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Janie stood in the doorway of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, as Elizabeth joined her... they had been readying the goose for the oven, for it was the largest one that the farmer over the ridge and across the road had in his flock, ready to be roasted for a holiday table, and Janie had stuffed it with a fine dressing of bread crumbs, wild onions, and exotic herbs that Elizabeth always made sure were brought to her from ports and ships plundered all over the world... they almost had to call for another pair of hands, but laughingly were able to wrestle the heavy bird into it's pan and ready for the large oven that was built into the thick wall of the kitchen. It would take all night and the next morning to roast, so large was the bird... with a ladle ready to spoon the juices over it as it languished in the oven, it would truly be a golden meal fit for royalty!
"We shall take turns checking on it... " Elizabeth offered, as she slipped an arm around her friend's corseted waist, "... you have worked so hard to gather us together and decorate the Inn, I must help you, even if I can't cook much..."
Janie put her arm around her young companion and gave her a quick hug. She wiped a bit of perspiration from her forehead and blew her curls out of her eyes, and said, "Whist, darlin', I run an inn during the busy season! This is what I do! Although..." Elizabeth caught Janie's eyes sparkle as she beheld the sight of the ones before her in the warm great room, "... I must say that I am putting on a bit of a show with the meal and such..." she glanced at Elizabeth, and confided, "... I'm being selfish... I haven't had a holiday celebration of me own since Maggie Sparrow died... not one that I could enjoy and have family around me. Not that I am truly 'family'... "
"Not truly 'family'!" Elizabeth turned to Janie and said, indignantly, "What to you mean? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and that includes the things that Jack has said since we've known him! Not 'truly' family? You are our friend...you are Jack's 'wife'!" Elizabeth playfully tugged on Janie's long auburn braid reproachfully, just like she would with her captain's long hair.
Janie frowned a little, and retorted, "Pif! Jack's 'wife'... just because William pronounced us such, in a fun way doesn't mean..." her voice caught itself, as Jack looked up at her with a huge grin, from where he was sitting with the other man at the huge, heavy round table in the center of the inn's stone floor...
He had taken his father out to the Pearl, even in the darkness, and he, William and Bill had lit all of the lamps on the ship, until she lit up the cold waters of the cove like as if it were daytime... it was a beautiful sight from the front door of the Inn, the shadows playing with the glowing lanterns on the dock... William and Jack proudly gave Teague and Bill a full tour of the ship. Jack had many modifications made to her since World's End and since recovering her from Hector Barbossa in parlay, and Janie and Elizabeth watched in amusement from the doorway as they could see Jack's arms waving proudly as he showed his dark lady off to his approving father. William was accompanying him with comments, pointing out this and that, showing his and Elizabeth's small cabin, climbing the rigging with Bill to take in the decks from above.
They had returned with an armful of Jack's valuable charts... something that he had a rather peculiar fondness for pouring over, more so than most pirates... he loved the artistry of the charts, the intricacy of the lines and measurements, the colours... the four men had come in out of the cold, chatting extensively about the unusual number of sails that the Pearl was fitted out with - one of the secrets of her speed, along with the glasslike smoothness of her hull that allowed her to slip through water like it was air... Teague had to admit that the Pearl was quite a beauty ... right up there with the Star, in his eyes.
It was then that Janie heard Teague ask Jack a rather unusual question..."Jackie... does th' Pearl always have a warm wind in her sails, these days?"
Jack had turned to his father, and he glanced at William, whose expressionless face did not give away that Jack knew he was thinking. Jack merely shrugged a little, and said, rather ambiguously, "Wot a question, Papa... "
Teague looked at his son in a way that made Jack pause, and he said, "Just answer me, son... "
Jack smiled slightly, and said, "... Aye, Papa... it seems that th' Pearl always has a warm, lovin' Irish wind in her sails since World's End... like as if someone, somewhere is always lookin' out for th' Pearl an' th' family aboard her..."
Teague turned his back, as he hung his richly embroidered coat upon the hooks by the door, and silently removed his hat to lay on the table by the window... he said nothing for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder, and said, quietly,"... my ship, The Star of Madagascar, seems t' have a warm, fragrant wind in her sails, these days, as well... just wondered... it's like it caresses me cheek; like your mother used to... "
He paused, then turned, with an expression on his own face that Jack could not read, and said to Bill, "Clear a place on th' table, brother Bill... let's look at this round chart, here."
They had been discussing the charts for some time, each offering an opinion on the location of Aqua de Vida and reminiscing about World's End, when Jack had looked up at the two women in the doorway of the kitchen, their arms around each other, heads together, obviously discussing the men... Elizabeth could actually feel Janie's heartbeat quicken as Janie's eyes met Jack's happy ones...
This time which he was sharing with his father, at this very moment, was something that he had dreamed about all of his life... much of his life had been spent thinking that his father did not love him... did not want him... but he knew better, now. There was much lost time to try to make up for... a lot of sadness to try to forget...
Elizabeth grinned as Jack's eyes looked deeply into Janie's, even from across the room, and he mouthed, "Tá grá agam duit ...Go raibh maith agat..." Elizabeth squeezed Janie's waist, as she knew that the captain was saying, "I love you... thank you."
It was then that Janie and Elizabeth laughed among themselves, as a kick under the table from William and a hard look from Teague startled Jack into paying attention to the subject at hand... the charts upon the table. They were interrupted only by the friendly small mantel clock striking, and Janie looked up from cleaning up the kitchen, and called out to the others, "'Tis midnight! Everyone gather at the fireplace for a toast and wishes for the solstice!"
Chairs were pushed back from the table, as assorted beverages were brought out of the kitchen upon trays. Janie took her place before the roaring peat fire, and said, "Does everyone have their drink?"
William had gone up the stairs to the room that he and Elizabeth shared... even in his sleepy state, Little Will was to be an important part of the midnight toast, unknown to Janie...
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Janie looked at William, Elizabeth and Bill, and smoothed her hair down, as Jack slipped an arm around her, lovingly. She began to explain, with a warm smile for all of those who were gathered at her home... her inn... her Jackie's safe haven...
"The Winter Solstice is the time we celebrate the return of the waxing sun. Light and life can be seen to be returning and conquering death. The solstice is a turning point, a point of change, where the tides of the year turn, and begin to flow in the opposite direction. It is the darkest time of the year, the time of the longest night, but there is the promise of the return of light."
Her face softened as she thought back to the last celebration with Maggie... she had not stayed until darkness that day, as her father and her governess would be livid with anger with the discovery of little Janie's covert "family" of two; the young gypsy girl and her sweet son... but Maggie had told her of the customs of the families of Gaelic and Celtic people of Eire, of which Janie was also a part. Janie had stayed awake in her own room that night, until midnight, and had thought over the things that Maggie had taught her...
Coming back to the present, she continued, " It is at the solstice that we encourage the sun to rise and to grow in power, and we remember the seasons of plenty. Magically we bring back the season of plenty, and we feast on rich foods and drinks. The fir tree that Jack, William, Izzy, Little Will and I decorated represents life amidst death; it is evergreen, representing everlasting life, and lasting friendship." Smiles went all around the small group, as Little Will yawned and stretched in his father's strong arms.
"Once past midnight, and with the sunrise, we greet the new sun and celebrate the now lengthening days. The rising sun brings the promise of the spring, and the gifts that it will bring. It is still a long time before the sun will be strong, but we hope and we trust. It is a time of making wishes and hopes for the coming year. From the darkness comes light."
Turning to the Turners, Janie raised her glass of wine, and said, with a soft, Irish lilt, "... my wish is that William, Izzy, Little Will and Bill will always be together... I know that much heartache has been with ye, but it has made your love even stronger... I love ye all so much... " Janie's gaze went down to Little Will, who had contentedly gone back to sleep...
Taking a cue from Janie's momentary silence, William raised his glass... "Our wish to our hostess, Janie O'Madden, is that she and Jack will accept each other's vows of love before Elizabeth and myself as a bond that no one can put asunder... and that we wish to bestow the honour of being our son's godmother upon his godfather's 'almost wife'..." Janie's eyes shone with happiness, as Jack's eyes grew very round under Teague's's steady, rather amused gaze. Jack had expected the honour to be asked of Janie by the Turners, but not quite like that.
Teague finally spoke... there was something that he and Jack had discussed whilst out upon the Pearl, and now was the time... "Janie ..."
Janie turned to regard Captain Teague... a man who had changed her life simply by meeting a vivacious young girl in a pub in Dublin one night... even in his abscence, he had loved Maggie and his beautiful son, while his own heart had been broken by the loss of the love of his life... but he was turning his heart around with the encouragement of those assembled around him...
Teague was not a man who was accustomed to many spoken words, but was prepared, as Jack's steady gaze never left his father's face... "... I wish t' thank you for bein' there for my boy... for my nephew an' his family, an' for befriending a fine man who I now know as me half brother..." he nodded to a solemn Bill, who had an arm around William.
Teague paused, then reached into his pocket and pulled forth a small box... "I wish happiness for us all... this littlest laddie, my great nephew, deserves the best life that we can offer t' him..." he reached over, and ever so slightly touched Little Will's soft brown curls...
"When I came back t' Ireland an' met ye all those years ago, Janie, I had come back t' take Maggie as my wife, an' take my son out o' th' shadow of th' words 'bastard son of a gypsy an' a pirate captain'..." Jack's eyes clouded over for a moment, as it had not bothered him as much as it haunted his father, but he then brightened as his father handed the small gift to Janie... "... I have had this gift for over thirty years... I was going t' give it to Maggie in hopes that she would marry me... Maggie an' I would want you t' have this... "
As Janie slowly opened the package, her eyes began to burn, then brim with tears... not only was she now the godmother of a beautiful newborn baby boy, and in the presence of her own "family" during this joyous time of year, her eyes now beheld a gift that would have been presented to Maggie from Captain Teague... a pair of shining, solid gold hoop earrings... gypsy earrings... glittering hoops that would match her treasured ring of Claddagh that Jack had placed upon her left hand to seal their vow of commitment to each other... these earrings would have adorned Maggie's ears as tokens of love, and now they would adorn her own...
She began to cry, as they all raised their mugs in a toast to each other, to the rebirth of their lives... and as Jack hugged his love, his Janie, to him, kissing away her tears, he whispered, "... my simple wish is tha' you know just how much I love you, Janie O'Madden..." ... and his other wish for the new season was for his father... but, glancing at the sea turtle shell guitar, he knew that it would wait until the opportune moment...
Janie wiped away her tears, and began to laugh a little... "Faith and begorrah!" She drew her Jackie to her with one arm, and a slightly amused Teague to her with the other. Hugging them both tightly, everyone laughed, as she sniffled, "Alright, who's the one who is going to pierce me ears tomorrow?"
Grinning widely, William leaned forward and said, wickedly, "THAT is a job for me! I'm highly qualified! I pierced my own ear!"
They all raised another toast, as Bill added, "We'll have several shots of whiskey ready to turn Janie into a true gypsy and a true pirate!"
And with shouts of "Nollaig Shona Dhuit" to each other, they all looked forward to a new day of merriment dawning, with family, friends and feasting, only a few hours away, with the rising of the morning sun over the treetops of County Galway... and it did not go unnoticed that a sudden warmth washed over the great room, making the flame atop the candle in the window flicker as if it were dancing for joy...
To be continued...