Ma Petite
Kristin: *stares at the readers in shock* After getting a grand total of four reviews for the first chapter I didn't think that this story would really capture the attention of anyone. *attempts to imitate one of Jack's grins and almost succeeds* You people are simply lovely and if anyone tells you different, then I'll smack them with a trout, savvy?
Also, I would like to apologize about the entire merde thing, offer thanks to all who told me what it meant (I was close!), and say that the error in translation should be fixed soon. The same goes for the entire 'Donner me Joelle' sentence.
***
After changing the first diaper of his life, Jack had a newfound respect for all mothers and nursemaids. He had never thought that changing a diaper could be so emotionally draining. His usual grin, which had already been absent most of the day, showed no signs of ever returning to its rightful place upon his face. It wasn't that Joelle was a particularly bad baby; it was just that she was the embodiment of all that was evil in the world and wanted to drive him insane. All that he wanted to do was curl up with his beautiful bottle of rum. He didn't need a woman at the moment; even just thinking about one for the time being reminded him that more Joelles could be created by the comfort he would have looked for. The rum would do just fine on its own. Speaking of his rum, where had it gotten to?
As he scanned the deck for signs of his rum, Jack slowly became aware of the unsteady clinking noise that was coming from behind him. It sounded almost like the noise of a bottle being rapped against the deck. Jack whirled around just in time to witness his precious bottle of rum being lifted by Joelle's wobbly baby arms. It wavered in the air for a moment before coming back down. Time seemed to slow as the bottle descended, hit the deck, and shattered. The scream that erupted from Jack's mouth made Joelle sound like an amateur.
*
Anna Maria emerged from the captain's quarters, now a makeshift hospital room, only to have her ears assaulted by the sound of heart-wrenching screams. She frowned and followed the sound of the cries, mentally preparing a lecture for her captain about not terrorizing children. To her shock Jack was the one who was nearly in tears by the time that she arrived. In fact, Joelle, who was sitting on the deck with a rather dangerous broken bottle, was gazing wide eyed at Jack with a look of awe on her little face. The look on Jack's face was composed of mourning, helplessness, and more than a little insanity. "Captain? What happened?"
"She. Demon child. Broken. Rum! My rum!" The last sentence, which had been said in a rather unmanly whine, clicked with the broken bottle, which Joelle was still playing with, and Anna Maria realized exactly what had happened. With a heavy sigh she took the broken glass pieces away from the baby, who gave a short shriek of indignation, tossed them over the side of the ship, and pull a flask of her own rum from her pocket to give to Jack. While he began to drain the contents, the female pirate lifted Joelle into her arms. Now that he was calmer Jack suddenly seemed to realize who was standing in front of him. "How is the girl's mother?"
Anna Maria raised her gaze from Joelle's huge, angelic eyes, which were making her maternal instincts kick in, and gave Jack an incredulous glance. "You actually care?"
Jack took another swig from the flask and nodded briskly. "The sooner the creature's mother is healthy, the sooner I can get rid of that little drool- maker, savvy?" Slap! "I didn't deserve that," Jack muttered as he rubbed his cheek.
"Honestly, Captain, it can't be that hard to take care of one baby." Jack's eyes took on a calculating look as he attempted to formulate a plan.
"Then why don't you take care of it and have one of the crew watch the woman who spawned it." Jack dodged the second slap, but Anna Maria's knee managed to catch him in the stomach, which was a bit more painful. Looked like his plan wasn't going to work after all.
"You are asking me to willingly hand over the well being of a defenseless woman to a group of men that are led by you," Anna Maria exclaimed while pressing Joelle back into his arms and snatching away her flask. " No. You will watch the baby, and I will watch Chantelle. I swear, you stupidity is amazing at times."
Jack pouted slightly at Joelle as Anna Maria stalked off. "And here I was thinking that I was the captain," he complained to the giggling baby.
*
Over the next several days Jack slowly became more accustomed to toting Joelle around with him nearly everywhere he went during the daytime; at night Anna Maria took her so that the crew, who Jack was bunking with due to his current lack of rooms, would be able to sleep without waking up every few hours for feedings or diaper changes. While he still didn't like the baby, he was beginning to look at her with more consideration. After the adventures of the first day Joelle calmed down considerably and began to constantly look around as though looking for something or someone. It wasn't until the third day that Jack realized that the child was searching for Chantelle, who had finally woken up only to begin hallucinating in her native language. Still, he was awfully tempted to throttle the infant when she snatched his hat off of his head and tossed it into the ocean. Still, he managed to hold back his initial reaction and instead opted for pushing Mr. Gibbs in after the hat to retrieve it. What's more, his trademark smile once more adorned his face, although it seemed a bit more forced than before.
After a week and a half of forced exile from his rooms, Jack finally gave Joelle to Anna Maria and ventured into his quarters to get a bottle of his special rum. He was nearly back out the door, his liquor in hand, when he chanced a glance over at his bed. The sight was nerve-wrecking to say the least.
Chantelle's sunburn had already peeled and healed completely, leaving behind sickly pale skin except for her cheeks which were flushed with heat. She was little more than skin and bones; not surprising considering her illness wouldn't let anything stay in her stomach long enough to be digested. One hand restlessly plucked at the rosary that still hung around her neck while the other patted and smoothed the wrinkle sheets she was wrapped in. Her mouth moved as though she was speaking and as Jack moved closer, unaware of what he was doing, he could hear her chattering away to herself in French. When he neared the side of the bed, Chantelle looked up at him with blank eyes and spoke sincerely. "Je suis narvé désolé." She didn't seem to notice the confused look on Jack's face as she continued pleasantly. "Je vous remercie de votre hospitalité. Nous nous sommes bien amusés."
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Chantelle turned her head away for a moment. Jack nearly sighed in relief before he found himself once again lost in her lifeless gaze. "Garçon apportez-nous du pain, s'il vous plaît." At this point she smiled politely and grasped his hand in her own. Her fingers felt like ice, burning his skin with freezing fire. As he tried to pull away, the young woman pressed her other hand against his palm in a manner that suggested she thought she was handing him something. "Vous pouvez garder la monnaie."
Her task completed, she let go of Jack's hand and began to pluck at her necklace once again. Jack backed away, slowly at first, although gradually picking up speed so that when he backed into the door, he was nearly stumbling over himself in his haste.
The next morning Chantelle's fever broke only to be replaced by her screams of terror.
***
Kristin: Argh! These chapters seem to be getting shorter and shorter. I will try to make the next one longer. I mean it this time!
Now, nobody told me to kill Chantelle and there were several people who told me to keep her. (One person even suggested that I set her up with Jack. It does have possibilities, but I don't know if I'll do it.) She is getting better, but there is still a way that I can kill her. At the moment I think that I want her alive, but I'm just not sure how to work it if I have her recover. There are several paths I could follow and most all of them are calling to me. I suppose I will just have to decide when I get there.
Translations:
Je suis narvé désolé- I am terribly sorry.
Je vous remercie de votre hospitalité- Thank you for your hospitality.
Nous nous sommes bien amusés- We had a very good time.
Garçon apportez-nous du pain, s'il vous plaît- Waiter, bring us some bread, please.
Vous pouvez garder la monnaie- Keep the change.
Special Thanks:
Kalaratri- Thanks for the idea of having Joelle do something to his hat. *grins evily* If you have any other ideas that I can use, please tell me. I need more things to torture Jack with.
Miss-Taken-Love
Haeniliel
HealerAriel- *stares blankly for a moment* Want a job beta reading my French? It doesn't pay much, but you would get to read the chapters before anyone else.
Mona Lisa- I love your screen name.
T
Kolinshar Jackie-chan Benito- I know that I know your name. I finally remembered after beating my head against the wall for an hour asking how I knew your name. Nice to see you again!
Kate- Interesting idea, but I'm not sure if it will happen.
Min
Future tkd blackbelt
Seiko
T_Lev
Ermine aka Tree
Lt. Eagle Eyes
Kana- Got any real life experiences that I can play off of for torturing Jack?
Neola
Midnights shadow
Rogue Sparrow
Cassaddy- Yay! An actual critique! I love it when my work is critiqued, because then I can work to make it better. Let's see now, I don't care for the first chapter at all either, and when the story is over I might rewrite it. You're the first person who has told me to kill Chantelle. I'm starting to get a bit attached to her, but if I feel that I have to, then I'll kill. If she does die, then it won't be for a few more chapters.
Laurie
Lovely Lily- I'm jealous of her too.
Mariam- Anna Maria and Jack? *frowns slightly* No offense, but I always saw them as having more of a dysfunctional sibling relationship. However, Anna Maria will probably make an appearance in just about every chapter. Will that make you happy?
Celeste
Kristin: *stares at the readers in shock* After getting a grand total of four reviews for the first chapter I didn't think that this story would really capture the attention of anyone. *attempts to imitate one of Jack's grins and almost succeeds* You people are simply lovely and if anyone tells you different, then I'll smack them with a trout, savvy?
Also, I would like to apologize about the entire merde thing, offer thanks to all who told me what it meant (I was close!), and say that the error in translation should be fixed soon. The same goes for the entire 'Donner me Joelle' sentence.
***
After changing the first diaper of his life, Jack had a newfound respect for all mothers and nursemaids. He had never thought that changing a diaper could be so emotionally draining. His usual grin, which had already been absent most of the day, showed no signs of ever returning to its rightful place upon his face. It wasn't that Joelle was a particularly bad baby; it was just that she was the embodiment of all that was evil in the world and wanted to drive him insane. All that he wanted to do was curl up with his beautiful bottle of rum. He didn't need a woman at the moment; even just thinking about one for the time being reminded him that more Joelles could be created by the comfort he would have looked for. The rum would do just fine on its own. Speaking of his rum, where had it gotten to?
As he scanned the deck for signs of his rum, Jack slowly became aware of the unsteady clinking noise that was coming from behind him. It sounded almost like the noise of a bottle being rapped against the deck. Jack whirled around just in time to witness his precious bottle of rum being lifted by Joelle's wobbly baby arms. It wavered in the air for a moment before coming back down. Time seemed to slow as the bottle descended, hit the deck, and shattered. The scream that erupted from Jack's mouth made Joelle sound like an amateur.
*
Anna Maria emerged from the captain's quarters, now a makeshift hospital room, only to have her ears assaulted by the sound of heart-wrenching screams. She frowned and followed the sound of the cries, mentally preparing a lecture for her captain about not terrorizing children. To her shock Jack was the one who was nearly in tears by the time that she arrived. In fact, Joelle, who was sitting on the deck with a rather dangerous broken bottle, was gazing wide eyed at Jack with a look of awe on her little face. The look on Jack's face was composed of mourning, helplessness, and more than a little insanity. "Captain? What happened?"
"She. Demon child. Broken. Rum! My rum!" The last sentence, which had been said in a rather unmanly whine, clicked with the broken bottle, which Joelle was still playing with, and Anna Maria realized exactly what had happened. With a heavy sigh she took the broken glass pieces away from the baby, who gave a short shriek of indignation, tossed them over the side of the ship, and pull a flask of her own rum from her pocket to give to Jack. While he began to drain the contents, the female pirate lifted Joelle into her arms. Now that he was calmer Jack suddenly seemed to realize who was standing in front of him. "How is the girl's mother?"
Anna Maria raised her gaze from Joelle's huge, angelic eyes, which were making her maternal instincts kick in, and gave Jack an incredulous glance. "You actually care?"
Jack took another swig from the flask and nodded briskly. "The sooner the creature's mother is healthy, the sooner I can get rid of that little drool- maker, savvy?" Slap! "I didn't deserve that," Jack muttered as he rubbed his cheek.
"Honestly, Captain, it can't be that hard to take care of one baby." Jack's eyes took on a calculating look as he attempted to formulate a plan.
"Then why don't you take care of it and have one of the crew watch the woman who spawned it." Jack dodged the second slap, but Anna Maria's knee managed to catch him in the stomach, which was a bit more painful. Looked like his plan wasn't going to work after all.
"You are asking me to willingly hand over the well being of a defenseless woman to a group of men that are led by you," Anna Maria exclaimed while pressing Joelle back into his arms and snatching away her flask. " No. You will watch the baby, and I will watch Chantelle. I swear, you stupidity is amazing at times."
Jack pouted slightly at Joelle as Anna Maria stalked off. "And here I was thinking that I was the captain," he complained to the giggling baby.
*
Over the next several days Jack slowly became more accustomed to toting Joelle around with him nearly everywhere he went during the daytime; at night Anna Maria took her so that the crew, who Jack was bunking with due to his current lack of rooms, would be able to sleep without waking up every few hours for feedings or diaper changes. While he still didn't like the baby, he was beginning to look at her with more consideration. After the adventures of the first day Joelle calmed down considerably and began to constantly look around as though looking for something or someone. It wasn't until the third day that Jack realized that the child was searching for Chantelle, who had finally woken up only to begin hallucinating in her native language. Still, he was awfully tempted to throttle the infant when she snatched his hat off of his head and tossed it into the ocean. Still, he managed to hold back his initial reaction and instead opted for pushing Mr. Gibbs in after the hat to retrieve it. What's more, his trademark smile once more adorned his face, although it seemed a bit more forced than before.
After a week and a half of forced exile from his rooms, Jack finally gave Joelle to Anna Maria and ventured into his quarters to get a bottle of his special rum. He was nearly back out the door, his liquor in hand, when he chanced a glance over at his bed. The sight was nerve-wrecking to say the least.
Chantelle's sunburn had already peeled and healed completely, leaving behind sickly pale skin except for her cheeks which were flushed with heat. She was little more than skin and bones; not surprising considering her illness wouldn't let anything stay in her stomach long enough to be digested. One hand restlessly plucked at the rosary that still hung around her neck while the other patted and smoothed the wrinkle sheets she was wrapped in. Her mouth moved as though she was speaking and as Jack moved closer, unaware of what he was doing, he could hear her chattering away to herself in French. When he neared the side of the bed, Chantelle looked up at him with blank eyes and spoke sincerely. "Je suis narvé désolé." She didn't seem to notice the confused look on Jack's face as she continued pleasantly. "Je vous remercie de votre hospitalité. Nous nous sommes bien amusés."
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Chantelle turned her head away for a moment. Jack nearly sighed in relief before he found himself once again lost in her lifeless gaze. "Garçon apportez-nous du pain, s'il vous plaît." At this point she smiled politely and grasped his hand in her own. Her fingers felt like ice, burning his skin with freezing fire. As he tried to pull away, the young woman pressed her other hand against his palm in a manner that suggested she thought she was handing him something. "Vous pouvez garder la monnaie."
Her task completed, she let go of Jack's hand and began to pluck at her necklace once again. Jack backed away, slowly at first, although gradually picking up speed so that when he backed into the door, he was nearly stumbling over himself in his haste.
The next morning Chantelle's fever broke only to be replaced by her screams of terror.
***
Kristin: Argh! These chapters seem to be getting shorter and shorter. I will try to make the next one longer. I mean it this time!
Now, nobody told me to kill Chantelle and there were several people who told me to keep her. (One person even suggested that I set her up with Jack. It does have possibilities, but I don't know if I'll do it.) She is getting better, but there is still a way that I can kill her. At the moment I think that I want her alive, but I'm just not sure how to work it if I have her recover. There are several paths I could follow and most all of them are calling to me. I suppose I will just have to decide when I get there.
Translations:
Je suis narvé désolé- I am terribly sorry.
Je vous remercie de votre hospitalité- Thank you for your hospitality.
Nous nous sommes bien amusés- We had a very good time.
Garçon apportez-nous du pain, s'il vous plaît- Waiter, bring us some bread, please.
Vous pouvez garder la monnaie- Keep the change.
Special Thanks:
Kalaratri- Thanks for the idea of having Joelle do something to his hat. *grins evily* If you have any other ideas that I can use, please tell me. I need more things to torture Jack with.
Miss-Taken-Love
Haeniliel
HealerAriel- *stares blankly for a moment* Want a job beta reading my French? It doesn't pay much, but you would get to read the chapters before anyone else.
Mona Lisa- I love your screen name.
T
Kolinshar Jackie-chan Benito- I know that I know your name. I finally remembered after beating my head against the wall for an hour asking how I knew your name. Nice to see you again!
Kate- Interesting idea, but I'm not sure if it will happen.
Min
Future tkd blackbelt
Seiko
T_Lev
Ermine aka Tree
Lt. Eagle Eyes
Kana- Got any real life experiences that I can play off of for torturing Jack?
Neola
Midnights shadow
Rogue Sparrow
Cassaddy- Yay! An actual critique! I love it when my work is critiqued, because then I can work to make it better. Let's see now, I don't care for the first chapter at all either, and when the story is over I might rewrite it. You're the first person who has told me to kill Chantelle. I'm starting to get a bit attached to her, but if I feel that I have to, then I'll kill. If she does die, then it won't be for a few more chapters.
Laurie
Lovely Lily- I'm jealous of her too.
Mariam- Anna Maria and Jack? *frowns slightly* No offense, but I always saw them as having more of a dysfunctional sibling relationship. However, Anna Maria will probably make an appearance in just about every chapter. Will that make you happy?
Celeste
