Child of Mine [Mianite FanFiction]

Chapter 19

Jordan

"Dad!" Will calls as soon as Redbeard and I enter the room. He leaps up from the sofa he and Capsize are on, running over to Red and hugging his legs. Capsize smiles, looking at her nephew so happily. Despite how she's often hiding her feelings, around Will she always seems open. Maybe I'm just imagining it. She did hug me last night after all, even if she did immediately push me away. She was crying back at Tom's house too. It's as if she is either completely calm or letting her emotions go wild. Maybe I should talk to Redbeard about it, it might be better than talking with her.

"I missed you too, Will," Red laughs as he kneels down, allowing Will to hug his middle, pressing his head against his dad's stomach. Will seems so excited despite how they haven't been apart for very long. From the growth of Capsize's smile, I assume this is his usual reaction to his dad coming home. The idea of that makes me smile. That's what having a family must be like, smiling at the interactions you recognise. Then again, how would I even be able to guess? I can't remember anything like that.

"Capsize told me how grandma and grandad found her!" Will says with an excited tone of voice. My thoughts stop as the sentence registers in my mind. How did Capsize's parents find her? That isn't how parents work. I'd think Capsize had made a story but with the way Redbeard isn't confused, I have to believe it's true. Capsize actually told a story of her parents finding her. Should I be worried?

"I remember them bringing her home," Red says, a smile on his face showing it's a fond memory. I can't say he shouldn't be smiling since he is Capsize's older brother but it just strikes me as odd that he hasn't corrected Will about his parents finding Capsize. Why would he believe that Capsize was found? He's an adult so surely he should know.

"Red, Will, you're confusing Jordan," Capsize laughs. She smiles at me, seemingly concerned by also clearly entertained. So she doesn't want to keep me in the dark but she is laughing at me, so mixed messages. "I don't think adoption popped into his head."

Suddenly I feel embarrassed, my mind was leaping to the worst. Adoption, the word feels foreign like many words do to me, most likely because I knew them once but have forgotten my experiences with them. I feel like I know want it means, yet I'm sure the meaning in my head is wrong. After all, Capsize looks like them and they all treat her nicely. It must be more positive than my mind is telling me it is, especially since they're all smiling about it.

"You should tell him the story too! About the smugglers and the sword fight!" Will says excitedly, turning to Capsize and doing wild hand gestures. Again, my mind goes haywire as I try to figure out what on earth was happening to Capsize before she was adopted. Capsize laughs again, shaking her head and ruffling Will's hair while smiling at me.

"I will don't worry, but I think he wanted to tell me something first," Capsize says. I feel confused about what she's talking about but I allow her to lead me into the room I lent her. I sit down on the bed, trying to figure out what I'm meant to be telling her. What did I say? It must've been important. "So, you wanted to tell me about why you don't really have many memories."

"I did? Well, I know I did but how do you know, I never said anything," Capsize laughs as I struggle to grasp how she knows I wanted to tell her. There wasn't time to tell her anything about it back at Tom's house even though I was intending too, I never managed to even tell her that we'd talk later, she left with Will in such a hurry.

"Will told me, when he whispered in my ear," Suddenly I realise what's happened, why she stopped trying to question me at Tom's house. Will heard me thinking (gods, I still can't get my head around that) and told Capsize what I couldn't. It's odd to think about but it makes sense, even if I don't understand Will's powers or why he told me about them so openly.

"Of course. Sorry I didn't link-"

"Don't worry, it's odd I know. Just tell me," Capsize smiles, shrugging off the unusualness of the situation as if it's simple for her to do so. Maybe it is for her, I mean she's certainly had longer to get used to the situation than I have. She does seem like she wants to know about my memory situation though so I'd better answer her or it'll look like I'm avoiding the question and I really don't want her to think I'm doing that.

"There isn't too much to tell. When I woke up here I couldn't remember specific memories. I could remember some things; my name, a nickname, where I'd lived, what I'd called a friend but nothing else really," Capsize looks fascinated and I'm not sure I can fault her for that. The others were interested too, they hadn't lost their memories when they got here. Ianite said it was an accident, she didn't have the power to transfer me from another realm. I don't blame her but sometimes I wonder if forgetting basically everything made me act differently.

"So what do you remember?" Capsize asks the same question the others did when I woke up and everything was confusing. This time I can take the question with a smile, I'm not confused and in a new place. I understand why I can't remember now.

"My name is Jordan. I lived in a jungle with a slime called Jerry, Jerry died and I named a tree after him," I remember some feelings linked to the events but they all seem so distant now. I know I had these events happen to me but they feel as if they happened to a different Jordan, one a world away. Capsize still looks curious, eyes looking at me as if there's still more to tell.

"What about the nickname you remember?" She asks and my heart sinks. It's sort of a miracle she hasn't found out already, it's not odd for the others to say it they just haven't in front of her. I have to tell her now though, not like I just not tell her forever.

"Captain Sparklez, my nickname was Captain Sparklez," I mutter under my breath. Capsize bites her lip, clearly trying to hold back laughter. I sigh, there goes any chance I had of Capsize taking me seriously. Having a few days of that was nice. Capsize's expression suddenly changes.

"Don't be upset. It's no worse a nickname than Capsize," She comforting me but it just makes more questions in my head. Including one question that almost immediately spills out of my mouth.

"Capsize is your nickname?" It comes out a little more surprised than I would've liked. Capsize laughs but I really don't know what to say. Capsize doesn't sound like a normal name but she presented it as if it was her name. With the whole pirate thing, I just assumed it was her real name despite how silly that seems. No wonder she finds this funny. "Then what's your real name?"

"Katherine, Katherine Delaney. Hence Will calling me Aunt Kathy," I mentally kick myself as I realise how clear that was. I hadn't even questioned why Will was calling her Kathy (thinking about it Red's called her Kathy too, I guess he's who Will picked it up from). Redbeard most likely isn't his real name either thinking about it. Gods, how stupid was I? "My parents weren't cruel, Jordan. No one actually has pirate themed names."

"Your parents who found you and there was smugglers and a sword fight?" Capsize laughs in such a beautiful way. She bites her lip for a moment, looking at me as if she's questioning herself.

"It sounds weird if you say it like that but yes," She says, jokingly pouting before quickly laughing. What did I do to meet someone so happy and brilliant despite everything? Now knowing I'm not the only one who thinks that is the only thing making me sure I'm not imagining her being like this. "I mean, they are my only parents."

"But you said you were adopted," Capsize sighs, looking as if she doesn't know what to do with herself. I don't understand what I said wrong. It doesn't make sense to me that she'd been upset about something that's true. Maybe I said it wrong...

"I never met the people who gave birth to me. They abandoned me before I was even marked, with smugglers as if just abandoning me wasn't enough. They weren't my parents," Capsize says. She's so clear as if this is something she's told herself over and over again. She seems to be scared as if I could reject what she's said. I wouldn't do that though, I wouldn't dare. "Mum and Dad always made sure to remind me I was apart of the family because some people said I wasn't."

"They sound like good people."

"They were, they were the best."