Disclaimer:  Not mine.  See previous chapters for various denials of ownership.

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How many different ways can you say "Last Time?":

   Winn was about ready to die of embarrassment.  It was one thing to be caught alone with a man in her room.  It was another entirely to be caught on a bed with a man, even if they both had been upright still.  Trying to bring some order to her hair, Winn asked, "Alex, what are you doing here already?  I thought you weren't coming by until this afternoon."

   "Obviously.  It appears that you have more of a tale to tell than I imagined."

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Making her excuses to Jack (and feeling slightly relieved for the reason to leave) Winn dragged Alex downstairs into a rarely used parlor.  On her way there she noticed a distinct abundance of silence in the house.  No wonder no one came upstairs when Jack fired his gun – there was no one here to hear it. 

   "I hope you don't mind me interrupting, but no one answered the door."  Alex opened the door to the parlor for Winn, behaving the gentleman even though he wasn't even close to one.

   "No, that's perfectly alright.  Things were getting a little . . . carried away."  Winn nodded her thanks and watched as her friend closed the door.

   He turned and leaned against the door, his arms crossing over his chest.  "Well, consider me jealous.  That's a very fine man you've got up there.  I don't suppose there's any chance I could steal him from you, is there?"

   Winn rolled her eyes.  "I don't think he's your type."

   Alex sighed.  "That's too bad.  He has some amazing eyes.  Who is he anyway?"

   "The man in my room?"

   Alex raised an eyebrow to make it appear as if he were scandalized.  "Do you have another one stashed somewhere?"

   Winn blushed.  "No.  Just Jack."

   "Jack?"

   "Jack Sparrow."  She watched as her friend lost the scandalized look in favor of an incredulous one, his mouth dropping open slightly.  "Don't look at me like that, it makes me nervous."

   "When did you meet Jack Sparrow?  How did you meet Jack Sparrow?  It's not as if notorious captains hang around the type of establishments that you frequent."

   "What does that mean?  You make it sound as if I'm some respectable matron who only leaves her house to go to church and to conduct missions of mercy.  True, I may not spend a whole lot of time onboard pirate ships anymore, but I'm hardly isolated from that life."

   Alex studied her.  "I think that you need to tell me what's going on."  Before Winn could tell him that it was none of his business, he continued.  "All of it, spitfire.  Everything from when and how you met Jack Sparrow to why you were wandering around the docks alone last night."

   "Alex . . . ."  Winn hated answering to anyone.  It made her feel as if she had to justify herself and her decisions.  As if they wouldn't pass muster.

   "Are we friends?" he asked.  "Weren't we the two misfits who roamed this entire island together for years?  The ones who mocked all the normal citizens?  We've always been able to tell each other anything without fear of judgment.  We know more about each other than is safe for two people who aren't related."

   Winn sighed in defeat.  "I hate it when you do that."

   "Do what?"

   "Make me feel as if we're seventeen again and that a simple talk can resolve everything."  Collapsing into a nearby armchair, Winn motioned for Alex to have a seat.  "This is going to take awhile, especially if you interrupt me as much as you usually do."

   "I don't interrupt, I ask for clarification of important points."

   "You interrupt."  Winn noticed that fruit juice and two glasses had been provided for her recitation.  Pointing at the tray she said, "I thought you let yourself in."

   "I did, but I made a detour through the kitchen on my way upstairs.  Stop avoiding the issue."

   "Fine.  A month ago Grandfather sent me to Antigua to tie up some lose ends in a business deal he had going with a merchant there.  Afterwards, I was going to go to Port Royal to attend the wedding of two of my friends.  The only problem was that on my way to Jamaica, the Kestrel was intercepted by the Black Pearl . . . ."

Jack sat in Winn's room for another ten minutes or so.  Who is that man?  He wasn't sure that he liked the way that Winn reacted to him, or the way that he kept showing up and taking her attention. 

   Not that I'm jealous.  I'm the one that Winnie is marrying.  Jack smirked.  It looked like he had finally caught Winnie.  He didn't even mind that marriage had been the trap.  He may have liked being thoroughly disreputable, but Winnie only half enjoyed it.  If he had to marry her to keep her, so be it.  He had every confidence that he could make marriage just as disreputable as simply shacking up with someone.  It'd take some creativity, but not a whole lot – this was going to be a pirate marriage after all.

   Looking up from his thoughts, he found Will in the doorway inspecting what was left of the lock.  "I see you decided to forgo keys once again."

   "Don't look at me, mate.  The last two cells I broke out of were all your doing."

   Will looked up, semi-indignant.  "Were not."

   "When you broke me out of jail and that idea of yours to load the Interceptor's cannon with silverware.  I certainly didn't come up with that.  I might have, given the time and resources . . ." Jack shrugged.  "However, the fact remains that you have a worse record with destroying locks than I do."

   Will grinned.  "I notice you didn't say 'evading locks.'"

   "Of course not.  That's because I know how to pick a lock without destroying it."

   Surveying Winn's bedroom door skeptically, Will said, "It certainly doesn't look that way.  By the way, why was it necessary to shoot the lock off Winn's door?"

   Jack got off the bed.  Coming to stand by the younger man, he slung an arm around his shoulders.  "That, my friend, is a story best told over a good bottle of rum."

   From the scent on Jack's breath, Will would have said that he had been telling tales for some time now, but he wasn't going to mention it.  "And the door?"

   "I decided it would be more impressive than simply picking the lock."

The two friends sat in silent contemplation after Winn finished her tale.  It had taken the better part of two hours to tell since Alex had been unable to resist adding his own commentary.  Fed up, Winn had finally told him to shut up or forfeit hearing the rest of the story – that had cut back on his smart aleck comments which was more than Winn had expected would happen.

   Finally looking up from the rug, Alex said, "So, you're finally getting married.  I can see why you'd be wandering the docks instead of cuddling up with the sexy captain in your room."

   "I wasn't going to marry him last night, Alex.  Grandfather saved that surprise for today."  Winn rested her head against the back of her chair.  "And despite what you saw earlier, I'm starting to wonder if this is a good idea."

   "Why's that?  From what you've told me, your captain sounds at least as stubborn as you are, if not as visibly so.  Besides, you're already told both him and your grandfather that you'd marry him.  By now the rest of your family must know.  I sincerely doubt that you'll be able to get out of this easily."

   "I don't want to get out of it.  I want to marry Jack.  It's just that . . . it's just that I'm about to get married to a man I don't really know anything about and that's bad enough.  What's worse is, I don't even really know anything about myself.  I've avoided deep reflection on who I am, and why I do things, and what I like and what I dislike.  It just doesn't seem like a good idea to go into this marriage while I'm still a stranger to myself.  So I'm torn between going through with it and running away."  Winn looked at her friend.  Despite his occasionally foppish appearance, he was a pretty smart guy.  "What do you think I should do?"

   "I can't tell you what to do, Winn."

   "Then give me advice.  I don't ask everyone for advice – you should be honored."

   Alex sat quietly, thinking for several moments.  Winn had managed to get into quite a predicament.  "Okay, two questions.  Do you love him?"

   "Love him?"  Winn sounded lost.  Her mind was screaming warning against such a condition, the habits instilled over more than a decade refusing to roll over and die easily.  But thought of the concept brought a strange peace to the itch her soul had been suffering – as if the word was a balm that was healing a dryness inside her.

  "Yeah, love him.  If you don't, don't marry him.  If you do, then do it.  So?"

   Winn sat.  The ticking of the clock on the mantle was loud in her silence.  "What if I think I might love him but I'm not happy about it?"

   Alex laughed.  "I'm not sure I expected anything less from you, spitfire.  I think that admission is enough to be working off of.  So you marry him."

   Winn nodded, glad to have that out of the way.  It was the right thing to do, and her friend had confirmed that.  "You said you had two questions.  You've only asked one.  What's the second one?"  

   "What do you want to do about your little identity crisis?"

   Winn looked at her hands.  "Good question, but seeing as how I just defined my problem a few hours ago, and I've been talking to you for the past two, I haven't really gotten the chance to figure that out.  I know that I need to come to terms with my past, and the best way to do that is to go back to England, but how can I do that?  How can I just leave right after my wedding?  This isn't the sort of thing that should be put off, and it's not the sort of thing that can do with the help of other people.  It's something I need to do by myself – but how do you tell that to a person you've only just married?"

   "Okay, that's where you're bogging down."  Winn looked up.  "You're worrying about what someone else is going to think about something that you need to do for your own good."

   "But it doesn't only affect me – it'll affect Jack too.  Shouldn't I think about that?"

   "In most cases, yes.  But this will affect him only in terms of your absence.  It will affect you in nearly every part of your life.  If this man loves you as much as you deserve, then he'll either understand and wait for you to come back to him, or he'll chase after you to bring you home."

   "Still, I think I should talk to him about it."

   Alex shrugged.  "That is entirely up to you.  You asked for my advice, there it is.  Let me know if there's anyway I can help you out with this.  I'm actually leaving Tuesday on a run to England." 

   Winn looked at him strangely.  "Won't that interfere in your 'business'?"

   "Nah.  The authorities around here are starting to get suspicious.  I'll do this run then come back and pick up the smuggling where I left off."  Alex shrugged.  "Besides, the governor of Inagua is paying me an outrageous fee to take the widow he's been keeping back to England."

   Winn laughed.  "Trust you to get caught up in something so disreputable."

   Her friend stood up in preparation to leave.  He shrugged, a broad grin on his face.  "What can I say?  Respectability is for –"

   "– rich men and dead men.  I know."  Winn also stood up and hugged her friend.  "You've been a big help."  Opening the door, one of her arms still around his waist and one of his around her shoulder, they walked out of the room.  "I'll keep your offer in mind.  Where I can I reach you if I need to send you a note or something?"

   Alex gave her the name of the inn he was staying at, then left.  Winn stood in the foyer for another minute or so before deciding that the mid-morning nap she had come back to the house for earlier was entirely overdue. 

It didn't take long for the two men to "liberate" a bottle of rum from the kitchen.  They decided to go back to Jack's room with it, Will refusing to let his quarters start smelling like the stuff.  Elizabeth would be less than pleased when she came home if her room resembled a tavern in odor.

   "That woman is no fun, William m'boy.  How she can dislike rum . . . ."  Jack shook his head.  "It just breaks my heart.  Where is the little woman, anyway?  It's rare to find you two apart these days."

   "She decided to go along with the Morgans on their expedition.  Can you imagine having fourteen children in one family?  Frankly, I think it's giving Elizabeth ideas."  Jack and Will both shuddered, one from a lifelong evasion of children, the other from the thought of becoming a father.  "Don't get me wrong, Jack.  I wouldn't mind having children with Elizabeth some day, just not now."

   "I completely understand."

   Will looked at Jack as if he had grown a horn in the middle of his forehead.  "What do you mean 'you understand'?  It's not as if you're in a position of imminent fatherhood."

   "Ah, but that's where you're wrong, lad."  Jack saw Will's eyes widen in astonishment which quickly changed to anger.

   "Please tell me you haven't gotten Winn pregnant."  Jack spewed his mouthful of rum across the room at the request.  "Tell me that's not the reason you had to shoot the lock off her door."   

   "Bloody 'ell, Will!  Watch yer tongue!  Of course I haven't gotten Winnie pregnant!  What do you take me for?"

   "A pirate, as you seem so fond of pointing out."

   "I may be pirate, but I have more sense than to go sleepin' with women who'll hold me accountable for such things."

   Will was beginning to relax.  "So you and Winn haven't . . ." he gestured vaguely.

   "No. Which is not to say that we won't.  In fact, I'd say it's merely a matter of time now."  Now that he was over his scare, Jack was enjoying paying Will back for managing to shock him.  It was enjoyable to rattle the boy's cage.  He responded so predictably.

   "Jack, you can't just go around seducing respectable ladies.  Especially ones who are friends of mine."

   Jack widened his eyes in faux innocence.  "Who said she was respectable?  Or anything about seducing her?  In fact, I can honestly say that this is all her grandfather's idea."

   "Captain Morgan wants you to bed his granddaughter?"  Will was so confused.  If Jack didn't come out and tell him what was going on, Will was likely to hurt him.  He took another sip of rum instead, grimacing as it burned his throat.

   Jack watched this with amusement.  Clearly, the boy needed the opportunity to drink more.  When he was certain that he wasn't going to make Will choke, Jack said glibly, "No, not at all.  Captain Morgan wants me to marry Winnie.  Pass the rum."

   Having slipped the important information into the conversation in such a matter of fact tone, it took Will a moment to realize what he had said.  When he did, his grip loosened on the bottle.  Luckily Jack had been somewhat prepared for this and was able to catch the bottle before it hit the floor.

   "Tell me that you're not suggesting what I think you are."  Will's mind was boggling.  The very idea that Jack was trying to tell him that he was getting married was only outdistanced in outlandishness by the thought that he was getting married to Winn.  He had never seen two people more determined to remain single.

   Jack took a drink of the rum, once again marveling at the quality of the stuff before answering Will.  With a self-assured smirk on his face, Jack said, "I'm not suggestin' anything of the sort, lad."  Will seemed to sag with relief.  As he took his own turn with the bottle, Jack said, "What I'm telling you is that Winnie and I are getting hitched on Saturday."  For the second time that day, rum was spewed across the room.

Winn approached her room and saw the ruin that was her door.  There's no way I'll get any sleep if I can't close my door.  Who knows when the family will be back?  She was very disappointed.  She had really been looking forward to getting a nap.  While it was only a few minutes past noon she was still tired from the day before.  From her outburst of the night before, from Grandfather's newest announcement, Jack's not-quite-declaration of love (he had never actually said he loved her), and all the emotional turmoil those incidents involved.  Her head was starting to ache, the lump on the back of it starting to gently throb.

   She leaned against her doorframe wondering what she should do.  She'd go sleep in one of the rooms allotted her family if she had any guarantee that no one would barge in on her.  None of the rooms downstairs were comfortably equipped for nappers, not to mention the fact that they were rather accessible by anyone in the house.  She considered finding out if she could use Elizabeth's and Will's room, but the thought of sleeping in a bed shared by newlyweds made her discard that idea rather quickly. 

   Jack.  I could ask Jack if I could sleep in his room.  She briefly wondered if that would be safe without the threat of being interrupted by small children at any time.  Maybe that's not such a bright idea.  Still, the idea of seeing Jack was too tempting to ignore.  Maybe he would let her ask questions about him for once.  She would like to get to know the man she was marrying a bit better.

   Winn was amazed at her willingness to go through with this marriage.  If her Grandfather had said anything to her about this even a month or two before, she would have run away and never come back.  A few weeks ago she would have fought tooth and nail to avoid such a fate.  But now . . . Jack had managed to change her mind somehow.  Had made her willing to trust him with the thawing, icebound remains of her heart.  It was painful at the same time that it was freeing.  I wonder if this is what Cat was talking about when it came to recognizing love?

   She went to his room at the end of the hallway.  About to knock on the door, Winn realized that unless Jack was talking to himself with different voices, then he had someone in his room.  She could barely hear their voices through the door, but every once and awhile she'd be able to catch a word or a phrase.  Leaning closer to the door, she recognized the other voice – Jack was talking to Will.  She was about to knock on the door, knowing that she either needed to leave or announce herself instead of eavesdropping.  But their conversation caught her up before her knuckles made contact with the door.

   ". . . love that ship."  Winn recognized Jack's voice and had to smile at his admission of love for what was essentially a hollow block of wood.  She didn't keep smiling for long though.  ". . . my own piece of freedom . . . women tie a man down . . . except for her . . . reminds me . . . ball and chain . . . getting old and rusty . . . flat . . . not the beauty she used to be . . . ."

   Winn stood outside Jack's door long enough for to hear Will reply in an affirmative and supportive tone.  I don't think I need to hear any more.  She backed away from the door with a spinning head and a breaking heart.  I knew there was a good reason to not love people.

   Winn escaped to the room, though even there she was only reminded of Jack's violation in her life.  She couldn't shut and lock her door any more than she could shut and lock her heart.  If that's how he feels about me, then why is he going through with this marriage?  Is he thinking that somehow he'll get something through me should Grandfather die?  That doesn't seem likely.  And after overhearing that, I highly doubt he's doing it because he simply wants to bed me.  Was this more of his "revenge"?

   Winn slowly collapsed on her bed, hugging a pillow to her middle.  It smelled like Jack.  For the second time in under twenty-four hours, tears escaped Winn's eyes.  She had never felt so bad.  So betrayed.  So naked.

   A part of her was trying to fight her doubts, the same part that had pointed out that she was in love with Jack.  It was a traitorous little voice.  And if he was talking about something or someone else?  Then you're making a rather large deal over nothing.  Why don't you go ask what he was talking about?  Then if you're right you can hurt him as much as he's hurt you.

  Winn closed her eyes.  It's better to be wrong and stop hurting as soon as possible than to be proven right and never stop hurting.  It's easier to give up, to call it quits.  To believe that I'm my mother's daughter.  That he is still trying to reap revenge for showing him up in Tortuga.  Besides, what else could he have been talking about?

   You're a coward.

   Yes.

   So what are you going to do?  Hide in here for the rest of your life?  Become an old woman who does nothing but bemoan the fact that she's old, alone, and miserable?

   Winn was getting annoyed with this voice.  Here she was wanting to simply lie in her room doing nothing for eternity, and it was goading her into action.  What would you have me do?

   What do you want to do?

   Revenge . . . whispered her mind.  Yes, that sounds appropriate.  If that man wants to marry me, then he will.  A plan was forming in her mind, temporarily blocking out the hurt.  While it brought her no comfort, no pleasure, it was better than doing nothing.  She couldn't sit by and marry man who said he needed her but in reality found her to be no more than a weight around his neck.

   She got up from her bed and went to her desk while she still had the energy.  After several moments of scribbling she had a note to send to Alex.  He had offered help, so she would take it. 

   She jerked on the bellpull in her room waiting for a servant to appear.  A maid presented herself momentarily.  "Give this to one of the boys to take to this address."  She pointed out the address written on the front of the small missive.

   "Yes miss."  The young woman left.  As Winn listlessly watched her descend the stairs, she head several doors slam, a rumbling sound, and the cries of excited children.  They crested the stairs like an ocean wave, coming to dance around her, each trying to explain the wonders they had seen before the rest could.  Winn simply stood and listened to them, nodding and murmuring, "That's nice."  This continued until the women came up the stairs and saw her.

   There must have been something in her face or posture that indicated a smidgen of what she was feeling.  The mothers shooed all there offspring back down the stairs saying that their aunt needed a nap.  Then, before Winn could escape, they descended on her.

   "Winn, you're as white as a sheet.  What's wrong?"  "Winn, Grandfather says that you've agreed to marry Captain Sparrow.  Why?  Give us details.  "Winn, when was the last time you ate?"

    It was all too much for Winn.  She felt tears start trailing down her cheeks at the same time that the room started to spin.  A lack of sleep when combined with a lack of nourishment and an abundance of shock did what it had failed the day before.  Winn's knees buckled underneath her.  Slowly sinking to the carpet, she listened as the voices of her friends and sisters became faint, overpowered by a buzzing in her ears.  It was suddenly too hard to keep her eyes open.  For the first time in her life, Winn Morgan fainted.

Winn awoke to find all of her sister-in-laws, plus Elizabeth, gathered around her.  "What happened?"

   Elizabeth had the nerve to snort in disbelief.  "You, my dearest friend, just preformed one of the most graceful swan dives I've seen executed on dry land."

   "I fainted?  Oh.  That's what I thought happened."

   Cat rolled her eyes.  "Enough.  Bed.  Now."  She helped Winn to stand.  "The past day has obviously been overwhelming for you.  You are not getting out of that bed until tomorrow, and we are going to leave you alone." 

   The rest of the women started protesting this.  They wanted to have a gab-fest over the news of Winn's engagement.  They had questions to find answers for, opinions to give, and advice to dispense.  Cat knew this because she was feeling the same way.  "No.  If you have something to ask, go ask Grandfather – this is all his mess anyway.  Shoo."  She chased them all out of the room.

   Winn was climbing out of her clothing, preparing to go to bed.  Cat came over to her, concern on her face.  "Winn, are you sure that exhaustion is the only reason you just passed out?  I want to believe that but your eyes are telling another story all together."

   Winn shook her head, not denying anything but also not agreeing to anything.  "To tell you the truth, I'm still exhausted from yesterday.  I'm sore from being thrown around, and my mind is still recovering from the news that I have to be married by Saturday.  Also, I think the significance of what I agreed to do is finally settling in."

   "You mean from agreeing to marry Captain Sparrow."

   Winn nodded.  "It's as if all the possible consequences of that suddenly opened up before me like a washed out path."

   "Sounds like you have cold feet."  Winn looked at her sister-in-law with reproach on her face.  Reaching out to stroke Winn's hair, Cat said, "I know it doesn't feel like that right now, but it's likely that's all you're feeling.  Don't try to tell me it's regret, because I know you.  If you didn't want to get married to Sparrow, you wouldn't have agreed.  You would have talked until you were blue in the face to argue Grandfather around."  Cat kissed Winn's forehead.  "Now get to bed.  I'll come up later this afternoon with some soup or something."

   "That sounds good."

   "I know.  Now get into bed.  I want to see you rested when I come back up here."  Cat left the room, managing to pull and keep the door shut somehow.

   Winn felt herself start fighting her eyelids to keep them open.  At least part of what she had told Cat was true.  She was tired.  She was realizing the consequences of marrying Jack Sparrow.  And most importantly, and the thing that confused her the most – she still wanted to marry him, if for no other reason than she would somehow always have a hold over him as he had a hold over her.

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   To give Jack some credit, he and Will had not been discussing Winn for the majority of the time that she had thought that they had.  After Will had recovered from the shock of finding out that Jack was not joking about getting married, and certainly not joking about marrying Winn, their discussion had turned into a type of drunken celebration and philosophical discussion.  The conversation that Winn had overheard and mistaken for a betrayal on Jack's part had actually gone like this:

   "What are you going t'do after getting married, Jack?  I don't see you livin' on land somewhere with a passel of children and a dog and a house. . . ."  Will trailed off at Jack's horrified look.

   "No.  No, no, no.  I'll be takin' Winnie back to the Pearl with me.  By her own confession she's used to spendin' time on ships.  Why would it bother her to live on one now?  Besides, I only just got my Pearl back . . . I love that ship."  Jack stared out his window as if he could actually see his precious boat in the cove outside the house.   

   "Y'know Will, I used to see the Black Pearl as my own piece of freedom.  I didn't need anythin' else to make me happy, besides the occasional woman and the occasional bottle of rum. Women tie a man down, that was what I thought."  He fell silent.

   When Jack went several moments without talking, Will prodded him.  "And what do you think now, now that you're facing an end to your bachelorhood?"

   "I think that women still tie a man down . . . except for her.  Winnie is more like an anchor, although I can't explain that statement right now, so don't ask me to.  Maybe, and this is just only inside the realm of conceivability, but maybe I'd even give up the Pearl for her, although I can't be sure of that."  Jack's statement woke something that had been sleeping in the back of head.  "That reminds me, the Pearl's ball and chain . . ."

   "Her what?"

   "Her sea anchor – it's shaped like a ball with a chain on it.  Anyway, it's gettin' old and rusty . . ." he gestured as if looking for a certain word.  ". . . flat.  Surely not the beauty she used to be.  I need to replace her and wondered if you had the name of a good place to get one."

   Will looked at Jack quizzically.  "You realize that I only know the names of respectable blacksmiths, correct?"

   Jack looked at Will as if he had said something incredibly stupid.  "Lad, when are you going to learn that respectability is only determined by the amount of money it takes to bribe someone?"

Dinner that night was a rather ebullient affair.  The news of Winn and Jack's imminent nuptials had everyone making jokes and quips about how unexpected this was, and how shocking, and what did she see in him and vice versa.  Jack put up with it good naturedly, although all he really wanted to do was go upstairs and talk to Winn.  She hadn't come down for dinner, and while he had heard about her small bout of unconsciousness, he had a feeling that there was more to it than that.

   Nay, it's not even a feeling.  More of an intuition, which is completely useless.  While Jack's "intuition" had kept him alive or out from behind bars in more than one circumstance, he hadn't the slightest idea what to do when it came to it and Winn.  What did he know about women other than the fact they were soft, smelled good, and were pleasant company (most of the time)?  Yet he was unable to shake the sense that something big was about to happen.

   He wasn't able to escape the table until half-past ten.  Cat had come and gone to feed the woman upstairs, and the rest of the women had left to put children to bed.  Well, that's not quite true; Elizabeth was still at the table with Will.  From the looks she was shooting Jack he assumed it had less to de with wanting to spend time with her husband and more with wanting to ensure that Jack didn't get him drunk again.

   The men of the Morgan family were busy dispensing advice to Jack about marriage.  It seemed to be a tradition that married Morgan men informed their brethren who were preparing to join their ranks.  While Jack found it slightly ridiculous, he wasn't about to discount anything they said.  A smart captain gathered information from reliable sources before setting out for the unknown.

   They made Will start since he had been married for the least amount of time.  Slanting a look at his wife who was still present, Will had muttered something about respecting your wife's wishes.  Jack had nodded solemnly at this bit of guidance, but his eyes had been dancing with mild mockery.  The boy is smitten.

   Marcus' counsel was how remember to love your wife even while she was driving you mad by getting into one mess after another.  And how to cherish the fact that with such a wife, life was never boring.

   Richard simply said to listen to what your wife had to say – not just her words, but to her heart which would be shown in her face and her manner.  This carried some weight, considering that Richard's own wife was mute.  But that only meant that he had had experience with the finer points of non-verbal communication.

   Ry's big piece of advice was that you couldn't simply order a woman to do something because it never worked.  Woman thought, perhaps more than men, and if you wanted them to do something you either asked, begged, or reasoned with them – and if you were going to reason with them, you'd best make sure that you knew what you were talking about, otherwise they'd poke holes in your argument until it resembled a tattered spider-web.  "In other words, pick your fights.  Which brings us to the only piece of advice that we all agree with." 

   In concert, the Morgan men said, "There's nothing a kiss can't fix if you mean it."

   "And that means exactly what?"

   "That means that women have this otherworldly ability to tell when you're kissing them to change a topic, to divert their minds, or get them to do what you want.  However, a kiss that is delivered because you love them and for no other reason, with no other goal in mind, not even sex?  They can't resist it.  It'll solve all your problems."

   While Jack doubted the veracity of this statement, he wasn't going to say anything.  Who knows, they might be right.  I've never been married before.

   Now that the younger men had spoke, Captain Morgan prepared to give his advice.  "Lad, I was married for forty-three years.  In that time I learned many things.  What I learned the most from my wife, Isabella, was that as much as you love a woman you can't hold on to them.  No woman likes to feel trapped, and that goes doubly so for my granddaughter.  However, even though you can't hold on to them too tightly, you also can't simply let them go about on their own.

   "I did that once.  Isa and I had had a fight, a real bad one over how she felt I was smothering her in caution.  She ended up running away because she couldn't take it anymore."  Morgan's eyes clouded with remembrance.  "I let her go and I didn't go after her, thinking that was what she wanted.  She returned three months later demanding to know why I hadn't come after her."  He smiled.  "A contrary woman, my Isa.  But no less or more contrary than any woman."

   Morgan looked at Jack.  "A woman doesn't want a keeper and she doesn't want to live with some aloof person who acts as if he couldn't care less whether or not she was around.  A woman wants a partner.  She wants to be able to depend on someone and yet be depended on.  If you go into this marriage understanding that, then you'll be going in more prepared than most husbands.  Just remember to go after her when she runs away, whether that be physically or emotionally, because not all women come back."



   Winn woke up much later that night to find her lamp lit, her "fiancé" sitting in a chair by her bed, and every single one of her nieces and nephews in her bed.  Jack was simply sitting there and watching her.  It made her feel somewhat self-conscious, as if he knew what she was planning.  Which was ridiculous.

   "How long have you been sitting there?" she asked quietly, not wanting to care but unable to stop herself from asking.

   Jack shrugged.  "An hour or two.  Couldn't sleep."  When she didn't respond to this in anyway beyond a slow blink of her eyes, Jack asked his own question.  "What's wrong, love?  I'm not sure that I believe that the indestructible Winn Morgan was felled simply by exhaustion."

   It was Winn's turn to shrug.  "I'm fine.  Just a little tired still.  Perhaps a bit in shock from everything that happened today."  She didn't see that she was lying.  Not telling the whole truth?  Perhaps.  But she was definitely in shock from the day's events.  "How is everyone taking everything?"

   Jack hung his head backwards in exasperation.  "Those sister-in-laws of yours are bloody nuisances.  All they want are details, and answer this now, and how do you feel about this and that.  If I didn't know better I'd say that you staged that faint just to avoid them."

   It wasn't them I was trying to avoid . . . .

  Looking back at Winn with a wicked twinkle in his eye, he said, "I would have tried the same thing, but it's not manly to faint."  Winn didn't laugh, didn't crack a smile.  Jack saw this.  Something was wrong.  Winn had been somewhat relaxed with him the past few days, but right now she was starting to resemble the woman he had met aboard the Kestrel – untouchable.

   "Com'on, love.  I know something's going through that head of yours.  What is it?"

   Oh, nothing much.  I'm just thinking about how nice it would be if you weren't liar and you actually cared about me.  If you didn't love a ship more than me.  How nice it would be if I didn't care.  Once again not-exactly-lying, she said, "Nothing much.  I'm just trying to adjust to all this.  So much has happened in the past two days that I'm having a hard time coming to terms with it all."

   Jack reached over and took her hand, playing with the fingers, feeling the texture of her skin with his fingertips, tickling the palm.  It was such a normal thing for an engaged man to do, and done so casually that Winn suspected that he was more than just a little drunk.  The way he was touching her was making her want to forgive whatever he had been saying earlier, but she knew that if she did she would possibly be devoting herself to lifetime of being taken for granted.  The plan she had come up with was a good one.  If it worked, she would know just where she stood with Jack.

   She reluctantly pulled her hand away.  "I'm tired," she whispered.  "I'd like to get some more sleep before tomorrow.  Undoubtedly my sisters will want to run thousands of details past me about the wedding.  I don't know why – they'll do what they want anyway – but I'd like to be awake for it.  It's possible that I'll be able to put a stop to any outlandish foolishness."  She looked away from Jack, focusing on the portrait on her nightstand – one she had drawn of her and Grandmother covered in dirt from the garden.  "You should go."

   Jack didn't want to go.  He wanted to stay until Winn told him what was really on her mind.  But he realized that this was just as new to her as it was to him.  Perhaps even newer.  He at least had some experience with the opposite sex – she had none outside of her family . . . and that man who was constantly coming by.  He'd give her her space as Captain Morgan had suggested.

   Leaning over, he planted a soft kiss on her lips.  "As long as you're sleeping, why don't you dream of me?"

   With sleep making her tongue loose, she replied, "I'm not sure I could avoid it."