LONG CHAPTER READ AND REVIEW!!!!

Elizabeth smiled at Katrina and Brent, but when her eyes fell on her son, she forgot everyone and everything else. He was eight months old now. It had only been two months since she saw him, but it seemed like forever. He had grown so much! He was sitting on the floor, staring at the new arrivals curiously. Elizabeth rushed over, kneeling down and scooping him into her arms. He looked somewhat confused, but did not cry. She hugged him tight to her, tears running down her face, wanting so much to hold him forever, but knowing he was better safe on land. Jack spoke quietly with his relatives before walking over and putting his arms around his wife. Willy squirmed and Elizabeth hesitantly set him down. She wiped away her tears, smiled weakly at Jack, and accepted Katrina's warm hug.

After those few hard moments, Elizabeth began to enjoy herself. Katrina and Brent were a charming couple, but Katrina seemed worried about something. She said she was not feeling well and retired early. Jack and Elizabeth had been given a large, nicely decorated guest room. However, they both found themselves tripping around, because they were used to having their bedroom rock as the ocean cradled the Pearl. They ended up falling onto the bed in a laughing pile of arms and legs. They didn't bother getting back up.

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up early; a habit she had acquired on the sea. She loved watching the sunrise over the horizon. Usually Jack was up at the same time, but this morning he continued snoring and muttering in a most amusing way. The things he said in his sleep were so absurd she wondered if he was actually awake and trying to make her laugh. He said something about a goat, an egg, a peanut, and crabs. She giggled quietly and stole his hat and rum before slipping out of the room.

Elizabeth tiptoed down the hall to the room she knew was Willy's. She knew she must look strange, in Jack's hat, swaggering along with a bottle of rum. She had finally begun to understand why Jack staggered on land. Being at sea all the time made one compensate for the rocking waves by walking with a tilt. On land, it was nearly impossible to stop doing this, as it became habitual with time. She peeked into Willy's room, then snuck quietly to the crib and peeked at her adorable son. He was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth, making happy cooing sounds and scrunching his face in adorable ways. She kissed her fingertips, and then touched them softly to his forehead. Something similar to a smile crossed his adorable face, and she softly whispered her love to him before once again tiptoeing into the hall.

She crept down the stairs and headed for the door, thinking to sit on the beach and watch the sunrise while finishing off Jack's rum. She went outside and headed to the necessary first, but when she neared it she was greeted by the unmistakable sound of someone being sick. Her woman's intuition kicked in, and immediately her mind registered several things. Katrina had seemed worried, and had felt ill, the evening before. It was very early in the morning for anyone to be up and vomiting. If it was indeed Katrina who was ill, it then made since that perhaps the Torrance couple were on their way towards parenthood. This would also explain Katrina's apparent worry, for she had not wanted another pregnancy, as it meant risking another miscarriage. Elizabeth wondered over to a bench placed under a tree, facing out to sea, and sat down, swigging rum and waiting for Katrina to emerge, if indeed it was Katrina.

Sure enough, Katrina exited the necessary after a few more moments. She headed toward the bench with her head down, and when she looked up, she jumped at the sight of her cousin-in-law. Elizabeth gave her an understanding smile. "Are you alright?" Katrina started to nod, then shook her head and collapsed to the bench, crying softly. Tenderness did not come easily to Elizabeth, but she thought about how Jack always comforted her when she was sad about something, and she wrapped her arms around Katrina. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Katrina started talking through her tears. "When Brent and I married, we both wanted a bunch of kids. I got pregnant pretty quick, and we were so happy. Then, about two weeks after we found out, I lost the baby."

Here she sobbed, and it took a few moments before she could speak again.

"The doctor said many women lose their first baby, and that we should try again after a few months. Sure enough, I got pregnant again. This time, I got to four months. I loved my baby. I thought I was past the danger point. Then, out of the blue, for no reason, it happened again. I was too scared to go through it again for almost a year. The next one was an accident. I didn't even know I was pregnant. One day, I fell…and lost a baby I didn't even know existed."

She was sobbing uncontrollably now, and Elizabeth could feel tears running down her own face as well.

"Then…Jack told us he was getting married, which we thought would happen around the same time pigs begin to fly, and he said his fiancé was a widow who had just had a child, and that she loved her son enough to give him the kind of life his father would have wanted, on land. We were so happy, to be able to have a child without the risk. But now, when everything is going so well, and we have Willy, I'm pregnant again, and I don't know what to do!"

Elizabeth wanted to comfort this young woman who was so scared, but did not know how. She had carried her first child to term. It seemed unfair that she, who had not even wanted a child, though of course she loved him, had easily had a child; while this other girl, who wanted a child so badly, could apparently not carry to term. Softly, she spoke. "Katrina, I would love to say something like 'This time will go well, this time you will have a healthy baby.' but that might not happen. So, instead, I'll say this. Take care of yourself, don't do anything you know might hurt the baby, but keep focusing on Brent and Willy. Love them to pieces. When you get to your last couple of months, allow yourself to start loving the little one, but before that, even though it will be hard, pretend you are just taking care of someone else's baby for a few months. That person could show up at any time and take their baby home. Be prepared for that. It'll be hard, but try."

Katrina smiled weakly. "Thank you Elizabeth. Thanks for the advice, and thank you for giving me your son. That must have been a little like what I've gone through. I think I'll go back to bed for a while."

Elizabeth watched Katrina leave, and then wondered down the beach a ways. She sat down and began singing quietly, swigging from the still almost full bottle of rum. The song she was singing brought back memories. It was one of the songs she had taught Jack the night on the island.

Though the sea be hard,

Though it rock the ship,

Though we all sink to our doom,

The pirate's way will ever live,

To break the chains of gloom.

To set us free,

From man and duty,

And let us still catch the wind

The pirate's way will ever live,

And to us freedom send.

Elizabeth grinned when she heard another voice join her own. Jack plopped down in the sand beside her and grabbed the rum, drinking half of what was left in one gulp. "At least you didn't burn it." She grinned impishly. "It is rather chilly. A fire might be nice, good idea." He held the bottle far away from her and knocked his hat down over her eyes. She pulled it up quickly, but found that he had disappeared. She looked around curiously, and then burst out laughing when she realized he was sitting on the other side of her. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her lightly.

"You know, there aren't any other houses for quite a ways down the beach, and Brent and Katrina won't get up for a couple of hours." She grabbed the rum back and tilted her head, causing his hat to flop to one side adorably. "What do you mean?" He laughed, and proceeded to spend the next hour and a half showing her exactly what he meant.