Chapter 11- Father's Anxiety
Barbossa and Jack soon recovered from the news about their wives being pregnant (It took Jack a lot longer).They finally figured out why fathers are so on edge (Gibbs had gone through the same thing before his wife Annie died giving birth to his son Rath 20 years previous). They were anxious as it was. Every time their wives made a little sound, they thought it was something very bad. Rachel and Anamaria could not even leave their husband's sides without them worrying about them to death. They even got a doctor from Tortuga to stay on the ship for their wives pregnancy, birth and in case of complications before and after birth. She encouraged Barbossa and Jack to leave them alone every so often to rest. They would need their strength for giving birth. They got to the point that they did not leave their rooms very much except for the restroom and fresh air. They were doing well, at least until that one fateful night. It was a cool, clear night. Barbossa was lying next to Rachel on their bed when it happened. Rachel started having contractions. She was too early. She was only 7 months pregnant. Barbossa is woken up by her heavy breathing and panting. He asks her, "What is happening?" She responds, "I'm having a baby! What do you think is going on?" "I'll go grab the doctor." 10 minutes later, he arrives with the doctor, Jack, and a very nervous Anamaria. The doctor tells Anamaria that she will need her help and she tells Barbossa and Jack to go outside. Jack leaves immediately while Barbossa asks the doctor, "Will my wife and child be alright?" "I believe your wife will live but the baby I'm not so certain about. It is being born too early. I cannot tell whether it will survive. Just trust me to do the right thing." "I will Doc." He leaves the room and sits with Jack on the stairs. They stay like this for 4 hours. Gibbs has joined them by now and so has a few others including Alexis and Hector. The door finally opens and Anamaria comes out and walks over to them. She starts to say, "It's a girl..." but she shakes her head as she starts to tear up. Jack holds her while she is crying. He nods at Barbossa to go into the room. Barbossa slowly creeps into the room. The doctor is sitting by Rachel on the bed exhausted but close to tears. The doctor gets up and turns towards Barbossa and whispers, "Your wife will be fine but, your daughter..." "Tell me what happened exactly to my daughter." "Your daughter was born so prematurely that she died of shock from being born. I'm sorry to say this but, your daughter was stillborn." At this Barbossa leans his head on the wall and hits it with his fist. He starts to cry but composes himself before turning around and walking over to Rachel. He holds her hand and asks, "Are you alright?" Rachel looks away and says, "I will be fine for now." She shows the same look of distance in her eyes that Barbossa knew all too well. He had the same look back when he used to try to kill himself.