A/N: I had no idea how long I've put this fiction off, and I apologise whole heartedly for it. I'm back and I hope to type out the last three chapters pretty quickly to wrap it up. I may continue to write the third installment, even though the fanficiton is now an AU thanks to the new POTC movie, but what can I do? It was a fantastic movie... but... why?
I can't say more, or I'll spoil it. Anyway, I hope to continue the Jack/ Kat series into a triology, but I have a lot of work ahead of me for it. Besides the fact that I have three other fanfictions to finish besides this one... oh well, this will be my first priority at the moment, since it is my oldest and I'm stuck on POTC at the moment thanks yet agian to the new POTC movie.
And another note, I'm pretty sure that the colonists were now in America around this time. There is a small mention in the chapter and it's not all that big of a to doin the fiction. But, I just wanted to add that in there.
Have a good read and I hope you all will forgive me and review! Love you all!
Chapter 17: New Way 'o Life
Kat smiled as she saw Olivia limp around the deck of the Pearl with Emily and Jessie close by. Since she woke up from her coma-like state she has adapted to the splint on her leg and now refuses to use her crutches unless her mother, or even the commodore, makes her use them. She could now hobble fairly well and as far as the doctors or Kat could see she was in no pain or discomfort from the once broken leg. It wasn't completely healed by any means, but it was healed to a point to where she didn't need to worry about the pressure on the leg constantly. Her small, cherub face still showed signs of the sickness that once was rampant in her system, but the doctors were sure that they would fade with time.
Jessie Turner has never left her side since she woke up. He was there to keep her company, a person her own age to talk to and discuss things with. He also helped her around when the leg did happen to act up on her. He was one of those life long friends that would never leave her side when she needed him. Although at times he seemed to be a bit too overprotective of Olivia and was punished for pushing his little sister away.
It had been a month since they made it back to Barbados and cured Olivia and the other children. Luckily they had made it back just in time to ensure the lives of the few children that were infected from Port Royal. Unfortunately more of the Barbados children weren't so lucky and had perished before they could arrive. So many little ones all ready were laid to rest outside of their homes where they once lived, and now only a few could be saved.
Jack and his crew had decided then that they needed to spread the word to the other cities or ports that may had been infected by the disease. They may be a shipload of pirates who loot, maraud and embezzle, but they won't let innocent children die for no reason. And that's where they were heading now. The last port was still a few hours away and Kat just took the time to get off of her feet and watch the children play.
Kat closed her eyes and leaned back against one of the cabin walls and took a deep breath. Her hands laid on her now full stomach and she rubbed it through the fabric of her large shirt. She has since grown out of her shirts and most of her pants, she's had to resort to some of Jack's shirts and buying some more clothes at other ports that they had all ready passed through. It wasn't going to be too long now and both her and Jack knew it. And for the most part they were prepared. Jack had all ready set up a small baby crib in the captain's quarters and a few clothes and wraps that will be needed for the new arrival.
"How are they doing out here?" Harriet asked as she walked around the corner.
"Olivia is fine and isn't running on her leg all that much," Kat said automatically and opened one eye to look at her cousin, "Stop worrying and let go of your skirt."
Harriet dropped the piece of fabric from her hands, "How'd you know?"
"You always do that when your worried or anxious," Kat smiled and closed her eyes again, "I just don't always catch it."
"And you?"
"What about me?"
"How are you and the little one on the way doing?" Harriet smiled and patted Kat on the stomach and started to coo.
"Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, Harr-" Kat jumped a little as she felt the baby move inside her a little, "Now you got her all excited."
"Her?" Harriet leaned back from her cousin's stomach and quirked an eyebrow.
"A mother's intuition," Kat smiled and turned just in time to find Olivia hobbling over at a fast speed and almost crashed into her.
"Kat! Guess what?"
"What?" Kat hugged the child the best she could from the side.
"As soon as Uncle Jack gets up, I get to help him steer!" she smiled and began to bounce on the ball of her feet.
"Me too," Jessie piped in, "You're not the only one!"
"But he asked me first!" Olivia stuck her tongue out at the Turner.
"Olivia!" Harriet scorned her, "You keep that tongue in your mouth where it belongs, young lady."
"Yes, mama," Olivia looked down. As Harriet turned to look at the captain's quarters to ask herself why he wasn't up yet, Olivia looked up to find Kat sticking her tongue out at Harriet. She sucked her tongue back in when Harriet turned back and Olivia smiled.
"Is that where the captain is hiding these days?"
"Not hiding," Kat smiled, "Sleeping. I haven't been the best sleeping partner lately."
"I can imagine," Harriet again tapped Kat's stomach and then looked at Olivia to find her face with a confused look upon it, "What's the matter, Olivia?"
"Why has Kitty Kat gotten so big?" she reached her arms out to her sides to elaborate her point.
Kat just began to laugh. She never did explain what was happening to Olivia. She didn't understand that women were supposed to get bigger when they were pregnant. Her mother was still relatively her same weight when the virus stuck her down.
"It's okay, Olivia," Kat said still laughing a bit, "Uncle Jack and I are going to have a baby soon. I have the baby growing inside me. So my tummy needs to get bigger to accommodate the baby."
"Oh! Just like mommy!" she smiled and looked at her mother.
Kat looked at Harriet and found Harriet staring at her for an answer. They had forgotten to tell Olivia that she didn't have a sibling on the way any longer. She still believed that her mother had a baby inside her too and that she was going to be a big sister in the matter of a few months.
Olivia tilted her head to the side and put a gentle hand on her mother's belly, "Why aren't you as big as Kat, mommy?"
Harriet's face fell and she looked out to sea, "Oh… Olivia…"
Kat sighed and sat Olivia down, "It's hard to explain."
"Why?"
Harriet began to feel the tears coming to her eyes and leaned over to hug her daughter. Olivia looked at Kat with a worried face. Harriet soon leaned back and put a hand on each one of her daughter's shoulders.
"Dearest, I'm sorry… the baby that I had…" she looked at Kat who looked as if she didn't know if they should give a child of Olivia's age, not to mention Jessie and Emily who were both standing on the other side of Kat, a lesson in life and death. Although, taking into account everything that has happened around her, and her father, she knows more than any child her age would have normally, "The baby was taken…"
"Taken?"
"Um… yes…" Harriet swallowed her tears and looked at Kat.
Kat nodded and turned Olivia toward her, "I think mommy needs a little more sleep."
"I'm fine," Harriet wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Did Dornie take the baby?" Jessie asked, touching Kat's other hand.
"Yes, yes she did," Harriet nodded and had to keep her head turned away from her daughter, who she knew was starting to cry.
"But why would they take away my baby…?"
Harriet laughed a little in her response. Olivia never really knew the baby as the new addition to the family. She saw it more of her own baby. She knew it was going to be a sibling and that she was going to be the big sister, but she felt that she all ready was its protector and keeper.
"No reason, luv," Jack rubbed his eyes and stretched as he came on deck. He looked over at Harriet who was having a hard time keeping herself together, "Harriet, why don' ye help with dinner tonigh'. I 'eard from Kat that ye be a marvelous cook when ye wan' to be. And I bet tha' we all need some good food tonigh'."
Harriet nodded her head, kissed Olivia on the cheek and walked toward the galley.
"Will we get my baby back?" Olivia asked and looked up at Jack.
"I'm sorry, luv," Jack shook his head and sat next to Kat, "They took the baby to a place tha' we can't get to 'im."
"Where is that?" Jessie piped up.
Kat took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the baby began to kick again, "Why don't we leave these questions for later? Go play now."
"Yes, ma'am," the two Turner siblings ran off on deck, but Olivia stayed for a moment or two and looked at her two pirate relatives.
"Olivia?" Kat asked.
"My baby's with daddy now, huh?" she asked slowly and dropped her eyes to the floor.
Kat took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, your daddy is now taking care of the baby."
"Oh," Olivia picked her head up and even though her eyes held tears in them she was smiling, "Then I know he's safe. Daddy will take care of him. And I'll see him one day."
Kat smiled and felt the sting of on coming tears, but held them back, "One day… now, go play."
"All right," she wiped at her eyes and began to chase after Jessie.
"Ye goin' be be all righ', luv?" Jack put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll be fine as soon as our child will stop pushing on my bladder," she grumbled.
"We'll be reaching port soon, better get your land legs ready," he nodded and kissed her on the cheek before heading to the wheel.
"Aye, Aye, Captain," she smiled and pushed herself up on her feet and got the children to come inside while she changed.
After an early dinner from Harriet, some of the other crew mates and soldiers stepped onto dry land. Olivia walked - or rather limped- between her mother and the commodore off of the ship. She grabbed her mother's hand and smiled wide at her. Harriet smiled back and tickled her a little in the side. After walking a few feet and Harriet had finally stopped tickling her, Olivia turned her head to the commodore and tilted her head to the side. He glanced down at her with a question on his face. Olivia just smirked at him and grabbed his hand from behind his back and squeezed.
"I don't bite," she giggled and limped beside him.
He chuckled a little and looked at Harriet who had a warm smile on her face, "I… I have something to ask you later, Harriet."
Harriet noticed the seriousness in his voice and just nodded as Olivia pulled on both of their hands to jump a little.
Kat was leaning a bit on Jack as they walked through the port town. The Turners were behind them with Emily asleep on Will's shoulder and Jessie was skipping behind his mother. Jack finally stopped and put Kat down into a chair just on the outside of the hospice, "I'll be righ' back, luv."
"I'll be waiting for the laughing to begin," Kat sighed, "Stupid blighters. Doctors think that they know everything."
"Kat!" Harriet scorned from her side as she placed her hands over Olivia's ears and nodded at Jessie and Emily, "The children are present."
"It's not like they haven't heard it from Jack before," Kat rolled her eyes and leaned back in the small chair letting out a huge breath.
"Now, don' get me into this, luv," Jack waved his finger at her and walked in the hospice with Norrington and a few soldiers and Gibbs at his side.
"That still amazes me," Kat said more to herself than anyone else.
"What's that?" Harriet asked as she placed Olivia on her lap, bumping her up and down on one knee.
"Jack and Gibbs walking into any building surrounded by soldiers and a commodore and not being under arrest or in shackles," Kat laughed lightly to herself and rubbed her stomach again, "You're father…"
"If you keep doing that, you're going to wear the cloth out on your shirt," Harriet smiled, "Or should I say Jack's shirt?"
"Oh, let him worry about that. It makes her calm down," she smiled and patted the top of it.
"Her who?" Jack came back out of the hospice and looked down at Kat.
"Nothing," Kat smiled back, "How'd they take it?"
"They didn'," Jack shook his head, "No one's 'ere."
"They've moved on," Norrington continued, "Probably on to one of the other ports. They must have heard the news of the other ports and their 'luck' in cures, and decided to leave all this behind."
"Abandoned, eh?" Jack asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes," Norrington lifted an eyebrow trying to figure out why the pirate was smiling, "…why?"
"So it wouldn' really hurt if we do some friendly lootin'?" Jack rubbed his hands together and got some chuckles from some of the crew, a sigh from Will and a Norrington with what looked like an oncoming head ache.
"I guess it's possible…" Norrington took a deep breath, "Have at it, Sparrow. I doubt you'll ever get another chance to do it with my knowledge."
"Aye," he smiled, "Without me tellin' ye, ye mean?"
"Right," Norrington grumbled and turned to walk toward the Pearl, "Might as well unload our supplies, we can use this as a base until we find something to stop Dornie and the Harbinger crew."
"Cap'n?" Gibbs looked at Jack.
Jack smirked and nodded.
"Ahoy, mates! Free to loot 'ter yer heart's content!" Gibbs shouted toward the Pearl. After only a few seconds the rest of the crew rushed off the ship and toward the town. Jack helped Kat up and began to chuckle.
"We better get to a building or there won' be anythin' left even for the captain," Jack walked toward the biggest building in the area with Kat by his side, "It's so good to see the crew in high spirits, don' ye agree?"
"After all that traveling and no looting or shiny things, I was expecting a mutiny," Kat smiled at the frown from Jack.
"Nothin' to joke about," he muttered and opened the door, "Must be the governor's home. Well, it knows how te pick an owner."
"You're the one who picked a house," Kat walked over to a nice sized table and sat in one of the chairs, "And I doubt that a small port like this has anything close to a governor, and I don't think they were very friendly with England."
"Wha' makes ye think tha'?" Jack looked at Kat who pointed to a wall with a shredded and burnt England flag with a few scribbles of 'death to the crown', "Ye think their in lead with the- wha' they callin' themselves?"
"American Colonists?" Kat asked.
"Tha' be them," he pointed a finger, "Ye think they wan' te separate?"
"More than likely, but I don't really need to know," Kat grabbed the edge of the destroyed flag and ripped it from the wall to reveal a small door with a huge lock.
"Way te find some loot, luv," Jack kissed her on the cheek before walking to the door and looked into the keyhole.
Kat laughed to herself as Jack fiddled with the lock and popped it open, "Apparently not all that complicated."
"They've ne'er come across Captain Jack Sparrow," he smirked and moved his hands over the gold and jewels left behind by the former owners. Kat grew silent and looked out the side window at the passing crewmembers running to the different homes and then turned to look at the sea. Jack looked at Kat and then took a shilling from the mini treasure, "I 'ave a shillin' fer yer though's."
"Just thinking… What do you think Dornie's up to at the moment?" Kat asked and turned back to Jack, "She doesn't seem like one to just give up. She's obsessed with killing you, Jack. Where could she have gone?"
"Figurin' out which port to find us at will be her first priority," he looked into the next room after he locked the gold back up. He took a deep sigh and shook his head, "Wha' a waste…"
"What's that?" Kat pushed off the chair and wobbled up next to Jack.
"To think some one left all tha' te waste," Jack's eyes swept over the small piles of rum bottles at the corners of the room. Full rum bottles. He turned to look down at Kat, "This buildin' be a good location, don' ye think? It's big… right off shore… good view of the Pearl, not far away either… if ye or I get home sick, it be a small walk…"
"I'm not going to argue with you about rum," she put up a hand and Jack went into the room to stake his claim on the good batch, "How long do you think it will take them to find us?"
"Who?" Jack called from the room, checking the labels for the best brands.
"Harbinger? Dornie?" Kat leaned to one side unsteadily as she dodged a small bottle of wine Jack threw off to the side. She turned back to the table and sat back down in the comfortable chair.
"Won't be for a while yet," he grabbed an armful of the same brand of rum and carried them to the table where Kat had repositioned herself after the rum discovery, "Don' worry, I bet she'd be thinkin' fer a little before settin' foot on diseased land. Then add a few weeks to find the right port… By then we should 'ave a plan."
"Should is not a sure thing," Kat reminded him and looked in a small box at the side of the table that held a few pounds and a nice looking locket.
"We'll be fine," Jack walked back into the other room to grab a few more bottles, walked back to put them on the table and then patted Kat on the stomach, "We all be fine. At least for the moment at 'and."
She smiled and patted his hand, "I bet she was furious when she found us missing. I would have loved to see her face."
"I bet ye would," he laughed and looked out window toward the Pearl to see instead Harriet coming to the door, "It doesn't take yer cousin long te find us."
"She has a sense for me, I guess," Kat shrugged.
Jack opened the door before Harriet even had the opportunity to knock, "'Ello Harriet, find a little house te call yer own yet? They be goin' fast by the look 'o it."
"Yes, but that is not why I wanted to stop by," she smiled and looked at Kat, "I wanted to invite you two to my wedding."
"Harriet!" Kat yelled and jumped from her chair and hugged her cousin the best she could with her bulging gut, "So when is the date? How did the commodore do it? What does Olivia think? Oh- am I the maid of honor?"
"Kat… one question at a time," Harriet chuckled in her cousin's arms.
"I 'ave one," Jack asked as he flourished his hand in the air, "Could ye repeat tha'?"
