Jack had opened his eyes a mere 6 hours after his painful ordeal to find Miranda holding a burning candle to his skin, cauterizing the wound.
"What the hell are you doing? Aren't you going to close the wound?" he asked, deeply confused.
"No...because my instincts tell me you'll be wanting another child soon enough..." Miranda giggled after she said this. "your baby is beautiful, Jack..." Jack smiled to himself at this. "but..."
"But what?" Jack asked. This concerned him and he was about to get up, but Miranda stuck out a hand and forced him to stay down.
"I'm not done yet, Jack. You can't keep Johnny...a ship is no place to be raising a child and you know it..."
"Who says I'm raising Johnny on a ship?" Jack wondered.
"Why do you lie to yourself? You know you're not giving up piracy, even for your own son." Miranda said, picking wax off of Jack's skin, which had gone numb. Jack flopped back on his cushions and thought about this. It was true. Painfully so...
Jack was leaning against the ramparts, deep in thought. He had finally healed (for the most part) from that difficult night in Tortuga several weeks ago, but now a difficult decision needed making.
As he had discussed with Miranda, ship is no place for a child. A pirate's life is extremely dangerous and isn't quite so glorious as one would first think. Jack knew this. But what he also knew was that he loved his son dearly. Jack sighed deeply and slumped a bit more.
"What's wrong, Jack?" Elizabeth asked, having seemingly appeared next to him out of nowhere. Jack jumped and staggered a bit, startled. Then he realized what her question was and sighed again.
"I can't raise Johnny...a ship is no place for a child to be living...he wouldn't last long..." he said sadly. Elizabeth thought for a moment.
"What if you gave up piracy?" she wondered. Jack nearly broke his neck slipping from shock at this suggestion.
"I'm sorry, luv, but that's out of the question!" he half-squeaked. Elizabeth exhaled quickly in exasperation, but seeing the look of seriousness on Jack's face made her change her tone.
"Well, then what can you do?" she asked. Jack sank slowly to the deck, curled up in thought.
"Listen, Elizabeth, dear, you and Will have a good life waiting for you on land..." Jack began.
"And this is relevant how?"
"I want you to go back to the life the two of you had, and raise Johnny for me..." Jack finished quietly. "I've already had the crew head for Port Royal...so as soon as we stop there you can get back to your old life with a child in it..."
"You're giving up your own son to continue your life of piracy!" Elizabeth asked, shocked. Jack uncurled and let out a muffled sob. He was trying not to show his feelings to Elizabeth.
"It wasn't easy...It still isn't...but it's probably for the best..." Jack said. "I can't keep Johnny with me...he wouldn't last long. And I just can't have that happening...I promised myself I wouldn't make the mistake my father made, but..." Jack couldn't finish, as he had burst into tears. Elizabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"Jack...Will and I would be more than happy to take care of your son...but if you wanted to visit him, I'm afraid it's out of the question. You remember that you're a pirate and you could get hanged..."
"Not if he's pregnant...it's moral-based law, you know..." Miranda chirped as she slid down the ropes from the crow's nest. Jack's eyes fluttered into hiding behind his lids and he collapsed onto the deck, apparently from shock at the very thought of him bearing another child. Elizabeth looked to Miranda.
"You just had to scare him, didn't you?" she asked. Miranda looked back.
"Yeah, pretty much." she laughed, picking up Jack and gently slapping him. Jack twitched but otherwise didn't move, and so Elizabeth and Miranda had to drag him off to the Captain's quarters.