Disclaimer: I tried to steal Jack Sparrow from Disney, but they caught me, so I don't own him.
AN: We're almost at the end, people! Just another chapter left, plus an epilogue! Thanks so much for your support; it means so much to me! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 10: Family Life, and Return to the Caribbean:
Five Years Later: Ellie's POV:
"Mama, Mama, look at me!"
"No, it's my turn!"
I sighed and smiled as my children fought over the new toys I had bought for them for their birthdays. I never would have thought that Joshua would be born so close to his older sister's birthday, though he was younger by almost exactly two years. Marie had been surprised that a brother had been born only a few days after we'd just celebrated her third year of life, and never stopped telling anyone who would listen that he had been a 'present' from her father and me.
"Mama, Josh isn't sharing!" Marie cried, wanting to play with the small brown stuffed horse her brother currently possessed. "And it was my present!"
"Joshua, give your sister back her horse," I gently chided him. "Besides, you have your own toys to play with."
"Yes, Mama." My son pouted up at me from his seat on the floor of the nursery and handed Marie her toy horse, his sullen mood only lasting for a moment before he went off to play with the small, tin toy soldiers I'd given him just this morning.
"Mama, will you make my hair pretty for when Father comes home?" Marie asked, her eyes not leaving the stuffed horse that she now had 'galloping' across the floor.
I did my best not to wince. "Of course, darling," I said, trying to sound cheery. "We'll all look very pretty when your father comes home tonight."
"I don't want to be pretty!" Joshua quipped from his ring of soldiers, glaring hurtfully at me.
Laughing, I stood up and went over to swoop up my son in a huge hug. "Alright, I'll make you handsome, and your sister and myself pretty," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "What do you say to that?"
Josh nodded. "All right, Mama," he said, smiling up at me with sparkling blue eyes, framed with soft brown eyelashes. Feeling my heart swell up with love for my son, I put him back down and knelt beside him to watch him play. It wasn't long until Marie wandered over and the two of them played out a battle for my entertainment.
Watching my children giggle, play, and do everything they could to make me laugh, I couldn't help but feel like the luckiest mother in the world. I had gone against the traditions of the aristocracy and actually raised my children myself, away from nurses and governesses whose job it was to raise children for the upper class, and to teach them the proper ways to behave around the mothers and fathers they so rarely saw.
Instead, from the moment I had first held Marie in my arms, I had done everything, from feeding to changing diapers, myself. But in order to please my husband and to appear in good standing among our friends, I kept only one friendly, elderly woman as an aid for whenever I felt the need to relax alone or to watch the little ones as they napped during the afternoons. Mrs. Leaf was a lovely woman to have around, and the children felt that she was a playmate that never left the house.
But even though I loved my children more than anything, my only wish was for Godfrey to have more of a hand in their upbringing. He was a good man, and he was a good husband to me. He never raised a hand to me or hurt my feelings intentionally, but I was saddened to see that Godfrey refused to help me with Marie and Joshua. He had come very close to forbidding my own involvement in the children's lives, but after seeing my crushed expression, had taken it back and allowed me to do what I wished. It saddened me that Godfrey would be such a distant person in their lives, but I didn't want to cause trouble between us, as it would likely worry the children. I let it go and set out to live life the way that I saw fit.
"Mama, Joshua cheated!" whined Marie, who was sitting there with a small pout on her adorable face. Her pale blue-gray eyes stared accusingly at her younger brother before she stuck out her tongue at him.
"Did not!" he retaliated with his own voice and tongue.
"Alright, none of that," I softly said, putting my hands over both their mouths. "Tongues belong in your mouth, not out of them, so put those away."
They did as asked, and were soon in another mock battle between tin soldiers.
That Night, Ellie's POV:
As I brushed out Marie's hair, I couldn't help but smile at the bubbly child in my lap. It always amazed me that such a kind, relaxed, playful child could be born to the stiff and formal life of the aristocracy. In my mind, I'd always imagined what Marie would be like if she had been an ordinary child to a merchant or perhaps a person of the theater, where such sparkling happiness would be common. She was so chipper and full of life, and it reminded me of my father.
A small stab of pain and guilt shot through my chest. It had been little more than five years since I had seen my father and mother, since I had left them to give birth to Marie. I had wanted to take her to the Caribbean to see my parents, but Godfrey refused to put her in jeopardy until she was much older. Then Joshua had been born, and I'd been forced to send a letter of regret to my parents, saying that they would have to wait until their grandson was old enough to visit before they would be able to see what their grandchildren looked like.
Edward was a bit easier to see. Despite Father's attempts to keep him in Port Royal, Edward had left the Caribbean and the Navy, and had found his most unexpected true calling in life: a playwright. He wrote the storylines and plots to pieces of work that would later become operas or plays for small groups of actors, and was very popular.
Because of his talents, Eddie was often called to different places in Europe to help give some theaters a boost in selling tickets for performances. I was never prouder, and it made me so happy whenever Marie and Joshua would play with their Uncle Eddie when he came over for a visit at least four times a year. He would always bring small trinkets or toys from all across the world for me and the children to admire, but yet, he never seemed to get along well with Godfrey and would go out of his way to avoid speaking to him.
For some reason, the two of them would simply stay out of each other's way or be extraordinarily polite when we were having a family meal. If we were sitting together in the parlor having drinks or simply talking, the two men would be civil, but they both seemed to have an easier time talking to me than to one another. The few times they hadn't gotten along had been rather…explosive, so I did my best to keep peace between the two of them.
It wasn't until after Joshua was born that I discovered that Eddie hadn't approved of my marrying the first man to ask for my hand, and had thought that I should have married for love. Eddie had tried to stop the marriage by having Father try and talk to me, but since I'd been able to avoid the topic of marriage before the wedding, it hadn't happened the way my brother wanted it to. Now he claimed I was married to a stick of wood that had been frozen and was unable to melt or bend in any sort of way. I simply smiled at him and told him that I was happy, dispite what he thought of my marriage to Godfrey.
And I was happy. I may not have had the perfect marriage, but I loved my children, and my husband was (as I have repeated numerous times) a good man, so I really had nothing to be sad about…
Well, except for one…and it sailed in the blue waters of the Caribbean…
The Black Pearl: Jack's POV:
Five bloody years, and no sign of her…
Jack took another swig of water from his mug and frowned at the map in front of him. He'd tried everything to find her, and yet Eleanor still managed to remain out of reach! So far, Jack's only lead had been a group of beat-up men in Tortuga who had claimed that they'd attempted to rob a woman matching Ellie's description, but had failed because someone (or a group of someones) had knocked them out and saved her. The men hadn't lived to see the next day, since Jack had ordered them shot for trying to hurt Eleanor. After that, Jack had gone back to the ship and the Pearl had left for the sea, looking for plunder without ever looking back.
'Still can't believe I love her,' he thought, blankly staring at the parchment on the desk. 'I love her still, and I doubt I'll ever get over her like I want to.'
The last thought hurt more than anything. The woman never left his thoughts, and nothing he did could make her go away. Jack had even stopped drinking all together, ever since that night with Moira. He didn't know why he had done it, but he did, and it had made him a grumpier person to do so. He knew the crew was worried about how their captain could get along, now that he didn't have anything to take away the pain of losing Eleanor.
'I've dealt with it so far, and I'll deal with it still,' Jack thought, looking back at the map in front of him. 'For now, I've got to keep my crew rolling in swag to keep them happy.'
Pushing aside all thoughts of soft pale skin, long brown hair and blue eyes, Jack tried to focus on plundering.
England: Ellie's POV:
That night, when Godfrey arrived back home after a month of service, I was standing ready with the children, all of us dressed carefully and pristinely. The children hated being dressed up, the both of them longing to be in their comfortable play-clothes of loose shirts and pants. I knew that Godfrey did not approve of women in men's clothing, so I kept them hidden whenever he was home; Marie hated dresses, but would put up with them if I asked her to…like for tonight.
After we had all properly greeted Godfrey, the four of us sat down to a formal dinner the likes of which we had only when Godfrey was a home. Our usual meals usually consisted of the children and I enjoying our meals together in the playroom or in the sleeping quarters I kept close to the their rooms, should they need me during the night or if they were ill. Tonight, though, and every night for quite some time, I would share a room with my husband; there would be no bedtime stories or songs for the children until Godfrey left again…as he so frequently did…
Dinner went very well, as the children remembered their manners and were silent throughout the meal. I so wanted them to talk and chatter like they usually did, but something about Godfrey seemed to turn them into mutes. I knew they so wanted to love and please their father, but Marie and Joshua never seemed to be able to fully connect with him as they did with me. Then again, I spent more time with them in three days then Godfrey did when he was home for three months.
Suddenly, Godfrey cleared his throat and tapped his glass. "I have an important announcement to make," he said, sounding as though he were stating something in front of Parliament. Once he was sure he had our attention, he spoke again, and this sentence made my heart race.
"Since the children are old enough now, I'm taking the family to the Caribbean so that we may visit their grandparents and my cousin, Commodore Norrington."
Later that Night: Ellie's POV:
The Caribbean! I was shocked that Godfrey wanted to return there, but then, it shouldn't have surprised me; after all, we still had to show my parents the children, and they must have written several dozen letters over the years, begging for us to return. Now was our chance, and I was so excited that I could barely breathe! I started planning what to take and how Mrs. Leaf should manage the house while we were gone.
Marie and Joshua were even more excited than I was. They had never been on a voyage of any kind, and were very much looking forward to it. Marie was looking forward to being on a real ship while Joshua wanted to be someplace that wasn't London. Both of them wanted to visit someplace sunny and bright so that they could play outside all the time. Their excitement was charming, but they wanted to know why I was packing a large amount of clothes that were very light and not at all like what they normally wore here in England.
"You'll find out soon enough," I told them with a smile, very much looking forward to seeing their expressions when they felt the heat of the Caribbean sun falling down on them.
Two Months Later: The Silver Blade: Ellie's POV:
I had pictured us traveling on a merchant vessel, or at least a passenger transport of some kind. I had imagined my children having playmates while they explored the ship and asked friendly sailors questions about the ship we were on. I had expected to be able to chat with other women about different things while the ship gradually approached our destination, and to have small story-times with the other passenger children whenever they got restless.
What I hadn't expected was Godfrey to use his military influence to have us sail on a Navy ship bound for the Caribbean! Instead of other children and women to keep our minds occupied while we sailed, my family was subject to the strict military rules of the ship we were on, the Silver Blade. Marie and Joshua were forbidden from disturbing the soldiers on duty, and the sailors working the ship had been told not to interact with us in anyway.
Needless to say, the voyage was anything but stimulating. Godfrey was in his element, of course, but the children were bored to tears numerous times during the voyage. Marie, as a young lady, was to always be kept near me and in my presence, but Joshua was allowed to follow his father and learn about the Navy and the ship. Marie was a bit resentful of this, but I knew it was because Joshua was his father's only son and heir to the family name.
I was furious with Godfrey for this act of favoritism, but my feelings in this matter were ignored; my husband simply treated my thoughts as unimportant and proceeded to favor Joshua during our voyage. Inside the cabin, I secretly taught Marie as much about history, science, math, and other unladylike topics as possible; I would not have my daughter brought up as a beautiful, empty-headed, weak fool, subject to society and to dominating, crafty men. Marie was grateful for the distractions, and absorbed everything I taught her almost as fast as I could teach her.
Finally, when there was nothing left for Godfrey to teach our son about the ship, Joshua was put back into my care and I began to help him with his numbers and letters. Both of my children were extremely bright, and did all they could to try and outsmart each other, especially when I was there so I could correct any wrongly memorized information. I laughed at their eagerness to earn my approval, and I was never so proud of them.
As I tucked them into bed that night, a week away from Port Royal, I smiled down at their sleeping faces. I knew that I was a good mother, and that I loved and cared for them as a mother should, but I knew that something was missing in their lives. Godfrey did his best to be a good husband and father, and to raise our children according to society's rules, but I wanted a more solid fatherly figure in their lives. It hurt that they wouldn't have a father to dote on them like my own had done with Edward and me, but I felt that it was better to have a bad father than no father at all.
At least, that's what I told myself every night, before I went to sleep beside my husband, when he was home with us.
Midnight, The Black Pearl: Jack's POV:
Carefully watching their prey, Jack smirked as the small Navy ship floated several hundred feet away from the Pearl. Normally, Jack wouldn't be foolish enough to attack the Navy, but Commodore Norrington had been a substantial pain in the ass the past two years, and Jack had every intention of paying the dear Commodore back for all of the interfering the Navy man had done.
"Gibbs!" he hollered.
The elderly man hurried to his captain's side. "Aye, sir?" he asked, following Jack's gaze at the sea.
"Get the crew ready," Jack snapped, turning to glare at the Navy ship through his spyglass. "We attack at dawn."
AN: The next chapter holds some violence, as well as the ending of the story. There'll be an epilogue after chapter 11, and then this story is over! Review!