CHAPTER THREE: A Few Months Later. . .

Jack smiled faintly as he turned the wheel of his ship a few degrees. For once, he wasn't smiling simply because he had his hands on the wheel of his magnificent Black Pearl. He was smiling because he could hear the melodic laugh of his daughter as she crawled after a small creature. Jack wasn't so sure picking up a cat in Marcellus was such a good idea, but Sunni was so insistent that he gave in. Now he was happily watching his daughter.

The family had just embarked on the first sailing journey since arriving at Nefari to examine the new house. Sunni had nearly fainted upon seeing her very own house- complete with furniture, pots and pans, and nearly anything else she needed to keep her family sheltered, fed, and entertained. They spent nearly two months at the house, moving things around, buying what little items needed to complete the house, and getting acquainted with their home on land.

Sunni, too, was keeping watch over their toddler on the deck of the Pearl. She never let her eyes leave Maddy when she was above deck. Her little overalls were collecting dirt and water as she crawled after the little kitten, but Sunni only smiled.

Maddy stopped crawling when she caught sight of her father up at the helm. Her eyes lit up and she fell on her diapered bottom. Then, she pushed herself up on her bare feet, and unsteadily took a step toward the helm.

"Jack!" Sunni screamed. "Jack!"

Jack quickly tied up the wheel and ran to the railing of the deck, thinking something was terribly wrong. He peered down on the lower deck where his wife and daughter were. Sunni, however, was smiling, jumping and pointing toward the steps. Jack's eyes swung to the steps and saw his daughter on her feet, wobbling, but walking, nonetheless.

"She's walking!" Sunni squealed.

Jack ran down the steps to the lower deck. Maddy squealed just like her mother when she saw her father, the object that she was after. She started running, but fell hopelessly on her butt before pushing herself up and trying again. Jack laughed, a deep, resounding sound and picked his daughter up when she reached him. She immediately grabbed onto one of his braids and gave him a sloppy, wet kiss.

Sunni was soon at their side, laughing. "I think it is official," she said. "She's a Daddy's girl."

"No doubt about it," Jack laughed.

"Jack Sparrow, you spoil that child," Anamaria accused him, walking past, wiping her hands on her pants.

Sunni only smiled, knowing that everyone, even Ana, spoiled her daughter and loved her dearly. After regaining her strength from giving birth to her daughter, Sunni returned to her chores on the Pearl, meaning the crew members often looked after Maddy. Sunni couldn't count the number of times she would happen to walk in the crew's quarters to find whoever was watching Maddy asleep in a bed with her daughter asleep on his chest, as well. Or the number of times she walked past Mr. Gibbs as he tried to teach the young girl to say his name. And Perch would often be spotted with Maddy on his knee as he told her stories of a great many places that she would visit.

Jack, however, hoisted his daughter a little higher on his hip and proceeded to the helm where the two would spend their time when he was watching her. Sunni knew Maddy would be capable of steering the ship herself by the time she was five or six because of the lessons Jack was already giving her when she couldn't even understand him.

"Okay, Maddy m'luv," Sunni could hear him saying as they walked off. "Do ye remember which side of the ship is th' starboard side? We were talkin' about this yesterday . . ."

"Sails on th' horizon!" the lookout called from the eagle's nest. "It's a merchant ship, Cap'n. Sailin' low in the water."

A feral grin slowly appeared on Jack's face. It had been a while since the Pearl had attacked- all hands were slightly weary of attacking with their new "niece" onboard. Jack was extremely thankful for their caution, but he knew everyone was itching for action.

"Prepare the guns! Men to stations!" he called, surprising them with orders to stand ready to attack. They let out a cheer and hastily followed orders. "Perch," he said, his voice lowered. "I want you to find Sunni and Maddy and take them to the galley at the center of the ship."

"And if Sunni wants to take up a sword and fight?" Perch asked, knowing full well that she would.

"Convince her that her job is to protect and watch Madelyn Marie," Jack said, his voice full of conviction.

"Aye, sir."

Sunni sat dejectedly in the galley at one of the eating benches. She had put up quite a fight to stay aboveboard, but in the end, she knew she had to watch over Maddy. She didn't mind being with her daughter, but she hated missing out on the action.

Sunni was now twenty years old. Her family, including Elizabeth and the Governor had it in their minds that by the time Sunni became a mother and gave birth to her daughter, she would 'grow up' and become more of a traditional lady. However, at the moment, she was swinging a sword around, bored with her orders.

"I know you want to be up there fightin' as well," Sunni said to her daughter. Maddy was settled into a small cradle that Sunni could easily carry around.

Suddenly, the Pearl fired a warning shot at the opposing ship, the canon making a loud boom. Maddy's sea green eyes welled up and she opened her mouth to wail in fright. Sunni sprinted to her daughter and scooped her up. "Oh, baby," she swayed around, softly singing to her daughter. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me . . ." Maddy calmed down at the sound of her mother's voice. Soon, she was even smiling at the goofy song.

Sunni set Maddy back down in her cradle and began twirling around, singing, "We pillage and plunder and . . ." she frowned, temporarily forgetting the words, "da da da daaa . . ." her feet began moving, snapping on the wooden planks as she danced around. Maddy was now giggling and smiling. "And really bad eggs, drink up me hearties yo ho!" After twirling, twisting and dancing to her own forgotten words of the pirate song, Sunni began again, remembering a few more words and making up a few more dance moves. She blew on Maddy's belly and threw herself into a spin, "Drink up me hearties YO HO!"

"So I take it you two stayed busy?" Jack asked, interrupted Sunni's spin.

Sunni shrieked, startled, jumping backwards. Jack was leaning on the door frame, sweaty, a little bloody and grinning like a fox.

"Jack Sparrow, you scared the crap out of me!" She looked her husband up and down. "I take it we won?"

"I think we can officially return to pirate duties while keeping Maddy safe," Jack told her.