Forever and Always (Will Turner)

34

Amelia walked behind her brother, meeting her parents stare. A bright and beautiful smile grew on her face. "This is the place? This is where the magic happened?" The excitement in her voice melted Evelyn's heart.

Chuckling came from Will who was nodding. "Yes, love, something like that."

Carina and Henry both walked in together, closing the barn door behind them. They too were beyond curious to get a glimpse of this place. Henry let out a small, humorless huff of an astonished laugh, looking around with Carina. "So I take it you were successful?" The brilliant, young woman grinned.

Will and Evelyn looked at each other incredulously, completely taken back by their presence. Looking back to their new crowd, they both smiled. "Yes we were." Evelyn nodded.

All four of them erupted in a fit of excitement.

They both walked down the large steps, coming over to the couple to share hugs with them.

"This is wonderful news." Amelia beamed, holding on to Will's hand.

Henry chuckled, nodding in agreement. "It is. When do you plan on getting this place running for business?" He asked curiously.

Evelyn chuckled softly, placing a hand on Will's shoulder. "Baby steps, my love, baby steps. We've only just got the place." She was happy to see that her children were just as excited as them about their new family business.

The four young adults wandered around the smithy, exploring every inch of it. Will and Evelyn still remained in the center of the barn, watching the curiosity. They didn't even noticed the barn door opening and closing once more, causing everyone in the room to turn and look.

Leo stood at the front, looking around. "So this was Mr. Brown's old shop, huh?" He questioned softly, reaching up to scratch his hairy chin. "I didn't expect it to be so big." The man moved down the steps, walking over to his friends.

"Really?" Evelyn raised a brow. "This is where we met Jack, actually. Had an incredible swordfight." She waved her finger to Leo while the children listened carefully. "It was when I really put all of my training to the test, thanks to Will. I had never fought anyone before, let alone a pirate." Thinking back on the memory, a rush of the trill and adrenaline shot through her. It was one of the craziest days of her life. She fought and met a pirate, had a proposal announced, and fought invading pirates that night. All before she turned eighteen.

Charlie leaned back against the table Will and Evelyn had be crowded around earlier. "I take it that there wasn't that much damaged then? I bet he was incredibly impressed with your skills." He nodded to his mother, the curls gentle moving around his head.

A proud grin formed on Will's face. "I was beyond impressed. I know he was too." He placed a hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "First time she fought, I had never seen such confidence in you." Will chuckled admiringly.

A hum rang in Evelyn's throat. "I was nervous but I had my faith in you to make sure I would be alright. I was trained well." Her smile grew with her lips shut.

"I miss Jack." Amelia said, walking up beside Leo with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked up at him, leaning against his side as he draped an arm around her shoulders.

"So do I." Evelyn sighed, glancing at Carina who now stood at her side. "But if I know him, he'll be in trouble in the years to come. I bet we'll see him soon enough." She spoke truthfully, earning a few laughs from her family.

"And in the meantime," Leo spoke, gesturing to the barn, "we've got this," he glanced down at Amelia, "and each other." The mere moment making her face bright pink.

Henry nodded, leaning against the table next to his brother. "I agree. We've all learned how to sword fight and proved our skills, now I guess we learn how to be a normal family." This too earned laughs.

"A normal family." Charlie snorted. "Nothing about us has been normal. Frankly, I don't want a normal life."

Amelia shook her head. "Neither do I." Leo chuckled, shaking her shoulder at her confession, causing her blush to deepen.

Will looked down to Evelyn. "What about you?" A curious and teasing question.

What kind of a life did Evelyn want?

Her emerald green eyes looked over each of her family members in the room, pondering her answer.

"Well," she breathed out, "I want a life with my family, whatever it may be. Here, out there...I'll take anything so long as you all are there." And that was well enough of an answer. It was just that, causing smiles on everyone's faces. She looked to Carina, giving a motherly smile. "That means you too." Carina stared at Evelyn a few times like this, the kind of look a small child gives to a motherly figure who, shows them kindness. Evelyn extended an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, bringing her in.

There was a moment of silence until Charlie spoke up. Running his finger along the wooden table, he examined the nearly black dust on his finger. "This place is going to need a good clean up." He turned his finger to show Henry, making an effort to put it in his face. Henry made a small noise of disgust with a hint of a laugh, fighting his brother's finger to push it away.

Evelyn let out a small tired, yet amused sigh, shaking her head at her boys.

"Then it's a good thing we're here." Carina nodded, slowly pulling away from Evelyn.

"Agreed, let's get this placed cleaned up." Leo agreed, letting go of Amelia to peel his jacket off.

Amelia pulled out a piece of fabric from inside the top of her dress, tying back her strawberry blonde hair. "And while you do so, you can share some stories about times in here while growing up."

"I'd loved to hear them." Carina piped in as well, tying her hair back.

Will and Evelyn looked at each other in awe over their eagerness to help. "Oh you don't have to help." Evelyn tried.

Charlie and Henry took off their jackets, pulling their sleeves up. "Yes we do." Henry said, flashing his mother a sweet smile.

"No trouble, besides, we want to help. I call broom!" He hollered.

"Piss off, I get the broom." Leo called back amusingly, walking over towards where the broom laid against the furthest wall.

"Unbelievable." Charlie whispered, placing his hands on his hips.

Amelia snorted. "Looks like you're going to have to get your fingers dirty, princess." She taunted her older brother, earning a firm giggle from Carina.

Charlie snapped his head to his little sister, looking aghast. "I'm not a princess."

"Well if the tiara fits..." Henry's voice trailed off, laughter flooding around them all.

The middle child looked to his parents. "You have terrible children." He shook his head, moving along to find something to clean.

Will and Evelyn laughed at their son, shaking their heads.

"You know he isn't the only princess here." Evelyn raised a brow at her two other children.

"If the tiara fits..." Will recited Henry's words.

Charlie cackled while Amelia and Henry glared.

As they all moved off to clean, Evelyn looked up to Will, meeting his stare instantly. "We did a good job raising them." She whispered to him.

Will nodded, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I say we did. Now, shall we?" He raised a brow, slipping his jacket off.

Evelyn grinned, rolling the sleeves of her dress. "We shall."

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a good week last week! I've been working hard on getting my Jack fic prepared and working on this book of course. I'm still debating on the prequel book but I will let you all know my final thoughts soon!

I hope you all have a merry christmas/happy holidays!! Thank you for everything!