⚔ 1st Log ⚔ Making way
Jack never was the man to follow tradition. Even if the code specifically called that no women or fighting was to be on board, he broke that rule when he allowed Elizabeth to board the Black Pearl several years ago. A pirate lord was he and still is, though her being the King was the better choice
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It was truly a strange thing, having control over these fierce and often quite unruly Pirate Lords. That fact that she was pregnant and quite far along only seemed to make everyone give her an even wider berth. Undeniably, she was a strong, fierce, and determined Pirate King. Underneath all of that, she was just a young woman and yes, sometimes she allowed herself a moment or two of weakness. Missing William, for instance. Seeing Jack though, that helped with the ever constant ache in her heart. Whatever it was about him, whatever their trials and tribulations had been in the past, he could make her smile under the more distressing circumstances.
Elizabeth was up with the rest of the crew as preparations to take off went under way, the wind whipping her hair as she grips the railing of the ship, looking out at the rolling waves. She's up and about for an entirely different reason then her own choice, the rolling of the ships started up her morning sickness, so she looked a bit pale and shaky when Jack approached. "Mornin' Jack."
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His gaze fell upon Elizabeth and her slightly green tint that he didn't catch nor understood what was going on, he grinned. "Ah! Mornin', love. Sleep well?" He wasn't about to tell him where he landed himself on his own waking. Embarrassment was never far from Jack's path. Captain or not, social graces were never his main agenda.
Munching on a pickle, the smell of vinegar lingered along with the morning rum that Jack always had on him. Oh yes, the smell was enough to send anyone to the stern. "Breakfast?" He offers one to Elizabeth with a grin.
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The smell of vinegar was making her stomach heave in rebellion. She claps a hand over her nose and groans, swatting at him with her hand. "Take that somewhere else and eat it or toss it, the smell is making me sick." Pregnant women have quite a delicate sense of smell, but of course Jack is probably just plain clueless. "Morning sickness, Jack." She explains when he looks so baffled it almost makes her want to laugh.
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He stepped back and stared at the pickle for a moment and wondered what offense this thing could offer. His mischievous mind always came up with something but clearly he was stumped. "It's just a pickle." He shrugged. "What's the harm a pickle can do?" He grinned at his own remark. He thought that women liked pickles and then again...Elizabeth wasn't average either.
"All in all, and I say this with utmost sincerity, your sleeping put my mind at ease. I'll move my hammock from the masts that my men so thoughtfully put me for my own relief back into the cabin. This way, I can keep a steady eye on your...delicate condition. Ah! Does this sickness happen always in the morning?" And of course he was curious. Ask the source. One obtains a better answer this way.
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She nods to his plans for moving his hammock back into his quarters, there really wasn't much else she could say about that. She trusted Jack, against all her better instincts, and she did feel a bit guilty exiling him from his own bed. "Not always, but it flares up more often when I'm on a ship. All the swaying, you know?" Bracing one hand on the railing, she turns to lean against, facing him now. He was curious about her condition, she could see it. He'd probably never been around a pregnant woman before in his entire life, she couldn't blame him. Men were always uneasy around her these days, like she was going to suddenly explode. "I'd say we're off to a good start on our journey, the winds are perfect."
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"We have a favorable winds this morn. We'll make port in Trinidad for supplies and we'll set on the voyage to Bangkok soon after. It will be a long trip and many days of...uh...morning sickness, as it were. We'll have to dodge the Company under dark cover and sail at night to make up for time." He looked over his shoulder with a curious tilt to his head. He's never asked what it was like carrying a child and at the time he did hold the curiosity, he was whisked off before he could get the chance.
"So, does the baby....move which could cause your sickness? I can't imagine something alive being in my belly without it kicking the guts within. All of it seems rather uncomfortable, eh? And if that be the case, could you tell it to stop? You're the mother." Again, he wasn't sure how all of this worked and education was learned on the go and most often times through bad decisions that often was born into good judgment later in life. Jack can honestly say that he's seen it all and yet the current situation was still very new.
Jack was always drawn toward figuring things out albeit his strange ways of doing things. It was as if the man hardly feared a thing at all yet here he is standing on deck atop the ship's castle and overlooking the clear waters with the one woman that he not only respected but at one time had fallen in love with. He had a promise to keep and it was that honest streak that Elizabeth put in his head that conflicted his more rebellious nature.
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His questions make her laugh. He really does know nothing about pregnancy or pregnant women. "The baby can hurt me sometimes, but mostly it just feels like a little butterfly in my stomach. That doesn't cause my morning sickness, I'm not even sure what does. Also, it just doesn't work like that. It's a baby, Jack. It just happens to be inside me at the moment." She takes his hand and satisfies some of his curiousity by placing it over her swollen stomach. "You try telling it to stop. I'd get more sleep if the kicking would stop."
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Women were killed more during childbirth and afterward from secondary infections than any weapon can ever cause. Jack's other thought was if the baby was born on board his ship, how could he give any proper care? The Black Pearl is the fastest ship ever made which was undoubtedly true but Mother Nature loved throwing curve balls and Jack was living proof. He was born in a hurricane on board his father's ship The Persephone. His mother told him the story while his father was away and she was proud of the tale. It made her a living legend among other mothers in Tortuga.
Jack took his chance and placed his hand carefully on Elizabeth's swollen belly. "This doesn't hurt?"
In a lot of ways, this small action was starting to spark something within Jack that women weren't demure, weak creatures as many men claimed them to be. The very thought was starting to irritate him. At the moment, he was concentrating on feeling the movement and it showed on his face.
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"I'm not planning on giving birth on the Peal, Jack. But at least if I do, I'll rest a bit easier knowing my child's god father is close at hand." If she died in childbirth, which she wasn't planning on letting happen, Jack would have to find a way to take over until William could be found and - Well that was a mess she didn't care to think about. "No, I'm very padded right there, if you haven't noticed. Goodness Jack, you've never been around a pregnant woman before?" What with all the whores he visited, she would have thought he'd fathered a child or two, but maybe no women had come forward, maybe the whores just knew how to handle those kind of things.
His hand on her stomach is strange, not unwelcome. Taking his wrist, she holds his hand over the center of her stomach until he can feel a faint nudge from the life within her. "There, feel that? Imagine that happening several times a day."
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Still, even if he had any idea of what was a possible future for himself and for Elizabeth, he would gladly hang any thoughts of philandering out to dry and turn to salt. He wasn't entirely up for the idea of being a single father either.
He carefully spoke and his words were directed to the baby. "Now you listen to Uncle Jack. Your mother has come a long way and we have a long trip ahead. Can you please not come out until we're home? Your daddy would gut me if he found out you were born on this ship, eh? Can you do that for Uncle Jack?" He wasn't expecting an answer and like many things, including himself, unpredictability has become a norm. "Squirmy little thing, isn't it?"
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"Uncle Jack?" She laughs again, her eyes lighting up for the first time since William had left to begin his duties as a ferryman of souls. Really, all Jack gets for his trouble is another well aimed kick to the center of his hand. "I think that was an agreement? I suppose you and my baby have an accord now?"
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"Alright, you scurvy, mangy sea dogs. You had your fun now back to work." He tried to keep a straight face and then laughed when he realized just how ridiculous he sounded. Cotton was the only one that didn't say a word but that parrot of his sure had something to say. Cotton was at the helm and grinned at his Captain's odd choice of words.
"You made your point." Jack was now put in a better mood now that he had the chance to learn a few things. Now if the little tyke kept his or her word was a different matter entirely different.
"It wasn't exactly a handshake but it's close enough for all intents and purposes for now." He grinned as he looked out his spyglass at the course ahead. After having that little bout on who had the bigger one with Barbossa, Jack settled for one that would work for his needs. "It appears that we'll meet no opposition going into port. I don't know about you but I'm tired of firing off canons." He had no idea how bad that pun sounded just now.
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She would appear periodically throughout the day, always to get a breath of fresh ocean air and to stretch her legs. Sometimes she'd stop to talk to a crew member or Mr. Gibbs, but often she'd just stand at the railing and look over it at the horizon. Jack had been right all along. This was freedom.
When nightfall came, she retired to his cabin and apperently had already changed into a long flowing nightgown by the time he entered the room. Her clothes were neatly folded and his room looked impossibly cleaner then he probably last remembered it. She couldn't stand a cluttered room. "If we keep up this wind, we'll be at our destination in no time." She ventures to speak, already sitting on his bed with her hair loose around her shoulders, practically glowing.
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In fact, he wouldn't change a thing. He missed having William around and he was perhaps one of the few men that ever treated Elizabeth as an equal. She was just as ruthless and as strong as anyone he's ever met. With the two new additions to the Pearl being Murtogg and Mullroy who once tried to stop him from boarding the Dauntless made him smile internally.
Both he and Elizabeth were right about each other and Jack was right that a man can be a pirate and a good man. It was really about integrity. Elizabeth was testing him, or he felt sure he was. His chin lowered and he slowly looked around. "My room's clean."
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Ofcourse a man could be a pirate and a good man, William Turner was a living example of that. She believed there was some good in Jack Sparrow, as much as he tried to smother and hide it, it was there and showed up in the most unlikely circumstances. "Why don't you tell me what you've been up to? I've been so busy running back and forth with the other pirate lords, I haven't heard any grand tales of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow."
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"If you must know, and I shall recall one part, I met a missionary. Not much of a mission if he was stuck in a tower though I must admit he had impeccable taste. The trip to locate and find the Fountain of Youth was certainly interesting, if you can call it that." The fact that he got the Pearl back was a note worthy point of interest. He was nearly killed while he was getting away from the Queen Anne's Revenge and telling that story wasn't something he wanted to talk about.
"And what of you?" He tired lifting himself up on the hammock only to nearly fall over when the ship listed port.
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