Chapter Seventeen

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.

*Stares in shock* Guys, can you believe we're only three reviews away from 200? I honestly can't believe it! Thank you guys so much for your continued support and I hope I continue to provide chapters that you enjoy! :D

And on that note how are we only three chapters away from twenty? I know it's not that much considering this is going to have 77 chapters but still, it's a milestone in a way! :D

OceanBlueSeaEyes: I hope you know that I couldn't get that image out of my head lol! Never before have I lamented my lack of artistic abilities because I'd love to draw that :D

AmethystDragon14: Yay! You're welcome! Yeah Jonnie really got the short end of the stick in terms of shipping didn't they? LOL WonderApple was my favorite one of the listed ship names—and I forgot about SeaRose! Ah Melody and Phil, your ship name will have to live in this author's note instead. And yep, second strike for the Gazelle! Wonder how they'll get their third?

danifan3000: Probably too many to count since Neverland's a bunch of boys who never grow up :D

Bluebird: I'm so glad you're enjoying my fics! I actually have a chapter planned of them reacting to that actually, it should be coming up soon!

slytherin4thewin: Oh thank you! And even though I'm a Hufflepuff, I love your user name!

twilightgirl587: Yay! And yeah Jay's taking no chances at someone going through his bag! Yep, a proposal—and it took him long enough! Oh I'm sure at some point the Gazelle will find itself shut down…. :D

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Harriet leaned against the doorframe to their bedroom, smiling as she looked at her wife. Sammy wasn't wearing anything particularly special, just a blue striped shirt and blue jeans, but to Harriet, she looked stunning.

"What?" Sammy asked with a smile as she caught Harriet looking at her. "You're planning something aren't you, cap'n?"

"You know you don't have to use my title," Harriet chuckled as she walked into their bedroom. "Not in situations like this. Just like Harry and Uma, we're a team. We're equals."

"Well then, let me rephrase that question. You're planning something aren't you, my beautiful wife?"

"Only to kiss you, and I think you described the wrong person," Harriet said softly as she lightly pecked Sammy on the lips. "And…I wanted to talk to you."

"What happened?" Sammy asked, her easy going nature vanishing as she looked at Harriet in concern. "Is it Dad? Squeaky? Squirmy? Harry? CJ? Uma? Ryan? Claudine? Henry?"

"Whoa, whoa," Harriet told her, gently rubbing Sammy's arm as she looked at her. "If you try to list everyone, you'll run out of air. Everyone's fine, Sammy, as far as I know."

"Then why do you want to talk to me?" Sammy asked.

"I want a baby."

Sammy blinked, having clearly not expected that answer. "You…you want a baby?"

Harriet sighed. "I know it seems strange, especially since we both spent most of our lives looking after our siblings and basically being a mom, but…Harry's going to be a dad and I'm sure at some point, if CJ wants to, she'll be a great mom. It almost…feels weird not having someone to look out for now."

"Harriet, it's not strange at all," Sammy said, a small smile pulling at her lips as both women sat down on their bed. "I'm just surprised is all. Especially since most of us took a vow back on the Isle to never have kids."

"Sammy, that vow was made when we were all on the Isle. When we all thought there'd be no other choice but to live there for the rest of our lives and not want to bring more kids into the horror that was our home. But now, being in Auradon? Being married to you? Watching Harry and CJ grow up…"

The small smile on Sammy's lips grew bigger as she heard what Harriet was saying. "This doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Harry's going to be a father now is it? Baby fever as some of the AKs call it?"

"I mean, I won't lie. Hearing the words that Harry's going to be a dad is a little startling," Harriet said. "But at the same time I'm happy for him. He deserves this chance to be happy with Uma and their kid."

"I'm sensing another 'but' coming," Sammy said.

"I just…I want a kid," Harriet said. "I don't really have a rhyme or reason for it but I do. I want to hear the squeals of laughter fill our home, I want to hear you being called someone's mama, to hear Harry and CJ be called Uncle and Aunt. I…this might sound selfish but I want the joy of raising someone without the fear of them constantly being in danger."

Sammy looked at her wife and couldn't help the rush of love and adoration she felt toward Harriet. The woman had spent her whole life being a 'mom' to others, she could have been well within her right to say that she was done. That she never wanted to be a mom for the rest of her life and just spend it being the cool aunt to Harry's kids and CJ's if she had them.

But she didn't. Because that wasn't who Harriet was as a person, as a captain, as a wife.

"So I guess there's two questions that need to be answered," she said.

"Two?" Harriet asked, tilting her head as she looked over at Sammy.

Sammy chuckled. "Yes two. Who is the father going to be and…which one of us will carry the baby to term?"

Harriet's lips grew into a smile that Sammy was honestly convinced would split her entire face into two. Dizzy had clearly been giving lessons—though according to Gil that would be pretty hard to do as Dizzy had made friends with his youngest sister who'd come into Evie4Heart's one day to have lunch with Gil. He'd been busy with a fitting and when he came back to greet her, he'd found Lacey deep in conversation with Dizzy.

After that, Dizzy and Lacey had been almost inseparable. Celia once said that they were the new Harry and Uma but Harriet couldn't help but think that Celia was throwing that out as to get attention off of her and Cyrus. They were awfully close after all.

Okay, focus, she thought. Uma can worry about Celia's love life, you have something more pressing to think about.

"You're really on board with this?" Harriet asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sammy asked, shaking her head. "Harriet, I love you. I love making you happy and if having a child makes you happy, then it makes me happy too. Besides, it's not like it'll happen right away."

Harriet sighed. Sammy had a point there—the years of eating the Isle's food had taken its toil on both their bodies and even though Harriet had slightly easier access to food than Sammy did, what with the Captain running a fish shop, they both knew that any children they did have would likely be only children.

"I…I was thinking I'd carry the baby," Harriet told her.

"I can do it," Sammy said.

Harriet sighed and gently took Sammy's hand. "Sammy, I know we're the same age but you're slightly older than I am. Remember, they even said that age was a factor in having kids."

"If that's the case then how was Yzma able to have two kids?" Sammy asked.

"I don't know and in all honesty the less we think about Yzma and her ability to procreate the happier I'll be."

"That's a good point cap'n, carry on."

Harriet chuckled and shook her head. "There's…there's another reason why I want to carry the baby. I…I love you."

"I love you too," Sammy said. How is that a reason for wanting to be the one to carry the baby?

"I love you and I…my mother died when CJ was born," Harriet said, her voice a near whisper. "I don't think I could handle losing another person I love like that. Please. For me."

"Hey, hey," Sammy said, gently resting her other hand on top of Harriet's. "I'm not going anywhere cap'n. To steal from Jay, I'm with you until the end of the line and we meet Davy Jones. But if it makes you more comfortable, you can carry our child and I'll play the dutiable spouse here to spoil your every waking moment."

"You already do that though."

"That just means I'm good at it."

Both women chuckled at that and Sammy shook her head. "So that's one question answered but we're still missing an answer for the second."

"What was the second question again?"

"Who's going to be the father to our child?"

Harriet's smile never left her lips as she heard that. There was just something magical about the words 'their child'. "I'm going to be honest, I have thought this over. I think it should be someone we should trust."

"So you're not thinking of going through the donor center like Freddie and Ally are doing?" Sammy asked.

"No," Harriet shook her head. "I'd rather know the person we pick to be the father of our child rather than him be at random. Which…which is why I think we should do it from the crew."

Sammy tilted her head. "There's not a lot of guys who'll be available from the crew. Henry would do it but I don't think he'd want to be considered a 'donor' after everything with his dad. Nick might but he's completely devoted to Brooke now that he's finally in Auradon, same with Jake and Morgan."

Harriet chuckled. "That's true, that's very true. But I was thinking more along the lines of Derek?"

"Derek? Really?"

"He's a good crew mate, loyal, and someone we like being around for long periods of time. He's also got dark hair and blue eyes so our child would still look like a mixture of us, since you've got blue eyes too. Plus it doesn't hurt that Derek actually has a filter as opposed to Dustin so we can trust him around the kid when they're young."

Sammy snorted. "Yeah, Dustin would not be my first choice to be the father of my child. Though he's got to have chilled with age right?"

"Your guess is as good as mine since he's one of the few Rats still guarding the territory back on the Isle," Harriet shrugged and then sighed. "So are we both on board with Derek being the father of our child?"

"If Derek and Piper are on board as well," Sammy said. "I don't see why they wouldn't be but last thing I want to do is put a wedge in their marriage."

"You and me both," Harriet nodded. "So I think the best course of action would be to invite them over and talk it over with them. Like you said, it's not like we'll be having a child tomorrow."

"Wait," Sammy said. "How…how were you thinking of doing this Harriet? Isn't it rather invasive, with doctors and everything?"

Harriet sighed. "I know that's how Ally's doing it and the invasive way might work for Auradon but call me old fashioned or stuck in the ways of the Isle but I'm not comfortable with that."

"But the only other way is…"

"…That would be the other reason why I'd want someone from the crew to be the father of our child," Harriet sighed. "Trust me Sammy, I don't like it any more than you do and Derek probably won't like the idea either. But at least this way we can control everything. You really think one of those doctors would be gentle when they realize we're from the Isle? Or do you think they'd make the process as painful as they possibly could?"

Sammy sighed and shook her head. Harriet had a point. While Auradon had gotten loads better ever since Mal took the crown, there were still subsections of people who believed that the VKs should never have been taken off the Isle in the first place.

Thankfully though no one seemed to believe that Audrey had had the right idea so there was no threat of revolution anytime soon.

"I guess we should talk to Derek," Sammy said. "Though…there's always a chance he'll say no."

"I want him to if he's not comfortable with it," Harriet told her as they left their bedroom to call their crew mate. "I don't want him agreeing just because I outranked him when we were all on the Isle."

"Technically, cap'n, you still outrank him."

"Hush you," Harriet chuckled and shook her head before pulling out her cell phone and calling Derek. One phone call and about fifteen minutes later, Derek and Piper were sitting in Harriet and Sammy's living room.

"Can I just say that Auradon is really odd?" Derek said, taking a sip of his drink. "You know I've met two other Dereks since we've been here? One's over in Charmington and the other's Doug's brother!"

"I didn't know Doug had a brother," Harriet said. "And now the image of Dopey procreating twice is in my head, which was not the reason we invited you over Derek."

"I know," Derek nodded. "But if I had to imagine it, now you have to as well."

Sammy and Piper looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Why don't you let Captain Hook or First Mate Smee go over why they invited us over?" Piper said, resting a hand on Derek's forearm. "You can go over Dopey procreating as much as you want after we discuss that."

"You make that sound like some kind of reward," Derek chuckled.

Harriet shook her head. "How is it that I think you've immatured?"

"I don't think that's a word but I like to think it's because we're no longer constantly fighting for our lives, scrounging for food, and we get to enjoy our lives," Derek said with a shrug. "Besides, someone has to be the fun uncle for Henry's kids."

"I thought that was Ryan's role?"

"Sammy! You wound me!"

Harriet snorted as Sammy chuckled. "Can we please stay focused?"

"Sorry, sorry," Derek said, chuckling at his bosses. Derek hadn't been lucky in finding a job in Auradon when he came over so Harriet had reached out to him about working at their swimming school. It was a job that Derek immediately snatched up because he knew the bosses would be fair and not judge him for being a VK and he'd be working around water.

A pirate's paradise!

Plus, as Harriet told him later, having a guy around to help with the swim lessons was great in the event that they got a stubborn kid who only wanted to work with guys. Which they had a couple but not so many to justify Derek's paycheck.

"…I'm not getting fired am I?" Derek asked, the thought creeping into his mind.

"Derek, if you were getting fired, would we have a: invited you into our home to do it and b: invited your wife to come with you?" Harriet asked. "No, we're…I guess there's no better way to do this than to just ask. We're wanting to have a child and we'd like you to be the father."

"I think that was as blunt as humanly possible cap'n," Sammy said as Derek stared at them in shock.

"If I was any more vague, he'd still be thinking we were going to fire him," Harriet said. "He's one of the best employees we have."

"Harriet, the only other employee we have is CJ over the summers and school breaks."

"Your point being?"

"We need to hire more people. Especially if you're going to be pregnant."

Derek shook his head. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen into an alternate reality. You're having a kid? Or you want to at least? And you're choosing me to be the father?"

"That about sums it up," Harriet nodded.

"Great!" Derek grinned and then sobered slightly. "Just wanted to make sure I had the facts. Now…why me? I mean, don't get me wrong Harriet, Sammy, I'm happy to help where I can but Auradon has all sorts of medical centers that we never dreamed of having access to when we were on the Isle."

"Because we trust you," Sammy said and Derek looked over at her. "Derek, we want the father of our child to be in their lives and let's face it, there are a few people in Auradon who still look down their noses at the VKs. Having a 'pure VK' kid would prevent that from happening to our kid. Plus I think the AKs who would help and not look down their noses or make the kid feel inferior because we're VKs are AKs who would be terrifying to think of being alone with our kid. In the sense that chaos would ensue."

"You're thinking of Emir or Akiho?"

"I am in fact thinking of Emir and Akiho as some of the potential candidates, yes."

Derek shook his head. "How in the world are they going to be parents now? I met them once, actually they came to our wedding because Piper had met them and she wanted to invite them. They would have been good crew members if they were VKs though but their insanity is mind blowing."

"I think the universe just shuddered and it doesn't know why," Piper said with a small chuckle of her own. She'd met the two aforementioned AKs one day when she was stopping by Evie4Hearts to make sure Gil had had something to eat and they were picking up…well something but Piper never found out what it was as she'd gotten sucked into their conversation.

Honestly, being around Emir and Akiho was almost like being around her sisters but only with more insanity if such a thing was possible.

"Are you sure you want me as the father though?" Derek asked and Piper looked over at her husband. He glanced at her and she smiled, gently taking his hand.

"Derek…I think you should do it," Piper said, her voice soft and giving his hand a squeeze. "It's not as if you'd be cheating on me anyway so you don't have to worry about Gil hunting you down and killing you."

"I think Henry would beat Gil to the punch if that ever happened," Derek said with a wry smile as he shook his head. "You're sure Pipes?"

"Would I have said I was if I wasn't?" Piper asked and then turned to Harriet and Sammy. "Have…have you decided who'd be carrying the baby?"

"I will," Harriet said.

"Sammy, I'll sign whatever you want me to," Derek said as he looked over at Sammy. "Parental rights, forms that state that you're the parent and I'm just the donor, whatever you need or want."

Sammy couldn't help but smile at that. "Derek, we want to raise the baby with you and Piper. I mean, of course they'd be our baby but you'd be the father. You have the right to know your child. Plus, I think after years of growing up with Henry by your side, he'd probably kill you if you did what his dad did. Us being in Auradon or not."

"That is a good point," Derek nodded. "I just…I don't want you to feel left out Sammy. They're your kid too."

"I know," Sammy said. "But I'll be in good company with Piper. Speaking of which, Piper, let's go freshen up the snacks while these two talk 'shop' so to speak."

Piper nodded and got up. "I think that's a good idea," she said and followed Sammy into the kitchen. As the door shut, she sighed.

"Piper?" Sammy asked, hearing the sigh. "Are you okay? Do you not want Derek to do this? We're only going to do it if you're both on board after all."

Piper shook her head. "No, no, I want him to do it. We…we had talked last year…before we got married about wanting kids. But…you know how scarce food was for girls who didn't have gangs on the Isle and any food I did find, I made sure Lacey or any of the younger girls got it. Especially after Gia got pregnant before she came over to Auradon."

"Piper…what are you saying?" Sammy asked but she had a sinking feeling she knew exactly what Piper was saying.

Piper looked over at her, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I…I can't have kids. The doctor said it was a one in one thousand chance and the older I get with no pregnancy…well Derek told me that he was fine with that. That we'd both suffered on the Isle all our lives and had so much taken from us that there was no reason to have another thing taken from us as well. That's when he proposed."

"Bad sense of timing but he gets props for romance," Sammy said as she walked over and pulled Piper into her arms. "I'm so sorry Piper."

"Thanks Sammy," Piper said, wiping her eyes. "But I should be the one thanking you and Harriet. Derek was so excited at the thought of being a dad, even if I have to admit I wasn't all that excited at being a mom. A small part of me felt relieved when the doctor told me the news…which only made me feel more guilty because of how excited Derek had been. But now…now he gets to be a dad and I get to basically be the 'fun aunt'. Which I have plenty of practice being with Gil's kids."

"At some point the kid might call you 'mama'," Sammy said. "At least when they're young."

Piper sighed. "I know, and I'm okay with that. I just…I spent my whole life looking after my sisters, being a mom to them even though we all had our moms still. Mom, Aunt Laurette and Aunt Claudette were great at making sure we had what we needed but there was that urge to prove ourselves."

"To Gaston?"

"Yeah," Piper nodded. "You know, looking back, we should have just joined the Rats. Maybe I could have stopped Locklyn from joining Freddy. You know we were all livid when we heard she'd done that, and dragged Brooke there too."

Sammy nodded. "That was the one thing we could never figure out. Yeah Locklyn wasn't the best crew member but she was decent at times. Hung out with Jade so much they were practically joined at the hip. So when we found out she was leaving and taking Brooke with her? We basically banished all thought of her from the crew."

"We had a theory, the other LeGume girls and I, I mean," Piper sighed. "That maybe Freddy tricked Locklyn by saying he could get Gaston to acknowledge her. Locklyn's not a moron, unlike our brothers. Well excluding Gil I should say."

"So you mean the Gaston morons?"

"Precisely," Piper nodded. "But anyway, no one leaves the top ranked gang on the Isle with the best access to food to join the lower ranked rival unless there was trickery afoot. But the fact that she hasn't left the Isle with Queen Mal's adjustment to the barrier, makes me think that that theory is just that. A theory."

Let's not bring up the thought that Locklyn might not even be alive anymore, Sammy thought. After all, if she was in the Casters now, that would have been her best case scenario. Being a girl without a gang? Or even a gang of two?

Even on the newly refurbished Isle, that'd be looking for trouble—especially since Strat had made his way to Auradon a few weeks ago much to everyone's surprise.

Well it wasn't exactly by his choice, the hospital on the Isle had to send him to one of the hospitals in Auradon after he was brought in by a couple of the Rats. He'd been found beaten to an inch of his life, broken arm, broken leg, and several broken ribs. In all honesty, every one of the VKs in Auradon suspected one of the Gaston boys when they heard the news.

But Strat made a full recovery once he was treated—and surprised everyone by revealing that he had a sister in Auradon. Well more like she did the surprising when she ran into Strat's hospital room when Mal was visiting Strat. Selena was the daughter of Sarah Sanderson and Strat's father, whoever he was, and she'd come across the bridge a couple of years ago. She'd inherited her mother's blonde hair and persuasive magic though she used it more for good rather than devouring children's souls.

And it was clear that the 'use for good' was meant literally. Selena was always the person the art club and marching band at Auradon Prep turned to when they needed an increase in their budget from the student government.

The only reason Strat hadn't gone with was because he wanted to look after Locklyn and Shayla, as the last two bits of the Angels. Plus, and it felt weird to even hear the words relayed back, but he had apparently told Mal that he'd trusted her to keep his sister safe. That even thought they'd been rival gangs, he knew that an under fifteen (as Selena had been at the time) wouldn't have to worry about being treated cruelly by the Rats in Auradon.

"Is Strat still in Auradon?" Piper asked, seemingly reading Sammy's thoughts.

"Last I heard," Sammy nodded. "I think he's still doing physical therapy to strengthen his body from the beating it took. No offense Piper but we all think it was your brothers."

"Why would I be offended? They probably were trying to take out the 'competition'," Piper said, rolling her eyes as she put air quotes around the word competition. "In all honesty I'm surprised with the thought that they're still alive and human and not cows or llamas by now."

"Zevon must need muscle," Sammy shrugged.

"That's got to be the case," Piper nodded. "Do…do you think we should go back in there?"

"They're probably talking logistics," Sammy said. "Unless you want to be part of that conversation?"

"Well, we're probably going to have to learn when we'll need to clear out of our houses depending on who hosts it."

"….I didn't think about that," Sammy said and quickly grabbed the box of snacks they'd been munching on to refill the bowl before the two of them made their way back out to the living room.

Sure enough Harriet and Derek had been deeply enthralled in the calendar and by the markings Sammy knew what they were talking about.

"You were in there a while," Derek said as he looked up and wrapped his arm around Piper. "Everything okay?"

Piper nodded. "We were just chatting is all. You two getting down to business?"

"I think we are," Harriet nodded and looked over at Sammy with a small smile. "I think this is doable."

"Well I mean of course it is," Sammy said as she leaned over the sofa to wrap her arms around Harriet's shoulders. "You're Captain Harriet Hook. Anything you put your mind to, you can do."

"Why thank you but you got it wrong," Harriet said. "I'm Captain Harriet Smee-Hook."

"Ah right, how foolish of me to forget that," Sammy chuckled and lightly kissed Harriet on the lips.

Derek shook his head. "You know I'm just going to quote Celia here. This is what we waited so long for?"

"Shut up and kiss your wife."

"Aye cap'n!"

Piper chuckled. "Those are orders I can gladly live with," she said as Derek looked up and kissed her on her lips.

They were right. This was doable—because they were in this together and if Piper had learned anything from her years on the Isle, it was that a team was stronger than someone trying to make it on their own.

And the Rats, even as they drifted off, would always and forever be a team.