A/N: Thus commences chapter 2. Standard disclaimer applies.

"I've got something you should hear before any of this," Christina said, a slow smile lighting up her features. She blushed at the look of utter disappointment on Will's face as he pulled back; his hands had already made their way to the laces on her corset.

"What?" he asked, almost whining.

"Eager, aren't you?" she said dryly, putting a hand on his chest where he kneeled before her, and pushing him back a bit. A woman needed her space when she was about to make such an important announcement.

"I've had a long day, love, and I find myself needing a bit of a reprieve," Will was saying, his voice completely serious but his eyes dancing with a dark mirth and lusty exuberance. Christina shivered a bit as she always did right before - or while - that peculiar mood was descending. It was a mood she still didn't quite understand but by no means abhorred; no, it was just a mystery to her, almost as much as it had been on her wedding night on Naneth's island. That this man kneeling before her wanted her with an ardor that was intimidating, but that she herself was willing to match time and time again - it was confusing, breathtaking, and new each and every time.

"Yes, well, it's your lust for reprieve that's gotten me with child, Will," Christina said offhandedly, folding her hands on her knees and studying Will with an intensity that was reserved for dueling, arguing, and making up after the former two. There. Best to just be out with it, I suppose…she thought with a small style. She'd found out a week and a half ago and had only worked up the courage to tell him now, although he might be hurt if he knew that. She was glad it was out in the open now; the Turners, with the ink on their marriage papers barely dried, were to be expecting a child.

It seemed that at first Will didn't understand what she was saying. "With child?" he repeated dumbly, his eyes shooting to her abdomen as he if expected her to be swollen with the babe already. Christina laughed and leaned in close to him, pressing her mouth over his.

"You are such a silly man," she said softly against his lips. "Yes, with child, Will. We're to have a baby and you, my dear blacksmith, shall be a father in nine months time." She kissed him again and sighed as his arms went around her, pulling her from the rocking chair and clumsily onto the floor. Then he broke away with a suddenness that was alarming -

"What is it, Will?" Christina ask, her voice tremulous. Did he not want a child?

"I didn't mean to be so rough with you, Christina," he said hastily, getting to his feet without dislodging her too harshly and lifting her gently so that her feet left the floor. Christina sighed in relief and then squirmed to get out of Will's grip.

"You are a silly man. Darling, I'm not the least bit fragile yet and don't worry you won't have to remain celibate for the next nine months, the midwife told me it's perfect fine to…"

Will grinned.

"Well, to…"

"To what, my love?"

"To…partake fully in your marital duties as my tender, responsive husband," Christina said in a rush, willing her face not to turn all shades of red at the thought. At the very eager thought that, by Will's expression, was very much reciprocated.

"Is that so?" Will asked, letting his wife to her feet and pulling her securely against him. She grinned up at him as she felt his hands pull gently on the laces of her corset, for once not getting tangled and having to cut her loose. They'd been through at least five pairs of laces that way, and it was rather embarrassing to have to face Mrs. Dawson time after time to buy new laces, especially when the woman - who never seemed to catch on to anything so suggestive before - took on the appearance of the cat who caught the canary each time.

"I suppose you'll want to retire to the bedroom now, love?" he asked, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

"Oh, do lead the way, Will."

It was a few months later with a few scant weeks before the baby was due, where the two were sitting in bed as a pale moonlight shimmied its way through the open window. Christina smiled and shifted against Will, pressing herself deeper into the circle that his arms made around her. She had grown quite accustomed to the feel of his skin on hers, no longer the least bit shy about aligning every inch of her skin against his. Her favorite part of the day was when they would lay together in the cottage that was quickly becoming their home. The change wasn't automatic - there were times in the first few weeks of her legalized marriage that the cottage felt strange to her. The house sounds were different, the sounds outside of the cottage were foreign. Instead of a huge mansion atop a hill, where at night if she stayed on the balcony she could just faintly hear the waves and the wind, now the sounds of the island were magnified. The house was lower down on the island, closer to the sea and the trees. The waves were always crashing in and out, the birds always scuttling to and fro in the garden. The garden, with the flowers that Christina was just beginning to plant, would one day serve as an excellent reminder of the little island where she and Will had been truly married, under the sky and sunset rather than inside a sturdy, albeit beautiful, church.

Christina found that she missed that island and that in all likelihood she always would, but while its memory was as vibrant as ever, it was slowly becoming a sort of idealized fantasy in her mind. She was settling down into a new life now, the life of a blacksmith's wife. She had become softer, her frame fuller to make way for the quickly growing child. She was now well into her pregnancy and past the deplorable stage in which even the gentlest foods made her sick; Will had been terribly worried then, although Christina had assured him it was perfectly normal. She had tried not to let on how frightened she was, as well; she didn't want to worry him. The fact was that many women died in childbirth, and Christina was quite tempted to seek out Jack and have him take her to the little island where she and Will had been married. Somehow she thought that they would be able to care for her better there, where she knew she would be put to work to keep her body strong up until a few days before the birth. She remembered Taeryn's strength even when she was big with child. As it was, Christina was frustrating her doctors by insisting to take long walks each day around the island. Still, it was the least she could do to not let her body fall apart from bedridden neglect.

"Do want a girl or a boy, Will?" she asked gently, nudging him awake. Will's arms tightened around her, his big calloused hands sliding down to feel the taut skin of her stomach pulled over their budding baby.

"I don't know," he said softly. "Twins, maybe…"

"Ha!" Christina snorted, sticking her elbow in his side. "You carry twins, Mr. Turner. I'll not be carrying around two of your big-boned children. One at a time is quite enough, thank you."

"Be happy they're healthy," Will chastised quietly.

"I am," Christina replied quite seriously. "But you try lugging around all this extra weight. It's murder on my back, love. I can't wait until the child is born…" her voice trembled when she thought of the birth. Will tugged her closer and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Shh. I won't let anything happen to you," he said. And while she appreciated the sentiment, there was precious little Will could do to prevent the dangers of birth. She prayed instead for her own strength and tilted her head up to kiss him.

"I know you wont," she whispered back, fitting herself more firmly against his chest. She would humor him for as long as possible, but she knew the birth wouldn't be easy. She wished, not for the first time, that she had her own mother here to guide her and tell her stories of her own birth, but that comfort had run from her over a decade ago. The anger that Elizabeth expressed towards their flighty mother Christina slowly began to realize. She even wished that perhaps Will's mother could be here to comfort her, although the older Mrs. Turner had been dead for years, God rest her soul.

Christina sighed. Their child would have only one grandparent, Christina's father. Governor Swann was thrilled that he would soon be a grandfather, but he was in England right now on business and he had taken the young maid, Linda, to wait on him there. Elizabeth and Mary were seeing to the house, with Commodore Norrington coming to call on Mary at least twice a week, propriety be damned. Elizabeth was tending to her own independence after years of a coifed and proper existence. The pirates, in some strange and roundabout way, had been the best thing that ever happened to Elizabeth Swann, Christina thought wryly.

And to me as well, Christina smiled. Well, perhaps not the best thing. But it certainly helped lead to the very best thing...

"Look, Will!" she breathed, taking his hand and putting it on her belly, where the child was kicking and seeking a more comfortable position. It wasn't the first time that Will felt his child move inside his wife, but it was no less amazing.

"The doctor says in all likelihood it's a boy," Christina murmured.

"He's strong," Will replied, leaning down to kiss the softly rounded hill encasing his son. Christina shivered and pulled Will close to her.

"But Rosa thinks its a girl." Rosa, the old cook, was also Christina's midwife and had seen more births than young Doctor Forster had seen years. And so it's her word I'll be trusting...

"It's a few weeks 'til I'm due, but Doctor Forster seems to think we should expect the child early," Christina said pointedly. Will's eyes flashed.

"Has he said anything improper? If he thinks to question your honor -"

Christina laughed. "Oh, Will, I hardly care for what theman thinks. I think your child is eager to meet the world. You could be a father tomorrow."

Will smiled. "Nothing would bring me greater joy," he said, kissing Christina full on the mouth in such a way that she felt light headed and blood rushed to her face. She laughed quietly into his shoulder once she could catch her breath. "What's so funny, love?" he asked.

"To think that I was afraid you would not longer desire me, onceI reached the size of a small whale," Christina chuckled, rubbing her belly and feeling the child kick once again, rather roughly. Perhaps he didn't like to hear his parents speak of such things, she thought with a smile.

Will looked troubled. "Christina, you've never been more beautiful to me than you are right now and this," he touched her bellygently, "only makes your beauty greater." Christina smiled and swallowed with an effort, her eyes sparkling with grateful tears. Will grinned mischievously.

"Besides, your being in the family way certainly does have other benefits…"

"Oh? Like what?" Christina said archly.

"Well, you don't seem the type to want a wet nurse and I'm afraid I'll be quite the jealous lad once my son is born…"

"William Turner, you rogue!"