"'An then the curse was over."
"Ye were…a living skeleton?" Jake asked in disbelief.
"Aye, not the best look fer me," Jack laughed, "but all fer the best, I s'pose."
"Of course it was, Jack," Will said. "You saved both my life and Elizabeth's."
"I can' leave a whelp in danger."
The month that had passed had been a much better one than Jake could have expected. He and Jack had engaged in a rather lengthy discussion about their newfound relationship and Jake found that having a family – an actual blood one, that is – was the only way he had gotten through losing the love of his life.
Though Jake was eighteen, Jack wanted to be a "parent" to him and Jake was…excepting of that. He couldn't help but find solace in being taken care of for a while, especially since he'd never had the luxury before. Loralei was more than eager to accept the teen as her own, even though he couldn't have been further from it. They had spent an evening on Will and Elizabeth's porch talking about one thing or another when Jake made a rather telling slip: he said "Mum" instead of "Lor" and simply smiled at the mistake. It stuck. She was every bit the mother he needed, too. She had heard him sobbing in the middle of the night and went to him. Much like a child, he curled up with his head in her lap and eventually fell asleep. Jack had also proven that he was ready for fatherhood…he refused to let Jake go to any taverns within those first couple of weeks. He enforced this by staying away from them himself.
"Ye'll either drink yerself dead or bed so many wenches ye won' know which way is up – yer stayin' 'ere, savvy?"
While it was cause for an argument at first, Jake soon realized that Jack had experience with these things and was grateful that he had been "grounded." He had grown up around people who hated his father, but so help him, Jake couldn't understand why now. He wasn't a villain…ah, perhaps that's where the problem occured. A noble pirate – who had ever heard of such a thing? And now a family man? Well, that was simply unheard of on the seven seas. Original. Jack Sparrow was unlike any other man and now Jake Delmone – excuse me, Jake Sparrow – understood why he too was unable to fit into the normal mold of piracy.
"I'm not a bloody whelp, Jack," Will said. He then mumbled, "I'm not a eunuch either."
"Oh, o' course ye are, William! Yer me favorite eunuch! Ye don' wan' t' take tha' from me, d' ye?"
"Really, Jack, what are you showing your son about yourself, hm?"
"Tha' unlike you, I 'ave a sense o' humor."
Will sighed deeply. "I'm going to bed."
"Only eunuchs go to bed this early!"
Will turned and smiled. "And men that wish to bed their wives." Satisfied that he left Jack speechless, Will left the kitchen.
Jack muttered under his breath, "I could go bed me wife if I wanted to."
Jake scrunched his face up. "Dad, me ears don' need t' hear tha'."
Jack smiled. "Jake, yer eyes saw tha.'"
"Aye, well…I…"
"Poor lad. We scarred ye before we even knew ye were ours…er, mine? …Nah, ours."
Jake smiled, wanting to be part of the banter he'd become accustomed to. "An' wha's worse is tha' Mum's wasted on an' ol' man like you."
"Whoa, wha'?"
"Yer near forty, aren' ye?"
Jack quickly did the math in his head. "Thirty-four ain' forty, lad."
"Maybe not, but Mum's twenty-five an' I'm eighteen. She's seven years older than me, but nine years younger than you an'…"
"Are ye tryin' t' make a point?" Jack asked, thoroughly confused.
"Well, it's not like she's actually me birth mother…"
"Oh, Jake! Now yer jus' bein' all icky!" He reached over and pulled his son into a noogie.
"Ow! Dad, knock it off!"
Loralei walked into the kitchen, her stomach now much more visible. "And just what are you two doing, hm?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Jake fancies ye, love! It's jus' not right!"
"I do not!" Jake protested, wriggling from Jack's grasp. "I jus' pointed out tha' e's too old fer ye!"
"Well, I'm oddly flattered, Jake, but…I like my men a bit older."
"I'm not old!" Jack whined.
"I didn't say old, Jack, I said…oh, come here, you." Puppy dog eyes on display, Jack went to his wife. "Oh, stop it." She looked into his eyes and smiled. "You are my ideal of perfection, Captain."
"Ah, ah," Jake said. "Commodore."
"Commodore?" Jack questioned.
"Aye. I decided that…when ye sail again…I wan' t' go with ye – if the offer still stands."
A watery smile appeared on Jack's face and he went to his son, hugging him. "O' course it is, son. Welcome to…the fleet."
Author's Note: Family fluff! Wee! Remember, I told you this isn't any masterpiece ;-).
