Author's Note: Just to make sure everyone is clear on this- Jack and Dinah are going to spend a week on Barbados with Jack's mother, Katherine. While Jack and Dinah are there, the rest of the crew are leaving…going to pillage and piratey stuff, they'll come back to pick up Jack and Dinah, and from there…who knows? Only the writer…
PS/ Thanks Amy85 I like her nickname too. It took me a while tho…
Jack turned around and watched, regretfully, as the Pearl left the port of Bridgetown. He sighed; there goes my last chance of escaping from this he- Jacks thoughts were interrupted by his mother, enveloping him with a hug. He turned the hug, even though he wasn't liking the idea with a whole week with her, he still loved her.
"You finally remembered your son," Jack said as they pulled apart. She looked him in the eye and smiled.
"Why Jackson, are you being smart with me?"
He smirked, "No mum,"
"Good! Now! Come walk with me and tell me everything!" The three walked slowly to her large house, with Katherine in the middle.
Jack started telling his mother about how they were raiding a ship and then Ana stumbled upon Dinah. Jack took her and thought that Katherine would enjoy a little company with an old friend. Katherine nodded politely and Dinah noticed that Jack enjoyed telling his mom about ships he had raided, that it was somewhat of a bragging thing for him. She smiled to herself about learning something new about Jack.
Once they had gotten to the house Dinah's nose smelled the familiar scent of pears. Dinah's head suddenly flooded with memories of Fresh pear pie and a young Jack Sparrow, telling her to stop eating and go to town with him. She had stopped in the doorway, smelling the sweet scent when Katherine called her name; she opened her eyes and realized where she was.
She smiled an apology and caught up with the two of them. Katherine led the two upstairs, she opened a door to reveal Jack's old room, exactly the same since Dinah was there last.
Next she went down the hall to the room Dinah used two years ago. Katherine opened it and Dinah smiled. She found her window open, with flowing curtains, lightly flying from the wind. The room looked out onto the ocean and it smelled salty and fresh.
"Thank you so much, Katherine."
"No trouble, peanut. But I have something to tell the both of you."
They waited.
"I have to make dinner, so I'll have to ask you to stay out of the kitchen. Either stay in your rooms or leave the house."
"Mum, you have the study, and many other rooms!" Jack protested, but Katherine wouldn't hear of it. She left, shaking her head. Jack and Dinah looked at each other.
"Don't look at me; I'm not staying with you." Dinah said and went in and slammed her door.
Jack rolled his eyes and walked out of the house and slammed the door.
Dinah spent the rest of the afternoon sitting at her window and writing in her journal, and watching Jack on the beach. In three hours she had written a jumble of words and letters and old memories, somehow all relating to her current problem.
Jack Cared for me…the first woman he ever cared for…but doesn't want me on his ship…thinks I analyze everything he says…thinks I'm difficult…well he's one to talk! He's a pirate…Mmmm pears are so good…that makes me hungry…I'm really hungry in fact…did I give him my heart two years ago? If I did, what did he give me? A useless commitment that he wanted me to follow! HA!...he's a jealous pirate. Duh. All pirates are jealous…of their treasure…but all treasure is really is things that cost a lot…worth a lot to people…Peanut…wow…what a name…
Dinah felt another person in the room soon after that. She turned and saw Katherine. Relived that it was her she asked what was wrong.
"Now correct me if I'm wrong, peanut, but shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Dinah sighed and shut her journal. "Me and Jack talked before we got here…"
"And?"
"Well to sum it up…he told me that he wants me on his ship." Katherine dug into Dinah's soul tenderly, and she kept going, "But the thing is I can't depend on what he wants now. I mean, he may want me now, but one false move and I'm gone."
"And you don't want to be gone…"
Dinah nodded. "Unfortunately yes. But I'm not really sure why. I'm attracted to him yes, and in some ways he still has such a hold on my heart! And he has no idea how he feels for me…and I can't keep responding to his affections if I don't know where it's leading."
Katherine smiled slightly and padded the spot on the bed next to her. Dinah got up from her spot and sat next to Katherine. "Peanut, I've told you about my John, haven't I?" Dinah nodded, Katherine was talking about Jack's dad. "John was a curious, handsome, mischievous, fun man. When I first met him I knew that I loved him. When we started spending time together my head got the better of me…I started thinking about where it was leading and 'what if this' and 'what if that'. I got lost in all my 'what ifs' that I forgot that I loved him. I finally told myself that if he didn't feel the same way then he wouldn't be with me and he wouldn't have been telling me the things he was."
"Yes, but what if he's doing that just to bed you?"
"You'll know. But anyhow, we produced Jack. And John stayed by my side the whole time. Yes, he had to go out on his ship, and I understood that…after a while. One gets jealous of the sea, peanut. You see, the sea isn't just transportation. Men get lost out there, and not because they don't have a compass, but because they fall in love with it. But one fateful day, my John died." Katherine paused, as if remembering the day she learned that the love of her life was gone.
"What I'm trying to tell you, peanut," Katherine continued, "Is that you need to let your heart guide you. I know that you're not going to go get yourself pregnant, but that's because we're two different women, but every woman wants, even needs, a commitment from the man that she so desires. For John, staying with me during pregnancy was the commitment I needed. For you it's going to be different, but don't figure it out too late luv, savvy?"
Dinah took the words to heart during dinner that night and barely finished her chicken because she was thinking about what Katherine had told her. After a slice of pie Dinah went out and sat on the porch swing. She was picking hairs off her dress when she heard the door open and close behind her. She uncrossed her legs and put them under the swing and crossed them at the ankle. Jack sat down.
"Pretty sunset, ain't it?"
Dinah nodded. They both sat there for a few minutes looking at the night sky and how well it blended with the ocean. Then they both started off at the same time.
"Dinah,"
"Jack,"
Dinah giggled and Jack told her to go first. Dinah paused, wanting to hear what Jack was going to say, but said what was on her mind anyway. "You really want me on your ship?"
Jack turned his head and looked at her in the eyes, "Can we just dance?"
Dinah looked confused, Jack quickly explained himself. "Do you remember when we danced barefoot in the sand during the sunset? You said that it was all the music we needed…"
"I remember that you stepped on my feet!" Dinah replied, giggling, but when she met Jack's gaze she knew it was serious, "You remember what I said?"
Jack nodded feeling a tad bit ridiculous, but if Dinah would forget about the words he had spoken earlier that had hurt her, it was worth it. She smiled and shed her heels; Jack followed the example and took off his sea boots. He stood up and offered his hand. She took it and they walked hand-in-hand to the beach. She suddenly remembered how his hand fit perfectly in hers, how rough his hands were, and how lightly he held hers.
Katherine looked out her window just in time to see two figures dancing in front of the setting sun, their moving bodies making shadows on the sand. She was glad to know that her son didn't have that big of an ego to go back and renew memories from the past. She smiled and went upstairs.
The next morning Dinah had gotten up early to go sit and watch the ocean on the front porch. But when she was all huddled up and ready to go outside she saw someone that she had forgotten lived here.
Jack nearly fell out of his bed when he heard Dinah scream. But when he raced down stairs he processed it and realized that it wasn't necessarily a bad scream. When he saw her huddled over something by the front door he knew she was okay. She turned her head and smiled widely at Jack, because the thing she was petting was Betty, Katherine's sow, and around Betty was a bunch of piglets that only looked a few weeks old. Betty's bed was right next to the door, somehow Dinah had missed that yesterday.
She picked up each and every piglet and pet it and played with it. Everyone looked different, some had spots, some were colored, but everyone was adorable to Dinah. Jack leaned against the wall and watched lovingly as Dinah went through all seven piglets. Katherine came up beside Jack and he kissed her on the cheek. She smiled and went to Dinah.
"Didn't forget about Betty, did you dear?"
"Yes! And I can't believe she's had babies! They're adorable!"
"Yes…first litters usually are."
Dinah gasped and looked Katherine, "You mean there's going to be more?!"
Katherine laughed and nodded, "But not in the near future Betty just lost her 'gilt' title last week! If you were here sooner, then you could've seen it."
"If she was here sooner…then I would've to pick her up in Bermuda." Jack answered, "Now mum, where's breakfast? I'm starved."
"You must be…from staying out so late…" Katherine said and looked at Jack with a sly look. He lifted an eyebrow and decided to leave it at that.
"Oh, I miss Wilbur…" Dinah moaned.
"Who's that, peanut?"
"He's a pig I bought in New York…he got killed…" Dinah said getting up from the pigs. It was feeding time.
"Well luv, if you wanted one, you could've just asked."
Dinah's eyes widened and she smiled, "Are you serious! Oh my gosh, Katherine, thank you so much! And I'll be perfectly content with the runt of the litter!" She ran over and hugged Katherine.
"Goodness child! Calm down! Now sit down and wait for breakfast."
After breakfast Katherine realized while getting the runt that Dinah had slept in her dress from yesterday. When she asked why that was Dinah told her that she had no sleep wear. "Then we're going shopping! Go get dressed in something and we'll leave right away.
So carrying her new pet, Dinah tried to think of a name. Peanut came to mind, but that was her name. She smiled at the memory of how she got the nickname. When Jack had first brought Dinah to Bridgetown, Katherine commented on how thin she was. Even though Dinah was tall for a woman, Katherine gave her the name, simply because of her weight.
Dinah knocked on Jack's door and he opened it and Dinah noticed he had a new, clean shirt on, probably because Katherine insisted he come with the two women. "Whos that?" He asked, talking of the piglet.
"I dunno. I need help finding a name for him…"
"What do you expect me to do?"
"Help me!"
Jack thought for a moment and said, "Runt."
Dinah gasped, "No! What a horrible name! He'll be embarrassed every time I say it!"
"Embarrassed?"
"Yes! Then everyone will know he's the runt of the litter."
Jack rolled his eyes, "Dinah, just by lookin' at him you can tell."
"Well pick a different name then."
"Why me?"
"Because I can't think of any."
Jack sighed and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "How about Milton?"
"Milton Milton?" Dinah asked, giving him her last name. She paused, looked under the pig, "Well…I like it! Milton Milton!" Dinah laughed, "Thanks Jack." She smiled and went into her room to get ready for the day.
Authors Note II: Some vocab for you! A sow is a female pig that has had one litter or more. A gilt is a female pig who hasn't had any litters. There. I taught you all something new!