I am purely at a loss for words/thought/brain function. 24. TWENTY-FOUR. THAT'S TWENTY-FOUR! REVIEWS! 24 REVIEWS! For one bloody chapter! My blessed readers. I love you to death! So I suppose it's only fair that I hand you a new chapter. No, the story isn't done yet! After this one you've still got five more to read! Yep, that's right – I finished it. But you don't get to read it until you read the other chapters coming up! Savvy?
"Touch your lips just so I know, in your eyes love it glows so, I'm bare boned and crazy for you, when you come crash into me."
Dave Matthews – Crash Into Me
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Sadie's consciousness does not last long as her arms slip from Jack's neck and her body collapses back onto the bed, eyes closing and one hand falling off the side of the mattress. Jack smiles and leans back, putting a palm on Sadie's stomach, shutting his own eyes and shaking his head.
"You marvelous woman," he whispers, chuckling deep in his chest and pushing a few strands of hair away from her face. Placing one last kiss on Sadie's brow, Jack stands and goes over to the double doors, pushing them open with one simple shove. Standing nearby is the good doctor, staring off into the dark distance, humming sailor songs to himself. Jack clears his throat, causing O'Tara to jump and turn around, nervously putting his hand atop his head covered in thin white hair tied at the back of his neck. Saluting the Captain, the doctor awaits orders.
"She's yours to cure, doc," says Jack, leaning against a post near the doorway, "If there's anything you need, come get me."
O'Tara nods. "Did she wake up?" He asks hopefully. Jack gives a small smile.
"She was up for a few moments and spoke a little, but went comatose not long after." Leaning off of the post, Jack nods to the doctor, turning and walking up the stairs. "I leave her in your care, doc," he says, pausing on the stairs. O'Tara nods, but as Jack goes to continue up, he calls to him.
"Captain?"
Jack spins around, grasping the banister in his hands and looking at the doctor.
"Aye, doc?"
O'Tara beckons the pirate over to him, to which Jack quickly conforms. As the Captain comes to the doctor's side, O'Tara puts a hand on Jack's shoulder and turns him towards the corner behind the stairs secretively.
"I wanted to ask – do you wish I check Sadie for anything else?"
Jack's brow furrows, his hand coming up to stroke his mustache. One eyebrow disappears beneath his bandana as he replies, "Else? Care to specify, my good doctor?"
The old man chuckles quietly, nudging Jack's shoulder with his hand.
"I believe she should be checked to see if she is pregnant or not."
Jack's eyes go wide, his jaw going slack. Staring dumbly at the doctor, Jack tries to form words but only manages to stutter out gibberish. O'Tara laughs, turning to look in the window to Jack's cabin.
"Don't sound so surprised, Captain. I wouldn't be, personally."
Jack stares at the old man, still babbling and tugging on his beard.
"Pregnant?" He mutters, also looking in the window. Sadie's hand hasn't moved, he notices. "How so?"
The doctor smiles, putting his hand on Jack's shoulder again and taking a deep breath.
"In most cases, upper crust folks have it all – money, power, and titles. But the couples lack a life staple – passion. Poor girls on their wedding nights lay there as their old husbands have their way with them. Have you ever realized Jack, that many rich couples don't have children?"
Jack pauses for a moment, trying to recall any moment where he was in the presence of a group of wealthy people – not an often occurrence, but enough to make him recall not seeing any whelps running around in the garden. Jack smirks.
"So what exactly are you saying, doc? That Sadie and I are bound to breed like rabbits?"
O'Tara guffaws loudly, putting a hand to his moderately rotund stomach.
"Well, not in those precise words. Rather, Captain, what separates you and Sadie from the wealthy populace when it comes to the bedroom is that you two have pure physical and emotional passion for each other. And with that, a child doesn't seem so impossible." O'Tara watches the Captain's face change, from confused, to understanding, to cocky, to befuddled. Jack stands there beneath the stairs for a moment, glancing from the happy doctor to the obscured figure of Sadie behind the yellowed window. Shaking his head with muddled thoughts, Jack ducks out from behind the stairs and chafes the back of his neck, eyes narrowed. The thought of domestically having a child with a woman never crossed Jack's mind – sober or no. Jack glances at the doors to his cabin, thinking of Sadie on the other side of it. If she is in fact pregnant, he thinks, he'd be the father both of them had always wanted. Jack looks at the doctor, nodding.
"Check her, doc," he whispers, turning away and walking up the stairs to the helm, brooding. Standing there next to the giant wheel overlooking the deck, he envisions Sadie stumbling around on it, a hand on her swelled stomach with a giant beam on her face. Jack shuts his eyes, imagining for a moment his woman taking his hand and placing it on her bulging abdomen, leaning her head on his shoulder. Someone on deck whacks something into place nearby, causing a shudder to run through the wood into Jack's palm. Eyes snapping open, Jack pulls his hand off of the helm, staring at his palm as if his unborn child had truly just kicked it. Shaking his head, Jack signals for Gibbs to take his place as he descends the stairs once again, looking through the window to see O'Tara at Sadie's bedside. Releasing a long exhale, Jack presses the butt of his hand to his furrowed brow, shutting his eyes. A child…he ponders, nearly unable to comprehend. Turning his gaze back through the window, Jack sighs, taking an end of his bandana between his teeth, chewing thoughtfully. Watching the shadow of O'Tara move back and forth in the cabin, Jack waits, breathing shallowly and tapping his foot against the wood of the deck. Passing crew members do not bother the Captain deep in thought, muttering to himself and waving his hands about in strange ways – not a completely strange thing, but enough to signify that Jack Sparrow was in a different state of mind than what his crew would be used to.
It's three quarters of a turn before the doctor emerges from the cabin, wiping his hands with a dark cloth as well as his brow. Jack perks up, getting to his feet with a faulty stumble, facing the old man while fidgeting with the excitement of a child before a rich Christmas. O'Tara, looking wrought with disdain, clears his throat in a poor attempt to rid himself of his own disappointment.
"Well," he begins, trying to smile, "she opened her eyes a few times, but remained unconscious through the rest of it. It'll take a while for her fever to go down and the rest of her body levels to return to normal, but she'll live with flying colors."
Jack smiles with relief, then grasping O'Tara's shoulder, he asks quietly, "Is she – you know…?"
O'Tara sighs, dropping his gaze to the deck. He shakes his head solemnly.
"I'm sorry, Captain. If she was at any point, the fetus would have died from all of Sadie's illnesses."
Slowly, Jack's hand falls away, his eyes becoming crestfallen.
"Oh." He moves past the doctor and pushes open the doors to his cabin without another word. Worried, O'Tara walks up to Gibbs standing at the helm, taking the flask from his hand.
"Keep an eye on that Captain of ours, Mister Gibbs," he says. Ana Maria appears from nearby, looking equally worried.
"Evening, doc," she says with a halfhearted smile, easily giving off that she had been listening in on the conversation between he and the Captain. O'Tara nods to her, sitting next to her on the rail.
"Just how much does Jack love that woman?" He asks, already knowing the answer. Gibbs chuckles.
"More than he's ever loved the Pearl or the sea."
Ana nods in agreement.
"When she first came onto this ship, I told Jack that having a woman like her onboard was not going to bode well with the male public on this ship, but not only did he not hear me, he was just dismissing me completely – he had caught one look of that woman and couldn't keep his head straight from then on."
--
Jack stands above the young woman lying in bed, holding one of her clammy hands in his own. He glances at her stomach, rising steadily under the sheets. With his other hand, Jack rubs the area gently, shutting his eyes. The image of a rosy cheeked little girl fills his tumultuous mind, with Sadie's eyes and his dark hair, dressed in a frilly white dress with her arms reaching for him as sea foam curls around her tiny feet, her little mouth filled with small white teeth grinning as she whispers 'papa…'
"Jack?"
Sparrow jumps, opening his eyes and looking down at the woman in bed who looks back with drooping eyes. Sadie grasps his wrist and Jack leans down, his elbows on either side of her head, smiling weakly at her.
"Hello, love."
Sadie manages a close-lipped smile, putting a hand to Jack's cheek.
"It doesn't even feel like I haven't seen you for almost three weeks," she whispers hoarsely. Jack shakes his head, leaning his brow against hers.
"Feels like the ten years I didn't get to see you," he replies. At this, Sadie's brow furrows and Sparrow leans back, sitting on the bed. "What?" He asks, seeing a strange look come over her. Sadie looks at Jack, her eyes slightly narrowed – in pain or anger, the pirate can't tell.
"Janetta told me a strange thing, Jack. She said five years ago, you went to Mallorca and spent time with her, but didn't bother to try and look for me – she said you didn't even mention me."
Sparrow winces, noticing the young woman's obvious hurt in the matter. With a strained groan, Jack twirls a braided beard around his finger.
"You're still sick, love…we should talk about this later."
"No, Jack. I want to know why you didn't come for me while you still had enough time to bugger a whore."
Jack grimaces, glancing out the window. With Sadie giving him a fixed stare, he stands and begins to pace at the foot of the bed.
"I won't deny that I did that," he begins, shoving his hands into his coat pockets, "And true, I shouldn't have done that. But as terrible of an excuse as it is, I didn't have the ship or the manpower to come for you. I was constantly bartering passage from one fishing vessel to the next, on almost a weekly basis. I had the Pearl no more than two months before I came after you." Jack returns to Sadie's side, grasping her hand and giving her a hurt dog look. If she hadn't been lying down, Sadie's resolve would have completely crumbled to the ground.
"If I had had the Pearl before, don't doubt that I would have come for you – well, in a different way than I do now," he adds slyly. Sadie grabs a pillow from by her head, hitting Sparrow with it.
"Pirate," she growls, laughing. Jack takes the pillow and flings it across the room, the candles flickering with the movement of air. Looking up at the man affectionately, Sadie puts her hand behind Jack's head and brings his face closer, smiling.
"Alright, Mister Jack…I suppose I'll forgive you," she says, snickering when Jack kisses her giddily.
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The next few chapters are slightly fluffy, so beware! LOL