Salvage

“This announcement is for those that be alive and decent,” came Jack’s voice down into the cabin compartment of the cruiser, startling both Elizabeth and Hector from the nest of her arms and blankets she held him within. “We’re docking alongside The Pride, all aboard that’s goin’ aboard!”

“Thank you, Jack!” Elizabeth called to him, feeling as though she were rousing herself from sleep, and Hector looked to be doing the same. The urge to cocoon up together was always so great whenever one of them was suffering any malady, and the near two hour trip back to Nassau Harbor, to the vessel they called home, the 717 foot North Carolina class USS “Pride” that Hector had captained during World War II, had seen them huddled together on their meager bed, kissing and nuzzling one another, Hector’s arms pulled free of his wetsuit and the suit itself folded down to his waist. Elizabeth had packed and bandaged his wound as he nestled his face against her soft breasts, pulling the zipper of her wetsuit down more and more until he could reach her nipple, kissing and taking it lightly into the warmth of his mouth as Elizabeth’s hand rubbed his chest. He rested comfortably with his ear above the beating of her heart, in her arms as she pressed kisses to his head, stroked his hair and whispered again and again that she loved him, her body eager to show him the predilection of her words. “Come on,” she whispered to him as he sat up off of her, the spell that enveloped them at times like these a tough one to break, but they were so close to letting this thing between them run its course, and in its course, save his life. “You’ve had the courtesy not to die on me at Christmas, so let’s get you as good as new again.”

He was much stronger than before noted Hector as he got to his feet, the bleeding had stopped and the pain subsided some as well. Still, he could move nothing below his elbow, and he wondered as to what shape his arm was in now, but didn’t dare to peel back the gauze and cotton to see. “Yer not scared still, are yeh?” Elizabeth was zipping her wetsuit closed again and standing up. He extended his left hand to aid her, just to show her he was improved.

Elizabeth took it tentatively, still expecting that he was either unsteady or in too much pain to support her weight as she rose to her feet, but to her relief, Hector pulled her up without the slightest of wavers or flinches. She smiled at him. “Not so much now,” she admitted, joining her hand in his. “But I’ll always worry for you, you know that.”

Hector pulled her into him and hugged her with his good arm, having to keep his injury cradled against his chest still, for it throbbed so when he let it hang down in a normal position. “I suppose if yeh didn’t think enough of me to worry, I wouldn’t be here.” He smiled at her, brushed her hair from her eyes and kissed her, meaning only to linger there a second or two, but once the feel of her was upon him, it sank through his skin, Elizabeth drawing closer, lips parting as her arms closed around him, not protesting when he leaned into her and crushed her body with his against the hull of the cruiser, both of them lost in the seductive heat of their touch. Elizabeth moaned, her taste all adoration in his mouth and his blood, her love alone had in the past been enough to right any physical wrongs, but being near her, touching her, kissing her, making love to her, that was being renewed, being filled with the love that his goddess was filled with for him, a blending of his faith and love for her and her desire to have him with her always, the need to feel what was their own magic flowing between them in a physical union too strong to be denied. It was wondrously sexual; but so much more worship.

Elizabeth’s arms wrapped around his neck, her legs raising off the deck to wrap around his waist as well, knowing if not for the wetsuits that each still wore, Hector would have been inside of her, his body pleasuring hers as hers soothed his. It had been so difficult not to give into what they both knew they needed on the way back to The Pride, and even though their proper bedroom and bed were just steps away, she suddenly felt herself unable to wait any longer. Hector needed this, so did she. What was the harm in stealing one more moment here, against the cruiser’s hull? But the voices above deck gave her the answer. “Hector, the children…we should stop.”

* * * * * * * *

“Jack, you don’t suppose something’s wrong, do you?” Quinsy was nervously asking, “why aren’t they coming up?”

“Hmm,” Jack cleared his throat, he’d inadvertently witnessed the secret to Hector’s and Liz’s power over one another back before the children had even been born.

It had been he, Hector and Elizabeth who had gone in search of the famed Fountain of Youth over 300 years ago, traipsing through Florida jungle and everglades, Elizabeth having the misfortune to suffer a bite from a venomous snake on her ankle along the way. When Hector had worried over her and pulled his knife to cut X’s over the fang marks and suck out the poison, Jack wasn’t surprised. When Hector then lifted Elizabeth into his arms, kissed her, and carried her off to a secluded spot, telling Jack, “stay here,” Jack was curious. He waited a few minutes, but when he began to hear moaning, both Elizabeth’s and Hector’s moaning, Jack just had to know what was transpiring! And so he followed the path they’d taken, finding himself surrounded by heavy brush, having to stop behind some small trees to avoid making himself noticeable, but it was there that he could see everything! Hector’s long, solid form moving slowly but powerfully between Elizabeth’s open legs, arms wrapped around one another tightly as they moved together, clearly lost in the moment they so peculiarly chose to share at such a time, and the wound on Liz’s ankle mysteriously and suddenly gone! It was then that Jack began to surmise that the magical waters of the Fountain were all his.

But that wasn’t the sort of thing Caspian and Quinsy might like to know was going on right here, right now, beneath their feet. “They’ll be along, Quinn,” assured Jack, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I can promise you that what your dad and mum are doing right now isn’t…worrying…”

“Oh great!” Groaned Caspian, gathering up his dive gear and heading for the plank that lead to The Pride. “There’s no way I’m hanging around here waiting for them to…finish up, I’m going in, get showered and head up to Tia’s for drink! Don’t want to be around when this boat starts rocking! You coming Quinn?”

“What are you even talking about?” Quinn looked confusedly at Jack and her brother, but her blue eyes settling again on the hatch that lead below, “Dad could really be in trouble down there!” She began to step forward and go below to make sure her father hadn’t taken a turn for the worse, but Jack quickly stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder.

“Not right now, luv,” he told her. “They’ve got it handled.”

“You new to this family, Quinn?” Asked Caspian, he’d inherited his father’s touch of sarcasm. “Don’t you remember when we were kids, every time dad was hurt or mom was sick, or whatever, they’d always send us all out of the cabin with three cups of dice to play and tell us they needed to ‘mend sails?’ And after about an hour or so, they each came out miraculously healed?” Cass paused, Quinn nodded. “Well?” He furthered.

Quinn cocked her head, clearly considering what her brother said and what Jack had alluded to. There did seem to be some healing power associated with their parent’s affection and touch. She’d had diphtheria in 1786 and remembered her father wrapping her in a blanket and holding her on his lap, hugging her little body tightly to his and whispering, “Love yeh, little Quinn, now get better,” as he gently patted her back until she fell asleep; awakening a few hours later with no signs of the illness whatsoever. It would make sense that the same power, as shared between a husband and a wife, would manifest in a different manner. She glanced once more at Cass and Jack, and smiled, yes she did remember, and she did understand.

“I think it’s sweet!” Quinsy announced to both Jack and her brother. “And while I’m not inclined to stand here aboard the cruiser and wait, I won’t be joining you at Tia’s right away, Cass. I need to talk to mom and dad about something.”

“Suit yourself,” sighed Caspian as he leapt over the side of cruiser, the bull terrier mix following after him and trotting up the plank to The Pride. “See you at the bar, right Uncle Jack?”

“Yeah,” answered Jack, but he was focused on Quinsy. “In a few, Cass.”

“I’m telling them tonight,” Quinn had waited until her brother was out of ear shot to speak. She was nervous even thinking about the talk she meant to have with her parents, but this was a secret that couldn’t be kept any longer. “It’s time they knew.”

“Quinsy,” Jack’s trepidation showed in his voice as he nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I thought you were waiting ‘til The Pearl was afloat? Hector’ll be in a much better mood to hear news like this then.”

Quinsy sighed, her shaking head and constricted throat betraying the confidence she strived to convey. No, she wasn’t quite as brave as she’d attempted to portray, reached out and grasped Jack’s hands in hers, felt herself settle to be holding onto someone. This would not be an easy conversation to have with her parents, particularly alone; it was good not to feel that way if only for now. “That was my original intent, but after today, I just don’t feel right not telling them any longer.”

But Jack now stood shaking his head, not even able to feign bravery as Quinsy had tried. “Then, you could wait ‘til Brendan finally shows up. Hector’s bound to be more approachable then too.”

Quinsy drew in a deep breath and pursed her lips as she let it go again, not wanting to think about what might happen when her second oldest brother arrived, being that Brendan was supposed to have been here days ago. That her father loved his middle son, Quinsy had no doubt, but it was so very rare that their meetings were peaceful; poor Brendan, he never seemed to be able to do anything right enough by his father. “I don’t know that Brendan being here will make Daddy anymore relaxed than he is right now that Brendan is not here.”

“True,” Jack had to agree, and felt himself rub his temples a bit in the anticipation of the arguments and bellowing that was certain to come when Brendan did arrive. “Could be worse off, really.”

Quinsy sighed again, taking in air as though it gave her strength. “Now’s the time. It may not be that bad, I mean, I expected more aggro from Daddy three years ago when I told him that I wanted to go to college in New York.” She paused, doubting her own words and knowing Jack did too. “Jack, don’t you feel the least bit guilty? I mean, you’ve kept this from them yourself!”

“Because you asked me to, luv!”

“And I thank you for that, but it’s time now, and I’m the one who should be telling them.”

Jack shook his head, still unsure. “I’ll be there with you, we’ll tell them together!”

Quinsy smiled. “That’s sweet of you…and brave,” she sighed, just imagining her father’s reaction to the news she had to share. “But it needs to be me.” Jack’s grip on her hands tightened and he looked to be feeling left out. Yes, she was leaving him out, and perhaps doing so wasn’t right, for Jack had known of this for so very long, he’d been in on every last detail of the planning of this thing. Her eyes began to feel a bit misty and she blinked, wishing she could ask Jack to be with her when she spoke to her father and mother. If not because of the role he’d played in her secret, but because she had to admit, she could use the support, even if that support was in the form of someone who was more known for starting a fight and then running from it. She exhaled heavily, her shoulders drooping as she did. “Oh, Jack! It’s just that I’m their daughter! I have to be who tells them! Daddy will respect it more that way. You understand, don’t you?” Then she smiled. “Besides, you’d only find some way to mess it up.”

Jack sighed, knowing there was no talking her out of it, but he feared what Hector might hold against him for keeping such a thing secret. “You’ll at least let me know before you do tell them, right? Incase Hector doesn’t take it well that I didn’t tell him myself?” To his relief, Quinsy nodded, laughed, but clearly nodded.

“Fine, Jack. But I am telling them.”

“Still wish you wouldn’t,” sighed Jack. “Not just yet.”

“Jack, have a little faith in me, would you?”

“No, it’s not that,” Jack paused a moment and gave her a crooked wry smile. “You’ve just been so happy lately, and I’d hate to see something Hector or Liz say…or don’t say, put an end to that.”

That surprised her and made Quinsy blush a bit. “It won’t,” she smiled back. “I won’t let it.”

He reached up and tangled his finger in the streak of red among all the dark blond of Quinsy’s hair. “You’re your father, y’know. More so than your brothers.” He smiled, tucking the strand behind her ear. “Look like your mother, even sound like your mother, but inside, you’re all Hector!”

Quinsy’s smile broadened and the sincerity of Jack’s flattery lit her blue eyes. “Thank you, I needed to hear that!” She threw her arms around Jack and hugged him, kissing his cheek. “And thank you more for always being there for me!”

“Ah,” Jack hugged her back, and kissed her forehead. “You want to thank me, save me a dance tonight at Tia’s. Swing night, y’know, it’ll be just like old times for you and me!”

“Sounds swell, hepcat!” She laughed, letting the pleasantness from the memory of she and Jack, after he’d come home from the second world war, staying out all night in nightclubs, jitterbugging and jiving until they were too exhausted to move, replace the tension that had filled her about her upcoming talk with her parents. “Well,” she said as she and Jack stood apart. “I guess it is impolite to stand here and wait for them to…”

“To what?” Hector’s voice startled both Quinsy and Jack, but he was not surprised to find them seemingly conspiring together, for his daughter and Jack had always been close, a bond having developed between them around the time Quinsy had become a young lady instead of a child. It had unnerved Hector at first, but he’d come to accept it, and even be glad of it, for the friendship between his former rival, now annoying friend and business partner, never crossed the lines of inappropriate, as had been his first concern.

“That was fast!” Jack looked to Hector and said with his lip curled, a bit perplexed. “Did it work, mate?”

Hector rolled his eyes as he and Elizabeth exchanged un-amused glances. “Jack, if yeh will be so kind as to remove yer mind from the gutter and excuse us—“

“Daddy, did it work?” Quinn asked eagerly, then was startled by what she’d meant by “it.” “I mean, are you—“

“He’ll be fine, Quinn.” Elizabeth smiled, taking Hector’s hand and leading him towards home, and their bed. “Just give it time. Until then, go make sure your brother isn’t drinking all the profits, your father and I—”

Quinsy couldn’t resist, and couldn’t fight her smirk. “Have sails to mend?”