Chapter 28

They sailed into Charles Town harbor with the early-morning tide, almost a full month after leaving it. To Eden’s eye, nothing much had changed during their absence. No major fires or Spanish attacks had destroyed the town, no unexpected floods or plagues barred their departure from the Mirage.

No sooner had they walked through Eden’s front door than Jane came dashing down the staircase in her night robe. She skidded to a halt the expression on her face a mixture of hope and anxiety.

With a huge grin, Nate hurried forward to envelope Jane in a crushing embrace, twirling her around. “We got the pardon, Janie girl!” he proclaimed. “Set the date and send for the preacher!”

A joyous smile wreathed Jane’s features, only to melt quickly away. Easing back from him, she gazed up at him with tearful eyes. “Nathan, my love, when you hear what I have to tell you, you might want to rethink our plans. Though I sincerely hope you won’t be too terribly upset.”

Nate frowned, as did Devlin and Eden. When Jane hesitated, chewing her lip in the same nervous manner Eden often employed, Nate said somberly, “Spit it out, Janie. Whate’er ’tis, we’ll solve it together. What’s wrong?”

On a sob, Jane declared, “’Tis not something so easily resolved, and certainly nothing we planned. Nate, I’m going to have a child. Our child.”

All three listeners stood there stunned. Nate looked as if he’d been poleaxed. Jane’s face was as pale as parchment “A ... a babe?” Nate squeaked out the picture of astonishment. “I’m gonna be a father?”

Jane nodded, her hands clenched together so tightly that her fingers appeared blue. “I ... I know it comes as a shock. It certainly did to me. I just need to know how you feel about it.”

Nate gave a sharp shake of his head, like a man trying to rid himself of the lingering remnants of a nightmare. “Janie,” he croaked. Then a smile to rival the sun lit his wrinkled features. “I’ll be damned. I’m gonna be a papa!” He swept her back into his arms and peppered her face with kisses. “Woman, ye couldn’t have greeted me with grander news if ye’d just told me I was crowned King of England! How? When?”

At last Jane joined him in his laughter, relief making her giddy. “You know very well how, you randy old goat!” she replied with a silly grin. “As to when, I assume you want to know how soon the child will arrive. According to my calculations, along about next April. And I can’t tell you how glad I am that you are thrilled about it. I wasn’t sure you’d take to the notion.” 

“How could I not?” he replied. “Oh, Janie, we’re gonna be a real family. You an’ me an’ the babe, an’ Eden an’ Devlin too.” He set her on her feet, but kept his arm firmly about her. “We’ve got news as well, though not as startlin’ as yers. Hold on to yer nightshirt and say hello to yer son-in-law, Janie. Eden and Devlin got themselves married in New Providence.”

At this, Jane positively glowed. Tearing herself loose from Nate’s hold, she darted forward to gather her daughter to her breast. “Eden, I’m so happy for you both. I was hoping, praying that things would work out between you, even with all the complications still before you.”

Her pleased gaze found Devlin, and she reached out a hand to him. “Am I correct in guessing that my daughter finally succeeded in her relentless attempts to convince you to apply for amnesty?”

Devlin grinned and squeezed her slim fingers. “Aye. She worked her wiles on me until I could do no less. And I’ll wager we’ll be starting a family of our own not far behind you and Nate. Congratulations, Mother Winters.”

Jane chuckled. “ ‘Jane’ will suit, Devlin. No sense in assuming formality at this late date.”

Eden had yet to say a word. When Jane turned back to her, the younger woman’s eyes were still slightly dazed. “Oh, dear!” Jane said softly. “It seems we’ve well and truly shocked you.” Gently she led her daughter toward the nearest chair. “Come, Eden. You look as if you are about to swoon, and I am the one who is supposed to be prone to such behavior just now.”

Eden allowed herself to be seated while the other three gathered around with looks of concern. At length she remembered to breathe, the air whooshing out of her lungs in a tremendous gush. “Oh, my! Who would have believed this?” she said weakly. She turned a quizzical gaze on her mother. “Mama, are you certain? How can this be? I’m ... you’re ...”

Jane’s eyes narrowed in tender warning. “If you dare mention my advanced age, I swear I’ll take a switch to your backside, Eden Winters. I am only just forty. Not near ready to be fitted for a shroud, and not yet past my childbearing years, as nature has seen fit to prove. While I’ll admit it was not to be anticipated, neither is it totally phenomenal.”

Eden gave a confused nod. “But is it safe for you to carry a babe now? You haven’t been well for so very long.”

“Sweetheart, don’t fret. I am as healthy as a horse,” Jane assured her, and the men as well. “My inability to walk was more in my head than in my body. Strange as it may seem to you, I am looking forward to having this child. I’ve always regretted not being able to supply you with sibling playmates, and while this little one will not grow up alongside you, it could do so with your children, if you are likewise favored.”

Eden answered with a wan smile. “I’m glad for you, Mama. Truly. ’Tis just such a surprising development.” 

“I know.” Jane laughed. “Think how I felt when first I suspected. And with all of you gone, I had no one in whom to confide. Lord knows, everyone is going to be horrified when they learn of it. Tongues will be wagging throughout Charles Town, most especially when the baby arrives prior to the usual term. Mayhap my considerable age will prove a benefit after all, if only to excuse the early birth.”

Nate’s eyes popped wide again. “Merciful heavens, Janie! Ye must get hold of that preacher for an immediate weddin’. I won’t have my son born on the wrong side o’ the blanket, or with folks whisperin’ about him.”

“Isn’t that just like a man,” Jane declared, shaking her head. “Tell him he’s going to be a father, and he’s all set to order jackboots and breeches.”

“Devlin wants a daughter,” Eden said, her eyes catching her husband’s. She rose from her chair to give her mother a belated kiss. “I can scarcely believe that I will soon have a baby brother or sister, after all these years. ’Us truly mir ... mir ... aculous.” Her words drifted off tremulously, but it wasn’t merely due to her roiling emotions. Suddenly, as she clung to Jane’s smaller frame, dizziness threatened to overcome her. Dark clouds swirled around her, her vision narrowing to a spiraling tunnel.

“Devlin?” she called out fearfully, reaching for him.

Feeling her daughter starting to sway, Jane promptly shoved Eden into Devlin’s ready arms. “Set her down and press her head betwixt her knees,” she instructed brusquely.

Devlin did as Jane suggested. The irreverent thought crossed his mind that he’d rather have Eden’s head between his legs, but he didn’t imagine Jane would find that amusing at the moment. Actually, neither did he when he caught his first glimpse of Eden’s milk-white face.

“Breathe deeply, pet,” he told her. “Nice deep breaths. Come on, Eden, I’ve got you. Cease fighting it. If you relax, ’twill soon pass.”

Slowly Eden’s world began to right itself again, but no sooner did it stop spinning than she clamped a hand over her mouth and attempted to bolt from her chair. Realizing the problem, Jane grabbed a nearby vase, hastily dumped its bouquet of flowers onto the floor, and thrust the vessel under Eden’s nose.

“Blessed saints!” she said chuckling dryly. “ ’Twould seem all our prayers are to be answered at once. Unless I miss my guess, I’d say we’ve two breeding women in the same house, and two untried fathers-to-be. What merry mayhem this heralds!”

Despite the limitations imposed on him by his invisibility, Devlin strove to conduct as much business as possible without requiring Eden’s presence. His bride was often indisposed these days with recurring bouts of nausea and light-headedness, as was her mother. Jane had been correct in assuming that Eden was breeding, and as near as they could figure, the child was due sometime in June, with only a few weeks separating the birth of Nate and Jane’s babe from Devlin and Eden’s.

Taking all this into consideration, Devlin concluded that it would be best to delay any search for Swift until after the arrival of the babies. Finding the fellow might prove a lengthy venture, and Devlin did not want to be separated from his wife just now. Nor did he wish to miss the momentous occasion of his first child’s birth, merely to mete out revenge on his old enemy. Besides, until the proper time came to go after Swift, there was plenty to keep him busy right here in Charles Town.

In exchange for Devlin’s help at the warehouse, Nate reciprocated by aiding Devlin in the purchase of property along the wharf. With the two ships as a start, Devlin now had his sights set on developing a small shipping firm, in partnership with Nate, and employing many of their former shipmates. Putting his carpentry skills to work, Devlin was also renovating the Dame Anise, which Swift had allowed to fall into sad disrepair. Once the ship had been restored to his satisfaction, Devlin would rename her. By rearranging the letters, the Dame Anise would become the Sea Maiden, and be legally registered as such. For now, Devlin initiated new business with the Mirage as his only merchant ship. It was a beginning, the dawn of a new dream.

Months earlier, when Jane and Eden had needed his support so badly, Devlin had bought into the warehouse; and upon his marriage to Jane, Nate owned part of the company as well. The two businesses went hand-in–glove, one complementing the other under the dual supervision of the two friends. Goods stored at the warehouse were often contracted to be transported by the new shipping company, which was titled Kanecock Shipping, a combination of the owners’ surnames. Likewise, goods arriving on the company ships would be regularly consigned to Winters Warehouse. Thus, both businesses benefitted, earning a handsome profit at both ends.

Aside from this, Devlin’s improvements to the Dame Anise so impressed other ship owners that he was soon besieged with requests for similar repairs to other vessels. Eden found this latest development vastly amusing. “For a man who once claimed that piracy was the easiest road to riches, you are fast disproving your own words. You now have three profitable means of income, and if things keep on as they are, you’ll own half of Charles Town in short order.”

Devlin laughed, but admitted to further aspirations. “I’ve considered building a rooming house, mostly for use by the men working for us. They are currently letting rooms all over town, wherever they can find space, and some are living in deplorable conditions. There simply aren’t enough accommodations available. They need a decent place to lay their heads at night, and edible food, at considerably less cost than they are being charged now, or they’ll be back at brigandry before you can shake a stick. Even if they don’t resort to their former trade, they won’t be worth their wages if they are ill-fed and weary from lack of a proper bed.”

“Ah, I see yet another enterprise in the offing,” Eden predicted with an impish look. “You shall have to form your own building company. Then, if the price of lumber is too high for your liking, you’ll start a timber business and a lumber mill, and God knows when I’ll ever see your face again, let alone any other part of your anatomy. Despite my complaints of late, mayhap ’twas a good thing you got me with child when you did, for you’ll soon be much too busy and fatigued to attend to such a vigorous activity as bedding your wife.”

She pulled a mockingly mournful face, throwing a forearm over her brow. “Woe is me, the wedded widow of an ambitious man!”

Devlin laughed at her antics, playfully tossing her to the mattress and smothering her with kisses. “You sassy, lusty wench!” he growled, nipping at her nose. “If ever I fail to satisfy your needs, you have permission to box my ears. Until then, kindly stifle your imagined grievances and apply yourself to salving the wounds you have inflicted upon me with your rapier-sharp tongue.”

“What wounds?” she countered, giggling. “I see no obvious evidence of any.”

He cocked a brow at her in comic dismay, his gaze traveling downward to his upstanding manhood. “But, sweetling, note how painfully swollen I am, and ’tis all your doing.”

They spent a pleasant interlude relieving his lamentable state.

At the start, like many an expectant father Devlin was reluctant to continue their amorous ventures, afraid some harm might come to Eden or the babe nestled in her womb. Nate had similar notions, and it was left to Jane, the only one with previous experience in these matters, to educate them. Though she managed this feat in ladylike fashion, she was necessarily forthright. Witnessing two burly pirates of dangerous repute stammering and stuttering and blushing like schoolboys caused her untold amusement.

While their husbands were about the business of earning a living, the two women settled down to serious sewing. Both would soon need clothing more suited to their expanding figures. They also had scores of diapers and wee ruffled gowns to create, baby blankets and lace-edged bonnets to crochet and booties to knit. Eden’s old cradle was brought down from the attic and dusted, the old mattress thrown out and a new one made for it in anticipation of Jane’s delivery. Rather than purchase another cradle for his and Eden’s child, Devlin had promised to craft a new one himself, and Eden was eager to see the finished product certain it would be the finest ever built.

Since their return from New Providence, and following Jane and Nate’s hasty wedding, the two couples had resided beneath the same roof. For the most part, this was convenient, the four of them getting on very companionably. There were times, however, when privacy was at a premium, and every time the bedsprings creaked loudly in the still of the night, whether they be hers or those in the room across the hall, Eden cringed with mortification. There was also the matter of continuing to conceal Devlin’s invisibility from Dora, no mean feat these days, with Eden plagued by nausea and dashing off in search of a slop jar at any given moment.

Devlin decided it was time to consider acquiring a home of their own. The problem was the lack of suitable housing currently available. Nearly every standing dwelling already had a family residing within its walls, and the few that didn’t weren’t fit for habitation. The obvious solution was to build a house, which, to be done correctly, would take many months.

Devlin applied himself to the task immediately, drawing up the plans himself and sending for the necessary materials, many of which had to be transported from elsewhere in the colonies and from as far away as England. Though he intended to do most of the carpentry work himself, and to oversee that which he could not fit into his busy schedule, much of the labor fell beyond his expertise.

He wanted the place built of stone, to withstand the seasonal storms and lessen the chance of damage from fire. That, and the fireplaces, required the skills of a mason. The twisted ironwork he desired as enhancement for the veranda and porch had to be specially contracted with a master forger. Extra laborers would be needed to install the flooring, the interior structure, and the roof. There was a well and a root cellar to be dug, windows to place, doors to be made, not to mention furniture to fill the dozen rooms he was including in the plans. Altogether, this house was the largest endeavor he ever hoped to undertake, and Devlin shook his head in wonder that he’d ever thought life ashore would be dull.