The Odd Ones (Jim x reader)

Chapter 16

AMELIA'S POV:

The afternoon sun went through my window, hitting me right in the face.

Ugh....Well. Not so bright and early. Let's get this show on the road!

I jumped out of my bed and stretched. Yes, I have my own comfy bed in my OWN headquarters, thank you very much.

Delbert groaned and moved, half asleep, to his side. "Where did my cuddly bunny go?"

I softly smiled and started to put on my captain uniform. "Right here. I gotta make sure our half-daughter did those barnacles. It's already past 12. We overslept."

Delbert groaned again and reached for his glasses. "You know honey...." He puts on his glasses and sat up. "You've been kinda...."

"Rough? Tough?"

"More like severely harsh. You're literally treating her like..like....like she's being held hostage or something."

He got up and walked over to me, helping me with my corset strings. "All I'm saying is....take it easy."

"How can I 'take it easy' when she doesn't listen to me, or doesn't obey me?"

Delbert tugged on the strings. I held onto the bathroom counter top so he wouldn't pull me back. "Sarah said something last night. She called it 'gentle parenting'. She thought it would help."

I thought about it. My mother didn't do any sort of gentle parenting. I'm just raising (y/n) the way I was raised. Maybe I am going too hard on her, I hadn't realized. My mother never let me play with the other kids, or let me listen to my own kind of music, or even let me do a simple art project..hell she wouldn't let me do anything I wanted but read books and study about navigations and old maps. I didn't get to do the things I love until my mother passed...

I took a deep breath. "Maybe...I can try a couple of different things today.."

Delbert kissed my cheek and squeezed me from behind. "That's my girl." He kissed my cheek again and let go. "Now, I'm going to calculate where we are, so if you need me, I'll be up top."

He blew me a kiss then left headquarters. I smiled and bent over to fold the bed up and out of the way. I got the rest of the way ready then eventually stepped out as well.

I stood tall and straight, listening to the noises around me. A low bellow from a distance from us. "Hm..." My ears went into airplane mode, I was very alert.

"Ma'am?"

I blinked back into reality and looked down. Long John Silver was standing below me, smoking out of his pipe. "Yes, sorry, what is it?"

"I said that the kiddos are done and they're taking a break back in the galley. I just didn't want ya yellin' and bein' snappy when you did see 'em." Silver inhaled some smoke then blew it out.

I stepped down the stairs and folded my arms behind my back. "Thank you, Mr. Silver. How is (y/n)?"

He shrugged. "Pissed, but she'll be okay. Jimbo's tryna distract her with his book."

"Book?" I made it to the last step and walked past him.

"Yeah." He followed behind me. "Some kinda picture book that comes to life."

I rose an eyebrow. A book...coming to life? As if. I have to see it to believe it, myself. I walked to the galley. Already, I could hear the book reading itself and (y/n)'s gasps of awe.

When I made it to the last step, Jim quickly closed the book, and the both of them stood up with their arms behind their backs, hiding the book. "Good morning, Cap. Sleep well?"