Chapter Text
They reached The Republic of Pirates late in the day. The sun was going down and the streets were getting busier. Stede was always delighted to be out amongst the proper criminal element of the Republic, but tonight he was most interested in seeing the white sails of The Revenge and leaving this shore leave behind. Not that it hadn’t been enlightening.
Never in a million years would he have pictured Izzy Hands as the fatherly type. Stede’s own father had been a ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ sort. If he’d ever thought about it, he’d have assumed Izzy would be very much the same – harsh and cold and distant. Stede was pleasantly surprised to discover that Izzy had hidden depths. His daughter brought a previously unseen softness to the surface and Stede found that it wasn’t an altogether unpleasant look on the man.
Not that he regularly spent any time considering Izzy Hands’ attractiveness.
Stede needed a good cup of tea and a long night’s sleep. Yes. Then he’d be ready to sort out what to do next. He wasn’t fool enough to think that just because Izzy agreed to come back to the ship it would be all smooth sailing. They still hadn’t addressed the issue of the crew’s disrespect for the ship’s first mate.
Although, to be fair, Stede knew that he himself – and Ed, though Stede still found himself reflexively trying to absolve Ed – bore a large amount of responsibility for the issue. He didn’t currently have a solid idea as to how to fix it. He’d need both Ed and Izzy’s help, whatever he did.
They had a bit more time to figure it out, thankfully. With one more day of shore leave to enjoy, the crew weren’t likely to return to the ship until the last possible moment. Stede found he was looking forward to those remaining hours of peace with Edward and – somewhat less surprising than it should be – with Izzy.
And Catalina, of course. He was already quite fond of her.
“Ahh, here we are,” Stede sighed happily when The Revenge came into view, still docked right where he left her.
A few paces behind him, Izzy carried Catalina in his arms. She’d made it nearly to nightfall before she started lagging behind and Izzy had swept her up. She was soundly asleep.
Ed followed them, the canvas bag with Izzy and Catalina’s belongings slung over one shoulder. When Izzy picked the girl up to carry her, Ed took the sack to carry. Stede suspected it made Ed feel a bit more secure knowing that Izzy probably wouldn’t go sprinting off without all his possessions.
Probably.
“Home sweet home,” Ed said happily.
Stede watched Izzy pause at the edge of the dock looking up to the ship. Edward stopped beside him. Stede found himself holding his breath without a clear reason as to why.
“Are you sure about this?” Izzy asked Ed without turning to look and Stede saw Ed frown. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Izzy--”
“Everything will be different if I stay.”
Ed shook his head, a stubbornly defiant expression appearing on his face in place of the frown. “It doesn’t have to be.”
“Yes, it does.” Izzy turned to face Ed and Stede shifted awkwardly on his feet, unsure if he should continue on and give them their privacy. No… Izzy and Ed were an explosive combination sometimes. It was safer, he thought, to stay and monitor. “It has to, Eddie. You’re already different and I have to figure out how to be.”
“Maybe different doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Stede offered carefully, edging closer. “That’s what life is, isn’t it? Growth. Change. The things that don’t change are already, well, dead.”
Izzy snorted softly, but he didn’t dispute the argument. Stede watched in fascination as some long buried instinct took over and Izzy started to sway gently, rocking the child in his arms as he mulled over Stede’s words. Izzy didn’t seem entirely aware of doing it. Ed was aware – ogling somewhat blatantly – and clearly a fan. Stede was going to have to sit Ed down for that conversation fairly soon.
Stede also found it difficult to look away, though for different reasons. He could remember watching Mary do the very same motion, rocking one or the other of their children while they slept after a late night feeding or after a nightmare. He’d felt a bit of longing at the sight, then, too. Men weren’t meant to be soft and comforting in that way – or so he’d been raised to believe – but he felt as though he’d missed out on something by distancing himself from the kids in those moments. Maybe if he hadn’t--
Well, it didn’t matter now.
“Izzy, look,” Stede began and waited until he had the man’s attention to continue, “I don’t pretend this will be easy. Nothing with us ever has been, has it?” Stede was a bit proud to pull a genuine chuckle from the man. “But, what’s easy that’s worth doing? Sailing is difficult. Piracy is difficult. I think if we try, the rewards can outweigh the effort.”
“And if it doesn’t,” Ed spoke up slowly, reluctantly, “We’ll… take the two of you wherever you want to go. Help you get set up however you like.”
Stede’s breath caught. He knew how much it cost Ed to offer to let Izzy go when it was the very last thing he wanted. He felt such a curious mixture of pride and heartache at the tentative words.
“But let us try first, okay? All of us.”
“Okay,” Izzy answered after a beat. Stede breathed a sigh of relief and Ed’s smile was blinding.
“You won’t regret it,” Stede promised.
“That’ll be a first,” Izzy muttered, but Stede could tell he wasn’t entirely serious. It might have been a trick of the evening light or something, but Stede could swear he almost looked hopeful. “Let’s go. Kid’s heavier than she looks.”
Ed grinned and clapped Izzy’s free shoulder gently. “We kept your room just like you left it, mate.”
“I should fucking hope so! I was only gone a few days!”
Stede smiled to himself and strolled behind them, letting Ed and Izzy’s bickering take the lead. Home sweet home, indeed.