UMA

I was brushing my hair dry sitting on deck on a balmy evening as we were lying off the East coast of Spain heading for the Balearics. Sitting on the upper deck dressed in a hastily tied sarong, I was humming to myself and letting the breeze dry my hair. Jack was somewhere about I supposed - well, he had to be really, didn't he? - but I thought he was probably reading below deck or keeping his log which he still did by force of habit.

Just then I realized he was behind me; he is so light on his feet for a big man that he constantly surprises me. I gasped a little at his touch when he placed his hands around my waist and pulled me to him. "You frightened me!" I exclaimed.

"And who did you think I was, pray?" he chuckled in my ear as he loosened the little cloth sarong and let it fall, his hands sweeping down my nakedness.

"It could have been Triton himself in these waters! Now, Triton was a sea god- tall, as high as a mountain, they said, with a great male torso, shimmering and silvery. His hair and beard were seaweed green and flowed long and unbound. In his right hand, he carried a huge conch shell upon which he blew a haunting note; in his left was the sea -trident.  But beneath his waist, this merman was a fish, a giant, scaly monster with a tail so powerful that one swipe would tear a ship to pieces..." I regaled him with a playful giggle.

"Then count yourself lucky that this sea god is all man beneath his waist and carries nothing but a hard shaft in his right hand..." he muttered, rubbing said shaft against my naked buttocks with a low groan. "I have been watching you for some time, you know, and my patience is at the breaking point. You look like a beautiful mermaid on a rock..."

"Fortunately without a tail below her waist..." I reminded him as his hand slipped between my thighs to check that out. 

"I want you here...against this rail..." Jack was lost, his face nuzzling my neck and  my body in his hands in the way that only he can make love, giving himself over entirely to the moment as he does to everything that he undertakes. When Jack is in that lusty mood, a girl just has to hang on in the full knowledge that she will enjoy the ride.

He was exceptionally horny tonight having had no sex for the past five days due to my 'condition' as he calls it. He is quite deliciously coy about such things as periods and never makes any move to suggest we might still go ahead and have a bit of fun at that time of the month. He even asked me at first if I would prefer if he slept in the spare room during my 'ailment'. I imagine that is something to do with the fact that he regards me as a wife in that sense - I cannot think that a sailor's sensibilities would be so sensitive to a wench in that state if he had an urgent need. Not in his day anyway.

So there we were. He simply hoisted me up in his arms, sat me on the rail and had his evil way with me. I love his evil way.

Slithering down to the deck afterwards, we lay there panting and making sweet little noises of satisfaction. Suddenly Jack became all romantic and sentimental, as he often does, particularly post-coitally- but it never takes much to set him off in the right mood.

"Do you know how much I adore you?" he muttered soft and low.

"How much?" I asked provocatively.

"Deeper than the oceans, wider than the seas..." he declaimed dramatically. I snorted. "Oh, I know you think me very flowery in my language and that such sentiments are somewhat unlikely and sentimental..."

"I do not....I love it when you talk all poetic..." I giggled.

"You think me meretricious..."

"I might if I knew what it meant," I teased. "Jack...I am not making fun of you! I do love you too quite as much as that. And I adore your speech. It makes me go all gooey inside."

"Gooey?"

"Never mind. I adore you and I would do anything for you..."

"Anything?"

"Yes. Anything."

"Would you jump into shark infested waters?"

"Jack!"

"Take my place in debtor's prison?" He was laughing now and trying to think of increasingly silly things to say to amuse. "Fight a duel in my honour? Spend a night of passion in the arms of Killick?"

"JACK!!!" I howled as he tickled me.

And then he suddenly felt silent and pulled me close. "If it were possible, then, would you bear my child?"

I stiffened in his grasp, grateful that the darkness of the night hid my face from him. "Would you? You haven't given me an answer," he insisted.

I thought about my response and then swiveled in his arms to lie on his chest and hold him. "If it were possible. Yes I would give you a child.  I would want that more than anything when the time was right."

"But it is not possible, is it? Can you face life with a barren womb because I fail you in this regard? Because I am only half a man?" I had suspected this was what lay behind the sudden raising of the topic.

"You do not fail me. You never fail me! It is fate that makes it so. Just as fate brought you to me. If this is all that I ever have, I have been blessed above all women. Set this aside, Jack. It is not a topic worthy of our concern."

He nodded but I knew that he would always carry this sadness in his heart. To a man like him, a man of his time, to be potent and see his seed sown and grow in the belly of the woman he loves is part of the cycle of life and the role he must play. I hate that he thinks himself a lesser man for the fact of his infertility. But I know nothing I say will ever really take that notion away from him.

Standing up, I pulled him to his feet - or at least pretended to. Had he wished to stay on the floor I would never have been able to shift his weight. But he let me appear to command him and pull him down towards the cabin. "Come, play something beautiful and haunting that tells of sailors being lured by sea nymphs. I have a fancy to sit and watch a naked violinist tonight!" I danced flamboyantly in front of him down the stairs as he lowered his head to clear the low ceiling. He laughed heartily and slapped my rump; his mood had already lifted - or was he simply trying not to let his melancholy show?

I thought about it later as I lay and listened to Jack sleep; or rather lay and listened to him snore. I have tried everything but, apart from a hefty kick (which only lasts for about five minutes at the most), I have given up trying to stop him. Actually I am getting used to the racket and it soothes me in a strange way. It is like one of those familiar background sounds: traffic, the sea, noisy plumbing. It tells me that I am where I am safe and loved. I think I would be scared if I couldn't hear it.

But tonight it wasn't his snoring that was keeping me awake. It was my thoughts. Those nighttime thoughts that run about your head and keep you from slipping off. I was just so sad for Jack, so sad for myself. To think I find the man who would most suit me as a husband and father for my children and fate makes it impossible for me to ever contemplate that reality. I never ever wanted it much before. Just now and again. But that night I realised just how much I really wanted it to be.

I lay down on my back and pushed up the little cotton top I was wearing and pushed down the matching shorts. I felt the flat skin of my belly beneath my palm and imagined for a moment what it would be like to touch myself swollen with Jack's child. I smiled in the darkness. It would be a sturdy little thing, that's for sure. Imagine my skinny little body trying to contain an Aubrey junior! But it was a beguiling thought and I closed my eyes and fantasized a future that could never be.

Jack rolled over and pulled me against him, curling his large body around me. His left hand slipped round to rest on my belly over my own. I wondered if his dreams were similar to mine.

"So what time will we dock?" I said between mouthfuls of toast. We were having breakfast two days later about to weigh anchor and cover the remaining sea miles to the port of San Antonio on the island of Ibiza.

He frowned and looked up at the sky and out at the water. "Not long. Two hours at the most."

"You do remember about Arthur?"

"Arthur?" He asked absentmindedly already rising from his seat with a mug of tea in his hand to go and begin his preparations to sail.

"I knew you would forget! He's on holiday with his girlfriend in Ibiza and he sent me a text that he would look us up..."

"Look us up? Girlfriend?" I hate him when he's in this mood. He just doesn't listen. And repeats everything I say.

"JACK!"

"What?"

"Oh bugger off..." I moaned and began to clear up. He is such a pain at times.

But he knows his sea. Two hours later we were tying up on the pretty portside harbour. It was mid- morning. Jack swung by as I was sending Arthur a text to say we  had arrived. "Ready? We need some supplies...hurry up."

So Jack. I threw on some half way decent clothes and dragged a brush through my hair. He was pacing about on deck. "Jack!" I shouted as I hopped about putting on a pair of sandals. "What on earth is the rush? You drive me nuts with all this urgency. We haven't got anything else to do!"

"Nevertheless I abhor hanging around..." he mumbled and picked me up to deposit me on the harbour side. 

He went off to purchase some maritime supplies while I went round the town and stocked up on food. There was this great boutique on one of the main streets with some fabulous summer clothes all by some local designer and really wacky shoes. I stood with my nose pressed up against the window like a little kid outside a toy shop.

Just then I felt Jack's hands slip round my waist. "What are you up to now?"

I giggled and turned round. "Just window shopping," I shrugged. He looked over my shoulder and pulled a face. I don't expect anything there was to his taste. "Is there anything you need?" he asked.

"NO!" I shook my head and pushed him away. "Really. I have all I need and all I want. Do not dare spend any money on me!"

Jack hunched his shoulders. "If you insist. Then we shall indulge ourselves in a spot of lunch. Come let us find a restaurant by the sea and a chilled bottle of wine..."

So there we were wandering along the front when suddenly:

"Yooma! Yooma! Wait!" I spun round and there was Arthur. Large as life and looking so well. He was tanned and lean, his hair was sharp and well cut. He was wearing baggy khaki cut offs and a bright blue shirt, buttons open.

"ARTHUR!" I screeched and darted off to jump into his arms. It was so good to see him, so very, very good. After we had danced around and give each other sloppy kisses, Arthur set me down and introduced the young lady with him.

"Ahem..." he cleared his throat. "This is Angharad... my fiancée." I had never met Angharad but I had certainly heard enough about her. Arthur had written of her incessantly in every mail since he had met her the December before in London at the time of Terry's 40th birthday party. Since then I believe Angharad had moved to California and got a job in a very exclusive restaurant. She was a pastry chef or something. But I had lost track over the weeks away having no computer to check my emails on. So when he had sent me the text message to ask if we might be anywhere near Ibiza, I had been a little surprised. Ibiza is a long way from California for a holiday. As luck would have it we were intending to dock there and it looked like we would be able to hook up with them.

So this was Angharad. Bloody hell, she was lovely. Tumbling dark hair, flashing eyes and a golden tan on a rather voluptuous body. She had an attitude about her as she eyed me up and I could sense Jack give her one of his searching appraisals; she was the sort of women that men respond to. I also noticed her look Jack up and down and smile coquettishly. But then we are talking Jack. Who could blame the girl?

"Ever so pleased to meet you Uma and....Jack, it's great to see you again..." Of course they had met. I had forgotten. He had been in London too.

Arthur smiled broadly and held Angharad close. She looked up at him and they seemed lost in each other. It was wonderful to see them both like this. How Arthur had changed from the nervous young man I had met all that time ago. To see him now as a man embarking on his life with his love gave me such a sense of pride in him.

Pleasantries were exchanged and we all smiled and chatted. Jack asked them had they dined. They said no. So we wandered to a charming tavern and ordered sea food and a couple of bottles of wine. Angharad refused the wine. I wondered if she was Chapel.

"So what brought you hear, Arthur?" I asked. "I mean...it's a helluva way from the Temple. There have got to be nearer beaches than this!"

Arthur looked at Angharad and then back at me. "Ah well, see, we weren't in California. We left there a few months ago. We're living in Chester now. Buying a house and everything..."

"What? Back in UK? But..."

So he explained. It was a long story but this gist was that Angharad had been rejected because she wouldn't follow the rules. She wouldn't sleep with anyone but Arthur and he felt the same. So she was asked to leave. So Arthur left with her. Same old story, hey?

"Whoah...join the club," I grinned. "Surprised you can afford holidays and a new house..."

"Well, now, I had the advantage, see. First there was you and Heather and then, well, Terry tipped me the nod and... I had access to a lot of accounts. I took what was mine and Terry helped me get it sewn up tight."

I was amazed. Go, Arthur, go. Working from the inside. Worthy of Terry Thorne himself. "You little devil, you." Jack and I laughed. There was he the master tactician and me the socialite both without a bean and Arthur clears up. Good for him.

"I think that's why he stays. To try and make amends. There are a lot of people who don't think it was right...being his money and all..."

I shrugged. "Old news, Artie. We're not bothered. Just happy for you both. You must be so delighted to have your own place."

"We're starting a business. I've got enough to invest in a restaurant. I'll manage it and Angharad will do the food side. Well, when she's better, of course," he added cryptically.

"Better?" I inquired.

Again they looked at each other. Arthur took her hand and played with it; she looked a little shy, her eyes downcast. "That's really why we are here, Yooma...Jack...we wanted to tell you this before it was too late..."

"Too late?" I was catching Jack's habit of pointless repetition.

"Angharad is...rather, we are...having a baby..." He placed a gentle hand on her stomach and caressed it softly. She covered his hand with her own and they gazed at each other in wonder. They were like two babes in a wood themselves.

You could have knocked us down with a feather. Both Jack and I just sat and stared at them.

"But...but....but..." I stuttered.

Arthur smiled. "It seemed like a miracle. We didn't think it was possible. But we did the tests and then a doctor saw her and well...it's real. Angharad is ten weeks' pregnant. The baby is due in late January..."

"Bloody hell...."I gasped.

"Good God..." Jack muttered.

"But how can this be? We've been at it for years and no one has...I mean...it's a known fact that all of you are...you know...firing blanks...otherwise we would all have been knee deep in bambini by now..."

"And why do you think that is?" Arthur asked suddenly sounding older and more manly, his voice dropping and a note of anger in his tone.

"Well...it's supposed to be so that...I don't know...so that ...so that nothing comes in the way of the sex, I guess. To keep Number Ones from getting too close or women to be taken out of the game for lengths of time. Something to do with the idea of sharing fairly..."

"But who made it that way?" Arthur asked pointedly. "Was it just a convenient side effect of the crossing?"

"We women are infertile in your portals..." I reminded him.

"How do you know?"

"Well...no one got pregnant there."

"How long were you there? You went for the longest time..."

"Well...two weeks with Max and with Terry three months....not that we had much sex, mind you...oh God...what are you saying Arthur....?

"It isn't anything to do with the portals. Or crossing. Or some coincidence to keep the balance of the game...Uma, I was at the Temple. I saw a lot. It was magic. Spells. Charms, you know? It isn't difficult for someone with that kind of knowledge to cast a simple infertility charm..."

"Oh...God....so...you are not under the spell any more? You left and you either have escaped the effect of the potion or rather have been removed from its 'protection'....But that means...oh come on, it can't be true... Jack and I have been bonking like rabbits for months..." At that Jack coughed and kicked my leg under the table. He is very shy about admitting such things, surprisingly.

Arthur nodded. "I'm younger. It wears off quicker. The residual effect, like. I am bound to be more naturally fertile at my age and,  as I haven't had as much sex as some of the old men, then I am even more potent...it's more concentrated...a scientific fact, you know..."

Jack coughed again and gave Arthur the fish eye. I don't think that he really liked being told that he wasn't as potent as a young man. Hard to actually credit it anyway. But Arthur did have a point. If a spell had been cast and it was wearing off, stands to reason a younger man and woman would probably be free of it quicker. But it was only a matter of time....

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph....you could be a fucking time bomb, Jack," I gasped. Who knows when you might pop off and be back with the live ammo again... And what about Maximus...? Imagine how eager his little spermies will be to go swimming again after the lay off..."

“I tried to call the general but he seems to be either working or out of contact for some reason. Didn’t pick up his mails or answer his calls. Goodness knows what he’s up to,” Arthur said. “Not that I would have known quite what to say to him...you know? Imagine saying ‘General Maximus, sir, do you realize you might be ejaculating live sperm? Have you ever considered using a rubber?’ Bloody hell...the thought of it...” Arthur gasped.

Jack and I looked at each other, he paled under his tan and I am sure I had done, too. He opened his mouth to say something, then realized where he was and shut it again.

"Arthur...I don't know what to say...Angharad...congratulations...is it what you wanted...?"

"More than anything!" she exclaimed. "It is a miracle - or it seems to be anyway!"

"We are so happy about it...we can't wait. Imagine a little baby...our baby..." Arthur seemed quite overcome. "Terry wants to be the godfather. He's already sent us a beautiful cradle that he saw somewhere on his travels...you know, Terry..." Arthur shut up then, embarrassed, thinking he might have hurt my feelings, annoyed Jack...

"I'm glad you told him first. He's a good friend to you. And who knows...he might have needed the tip off too..." I raised my eyebrows saucily.

We burst out laughing at that and carried on eating still with so much thinking to do about Arthur's startling revelations.

As we were waiting for the bill to be brought over, Arthur asked us directly. "How are you fixed... for money, you know?"

"We're broke," I admitted.

Jack shrugged. "It seems to be my fate to have a fortune one minute and then lose it the next. I never was any good with money..."

Arthur said. "Let me get lunch...." Jack snatched the bill and paid it. He would be ever thus. It was something that he could never accept as a gentleman - he would go into debt to save his face.

"If we can do anything to help...maybe Terry could..."

"No," I replied emphatically. "We're alright. We'll manage. Easy come, easy go...you'll see..." I smiled at Jack and he grinned back. We had each other. That's what counted.

Lunch over we parted and made arrangements to see each other later that night; I invited them to dine with us on the yacht. As we walked through the town back to the port with our purchases for the evening meal, Jack was quiet and pensive.

"What is it, sweetie?" I squeezed his hand and he looked down at me fondly.

"Is there any chance?"

I shook my head. "No. Last week, remember? But we'll have to take care from now on. Tomorrow I go to a doctor and you go and buy some rubbers. And we better let Maximus know as soon as we can. Next stop Italy?"

Jack nodded his agreement. "You realize what this could mean? For the future?"

I nodded. "When we are ready. When the time is right. When we sort out this financial mess we're in. But one day soon, Jack Aubrey, I swear to you, we will make it come true. I promise this."

"Then until that time, I had better get in plenty of target practice. You know my strong belief in the efficacy of daily firing to prime the cannon..."

"Just make sure there are no live ones just yet, Captain. We cannot celebrate the victory until we have won the war..."

He threw back his head and laughed.You cannot keep Jack Aubrey down for long. In more ways than one...