Chapter 24 #2
Perhaps it should bother him this had happened when it was never his intention, something he didn’t want. Alister had never wanted a child, but if he was going to put a babe in anyone, he was thankful it was Rosetta. She gave me a son...
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” she asked quietly, with a voice raspy from crying.
She eventually came up to them so she could brush the tip of her index finger against his chubby cheek.
“Aye, he’s a fine lad.”
Alister thought he looked like an overcooked potato, but he wouldn’t dare tell her that. He’d never found babies cute. He’d mostly found them abhorrent.
He whipped his head to her. “And he’s mine?”
She nodded.
“Without a doubt?”
She looked up at him to meet his gaze. “Yes.”
Knew it. His shoulders sagged in relief. He just wanted her to admit it.
Then a thought crossed his mind, something from what she’d said earlier. Since he had one arm free, he reached forward and gripped her jaw to tilt her face up to his as he leaned down.
“Did you fuck other men while carrying my son, Rosetta?”
He couldn’t think of anything worse!
Knowing she’d been carrying his child while having another man’s cock thrusting inside her... something dark frayed the edges of his vision.
“No. I wouldn’t do that.” Her brows drew together in an almost sympathetic frown. “I haven’t been with anyone else since I met you. I lied.”
His sight flickered between her eyes, but she remained steadfast under his scrutiny. He believed her.
He slipped his hand forward and palmed the back of her head, pulling her towards him. Alister crashed his mouth on hers, bringing her in for a deep kiss that tasted of salt from her drying tears.
Relief, ease, and contentment rolled through him like a gentle wave, washing away all the pain and loss he’d felt, bit by bit.
He broke from her when the boy made another squeal, a little quieter than before. Alister looked back down at him.
“Would you have told him about me?”
She once more started brushing her fingertip against his cheek, occasionally moving it up to push the black hair on top of his head to the side.
“Yes. That’s why I took your ring.”
Alister’s brows drew together, looking between them. “You were going to give it to him?”
“I’m going to tell him all the tales I’ve learned about you.
” She turned her head to give him a small, sad smile.
“About how his father is the great Captain Alister ‘One Eye’ Paine, the Bloody Storm of the Seas, the most wanted pirate of the Seven Seas of Old Gaia.” She turned her head down once more with a snort of laughter. “I doubt he’ll believe me.”
The boy grabbed a small chunk of Alister’s long hair that had slipped over his shoulder and yanked on it with a surprisingly strong pull. He didn’t care, not when his frown deepened as he listened to her. She wasn’t going to hide who I was from him.
“When he’s old enough, I know he will probably want to find you.”
It was a long moment before he realised she was talking in future tense rather than a reflection of what she’d been intending. She was speaking like she was still intending for it to be the same, even though he knew of the child’s existence and was here now.
“I knew if he wore your ring, you’d believe he was your son. I knew you would be upset that you were only just finding out, if you were even still alive, but you would take him under your wing.” Then she smiled once more. “That’s if I wasn’t with him on the Laughing Siren.”
There was a long pause as he took in this moment.
Holding his son in his arms for the first time. Watching the way she was looking at him with complete and utter adoration.
A warmth filled his chest.
“Marry me,” he demanded, looking over her beautiful face.
“P-pardon?” she blurted, suddenly lifting her face to him with a frown.
“Aye, you heard me.” He wasn’t going to repeat himself; he’d had a hard enough time voicing it the first time.
“Alister... no. It’s okay.”
Her eyes darted over his features, a confusing mix of worry and anxiety crossing over him while he did his best to hide the hurt at her rejection.
She turned to the boy to fix the blanket around him to distract herself.
“I was prepared to do this on my own. I’m not going to ask you to stay with me just because of him. You don’t have to take responsibility. I can pay for him, care for him on my own.”
Rosetta hadn’t left him because she didn’t want him. She’d left because he’d made a mistake that night in Tortaya and she’d fled in fear.
This was his fault.
He lifted his hand and pointed his index and middle finger at her. Squinted eyes filled with suspicion, he looked her up and down.
“You love me, don’t you?”
Behind that pinkness from her earlier crying, he saw the rest of her pale.
I knew it! He shook his head in disbelief at her obvious unease about him figuring this out.
“You’re smarter than this, lass. I didn’t chase you for seven months for no reason.
” He bounced the boy lightly when he started to squirm, worried he was going to cry.
He brought his eyes back to her. “I realised once you left that I’m in love with you.
I was always going to ask; the boy has nothing to do with it. ”
“I don’t understand. I didn’t think you would ever...” She trailed off, her gaze falling to the side like she really couldn’t comprehend this.
“Aye, me neither.” Alister didn’t think he’d had a heart until he met her.
There was a shyness in her eyes he’d never seen before when she looked back at him, perhaps a pinkness to her cheeks that had nothing to do with the tears she’d cried.
“I’m asking you to sail with me forever, Rosie. As my wife.”
It was because Rosetta could sail with him and wouldn’t be some woman he’d be leaving on the land that he’d even considered this option. If he was going to have a wife, it would need to be someone who would be with him always.
He was a man who liked to fuck, but he would be faithful to the woman he chose. He wouldn’t have wanted to go without sex for an extended period, possibly years, because she wasn’t with him.
But it wasn’t just because she had her own boat. He wanted her because of who she was. Rosetta was like the sea. Both were untameable, both wild, both full of depth and beauty, both just as annoying.
“If... you’re sure...” she said softly, nibbling on the corners of her lips.
“Was that an aye?”
“Aye, lad, it was a bloody yes.”
He gave a deep chuckle. “Atta girl.” Then he shouldered her lightly to get her attention. “My ship missed yours.”
It was his own way of saying he’d missed her, because he didn’t think he could say something so... daft.
She let out a small laugh, shaking her head as though she understood. Then, in a quiet murmur, she said, “I love you, too, by the way, you great big idiot.”
A grin curled his lips before he turned his head down as he continued to bounce his son. “What’s his name?”
“Um, Alister...”
There was a long pause.
Bloody hell. What horrible name did she give him if she had to pause before she told him?
“Aye?” he answered to get her to continue.
“No.” She laughed awkwardly. “That’s his name. It’s Alister.”
His face twisted in repulsion. “I’m not going to have you moan our son’s name when I’m taking you.”
“Well, I didn’t think I was going to again,” she grumbled under her breath in annoyance. “Fine, we’ll change it. It’s not like he knows what it is anyway.”
She reached forward to try to take him.
He quickly moved his arms out of reach. “Nay, you’ve had your turn to hold him.”
An entire month of it!
“Give him back, Alister.”
“I said nay, lass! You’ll wait your bloody turn.”
She puffed her cheeks and folded her arms across her chest. At least she’d conceded.
Then her arms loosened as she said, “We should probably stop the men from killing each other now.”
“Aye, but my men have been ordered not to kill yours.” He wagged his finger at her. “I knew you wouldn’t have been happy with me if they did, or if I blew a single hole in your ship.”
Her lips thinned as she muttered, “I didn’t give them the same command.”
Well, they better not be bloody dead! He’d kill them all over again if they decided to die here and now.
Alister stormed to the door of the navigation room.
“Wait, let me get Elizabeth.” Rosetta ran to the door of her sleeping cabin and opened it slightly. “Everything’s okay now. You’re fine to come out.”
The redhead peeked through the gap, saw Alister was still there, and immediately backed into the room again to hide.
As Rosetta came up to him, he put his eye patch back on in preparation for going outside.
“Who’s the woman?”
“She’s been helping me take care of him.” Her eyes fell on his son. “I couldn’t do it on my own and I’m still healing from giving birth.”
Speaking of which...
“Are you okay?” he asked with true concern, sweeping his gaze down her body.
He gripped her hip, as if he could somehow check her state. Their son wasn’t small – even Alister could tell he was a big babe.
“My ma almost died giving birth to me, said I was the biggest baby she’d ever seen.”
“It was tough, but I’m fine,” she reassured with a laugh. “Lost my sea legs, though.”
“Nay,” he said in a tone of disbelief. “Your sea legs are almost as good as mine.”
“It’s why I had to port in Luxor. It was the only place I could think of to house all my men but was safe to hide.”
“From me,” he stated with narrow eyes, his lips thinning into a scowl.
Not wanting to answer him, she turned the door handle to step outside.
No one was fighting, but swords were raised at each other as they shouted back and forth. His men were acting as a blockade so hers couldn’t come up the stairs and interrupt them. Alister had organised it that way; he hadn’t wanted to be disturbed until he got his answers, and hopefully her.
“Oi, you bunch of scurvy dogs,” he called loudly, but not in a way that would upset the boy. “Who wants to meet my son?”
A pause and a blanket of silence settled over the deck while they digested his words. Gazes flickered between each other in surprise and shock.
Then a loud, excited cheer sounded, making his son shriek and cry from the sudden noise. Alister quickly handed him to Rosetta, as if his hands had suddenly caught fire.
One thing was certain: Alister was unsure if he was excited to tell his mother or not. She’ll rip my ear off for this.