Stede & Ed: One Shots

Visitors

Stede sat on the deck one night just looking out to sea. He had been quiet all day and Ed was concerned about him. Ed watched Stede from a few feet away as he softly tossed flowers into the water. Stede wiped a tear away on his sleeve and rested his head on the railing, his feet dangling off the side of the boat. Probably not the safest spot to sit, but he left it was where he needed to be.

Ed slowly made his way over to Stede and sat down beside him.

"Hey," Ed said, softly.

Stede quickly wiped more tears away from his eyes, trying to cover the fact that he was crying, but it was too late. Ed knew.

"What's wrong, Stede?" Ed asked him, gently placing a hand on his knee.

"Oh, just um.." Stede didn't look at Ed, "Just missing the kids a bit. It's Alma's birthday tomorrow."

Ed listened. Stede never really spoke about his life back in Barbados, very rarely about his kids, but Ed knew he missed them. Ed squeezed his knee a gently and Stede put his hand on top of Ed's.

"What are they like," Ed asked, "your kids? You never talk about them."

Stede shrugged, "Don't want to bring up the fact that I left you."

"Ancient history. Come on," Ed moved closer, "tell me about them. Alma, how old will she be?"

Stede was always so scared to bring up his family. He was scared Ed would be upset because he left him to go back to them. But Ed taking an interest made him relax a bit. He leaned into Ed.

"Well, Alma is 10 tomorrow. I remember when she was born. She was so small, Ed. Tiny Tiny." He held his arms like he was holding baby Alma again. "I could hold her in one arm."

Ed smiled softly watching him.

"My life was miserable in Barbados, but when Alma came along. It changed. Then Louis, and it was nice having them around. They loved pirate stories, and playing pirates.. but, it just wasn't enough for me. I was miserable again. It was the same thing everyday. When I built the ship, I wanted to take my whole family with me. Mary didn't like that idea." Stede shifted and Ed rubbed his back, "I couldn't let my kids grow up with me as miserable as I was. But I miss them so much. When I went back, it was good to see them so happy, Mary too. But there is a small part of me that wants them here with me. Even just for a day. Show them that their old man is happy where he is."

Ed just nodded and pulled Stede in for a hug. "I'm sure they know your happy." Ed wiped a few tears from Stede's face and kisses his forehead. "Come on, why don't we get you into bed? Bit cold out here."

Stede nodded and they stood up. Together they walked hand in had back to their room and climbed into bed. Stede cuddled into Ed's chest and fell asleep quickly, happy to be in Ed's arms. Ed layed awake thinking.

~ooo00ooo~

A few months later, The Revenge was  anched not far from Barbados, not that Stede knew, he was terrible with directions.

Ed had sent some of the crew out on a job, so he and Stede spent some time together. They had breakfast, then went for a walk around the ship,  checking if they needed anything while they were close to a port. Stede was confused why they didn't do this before the crew went, but its what Ed said to do, so he did it.

Just before lunch Ed spotted the crew coming back and ushered Stede into their room.

"I reckon this room needs a bit of a tidy up, don't you think?" Ed said, looking around.

"I guess. I did clean it yesterday, but-"

"Nah, I think it just needs another once over. I'll be right back." Ed kissed his cheek and ran out the room.  Stede was very confused. Ed was being very weird today.