Chapter 9

Will couldn't remember a time when he had been happier than this. His relationship with Elizabeth was so good, so right, so… perfect. He wanted to marry her. He had dreamed of what it would be like to marry her since the day he'd met her, but this was different. This was real. He wanted to propose to her and marry her; he wanted to move in with her and start a family with her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the more he thought about it, the more issues he found. For example, in the two years that they had been dating, he had never once met her father. He had seen him from a distance on a few occasions when he had gone to pick up Elizabeth before she moved into her own apartment, and every time he couldn't help but think that the man was standing there glaring at him, hating the fact that his daughter was dating a motorcycle-riding, middle-class blacksmith. Will had absolutely no desire whatsoever to find out whether or not this theory was true.

Another problem that he had found was a ring. He wanted her to have a nice ring – a really nice one – but that was something that he simply did not have the money for.

And then there was the third – and, admittedly, the biggest – problem: he still didn't know if she wanted to him to propose. He knew she loved him. But marriage was different. Marriage was huge. They had never talked about it, about what they would do if they got married, about whether or not they both wanted a family. He certainly hoped she wanted kids, because he wanted a whole house full. He knew they needed to talk about it, and preferably soon. Now what, exactly, was the best way to bring that up?

He was stretched out on her couch, and she was lying on her back on top of him, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Elizabeth?" he asked quietly, wondering if she had fallen asleep.

"Hm?"

"Do you – " And just like that, he lost his nerve. "What do you want to do for Christmas this year?" He mentally berated himself. Shit, you're an idiot, Will Turner.

"I don't know," Elizabeth replied, playing with his fingers. "I want to spend Christmas with you this year. What were you going to do?"

"Probably drive out to my dad's, same as always. What about your dad?"

"Maybe I could do Christmas Eve with him, and then Christmas Day with you. I want to meet your dad. And I certainly don't want to drag you off to meet my dad on Christmas, of all days."

Will chuckled. "Thanks."

"I can call my dad now," Elizabeth offered, pulling out her phone. "What time do you usually leave for your dad's?"

"Around five in the evening, Christmas Eve."

Elizabeth nodded and dialed. "Hi, Dad. Listen, I was wondering… do you think we could get together on Christmas Eve this year? Maybe for lunch?" She listened for a moment. "Yes, I'm with Will."

Will winced nervously.

Elizabeth continued undeterred. "We've been dating for two years now, Dad. I want to spend Christmas with him… We're going to spend the day with his dad… I know you haven't met him yet, Dad, but I don't want to do that to him on Christmas… Because you're a little intimidating, Daddy… No, he's not afraid of you – well, maybe a little…"

"Hey!" Will hissed, poking her lightly in the ribs.

She giggled. "So lunch on Christmas Eve, then?... Sure… I love you, too, Dad. Bye." She hung up. "It's settled. I'll have lunch with my dad on Christmas Eve, then spend Christmas Day with you."

"It'll be our first Christmas together," Will murmured into her hair.

She squeezed his hands. "Are you sure your dad won't mind having me there?"

"It'll be fine," Will reassured her. "I used to sleep on the floor every Christmas when I was little, waiting for Santa. I can do it again."

Elizabeth smiled, imagining a small boy with a mop of curly brown hair, curled up on the floor in front of a fireplace. "I bet you were adorable when you were little."

"I'm pretty sure my dad has all of my mum's old pictures of me. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to show them to you," Will said, rolling his eyes.

Elizabeth grinned. "I'll be sure to ask him."

They lapsed into silence, and after a few minutes, the deep, steady rise and fall of Will's chest under her told Elizabeth that he had dozed off. She looked down at their hands resting on her stomach, fingers entwined. She tried to imagine what it would be like to wear an engagement ring on her finger. She had been sure for so long now, knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that Will Turner was the man she wanted to marry. She wanted him to propose, but she just didn't know if he was ready yet. She didn't even know how he felt about kids.

She sighed quietly, listening to his easy breathing. She loved him with all her heart, and she always would… no matter how long it took him to be ready for commitment.

Jack couldn't help looking at Will curiously when he walked into the Pearl by himself on a Saturday afternoon.

"Hey, Jack."

"'ey, mate. Where's yer other half?"

"Christmas shopping with your other half."

"Ahh." Jack watched his friend pick aimlessly at the multitude of scratches in the surface of the bar top. "All righ', I'll bite. Wha's th' matter with yeh?"

"What makes you think anything's – "

"I've known yeh yer entire life, boy. Yeh migh' think I never pay attention, bu' I know when somethin's wrong, believe it 'r not."

Will shrugged, still staring down at the scarred bar top, and muttered something unintelligible.

"Wha'?"

Will squirmed slightly on his stool. "I want to marry her, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "I knew it."

Will glared at him halfheartedly. "I'm serious. I want to marry her. I want a family with her."

Every part of Jack's nature wanted to heckle his friend mercilessly, but the look on Will's face somehow made him feel like he should be serious.

"So? Marry 'er, then."

"Does she want me to propose?" Will asked suddenly.

"'ow th' 'ell should I know?"

"Well, that's the problem, Jack. I don't know either. I'm afraid I'll scare her if I ask her… I don't want her to feel pressured to rush into anything."

Jack was quickly discovering that he didn't at all enjoy being serious. It was much too hard.

Grinning, Ana held up a hideous red sweater with a pattern of oddly-shaped reindeer trotting with strangely sickening cheerfulness across the front.

"What do you think, Liz, would Jack wear it?" She turned to her friend, saw that she was staring absentmindedly at a rack of jackets. "Liz? Hello? Earth to Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth snapped suddenly out of her reverie. "Huh?"

"I asked you if you thought Jack would wear this sweater."

"Maybe. But I'm sure it would involve you doing several very dirty things," Elizabeth joked halfheartedly.

Ana rolled her eyes. "All right, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"That was the most unconvincing 'nothing' I've ever heard. You're a terrible liar."

Elizabeth turned away, feigning interest in the jacket on the mannequin behind her. "I was just thinking about… you know… marriage and stuff."

Ana gasped. "Did Will propose?"

"Wha- no! Keep your voice down, would you? He didn't propose."

"Oh." Ana sounded extremely disappointed. "Why are you thinking about marriage, then?"

"Because… I want him to propose," Elizabeth answered in a small voice.

The giant grin quickly returned to Ana's face. "Do you think he knows that?"

Elizabeth shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I don't know if he's ready for it yet. We've never actually talked about it."

"Never?" Ana said incredulously. "Geez, even Jack and I have at least talked about it."

Elizabeth gave her a disbelieving look. "You're telling me that Jack Sparrow talked about marriage?"

"Well… it was a one-sided conversation," Ana admitted.

"Thought so."

"But at least it came up!" Ana pressed. "At least he knows where we stand now! But you and Will… let's face it, everybody knows the two of you are going to end up married someday. I cannot believe that you've never talked about it."

Elizabeth shrugged. "Sorry. But what should I do, though? Should I say anything to him?"

"You said yourself you don't know if he's ready."

"Yeah…"

"Well… you know how Will is. If you tell him that you want to marry him and he's not ready for it, he'll get all pale, then all red, then he'll start stuttering, then he won't know how to act or what to say around you…" She shook her head. "He's sort of like a puppy."

Elizabeth grinned reluctantly. "He is, a bit. But don't tell him I said that."

Ana laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Hey, Jack, guess what – "

"You'll never guess wha' Will came in 'ere an' said t'day."

Ana rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, your news first, then," she said, somewhat sarcastically. "Mine can wait."

"Tha' idiot boy came in 'ere an' tol' me tha' 'e wants t' marry 'lizabeth."

Ana stared. "What?"

"I'm jus' tellin' yeh wha' 'e said. 'e wants t' marry 'er, but 'e's not sure if she wants 'im t' ask 'er."

Ana was practically bursting with excitement. "He wants to marry her? Will actually wants to marry her?"

"Tha's wha' 'e said," Jack shrugged. "What're you on?"

"I'm not on anything, Jack, I'm just excited!" She was nearly jumping up and down.

"Wha' on earth for?"

"Because Elizabeth told me the exact same thing today!" Ana revealed.

Jack just shook his head. "Idiots. Both of 'em."

"Wait!" Ana gasped suddenly. "Did Will say if he wants kids?"

"'e said somethin' 'bout startin' a family. Guess tha' means kids," Jack replied distastefully.

Ana looked like she was going to laugh and cry at the same time. "Jack, don't you see how perfect this is? They both want to get married, and they both want kids, but they don't know it yet and we do! We have to tell Will so he can propose – "

"Now wait jus' a minute!" Jack said, holding up his hands to stop her. "I don' think we should be tellin' 'em anythin'."

"What? Why not?"

"'cause couples are s'posed t' talk 'bout these things, aren' they? Don' you think they'll be better off if we let 'em figure it out fer themselves? Tha' boy's gotta learn t' communicate sometime, don''e?"

Calmer now, Ana stared at him in surprise, her head tilted curiously to one side. "I think that may have been the most logical thing you've ever said, Jack."

"So I'm righ' then?"

Ana sighed. "I suppose so. But how long do you think it'll take for them to figure it out, though?"

"Knowing Will," Jack said, rolling his eyes, "'bout four years 'r so."

Ah, mysteries! Will it, in fact, take Will four years to propose? Or will Ana simply explode from excitement and tell them everything? Tune in next time to find out ;)

(But in the meantime... review?)