarious and was biting back a giggle.

"I'll just…..go see what Jack is up to," she said mirthfully, retreating to leave the boy's parents to sort out his confused ideas on the methods of reproduction.

Will stared at his wife, shaking his head in bewilderment. "How on earth?" he uttered, finding his voice once more. "How on earth would he come up with such an idea?"

"I don't know," she replied, drawing a complete blank herself. "But obviously this comes as a result of the new baby. I suppose it's only natural it would raise his curiosity……Still, he's so young…..Are you certain he didn't hear or see anything the other night when you were – "

"He swears he did not. In any case, how would he get 'sword maneuvers' out of that?"

"I – I don't know. But we can't have him thinking that fencing and swordplay will make a baby. You saw how upset he was," Elizabeth reminded, her heart aching for her son's anguish. "You're going to have to have a talk with him, Will."

"Yes, I suppose I must," he agreed. "To save him any further discomfiture, I'll take him aside privately and simply explain to him that is not how babies are created."

"I'm sorry, darling, but I think you'll have to explain a lot more than that," she said astutely. "You know how inquisitive our son is. If you tell him that is not how babies are made, his very next question will be, 'How are they?'."

"Wait – What? You….you want me to tell him……"

Elizabeth could swear she saw Will visibly pale at the thought and began to find the humor in the situation herself. "You must," she insisted, clearly diverted by her husband's embarrassment. "He has to know the facts of life sooner or later – and apparently he has elected 'sooner'."

"But…..but I…..Elizabeth, I – " Will broke off in horror, picturing the look on his son's face as he descried the physical act of lovemaking. "I can't tell him that."

She laughed outright now. "You must," she said, placing a consoling hand upon his shoulder. "You're his father."

"But…..but how am I to explain it?…..And what if he asks about the two of us?" he posed in mortification. "Perhaps you could just tell him that – "

"Mm, Mm. He must be told, and it must be by you," Elizabeth said amusedly. "You can't block and parry your way out of this one, Captain Turner. If you recall, we made an agreement long ago that I was to inform our daughters on this delicate matter and you were to educate our sons. So you see, I'm afraid this discussion falls entirely to you." She paused, lovingly rubbing her growing belly. "Now if this little one here turns out to be a girl, then I shall tell her all about the wanton lusts of men," she said mischievously.

"Only of men and never of women?" Will countered, determined his teasing wife have a little of her own back. "I seem to recall last night it was you who couldn't quite get enough of – "

"Yes, well, that's beside the point."

"Is it, love?" he laughed, softly kissing her.

The sudden, loud, decidedly unromantic grumbling of her stomach brought all such overtures to an end.

"I'm positively ravenous," Elizabeth admitted, letting her arms fall from about his neck.

"As evidenced by the near week's worth of rations you consumed last night at supper," Will playfully replied.

"That's highly offensive, not to mention unfair. You know I'm eating for two now, but I'm sure you think that no excuse," she said, with pretended insult.

"Not at all. You give our baby whatever it desires," Will answered.

" 'Our baby', but no mention of its mother…..I suppose you'll become one of these loutish husbands who won't want to so much as look at me once the child grows big enough to cause me to completely lose my girlish figure," she impishly accused.

"On the contrary, I plan to 'look at' you tonight."

"We shall see about that." Elizabeth's stomach noisily growled again. "I'm off to get this child some nourishment before it alerts the entire ocean to its hunger. And sometime before the day is out you will have to find William and do this terrible thing," she teased, departing below.

Will recognized the truth in his wife's argument, but it did nothing to ease his anxiety over what was sure to be an exceedingly awkward conversation. And would the poor child ever think of his idolized parents in the same way once he found out what they had repeatedly done to create his new, unborn sibling – and, for that matter, himself? The entire situation was steeped in unpleasantness and, if not handled delicately, was fraught with countless prospects for disaster.

As morning passed into afternoon and afternoon into evening, with Will still balking at the notion of telling his son the facts of life, Elizabeth spied William alone near the bow and seized upon this as the perfect opportunity, prodding her procrastinating husband forward as she disappeared into the captain's cabin so her presence would not further embarrass the child.

Will carefully approached his son, stopping to lean against the rail beside him. After a long pause, in which neither one said a word, William looked nervously up at his father's grave, uneasy expression.

"Am I in trouble?" the boy asked apprehensively.

"No. No, you're not in trouble," Will replied, patting William's arm and trying to adopt a more carefree demeanor. "I simply thought…..I thought you and I should have a talk, a, ah…. man-to-man sort of talk."

"All right," William said with excited curiosity. "Are we to talk of rum and fighting, then?"

"No," his father laughed. "Is that what men talk of?"

"In my experience."

"I see. No, I – I think we should talk of what happened this morning."

"Oh….that. I didn't mean to hurt Carmen's feelings," William hurried on. "I'm sure she makes very nice babies, but I – "

"I know. You don't wish for one yet – which is very wise. No, Carmen's feelings are not hurt…..But where did you learn that's how babies are made?" Will tactfully inquired.

"From Captain Jack," he answered simply.

"From Jack?" Will asked, surprised. "Jack told you babies are made with swords?"

"Yes….Why?"

"Well, William, Jack did not tell you the truth. In fact, it's wrong entirely."

"I should have known it," William lamented. "I think he likes being naughty, but it's not fair that I always get into trouble for it."

"You're not in trouble, son – and, believe me, your mother scolds him well enough. I dare say this is the last time he'll be giving you advice on matters such as this. But, tell me, what exactly did Jack say to you?"

"That night – oh, it was weeks ago now," William expounded, "when you and Mama locked yourselves together in your cabin all night and into the morning, no one would tell me why. So I asked Jack what you were doing in there all that time."

Will regarded William with a look of discomforted trepidation, wondering what sort of vile explanation the pirate had given his son.

"At first, I thought he wasn't going to tell me either," William admitted, "but finally he said that you and Mama were 'playing with your sword'."

Will's face twisted into a biting expression as he realized the double entendre of Jack's answer, one which the child had obviously missed, taking the words at face value – an understandable error for a young boy whose parents often did play with literal swords.

"Lovely," he replied, making a mental note to castigate his puckish friend – that is, if Jack lived beyond his inevitable encounter with Elizabeth. "Did he say anything else on the subject?"

"Well, I told him I didn't understand why you'd want to play at swords in the tiny cabin and not out on deck, and Jack said it was because you had to do that kind of swordplay in private…..because it was a secret, I guess," William shrugged. "And now Mama has the new baby in her belly and says she doesn't need to swordfight anymore. That's when I figured out how the baby must've been made. I figured it out, all by myself. Jack didn't help me with that part," he proudly proclaimed.

"Did you?" Will rejoined, trying very hard to conquer his amusement at his son's childhood innocence. "And you're very pleased with yourself for discovering what no one else would tell you," he said knowingly.

"I am. Me, and Henry, and Robert have been trying to figure it out for years now, but it always makes the grownups nervous. They don't want us to know, so we wanted to know even more, 'specially when everyone stops talking when we walk in the room. They think we don't notice, but we do."

"So I see. But as I said, William, I'm afraid you're mistaken," Will gently told him. "That's not how babies are made. In fact, the making of babies has nothing at all to do with swords."

"It doesn't?"

"No, son. Not at all. Think about it. Can you imagine Mister and Missus Grosvenor, back home in town, sword fighting?"

"No, not really," the young boy granted.

"And yet they had a baby last spring," Will reasoned. "And you've fenced with your mother many times and you never made a baby together."

"That's different," William said, giggling. "You can't make a baby with your own mother. And, anyway, she would know not to do the secret maneuvers."

"There are no secret maneuvers. It doesn't work like that."

"No?" he asked skeptically.

"No."

William eyed his father carefully. "How then?"

Will fidgeted uncomfortably, pondering the best way to begin this conversation. "Well, a – a man and a woman….they…..they create the child together."

"I know that. I know it takes both a man and a woman, and I know they must be close together in the same place – that's why Mama always said I had to wait till you came back to have a brother or sister. And," he added preemptively, "I know they don't have to be married, like Henry's mother tried to tell him."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Will questioned.

"Jane, the upstairs maid before Ann came, she had to leave because she was going to have a baby. And she wasn't married, though she did go around with one of the sailors from the docks."

"All right," Will conceded the point. "It's true. A man and woman needn't be married to make a baby."

"But how do they do it?" William asked determinedly, ready to hear the thrilling truths of this fascinating mystery. "If not with swords, how do they make it?"

"Through….the feeling they have for each other," his father carefully replied.

William could scarcely believe his ears. This had to be the most incredible letdown he had experienced in years. Feeling? Was that all?

He crinkled his nose in disgust. "You mean like 'true love' and all that?" he asked repulsively.

"Sort of," Will replied. "Through love and……other feelings."

Feelings. That was girl stuff, triflings better suited for Robert's older sister who lived for dreamy stories of knights in shining armor and swooned every time she saw Benjamin, the miller's son. Deciding this baby-making seemed far less interesting than he'd originally thought, and seeing that it didn't concern anything the least bit exciting – such as special, secret sword maneuvers – William quickly lost interest in the subject, a fact that was apparent to his amused father.

"And," Will continued with great relief, "since you won't be experiencing those feelings just yet – "

"Eww! I should hope not!" William indignantly protested. "I don't even like girls, let alone love them!"

Will chuckled. "So you needn't worry about creating a child of your own for quite some time – and certainly not through sword practice." Although, his mind quietly amended, he could recall several fencing sessions with Elizabeth – in both the old and the new smithy – that quickly degenerated into what might have easily led to the production of a child.

From there Will's man-to-man talk with his son quickly veered to other topics – not rum, as William had originally suggested – but fighting, and sport, and further instruction on sailing and navigation – and the real truth as to why his mother couldn't fence with him at present. Before either of them realized, it was well into the night and far past his bedtime, with the crew assigned to overnight duty already at stations and Elizabeth and Carmen nowhere to be seen, presumably retired for the evening.

Once Will saw William to his berth, satisfied that the child's mind would no longer be troubled with fears of making accidental babies and he could once again take part in his love for swords, he decided to go to his wife and inform her of his amusing conversation with their son.

He found Elizabeth in their cabin, as he had suspected, by now in her robe and slippers, prettily ensconced upon their bed.

"At last," she declared with concern for her young, potentially distressed son. "What happened? Did you tell him?"

"In a manner of speaking," Will smiled.

"What does that mean?"

"It seems our good captain informed him that, on the night we celebrated the three month anniversary of my return – do you remember that evening?"

"Vividly," she provocatively replied. "But go on."

"He told William that the reason we were spending so much time together in our cabin was because we were playing a special sort of game with 'my sword'," Will drolly informed her. "Which explains his confusion on the matter of babies. When you told him you were pregnant, he simply put one and one together and assumed that this 'special swordplay' had created the child."

"What I have in mind for that man," Elizabeth spat, angrily sitting up from her reclined position.

"It's all right," he assured her, setting her back against the pillows as he settled himself down beside her. "It turns out William wasn't interested in the biology of the matter at all. Once he found out that the creation of babies had nothing to do with swords, but rather of love and such, he couldn't care less. So I was spared from giving him the sordid details – at least for a few years' time."

Elizabeth softly laughed. "I thought him rather young to be concerned with such matters, and I'm sure you are quite relieved that I was right."

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I am……What would he think of me if he knew just exactly what I did to his mother at night?" he amorously questioned, untying her robe and deftly parting the fabric, running his hands down her sides along the soft nightdress beneath, eventually resting them on the small bump that was their youngest child.

"And what would he think of his mother if he knew how I enjoyed it?" she countered.

Will looked up from his perusal of her newly swollen belly to meet her eye, a lustful twinkle in his. "Wasn't I meant to 'look at' you tonight, to prove my desire for you is as strong as ever?" he reminded, one hand drifting to the hem of her nightdress as the wayward fingers of the other began to delve beneath the neckline of the garment, his mouth lowering towards hers.

Elizabeth placed her hand over his at her chest, stilling his exploration. He looked down at her questioningly, to which she replied, "Didn't you say I should give our baby whatever it wanted?"

"Yes," he said, confused.

"Right now it desperately craves some hot tea and biscuits," she whispered against his lips.

"Seriously?" he asked in disappointment. "But it's half past eleven….and I find myself craving other things."

"Which you shall have soon enough……but don't you wish to please our child," she poutingly coerced.

"Very well," he sighed, removing his hands from her body and sliding off of the bed. "But please don't fall asleep," he begged, leaving the cabin to the sound of his wife's soft giggles.

Though he good-naturedly protested, in truth Will was more than happy to play the role of doting expectant father, carrying out whatever his pregnant wife requested. He was inwardly thrilled to be able to do such little things for her as retrieving foods she desired, getting items from across the room so as not to trouble her, and so forth. Such insignificant things other husbands complained about were a joy to Will, as he had missed it all the first time around and was taking nothing for granted now that he had been allowed the full experience of married life.

He returned fifteen minutes later, bearing her treat, and as he had requested she had not fallen asleep, though she had removed her robe and tucked herself beneath the covers, propped up on a sea of pillows.

"Ahh," Elizabeth sighed contentedly as he presented her with a steaming cup of tea and a plate of biscuits. "You are so good to me, Will," she cooed, before greedily digging in to her snack.

"I am, aren't I?" he replied with exaggerated bravado.

As she ate, Will silently crossed the room, pulling off his boots and setting them beside the door, then easing out of his coat and laying it, as well as his sword and baldric, upon the nearby chair. Flinging his shirt up and over his head to join its brethren, he fetched his sleep pants from the table cabinet and began to change into them, giving his wife, who watched intently from the bed, a deliciously ample view of his broad muscular back and shoulders as well as his naked backside.

His timing impeccable, Will slid into bed beside Elizabeth just as she was setting her empty plate and cup upon their night chest. He pulled the sheet down her body, his hands cupping the small bulge at her abdomen, trying to detect even the slightest hint of the stirrings she professed to feel. Coming up empty, he turned to lovingly caressing the region, his fingers eventually drifting up her ribs, loving the feel of the silk nightdress beneath his roughened hands.

"You know," Elizabeth softly confided, "all of this has set me to thinking of when I was young and began to have such wonderings. We've never spoken of it before. Tell me, Will," she purred, "when and how did you first learn of the intimacies between a man and a woman?"

Will grinned, knowing his wife well enough to realize the truth behind her request. She was feeling amorous and as a matter of foreplay wished him to speak indecently to her, recounting bawdy tales of his adolescent lusts for her. It was an appeal he could easily fulfill, as such instances were plentiful throughout his growth into manhood. However, little did Elizabeth realize, this particular occasion was not one of them.

"I'd my suspicions before, but I was ten years old when I had a very graphic demonstration of the act in an English alleyway," he told her.

"Will, ten years old?" she repeated in shocked sympathy. "That's scarcely four months older than our son. How…how did you happen upon such a thing?"

"My father was away at sea, as always, and it was just my mother and I. That night she'd fallen ill, as she had an increasing tendency to do. She scrapped together what little pocket money she had and sent me to the apothecary to purchase a remedy," he explained. "…..It was my own fault, really. I'd done as she asked but rather than return home straightaway, as she instructed, I became enchanted by the glowing lights and sounds of merriment coming from the pubs near the seashore. I thought just to doddle for a few minutes' time, looking about and seeing what fun was to be had, but I didn't know that part of town well – as my mother would have my behind if I was ever to be found there. After a bit of wandering, I lost my way completely. Ultimately, I stumbled into a darkened alley and what I beheld there stopped me dead in my tracks."

Will's brow furrowed at the recollection, the disturbing nature of the encounter still disquieting for the man who, all these years later, acutely remembered the trauma it caused the child he had once been. "There was a man and a woman huddled together. Such a thing I'd seen before, growing up within the common parts of town, but this was different. The woman was pressed against the side of the adjacent building, her skirt up about her waist and her dress pulled completely down on the one side, leaving her breast exposed….I – I thought at first the man was hurting her from the sounds she made, and I was about to try to help her when I realized what I was seeing. I was….." Will broke off, struggling to find a description powerful enough for how he felt at the time. "…..disgusted, I guess would be the proper word, but I couldn't seem to find my feet to move. Eventually, the woman saw me first and tugged at the man's shoulders to alert him to my presence. He finally ceased his movements, turning to look me up and down and grunting, 'Let him watch', before resuming the action. It was then that I ran away."

He shook his head slightly, as if to rid himself of the memory. "The following day, when I confessed the story to my best mate, who was a few years older than I, he found it quite enthralling – if you catch me meaning – but I took no such pleasure in what I saw."

"Oh, Will, that's a horrible story. It must have been awful for you," she said comfortingly, placing a soft soothing kiss to his forehead, each cheek and, finally, lingering longer at his lips.

She tasted of tea and that indefinable, unmatched flavor that was simply Elizabeth and Will found, beneath her gentle touch, he could quickly forget the harsh memories of his unfortunate childhood.

"It wasn't until I knew you that I began to wish to try what I had seen," he whispered amatively. Authentically curious, Will asked her, "How old were you when you first learned?"

He would have guessed, with an upbringing as stuffy and confined as Elizabeth's, that no one would have told her at all, leaving her to discover such things on her wedding night. However he knew that not to be the case as, during their courtship, she had been quite informed on the matter, often encouraging him to skirt the boundaries of propriety as they explored the subject.

Elizabeth laughed scathingly. "It was about a year or so after you and I met, and I had just begun my first monthly course. I had absolutely no idea what that was, and when I, quite distressed, questioned one of my maids, a governess was called in straightaway to explain the matter to me. Fortunately for me," she said facetiously, "along with the changes in my body, she told me of the physical acts of the marriage bed and how it was my 'duty to my husband' to both provide him with heirs and 'fulfill his marital needs'. I found it all exceedingly revolting – and that horrid old governess certainly didn't help but telling me that I must 'bear it as best I can and the dreadfulness of it will grow less and less noticeable with time'. I feel rather sorry for her now," Elizabeth scoffed. "She either was a very bitter woman or had an extremely poor lover, perhaps both. But after hearing from her, regardless of any 'duty', I was positively determined that no husband of mine would do any such thing to me. He would simply have to accept that at the outset."

Will smiled, affectionately brushing a tendril of hair from across her forehead. "And what changed your mind, Mrs. Turner?"

"You," she said tenderly. "From the first time I saw you I felt that you were special. It took me less than two days to want you with me always, less than two months to discover I was mad about you, and less than two years to know myself to be positively in love with you. But, though my heart fluttered when you walked in the room and my stomach turned cartwheels at the mere mention of your name, it was not yet physical. I always found you attractive, from first glance, but it was still young and innocent, before I was capable of such thoughts and feelings; I was more interested in adventure and pirate games."

"But," Elizabeth flirtatiously continued, trailing her fingertips down his bare chest, "as I grew older, I began to notice the definition of your muscles and how they rippled as you moved, how very sculpted your body had become from head to toe, and I felt something altogether different in me. It was a rather intriguing sensation – unequivocally pleasing, I would say – and I began to purposefully attempt to catch you without your shirt on simply to revel in the feeling once more. The stirrings the sight of your body inspired within me made me start to ponder other things," she shamelessly confessed. "In the beginning, I merely wondered what it would be like for you to kiss me, and the thought was lovely. So then I began to further contemplate what it would feel like if you were to touch me, or I you, in ways and places that were distinctly improper. The imagining of that was so utterly enjoyable – scintillating, in fact – that I started to think perhaps what the governess had described would not be unpleasant at all if you with the man doing it to me. From there my imagination ran wild. Oh," she sighed, "I had many imaginings of you."

"Did you, love?" Will replied, sidling closer to her as his hands found her hips.

"Countless imaginings and fantasies of a decidedly carnal nature," she fervently disclosed.

"Tell me one," he requested as he placed an ardent, but brief, kiss to her lips. "Tell me a fantasy and I'll enact it for you now."

Elizabeth's eyes burned with passion, her lips parting slightly as she looked up at him, recalling her girlhood fantasies. "In – in one of my favorites, I would imagine you stealing into my room and, without a word, kissing me. Your mouth always felt marvelous against mine, very nearly taking my breath away, but leaving me just enough to gasp, 'Will, what are you doing?'. But you would simply smile and then, ever so slowly, begin to remove my clothing. Then…." She paused, closing her eyes. "…..Then," she repeated, the tone of her voice making it obvious to her husband that whatever happened next in this reverie held quite an excitement for her, even now. "…..Then you would touch me in a manner I had yearned for and spend the entire night teaching me the ways of love, showing me how pleasant they could truly be – ways I could wholly conceptualize, in an extremely intense matter, with you as the other party."

"You thought all that?" he asked, sliding his hands beneath her body, clearly aroused by her aroused imaginings of him. "Alone in your bed at night – "

"Sometimes I even pretended you were there with me, and I – "

"Elizabeth," he murmured, lifting her up against him. "Elizabeth, if I had only known, I – "

"You would've done what?" she alluringly challenged. "Even once we were affianced, I could not persuade you to compromise me. You were too much of a gentleman."

"Yes…..but now I'm a pirate," Will said, taking hold of the straps of her nightdress and tugging it downward.

Just as the gown was slipping across her shoulders, almost ready to expose her nakedness to him, she placing her hand up, clutching the garment to her bosom.

Will did not miss a beat, smiling seductively down at her before feeding Elizabeth her line. "Miss Swann, aren't you now meant to say – "

"Why, Will, whatever are you doing?" she coquettishly inquired.

He bent to kiss her but she stopped him, reaching up and removing his bandana, for her Will was not quite such a pirate then. As he was about to attempt a kiss yet again, his earring caught the glint of the candlelight and she paused, dragging her fingers through his curls and brushing a few down over his earlobe.

Thus satisfied, she wrapped her arms about his lower back, whispering, "Teach me of love, my blacksmith." With a wink, she added, "I hear you have quite a way with your sword."

"I've a maneuver or two I believe you'll enjoy," he replied before, at last, taking her lips.

Up on deck, standing at the wheel beneath the star-filled sky, in a rare attack of conscience, Jack pondered the falsehood he had placed upon the Turners and how that deceit could potentially affect them come the time…..What would Will and his darlin' Lizzie do when they learned the truth?

Probably have your hide, his moral half argued.

'Course at the time this began, his corrupt side countered, you didn't know she'd be carryin'.

That was one complication he hadn't foreseen…..

But all would be well when it was done – more than well – for themselves, and the boy, and this new one coming. And didn't they owe that babe to him? Hours spent together in confined spaces aboard the Pearl had led them to conceive their second child, a fact the couple was obviously thrilled over. Yes, he self-assuredly decided, they would thank him for it all in the end. He just needed to ensure they did not find out until the opportune moment – in this instance, the very last one possible.

AN: The conversation Elizabeth and Will have (about a quarter of the way through) on who must give William the birds-and-the-bees talk refers back to my post-CotBP, pre-DMC story, Courtship (see Chapter 14).

Up Next

Elizabeth celebrates her birthday, and Carmen's past is finally revealed – but what bearing will it have on their mission?