Crazy Little Thing
I thought it appropriate to name the last chapter after the story. Keep an eye out for the next story called Crazy Little Love.
(Two Months Later…)
Madison sighed and rolled onto her side before allowing her eyes to open. She saw the vase of flowers on her bedside table first as usual. She yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Even now, nearly three months later, she still looked to her side, expecting to see Jack there, fast asleep, mouth slightly open and softly snoring. She threw the blankets off her and turned to put her feet on the cold floor. She shivered and slid her feet into her house shoes before getting out of bed and pulling on a thick robe. She could smell her mother cooking breakfast, as usual. She shuffled out of the room and down the stairs.
"Morning." Carolyn said.
"Hmm." Madison said. She sat down and put her hand on her stomach. Something felt odd. Carolyn put some food in front of her and Madison stared at it.
"What's wrong?" Carolyn asked.
"I dunno." Madison said. She looked down at her stomach and poked it lightly. She frowned curiously before putting her hand flat on her stomach and closing her eyes. She gasped and took her hand from her stomach, opening her eyes.
"What?" Carolyn asked.
"I felt something." Madison said. "It was like…a…as if you know you're being followed but…from inside."
"Like another living thing?" Carolyn asked, curiously. Madison nodded. "Hmm…I know that feeling." She put her hand on Madison's cheek. "I felt the same thing eighteen years ago."
"Really? What was it?" Madison asked, still asleep so her brain wasn't function properly.
"Honey." Carolyn said. "You're pregnant." Madison stared at her before laughing.
"Dad said the same thing when he realized how I felt for Jack." She said. Carolyn didn't smile. Madison stopped laughing and looked at her mother then at her stomach before looking back again. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." Carolyn said, smiling this time. Madison frowned, her brain waking up as she thought about this. Carolyn watched, slightly relieved that Madison just looked curious and not angry or scared.
"Santo Domingo." Madison said, finally.
"What?" Carolyn asked.
"Two months. I'm two months along." Madison said. "That was the last time I slept with Jack and if it was more then two months then I would be fat, wouldn't I?"
"Not that soon honey." Carolyn said, smiling. Madison, for the first time in almost three months, smiled as well as she splayed her hand on her still flat stomach. "I hope this isn't the last time you smile."
"I have to smile now." Madison said. "Don't wanna make my…baby worry." She frowned slightly but smiled again almost instantly. If she never saw him again, she still had part of him. Madison looked at the ring on her finger as she toyed with her necklace.
So she had a few pieces of him. But these would be living breathing pieces.
Jack looked at the map, marking off different places they'd already been. His gaze slid to the edge of the map numerous times where he had made a mark of where the island that was World's End was. He didn't want to think that she was there. If she was, he knew he would never see her again. Something told him that she wasn't there.
"Hmm…" Jack said, reaching out and grabbing the bottle that sat on the table. He turned his attention from the map to the contents of the bottle to find it empty. "Isn't this how this all started?" He threw the bottle over his shoulder and resisted the urge to go and get another one. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. Through the window he could see the faint signs of a sunrise.
He looked at the door. He remembered the previous month once they got to Port Royal. It was awkward but things were back to normal it seemed. Elizabeth finally got her wedding and, surprisingly, she and Will both rejoined the crew. Will claimed that he still wanted to get to know his father who was remaining with Jack. Elizabeth claimed that she wanted to be with Will at all times.
Jack knew the real reason. Both of them couldn't resist the call of the sea and, to Jack's delight, both were actually becoming pirates whether they knew or acknowledged it or not.
"Jack?" Elizabeth called through the door.
"Yeah?" Jack asked. Elizabeth opened the door and Jack turned his head to look at her.
"You need to get some sleep." Elizabeth said. "You've been awake every night for the last three days."
"Few more minutes." Jack said, looking back at the map.
"No, Jack." Elizabeth said. "You'll be of no use to anyone if you're exhausted." She pulled Jack to his feet and pushed him towards his room and bed. "Now sleep. I'm sure we'll manage without you for a few hours." She left him alone and joined Will and Bill at the helm.
"Is he going to sleep?" Will asked.
"Who knows." Elizabeth said. "Why can't we just use his compass to find her?"
"Because Jack lost the bloody thing." Bill said.
"How on earth did he do that?" Will asked. "It's always either with him or Madison."
"Maybe she had it." Elizabeth said. Will sighed. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lightly. "We'll find her soon. In another month or two we'll all be together again and everything will be fine."
(Three Months Later…)
Carolyn stood at the window and walked as Madison, now with a big round belly, knelt in the garden and picked flowers to make for a bouquet. They had made friends with a few of the people around them and were having a couple over for dinner that night. The woman, Samantha, was expecting a child as well. Her sister, Gabriel, would be the midwife for both Samantha and Madison when the time came.
Madison had known almost instantly that she was having twins but she didn't tell anyone. Gabriel was the one that told Carolyn because she knew that there was no other reason for Madison to have gotten so big already with just one child. It was interesting watching Madison over the last few months.
If it weren't for the stomach, Carolyn would have thought Madison to be a little kid, plucking the flowers with a smile on her face. She would stop every so often and look up at the sky or at the animals playing in the trees.
"I hope you don't get mad at me." Carolyn said. She looked down at the object she held in her hands. She had taken it from Jack's pocket while everyone else slept five months ago in Santo Domingo. After Madison had been taken. She flipped the lid opened and watched as the arrow spun before pointing at Madison for a few seconds. It then pointed south-west where Carolyn knew the ocean was waiting. The arrow kept bouncing between her daughter and the ocean until she snapped the compass shut and locked it away, keeping it hidden from Madison.
"So…do you know where the father is?" Samantha asked that night.
"Somewhere at sea." Madison said, dragging her fingers through her hair.
"Does he know?" Samantha's husband asked.
"No." Madison said.
"We haven't found a way of contacting him." Carolyn said.
"Well…he'll probably show up here sooner or later." Samantha said. "All merchants do." Madison opened her mouth to say something but Carolyn cut her off.
"We'll know when he does get here." She said. Madison looked at her. Carolyn gave her a look. "Sweetheart, can I talk to you?"
"Umm…yeah." Madison said. She got up gracefully and followed her mother into the kitchen. "Why did you stop me?"
"Maddie, Jack is a wanted pirate." Carolyn said, quietly. "And you like Samantha. Jack's well known everywhere so she'll know about him and she might not like him. Do you want to lose her as a friend?"
"No." Madison said. "Samantha's lovely to have around." She sighed. "Why did I have to love the stupid pirate?"
"You still do, dear." Carolyn said. Madison's eyes snapped up to look into her mother's eyes. Carolyn stared into them.
"No…I don't." Madison said, coldly. She went back into the other room with a small smile on her face.
A few days later she stood walked the ten minute walk from their house to the docks in the rain and stood there, looking out at the water. Various sea creatures came up to the docks and looked at Madison but she refused to look down at them so they all just swam away. She felt slightly guilty at making them feel sad but she couldn't look at them without somehow being reminded of Jack. Slowly she reached up and took off her necklace. She held it with the blue pendant dangling in front of her face.
"I don't love you anymore." Madison muttered, trying to convince herself. Her free hand rested on her stomach where she felt her babies kicking. It was as if they were angry with her, judging by the pressure of the kicks. Madison took a deep, shaking breath and opened her hand, letting the necklace fall into the water.
It started to rain as soon as the first tear ran down her cheek. She looked at the ring on her hand and was about to pull it off when she stopped. No matter what, she couldn't get rid of the ring. It was a sign of empty promises, even more so since that day Jack had taken it and put it on her middle finger on her left hand, saying that it would again move to the next finger if she, Madison, really wanted it to.
She had believed him. She had believed that one day Jack would move that ring to the next finger and add another ring there as well. She had believed him when he said that he would save her over the Pearl every time. She had believed him the countless times he had told her he would never leave her.
"I believed him when he said he loved me." Madison said. She looked down at her stomach. "Your daddy is full of lies. I promise to keep you two safe. You won't have to worry about him as long as I can help it." One of them kicked her, as if it didn't want to believe her. Madison frowned and dropped her hand from her stomach and lifted her eyes to look at the sea. Even from that distance, she could hear the slow, steady beating of the Kraken's heart.
Madison turned away from the sea. She didn't want to let hate consume her. She wouldn't become like Calypso. Part of her yelled at her to wake the Kraken and send it after Jack, to make him pay but the part she listened to told her not to. For all she knew, Elizabeth would be on the ship and for all Madison knew, she could be in the same state she herself was in.
"You're…what?" Will asked, staring at Elizabeth. She was sitting on their bed, her head down. "Elizabeth?"
"Gibbs just confirmed it for me." Elizabeth said, looking up at Will.
"Really?" Will asked, a smile appearing on his face. Elizabeth relaxed and nodded. Will smiled even more and hugged her, kissing her as well. "We should tell Jack."
"Not yet!" Elizabeth said, grabbing hold of Will's arm.
"Darling, if, as you said, you're three months along, he's going to notice soon." Will said.
"I know." Elizabeth said. "But I don't want him to feel sad. Madison talked about children. We've only just got him acting somewhat like himself."
"Alright." Will said. "We'll wait until the opportune moment." Elizabeth smiled slightly and nodded. Will hugged her again and kissed her head. With the side of her head pressed against Will's chest, Elizabeth allowed a sad look to cross her face. She knew there would never be an opportune moment. They hadn't found Madison and with each passing day her hope faded a bit more. She smiled again when Will could see her face so as not to worry him.
"As soon as we dock, I'll send a letter to my father." Elizabeth said.
"Good idea." Will said. He ran his hand through her hair.
"Everything will be alright." Elizabeth said.
"I think Madison would have loved the idea of being an aunt." Will said. Elizabeth nodded.
"We'll see her again, Will." She said. "I don't know when but I do know we will."
In the cabin next to them, Jack moved away from the wall. He had heard everything the Turners had said and, as Elizabeth predicted, was now feeling worse then he had recently been. He couldn't believe they hadn't found Madison yet. If he had his bloody compass it would have taken a few days…not five months.
He didn't believe Elizabeth. He didn't believe they'd ever see Madison again. With each passing day, the idea of her being at World's End became the most consuming thought on Jack's mind. He looked at his maps. In a year they would probably be back at Port Royal, or maybe in Havana. He doubted they'd find Madison anywhere they went between now and then.
But still…there was that little bit of hope in him that they would find her. Just a little bit, but it was there.
The End (To Be Continued…)
So there's my ending. Either tomorrow or the day after, or maybe the day after that I'll put up the next story.
FYI: Barbossa is still alive…so you can count on him being a bad guy in the next story.