Chapter 8: Reuniting

Jim looked at the night sky above him as The Dauntless prepared to hoist it's anchor. It was moving much too fast. They needed to leave quickly otherwise, years might pass on the other side of this atmosphere.

He turned to look at Father Time's castle, remembering how he thought he would never see it again. As he was about to look away, he noticed something different on one of the towers. When he looked closer, he saw that it was Father Time standing on a balcony, watching the visitors leave his planet. His white beard was the give away and his blue pointy hat helped as well. Jim couldn't see his face, but judging by his personality, Father Time would not be pleased with so much death on his planet. Not to mention the fact that Jim and Alice had promised to never come back so that the planet would stay hidden. It was then that Jim realized why only the sky above him was moving so fast, and everywhere else it was normal. This was his punishment. Time. How much time was he taking away from him? Weeks? Months? Years? As The Dauntless flew back into space, Jim figured out how much time had gone by.

Alice was having a nightmare. The same nightmare she had since she was a child. She was peering out of a crack in the side of the barrel where she was hiding from the pirates that were taking her family. Only this time, it wasn't her parents that she saw out of the crack. It was Jim. Tears were streaming down her face as she saw the ship she had been on sailing away with her love. Then she heard it. A gunshot fired and Alice felt her heart snap in half as she saw Jim fall cold and lifeless onto the hard deck.

Alice woke up screaming. This wasn't unusual especially since she had convinced herself that he had died. She came up with many different scenarios of how it happened, but her nightmares made them harder to bare.

The I.S.U. had told her 2 months was the maximum amount of time that would pass before they would return. They told her that eight months ago. She sat up in her empty bed and wiped her tears from her face. Why was she still crying? Crying wasn't going to bring him back to life. Nothing would bring him home. Not even time.

"Ow," she said as she felt the baby kick. She waited patiently for the kicks to stop. "Aren't you tired already?" she asked her unborn child after about a minute. She rubbed her tummy and hummed a lullaby until the baby finally stopped and Alice could relax again. "I'm so happy I still have you," she said to her baby. She saw the sun coming up through the window and then decided to get up and help Sarah.

Jim's mother wasn't coping well with Jim's absence either and they often comforted each other to get through the days. Though it was never really enough, the effort of distracting each other from him worked for a while. But Alice's growing tummy wasn't helping the memories go away.

Alice got dressed and walked downstairs. She saw her mother-in-law already starting to cook breakfast. "Good morning, Sarah," she greeted softly as she pulled the plates from the cupboard.

"Good morning, Alice," Sarah replied. Her voice was tired and she had dark circles under her eyes from no sleep. Alice hadn't looked in a mirror yet but she was positive she looked almost identical.

Alice set the plates down on the table and started to help Sarah with the cooking portion. Her skills in the kitchen had increased greatly since that was the skill she would practice to pass the time.

When they were finished cooking, Sarah went upstairs to fetch the others. Alice sat in her usual spot and waited for the rest of her family to come down the stairs.

"Good morning, Alice!" B.E.N. said as he sat down next to her and started to stir the oil in his cup. "Good morning B.E.N." she said with a fake smile. B.E.N. had lost track of both The Dauntless and Jim as soon as they entered Never land's atmosphere. It wasn't his fault, but it was still a hard thing for her to get over.

Silver sat down in silence, as usual, and didn't wait for anything before he started to eat his food. They all at it silence as the minutes passed by. When they finished, B.E.N. took everyone's plate and went to the sink to was the dishes.

"Wait!" Jim yelled after the hover bus who was closing the doors. The bus driver stopped and waited for him to catch up. As he entered the bus full of aliens, he smiled and thanked the bus driver for stalling.

He walked down the aisle and found an open seat at the back of the bus. He sat down and looked out the window at the familiar landscape. Morph traveled up from Jim's pocket and rested on his left shoulder closer to the window to look at the pretty colors that would pass by. Jim took a deep breath as the bus took off. There were five different stops on the way back to the Benbow Inn. Only five more stops until he could see his family again; until he could see Alice again. He wondered what they might have thought happened to him? Did they think that he had abandoned them like his father? Did they think he was dead? Would they accept him? Would they be angry with him for taking so long to return?

He didn't want to spend that much time apart from them. It was his punishment for leading the pirates to the secret planet. He wasn't even aware until they started their journey home. When they first left Never land, he realized that six months had passed in the short time that they had been on the planet. It took them a month to get there, and a month to get back, so eight months had passed since he had last seen his family. Eight months. They must hate him for leaving for so long. Or maybe they miss him as much as he missed them.

He wondered how much had changed since he was gone. Jim smiled as he thought of how big Alice's belly would be, since she was almost nine months pregnant now. He thought about the huge hug he would get from B.E.N. and the big slap on the back from Silver. He was anxious to hug his mother again. Aside from Alice, he missed his mother the most. His heart started pounding as he anticipated finally seeing Alice again; to see her beautiful face, to hold her close to him, to run his fingers through her curly hair, that was all he wanted. To be with her again.

All of the sudden, he heard Morph chirping away excitedly at him, pointing to the signs with his stubby arms. Jim was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't even realize that he was only one stop away.

The rest of the day at the inn went by slowly, but this was normal for Alice. She no longer expected anything fast. There was no speeding solar surfer flying by the window anymore. No more last minute plans. No more spur of the moment events. Not since Jim had been gone.

It was a simple rescue mission. The I.S.U. was supposed to stop Captain Barbossa and his crew from reaching the Fountain of Youth and in doing so, save the queen of Atlantica along with Jim. They had promised to return in two months. No one ever returned. Alice swept the inn silently as she thought about her husband who would never come home.

Just then, she heard the roar of an engine coming to the Benbow Inn's port. She rushed to the window and saw the hover-bus stop at the port. It hadn't stopped there since Jim had used it. The doors of the bus opened and Alice's heart was pounding against her chest. Could it be him? Could he be alive? She watched like a hawk as she saw the familiar pair of black boots ascend down the steps and land on the wooden pier.

"Sarah!" she screamed. She needed to know she wasn't going crazy. She refused to take her eyes off of her husband as her mother-in-law ran to the window as well. "Do you see him or am I going crazy?" she asked.

Sarah started to cry. "I see him, Sweet-heart! Run!"

Alice didn't hesitate. She dropped the broom and practically kicked down the door of the inn. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her and her pregnant belly. Her vision was blurred from her tears but she could still see him. She could still see his smile and his outstretched arms as he waited for her. She didn't slow down. She didn't dare to, or he would be father away. She ran and ran and finally jumped into his arms. He spun her around multiple times before he finally set her down. Alice's body was shaking from her sobs. She wouldn't let go of her husband. Not now. Not when she finally got him back.

"Alice, it's okay. I'm home," he whispered. The sound of his voice was angelic and she buried her face in his chest, refusing to let go. He stroked her back to calm her down. He continued to talk in her ear since it seemed to relax her.

When she finally stopped shaking, she was able to let go of his embrace. Morph hurried over and started licking her cheek. "Morph!" she laughed. "I missed you, little guy!" Morph chirped happily in reply and then darted toward the inn to greet everyone else.

Alice turned her attention back to Jim. She smiled widely at her husband with tears still streaming down her cheeks. "You're really here!" she cried.

His blue eyes started to tear up. "Of course I am. Where else would I be?"

Alice started to laugh at herself. "I thought you had died," she admitted.

Jim took her face in his hands and wiped the tears away. "You can't get rid of me that easily." He then pulled her face to his and kissed her lips longingly.

Alice's heart raced and her knees began to buckle. She had forgotten what it was like to be kissed by Jim. She missed it so much. She wasn't going to let this moment go to waste. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He couldn't get close enough due to one little barrier.

Jim broke the kiss and gently put his hand on her belly. "There's something blocking me," he joked. Then he started to chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Alice asked.

"I guess that's my fault anyway," he said, still laughing.

Alice giggled. "You're right about that!"

Jim's laughing died down as he raised his hand back to her face and stroked her cheek. "I've missed you, so much," he said with a smile.

"You have no idea," Alice said as she pulled him into her embrace, pressing her face into his chest. She still couldn't believe it. Jim was alive and he was home. He was in her arms again, like he had never left. Her bed wouldn't be empty anymore. The empty place at the table would be full again. Their child wouldn't grow up without a father. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life. Nothing could take him away from her now. Not one thing.

On the short walk back to the inn, Jim was greeted by the rest of his family.

"Jim!" Sarah cried as she ran out and hugged her son with all her might. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too mom," Jim said as he returned his mother's hug.

"Jimbo!"

"Jimmy!" B.E.N. and Silver's voices came from inside the inn and within seconds, the two were outside joining the hug. Jim was almost squished.

"Can't…breath…" he managed to say. They let go and each greeted him the way he had imagined. B.E.N. was talking a million miles a minute about his adventure with Alice at the I.S.U. headquarters while Silver asked if he wanted a drink and his mother sniffed him and told him that he needed a shower. "Okay, okay, one at a time guys. And can we go inside first? I'm hungry!"

After a few hours of catching up, laughing, and eating, Jim and Alice were able to break away from the family to catch up themselves.

"I didn't know you could cook like that," Jim said as they entered their room.

"I've had a while to practice," Alice replied with a smile.

Jim laughed. "Well my mom is right. I need to shower. I smell like a dead cow after three days of baking in the sun. I'll be back," he said as he kissed her forehead and walked into the bathroom.

Alice changed into her long nightgown and sat on the bed as she combed her unruly hair while she waited for her husband to finish up.

When the bathroom door swung open, Jim was leaning against the door in a seductive manner with nothing but a towel on. "I feel…much better," he said with a wink.

Alice couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing so hard she fell back onto the bed, fighting for air.

Jim frowned. "What?" he asked.

Alice calmed herself down to just slight giggles. "I guess I just wasn't expecting that the first night you came home," she replied. "Plus, it's just funny to see you try to be sexy."

Jim chuckled. "Whatever. If you weren't pregnant, you'd be all over me right now," he said as he walked over to the dresser to get his pajamas.

Right as Jim turned his back to her to get his clothes, Alice gasped at the sight of his scars.

Jim turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Your back! What happened?" she asked, horrified at the sight of his scarred back..

"Oh," he sighed. "Hang on a second," he said as he dug through the drawers for his clothes. As soon as he was dressed, he sat down next to her and told her everything. He told her about the whipping, about the rest of the trip to Never land, his battle with Scroop, even the trip back to Montressor with the I.S.U. "But none of that matters anymore because I'm home with you again," he said with a smile. "And this little one," he said poking her baby bump.

Alice giggled, but quickly frowned. "Ow!" she said looking down at her stomach. She looked back at her husband. "Sorry, the baby just started kicking again. I think my rib cage is going to be bruised for the rest of my life," she joked.

Jim gently put his hand on the bump. The kicking quickly died down until it finally stopped, much faster than normal.

Alice looked up at her husband, her eyes wide with shock. "It never stops that fast! It takes at least five minutes or more when I try to calm it down!" she exclaimed.

Jim laughed. "Looks like he or she already has a favorite parent," he teased.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.

"You're just jealous," he teased.

"Hardly," she said as she leaned in for a kiss. Jim quickly caught on and in an instant, his lips were on hers. Alice was grateful that she was already sitting down, because this kiss would've made her lose feeling in her legs and collapse. Once Alice could catch her breath and somewhat focus, she returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around him to pull him closer. She wanted to stay like this forever. She missed this affection much more than she thought and she didn't want it to end. But Jim pulled away much sooner than she wished. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I need to control myself," he laughed.

Alice giggled. "I agree. But this whole pregnancy thing stinks. I'm glad it won't be too long before we can continue this," she teased.

Jim laughed again. "Alright well I'm tired anyway so I'm going to get some sleep. Are you going back downstairs?" he asked her as he unfolded the covers.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not leaving your side! I just got you back! I'm staying here," she said with a "humph."

Jim chuckled at his wife, "You're adorable," he said as he kissed her one more time.

After they slid under their covers and finally laid next to each other after all of this time, it took them hours of talking and snuggling before one of them eventually fell asleep.

Jim looked down at his wife who was sleeping soundly. The dark circles under her eyes were slowly fading and her hair was showing just a few strands of grey. Her face was shallow and her skin was pale. She was still beautiful, but she looked tortured. She had told him about how long the eight months had been for her and how she had missed him. She had thought that he'd died. He tried to think about how he would react if the tables were turned. He wouldn't be able to bare it, he knew that for a fact. He imagined all the pain that she must have went through while he was gone and it scared him.

He reached over and stroked her hair, which was barely holding the once bouncy curls. He then leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry love," he whispered.

She must've heard him because she snuggled up closer to him and rested her head on his chest to let him know 'It's okay.'

About an hour of silence went by until Jim's thoughts slowed down and he finally fell asleep dreaming about the rest of their lives together.