So Far: Chapter 3

Babysitter He's Not

Disclaimer: See? I told you guys I had writer's block! So...wish me luck with this chapter, and bear with me even if it's crappy, oh loyal readers!

"Oh, my goodness." My friend Elizabeth Turner exclaims as I take the tiny baby from her arms for the first time. He, this tiny, fragile thing, is my godson! This beautiful being coos in my arms as I gently stroke his hair. Shoot! My hands are so rough and weatherworn; I'm probably hurting the sweet little child. Five minutes with him and already, I'm completely smitten. He's just so adorable.

"What are you staring at, Ana?" Ana Maria has been staring at me oddly for the past few minutes. "Well, Jack...it's just that I've never seen you be so gentle with something before." She giggled. This is NOT how I'd prefer my crew to see me. I'm supposed to be an authority figure, not a babysitter! Maybe this is a bad idea. However, looking into the child's face, I knew that it was, in fact, meant to be. Wait a second! That reminds me...

"Elizabeth, darling! Sorry I dragged this out for so long, what have you named the boy, love?" My cheeks are furiously red, I'm sure of it. Jack Sparrow... Blushing? NOT IN A MILLION YEARS. Elizabeth began to giggle also. It's not in my nature to let myself be giggled at, let me tell you, but when you're dealing with women, you have to make some allowances.

"The baby's name is Christopher." She's giggling again.

"Lovely name! Good choice." This giggling thing is starting to unnerve me. I suppose it's time to put a stop to it.

"What in the bloody hell are you giggling about?!" I am attempting to keep my voice quiet, as not to alarm Christopher; it's not working very well. He looks up at me with his deep brown eyes, a stricken expression on his face. I immediately regret raising my voice. I let him squeeze my finger with his tiny hand and he looks comforted.

"Well...you look so at home...so comfortable with him." Elizabeth begins haltingly. "I will admit that in the beginning, Will and I had our doubts about you being his godfather." I'm quite taken aback at this, although I had rather guessed it in the first place. "I mean, you ARE a pirate, after all. You're not used to having children around. However, you're wonderful with him. And it's just so...so...SWEET!"

I, Captain Jack Sparrow, am most definitely, without a doubt, turning approximately the shade of a tomato. I have never in my thirty-five years of life been called sweet. Roguish, yes. Charming, perhaps. Ruggedly handsome, by all means. But sweet? That word has never exactly described me! There's a first time for everything, I suppose!

"Well, thank you, I suppose!" It is extremely difficult, I have discovered, to accept a compliment when you'd prefer the compliment not to have been said in the first place, if you know what I mean. This is a most interesting experience, to say the least.

"We should probably head inside now. We're running slightly behind as it is." Elizabeth begins to walk purposefully ahead of us, leading me, and the rest of the crew, to the fort of Port Royal, where the christening is to take place. Wait a second--did Ana Maria just wink at me? I double take and see that she's glancing at me and smiling timidly. I saunter up carefully and awkwardly lay my arm across her shoulders. This is turning out to be a most...enlightening experience indeed.

Disclaimer: Well, that's it for now! Sorry for the delay in the updating field. I was on holidays with no access to a computer, but don't give up on me yet! Hopefully I'll be able to finish this sucker in the next couple of days, but if not, you'll by all means see more after about a week. Thanks to Dawnie7, PineappleIce and Humiliated Grape for all your eeeexcellent support in the form of emails and such. Keep on truckin' everyone!