"Jack!" I laughed as my beloved picked me up from behind. We were spending time on the beach the morning before our wedding. It was going to be a very intimate occurrence with only Lizzie, Addy, Teague, Jack and I meeting on the shore. It had been almost three weeks since Jack had surprised me with a proposal. Elizabeth was ecstatic when I'd told her, and Addy wanted to start planning as soon as possible. We were able to pull things together and today was the day.
"You have to be faster than that if you don't want to get caught." He told me in my ear after lowering me back to the ground. I turned and put my arms around his neck.
"Now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?" I tilted my head up to look at him.
"Marry you." He leaned down to kiss me and I happily responded before we went to sit. We'd come to eat breakfast before anyone called for us. We were silent for a moment before I spoke up.
"What does that letter you keep reading say?" I could envision it on the side table where he'd left it this morning. He had been reading it slowly over the past few weeks. I didn't push him to see what it was, thinking that he would tell me if he was ready. Now I had gotten curious. He gave me a somewhat surprised look but answered.
"My mum knew she wasn't going to see me again so she told me some of the things she hoped for me." He gave me a straight answer. "It's not sad. In fact, I'll share it with you in the morning." He promised and I nodded.
"Okay." I turned back to the horizon.
"My turn." He challenged. I opened my mouth to speak but he stopped me. "Tit for tat, luv. Now, why did Cutler Beckett ask about you when I talked to him?" I wasn't expecting that.
"Hm," I thought for a moment, "I'm not completely sure. After he disrupted Lizzie and Will's wedding, he forced me into a meeting and told me he knew about Baily Black Hart. I think I intrigued him because I began acting like a pirate and made the deal to have a pardon for everyone and turn myself in as a pirate. That is the only time I spoke to him. Perhaps he wanted to know the status of his deal, or maybe I inadvertently seduced him with my feminine wiles." I gave him a smoldering look as I thought back to my last days in Port Royal.
"He seemed impressed with you, that scoundrel." Jack snarled at the thought, making me laugh. I took the infamous pirate in for a moment. Nothing could have prepared me to think that I would be taken with a pirate that I had heard impossible and at times salacious stories about.
"Why did you ask me to marry you?" I asked my next question. "You could have just moved along after meeting me or we could have just gone on without a ceremony." I reached up and ran a hand over his cheek.
"I couldn't have." He shook his head. "I tried to put you out of my mind after the Isla de Muerta, but I couldn't. You didn't just want something from me, you believed in me just for the sake of it. Then when I thought you were engaged and when you got hurt, I realized I wouldn't want to do anything else without you." His answer made my heart flutter.
"You sure have a good answer to everything." I noted as I leaned over to kiss him. We parted and he pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"Why did you say yes to marrying me?"
"Because you love me in a way that no one else will." I smiled softly. After a moment I chuckled. "We are being terrible pirates right now." My chuckles turned to laughter as Jack joined me.
"We are special pirates." He clarified, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "And we still have our freedom."
"Now, last question. When are we going to get the Pearl back?" I asked, grabbing his hand and holding it in mine. Jack sighed at the question.
"Why are you obsessed with that bloody thing, luv?" He moved to look me in the eyes. "You come first, luv, Pearl or no Pearl. I don't need to chase her anymore."
"I just know how hard you've worked for her and I want to see you have her." I cupped his cheek. "You love me, and you can also love your ship. You also love adventure and, Jack we aren't doing much here." Our days had been lazy and I enjoyed them, but I was concerned about the future.
"You're not happy." Jack's eyes scanned my face and I shook my head quickly.
"I am! I am happy here, or anywhere with you. Jack we're getting married today, of course I'm happy." I held his face with both of my hands and kissed him. "Not to mention Lizzie and Teague are here. If you don't want the Pearl I won't mention it again." I promised. Jack held both of my hands in his then kissed them.
"I want to marry you. Let's do that first."
We soon left the beach so I could be swept away by Addy and Lizzie. There were baths with fragrant oils, hair washing and styling, and rogue, but not too much. Addy and Lizzie had their beautifying done as well. They both looked beautiful. Eventually, all that was left was the dress. We all looked at it laid on the bed.
"I haven't worn a dress in so long." I mumbled as I looked at it. The seamstress who made it was skilled and didn't give me the gift of forgetting the corset. It was elegant and simple. Shipwreck Island wasn't influenced by European fashion, thank goodness, so I was going to be able to avoid some of the grandeur. It was cream and gold with a very small hoop skirt. The sleeves only came to my elbows and were lacy. It was perfect.
"Neither have I." Lizzie had her own dress to put on. "I didn't even wear a dress to my wedding." She reminded me. We stood for a moment before Addy spoke up.
"It's almost the right hour." She looked outside to see the sun lowering in the sky. She went over to the contraption lying next to the dress. "I'll do up your corset Miss, soon Mrs." I smiled at her and began to put it on.
The moment soon came where we were all dressed. Lizzie and Addy put finishing touches on me though it just felt like fussing. Thankfully a knock at the door saved me. Addy went to get it as I looked in a mirror. Sadness came over me for a moment. I had imagined Uncle, Maria, Molly, and Hamish even to be present at my wedding and, though I still had Lizzie, it was bittersweet.
"You look stunning." Lizzie put her hand on my shoulder. I turned to her and gave her a tight hug.
"Thank you for being my cousin." I told her quietly.
"Thank you, for everything." She whispered back. We stepped back, both with tears in our eyes.
"It's time." Addy called gently from the door. I turned to her and nodded. We made our way to the shore as the sun began to touch the horizon. We spotted Jack and Teague standing on the beach. Jack's back was to us. It was until Teague saw us that Jack turned and followed his gaze. Jack looked impeccable all dressed up. His hair was cleaned and pulled back. He was wearing a nice clean shirt and pants under a Captain's jacket. Teague was also wearing his Captain's garb.
"Hello." I smiled, still taking him in.
"Luv, you look stunning. Absolutely breathtaking." He grabbed my hands and ran his thumbs over the back of them.
"Thank you. You look wonderful as well." I leaned in to him when Teague clearing his throat interrupted us.
"Am I still needed?" He asked, making me chuckle.
"Yes, sorry." I looked to Jack then behind me to where Lizzie and Addy were beaming.
"Now, we have gathered to join Captain Baily Black Hart and Captain Jack Sparrow in somewhat holy matrimony." Teague began. Jack almost spoke up but I shook my head with a smile. I loved it. "Friends, in the fear of the Lord and such, you are agreeing to be loving and faithful to each other. Now, Captain Jack Sparrow, do you take this beautiful woman to be your somewhat lawfully wedded wife?" Teague looked to his son.
"Yes," Jack nodded, "I take Baily Hart to be my somewhat lawfully wedded wife." He raised my hands and kissed my knuckles.
"And Captain Baily Black Hart, will you take this scraggly pirate to be your somewhat lawfully wedded husband?" Teague asked making me laugh but otherwise nod.
"Yes, I take Jack Sparrow to be my somewhat lawfully wedded husband." I returned Jack's gesture and kissed his knuckles.
"Alright. By the powers invested in me as Pirate Lord of Madagascar and Keeper of the Code, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss," Before he could finish, Jack pulled me flush against him by the waist and pressed his lips against mine. I returned it with passion. He raised me off the ground though it didn't stop our embrace. "When you two are done, we can have dinner." Teague mumbled and walked away.
"We're married." I breathed when we parted.
"I've never seen you in a dress before." He looked me over.
"And hopefully you won't see me in one again. I have not missed corsets." I kissed him again.
"Piracy has changed the lady." Jack teased.
"I would disagree, but I'm wearing boots under this dress." We shared a laugh. "Maybe after dinner I can show you what else is under this dress."
"I can agree to that. Do we have and accord?" He pulled me closer and I nodded.
"Aye, Captain."
"We're hungry!" Lizzie shouted from behind us, amusement in her voice.
"Alright, alright, we're coming." We turned and walked with our loved ones. Dinner was quite the celebration and it ended in a pub. There was singing and drinking and many congratulations. I decided to sneak us away before the party got too wild. I waved at Lizzie to let her know we were leaving before we got went out the door.
The next morning I woke up free from the restraint of my corset and all of my other clothing. With a stretch and a smile, I turned to Jack who had his arm around my waist. He was only slightly stirring. Leaning over slowly, I gently kissed his cheek.
"We're married now." Jack mumbled sleepily.
"Yes, we're quite married." I kissed his other cheek.
"So I can say it?" He opened his eyes and brushed his hand over my cheekbone.
"Say what?" I asked and no sooner was flipped onto my side so we were facing each other.
"Good morning, my beautiful wife." He told me quietly before kissing my forehead.
"Good morning, my dashing husband."
Well, well, well. Looks who's finally wrapping things up one year later. There really hasn't been a chapter that's been super Baily and Jack 100% so I wanted to wrap up their journey to love if you will. I hope you liked it!
The epilogue will be coming ASAP, I promise. I am literally out of university over the summer and jobless so I have all the free time. I've known what I wanted the epilogue to be since last year but it's a matter of writing it.