Our Happy Ending - Our Flag Means Death (EdxStede)

Our Happy Ending

It had been a little over a year since Stede and Ed had come back together after the gentleman pirate's near-disastrous case of cold feet. But through grace and love, they had forgiven each other.

The time in between had seen a great deal of change, but had mostly settled into a comfortable rhythm. In fact, things had calmed enough for a long-overdue visit.

Mary and Stede sat on a beach blanket in a rarely visited Barbardian cove. The remnants of a picnic was laid out in front of them, and Mary held a delicate parasol.

Ed was a short distance away with Alma and Louis. Ed had been helping the children to build a sandcastle, but the waves had taken it a short time ago. Now Louis was showing Ed shells and interesting stones he'd gathered on the beach, while Alma practiced her braiding in Ed's long salt and pepper hair.

It had been a good day, and long overdue. Faking his death may have made things easier for Mary, but it certainly made it more difficult for Stede to visit his children.

"You look happy," said Mary, fondly as she reached out to scratch the new scruff on Stede's cheek and tuck a bit of hair that had come loose from his ponytail.

Stede smiled shyly and watched as Ed started telling a story to the children using a bleached rodent skull and a shell. He was wonderful with them and the children hung off every word.

"I am happy," murmured Stede. "I miss them. A lot. I miss some things about our life. Not a lot of call to dress in uncomfortable, fine clothing in my new life. And heels with slick bottoms are a very bad idea on a moving ship. That..." he inclined his head, "...was a lesson I learned the hard way."

Mary laughed, and reached for Stede's hand. "We miss you. This you. Not the one who was never really with us. The children know they can't say you're alive, so they've made up their own character who they call Daddy Pirate and tell their schoolmates about you under the guise of made-up stories."

Stede sandwiched Mary's hand between his and then pulled it up to kiss the back of her hand, then lowered it, but kept holding it. It was strange that their affection for each other only deepened once they stopped trying to be husband and wife. The little bit of chemistry they'd had in their marriage had turned into the bedrock of a strong friendship. "How's Doug?"

"Oh, you should see him trying to fit in in the local society. He is woefully out of his depth."

"And no doubt they still snicker behind his back about how he married you for money," Stede shook his head. "Now that, I certainly don't miss. Not a lot of passive aggression among pirates. It's more like..." he quirked a grin when that phrase dug up a memory, "...massive aggression."

"Now that sounds like a story."

Stede chuckled. "It is. A long story. I'll tell it to you one day."

Both stopped speaking for a few moments. They just listened to the soft waves and the distant muffled voices of Ed and the children as they told each other stories.

"He's bloody gorgeous. Your letters really undersold him," said Mary as she watched Ed flick a new dainty little braid over his shoulder that Alma had added. He never had regrown his beard. Easier to hide his identity as Blackbeard when clean-shaven, after all.

"He is, isn't he? Sometimes I forget how others see him," mused Stede.

Stede's letters, had in fact, waxed poetic about Edward's virtues. His humour, his strength, but also his vulnerability. He had even spoken to Mary about the troubles that still plagued his love in the form of nightmares or bouts of ennui that seemed to come without warning and linger, sometimes for weeks. Mary had taken it upon herself to speak in a sideways manner with a doctor she knew to pass on techniques to help Ed through those dark spots.