In The Nick Of Time

I just wrote all my thank you's to those of you who are kind enough to review, only to have them not post, after I deleted them from my main copy...forgive me, I will most certainly catch up with all of you next time! (We need our own Jack & Elizabeth board!) In the mean time, enjoy Chapter 11, and don't hate me...I said there'd be another chapter in between the last one and the wedding night, and this is it! So, that means that work on the wedding night has officially begun! Give me a few days, this is going to be a long one! Thanks to all!


“Dearly beloved crew o’ the Black Pearl, we are gathered together here in the sight o’ God to join together this pirate and this woman in holy matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted o’ God in Paradise, and into which holy estate this pirate and this woman present come now to be joined. Therefore if any man can shew any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together—“

To their dying day, nor Elizabeth nor Jack could remember what Calmulhy said at their wedding. They’d been so distracted, standing there in front of him with clasped hands, giddy as children, looking at one another, hearts pounding, palms sweating, lips pursed as not to let laughter escape as each found some cause in trying to get the other to loudly burst out in snickers and snorts first. This moment had meant everything to them, but it wasn’t a serious moment, they were too full of elation that it had come to be somber and restrained.

“I require and charge ye both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of ye know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, that ye confess it…”

What the bloody hell kind of a thing was that to say? Jack suddenly perked up and he cast a sideways suspicious glance at Caymulhy. “Father, be this be a weddin’ or an execution?”

Elizabeth laughed, but got herself under control before her tittering went into hysterics. “Jack, just say ‘no,’ that we’ve no confessions to make.” She hissed to him, a beaming smile on her face.

“But I’ve heard less threatenin’ things standin’ aboard gallows, love.” Jack replied, his brow still furrowed. It wasn’t that some feeling of doubt had come over him, it was merely the notion that on the happiest day of his life, some git was standing there talking about a “dreadful day of judgement.”

“Go on, Father, we’ve no confessions be made.” Elizabeth finally said, then rolled her eyes and looked back at Jack, who instantly wore a cockeyed smirk on his face and the giddiness ensued again.

“Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?”

It was the big question Jack had been waiting to answer for days, but at the moment he was too busy flaring his nostrils, rolling his eyes back in his head and pinching his lips together and wiggling them like a fish, doing his utmost to make Elizabeth implode with laughter. Suddenly he felt her squeezing his hands sharply and hissing his name as she fought off the giggles.

“Jack! Jack! That’s you!” She urged, having to remove one of her hands from his in order to cover her mouth and regain her composure. Elizabeth would have never guessed her wedding would have been like this! The old wedding she’d had planned was such a dull, dry affair when compared to this!

“What?” Jack muttered, having to rub the numbness from his recently faux fish lips. “Oh! Oh! I know the wilt thou have this woman part, right?” He smiled.

“Aye, Cap’n.” Answered Caymulhy, beginning to wonder if it were a wedding or a circus he was conducting. “Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?”

Jack’s smile broadened and his eyebrows raised, he smoothed his mustache, showing every ivory and gold tooth in his grin, looking somewhere between sly and silly. Elizabeth nearly lost it, covering her mouth with her hand again and trading teary eyes for the guffaw that threatened to get loose. “I doooo!” Jack answered, over accentuating the words and then giving Elizabeth a wink that made her nearly break out into laughter again.

“Elizabeth Swann, wilt thou have this pirate to be thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?”

For all the goofiness that was inside her and inside Jack at this moment, Elizabeth felt a certain amount of esteem for the situation well up inside of her when Caymulhy asked her that. She took both of Jack’s hands and sighed, looking into his deep, dark eyes. For all her hoping and daydreaming in the past, she’d never truly believed she’d be standing here, marrying the man that she truly loved. He was so handsome, even with his tongue hanging out and eyes crossed, still doing his level best to make her laugh. “I do!” She smiled.

Her answer brought Jack to light of the situation. It was happening, he’d accepted her, she’d accepted him…it wouldn’t take very much longer before they were married! Finally, and wholly, one and to the other, a married couple, man and wife! God, how he loved this woman, this beautiful woman! When could he speak that to her? There had to be a place for such in this ceremony, right? He shook off some of the foolishness that had been abounding and raised her hands to his lips and kissed them.

“Cap’n, if’n ye would now make yer solemn vows to the lady?” Spoke Caymulhy, seeing that the couple had settled down and glad of it. He’d begun to doubt the seriousness of the two bethrothed.

“Of course, Father.” Jack answered, and looked back at Elizabeth. Solemn vows? Why solemn? Weren’t weddings supposed to be happy things? He hadn’t prepared anything ‘solemn’…or any ‘vows’ he came to realize. “For the most part, love, I’m good off if’n ye promise me ne’er to slap me in the face. Savvy?” There was silence, but Jack hadn’t noticed, all he saw was that Elizabeth looked a bit surprised, not angry, just like she’d expected him to say something different. Oh! Of course, he’d almost forgotten. He lowered his voice a bit, after all, this was their wedding, no need to share all with the entire crew. “And that ye’ll always do that thing ye do when I be asleep…ye know, when ye reach o’er me hip from behind while we’re layin’ in bed and start to caress me —“

“Jack!” This time Elizabeth did blush, that had taken her quite by surprise, but still, she was so happy to be marrying Jack…handsome, winsome, roguish, eccentric Jack, that she began to laugh again. However, she would get him sorted out on this one! She shook her head and sighed. Her Jack, what was she to do with him? He’d gotten it backwards! It was a risk she’d assumed when they’d decided upon writing their own vows. “Jack, no, this is where you make certain promises to me, not ask me to make certain promises to you!”

“Really?” He asked, a confused look on his face. “If’n that’s what writin’ yer own vows is, why do people do it then?”

“They’re vows, Jack! Not demands!” Elizabeth laughed.

“Would ye be wantin’ to go with the traditional text, Jack?” Gibbs stepped in, whispering and hoping to hold this wedding together, half afraid it might never end.

“Nay!” Said Jack, “I can do this, just give me a moment to think.” He insisted, and then all went quiet for a few seconds. “Aha!” He looked back at Elizabeth, who still smiled. “This is a big one,” he told her, grinning proudly. “I vow to ye, Elizabeth, that the next time we be in port, and any whore what crawls up to me and asks ‘drag yer nuts ‘cross me guts, Jack?’ me answer will be, ‘no, happily married man, now!’”

Gibbs shut his eyes and shook his head, even some of the crew sighed. Elizabeth though nodded her head, but her eyes told Jack to keep going, and to make it better than that. Jack cleared his throat. Think, think, think…vow something poetic to her, something ‘solemn’…say she’s like a chick-a-dee what blew into yer life and left its dainty foot prints ‘cross yer black heart…what the bloody hell does that even mean? Not good, keep thinking…maybe she should go first? No, she looked too expectant now…so beautiful and expectant…she was so beautiful, and he loved her so much…just when did he get to tell her that finally? This vow business was putting a damper on the whole thing, why did weddings have so many segregated parts to them? So far, no one had said a bloody word about loving bloody anybody! Wasn’t that the bloody point of this? Oh! Jack smiled, stood a little straighter, shook himself a little as if clearing his head and looked deeply into Elizabeth’s eyes.

“Elizabeth,” he started, and she instantly could see and hear that something genuine had befallen him and he had her complete attention. Jack paused for a moment, swearing he could feel the stare their eyes were locked in, and amended his salutation. “Lizzie, I told Mr. Gibbs earlier today that I didn’t believe I’d e’er be wantin’ this as much as I do, cuz I ne’er believed I’d…” say the word, it’s not a bad word, just say the bloody damned word, she knows anyway, “love anyone in the quite the passion that I…love ye.” He paused again, but saw Elizabeth smiling brightly, so touched that he’d said what he had, and it made him want to tell her all that was inside him, just to make her even happier as she looked now. “I do love ye, Lizzie! And I promise to ne’er leave ye, or be left without ye, that any separation we may endure be only temporary, and I promise to defend ye against any evils that be out there with me pistol, me sword, me ship, me strength, me mind, me heart, whatever it takes that keeps ye safe with me. I promise ye that I’ll be a husband ye can come to and speak what’s in yer head or yer heart to, and that I’ll listen, and that I’ll help if’n ye be needin’ it, and that I won’t if’n ye don’t. I promise to let ye be as free as ye came to me, and I hope ye never lose the want of yer freedom, but that ye always still want me.” He saw something in Lizzie’s eye, bloody hell, a tear? What had he said that had been wrong?

Elizabeth saw the look of great concern on Jack’s face and she managed a small smile and wiped at her face. She’d been holding together good until he’d said how he hoped she’d always still want him…how could she not? For all his cockiness, Jack didn’t truly think he’d had her wrapped around his little finger, and he’d just admitted so in front of his pirate universe. “It’s all right, Jack, go on.” She sniffled, sensing he’d more to say and hoping she wasn’t sobbing with the sentiment she felt when he was finished.

Jack reached out and brushed a few hairs from her face and then kissed both her hands again. Ah, this felt more like it should. It was getting to Jack a bit now too. “But most of all, love, I vow to ne’er forget the journey that brought us here, so that I ne’er forget to be on me knees every day, givin’ thanks to the Lord above for givin’ me Ms. Elizabeth Swann and me to her, cuz even with no ship, no treasure, no ocean and no rum, if I have her, then Jack Sparrow has everythin’.”

Jack could feel Elizabeth’s hands trembling in his, and he knew she was crying even without having to see the tears dropping down her blushing cheeks. He was near pulling her against him and letting her cry it all out against his chest, in the shelter of his arms, when Gibbs tapped his shoulder and held out a handkerchief. Jack took it, and offered it to Elizabeth, who grabbed it and embarrassingly dabbed at her eyes and face with it. He should say something else; do something to make her stop crying, something to make her laugh…the fish face! No, she’d already seen that…”Lizzie, ye do realize I were only jokin’ ‘bout the rum?” He said aside, but not really.

That did it, Elizabeth looked up at him with a laughing grin and her eyes shown brightly once more. “Thank you, Jack.” She whispered to him, then leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “For so very much!” She whispered, and again they stared smiling at one another.

Caymulhy cleared his throat, he wouldn’t have guessed Captain Sparrow had that in him. “Ms. Swann? Would ye like to make yer solemn vows to the Cap’n?”

“Oh,” Elizabeth was oddly startled, a bit of surprised, she’d all but forgotten, had disappeared in Jack’s eyes. “Yes, yes, I would love to!” She did her best to settle herself, prayed that Jack wouldn’t make anymore of his faces at her as she tried to speak, and drew a shuttering breath. Gibbs peered over Jack’s shoulder at her and he smiled, and nodded his head, as if telling her he had the utmost of confidence in her and knew he didn’t have to guide her as he had his Captain. It gave her the boost she needed to start her speech. “Jack, I vow to be a loving and faithful wife to you, but also to be as much married to the Pearl as I am to you. I vow to never make you choose between me and your ship, because your ship is your freedom, and it’s your freedom that taught me how to be free, and made me fall in love with you. I vow to you, Jack, to always trust in you, and to never doubt you, and to always keep your confidence as I keep you always close to my heart.”

She felt Jack’s hands tightening their grip on hers, and she had to stop for a moment and quiet her emotions once more. “I vow to never leave you when your back is up against the wall, and I promise to nurse you whenever you be wounded, or sick or weary. I vow…” she was sensing some deep emotion from Jack and she looked up to see him blink once or twice and try to swallow. He wasn’t that emotional, was he? Yes, he obviously was. “Oh Jack,” she sighed in a whisper, taking a step closer to him and holding his hands tighter. “I love you, and I promise to always love you, as much as I do in this instant, and I can’t imagine sharing my life with any other man, because you are the only man who has ever loved me without trying to shackle my spirit, and because of that, I am honored to call myself Elizabeth Sparrow, Jack, and I vow to you that I always will be!”

She saw something she thought she’d never see. There, in the corner of Jack’s kohl darkened eyes, flickering in the setting sunlight, threatening to slide down over his cheekbone, was a little tear. Jack had noticed it was there and seemed to be desperately trying to suck it back up with his eye. Elizabeth could hear the voice inside his head, “no, no, no…ye’ll look like a buggerin’ idiot, get passed this!” Jack had helped her when she’d begun to cry, she had to do the same for him now. “I vow all this to you, Jack and more…including, to never slap you in the face.” She smiled, and then as casually as she could, reached up and stroked his cheek, but catching the tear on her thumb as she did so.

Jack laughed, sighed in relief, readjusting now and though still empowered with the words that Elizabeth had spoken earlier, batted her hand away in a bantering manner and said, “Yer ruinin’ me make up, love!” But then mouthed a silent, “thank ye” to her, and Elizabeth smiled in return.

Feeling that all were ready again, Caymulhy began to read once more from his text. “Bless this ring, o merciful Lord…” the pirate priest stopped for a moment and looked to Jack, realizing something was missing. “Cap’n, be there a ring?”

Bugger! How could he have forgotten such a thing? First no vows, now no ring! How ridiculous was this? Who would have imagined a pirate captain, a looter and pillager of treasure troves, with no ring to put upon his dear wife’s finger at their wedding? Wait…ring…finger…Jack smiled proudly, he’d had this one covered after all. “Of course, Father!” He said, and let go of Elizabeth’s hands to proudly present her with his, knuckles up, showing off the jewelry he wore, that he always wore. “Pick one, love.” He told her blissfully.

Elizabeth smiled, knowing this was something Jack had improvised, but she loved that he had come up with this answer to the situation. She loved even more that her wedding ring would be a ring that her husband had worn on his hand for so many years, that it had been with him through so many adventures, that it was on his finger the very first time she ever laid eyes upon him. It was much better than a new, custom made band of plain gold. She looked down at Jack’s four rings, was it to be the oriental silver dragon on his left thumb, or the oval amethyst on his left index finger, or the skull with emerald eyes on his right index finger, or the black onyx flower on his left ring finger? Hmmm…what a decision…they were all so Jack, and that’s what she wanted…but the onyx flower…it was black like the Pearl’s sails, and the flower design she thought fit a lady’s finger more so than a dragon or a skull. “That one!” she smiled, and pointed to his ring finger.

Jack immediately pulled it from his hand. “Excellent choice, love!” He smiled as he threaded it onto her left ring finger. “It once belonged to me father.”

Oh no! “Jack, have it back! I can’t take the ring given to you by your father!” She insisted, feeling guilty now for having selected the flower.

Jack’s eyebrows furrowed a bit and he cocked his head, thinking back to when he was a young lad, spying the ring after his father had taken it off to wash up for supper one evening, and remembering how his small hands had claimed it and snuck it into his pocket before his father saw him do so. For years after his father would often speak of how he’d lost a black onyx ring in the design of a flower, but Jack never said a peep. “Keep it, love…that weren’t quite the way it happened.” Jack replied, looking a bit sheepish, but closed her hand into a fist to keep the ring from slipping off her finger, it was a few sizes too large for her, but he hoped she’d take it.

“If you’re sure.” Elizabeth smiled, liking how he held the ring onto her hand, it was still warm from his body.

“Enormously.” Jack answered with a certain nod of his head. Was this almost done? Were they married yet? How much longer? Say the words “man and wife”…he’d been waiting so long to hear them! What was going on now? Elizabeth was speaking to him…no, not to him, she was repeating after Caymulhy.

“With this Ring I thee wed, and with my body I thee honor, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

That sounded very married-ish! Was that it? It was good enough for Jack, whose heart was pounding now like it never had before. He was tired of just standing here, he wanted to sweep Elizabeth up into his arms and kiss her and hold her to him. He looked at Elizabeth, beautiful, most loved Elizabeth, and he read the same impatience in her eyes. They smiled at one another, as if sharing some inside joke.

“Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder…”

But Jack and Elizabeth weren’t listening. They were getting closer to one another, slowly, but feeling some pull towards one another that neither could deny, and their hands had now crept up the others arms, moving more towards embracing one another than holding hand in hand.

“God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, watch over Captain Sparrow and Elizabeth, who have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands…”

Joining hands? They couldn’t wait any longer. Jack leaned forward, so did Elizabeth, tentatively at first until Jack put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, crushed her to him, and kissed her, sealed his lips over hers and she his, mouths fused, tongues alive against the other, their embrace growing even tighter.

“I pronounce therefore that they—“ Caymulhy looked up from his bible to see that the couple were already lost in a zealous kiss. Wonderful, they giggled and fidgeted through most of the ceremony, and now they had to steal his thunder? Oh well, they seemed happy. “…be Pirate and Wife…in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen…ye may keep kissin’ yer bride, Cap’n.”

Pirate and wife…Jack had heard the words, and he was torn between letting the kiss he and Elizabeth shared become even deeper, or parting to smile and raise their joined hands into the air and face the cheering crew. But, he was feeling giddy again, so excited to be Elizabeth’s husband, he’d started to laugh, and as he pulled away from her, Elizabeth was already laughing, her tremulous hands clutching his. Finally, they were married! That young, slip of a beautiful girl whom he’d rescued from the sea, on the day he was supposed to have been hanged, was now his wife. If that weren’t pirate legend, what were?

“Avast, gents!” Jack yelled, and thrust his and Elizabeth’s clasped hands skyward in celebration. The crew cheered louder, and Jack looked back at his wife, meaning to say something to her, but she stood on her toes and kissed him again, pressing her body to his, and all Jack could think of was what awaited them on that far off key, what he’d planned to surprise Elizabeth with, and how tonight, she’d finally be all his, legally, emotionally and physically.

Elizabeth had never been so happy, nor felt so complete. She’d expected that it would take a while for the fact of her marriage to strike her, before she recognized it, but it wasn’t so. From the moment she said “I do” to Jack, she had begun to realize that she’d always been his, that no matter the people or distance between them, he’d always been her Captain, and always would be. She wanted to be alone with him, now, despite how she felt flattered and joyful at the way the crew celebrated their marriage. She wrapped her arms around Jack’s neck and smiled at him. “So Captain, shall we to your cabin?” She grinned eagerly.

Jack returned her sentiment and her grin. “Nay, actually, we shall to me gig, love.” He said, and cast a quick glance over towards the narrow boat, built for speed, that lay on the beach.

The gig? He was joking, wasn’t he? He didn’t mean that he expected her to climb in there with him and…what were they to do, turn the gig keel up and lie underneath it and…right here, on the beach, with the crew all standing around? What was this? Some type of pirate-wedding night-initiation? “The gig, Jack?”

One look at her face made Jack laugh. “No, love.” He said, wearing half a smirk. “Not that,” he pointed off in the distance, to the little island he intended to take her too. “That!”

Gibbs produced a spyglass, handing it to Jack, who then extended it with an elegant flick of his wrist and handed it to Elizabeth and stepped behind her so he could point over her shoulder. She still seemed confused, but looked more settled. She held the spyglass to her eye and looked out across the water and little skips of keys where Jack pointed. There, sitting all alone on what from that distance looked like a dot of sand, was a massive, hand carved, four poster bed, complete with white linens and white curtains that drifted and floated on the trade winds. Beside the bed was a table full of fruits and other foods, a pitcher and a basin of fresh water, several bottles of wine, and of course rum.
The moon was rising, it was full, and the tide beginning to come in and move closer and closer to the beautiful bed. By the time they reached it, the azure water would have completely surrounded the piece of mahogany furniture, but the bed was so tall and so heavy that Elizabeth could tell it wouldn’t be moved to float away. Their first night together as man and wife, their first full and complete physical union, was to take place in a bed that sat both upon land and sea, where one became the other. Jack…he’d thought of everything! Elizabeth lowered the spyglass and sank back against her new husband’s chest, but she was so touched she was speechless, and stood feeling yet another tear in her eye.

“Took that bed from a French merchant, we did,” said Jack, putting his arms around her and looking out at their wedding night key with her. “It be sittin’ in the hull for over a year, too big for me cabin, but somethin’ ne’er let me part with it.” He paused and kissed her on the neck softly. “Now I know why, love.”

“Oh Jack,” she smiled, leaning against him in his arms and feeling so much love for him. “It’s perfect, but you know that, don’t you?” She laughed, and once more took another gaze through the spyglass. What a man she’d married, he remembered little things as well major ones! “The location, the seclusion…you even thought of linens and curtains!”

Jack kissed her neck again and smiled. “We be needin’ the curtains, love. Spyglasses, ye know.” He smirked, taking back the one she held as she turned to look at him with a little bit of surprise in her eyes. He laughed again. “I know me crew, Lizzie.”

Elizabeth laughed, Jack was so wonderful and she loved him so much, she didn’t really care if some sailor caught a glimpse of them giving and receiving more than a ring. She turned and kissed Jack as the night started to fall. “I love you.” She said.

Jack pulled her close, ran his hand down her back, almost to her buttocks as he groaned quietly. “Let’s get to it, then.” He suggested with another smirk, and moved beside her, taking her hand and walking towards the Captain’s gig. “Mr. Gibbs, to the far key, if ye will.”