Chapter 17. New Moon

"What the hell is going on down here?" Rhys came down the wooden stairs. He saw Elizabeth on the floor and ran to her cell. "Oy! What's going on with her?"

He looked at Eponine worried. "It's ok, her water just broke, I need to go in with her to help her though. Could you let me in with her?"

He hesitated but then unlocked Eponine's cell. "Nothing funny."

"I'm not going anywhere, you prat."

"Do you know how...you know?" Rhys got up. "I have to go tell Porpey. He'll want to know."

"Yeah I know how. But why does Porpey need to know?"

"Don't ask, just do what you know how to do."

Eponine rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Elizabeth.

"Will, Do you know how along Elizabeth is with her pregnancy?" Jack was counting the months he had spent with Elizabeth.

"Um... I think she's about 8 and ½ months. Why?"

"That means she could be having her kid any week now righ'?"

"It usually goes to about 9 months but Ay."

"I can't believe I left her there! With her being pregnant and all that danger of Percy around. I promised Will that I would take care of her. And if something happens to her I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"What? Now? She's having her bastard child now?" Rhys had just told Porpey about Elizabeth.

"Eponine needs to be with her so I let her in the same cell."

Porpey's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Listen, do you know how to help bring a kid." Porpey looked down. "Eponine is the only one that can help."

"Fine. If you want to help that bastard kid get into the world, then you will. Get everything that whore needs, to her."

"Elizabeth, it's going to take a few hours your contractions aren't even 10 minutes apart. We'll just have to wait until they're right on top of each other." Elizabeth lay on the cold wooden floor of the ship, and Eponine sat back to give her room to get comfortable.

"Eponine. What's going on with you and Jack?" Eponine thought about it.

"I really don't know. He told me he loved me. But... How good is a pirate's word?"

"A regular pirate's word is no better than a fly's because after they say what they're going to do they either die, or never show their faces again. But Jack if he say's he's going to do something then he'll do it." Elizabeth curled up; the pain in her back and in between her legs was getting worse.

"Elizabeth you just have to breath, and try not to tense up when they come." Eponine thought about all the labors she sat through with her mom in the birth room, while she rubbed Elizabeth's belly trying to make her relax.

"You can drink some alcohol to take away some of the pain. It's not all that good for the baby, but it will make it a lot easier on you."

"How much worse is it going to get?" Elizabeth looked at Eponine with a twinge of fright in her eyes.

"If you don't tense up like you have been, only about twice as much. If you tense then about 3 times as much."

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Rhys; he was caring a bundle of blankets.

"I though' you will need some clean blankets for more padding and when the babe comes but all I had was kind 'a clean." He smiled; Eponine was curious why he was helping so much. And what such a nice guy was doing with a crew like this.

"Thanks, Rhys. But we need is, we need some warm water to clean up after the baby comes also. And if you had some rum, that would be nice too."

Elizabeth looked at Eponine. "Eponine I don't want it if it's going to hurt my baby. I'll just relax. She curled up again and Eponine rubbed her back. "Rhys, bring the rum."

Hours later in the prison hold of the ship.

Six anxious pirates stand around Eponine and Rhys as Elizabeth started to push.

"Elizabeth they are right on top of each other, your baby is almost here." Eponine had a blanket over Elizabeth's legs; Rhys was in the back of Elizabeth holding her up.

Eponine looked around at the other pirates in the room. "Guys its time to leave." The men started to grip. Things like 'I want to watch', 'its not fair that Rhys gets to stay', 'its our ship you don't get to lay down rules.'

"Trust me guys its not a pretty sight." Eponine leaned back away from Elizabeth. "Catch your breath before the next one comes."

The men finally left, giving Elizabeth her space. But with each contraction she would curl up.

"Don't tense. Ye have to relax. Elizabeth give a good push, and the head should be out." Elizabeth held her breath, and pushed. She felt something slide out, She lay back taking a deep breath, getting ready to push again. "It's out!"

Crying filled the air, both mother's and babies. "Elizabeth it's a girl!" Eponine wiped off the blood, wrapped it in one of the blankets and gave her to Elizabeth. "What are you going to name her?"

"I don't know, I never thought about it." She was looking her daughter over. Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes...

"Do you know what Will might have wanted?"

"No, we never even talked about it. He died the day that I told him." She closed her eyes, and Wills dead body in her arms flashed in her mind. She opened her eyes quickly.

"What about, Isis? The supreme goddess."

Elizabeth smiled at looked at her baby. "No she doesn't look like an Isis."

"How about..."Eponine thought about any of her sister's name's. None of them would work for a rich baby that lost her father, and was born on a pirates ship. "I don't know, but it needs to be something unique. Something that when someone hears they'll just be so intrigued with it that they'll have to know the person that it belongs to."

"I think your crazy Eponine." Elizabeth smiled, but she was right, it needed to be something that would be worthy of her daughter.

"How abou' Emma?" Rhys had come back from throwing the after birth over board.

"Would you like to be called Emma, after having your father killed, your mother kidnapped and you being born on a Pirates ship?"

"Your right, bad name." He sat down by the two women.

"Who do you know who's named Emma?" Eponine asked Rhys.

"My daughter."

"You have daughter?"

"Did,"

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Nothin' she and her mum just don't want to kno' me."

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth looked from her baby to Rhys. "You can name if you want. Eponine and I have no other ideas."

"Na miss, that's the gift of havin' a kid. You get to name it." He smiled, got up and went back up on deck.

An hour later, Eponine finished cleaning the baby up, and Elizabeth had a quick clean up of her own.

"You know we still have to come up with a name?" Elizabeth called over to Eponine as she finished buttoning up her dress.

"I think Rhys is right you are the one that has to name her."

"Eponine."

"What?"

"That's going to be her name."

"You can't name her after me."

"Why not? I'm the one that gets to name her."

"Good, just not Eponine."

"Fine, she's going to be Fiorenza Turner."

"You can't name her that either."

"Why not?"

"Because your not Italian. If it was somethin' unique from Italy, then fine. But I know tons of people name' that."

"You do not." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine something else."

Eponine thought of books she was read when she was a little girl, "Elizabeth how about Neoma?"

"Where did you get that?"

"When I was little girl my father used to read to me and my siste..."

"My sisters and I." Elizabeth interrupted to correct her.

"Sure, anyway, there was a story that there was two sisters. The older who was Neoma, which means the new moon, and Nerine which means from the sea."

"Wouldn't Nerine be better?" Elizabeth interrupted.

"Would you let me finish?"

"Yes, i'm sorry."

"Anyway," Eponine continued. "Neoma and Nerine's father was a pirate captain. When they were old enough they joined their fathers crew. One day there was a huge battle, another captain killed their father, and Nerine went to fight him but when she did, he pushed her into the sea and shot her. Neoma got so mad that she killed that man, took over both boats and became one of the most feared Pirate Captain. Until Jack of coarse."

"Neoma Turner? New moon?" Elizabeth smiled. "That's perfect."