Chosen Path

Elizabeth remembered the first days after Billy was born as being simultaneously thrilling and exhausting. She instantly adored her new son, but had been so terrified that she wouldn’t be able to care for him. Never had she felt the loss of Will more, never had she felt so very alone.



In the days after Grace’s birth, Elizabeth found she had never felt more loved. Hector hovered constantly, worrying over her every need. If she was thirsty, he produced tea or fresh water. If her stomach so much as thought about rumbling, he acquired food. When she slept, he looked after Billy, and she woke on more than one occasion to find him sitting beside the bassinette, staring inside with an awestruck grin.



It was a week before she was permitted to get out of bed, and even then Hector insisted she not stray too far. Scarlett, who made a point of visiting daily, seconded his demands. Aside from the physical recovery she needed to make, the Navy was still hanging about, and it wouldn’t do to be recognized.



There were days when neither of them dared leave their small room. Sometimes the innkeeper remembered to send food, but some days it was safer to go hungry than risk recognition. But two small children didn’t understand why food was scarce, and Elizabeth needed to eat so that Grace could. Eventually, inevitably, hunger won out, and Hector braved the military presence to procure dinner.



He had barely been gone a minute when Elizabeth heard the commotion. She exchanged a nervous glance with Scarlett and together they ran to the hall and leaned over the banister.



There were only half a dozen or so uniformed men, but they had all trained their guns on Hector. Elizabeth’s heart leapt into her throat. Adjusting Grace in her arms, she hurried down the stairs. Without her sword, without even the use of both hands, she wasn’t sure what help she would be, but some instinct drew her to her husband’s side, insisting that she and her daughter would be safer together than apart.



“Hector Barbossa, by order of the King and the British East India Trading Company, I hereby proclaim you under arrest - ”



“Gillette?” The man stopped reading and spotted Elizabeth pushing through the crowd for the first time. “Lieutenant Gillette?”



The soldier blinked. “It’s Captain now, Miss…Elizabeth? Elizabeth Swann?”



Also Captain now, though it was probably better to keep that fact to herself for the moment. “Yes. Captain Gillette, please, you must release him.”



Gillette frowned, eyes shifting between Elizabeth and Hector, held by his second-in-command. “And why must I release him?”



“Because,” Elizabeth willed her eyes to fill with tears, pressing her cheek to Grace’s head. “He’s my husband! We’ve an infant daughter, just born, would you leave her fatherless? Please, if you ever had a care for me, you will do this.”



“You mistake me for another man, Miss Swann, or is it Madame Barbossa now? I never had a care for you. Admiral Norrington - ”



“Loved me. Died to save me, to save us all. Would you have his sacrifice be in vain?”



Gillette continued his sentence, raising his voice. “Admiral Norrington loved you, and you jilted him for a blacksmith, if I recall correctly. Where is your blacksmith now, I wonder? Have you in turn jilted him for this pirate?”



Elizabeth pursed her lips and cocked her head slightly. “So it would seem.”



With that, a rum bottle shattered on Gillette’s head, and he crumpled to the ground. Elizabeth’s head whipped to the side and the man attached to the hand previously holding the bottle.



“Gibbs!”



“Good to see you too, Miss Elizabeth! You have Cap’n Jack with you, or just his hat?”



Elizabeth flicked her eyes to Hector. “Just his hat, for the moment.”



The other soldiers stared blankly at the exchange. Their distraction was short-lived, but the moment was long enough for Hector to break free of their grasp, upend one man’s musket head into another’s chin, and pull his cutlass and pistol on the others. Gibbs pulled his own weapons, instinctively covering his former Captain’s back, while Elizabeth took a few steps back, wrapping her arms tighter around Grace.



“’Lizabeth, take the children and go!” Many patrons had scattered in the commotion, but a few had joined the fray. It was rapidly becoming a very dangerous place to be without a weapon, especially with two children to look after. Hector and Gibbs each engaged two of the soldiers, while Gillette stirred on the ground. The soldiers were a bit lost without their leader’s guidance; it would be best to be gone when Gillette awoke.



Still, Elizabeth hesitated. “I’ll not leave without you!” She glanced to the stairs where Billy was racing down, grinning and tugging Scarlett behind. The company men were maneuvering toward the door. They would soon be between Elizabeth and her only exit, and she carried no weapon, and an infant besides.



Billy reached her side, Scarlett gasping behind him. “Go now!” Hector’s roar left no room for argument. She went.



Elizabeth raced blindly from the tavern, Billy and Scarlett at her side, Grace sobbing in her arms. She didn’t even know where she was headed until she reached the docks. Naturally, there was no sign of the Black Pearl. Elizabeth had never wished such ill upon Jack Sparrow as she did in that moment.



But all was not lost. One of the merchant ships was still docked, off to the side from the Naval vessels. There were no officers beside the merchant ship, and if there was a watch on the ship, he was out of sight.



Elizabeth slowed to a brisk walk at the dock, throwing a glance over her shoulder. There was no sign of Hector or Gibbs, but the opportunity for escape might not present itself again.



“Scarlett, can you sail?”



“No!” The redhead’s jaw dropped. “I knows babies and I knows men, but I don’t know nothing about sailing.”



“Well, it’s high time you learned. Let’s go.”



Elizabeth stalked up the gangplank, Billy skipping up beside, as she knew he would. She discovered the watch was a lad half her own age, sound asleep. “Scarlett, untie the lines. Billy, you can pull them in, can’t you?”



“Aye, aye, Mama!” Sailing was still enough of a game to Billy that he would obey at least the first few orders with gusto. Adjusting Grace in her arms, Elizabeth shrugged off her coat and lay Grace upon it at her feet as she sought the anchor. One tug proved distressingly ineffective – her body was not quite prepared for the exertion shipboard life required.



Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder as Billy pulled up the first line. Still no sign of the men. She could steer the ship alone, maybe even haul canvas with Scarlett’s help, but even if the sleepy watch-lad obeyed her, that still left a pitiful shortage of hands. Scarlett struggled to pull the gangplank up as Billy ran to the stern to pull up the second line.



Thundering footsteps on the dock snapped her head up. At last! Hector and Gibbs stormed up the dock, cradle swinging ridiculously between them.



“Daddy, we’re weighing anchor!” They would have been, at least, had Elizabeth the strength to lift it.



“I know lad, I’m on me way!” Hector swung himself over the side of the ship, took the cradle from Gibbs, then grabbed the other man’s hand and pulled him on board. Elizabeth dropped the anchor line, swept up Grace and her coat, and headed for the wheel.



“Plannin’ to leave without me?”



Elizabeth smirked over her shoulder as Hector hauled up the anchor while Gibbs started for the rigging to lower canvas. “Just keeping to the Code. You fell behind.”



Hector tsked at her back. “Guidelines, my dear.”



Elizabeth sniffed. “You wouldn’t say that if Captain Teague were here.”



“Well, Teague ain’t here.”



“No, nor is his son, which seems to be the more pressing issue at the moment.”



“Most pressing issue would be the merchants and Naval officers who’ll be comin’ after us any moment now.”



“Then we’d best make for open sea with all due haste.”



“Agreed. You there, Scarlett, go below and douse every lantern you find. Take me pistol, anyone challenges yeh, just shoot him. If I hear a shot fired, I’ll be at yer side in a minute, y’understand?”



Scarlett nodded and disappeared into the belly of the ship.



Hector withdrew his larger pistol and stood over the sleeping merchant lad. “Hector? You’re not going to shoot him, are you?”



“Not if he don’t give me a reason to.” Hector shook the boy until he woke and scrambled to his feet, wide-eyed. “You work for the Trading Company, lad?”



“I – I work for Cap’n Myers.”



“Well, now you work for Captain Barbossa and the Bonny Swann. If ye’ve a problem with that, then this here pistol can send you to work for the Captain of the Flying Dutchman.”



“Aye, sir,” the lad quaked. “I mean, no, sir, no problem. I’ll just get to it then, shall I?”



“Aye, assist Mister Gibbs in hoisting sail, young Master…”



“Turner, sir. Joseph Turner.”



Hector rolled his eyes, and Elizabeth pressed her lips together, stifling her giggle. “Of course, Master Turner.”



Hector stalked toward the wheel where Elizabeth was carefully maneuvering them into clearer waters. “Mister Gibbs! Is this all the speed you can coax from this here vessel?”



Gibbs swung himself down toward the deck. “Aye, Captain, I’m giving her all she’s got! We should pick up the wind once we clear the shallows.”



Elizabeth peered back to the docks of Tortuga. There was activity on one of the Navy ships now. They would pursue then, and unless this ship caught the Pearl, it was only a matter of time before the Navy caught them. She felt fingers in her hair and turned back to Hector. “We’ll be fine.”



“I hope so. Where’s Billy?”



Hector nodded to his left, where Billy shadowed him. “Daddy, I’m gonna run out the guns!”



“No yer not.” Hector’s arm on Billy’s shoulder halted the boy as he started to scramble for the stairs.



“Then can I run the rigging?”



“When yer older.”



“When will I be older?”



“In a few years.”



“Mama!”



Elizabeth sighed as her son turned his whining on her. “You’ll not be getting any different answers from me. You’re too young.”



Hector sliced a length of rope from a coil handed it to the boy. “Can’t run the riggin’ ‘til you can do a bowline.”



Billy pulled a face, but plopped down onto the deck to practice his knots. Elizabeth smiled. When her son focused so on a task, his resemblance to his father was uncanny. “That should keep him occupied for hours.”



“Good. Better than playin’ with powder. Where is me little girl?”



Elizabeth nodded to her other side, where Grace had curled up in her coat. “Right here. I’d suggest putting her in the bassinette – how did you manage to bring that with you?”



Hector chuckled. “Weren’t easy.”



“Well, you might put her in it, but seeing as she’s already sleeping, I wouldn’t want to wake her.”



“Agreed, insofar as not waking her. Reckon it’s dangerous for her to be lyin’ there on the deck, though.”



As if to prove his point, Gibbs stumbled across the deck to the wheel, only barely missing the slumbering child. Scarlett on his heels snatched his vest just in time. Hector glared over his shoulder at the old salt, gathering Grace into his arms. “Ye stay away from me daughter, yeh hear?”



“Aye, Cap’n, of course. Didn’t see ‘er there, is all.” Gibbs nodded at Elizabeth. “I suppose congratulations are in order.” He dropped his voice, glancing at Barbossa out of the corner of his eye. “They are in order, are they not? Elizabeth, if he hurt you, forced your hand…well, I reckon I’ve still got some fight in me.”



Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Thank you, Mister Gibbs, but I assure you that won’t be necessary. Believe it or not, I do love him, beastly as he can be at times.”



“Can hear yeh over hear, yeh know.”



“I know, darling.” Elizabeth grinned at Gibbs’s flabbergasted gape. “Are you trying to catch flies in that mouth of yours, Mister Gibbs?”



“Sorry, Miss, er, Captain Swa – er, Tur – er, Barbossa, is it then?”



“Captain Swann is fine. We’re not actually married.” She glanced over Gibbs’s shoulder. “Why aren’t we married, Hector?”



“On account of yer not having spoken to Turner about the matter yet.”



“Whatever did happen with Turner, if you don’t mind my asking?”



Elizabeth sighed. “Well, he died, didn’t he? Would you wait ten years?”



Gibbs gave a thoughtful nod. “Can’t say as I would. Good luck to you, Elizabeth. Seems you’ve got your hands full, with two babies, and two husbands besides.”



Grace’s shrill cry echoed into the night. “So it would seem.” Elizabeth handed the wheel to Gibbs and retrieved her whining daughter, scolding the man who was not quite her husband. “Now look, you’ve woken her.”



Hector curled a lip. “Just wanted to hold her.”



“Well you can’t hold her every time you want to. You have to let her be. Now I’ve got to feed her, and in full sight of everyone, and the Navy's bearing down on us, and we still don’t even know where Jack is!”



“Jack?” Gibbs’s head whipped around toward her. “You have heard from him then? I’ve not seen hide nor hair in near five years.”



“Aye, we’ve seen him.” Hector scowled and trained his spyglass over their stern. “The scheming blighter made off with me ship. And me monkey.” He touched the tricorn that was a poor substitute for the wide brimmed feathered hat he favored. “And me hat.”



“And mine,” Elizabeth added, eyes rolling upward to her bare head. “And my chest.”



Hector snapped the spyglass shut. “Yeh left… Turner’s chest?”



Elizabeth offered a grimace of assent. It had, perhaps, not been the best decision, but she had been rather short on options at the time.



“Yeh left Turner’s chest with Sparrow?”



Elizabeth settled herself on a crate next to Scarlett, who sat with arms folded, and arranged Grace in her arms. “It’s well-hidden.”



“In the cabin?”



“Of course.”



“Yeh think he won’t turn that cabin upside down, now we’re gone? Think he won’t find it?”



“You didn’t.”



“I wasn’t lookin’. Didn’t know it was there. I thought you’d buried it in Florida!”



“It’ll be fine, Hector. Jack doesn’t have the key; he can’t do anything with it. We’ll find him, and the Pearl, and everything will be fine.”



The shift in the waves was almost familiar; she had felt that caress of the wind on her cheek before. Elizabeth steeled herself. Every time that woman showed up to meddle, her life became either infinitely more complicated, or considerably eased. Elizabeth prayed silently for the latter.



“’Ave you lost witty Jack again, Elizabeth Swann?”



The quartet turned as one at the new voice. Hector offered a small bow. “Calypso. To what do we owe the pleasure?”



The goddess smiled sweetly. “You have finally brought me de child you promise me.”



A sudden panic welled up within Elizabeth. Calypso’s wording was troublingly curious. “What do you mean, exactly, by ‘the child he promised you?’ We’re not giving her up! Hector, what did you promise her?”



“She never said nothin’ about giving ‘er a child. Just havin’ one.”



Calypso’s laugh tinkled along the waves. “No, I not take de child. What would I do wit’ her? I just wanted to see her.”



When the goddess reached for Grace, Elizabeth was powerless to stop her. Grace’s howling suddenly ceased as she settled in Calypso’s arms.



“Grace Abigail Barbossa.” Calypso’s voice was barely audible. She kissed the child’s forehead and whispered words Elizabeth couldn’t understand. “She is a blessed child. You take good care of her.”



Elizabeth accepted the now-contented child again. “Of course we will. She’s our daughter.”



Hector cleared his throat beside her. “Might yeh be so kind as to offer a bit of assistance? We seem to be caught between the Navy and Sparrow, and if the Navy gets to us first, it might make takin’ care of the wee lass a bit difficult.”



Elizabeth glanced to their aft. Sure enough, the ships were on the move.



Calypso raised an eyebrow. “You would not order me, would you, Barbossa?”



“Not an order. A request. I’ve paid me last debt to ye, now I ask just a bit of favor.”



Calypso smiled and glided forward, trailing a finger along Hector’s cheek. Elizabeth felt her pulse quicken, eyebrows pulling together at the other woman’s touch. What was she playing at?



“Hector Barbossa. Do you fear death?”



This was not the question Hector was expecting, clearly. “I – well, I wouldn’t want to leave me family. Not now, with the babies so little. And Elizabeth – I couldn’t leave ‘er alone, and – ” Calpyso’s thumb on his lips silenced him. After a moment he found his voice again, cracking slightly. “Aye. I do.”



The goddess’s smile broadened, and she leaned closer. Was she going to kiss him? She wasn’t – she couldn’t! She did! Elizabeth felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop as Calypso’s lips brushed her husb – Hector’s. “Dere is no need to fear anymore.”



The goddess dissipated, leaving Hector mid-kiss. Elizabeth glared. “You can wipe that silly grin off your face now.”



“Why, Elizabeth? Jealous, are yeh?”



Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, then spotted the storm clouds that had sprung up behind them. “I suppose that’s her idea of helping.” Elizabeth sighed and gathered her coat. “Hector, take the wheel?”



“Aye. Gibbs, see that our new deckhand is doing what he ought. Miss Scarlett! Yeh best get below with ‘Lizabeth and the children, and find something to hold onto. We’re in for stormy weather! Elizabeth?”



“Hector?”



He kissed her mouth swiftly, then took up the wheel, grinning into the rain that had started to fall. Elizabeth was mesmerized for but a moment, then raced below with her children and Scarlett. She longed to stay on deck – Gibbs and young Joseph alone would struggle with the lines – but her body protested, and her children needed looking after. So it would be. She would weather the storm as a mother, not a sailor.



****



When the seas calmed, Elizabeth poked her head out of the stairwell. “What’s happening?”



Gibbs snapped his spyglass shut and grinned at her. “We’re gainin’ on the Pearl.”



Whatever Calypso had done to aid them, Elizabeth hoped it hadn’t actually damaged the Pearl. They wouldn’t likely be able to stay in one place long enough to make a repair, not with the Navy so close behind.



But the wind, it seemed, was on their side, and the black sails on the horizon grew closer. It was dark, but in the moonlight, she could make out the crew of the Pearl. If she could see them, then they would see and recognize her and Hector, if not Gibbs.



“Hector!” Jack’s voice rang out across the small space of ocean between the two ships. “Lovely ship you’ve got there! Bit small, but that seems appropriate, wouldn’t you say?”



Hector flashed a wolfish grin. “Actually, I brought her for you. A gift, for takin’ good care of my ship while we were gone.”



“It’s no trouble, taking care of my ship. But I will be having my hat back. And coat. And you can keep your wretched monkey – go, fly away, Hector’s monkey!” Jack waved shooing motions at his namesake who scampered across a yardarm, leapt across to Lady Mary Anne and landed in Hector’s arms.



“There’s my boy.” Hector cooed at the monkey, scratching his head, and nuzzling against the creature as he returned to his familiar perch on his master’s shoulder. “We’ll be havin’ the Pearl back, Jack, make no mistake.” The Pearl’s crew was already preparing a plank to allow the Lady Mary Anne’s temporary crew to cross. With few exceptions, the crew of the Pearl would be loyal to Hector and Elizabeth, more than Jack.



Jack seemed to recognize this, moving toward the plank himself as they crossed, Billy half-sleeping at Hector’s side, and Grace stirring in Elizabeth’s arms. Jack plucked his hat from Hector’s head as he passed and adjusted it on his own head, pouting at Hector’s retreating back. Scarlett stayed close to Gibbs, but passed the bassinette to Ragetti, who dragged it to the door of the Pearl’s cabin. Gibbs stayed at the wheel of the Lady Mary Anne and held the ship even with the Pearl.



“That the devil spawn there?” Jack hovered over Elizabeth’s bundle, while Hector nudged Billy toward his hammock.



She smiled, and turned down a corner of blanket, revealing her daughter’s tiny face. “This is Grace, Jack. Gracie Barbossa.”



Jack shuddered, shaking his head. “Well, for her sake, I hope she looks more like her mother.”



Elizabeth grinned. “She does have her father’s eyes.”



Jack’s moustache twitched as he peered over her shoulder. “Bugger. She’s really Hector’s, in’t she?”



Elizabeth nodded. “I’d thought that would be obvious by now.”



He shrugged. “I prefer to pretend it was all a bad dream. Can’t think about what you had to do…with Barbossa…to make that…”



“Well, we did.” Elizabeth grinned at his grimace. “Repeatedly. Frequently, even. And gloriously.”



Jack sniffed. “Is that how it is then?”



“That’s how it is.”



“You always were a strange one, Lizzie.”



“Thank you, Jack.” Elizabeth smiled. “For your help. And your hat.”



Jack touched two fingers to his forehead and offered a salute. “My liege.”



“You’re really going then?”



Jack shrugged. “I see where my king’s heart lies. Can’t sail under Barbossa, and I’ll not have him under me again.” Jack’s lip twitched. “I mean that in a strictly nautical sense.”



“Of course you did.” Elizabeth flashed a mischievous smile. “Personally, I rather like having him under me. Or above me. Or behind – ”



Jack waved his hands in front of her. “Right, enough, I really did not need that image.”



“Cap’n? Are you comin’ aboard?”



“Aye, Mister Gibbs!” Jack nodded to her. “Elizabeth.”



“Goodbye, Jack.”



Jack teetered across to the Lady Mary Anne and plucked his coat from the rail where Hector had left it. He offered Scarlett his arm while speaking to Gibbs as he sauntered to the helm. He never once looked back at the Pearl.



Elizabeth felt and arm slide around her shoulder, and she leaned into Hector, back in his own coat and hat. “I’ll miss him, but it’s better this way.”



“Aye. Sent Billy to bed. You should go too. Been a long day.”



Elizabeth nodded. “It has. But it’s good to be home.”



Hector’s arms around her tightened. “Aye, that it is.”



****



Grace was crying. Again. Always, always, she was crying. All that child did was cry, eat, sleep, and dirty her nappies. It was all Elizabeth could do to keep up. She barely had time to sleep herself; by the time she’d finished feeding and changing the baby, gotten herself cleaned up, and washed out the dirty nappy, she had at best another two hours before the blasted child was hungry again.



If Elizabeth had any thought of eating herself, she was down to an hour and a half. If Hector hadn’t proved remarkably adept at keeping Billy occupied, she would surely have lost her senses by now. And even then, Hector wasn’t Mama, and Billy still demanded more attention than she had to give.



And now, once again, Grace was howling in the middle of the night. Shut up. She willed the child to hear her thoughts. Shut up, shut up, shut up! She shut her eyes, tried to let sleep reclaim her, but Grace’s wails were incessant.



“Lizabeth,” Hector mumbled, rolling over beside her. “Baby’s crying.”



“Yes, I hear her! She’s your child too, why don’t you deal with her crying for once?”



“What the blazes yeh want me to do about it? She’s hungry. Feed ‘er, then come back to bed. Perhaps yeh might make amends for waking me?”



“What’s that supposed to mean?”



He rolled toward her, touching a leg with his knee and kissing her shoulder. “Well, we’ve not…” he cleared his throat. “That is, it’s been some time, since…” His hand drifted along her arm, and she stared dumbly at the fingers on her skin.



“I truly hope you’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”



“And why not? Might do yeh some good. Do us both good.”



Elizabeth removed the offending hand from her arm. “Are you mad? Don’t you touch me!” Elizabeth’s eyes blazed as she swung her legs out of bed and stumbled to the bassinette, lifting the screaming brat from her cradle. “I spend the entire day and half the night looking after this child’s every need, and when she doesn’t need me, Billy does, while you’re up on deck having a glorious time of it, and now you expect me to look after your needs as well?” She sank into her chair and yanked her shirt to one side, exposing a breast for the little parasite. “Do me some good? Do you know what would do me some good? A full night’s sleep, perhaps. A proper meal, that I could actually sit down and finish. Five minutes, just five bloody minutes of peace. That would do me some good. The last thing I need right now is you and your needs.”



Hector heaved an exaggerated sigh and sat up in bed. “Are we never to make love again?”



“Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” She didn’t bother trying to keep the venom from her voice. He wasn’t listening, he didn’t understand, couldn’t possibly understand. What did he think she was doing all day while he was off running the ship? Lying in wait for him to come and ravish her? She sniffed. The way things stood, they indeed were never to make love again. Elizabeth couldn’t find reason to be unhappy with that resolution.



She looked down at the babe, who still whined and whimpered. “What is the matter with you? Fine, starve if you want to. Be better off.”



Elizabeth bit her lip as the child snuffled against her breast, refusing to take hold. She would be better off, better than having such a mother. A mother who wished time and again to be on deck with her charts, with the wind in her hair, rather than constantly consoling her needy child. What kind of a wretched mother was she?



Suddenly, Hector was before her, lifting Grace from her shaking arms, holding her head to his shoulder. “There’s my girl. Daddy won’t let you starve, no he won’t.”



Elizabeth hugged her legs to her, feeling tears streaming down her cheeks as her body shook. “And what exactly do you plan to do about it? You can let her suck at your breast till Kingdom Come, it won’t do her any good!”



“Elizabeth, what’s the matter with yeh? Yer hysterical.”



“Yes, of course I’m hysterical! You’d be hysterical too if you hadn’t slept in a month, had barely eaten, done nothing but care for this selfish, needy creature who sucked the very life from your body a half dozen times a day!”



“But yer her mother.”



“I’m a bloody pirate! I didn’t ask for this, Hector. You and Calypso and your prices! I didn’t want this! I didn’t want Billy, but at least he was - ” Her voice caught in her throat.



“Will’s?”



Elizabeth swallowed the word on her lips. It had helped that he was Will’s child, the only piece of Will she would have for a decade. Saying so now, though, would only provoke an argument.



“Easy.” His eyes questioned her, but she kept her gaze steady. She was not, after all, speaking a falsehood. “He was an easy baby. He slept, he ate, he hardly cried. But her, your daughter, all she does is scream. And eat, and mess, from both ends of her.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and she was powerless to stop them. “It’s never ending, and I’m so tired, tired of babies and tired of nappies, and I just want…I want…”



She hiccupped, choking her words as she shook and cried into her knees. She didn’t even know what she wanted anymore. What was wrong with her? She was certain Billy hadn’t been this much of a challenge. But then, Billy wasn’t a Barbossa. Wretched creatures, Barbossas, every one of them. Elizabeth glared up at the pair of them, peas in a bloody pod. Good, let him try to take care of the baby. He’d see soon enough why she was “hysterical.”



“Go to sleep, cariño.”



“What?” His words were senseless; she couldn’t sleep, the baby needed to eat. But already he was carrying Grace away from her, toward their dinner table, where he settled into a chair. Elizabeth’s legs were too heavy to carry her across the room to see what he was about.



Hector arranged Grace in the crook of an arm. With his free hand, he dipped the corner of a napkin into the fresh cream they’d used for tea that afternoon, then held the napkin to Grace’s mouth. And for a moment, the only sound she made was the familiar sucking that said she was eating at last. She whimpered when he pulled the cloth from her to soak it again, but was quickly pacified when he returned it.



Elizabeth rubbed at her eyes. Was she truly seeing this? She’d never fathomed any father doing such for a child – certainly all men knew that nursing babies was for women. But she supposed such a rule was merely a guideline to her Hector, who cooed wide-eyed at the squirming, slurping bundle in his arms.



“What are you doing?”



“Feedin’ her. Since yer disinclined. You don’t want her? Go, then. I’ll not see my daughter starve.”



“You…can’t.” She pulled her head up from her knees.



His head snapped up to meet her gaze. “Plenty o’ babes were raised on cow’s milk. Me own youngest sisters were, when mum was needed as a wet nurse.”



Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. Cow’s milk? That was for servants, poor families, or motherless children. Was she truly so terrible that she would allow her own child to be sustained on cow’s milk?



“Oh, don’t be absurd. We’re kings among pirates, our princess shall have a proper meal. Bring her here, please?”



Hector’s eyes narrowed. “You gonna yell at her again? She won’t abide it, and nor will I.” Mutely, Elizabeth shook her head. “Then get in bed. Sit up.”



She didn’t understand his intention, but she was too exhausted to do anything but obey. She pulled the blankets up to her waist, then accepted Grace from Hector’s arms. In a moment, he had slid into bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her.



He pulled her back against him, and she rested her head on his shoulder, letting his arms support hers as Gracie nursed. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was little more than a whisper. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m a terrible mother, I know.” She was staining his shirt with the tears that still ran down her cheeks, but he held her close.



“Shh, don’t say such things.” His breath was warm against her forehead, where he kissed her softly.



“No, it’s true. I am.” She drew in a shaking breath. What kind of a mother thought such terrible things about her own children? Billy was such a good boy, and Grace surely didn’t mean to be difficult. She was just spirited, a word Elizabeth recalled hearing to describe herself as a child. Hector’s thumb slid ever so gently along a small section of Grace’s exposed arm. He did love her so dearly. How could she have such dark thoughts about a child for whom Hector Barbossa felt nothing but affection.



Elizabeth sighed into his neck. “I never wanted children. Well, I did, once, when I thought I wanted to be a blacksmith’s wife. But once I became a pirate…that life was lost to me. And I didn’t mourn it. I’d be glad to marry, to have a husband at my side, but children are a burden I no longer wished for. And now I have two of them.”



She felt his arms tighten around her, briefly. “Elizabeth. Not takin’ me children away from me again, are you?”



“What?”



“We have two children.” Elizabeth sat up, hoisting Grace to her shoulder and rubbing her back, and watched Hector’s eyes as they scanned the ceiling for the right words. “Always thought I’d marry a nice woman, set her up somewhere with a little house where she could raise the children. Ne’er expected to have them on me ship. Figured I’d see ‘em two, three times a year, if luck was with me. Now, I see ‘em every day. See you every day.”



Elizabeth frowned. “Are you saying you want me to stay on land?”



“No!” Hector’s fingers twined around a strand of her hair. “Want you here. Want the babies here. Don’t want to miss a day.”



“Oh.” Grace hiccoughed and sputtered onto the rag Elizabeth had slung over her shoulder. Elizabeth returned the babe to her breast and leaned back into Hector’s embrace.



“Elizabeth, what do you want? Would you give them up?”



Tears pricked her eyes again. She pressed her thumb gently the back of Grace’s hand. Her fingers were so tiny; Elizabeth’s thumb covered her entire hand. Such a helpless little thing would never survive without her mother.



Elizabeth shook her head. “No, no, of course not. But…I want my ship back.”



“The Empress?”



“Yes. I want things to be the way they were in Singapore. You and me, the Pearl and the Empress, just sailing, exploring, attacking. I want to feel a cutlass in my hand again. I want a baldric on my shoulder, not that sling I use for Grace. I want my commands to be ‘hoist that sail’ or ‘load the guns,’ not ‘finish your breakfast,’ or ‘don’t put that in your mouth.’ I just want to be a pirate. That’s all I ever wanted. And now I’m stuck being a mother, and you can keep me at sea all you like, but I’m not a pirate now, not really.”



Hector was silent a moment. She took a ragged breath, adjusting Grace in her arms. It wasn’t fair to this poor child, that she should be stuck with such a mother. Not fair to either of her children. But of course, there was nothing to be done for it. She had to raise her children, and though she had managed so far to raise one while maintaining her life as a pirate, she wouldn’t be able to handle two.



Already, she had been relieved of her duties as Navigator. She was naught but a liability on the ship now, an extra mouth, who came with two additional mouths. No wonder sailors usually left their wives in port. She couldn’t even make her presence worth Hector’s while. She might have come to him as a lover again, but her body still protested that it was too soon since Grace’s birth. And now there was the extra complication that nature might take its course and produce another child in her. It was all too much to bear.



“Wish ye’d said somethin’ sooner.”



“When? What could I say? You had no reason to believe we could have a child, even had we wanted to. We’d have done nothing differently.”



“Might have. I’d have asked her, Calypso, if I’d have known ye’d be so unhappy. I thought ye wanted her. Yeh seemed so excited, when you told me.”



Elizabeth sighed, and cast her memory back. “I don’t know. Maybe I did. But I’d forgotten how much work she would be!”



“Ye’ve never been afraid to work.”



“On a ship, perhaps. But this is different. This isn’t sailor’s work. She’s a burden on me and a burden on us all. My hands are no longer useful, and Grace - ”



“Stop.” His hands squeezed her arms. “Don’t you ever say that. That’s my daughter you’re talking about. I’d rather have her with me than see her but a few times a year, even if it means you can’t do yer duties on the ship.”



“But that’s just the trouble! I want to do my duties on the ship. I want to keep the log, and the charts, I want to take the Empress again. But I can’t.”



Hector’s words came slowly. “If we found a nurse…a governess, would that help? Take a bit of the burden from you?”



Elizabeth smoothed Grace’s light brown hair, and touched her thumb to the girl’s cheek. She herself had been raised by a governess. Several, actually. It seemed her father was always lamenting that they never stayed on terribly long. She had liked only a few of them, but even then, it wasn’t the same as having her own mother. Or father. “It would make my life easier. But I don’t think it would make Grace and Billy happy. I always promised myself that I would be there for my children, the way my parents couldn’t be…”



Grace smacked her lips, shuddered, and emitted a shriek. “Give ‘er here.”



“You don’t have to. It’ll be messy.”



“So? I’d like to be there for me children too.”



Hector gingerly drew Grace up to his shoulder, leaning her against the rag Elizabeth positioned there. “What now?”



“Rub her back, or pat it, gently. She needs a little help to get the air moving.”



He obeyed, his long fingers easily covering the babe’s entire back as he carefully circled and tapped against her skin.



“We’ll go to Ireland. See about Mack’s wife. Yeh seemed to think she might be able to help. Then Singapore, if you like. We did well there, I’d not object to returning.”



“Do you mean that?”



“Aye. Safer, too. Out from under the nose of the Company, and the Navy. Ooh, there’s my girl.” He cooed at Grace as she let out a powerful belch, spittle dribbling down her chin and onto the rag. Elizabeth reached up and wiped her daughter’s face. “She done?”



“I think so. Here, I’ll put her to bed.”



But Hector had already half-risen with the child. “Rest, cariño.”



Elizabeth fell back against the pillows as Hector took Grace back to her cradle. He was truly amazing with her, surprisingly so. He was probably a better parent than she was, always cooing and cuddling her. Unlike Elizabeth, Hector never seemed troubled by Grace’s cries, and never grew irritated at her.



Of course, it was easy enough for Hector to be so loving; he didn’t have to look after the babe’s every need. He only even saw Gracie a few times a day.



But he certainly enjoyed those moments he did have with her. Elizabeth heard him whisper a few words of Spanish, one hand moving slowly inside the bassinette, then he straightened and crawled back into bed beside her, encircling her in his arms.



She breathed in the scent of him as she curled instinctively against him. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked as tears pricked her eyes again. “I do love them, I truly do. It’s just overwhelming sometimes.”



“Hush, now, my girl.” His lips traced the tear stains on her cheeks, and his hands were warm on her back. “Chart a course for Ireland in the morn.”



“Me?”



“Aye, you said yeh wanted to do yer duties again. Reckon you can chart a course, at least. I’ll watch the children while yeh do it.”



“I’ll try. I don’t really know those waters.”



“Ah. Then it’s – ”



“High time I learned?”



Hector wiped off her smirk with a languid kiss. She melted against him, savoring the taste of him, the rough tickle of his beard on her chin. It had been far too long since they’d kissed this way. When his thumb grazed the side of her breast, though, she stiffened.



“Hector…”



“I do envy that daughter of ours. I miss yer breasts.”



“Well, you can keep missing them. I don’t dare - ”



“If it’s babies as are the only thing stopping us, then there be ways to ensure we don’t have any more. Though in truth, I wouldn’t mind another. Try for a boy?”



Elizabeth pushed against his chest, curling her lip. “No, thank you.”



He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Fine then.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes in response, and he nudged her neck with his nose. “I’ll not spill inside ye. Best way. No seed, no babies.”



Elizabeth stifled a yawn. “Are you quite certain? Are you even capable of stopping?”



“Done it before.”



She was prepared to take him at his word, but her body reminded her that sleep was the more pressing need at the moment. This time, Elizabeth couldn’t hold back her yawn. “Perhaps tomorrow? It’s already the middle of the night, and I’ve a course to chart in the morning.”



Hector responded with an impressive eye-roll of his own and flopped back against the pillows. “Holdin’ yeh to that.”



Elizabeth crinkled her nose and pressed a swift kiss to his lips. “Goodnight, my love.”



“Mm, I like that one.”



“Hmm?”



“Better than ‘darling’ or ‘dear.’ If you be looking for a pet name for me, I approve of ‘my love.’”



Elizabeth nestled into the crook of his arms and closed her eyes. “I’m glad it meets with your approval, Captain.”



“Nay, not Captain. Not in here.”



She sighed through her smile against his shoulder. “Goodnight, Hector.”



“Goodnight, cariño, mi amor.”



Elizabeth let the stillness overtake her. In the morning, there would be new paths to chart, and new worlds to explore, but for now, there was only her family, her children, and the man she loved, whose heartbeat lulled her to sleep.



In the quietest moments, if she listened very intently, she could just make out the soft rhythm of an extra heart beating, hidden away in a corner of the cabin. For five and a half more years, it was hers to keep safe. It would be safe enough in its chest. In the meantime, she had three living hearts to look after.