Usual disclaimers. nevermind!

The last chapter for today... I've got loads of housework to catch up on now that my boy is back at school - which gives my mind time to float and be evil... and I am feeling very evil about the next chapter!

Damn! I wish I could stay here and type... but I cannot! (

***

Jack woke in the morning to find Catherine still asleep in his arms. Even in sleep she looked exhausted which was unsurprising when he remembered how much she had done the previous day. She had worked hard with Elizabeth and the house maids, cleaning away all the debris and carrying up from the cellar all the delicate breakables that had been hurried down there the previous night. At least Mary's harp had survived unscathed - Catherine would have been heartbroken if it had been damaged.

He watched her as she woke, smiling as she sensed his gaze. "Morning love." She stretched, wriggling round to face him, and kissing him warmly. "What are you up to today?"

"Well, I was thinkin' 'bout a mornin' in bed with m' wife an' loads of rum..." He looked at her sceptical face. "Ah well, I can dream!"

Catherine laughed up at him. "It's still a bit early for rum..." she suggested, "but the house won't be moving for a while..." She kissed him, a teasing smile flitting across her lips - he needed no second bidding.

***

An hour or so later Catherine rose quietly, tying her laces loosely before slipping from their room. She could always get Jack to lace her more tightly when he woke. She crept silently down the stairs, surprised to find Elizabeth already awake and feeding Billy in the kitchen.

"Morning Elizabeth," she smiled, messing Billy's hair as she walked past. She looked out the window at the donkey in the garden - which was sheltering in the arbour. "I can't wait until Mary sees that!" They both laughed in anticipation of the outburst. Catherine paused, tensing as the kitchen door opened, but it was only Eve.

"Oh, good morning Mistress Catherine," she smiled. "One moment and I'll fix your breakfast..."

Catherine smiled. "That's alright Eve... I'll do it myself. I only want a cup of tea at the moment... but if you could fix Papa's breakfast it would be a help."

Eve nodded, starting to cook Edmund's breakfast and by the time Catherine had finished her tea it was ready. Balancing the tray, Catherine carefully carried it upstairs, knocking on the door.

"Good morning Papa," she smiled, putting the tray down as she helped him sit up in bed. She opened the shutters to reveal the morning sunshine, but kept the curtains partially pulled to shield him from the breeze as there was still little glass in the window. It would be many months before all the windows in Port Royal were repaired and the glass maker was already working on his orders. At least they should not have to wait too long - Theodore's rank ensuring them a high place on the list.

She handed her father his breakfast and waited patiently whilst he ate. Her reverie was shattered though by an ear-splitting shriek from the dining room - Mary.

"What?" Edmund Groves jumped.

Catherine smiled. "Don't worry Papa - I think Mary has just discovered the donkey in the garden..."

He frowned. "Why is there a donkey in the garden?"

Catherine explained how the smithy had been flooded by the sea rising and that it would take a week or so for the floor to dry out enough for him to return. "He was wet and very muddy when Will and Jack rescued him," she laughed, "and it is not as if he could harm the garden - it was already ruined by the hurricane..."

Edmund sighed, remembering the storm of two nights before. He had been surprised at how little Mary had helped with the repairing and cleaning of the house, even if she was pregnant, and he was grateful that Elizabeth had helped or many of them would have slept in the cellar for a second night. He frowned, noticing his daughter's dress was only loosely laced. "Catherine! Your dress!"

Catherine noticed his gaze. "Jack was still asleep... I thought you'd rather have your breakfast now Papa than wait, but I'll go and wake him now to see to my laces. I'll collect your tray on my return..." She slipped from the room before he could argue. Catherine returned to the room across the hall only to find Jack still blissfully asleep. "Wake up Jack... I need my laces tightened!"

He opened one lazy eye. "Eh, what d' yer need yer laces tightened for... I'd rather be undoing them..." he drawled, but he sat up slowly and did as she requested. "There yer go luv - all respectable like." He frowned. "Was that Mary I heard squealing earlier?"

Catherine nodded. "I think she discovered the donkey... I'm just on my way down to see!"

"I think I'll just lay here fer a moment... let th' noise die down..." Jack burrowed down under the covers leaving only the very top of his head visible.

"Get up you lazy creature!" Catherine pushed him, forcing him out of the bed, but he grabbed her wrist and they fell together on the floor. "Jack!" she protested, but he just laughed, wrapping his arms around her.

A cough sounded at the door - Theodore! "If you two have finished scandalising the staff..." he smiled at the two of them, tangled in the sheets on the floor. "Breakfast is just being served."

Catherine struggled to rise, fighting her way free of the bedding. She threw Jack's trousers at him. "Come on... get your clothes on!"

***

When they eventually got downstairs, Mary was still complaining about the donkey. Theodore tried in vain to pacify her. "The garden was ruined by the hurricane anyway my dear," he sighed. "At least you can enjoy replanting it later..." The thought of spending money seemed to reduce her complaints to a more manageable level.

"Theo, could yer find out those charts b'fore yer leave this morning?" Jack asked, remembering his promise to teach Catherine.

"Surely you aren't serious," Mary sneered. "I thought you were joking the other night!"

"I'm very serious Missy!" Jack countered. "Kitty is Black Pearl crew an' is more than capable. Don't judge others by your own limitations!" he sniped in return.

Mary gasped indignantly at the put down, but Theodore held his tongue, unwilling to get involved in any argument. "Theodore!" she protested.

"Jack is right Mary. Cat may be short but she isn't stupid... there is no reason a woman cannot learn," Theodore countered, uncomfortable at being brought into the conversation.

Catherine snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," she laughed. "I think!"

"Well, it might be alright for some." Mary condescended, "but it isn't proper!"

"And what do you mean by that?" Catherine's voice dropped, her tone threatening. Elizabeth, Will and Weatherby Swann looked confused by the argument, but both Jack and Theodore winced.

"For some unable to fulfil their proper role..." Mary began but did not get to finish!

"Mary!" Theodore shouted angrily at the same time as Jack grabbed Catherine who had risen angrily at the remark, her chair clattering backwards on the floor.

"No Kitty!" He manhandled her from the room.

Their three guests sat quietly, unsure what to say or do and wisely keeping quiet.

"Jack!" she protested. "Dammit Jack, let me go!"

He wrapped his arms about her tightly, glaring angrily back over his shoulder at Mary. "Not now Kitty," he warned, raising his voice so that those in the dining room could hear. "But I swear in seven months you can beat the crap out of her fer that remark! Savvy?"

"Jack!" Theodore protested. Mary gasped at the threat realising that perhaps she had gone too far.

"Control yer wife Theo," he warned, "or I'll not control mine!" He pushed Catherine towards the front door. "We're going out!"

***

Jack turned up the hill, towards the fort and out of Port Royal. He did not speak for a while, just concentrating on keeping Catherine walking. Eventually he found somewhere quiet, just off the road with views out over the harbour.

"Dammit Jack..." Catherine started to protest.

"Ssshh! Come 'ere!" He sat on a fallen tree, patting his lap. Catherine sat and he wrapped his arms around her. "I know luv, I know. She's a bitch, but we're here fer yer father, not her!" He held her tightly, stroking her hair as she cried into his shirt.

"I..." she sniffed.

"I know Kitty, I know." He kissed the top of her head. "I know what yer want an' understand that yer can't." He held her close. "An' one day yer might understand that it doesn't matter to me..." He continued to hold her whilst she cried herself out, just sitting quietly watching the ships in the harbour. Eventually her tears stopped and she just sat there clinging tightly to him.

"Yer feelin' better now?" he asked, tilting her face up at him. Jack smiled as she shakily nodded. "Well, let's head back eh? We can walk real slow..."

***

When they returned Mary was nowhere to be seen but a set of charts lay on the dining room table. Jack helped himself to a rum and sat down. "D' yer want t' start now?"

"I dunno..." She eyed the complicated charts doubtfully, her mind still on the argument with Mary.

"You going t' prove her right then?" he teased, smiling at the spark of anger in her eyes as she responded to his baiting.

"Let me get a drink of water first..." She quickly returned, carrying a small glass with her. "Okay then, let's start!"

***

They were not disturbed for a number of hours until a loud knock on the door startled them from their studies. They listened as Collins answered the door, surprised to hear Oran's soft Irish voice asking to see them.

"What's th' Pearl doing here?" Jack frowned, knowing that the Black Pearl had not been expected at Port Royal for another week.

"Oran!" Catherine rose from the table, walking eagerly out into the lobby. "What a nice surprise!"

He grinned on seeing her and Jack. "Captain! Kitty!" he acknowledged. "Gibbs was worried when he realised where the hurricane had hit and wanted to know you were alright!" he explained. "So the crew voted to spend the rest of our shore leave here..."

Jack snorted in disbelief, looking at the clock. "Tell th' old woman I'll be out to th' Pearl after lunch, once Kitty has seen t' her father..." He turned to Catherine smiling. "Pack our trunk luv, we'll sleep onboard tonight. It'll give ole Swann a decent bed fer a change, an' get yer out of this house as much as possible. He grinned at her delight of leaving the house. "An' I can teach yer better with my own charts too!

***

That night, before Catherine and Jack left for the Black Pearl, Theodore and Jack found themselves summoned before Edmund. He had heard Jack's promise to his daughter that she could punch Mary earlier in the day. "What is going on Theodore?" Edmund demanded. "What is this bad blood between Catherine and Mary? I want it to stop!"

Theodore looked at Jack uncertain what to say.

Jack shrugged. "Problem's not with Kitty mate..."

"They never liked each other to begin with but now that Mary is pregnant..." Theodore tried to explain.

"But Catherine is happy for you, so why should it be a problem?" Edmund puzzled.

"Because th' bitch is throwin' it in Kitty's face at every opportunity!" Jack stated firmly.

"Mary is not a bitch!" Theodore defended his wife angrily.

Jack looked at Theodore. "What were her words? Unable to fulfil their proper role - wasn't it? Every bloody chance she gets she's at Kitty..."

Edmund Groves watched with interest as both men defended their wives, seeming to forget he was there.

"Mary might have been tactless, but she meant nothing by it!" Theodore argued.

"Meant nothing by it? You must be kiddin' mate! You didn't see the look she gave Kitty when she made her big announcement... how did she bloody know?" Jack demanded.

Theodore had the grace to look embarrassed. "I told her," he admitted. "We were talking about who Greg had been and she asked why Catherine had no children..."

Jack stared at him in disbelief. "Why the hell did yer tell her?" he shouted furiously.

"It was just in conversation... and I didn't know then Mary was pregnant!" Theodore tried to defend himself.

"But yer knew they hate each other!" Jack cried in exasperation. "Jesus, Theo - she is hurtin' so much that she even asked me if I had any children!" He looked at Theodore, his normal mask slipping. "Yer really have no idea what this is doin' t' her, do yer? Or don't yer care?"

"Do you have any children?" Theodore asked.

"How the hell would I know?" Jack paused. "But one thing I do know mate is if Mary does this again t' Kitty then I'm putting her on th' Pearl an' not coming back!"

"Surely it has not gone that far?" Edmund gasped, fearing for a moment that he would actually lose his daughter. Both men looked at him in shock, having forgotten him with their argument.

"That's up t' Theo." Jack shrugged. "Although as fer now, it's late an' I'm takin' her back t' sleep on th' Pearl. Kitty'll be back t' help with yer breakfast." He turned to leave, pausing at the doorway to Edmund's room. "Your wife does this once more Theo an' we're gone! I mean it Theo - I won't have her hurt like this!" he warned, closing the door behind him.

"Talk to Mary Theodore, please," Edmund asked. "I do not want Catherine to leave like this..."

"I will try Father..." Theodore sighed.

***

Mary did not take her rebuke well and for a moment Theodore feared she would start shouting. At last she remembered some decorum, her voice low but hissing angrily. "Me?" she gasped. "What have I done? I'm not the one threatening violence!"

"But you are the one that seems to start it Mary - and it will cease now!" Theodore stressed firmly.

"Are you saying that I may not talk about my pregnancy in my own house?" she asked incredulously.

"I am saying that these snide comments of yours will stop," Theodore argued. "If there is one more, just one more incident then Jack and Cat will be leaving and you will be caring for Father yourself! If common decency cannot make you bide your tongue then perhaps that thought will!" He waited for the implications of his threat to sink in. "I know it is not easy with Will and his family here as well - hopefully he will have somewhere to live soon and things can return to normal." He paused. "But for now you will just have to put up with it, like every other person in Port Royal. Am I making myself clear Mary?"

"Yes Theodore," she slowly nodded, eyes downcast so that he could not see the anger burning in them. She'd hold her tongue... for now.

***