The coach ride home had been filled with stories about the recent seas and the insanity of Tortuga and the swords carried by the finest lords in the country being made at Master Turner's Blacksmith. As soon as Jack saw the lovely cottage and small stream, he was insisting that he return to the Pearl, but the Turners wouldn't have it. He came inside and after a few drinks, was left in the parlor admiring little Jack's pebbles. Elizabeth gazed into the decorated den from the stairway with a troubled brow. Will sighed while starting to climb the turning steps and paused. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have left."
"No, it's all right," she replied quickly, glancing to the candle she carried. "He's going to be gone tomorrow and I know how much you look forward to his visits." There was an odd silence while Elizabeth thought of a way to politely express her concerns. "I…I just wish he didn't have to ruin Father's evening."
"I seriously doubt it was ruined, Elizabeth."
"Well William, what do you think? You…you have a party for all of your close friends and respected relatives and in walks a pirate?" Will coldly looked back into her fired auburn eyes with his own answer. "I…I didn't mean it like that."
"Heaven forbid any likes of a pirate should break up such an occasion," he rattled back while starting to walk by her. She caught his arm and turned him to face her on the higher plane. Her voice dropped to a rapid hush.
"You and I both discussed this before, Will. You know I've accepted your father's identity and so have you. You went with Jack for a year, and I don't regret that at all; I'm glad you did. But please understand that when you said you wanted to be a blacksmith, you put all of that aside." He never liked her pleading tone for it made his heart ache. "I'm not asking you to forget that you're a pirate's boy, Will, just please let our child be a blacksmith's boy."
"I feel like there's a battle between me and your entire family for Jack's life." Elizabeth glanced over her husband's shoulder at the sound of little Jack's laughter. "Elizabeth, it's our blood that runs through his veins; not your father's or my father's, but ours." She found his eye again and nodded slowly. "It's our choice who he sees and doesn't see, whether he's a lawyer or a blacksmith or a…a…beggar on the street. That is, until he's old enough to decide such things on his own."
"Some things he cannot decide," she whispered back. "Things that have already been decided for him. One of his grandfathers is a governor and the other is a pirate. He cannot change that." They both looked now as they heard the captain's soft voice by itself.