All These Things That They've Done

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Jack made a beeline for Jake’s room,
but stopped at the door. He didn’t know
what to say to his son, how to handle the situation at hand.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> What if Noel didn’t force anything on
him? What if everything
was…willing? Wanted?style="mso-spacerun: yes"> He went to his own room, waking his wife.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Jackie?” Loralei asked,
instinctively.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “No, love. Actually, it’s Jake.” The
worry in his voice was unlike anything Loralei had ever heard.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bolting upward in bed, she asked,
“Is he all right?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Jack’s eyes started to water, due to
frustration more than anything. “I
wanted t’ make sure ‘e was all righ’, so I went t’ ‘is room, but ‘e wasn’
there. I went lookin’ fer ‘im an’ found
‘im.” He swallowed hard.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “E’ was with Noel.”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “What’s so terrible about that?style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Maybe they were trying to…”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “No, Lor,” he interrupted.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “’E was with Noel.”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Loralei didn’t respond quite as Jack
thought she would. “Jack?style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Just how ‘with’ are we talking?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Noel…had him…in ‘is mouth.”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Loralei found herself strangely
relieved. As far as she knew, her son
was still a virgin to male intrusion.
“Was it…consensual?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Noel says it was, but I…I jus’ don’
know ‘ow it could be? I’m not bein’ a
hypocrite, love, I swear it. We both
know I’m guilty o’ the same thing – near exactly the same thing given the
situation, but…’e only jus’ met Noel!
‘E’s married t’ the lass ‘e’s been heartsick o’er...”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Confused emotions?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “An’ an empty bottle o’ rum.”style="mso-spacerun: yes"> He put his head in his hands and Loralei
wrapped her arms around him. “I don’
wan’ ‘im t’ regret…”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Want me to come with you?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Aye.” Loralei donned a robe and made sure Jackie was still asleep, then
followed her husband down the hall to their son’s room.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Jack felt his hand shaking as he knocked on
the door. Loralei took hold of it,
comforting him. “Jake?”style="mso-spacerun: yes"> No answer.
“Jake, are ye all righ’?” Still
nothing.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> Loralei took a deep breath.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “Jacob?”

style='color:black'> An answer
finally came. “Ye brought Mum?”style="mso-spacerun: yes"> He practically whined it.style='mso-tab-count:1'>

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Honey,
it’s all right.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Ye know
everythin’, don’ ye?” he asked, panic in his voice.

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Yes,” she
answered, honestly.

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Then it’s
not all righ’!”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Loralei
took it upon herself to open the door.
She saw the young man she loved as her own looking every bit a scared
little boy. She rushed to him,
immediately taking him into her arms.
At first, he held onto her, as if he’d die without the contact, but
soon, his brain cleared and he gently pushed her away.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “Jake,” she cooed.

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jake
looked at his father. “Ye ne’er would
o’ known if ye hadn’ o’ seen.” His eyes
were red, his nose raw.

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “I’ve a
feelin’ I might’ve,” Jack said softly.
“Jake, ye were drunk, an’ yer depressed an’…”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “No.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Trust me,
Jake, ye…”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “I don’
regret it! I wanted it!style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I still wan’ it!” He stood up. “Ye can’
possibly understand wha’s goin’ on in me head!
Me body!”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Like hell
I can’!” Jack shouted. “Jesus, Jake, I
know exactly wha’ yer goin’ through!”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Ye didn’
lose yer lass, Dad! Ye didn’ ‘ave yer
entire world torn apart! Wha’ Noel gave
me made me feel somethin’ an’…”

style='color:black'> 

“Listen
t’ yerself, lad.” Jack’s voice was
softer, pleading. “Ye’ve been lonely
fer more than a year. Ye’ve had nobody
but yerself – tha’ I’m aware of – to go to for any sort of relief.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> ‘Is motives were…’e wasn’ thinkin’ o’ ye.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Ye don’
know everythin’, Jack.” Jack.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Jake had settled into “Dad” for so long that
hearing his first name stung – just as Jake intended it to.

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “I
don’?” Jack asked, leaning against the
wall. “Me first mate was Will’s
father. I didn’ know he was a father or
a husband when I took ‘im aboard. ‘E
was older than me, more experienced in many ways o’ the world.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> ‘E seduced me, Jake.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> ‘E took me in me own bed an’ ‘e made me wan’
‘im more than anythin’ in the world. ‘E
made me submissive t’ ‘im…made me love ‘im.
Then I found out about ‘is wife an’ son…I was so obsessed with all ‘e
gave me by then, I couldn’ push ‘im away.
‘E had somethin’ I wanted.”
Jake’s eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “Noel has somethin’ ye wan’ too – Nic.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Don’ mix things up in yer mind, lad.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jake
looked at Jack – his father. The man
had been painfully honest with him, telling him something he was sure he never
wanted to. “Dad, I don’ think I’m mixed
up.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jack sat
on the bed, next to his son – Loralei looking on from the other side of
it. “Jake, ‘ow can ye be sure o’
anythin’ righ’ now?”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jake
looked slightly ashamed. “I’ve been
with more than jus’ Nic, Dad, I know as much about sex with a woman as the next
bloke…it felt…so good…so right. At
first I was thinkin’ o’ Nic, but then…I knew it was Noel.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I wanted it to be Noel.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I wanted a man to…and I let ‘im.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Ne’er
before?” Jack asked, gently. “Not yer
crew? Not an enemy?”style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Jake understood his father and shook his
head, signifying “No, never.” “Ye
hardly know ‘im.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Ye hardly
knew Mum – ye said four words t’ ‘er before ye…”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Loralei
blushed. “Nic told you?”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> He
nodded. “I’m not less o’ a pirate, or
less o’ a man.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Neither
am I,” Jack said, a gentle smile on his face.
“I don’ rule o’er ye, Jake, an’ I don’ bear the right t’ pass any sort
o’ judgment on ye.” He sighed.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “This – all o’ this – is between the three
o’ ye.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jake
looked at Loralei, afraid to meet her eyes.
“Mum?” A tear rolled down his
cheek. “D’ ye think less o’ me?”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Loralei
moved closer again, embracing Jake. “No,
Jake. I think more of you for being
honest about it. You know that your
father and I just…” Loralei didn’t want
to be a prude who couldn’t accept ideas that society shunned – the way she
behaved her first night with Jack was on the same level as this – at least in
her mind. “…we want you happy, Jake.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “Maybe I
can be.”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> Jack
pulled his son into his arms and held him tightly. “Jus’ don’ hurt yerself, lad.
Remember, ‘e’s a married man an’…”

style='color:black'> 

style='color:black'> “And his
wife doesn’t mind.” All three of them
looked up to see Nic standing in the doorway.

style='color:black'>