#surprise ftbf is back!!!

[leiawritesstories]

Mama's Little Pirate

Rowaelin Month, Day 13: Babies/Kids/Next Gen

a Fly The Black Flag outtake ;)) but you do NOT need to read FTBF before this

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: few swear words, otherwise none hehe

Enjoy!

@rowaelinscourt

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The salty evening breeze had never felt so good against Aelin’s skin as it did that evening when she trudged up the sandy stretch of beach towards the faint smudge of a building on the horizon. Gently, the light wind lifted the strands of hair that were plastered to her neck and cheeks, nudging them away from her skin. Beneath her weathered boots, the ground changed from shifting sand to dark, rich soil and gravel, and she released a bone-deep sigh of relief. Solid ground still wavered beneath her feet, and she had to force herself to stay upright. 

She hadn’t battled her way to being the most notorious pirate on the ocean just for her damn sea legs to betray her. 

Swift as the wind, and just as in tune with her movements, Rowan caught her from behind, supporting her. “Don’t go giving out on me just yet, Fireheart,” he teased, a low, wicked glint sparking in his eyes. “We haven’t even made it home yet.” 

“Ass.” She swatted his muscled shoulder playfully. “And who said anything about we making it home? I thought you were all excited to scare the living shit out of Lorcan and Ells.” 

“Oh, I am.” His smirk was nothing short of roguish. “But I can’t let my wife collapse on the side of the shitty road before we can set that plan into motion.” 

“Such a gentleman.” Regaining her balance, she turned around, rose onto her tiptoes, and stole a kiss that was altogether too short. 

He rested his forehead against hers after breaking the kiss. “I’ll see you soon, my love.” 

“Indeed you will.”

With a final kiss, Rowan veered off into the forest, heading for the hunting trails where his horse was tethered. If all went according to the plan, he’d come home after Aelin and the others had finished dinner and make a “surprise” entrance. 

Aelin took a moment to shake out her complaining limbs before she headed towards the forest. One desire remained at the front of her mind: get back to her home and her daughter before night fully set, otherwise her beloved, if far too fussy, friends would send out a search party. 

“Hey, Cap.” Speaking of those friends…

“Ells.” Aelin turned to find Elide sitting astride her horse on the side of the road. Aelin’s own stallion was next to Elide’s mare. “Fancy meeting you here.” 

Elide rolled her eyes. “Figured you’d want to get home before dinner gets cold.” 

“Aren’t you always so observant,” Aelin teased. She tossed her seabag into the saddlebag and swung herself up onto the sleek gray stallion, running an affectionate hand along his neck. “Thanks, Ells.” 

“Anytime.” Her first mate saluted, wheeled her mare around, and nudged her into an easy canter. “I’ll beat you home by five minutes, Cap!” 

“We’ll see about that!” Aelin crowed, leaning low and nudging her stallion into a canter. “Fly, boy!” 

Elide did beat Aelin back to the Keep, and the shorter woman was grinning widely when Aelin crossed the courtyard after leaving her horse in the stables and slapped two silvers into her hand. 

“All right, you win,” she fake-grumbled. “Damn pirates, taking all my money.” 

“As if you weren’t far, far worse,” Elide snorted. “And speaking of pirates, where–”

“MAMA!” The childish shriek was followed immediately by a rapid patter of small footsteps, and a small blonde blur came whizzing across the courtyard into Aelin’s open arms. 

Beaming, Aelin squeezed her seven-year-old daughter tightly. “Hi, lovey,” she murmured. 

“I miss you, Mama.” Evie whispered. Her big green eyes filled with irresistible tears. “You were gone so long!” 

“Oh, my Evalin,” Aelin breathed, tears inadvertently springing to her eyes, “I’ll always come home to you.” She kissed her daughter’s messy blonde curls. “You know that, right?” 

Evie nodded. “Still miss you.” 

“I miss you too.” Aelin cupped Evie’s rosy little face. “So, so much.” 

“Good to see you still alive, Captain,” drawled another voice from behind her. 

Without turning around, Aelin snorted dryly. “Salvaterre, the day you say that without irony is the day cows fu–er, fly.”

Lorcan smothered a laugh. “And you wonder where your child gets it from.” 

“I don’t, actually.” She turned the full force of her charming smile onto the hulking, perpetually scowly pirate. “She gets it from your sons.” 

He cracked a smirk. “Touché.” 

Aelin allowed Lorcan to drape his arm across her shoulders for a few seconds–his version of an affectionate hug. “Before you ask, the Doranelle is just fine. She and the Terrasen should be back in no more than three months.” 

“Better be bringing rum,” Lorcan grumbled. 

She snickered. “What if I told Ro that we were oversupplied here and didn’t need any more?” 

He grunted something too crude for children’s ears. “You’re the worst, Galathynius.” 

“Why thank you,” she crooned. “Don’t worry, Scowly, there’ll be plenty of rum.” She flashed him a wicked grin. “If you’re really lucky, it won’t even have been purchased.” 

Evie tugged at Aelin’s sleeve. “Dinner, Mama!” 

“That’s right, lovey!” Aelin scooped her daughter up and settled her on her shoulders. “We can’t go and forget the most important part of the day!” She strode into the brick-and-stone manor that sat at the center of the Iron Isles Pirates’ Keep. 

The compound comprised the manor, stables, a handful of smaller houses for other pirates, several different training buildings, and a number of storehouses built into different parts of the hill, some of them underground. Built primarily from the same gray stone that most of the Isles were made of, the fortress both blended into the landscape and loomed over it, a mark of the pirates’ protection and of their merciless reputation. 

Since the first building had been completed, six years ago now, the crews of the Terrasen and the Doranelle, as well as their smaller companion ships, had called the place home. 

After dinner was finished, Aelin was lounging in a comfortable armchair with a book and a drink, paying more attention to the children running around the large but homey living room. Evie had received a wooden toy sword from Uncle Scowly for her birthday, and she was barely ever seen without it dangling at her side. 

Lorcan was even teaching her how to wield it. 

Aelin taught her, too, when she was able to snatch a few moments to spend with her daughter rather than dealing with the bullshit that the unruly pirates were always throwing at her. 

Evie was play-fighting with Cal and Daric, Elide and Lorcan’s twin boys, all three of the children screeching and yelling as they pretended to beat the hell out of the Royal Navy. 

“I don’t wanna be the Navy!” Daric whined, stamping his small foot in anger. “You made me be them last time!” 

“Shut up!” Evie retorted, sticking her tongue out. “Last time, you made me be the prisoner!” 

“So?”

“So this is fair!” She scowled–an expression inherited purely from her father–when Daric tried to push back on her argument. “If you don’t like it, you can quit. Like a…” She fumbled for an appropriate term. “Like–like a pussy!” 

“Evalin Whitethorn Galathynius!” Aelin exclaimed, dropping her book in utter shock. “That was a very, very naughty word!” She folded her arms across her chest, firmly refusing to meet either Elide’s or Lorcan’s badly hidden smirks lest she explode into laughter. “Come here, Evie.” 

Flushing, Evie slowly approached her mother, sword dragging on the wooden floor. “I’m sorry, Mama,” she mumbled. 

Aelin forced sternness onto her face. “Evie, lovey, do you remember what Mama told you about naughty words?” 

“Only say it when I know what it means,” Evie said, quietly. 

“That’s right.” Aelin’s demeanor softened. She knelt down and wrapped her daughter’s hands in her own. “Uncle Lorcan and Uncle Fen like to say words they shouldn’t say in front of you and your cousins, and that means that you have to make them shut up.” 

Evie giggled and sniffled all at once. “I can tell them to shut up?”

“That’s right.” Aelin kissed Evie’s forehead. “So tell me, little love, which one of your foul-mouthed uncles said that word around you and your cousins.” 

“Um…” The little pirate girl hesitated. “It-it was…” She trailed off.

“Do you need to whisper?” Aelin asked softly. Sometimes, letting Evie whisper into her ear was better than having her say it out loud. 

Evie shook her head. “It was…it was Dad.” 

Aelin’s gasp of absolute shock was echoed by Rowan’s characteristic, I’ve-held-it-in-for-too- damn-long snort. “That’s my girl!” he crowed, stepping into the living room from where he’d been hiding in the hall.

Elide gasped. Lorcan whipped his head to the doorway. Aelin beamed–the “surprise” had gone perfectly. 

Shock, delight, and joy bloomed across Evie’s face. “Dad!” she screeched, throwing her toy sword to the floor and sprinting to her father, who swung her up into his arms, beaming. 

“Hi, little love.” Rowan hugged Evie fiercely. “Is it true that you called your cousin a naughty word? One that you heard me say?” 

She nodded, earnestly. “Mhmm. Daric was being a pu–” 

“Ah-ah, nope, shhhhhhh.” Rowan pressed his forefinger over his daughter’s lips. “What did Mama just say about not using a word unless you know what it means?” 

Evie sighed. “Okay, Dad.” 

“That’s my girl.” He smacked a theatrical kiss onto her cheek. “Want to show me what you’ve been learning with your sword, Evie girl?” She exclaimed in agreement and he set her down, then made his way over to his wife. 

Aelin stepped easily into his embrace. “Captain,” she murmured, laughter dancing in her bright eyes. 

“Captain,” he murmured back. He kissed her softly, snatching a quiet moment with her before their daughter pulled on both of her parents’ sleeves, demanding that they watch her “sword fightin’.” 

It was precisely the life Aelin had only ever dreamt of.

~~~