The Oldest Story in the Book
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wee.
"Are you certain you're all right with this?" Norrington asked one more time as he knocked on the door to the Turner household. "Because if you aren't-"
"I am," Maggie interrupted, cuddling her cooing son close. "Honestly, Edward, I believe you do underestimate me."
The door opened, Bitsy coming out to smile at them. "Good afternoon Sir, Ma'am. Right this way," she offered.
"How are things, Bitsy?" Maggie asked as they followed her into the foyer.
The maid paused for a moment before replying, "Hectic."
"I can't imagine why," Norrington said sarcastically as the maid opened the door to the parlor into total chaus.
Elizabeth was cowering in one corner of the parlor with a grinning red-headed girl in her arms as Will stood before her, giving a mildly convincing impression of sparring with Jack as Pearl, or rather the dark-haired, silk-wearing version of Pearl most knew as Bethany, hunched over with fingers splayed in a positively evil pose, stocked ever closer to the girls.
Suddenly Emmie began to struggle in Elizabeth's arms. Elizabeth bent to release her on the side opposite Pearl, allowing the girl to streak across the room.
Fast as the girl was, Pearl was faster. She caught the screaming, laughing tot up in her arms, spinning as the girl squealed. Jack and Will broke off their sparring as Pearl settled onto the floor with the girl in her arms. "Whatever do undead pirates do with sweet little girls?" Pearl asked menacingly. "I know. They eat them!" With a nasty growl she descended into the mass of curly hair to pretend to chomp at the girl's neck as she giggled and squealed, writhing in her mother's arms.
"Wait! I have a better idea," Jack cried, swooping across the room to pull the girl from her mother's arms. She squealed again as the pirate lifted her high into the air. "Let's tickle her!"
"NO!" the girl cried.
"Yes," Pearl agreed, both of them descending on the hapless girl.
Norrington couldn't help but smile at the happy scene. The girl wriggled in her family's arms, finally freeing herself to run toward the door. She paused when she saw him. Obviously she had been unaware of his presence. But she only paused a moment before running up to him and raising her arms to be picked up.
A bit surprised by the sudden turn of events he complied, lifting the girl into his arms. The girl wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing her head close and looking up at her family. "Ha ha. You can' get me now," she announced. "I's safe."
"You think so, do you?" Jack asked. "What makes you say that?"
The girl shrugged, leaning in closer. "I just know."
Jack gave Pearl a questioning look, but Pearl only shrugged. "Your daughter can foretell the weather. Is it so impossible that your granddaughter can read a person's heart?"
"It's a bit different, luv. But after all I've seen I shouldn't wonder over it," Jack remarked, moving forward to hold his arms out to the girl. "Come with us, luv. No good climbing on the guests. Not proper manners, you know."
Emmie leaned toward her grandfather, going easily into his arms. As soon as the man closed his hands around the girl he let out an evil cackle and tossed her into the air, catching her and trundling her over his shoulder like a sack of grain as she screamed with laughter.
Pearl chuckled herself, coming forward to kiss first Edward chastely on the cheek, then Maggie. "I'm so glad you came. I was starting to wonder if you'd make it."
"I was kept late at work," Edward remarked, eyes wandering over to Jack, who was studiously tickling his granddaughter on the couch, ignoring the man. "There was a jail break last night. All but two of the crew we captured yesterday somehow escaped in the night."
"I can feel your eyes on me," Jack informed him. "I will have you know that I'm completely innocent.
"Jack, you swore to behave yourself," Will sighed as Elizabeth smacked the pirate lightly on the back of the head on her walk by.
"Hey, I didn't do it!" he cried. "If you want to blame someone mayhaps you should look at the person present that spends as much time in his bed as she can spare!"
All eyes turned to Pearl, who paused in her cooing over the baby to shrug noncommitally.
"Pearl, please tell me you didn't do it," Norrington sighed.
"I thought you didn't want me to lie to you," she remarked.
"Pearl!"
"I couldn't very well let him hang. I'd be nearly as guilty as you then," she snapped. "He's a good man."
"Is Uncle Marden all right?" Emmie asked from her spot in her grandfather's lap.
"Yes, darling, you mother's taken care of everything," Pearl answered. "Oh, where are my manners. Here, Emmie. I want to introduce you. This is Margaret, and her son, Ethan. Edward you've met all ready."
"Very pleased to meet you," the girl said, scampering over to give them a very proper curtsy. "I'm Emerald Sparrow."
"Sparrow?" Norrington asked as Margaret leaned down to allow the girl to examine her little brother.
"Couldn't very well name her Norrington, could I?" Pearl asked. "Asides, I carried my mother's name for five years and it did me no harm. And Jack's near to a father for her anyway."
"You're pretty," Emmie remarked, studying Maggie.
"Thank you. You're very pretty yourself," Maggie said. "What about Ethan?"
Emmie regarded the boy with a crinkled nose. "He's a boy. And a baby. Babies are boring."
"Tea," Elizabeth chirped as a maid bearing a tray entered the room. "Come here, Emmie. You may pour if you promise to be very careful."
"So how did the two men I executed this morning make you angry enough to condemn them?" Norrington asked as he moved to sit next to Pearl, his wife following a wide-eyed Emmie and grinning Elizabeth.
"They weren't good men. Please, let's leave it at that," Pearl ordered.
Norrington watched sadness cloud the woman's eyes as she sat to watch Elizabeth instruct their daughter in the finer points of pouring tea as Will smiled down at her. "She'll be happy here," Norrington promised.
Pearl nodded quickly. "She'll have just the sort of life I would want her to have. I can't think of any two people on this earth I would rather have raise her."
Norrington glanced briefly at his wife, whose attention was split between the lively girl and the cooing baby in her arms. Reaching out he took Pearl's hand in his. "What about us?"
"Oh, you and Maggie will make lovely parents, but we've been down that road. It just would raise too much suspicion."
"No, Pearl. I meant us," Norrington corrected, pressing her hand over his heart for just a moment before moving it to a more proper position.
Surprise flashed through her amber eyes, just a touch of hope lighting up their depth, before she pulled away from him. "I learned long ago, Edward, that playing at 'what if' only leads to heartbreak. It's a waist of time and I've better things to do than spend my life sighing over what can never be."
"You must hold to hope," he remarked. "Sometimes it's all you have."
"You sound like one that tried," she remarked. "Well, I wish you luck with that. Me, hope abandoned me ages ago."
"I wish you wouldn't talk like that," he informed her. "I'd hate to think of my-- our--daughter growing up like that."
"That's why I brought her here," Pearl answered, watching their daughter blush with pride as Elizabeth complimented her ability.
The girl brought two cups over to her parents, grinning broadly when her mother remarked, "Not a drop spilled. You're a natural Lady to be sure, darling."
And while she grinned her eyes fastened on her father. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn he saw a glint of the brilliance that shone through Jack's eyes from time to time as she seemed to draw her own conclusions. Then she turned, skipping merrily back to lodge herself between the Turners and take the cup Elizabeth offered her.
Author's Note: I'm too exhausted to write anything that makes sense. This week has killed me, and next week will be worse. Please review, because I gave up sleep to post this. And I need sleep.
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wee.
"Are you certain you're all right with this?" Norrington asked one more time as he knocked on the door to the Turner household. "Because if you aren't-"
"I am," Maggie interrupted, cuddling her cooing son close. "Honestly, Edward, I believe you do underestimate me."
The door opened, Bitsy coming out to smile at them. "Good afternoon Sir, Ma'am. Right this way," she offered.
"How are things, Bitsy?" Maggie asked as they followed her into the foyer.
The maid paused for a moment before replying, "Hectic."
"I can't imagine why," Norrington said sarcastically as the maid opened the door to the parlor into total chaus.
Elizabeth was cowering in one corner of the parlor with a grinning red-headed girl in her arms as Will stood before her, giving a mildly convincing impression of sparring with Jack as Pearl, or rather the dark-haired, silk-wearing version of Pearl most knew as Bethany, hunched over with fingers splayed in a positively evil pose, stocked ever closer to the girls.
Suddenly Emmie began to struggle in Elizabeth's arms. Elizabeth bent to release her on the side opposite Pearl, allowing the girl to streak across the room.
Fast as the girl was, Pearl was faster. She caught the screaming, laughing tot up in her arms, spinning as the girl squealed. Jack and Will broke off their sparring as Pearl settled onto the floor with the girl in her arms. "Whatever do undead pirates do with sweet little girls?" Pearl asked menacingly. "I know. They eat them!" With a nasty growl she descended into the mass of curly hair to pretend to chomp at the girl's neck as she giggled and squealed, writhing in her mother's arms.
"Wait! I have a better idea," Jack cried, swooping across the room to pull the girl from her mother's arms. She squealed again as the pirate lifted her high into the air. "Let's tickle her!"
"NO!" the girl cried.
"Yes," Pearl agreed, both of them descending on the hapless girl.
Norrington couldn't help but smile at the happy scene. The girl wriggled in her family's arms, finally freeing herself to run toward the door. She paused when she saw him. Obviously she had been unaware of his presence. But she only paused a moment before running up to him and raising her arms to be picked up.
A bit surprised by the sudden turn of events he complied, lifting the girl into his arms. The girl wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing her head close and looking up at her family. "Ha ha. You can' get me now," she announced. "I's safe."
"You think so, do you?" Jack asked. "What makes you say that?"
The girl shrugged, leaning in closer. "I just know."
Jack gave Pearl a questioning look, but Pearl only shrugged. "Your daughter can foretell the weather. Is it so impossible that your granddaughter can read a person's heart?"
"It's a bit different, luv. But after all I've seen I shouldn't wonder over it," Jack remarked, moving forward to hold his arms out to the girl. "Come with us, luv. No good climbing on the guests. Not proper manners, you know."
Emmie leaned toward her grandfather, going easily into his arms. As soon as the man closed his hands around the girl he let out an evil cackle and tossed her into the air, catching her and trundling her over his shoulder like a sack of grain as she screamed with laughter.
Pearl chuckled herself, coming forward to kiss first Edward chastely on the cheek, then Maggie. "I'm so glad you came. I was starting to wonder if you'd make it."
"I was kept late at work," Edward remarked, eyes wandering over to Jack, who was studiously tickling his granddaughter on the couch, ignoring the man. "There was a jail break last night. All but two of the crew we captured yesterday somehow escaped in the night."
"I can feel your eyes on me," Jack informed him. "I will have you know that I'm completely innocent.
"Jack, you swore to behave yourself," Will sighed as Elizabeth smacked the pirate lightly on the back of the head on her walk by.
"Hey, I didn't do it!" he cried. "If you want to blame someone mayhaps you should look at the person present that spends as much time in his bed as she can spare!"
All eyes turned to Pearl, who paused in her cooing over the baby to shrug noncommitally.
"Pearl, please tell me you didn't do it," Norrington sighed.
"I thought you didn't want me to lie to you," she remarked.
"Pearl!"
"I couldn't very well let him hang. I'd be nearly as guilty as you then," she snapped. "He's a good man."
"Is Uncle Marden all right?" Emmie asked from her spot in her grandfather's lap.
"Yes, darling, you mother's taken care of everything," Pearl answered. "Oh, where are my manners. Here, Emmie. I want to introduce you. This is Margaret, and her son, Ethan. Edward you've met all ready."
"Very pleased to meet you," the girl said, scampering over to give them a very proper curtsy. "I'm Emerald Sparrow."
"Sparrow?" Norrington asked as Margaret leaned down to allow the girl to examine her little brother.
"Couldn't very well name her Norrington, could I?" Pearl asked. "Asides, I carried my mother's name for five years and it did me no harm. And Jack's near to a father for her anyway."
"You're pretty," Emmie remarked, studying Maggie.
"Thank you. You're very pretty yourself," Maggie said. "What about Ethan?"
Emmie regarded the boy with a crinkled nose. "He's a boy. And a baby. Babies are boring."
"Tea," Elizabeth chirped as a maid bearing a tray entered the room. "Come here, Emmie. You may pour if you promise to be very careful."
"So how did the two men I executed this morning make you angry enough to condemn them?" Norrington asked as he moved to sit next to Pearl, his wife following a wide-eyed Emmie and grinning Elizabeth.
"They weren't good men. Please, let's leave it at that," Pearl ordered.
Norrington watched sadness cloud the woman's eyes as she sat to watch Elizabeth instruct their daughter in the finer points of pouring tea as Will smiled down at her. "She'll be happy here," Norrington promised.
Pearl nodded quickly. "She'll have just the sort of life I would want her to have. I can't think of any two people on this earth I would rather have raise her."
Norrington glanced briefly at his wife, whose attention was split between the lively girl and the cooing baby in her arms. Reaching out he took Pearl's hand in his. "What about us?"
"Oh, you and Maggie will make lovely parents, but we've been down that road. It just would raise too much suspicion."
"No, Pearl. I meant us," Norrington corrected, pressing her hand over his heart for just a moment before moving it to a more proper position.
Surprise flashed through her amber eyes, just a touch of hope lighting up their depth, before she pulled away from him. "I learned long ago, Edward, that playing at 'what if' only leads to heartbreak. It's a waist of time and I've better things to do than spend my life sighing over what can never be."
"You must hold to hope," he remarked. "Sometimes it's all you have."
"You sound like one that tried," she remarked. "Well, I wish you luck with that. Me, hope abandoned me ages ago."
"I wish you wouldn't talk like that," he informed her. "I'd hate to think of my-- our--daughter growing up like that."
"That's why I brought her here," Pearl answered, watching their daughter blush with pride as Elizabeth complimented her ability.
The girl brought two cups over to her parents, grinning broadly when her mother remarked, "Not a drop spilled. You're a natural Lady to be sure, darling."
And while she grinned her eyes fastened on her father. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn he saw a glint of the brilliance that shone through Jack's eyes from time to time as she seemed to draw her own conclusions. Then she turned, skipping merrily back to lodge herself between the Turners and take the cup Elizabeth offered her.
Author's Note: I'm too exhausted to write anything that makes sense. This week has killed me, and next week will be worse. Please review, because I gave up sleep to post this. And I need sleep.