Jack made a beeline for Jake's room, but stopped at the door. He didn't know what to say to his son, how to handle the situation at hand. What if Noel didn't force anything on him? What if everything was…willing? Wanted? He went to his own room, waking his wife.

"Jackie?" Loralei asked, instinctively.

"No, love. Actually, it's Jake." The worry in his voice was unlike anything Loralei had ever heard.

Bolting upward in bed, she asked, "Is he all right?"

Jack's eyes started to water, due to frustration more than anything. "I wanted t' make sure 'e was all righ', so I went t' 'is room, but 'e wasn' there. I went lookin' fer 'im an' found 'im." He swallowed hard. "E' was with Noel."

"What's so terrible about that? Maybe they were trying to…"

"No, Lor," he interrupted. "'E was with Noel."

Loralei didn't respond quite as Jack thought she would. "Jack? Just how 'with' are we talking?"

"Noel…had him…in 'is mouth."

Loralei found herself strangely relieved. As far as she knew, her son was still a virgin to male intrusion. "Was it…consensual?"

"Noel says it was, but I…I jus' don' know 'ow it could be? I'm not bein' a hypocrite, love, I swear it. We both know I'm guilty o' the same thing – near exactly the same thing given the situation, but…'e only jus' met Noel! 'E's married t' the lass 'e's been heartsick o'er..."

"Confused emotions?"

"An' an empty bottle o' rum." He put his head in his hands and Loralei wrapped her arms around him. "I don' wan' 'im t' regret…"

"Want me to come with you?"

"Aye." Loralei donned a robe and made sure Jackie was still asleep, then followed her husband down the hall to their son's room. Jack felt his hand shaking as he knocked on the door. Loralei took hold of it, comforting him. "Jake?" No answer. "Jake, are ye all righ'?" Still nothing.

Loralei took a deep breath. "Jacob?"

An answer finally came. "Ye brought Mum?" He practically whined it.

"Honey, it's all right."

"Ye know everythin', don' ye?" he asked, panic in his voice.

"Yes," she answered, honestly.

"Then it's not all righ'!"

Loralei took it upon herself to open the door. She saw the young man she loved as her own looking every bit a scared little boy. She rushed to him, immediately taking him into her arms. At first, he held onto her, as if he'd die without the contact, but soon, his brain cleared and he gently pushed her away. "Jake," she cooed.

Jake looked at his father. "Ye ne'er would o' known if ye hadn' o' seen." His eyes were red, his nose raw.

"I've a feelin' I might've," Jack said softly. "Jake, ye were drunk, an' yer depressed an'…"

"No."

"Trust me, Jake, ye…"

"I don' regret it! I wanted it! I still wan' it!" He stood up. "Ye can' possibly understand wha's goin' on in me head! Me body!"

"Like hell I can'!" Jack shouted. "Jesus, Jake, I know exactly wha' yer goin' through!"

"Ye didn' lose yer lass, Dad! Ye didn' 'ave yer entire world torn apart! Wha' Noel gave me made me feel somethin' an'…"

"Listen t' yerself, lad." Jack's voice was softer, pleading. "Ye've been lonely fer more than a year. Ye've had nobody but yerself – tha' I'm aware of – to go to for any sort of relief. 'Is motives were…'e wasn' thinkin' o' ye."

"Ye don' know everythin', Jack." Jack. Jake had settled into "Dad" for so long that hearing his first name stung – just as Jake intended it to.

"I don'?" Jack asked, leaning against the wall. "Me first mate was Will's father. I didn' know he was a father or a husband when I took 'im aboard. 'E was older than me, more experienced in many ways o' the world. 'E seduced me, Jake. 'E took me in me own bed an' 'e made me wan' 'im more than anythin' in the world. 'E made me submissive t' 'im…made me love 'im. Then I found out about 'is wife an' son…I was so obsessed with all 'e gave me by then, I couldn' push 'im away. 'E had somethin' I wanted." Jake's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. "Noel has somethin' ye wan' too – Nic. Don' mix things up in yer mind, lad."

Jake looked at Jack – his father. The man had been painfully honest with him, telling him something he was sure he never wanted to. "Dad, I don' think I'm mixed up."

Jack sat on the bed, next to his son – Loralei looking on from the other side of it. "Jake, 'ow can ye be sure o' anythin' righ' now?"

Jake looked slightly ashamed. "I've been with more than jus' Nic, Dad, I know as much about sex with a woman as the next bloke…it felt…so good…so right. At first I was thinkin' o' Nic, but then…I knew it was Noel. I wanted it to be Noel. I wanted a man to…and I let 'im."

"Ne'er before?" Jack asked, gently. "Not yer crew? Not an enemy?" Jake understood his father and shook his head, signifying "No, never." "Ye hardly know 'im."

"Ye hardly knew Mum – ye said four words t' 'er before ye…"

Loralei blushed. "Nic told you?"

He nodded. "I'm not less o' a pirate, or less o' a man."

"Neither am I," Jack said, a gentle smile on his face. "I don' rule o'er ye, Jake, an' I don' bear the right t' pass any sort o' judgment on ye." He sighed. "This – all o' this – is between the three o' ye."

Jake looked at Loralei, afraid to meet her eyes. "Mum?" A tear rolled down his cheek. "D' ye think less o' me?"

Loralei moved closer again, embracing Jake. "No, Jake. I think more of you for being honest about it. You know that your father and I just…" Loralei didn't want to be a prude who couldn't accept ideas that society shunned – the way she behaved her first night with Jack was on the same level as this – at least in her mind. "…we want you happy, Jake."

"Maybe I can be."

Jack pulled his son into his arms and held him tightly. "Jus' don' hurt yerself, lad. Remember, 'e's a married man an'…"

"And his wife doesn't mind." All three of them looked up to see Nic standing in the doorway.