Disclaimer: Disney owns POTC.

A Sparrow's Shadow on the Sea

Unfinished Business

"I would sell my soul for some Chinese food!" I blurted, tossing Ruby's book of names onto the bed in annoyance.

Jack looked up from his unruly mess of maps and sea charts that he'd been studying. "Not a good thing to go around saying, luv," he replied with an ominous tone, "You never know who or what may hear you, and want to take you up on your offer."

"I don't suppose you know of anyplace where we could get Chinese food, then," I said disappointedly.

"I do actually," he mentioned, "but it's rather inconveniently located…in China." He regarded me with a puzzled expression. "What's brought this on?"

"Ugh! Blasted food cravings! Yet another wonderful symptom of pregnancy," I complained, "I'm as big as a house, and I should be able to eat whatever I want, since it doesn't really matter if I get fat. I'm already fat! And everything I'm craving doesn't even exist!"

Jack stared at me, his eyebrows raised. "Rum?" he offered, smiling brightly.

"Yeah, I wish," I responded grumpily. "Does cheesecake exist?" I asked him, desperately clinging to hope.

"Cake? Made from cheese?" Jack asked, grimacing at the idea, "Sorry, Eve, thankfully that does not exist either."

I rolled my eyes at him and began the long and arduous process of getting off the bed. Jack watched me with amusement, as I scooted to the edge of the bed and sat for a moment. I turned to look at him, and he quickly looked down at his maps with a serious expression.

"What do you think of Charles?" I asked him.

"Charles who?" he asked, still staring at the maps.

"The name, Jack," I answered, struggling to maintain patience.

"I love the name Jack!" he exclaimed, "But I thought you didn't want two Jack Sparrows in your life."

I stared at him blankly. Sometimes talking to him was like being trapped in an Abbott and Costello comedy routine. "No, Jack, what do think of the name Charles?" I asked him slowly.

"Kind of stuffy and boring, don't you think, luv?" he responded. "A boy should have a strong, masculine name…something that doesn't rhyme with anything unpleasant," he added as an afterthought. "Cole Sparrow!" he said dramatically, pointing his finger into the air, "Captain Cole Sparrow!"

"No," I said flatly. Sounds like a character in some badly written romance novel, I thought. "Could I have a little help, Jack" I asked him sweetly, as I struggled to stand up.

He walked over to the bed and offered his hands to pull me up. "M'lady," he said politely, as he smiled.

"Thank you," I said, trying to conceal my humiliation at being so cumbersome. "How 'bout Mason?"

"Hmmm…Mason Sparrow," he muttered, "Not bad…What do you think of Nigel?"

"Nigel?" I repeated in disbelief, "I think that little Nigel Sparrow would find himself getting beaten to a bloody pulp on a regular basis."

"By who? He'd be a bloody pirate!" Jack replied.

"And people far and wide would simply tremble in fear at the very mention of the dread pirate Nigel Sparrow," I said sarcastically.

Jack pouted. "You hate every name I suggest," he whined, "And what's wrong with Cole?"

"Cole who?" I asked, smirking.

Jack rolled his eyes and returned to sit at the table, shaking his head in dismay.

"How 'bout Harry?" I suggested, still smirking.

"Harry Sparrow?!" Jack blurted, "Kind of redundant, in a way…sounds like some freak of nature."

"See, you don't like all of my suggestions either," I pointed out. I sighed longingly, muttering, "Thin mint Girl Scout cookies."

I glanced at Jack to see him staring at me as if I'd gone mad. "What?" I asked.

"There are female scouts who bake mint cookies where you're from?" he asked.

"They don't bake them, they just sell them," I corrected, distractedly.

"Who bakes them?" Jack asked, confused.

"I don't know," I replied, still dreaming of cookies.

"Why do they sell them?" he continued to question.

"To raise money," I responded, still not really paying attention, "So they can do fun things."

Jack sat quietly, going over the conversation in his mind. "We could sell cookies to raise money to do fun things!" he suggested, with much enthusiasm.

I turned to look at him, and realized he wasn't joking. "That would makes us bakers, then, and not pirates," I pointed out, "And bakers are never addressed as Captain."

"Good point," he concluded.

"What about Tristan?" I suggested, with a sense of dread. I was the only person who seemed to like that name back home.

"Equal to Nigel for inspiring beatings," he commented, without looking up from his charts.

"This isn't as much fun as I thought it might be," I remarked.

"Nicholas," Jack said, "What do you think of Nicholas Sparrow?" He looked at me with a hopeful expression.

"I like it! Definitely one of the better ideas we've been able to come up with," I told him.

"Don't fret, Eve," Jack said as he left the table to join me by the windows, "We'll think of a perfect name. There's still plenty of time."

I shifted my gaze from staring at the sea, to look up at him. He was smirking as he slid his arms around me.

"Know what I'm craving right now, luv?" he asked me as he leaned closer, "Hmmm?"

I looked up at him, smiling, marveling that this incredible, irresistible man was all mine. He was so close that his lips brushed mine when he spoke.

"Can you guess?" he asked tauntingly, pulling me against him.

I smirked, then kissed him deeply, teasing him by gently biting his lower lip. He slipped his hands under my shirt, to caress my back, as he began to nibble and kiss my neck.

"I love you, my wicked wench," he growled huskily in my ear, before sweeping me off my feet and carrying me to the bed.

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New Providence proved to be very much like Tortuga, in its raucous yet not quite so decrepit, splendour. Another delightful pirate port, I thought, as the Black Pearl sailed majestically into the harbour. Our frequent visits to Tortuga had enabled me to begin to feel rather accustomed to it, even comfortable, so I was eagerly looking forward to exploring this new town with Jack. A nice break from the journey on the Pearl.

Jack had been rather tight-lipped regarding the business we had here. He had also been quite explicit in his demands that I remain onboard the Pearl, preferably as out of sight as possible. My hopes of familiarizing myself with this new town thus thwarted, I began to try to reason out an explanation for Jack's oddly secretive behaviour. Old habits, perhaps? No, he'd been relatively honest and forthcoming with nearly everything until now. My thoughts led me to believe that he had arranged a meeting with some men similar to those at the Faithful Bride, the men from the Reaper, whom he had eventually killed while in Tortuga. And, much to my anger and dismay, Jack had insisted on going to his mysterious rendezvous alone, leaving Gibbs to baby-sit me. All the cursing, screaming, and protesting I could muster wouldn't sway him.

And so, I sat at his table in the cabin, glowering at him, as he put on his "affects" and got ready to go. Frustrated that all my previous tactics had failed miserably, I finally resorted to a lethal blow.

"You still don't trust me, Jack," I accused him sullenly.

He sighed heavily, pausing as he checked his pistol, to glance at me. "Let's not do this now, luv," he told me in a controlled voice. He tucked the pistol into his belt, then reached for another pistol to check.

"Why won't you tell me what this is all about?" I questioned impatiently, trying to conceal my hurt feelings.

"Because it doesn't concern you," he snapped irritably. He looked at me and softened. Strolling over, with his most charming smile in place, he said, "Let's just say I have a few…loose ends to tie up, as it were." He caressed my cheek fleetingly. "Savvy?"

"No, not savvy," I said quietly, feeling distraught. His snippy words from so long ago echoed in my mind.

There are some things that you simply are not privy to…and you'll just have to square with that.

"Eve, I love you, darlin'," he told me, kissing me urgently. "I won't be long. You'll hardly have time to miss me. And we'll sail in the morning…no worries, then."

I looked at him poutily. "I love you, Jack," I said, adding hastily, "And you better come back unhurt."

"Aye, M'lady," he said, pressing his hands together and bowing slightly. He had a smirk on his face as he left.

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"Hardly have time to miss me" indeed! Jack had been gone for hours! In that time, I had passed from being annoyed and irritable to worried and desperate.

Finally, Gibbs sat me down at the table in the cabin, for a game of poker. What he'd expected to be a friendly game of chance, turned out to be a devastating blow to his purse. The distraction of the card game gave me an outlet for my anger, and my cut throat strategizing combined with the luck of the draw, had won me a substantial amount of money. I doubted I would ever be invited to join any of the card games with the crew after this.

Gibbs was nursing a rum and grimly shuffling the cards, when Jack burst in through the doors. "Mother Mary in Heaven, thank god ye're back!" Gibbs exclaimed with relief, leaping from Jack's chair and throwing the cards to the table, "Yer worried little wench 'ere's nearly wiped me out!" Gibbs glanced at me with a twinkle of admiration in his eyes.

"Did she now?" Jack said, looking pleased, as he glanced at the neatly stacked coins on the table in front of me. I smiled proudly at him. "You were betting doubloons?!" Jack said in disbelief.

"Aye, 'twas my foolish idea. Didn't think the lass knew her way 'round a deck of cards the way she does!" Gibbs replied sheepishly.

Jack burst out laughing. "Looks like you're broker than a headless whore, mate!" he blurted heartily, patting Gibbs on the back.

"Aye, Cap'n, sadly it'd be true," Gibbs muttered as he shuffled out of the cabin.

"You're a formidable adversary, Mr. Gibbs!" I called after him. He grumbled unintelligibly in response, as Jack closed the doors.

As Jack removed his coat, vest, and "affects," I took the opportunity to labouriously and slowly propel myself out of my chair.

"Well, since it seems none of your internal organs are currently on the exterior, and you don't appear to be splattered in blood," I mentioned as I circled him slowly, "I'm guessing things went well." I could tell quite clearly he'd been drinking also.

"Aye, luv, marvelously well," Jack replied, grinning arrogantly, "Not only did I pay in full an annoyingly bothersome debt, I managed to charm my way back into the good graces of a particularly powerful, formerly cranky and disconsolate, pirate captain/creditor."

I regarded Jack with scrutiny. "Annoyingly bothersome in the way the crew of the Reaper was annoyingly bothersome?" I questioned, failing in my attempts to not sound venomous.

Jack narrowed his eyes as he answered, but still had a smug smirk on his lips. "Somewhat similarly, yes," he admitted, strolling toward the bottle of rum on the table. "Thought it might be wise to get that ugly little…arrangement…squared away," he continued nonchalantly, as he gestured gracefully with his hands, "You know, luv, before the baby's born…I wanted to be certain we wouldn't have to worry about any…unpleasant surprises, savvy?" He smiled nervously at me, taking a swig of rum.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this before?" I asked in exasperation.

"I didn't want you to worry, darlin'," he slurred quietly, as he slowly approached me.

"I worried anyway!" I told him, slapping him hard on his upper arm. "'Have a few loose ends to tie up,'" I imitated him in a very whiney and sarcastic voice, "'It doesn't concern you.'"

He chuckled with a low, soft growl. "You know I don't sound like that, luv," he said with a smirk.

I ignored him. "Just so you know, everything you do concerns me, Jack," I told him, "I'm your bloody wife and I'm carrying your child."

"I do know that, Eve, and it's wonderful!" he slurred, grinning stupidly. "That's precisely why I went…out of concern fro you and our child." He bent to address my belly. "Isn't that right, Alexander?" he said, as he gently moved his hand over the large globe that was our child.

"Jack, that's good! Alexander Sparrow," I exclaimed in amazement.

Jack stood up, swaying unsteadily for a moment, then looked at me triumphantly. "Yeah, thought so too!" he said.

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A/N: Aw, Jack's tidying up his affairs and being responsible. What a great dad! Hugs and thanks to all who read and reviewed! Hope you enjoyed reading! Have a great weekend!