Author's note: welcome readers, to the next instalment. Read on and enjoy.

Chapter Two: Good and Bad News

"Pirate."

Elizabeth laid her head contentedly against Jack's chest after several hours of glorious lovemaking.

"How is it that it seems to get better each time?" she purred, tracing her fingers on his broad, tanned chest.

"Well, I could show you again," Jack whispered in her ear and began to let his fingers wonder.

Elizabeth chuckled then grinned up at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, pet." He kissed her then.

"Jack," she said against his mouth, "I have some good news for you."

"Do tell." he said, while trailing his fingers through her hair.

Elizabeth took his hand from her hair and placed it over her abdomen. "I've missed my woman's flow for the last two months…" she let the implication hang in the air, hoping Jack would realize what she had just told him.

"You're with child." He stated simply, looking very much like he was in awe.

"Yes. You, Captain Jack Sparrow, are going to be a father."

A smile began to spread across his face and a joy filled his heart. He'd never thought he'd get that chance since he knew that pirates rarely, if ever, stayed with a woman long enough to raise a child. Sure, they stuck around for the child making process, but that was about it.

His own father hadn't. Elizabeth knew this and respected it. It was another thing that he loved so much about her. Despite his shortcomings in terms of his "legend" and his upbringing, she never thought less of him. In fact, she thought more of him.

Elizabeth saw him as a survivor no matter what odds he was up against, even death.

Ah, how grand it is to love and be loved.

And, also, he figured he'd be terrified. But for some odd reason, he wasn't. It was as if the moment was right. In his heart, he knew it was.

Ah, ol' Jack you're becoming a sap. He thought to himself. But being himself, he didn't care in the least. He would be if he darned well pleased.

Jack gently rubbed her stomach with his hand. "I'm going to give this child everything I never had." Jack said in a rare moment of complete seriousness.

Elizabeth gently touched his cheek. "I know you will."

Turning on a dime, he smirked. "He'll make a swell pirate."

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at him. "He? What makes you think it won't be a girl and that she won't make a swell pirate?"

Even though they had been married a year, they still enjoyed bantering and getting each other's goats in a playful manner.

"Because, darling, pirates always have boys."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes slightly at him and grinned. "Want to make a wager on that?" she asked, knowing that was something Jack could never resist.

Jack grinned. "What do I get if I win?" he asked, trailing his mouth down his wife's neck.

"If you win, you can name him. If I win, I get to name her."

Elizabeth stepped back and held her hand out. "Do we have an accord?"

Jack grinned and shook her hand. "May the best pirate win."

And with that, Jack kissed her and lowered her down onto the bed.

"What the devil is this about?" Jack asked angrily as Gibbs ran into his cabin a short time later. If there was anything that irritated the Captain, it was being interrupted while he was trying to seduce his wife.

"There's grey mist in the distance, Jack. It's makin' everyone a bit nervous."

Jack sighed and cast a look filled with longing at Elizabeth, who was wrapped in the sheets. He looked back at Gibbs, his irritation obvious.

"Mr. Gibbs, I know for a fact that you can sail through fog without a problem. So, just go and do that, savvy? As you can see, your Captain is a little busy right now and does not want any distractions." He gave Elizabeth a sensual smile.

Gibbs was clearly uncomfortable having come upon the scene he had. It left no mystery as to what they had been up to and were thinking of doing again.

Taking a deep breath, Gibbs answered him.

"I'm afraid we might not be able to, Captain." His voice shook slightly.

Jack and Elizabeth both looked at each other and at Gibbs. They both were picking up on his body language which was telling them that he was clearly worried about this fog. What made it different?

"Let's have a look, Jack." Elizabeth insisted, wanting to know what had Gibbs spooked.

Jack nodded his agreement and the two set to get their clothes back on while Gibbs waited outside the door.

All three of them came out on deck a short time later. Immediately Jack and Elizabeth saw what Gibbs had been talking about.

The fog was not only thick, but it had an eerie feel to it. They all collectively gasped as the what looked exactly like the Black Pearl came into view looking as it had when "a man so evil Hell itself spat him back out" had been Captain.

Jack's eyes took on a look of shock, then one that was colder than the seawater their ship was currently sailing in. "Barbossa."

Elizabeth looked at her husband with shock then back at the ship that had supposedly been destroyed that fateful day. Even when they had retrieved Jack, the ship had been beyond repair, and therefore it had be left behind at the bottom of the sea.

It was close enough now that they could see the man himself at the wheel, grinning in his trademark malicious manner.

"Oh, bugger." Elizabeth muttered.