A/N: WOW! I got 23 reviews for the first chapter! I feel so incredibly loved! Since each and every review makes me feel special, I'm going to give each and every one a shout out. If you don't want to read 23 shoutouts, just scroll down to the lovely visual marker I put there just for the occasion. Though, I've gotta admit, some of thses shoutouts were fun to write… some people are callous when they send in reviews…
Katie: You are great! I will write more, ne!
Oreata: I'm glad you liked it, you're so kind :-D
Willowdance: well, this next chapter is what he would do with her, so in essence, this chapter is the answer to your review
Kyesha: Aww, you are so sweet. Yay, I got you hooked! Woot!
Dazedconfusion: I don't think I have ever had anyone tell me that one of my stories was one of the best fanfics they have ever read! That's exciting! Thank you! Ah, you're discombobulated! (dazed and confused) Very good word!
Kuro Queen of Hell: I have to write more? Well, with a name, (or is it title) like that, I suppose I have to listen to you.
ReallyBadEgg: Well, though it really didn't work for you, I am not too worried, since roughly 20 other people told me that it was great. To each his own. Maybe you would find the next chapter more to your liking. Though I must admit, I disagree with you, no matter how hard and callous someone was, I do believe that they would cry if the love of their life died in front of them.
Fuzzy Hobbit when I'm not in school: You have a really cool name. Wow, I'm so excited that I got a review from a fuzzy hobbit! Though I don't know if I would much like to be fuzzy, the idea of being a hobbit appeals to me. I want to be a pirate hobbit, in fact! Any by the way, you can rant/ rave/ gush, or whatever you want to on my reviews!!!
Forgotten Sorceress: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Hey, if you're a sorceress, can you… umm, make me a sandwich??
Thecap'noftheblackpearl: Aww, don't cry! Thank you! I really got to get around to reading your stories… I meant to when I got the review, but I have the memory span of a goldfish.
The Jade Princess: Thank you, I shall continue!
VagrantCandy: I was originally going to make it a one shot, but then I decided that Jack would make a fun parent to write about.
jacklover: I hate to break it to you dude, but just because someone is a pirate does not mean that they never cry! Wouldn't you cry if that happened to you? Another thing, as for the fact that it is a bunch of coincidences, first off, I did say prior to them arriving that they were going to Tortuga.. well, it was implied. I did not think it would be that big of a deal, it's kinda inconsequential. Second of all, the black pearl is a legendary ship, and the crew was being loud and boisterous. People would notice, and word would spread. For all you know, someone went and told Adella that he was there. Again, inconsequential, not vital to the story. That, and it was not just some random house, she was the midwife's daughter! I thought that was explained when she walked into the house and announced, "ma ma I found him!" Also, as for the timing thing, I wanted him to get there at that precise moment because that was what was best for the story... if he had gotten there after she died, it would not have been the same. By the way, I get to choose the timing, wanna know why? I'm the author! :-D As for the not using enough of a description, you're prolly right, I will work on that one. Hmmm, I don't get the contradiction... You said part of it was great, but it sucked and was painful for you to read, yet you told me to write more...
Jubei-chan 2: hehehe, no rum would prolly make any pirate cry
Sally32915: oh, thank you. I've never really tried sad stories, but it's kinda fun to evoke the emotion of sadness… maybe not fun… I need a different word.
Raeghann: Ah, I have lots of fun stuff in store for Jack. :-D He's just a fun character to mess with!
Artemis the Hunter: ruler of the marshmallow army, eh? If I join forces with you, can I get free marshmallows to roast over my campfire?
Kaira-chan: As far as I could tell, she said, "Oh, who's she?" which in my opinion could be left up to the imagination... My imagination chose to take it this way. :-D As for the sign in the background, just because there was a sign that said "wives for sale" does not mean that she is, in fact, a wife for sale. That, and I did explain in the story that she was at one time seeing multiple people in the past. Oh, I really do hope you enjoy this, I am having too much fun writing it for no one to appreciate it. :-D
Chibi Tatiana: I, myself usually have trouble with sad stories, they make me mad! But I'm glad that you like it.
Dreamality: alright, alright, I took the hint, and wrote more… of course, it did take me 8 months or something like that… oh well…
ArcherofDarkness: Oh wow, thank you. I'm glad that you use words such as "Tis". That makes you awesome. I love unconventional words.
Im-a-daydream-believer: Well, it's a good thing then that I didn't try for unbelievably depressing. I don't think I could pull it off. Thanks, I'm glad that you liked it.
Freak and proud: Oh, I've eaten one of those marshmallow kabob thingies before! I'm weird, I actually liked it! Have you ever tried microwaving marshmallow peeps? They GROW!
Jack didn't tell them why, but the crew didn't care what the reason, if they got to stay in Tortuga for a whole week. After making the announcement, they didn't see Jack again until it was time to leave.
He spent the week at Mrs. Roberts, the midwife's house, trying to learn to care for a baby. He never would have figured it all out by himself. Babies are complicated things. They have to be fed, burped, cleaned, changed, and handled very gently, or they would cry. And Layla was good at crying. The only time it seemed she was not crying was when she was asleep, or when Jack was holding her. Sometimes she was fine lying on the bed, or on a blanket on the floor, but for some reason, she took an obvious dislike for Mrs. Roberts, and not let herself be held by her for very long. So Jack spent a lot of time getting to know his daughter.
Thankfully, Adella had already purchased most everything that Layla would need. Well, everything except for one thing. Babies drink milk, and if Jack brought milk with him on the ship, it would spoil by the end of the day. The only solution Mrs. Roberts could come up with is a goat. On top of everything else, Jack had to learn how to milk a goat. There was just no other way to have fresh milk for her on the ship.
At the end of the week, Jack showed up at the dock with two large trunks, and a nanny goat on a leash. He handed the leash to an astonished Mr. Gibbs, and ordered a couple of crew members to load the trunks. Then he turned and walked back down the street.
"Who's he taking on?" Gibbs wondered aloud.
"It better not be a crewmember, we're not allowed the frivolity of two trunks, and he certainly wouldn't carry anythin' for the likes of us!"
"Mebbe he lost a bet." stated Duncan, one of the crew members.
Jack knocked on the door, and Mrs. Roberts opened it, holding a screaming Layla.
"Oh, hush, Love." Jack crooned as he took his daughter into his arms.
She quieted almost immediately, and grabbed onto one of the strings of beads in his hair.
"She certainly knows her daddy." Mrs. Roberts said with a sigh, "She won't stop crying for anyone else."
"Thank you." Jack said with a smile and a nod, and stepped out the door.
As he stepped out onto the street, Jack suddenly realized just how dangerous the world really was. As a crusty looking sea dog pulled out his pistol to shoot the air, Jack waved at him wildly, and motioned for him to stop. "Noooo!" he growled at the man, who in surprise, holstered his weapon, and watched Jack tiptoe down the street.
"You need to get yerself somethin' better to do." the man muttered to Jack as he disappeared from sight.
As he grew closer to his waiting crew, they tried their hardest to figure him out.
"Mebbie he won a poker game!" grinned Duncan, hoping that if that was the case, he'd get a share.
"He looks like he's carrying glass." Annamaria commented at the way he was holding his fragile bundle.
"Jack, what you be totin?" asked Gibbs as Jack stopped in front of him.
"Ah, well, you see, I made a promise to some one and I intend to keep it..." Jack started
"I told ye he lost a bet!" cried out Duncan.
Jack looked at Duncan like he was crazy before pulling back the blanket covering Layla. Free of her constrictions, she started cooing and kicking.
The whole crew was dumbstruck.
"Whos dat?" Gibbs questioned, not sure what Jack's intentions were.
"Layla Pearl Sparrow."
Now that he knew, Gibbs looked at the baby girl again, and was startled. She was the spitting image of her father; there was no mistake that she was the daughter of Jack. She had the same dark, intense eyes, dark hair, and was wearing an expression that was commonly seen on Jack.
"What are you gonna do with her?" asked Annamaria with a look of confusion on her face.
"I'm gonna raise her."
If the stunned silence meant anything, half an hour out of port, the whole crew was still flabbergasted. They had spent the majority of their time working with as little talking as possible.
As soon as they had come aboard, Jack had given Gibbs directions, and retired to the captain's quarters for a while.
He held his daughter in his arms, and she gazed at him with big eyes as he paced about the room. "What are we going to do, Love?" he asked her.
Lucky for Jack, Layla took to sailing like she was born for it. She smiled constantly, and laughed whenever The Pearl hit a big swell. It didn't take long before she had gotten every member of the ship's crew wrapped around her little finger. Within a short amount of time, she had a collection of "toys" that were given to her… medallions worth a considerable amount, or anything else shiny, sparkly, or jingly, the whole crew gave her anything she looked at, without a second thought.
Jack was definitely not a normal parent. Instead of lullabies, he sang to her of ships lost at sea, and famous pirates. It was all he knew. There were a few songs that he slightly altered for her, keeping out the worst of the vulgarities. When she was especially fussy, sometimes he would splash a thimble full of rum into her bottle. Every afternoon nap was taken in a large barrel, cut lengthwise, and loosely bolted to the deck so that it could rock with the motion of the ship, and filled with blankets and pillows for padding.
She learned how to crawl with a harness rigged up from soft rope tied around her, loosely securing her to the mast so she wouldn't crawl off the side of the ship. Learning to walk was easier though, since she always had a hand to hold her steady, and walk her around the deck. As much as she loved the whole crew, she was a definite daddy's girl. Everything he did, she copied. As soon as her hair grew long enough to put into braids, in braids it went, with beads adorning a few strands, as had been Jack's signature look for years. Jack even found her a little red bandanna, and had a leather hat made like his, in her size. The only thing he insisted on was that she wore the obligatory skirt required of all women. Of course, she was most likely the only one that ever wore pants under her skirt, but she wore a skirt.
"G'mornin', Love" Jack said to his daughter after she jumped on him to wake him up.
Sitting on his stomach, she twirled one of the wooden beads in her hair, and giggled. "Wha' we doin' tuhday daddy?"
"It all depends on what we decide."
"I wanna find somewhere wiv shells ta pick up!" she cried excitedly.
"That's a fine goal to be sure, but it seems to me that a certain lassie failed to make her bed." He hinted, and Layla hopped up, and scrambled across the captain's quarters, and smoothed out the blankets in the hammock that was just the right size for her four year old frame.
When she had completed her task, Layla grabbed Jack by the hand, and pulled him out of bed, and out into the morning sun that was just making it's way over the horizon.
"So, Love, which direction has these said shells?"
Thinking for a minute, and chewing in her lip, she looked around at the horizon, and pointed slightly off to the left a bit.
"Alright." Jack said with a sigh, "Port Royal it is then."
A/N: don't worry, I have more written to post very soon. I just wanted to end it right here for now.