CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: GETTING HOME ON TIME

"Hey, hey, hey," Ana stopped Gibbs from knocking on the Captain's door. "Can't you handle th' ship fer a mornin'?"

"Well, sure," Gibbs said, "but I want to see Sunni."

"Give 'em some time, eh? Jack's gonna wanna be with his wife fer a while."

Gibbs shrugged, realizing she was right and backed away from the door.

Inside, Jack was scrubbing the dirt and grime from Sunni's skin that she had accumulated from her time in jail. He was wiping a warm wash cloth up and down her arm, and then back.

"Yer never gonna stop touchin' me, are ye?" she murmured, loving the feel of his skin.

"No," he said, nonchalantly. "How are yer legs?"

"Still a bit sore, but," she lifted them, "I can use 'em."

Jack smiled mischievously. "Good, cause the sight of you lyin' here naked is drivin' me insane."

Jack carried Sunni from their room an hour later, allowing the crew to finally get their chance to talk to her. Jack set her down on a crate and gave out instructions. "She can't move from that seat," he ordered, "An' ye can only talk to her until she gets tired, an' then someone gets me, savvy?"

"Aye!" came the reply.

Sunni was almost overwhelmed with her welcome back. Everyone had been so worried about her. She almost forgot how wonderful life was back on the Pearl. She enjoyed the wind in her face and the salt smell.

"Do you realize this set back puts the timeline on your due date pretty close to us arriving?" Elizabeth was saying.

"Yeah," Sunni sighed, smiling into the sun.

"Doesn't that worry you a bit?"

"No," Sunni smiled up at Jack, now back at the helm.

Liz sighed, realizing she wasn't really getting through to her sister. "Have you two come up with any names, yet?"

"Of course, but none that we can agree on," Sunni said. "Jack likes Connor or Kyle for a boy, and Kylie or Ali for a girl. I like Jake for a boy, and Karlie for a girl."

"Aunt Sunni!" Johnny cried, running out from nowhere.

"Hey, buddy!" Sunni laughed, lifting her nephew into her lap.

"Where did you go?" he asked, seriously.

"An evil monster kidnapped me," Sunni told him, making her eyes really big.

"Sunni, don't give him nightmares," Liz warned.

"Don't you have chores to do?" Sunni asked, hugging Johnny to her chest.

Liz stood up. "Fine, fine, tell him more stories, but when he wakes up screaming, I'm bringing him to your room."

Jack looked up from his compass and cast an eye to where Sunni was sitting. Johnny was on her lap with a hand on her belly. His face lit up and Jack guessed that his child had kicked. Then, the little boy laid his head down on his wife's stomach and listened while Sunni fought not to laugh. Jack smiled faintly, and went back to steering the ship. He knew that their set back would put their arrival in Tortuga very close to Sunni's due date, and he didn't want to get any more behind.

The next day, Jack realized that Sunni couldn't sit on a wooden crate all day, and she would refuse to stay in bed all day. So, after breakfast, he enlisted Will's help, and together, they rigged up a hammock out on the deck with a canopy over it. It was in a place where Jack could easily keep his eye on her, and where she could have a good view of the ocean.

Sunni came aboveboard after lunch, with Perch on one side, and Liz on the other, helping her, when she saw her own little hut.

"Is that for me?" she asked, seeing Jack and Will shirtless and standing next to their creation with smiles.

"Sure is, darlin'," Jack said, lowering her onto the blanket covering the hammock.

"Ye did this for me?"

"Uh-huh," Jack said, rubbing her stomach gently. "Now," he handed her a book and a piece of chocolate. "I want you to lie down, relax, watch th' ocean and don't worry about me an' Will."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"We have other projects we're starting today," Will explained with a smile. "If you need anything, just ask my son. He's your new slave."

"Okay," she answered, unsurely, but trusting them. Liz stood next to her and just smiled.

The rest of the day, she didn't see hide nor hair of Will and Jack. Ana and Gibbs took turns steering the ship, and the rest of the crew carried on like normal, usually stopping now and then to talk to the queen of the ship. Occasionally, she would hear loud banging noises from the direction of their cabin, and Jack swearing, but nothing else.

"What are they doin' in there?" Sunni asked Johnny.

"I can't tell," he whispered. "Daddy said I can't say anythin' to ye."

"How about for a piece of chocolate?"

"I'll take the chocolate, but I still can't tell ye."

Sunni laughed, but gave him a piece anyways.

At around suppertime, Jack and Will reappeared, dirty, sweaty, and exhausted.

"Tell me everyone still has all of their appendages," Sunni laughed.

"She's laughing at us," Jack told Will, feigning offense. As punishment, he picked her up and gave her a huge, sweaty hug. Sunni laughed and tried to push him away. "You two need to go get in a tub! Please!"

Perch and Gibbs helped Sunni down to supper and the other two men appeared soon later, bathed and changed.

"Are ye goin' ta tell me what you all were doin' up there?" Sunni asked, hungrily chewing on a piece of salted meat.

"We'll show you after supper," Will smiled.

Liz and Will opened the door to the captain's quarters and Jack carried Sunni in, blindfolded. Then, Will opened the door to their washroom, and Jack untied his wife's blindfold. Jack and Will had cut a door in the opposite side of the washroom, leading into a smaller room that used to be a hold for treasures.

"Wha- what is this?" she whispered.

"Jack and I are fixing this room up for the baby," Will explained. "This way, his or her room will be attached to yours, and it will be in the center of the ship where it's the most protected.

Jack carried her inside to see the floor being redone and a dresser in the midst of being built.

"We'll leave the crib in your room until the baby gets old enough," Will was saying, "But then, it can be moved in here. Liz is already working on scrounging up some decorations to brighten up the place-"

Sunni had stopped listening, she was sobbing, crying with happiness. "It's so perfect," she gasped.

Will smiled, understanding mood swings from Liz's pregnancy. "I'll leave you two alone," he said, ushering Elizabeth out.

"Yeah, thanks, mate," Jack said, sarcastically. He gave him a look for leaving him with a bawling woman.

"I love you, Jack," she sobbed.

Jack ran a hand through her hair and held her tight. "This is gonna work, luv. We're gonna be a happy family. On a ship. With pirates."

Sunni laughed through her tears. "Let's go to bed, eh?"

"Sounds like a great idea, beautiful."