The sun was just starting to rise as The Revenge docked at the Republic of Pirates. It had been a few weeks since they'd last made land, and the hull was bulging with cargo they had to unload, not to mention, everyone was dying for some shore leave.
"Do you think it's too early to go to Jackie'z?" Pete asked as the crew prepared to disembarked,
"It's probably the best time to go to Jackie'z," Izzy remarked, "The crowds won't have overtaken it yet,"
"We should go visit The Swede before it gets too busy," Stede said and a few of the crew hummed in agreement. He turned to Ed and added, "If that alright with you?"
"Yeah, I don't mind what we do," Ed replied, taking hold of Stede's hand.
Stede smiled softly at Ed then turned to Frenchie and Wee John, "Are you two sure you're good to watch the ship for the day?"
"We'll be fine, Captain," Wee John replied,
"Enjoy your day off guys," Frenchie called.
Everyone made their way off the ship and headed straight towards Jackie'z. Just as Izzy had predicted, the bar was empty.
"Guys!" The Swede cried from behind the bar, the moment everyone walked in. Everyone ran over to him, and Roach and Pete pulled him into a hug.
"How've you been?" Olu asked.
Before The Swede could reply Jackie pushed open the backdoor and walked in, "Oi! Blackbeard!" She shouted when she saw the group, "There's a girl here been asking after you."
Stede turned to look at Ed to see if he knew who the person might be, but Ed just stared blankly at Jackie, "So? People are always asking after Blackbeard; you usually just ignore them,"
"Nah, she wasn't asking after Blackbeard, she was asking after Edward Teach."
Ed raised an eyebrow in surprise, it was clear that this was a much less frequent occurrence.
"Who do you think the girl is?" Pete whispered behind Stede,
"Maybe she's his mistress," Roach replied.
Stede pulled his arms tightly around himself as he started to feel ever so slightly sick. Ed wouldn't have a mistress, would he?
"Maybe she's his daughter?" Lucius suggested.
"She's renting a room upstairs," Jackie said, "I can go get her if you want?" She didn't wait for Ed to answer before turning around and making her way back out of the room.
Stede shut his eyes, trying to shut out the speculation going on from the crew behind him.
"Maybe she's his wife and the captain's the mistress," Jim suggested.
Stede sighed, "Or maybe she's just a friend," he said weakly.
Jackie walked back into the room followed by a tall woman with the same dark curls and big brown eyes as Ed.
Stede's stomach twisted sharply with anxiety; she certainly looked enough like Ed to be his daughter.
"Tilly‽" Ed cried. He recognised the girl then.
The girl – Tilly – smiled at Ed, "Hey," she said, with a slightly awkward wave,
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"This is where Mum sends her letters, so I figured you'd show up here eventually."
"Mum," Lucius repeated with a knowing nod, "She's definitely his daughter,"
"Well, there's one way to find out," Archie said, "Oi, Ed!" She shouted, "Is she your daughter?"
Ed looked over his shoulder at the crew, a frown on his face as if he's only just remembered that they were all there, "No," he said distractedly, before turning back to Tilly, "Do you want to go somewhere private to talk?"
"Sure, we can go up to my room?"
Ed nodded, "Lead the way."
-x-
Ed followed Tilly up a set of stairs and into a small bedroom. Tilly opened the door then walked over to the bed and sat down. After a moment Ed shut the door and walked over to join her, "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Tilly bit her lip and looked down at her hands, "Edward, I'm pregnant," she said,
Ed's eyes widened in shock, "Does Mum know?"
Tilly ran her hand through her hair, "No, she doesn't. Neither does my dad, and they can't know,"
"Why not? I'm not sure you'll manage to keep it a secret from them,"
"Because if they find out they'll make me marry Stephen," Tilly snapped before sagging down as her eyes filled with tears, "And I can't do that. I won't do that,"
"Tilly," Ed said softly, "What happened?"
"He seemed nice at first," Tilly said, "He was handsome and sweet, and he promised me all sort of things if I went out with him, so I did, and it was a good evening, but then after that…After that, he started demanding that I attend to his every needs and he wouldn't let me see my friends, he tried to stop me seeing Mum and Dad, he even tried to stop me going to work," Tilly paused but Ed could tell she wasn't done, "Then he hit me," she whispered, "I told him no and he hit me,"
"Tilly…"
"I'm not going to live like that,"
"No," Ed agreed, images of his mum's face littered with bruises, put there by his father flashed through his mind, "But Mum won't make you marry him,"
"Lily Baker got pregnant, and her parents made her marry the father. Nobody wants a baby out of wedlock,"
"Mum's not like that," Ed insisted,
"You don't know that,"
"Yes, I do." Ed knew his mum would never put Tilly through the same thing she had gone through, just as he knew his mum had never told Tilly about her life with Ed's father, and Ed wasn't about to start spilling his mother's secrets, not even to Tilly.
Tilly tuned to glare at Ed, "If you're not going to help me, then I'll go find somebody who will," She snapped, as she got up and marched towards the door,
"Tilly, wait!"
Tilly turned around and raised her eyebrow at Ed,
"What do you need?" Ed asked.
Tilly let out a breath, clearly relieved that Ed was willing to help her, "I need somewhere to stay,"
"I can't offer you a room, Tilly, I live on a ship,"
"I know. I'm gonna become a pirate. Like you."
Ed eyed Tilly wearily, "Tilly…"
"Don't try and talk me out of it, if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me,"
Ed floundered for a moment, trying to find the words to express just how much piracy wasn't good enough for Tilly, "A pirate ship's no place to raise a baby," He said eventually.
Tilly frowned and looked down at where her hands were resting against her stomach, "Oh…well…I won't keep it then, I'll leave it at a nunnery."
Ed raised his eyebrows at Tilly, "Is that what you want?" He asked hesitantly,
"I don't…Please don't send me away," Tilly said, "I don't have anywhere else to go,"
"It's not my ship,"
"What do you mean it's not your ship‽"
"It's Stede's ship. If you want to stay, you'll have to ask him."
Tilly nodded, "Okay." However, she didn't make any move to leave the room, instead she just bit her lip in worry.
Ed sighed and got to his feet, "You don't need to worry," he said, "He's not going to say no,"
"Are you sure?"
Ed nodded and offered Tilly his arm, "Come on, I'll introduce you."
Ed led Tilly back downstairs and into the bar where the crew were all sat around chatting, apart from Stede who was pacing up and down behind them.
Stede's head snapped up to look at them as soon as they walked back through the door.
Ed coughed loudly and everyone fell quiet, "Everyone, this is my sister." Out of the corner of his eye Ed saw Lucius pass Archie some coins.
"Hi," Tilly said nervously, "I'm Matilda, but everyone just calls me Tilly."
Stede beamed at Tilly and stepped forward, he offered Tilly his hand, which she shook, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tilly."
"Tilly, this is Captain Stede Bonnet," Ed said,
"Ah, so you're the person I have to impress."
Stede glanced at Ed, "Why do you have to impress me?"
"Well Edward said it's your ship, therefore if I want to come with you, it's you I have to convince."
Stede smiled at Tilly, "Of course you can join us, any family of Ed's is welcome on our ship."
Tilly smiled back at Stede, "Thank you."
The rest of the crew crowded round Tilly and Ed.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Fang said,
"Yeah, well…" Ed trailed off. Pirates didn't talk about their families, and they didn't ask about other people's. Everyone knew that was a quick way to getting stabbed.
"Come and join us," Archie said, grabbing Tilly's hand and pulling her over the table where the crew had been sitting.
"How are we going to differentiate between the two of them?" Roach asked,
"They don't look that similar," Olu said,
"No, I mean, if we shout Teach, how will they know who we're talking to?"
Ed frowned, "You don't call me Teach,"
"Oh, my name's not Teach," Tilly said, "It's Hurst, we don't have the same dad,"
"Your dad wasn't killed by the Kraken then?" The Swede asked.
Tilly raised her eyebrow at Ed, who suddenly seemed very interested in the wood on the bar, "No," She said, "My dad's still alive."
Lucius pulled out a chair and offered it to Tilly, "So, I bet you can tell us all sorts of stories about our dear Edward," he said,
"Oh, no, not really," Tilly said, "He was already a pirate by the time I was born."
"That's a shame," Lucius said, "I was looking forward to stories about a teenage Edward making a fool of himself,"
Tilly smiled slightly, "That would have been good. I'm sorry I don't have any stories for you, but I bet you could tell me some,"
"Izzy's the man for that," Fang said. Everyone turned to look at Izzy,
"I'm not going spew all the embarrassing stories from our twenties,"
"We were just asking for embarrassing stories about Ed, but if you want to throw in ones about you, I'm not going to complain," Lucius said before turning back to Tilly, "Don't worry, he'll start spilling when there's enough alcohol in him."
"Well, I suggest we all get some drinks then," Stede said, making his way over to the bar,
"I like your thinking, Captain," Roach said, getting up to follow Stede.
Jackie poured everyone a drink and Roach carried them back to the table, where they were quickly scooped up by the crew.
Stede picked up two of the drinks and walked over to Ed, who was standing slightly apart from the crew just watching the goings on.
"So, sister, huh?" Stede said, holding out one of the drinks.
Ed looked over at Stede, "My mum remarried after… well, everything, so yeah, I have a stepdad called Paul and a half-sister."
Stede looked down into his drink, "I'm just surprised you haven't mentioned them before, I mean you know about all my family."
Ed sighed, "They're not really my family,"
Stede started in surprise, "That's a bit harsh,"
"No, I mean…I've only met Paul once and this is only the second time I've ever met Tilly,"
"What?"
"Before today, the only time I'd ever met Tilly was when we were introduced nearly ten years ago."
Stede took hold of Ed's hand and squeezed it.
"She needs help Stede, and I don't know how to do that. I'm her older brother on paper only. I don't know what to do,"
"I don't think anyone knows what to do when it comes to family," Stede said, "But I think you'll figure it out and I will be there with you every step of the way. Whatever you need."
Ed rested his head on Stede's shoulder, "Thank you," he said.
"Of course,"
Ed smiled up at Stede, "Come on, let's go stop the crew from telling Tilly all the terrible stories about us,"
"Oh, I don't know, I think I would quite like to hear some of those stories about you," Stede said with a smile. He took hold of Ed's hand and the two of them made their way back over to join the crew.
