On Valentine's Day, Captain Jack tells Maggie the true story of how he met and fell in love with her mother, Morgan.

Featured Song:
Waiting For A Star To Fall
By Boy Meets Girl:

☠️❤️24 Years Earlier...❤️☠️
☠️❤️Papua, New Guinea ❤️☠️

Jack and Morgan awoke the next morning still beside the waterfall. They were curled up next to each other, using Jack's coat for a blanket. Usually when Captain Jack found himself waking up next to a woman, it was the result of a rum-fueled orgy of sorts. But this time he and Morgan were still fully clothed and alcohol had nothing to do with how they ended up. Instead they had spent the night talking and laughing and sharing the intimacy of each other's touch and company. It was a new experience for Jack, but not at all a bad one.

Morgan stirred awake from where she laid curled up beside him. She opened her eyes and looked at him. A smile lighting up her face better than the rising sun could ever.

"Good morning" She said.

"G'morning" Jack replied.

Morgan smile didn't falter as she stretched and sat up. "I was wondering if you'd like to come to the tribe's village with me?" She asked.

"Could I?" Jack asked.

"Sure! It may be a little strange at first..."

"I make a habit of being the strangest person in any group" Jack said.

Morgan chuckled. "...But you'd be surprised what you can learn from spending time with them" Her eyes shined with excitement. "I could show you my books, I have tons of them with remedies for anything! And the plant's we've been growing!"

"Sounds interesting" Jack nodded enthusiastically.

Morgan got up and wandered over to the satchel, but when she looked into it, her face fell.

"So what do they eat in this tribe?" Jack asked. "Because I don't know about you, but I could use some breakfast. Are these natives the coconuts and mangos crowd or are they more insects and maggots crowd?"

"Where is it?" Morgan asked, her voice taking on a serious tone.

"What?"

"Where is it?" She demanded, turning to stare him down.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"The Cloudforest Magnolia, Jack!" Morgan cried. "It was in this satchel last night. Now where is it?!"

Jack looked between her and the satchel in her hand. "Well, I didn't take it!" He answered.

Morgan glared at him before grabbing her boots and storming off. "I can't believe how stupid I was!" She snapped.

"Morgan!" Jack went after her. "I swear I didn't take it!"

"Oh really?!" She kept on walking, not looking back at him.

"Yes!" Jack replied.

"I can't believe I bought into all that last night!" She scoffed. "You're not even thirty and you've achieved so much... I should've known better!"

"I did mean all that!" Jack insisted. "I meant every word! Would you just hear me out?!"

Morgan huffed and turned to him, but still avoided looking at his face.

"Morgan, I didn't take the Magnolia..."

"Well then, who else on this island would have wanted it so bad then?" Morgan asked.

Jack thought about it. "Lucille!" He cried out.

"Who?"

"She's the one who sent me to get the Magnolia in the first place!" Jack explained. "She wanted it for her bridal bouquet! I tried to talk her out of it, but she's very particular! And this is my first time having a fiancee, so I wanted to please h--"

"Fiancee...?" Morgan sounded like the wind have been knocked out of her. "A fiancee?You... you have a fiancee?!"

Jack only then realized how bad his choice of words was. Morgan's eyes were fixed to the ground, her shocked expression was like that of someone who had been slapped.

"Morgan, listen..." Jack told her.

"No" she shook her head. "I'm not listening to you anymore!"

He reached out to hold her hand. "Morgan..."

She jerked her hand away. "No! Don't... don't touch me!" She said deliberately. "You..." Her voice cracked and she took a few shuddering breaths. "I can't believe... even after I told you why I needed the Magnolia. How important it was... to help this tribe! I thought you would understand how much it means to me!"

"I do understand!" Jack told her.

"I hope you and your fiancee will be very happy together" Morgan said dismissively, before storming off.

"Morgan!" Jack called after her. "Morgan..."

☠️❤️☠️

Maggie used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the tears in her eyes. She never thought of her parents as the kind of couple who fought. Mind you, she never really got to witness them in an argument or a tense situation. But still, the thought of them breaking up and not love each other anymore... it broke Maggie's heart.

Jack hugged her close. "You alright, Luv?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Maggie sniffled. "It's all going to turn out right in the end, right?"

"We'll see..." Jack nodded.

☠️❤️☠️

Captain Jack walked back to the Pearl, but he was so heart-broken, he couldn't enjoy a minute of it. Not the beauty of the rising sun coming over the horizon. Not the misty sea spray riding on the wind to kiss his face. Not the wind rustling through the palms and through his hair.

No, none of this could bring Jack out of the heartache he felt. His eyes were red from crying. His stomach was a guilty and tangled mess of knots. His heart felt as if it was actually physically shattered and the shards were going to fall out of his rear end. His mind echoed with the last few accusatory words Morgan ever said to him. Alongside images of her saddened eyes and furious glare.

Jack was beside himself, he didn't want to leave things the way he did with Morgan. But he also didn't have the nerve to go back and talk it out with her. What could he say or do to make it up with her? Would she ever even want to see him again?

Jack trudged aboard the Black Pearl and looked around. It was quiet... too quiet...

The next thing Captain Jack knew, he was being knocked to the deck face-first! Before he could try and get up again, a whole mess of men lept on top of him, holding him down. Jack felt a cold and sickly thin hand grab the dreads on back of his head and shove his face into the deck. Then they snatched him up and forced him up on his knees.

Jack turned to look up at his captors and was shocked! These men weren't men at all! At least not anymore... they were Mummies! Skeletal remains wrapped in cloth bandages, with bits of dried, decomposed flesh poking through them. They fixated their empty sockets on him, opened their mouth's and let out a choked scream.

Jack was stunned by the terror and absurdity of the situation.

"It's pretty bad when dead men who have had their brains removed are more dependable then my own fiancee" Lucille's voice rang out.

Jack's eyes scanned the deck. "Lucille?" He called out.

Lucille came walking out from behind the main mast. She was dressed in a long white gown with a plunging, off the shoulder neckline and slits in the skirt to show off her long legs. She looked like a trashy, flamboyant force to be reckoned with, rather than a sweet blushing bride.

"How do you like your groomsmen, Jack?" She shot him a condescending smirk.

"What is this?" Jack snapped. "Lucille, what have you done?"

"I have finally taken control of this relationship!" Lucille told him. "We are getting married today! I resurrected a mummified priest and he will be marrying us in fifteen minutes and you will say I do!"

"Did you take the Cloudforest Magnolia?" Jack asked her.

"I did... since you were taking too long" Lucille shrugged it off. "So what?"

"You don't understand" Jack told her. "There's a woman named Morgan, a medicine woman! She needs that flower to help a local tribe!"

"That's nice" Lucille feigned interest."Now ask me if I care..."

"Lucille!" Jack snapped. "I'm not going to pretend I'm the captain of morals, but I think we should agree that saving a tribe of deathly ill people is a lot more important than your stupid, shotty bridal bouquet."

"The Magnolia was never for my bridal bouquet, you idiot" Lucille told him. She pulled the white blossom from her pocket and stared at it. "It was so I could make the final love potion I needed. One that will diminish all common sense, or lack thereof, within your intoxicated little head and make you my mindless slave for the rest of your miserable, misbegotten life."

"Final love potion... You've been drugging me?!" Jack cried out in realization.

"I've actually been giving you double the regular dose" Lucille admitted. "I think all the alcohol in your system made you partially immune somehow...?"

"Well, that would explain the insomnia and dry mouth I've been having lately" Jack muttered. "And you want me as a slave?"

"Well, actually I just wanted your ship so I can take my undead army and rule the Caribbean" Lucille shrugged nonchalantly, pursing her lips. "But having you as a slave sounds like a nice perk."

"You're insane!" Jack told her. "And not in the fun, drunk and running from the law way I'm accustomed to! The sadistic, hate-filled menacing way that actually approves of slavery!"

"Welcome to marriage, Hubby!" Morgan smirked before turning to the Mummies. "Let's head to the venue and get this over with."

The four Mummies each snatched one of Jack's wrists or ankles and dragged him down the ship's gangplank behind Morgan. They clicked their jaws together in a synced rhythm as they followed her. Jack groaned as he identified the tune as Here Comes The Bride

☠️❤️☠️

Morgan was always calmed by her work. When she was focused on making remedies. She crushed plant substances and dissolved them in a liquid, usually grain, alcohol or lactose and shook them. It didn't sound relaxing to everyone, but when Morgan got in the zone, it was like she was serenity personified.

So when the sick children in the local tribe's medical hut heard screams and sobs of frustration coming from her office, they couldn't help but check in on her.

A seven year old boy named Cheveyo crawled out of his bed in the sick bay and walked among the beds of sick children. All of them coughing or struggling to breathe. Some were even comatose from being ill for so long. Cheveyo timidly walked into the medicine hut where Morgan was.

"Svool, Miss Morgan" he greeted her in his tribe's language.

Morgan sighed as she wiped her tears away. "Svool, Cheveyo" she said, turning to him.

"Why do you cry, Miss Morgan?" He asked.

"No reason" Morgan shook her head. "You should go back to bed, Chev. You're not well."

"You don't look well either" Cheveyo said, sitting cross-legged beside her. "Are you sick too, Miss Morgan?"

"I'm fine" Morgan insisted. "I'm just... Well, I think you're a little too young to understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?" The little boy asked.

"It's not an illness that plagues me, it's... heartache" Morgan told him. "My heart is broken... and that's something that no medicine can fix."

"How does a heart get broke?" Cheveyo asked her.

"I put my trust in a man... even though I should have known better" Morgan explained. "And I hate myself for it, because it's not just me who will suffer for my actions..."

"Did you love this man?" Cheveyo asked.

Morgan shrugged "I thought I did..."

"What do you mean?" The young boy asked. "Love is not a thought. Love is a feeling. Did you have feelings for this man?"

"I suppose" Morgan shrugged.

"Good feelings?"

"You could say that."

"Did you make him happy in return?"

"He did smile a lot..."

"Did you want to be his friend?"

"At the time...?"

"His best friend?"

"I considered it."

Cheveyo nodded. "Then it is love" He told her.

"But he's engaged to marry someone else!" Morgan explained. "There's another lady!"

"If he truly loved this other lady, he wouldn't have loved you" Cheveyo shook his head.

"How can I know for certain though?" Morgan asked.

"Did you ever ask him?" Cheveyo asked.

"No" Morgan shook her head.

"Well, it's seems stupid to give up on something that good without making sure first!" Cheveyo told her. "You're much wiser than that, Miss Morgan!"

Morgan was amazed at the young boy's attention to details. Sometimes it took the simplistic and innocent mind of a child, to find obvious solutions that adults missed.

Morgan was dragged out of her thoughts by Cheveyo's whooping cough. The boy winced in pain as his diaphragm hurt from coughing so much. She sighed, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. No matter how many villages she visited, or how many sick kids she saw, it never got any easier seeing the little one's suffer.

"You need to be resting, Cheveyo" She told him.

She scooped him up and carried him back to his bed, tucking him in.

"Miss Morgan?" Another girl piped up from her bed. "Is the medicine almost ready?"

Morgan sighed. "I'm off to get the final ingredient now" she told them determined. "One way or another, I'm coming back with it. I promise you that."

☠️❤️☠️

Captain Jack had heard other men chortle about how marriage was the end of a man's freedom. But Lucille was taking it way too literally!

Overlooking a seaside cliff, more mummies were seated in the congregation, as the mummified priest stood at the alter. His milky white eyes had no pupils, but Jack could still feel the un-holy man staring him down.

Captain Jack was tied to a post on the left side of the alter. The Mummies had forcefully tied back his dreads and even dressed him in a tuxedo. And some of those stinkin' bandage bags didn't know enough to keep their hands to themselves!

Jack stared at the bubbling cauldron on the table between him and the priest. Moments from now, Lucille would come trotting down that aisle and place the Magnolia into the cauldron. They'd say I do and she would force Jack to drink her mind-altering witches brew!

Captain Jack racked his brain for an escape plan, but he was still too heartbroken from what went down with Morgan, to even think. Prehaps this was how it should be. He had fallen in love with the wrong kind of woman, and when he did find a woman that was worth loving, he ended up letting her down and hurting her. Morgan was a sweet-natured, lovely woman, surely she could find someone else to love. Someone more worthy than him. Maybe Jack deserved to be Lucille's slave...

Suddenly the congregation of Mummies stood and began to hum the tune of Here Comes The Bride.

Jack's eyes widened as he saw Lucille walking down the aisle. With the veil over her face and a hungry look in her eye, she looked more like a vengeful ghost than a bride.

As Lucille reached the alter, Jack felt a dark cloud settle over his being. She shot him a condescending smirk before plucking the Cloudforest Magnolia out of her bridal bouquet and tossing it into the cauldron.

A chill ran down Jack spine as the priest began the ceremony. But since he no longer had his tongue, it was just a series of guttural, choked squealing and shrieking. Instead of preaching the gospel, he sounded like a pterodactyl being slaughtered!

He gestured to Jack. Lucille jabbed her elbow into his ribs, glared at him and mouthed the words I do.

Jack shook his head.

Lucille reached out for his hand and dug her fingernails into his flesh.

"Ow-ow! I do!" Jack gasped.

The mummified priest turned to Lucille and shrieked some more incoherent vows.

Lucille smirked. "I d--" She was cut off by something hitting her in the head. When she and Jack turned to look, they were blinded by a flurry of red smoke.

"What is this?" Lucille hacked through the red haze.

"Pollen from the blossoms of the Kookababa tree!" A familiar voice informed her. "When lit aflame they make for a vibrant smoke screen!"

More colored smoke bombs were tossed until the whole venue was a smoking rainbow melting pot!

In the haze, Jack felt someone grab him by the back of his tux and cover his mouth. He turned and saw Morgan with a rag covering her nose and mouth breathing. She held a finger to her mouth, signaling for him to be quiet, before tying another rag over his face. She took out a knife and began sawing at the ropes that bound Jack to the alter.

Finally Jack was free! He grabbed Morgan's hand and began to flee, only to run into his livid-looking bride. The red pollen looked like blood stains against her dress and skin.

Morgan grabbed Jack's arm and tried to lead him the other way, but they ran into a hoard of Mummies instead!

"This event is invitation only" Lucille told Morgan. "And I don't recall putting a wretched plant-picking skank on the guest list."

Morgan glared at her, removing the cloth from her mouth. "What did you call me, blondie?" She asked, unsheathing the sword on her hip.

"I called you a skank, skank" Lucille reached her hand into the bubbling cauldron and pulled out another sword.

"That's it!" Morgan snapped. "In the past two days, I have been held hostage, urinated on, stalked naked, lied to and I let down a whole village of people who trusted me! All because you had to have your stupid perfect wedding to this dope!" She pointed her sword at Jack, who put his hands up in defense. Morgan pointed her sword back to Lucille. "I know of the Cloudforest Magnolia" She explained. "It can either be used for altering the human body or mind. And since Jack isn't sick, I have to assume your trying to brainwash him into loving you. You witch!"

"So what if I have?" Lucille sneered. "It's none of your business!"

"Actually... it is!" Morgan told her indefinitely. "My job is cure people who are plagued with toxic illnesses... and your behavior seems pretty toxic. First, you put Jack under a mind-altering love potion. Then you used and abused him and his loving and trusting nature. Now I can understand a woman in trying times like these, going a little mad with what little power she's given... But honestly Lucille!"

"What?" Lucille snapped.

Morgan's eyed her up and down. "Only virgin brides wear white..." She smirked.

Lucille's eyes widened as she howled in fury, wielding her sword at Morgan. Morgan blocked her attacks as the two women began fighting.

Jack attempted to go help Morgan, but the army of Mummies held him back. Jack fought and kicked at the bony captors but that only made them tighten their grip on him.

Morgan parryied Lucille and swiped at her bottom half, slitting the skirt of her dress. Lucille gasped at the damage, before attempting to run Morgan through. Morgan dodged the sudden blow by jumped out of the way and fled, but she skidded to a stop when she came to the edge of the seaside cliff they were on top of.

Morgan held out her sword in defense as Lucille cornered her on the very edge of the cliff. Lucille kicked the sword out of Morgan's grip and it went plummeting down to the rocky coast below. Lucille grinned, knowing she had Morgan right where she wanted her.

Jack fought harder against the Mummies, but they weren't giving up.

"Lucille! Don't!" Captain Jack shouted to his forced fiancee. "I'll drink the potion and be your slave! You can have the Black Pearl! You can take over the Caribbean! Just as long as you don't hurt Morgan!"

Lucille glanced slyly between Jack and Morgan, contemplating the deal. "Fine then!" She said, sheathing her sword. "It's probably better that she lives, knowing she let down a bunch of sick little brats anyway!" She strutted over to the alter. "See what happens when you spend all your time caring for others? You get left with nothing but heartache and pain! On the other hand, I lied, cheated and stole and now I have a power, an army at my disposal and I'm about to gain my own ship and slave! What more can a girl ask for?"

Lucille took a champagne flute and dunked it into the cauldron, collecting the Cloudforest Magnolia's extract into it. She held it out to Jack.

"Drink up, Jack" She grinned. "You should know how to do that... it's the only thing you ever do right!"

With a glare, Captain Jack snatched the champagne flute from her and gave the teary-eyed Morgan a final smile. He raised the glass and downed it's contents in one swift gulp.

Morgan couldn't prevent the sob that escaped her throat. Jack had thrown away his freedom, the very thing he held dear, for her!

Lucille's face was beaming with satisfaction and wicked delight. "Excellent!" She giggled.

"What is your bidding, Mistress?" Jack asked in monotone.

Lucille glanced over at Morgan, who was still seated on the cliffs edge. "Throw that tart of the cliff!" She ordered him.

"But you made a deal!" Morgan cried.

"But I didn't say I'd follow through with it" Lucille shrugged dismissively. She turned to the enslaved Jack "Get rid of her!"

Jack marched towards Morgan, grabbing her by the arm and the back of her shirt, before hoisting her to her feet. Morgan could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she glanced down at the long drop before her. Hot tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"Jack, please..." she sobbed. "Please don't do this. You know me... please!"

Jack turned to look at her and winked...

Then before Morgan could contemplate what was happening, he hoisted her up by the back of her shirt and swung her around. Morgan's legs hit Lucille in the ribs and she lost her balance. She screamed as she went tumbling down to the rocky cliff below, where she was impaled.

Morgan gasped as Jack whipped her around and held her bridal style.

"I told her those heels where a bad choice..." He whispered in her ear. "Some lasses just never listen."

Morgan laughed.

The army of Mummies began to shriek as one by one they collapsed into a pile of bones and bandages. Without Lucille's magic, they reverted back to their former dead forms.

Morgan hugged Jack as he set her down. "I'm so glad you're alright!" She sighed happily, then stared at the cauldron. "But what about the potion? Why didn't it work on you? Lucille put in the Cloudforest Magnolia and..."

"She put in a Cloudforest Magnolia" Jack said. "Not the Cloudforest Magnolia..." he pulled the white blossom out of his dreadlocks and handed it to her.

Morgan was confused. "But... Lucille stole it from the satchel last night" She said. "The satchel I took from you! It had fallen out of the box when we fought over it in the tomb!"

"The flower in the box was a decoy, in case the worst should happen" Jack told her. "I hid the real Magnolia into my dreads for safe keeping. Did you really think, I'd go tracing about the jungle with a rare valuable flower in such an obvious hiding place?" Jack leaned in to kiss her.

"But wait!" Morgan turned her head. "Why didn't you tell Lucille about the fake flower?"

"I suspected Lucille was drugging me with a love potion over the last few days" Jack explained. "But I wanted to wait until she used the enslavement potion on me, that way I could gain her trust and get rid of her once and for all... with help from you as it turns out. Much obliged."

"Unbelievable..." Morgan breathed.

Jack leaned in to kiss her again.

"But wait!" Morgan said.

"What?" Jack whined impatiently.

"Why did you bother to fight with me, if you knew the Magnolia was just a decoy?" She asked.

Captain Jack smiled at her. "Because I'm a firm believer in love at first sight" he told her.

Morgan beamed up at him. "You mean you just want to be around me?" She asked.

"I want to spend the rest of my life being around you, Morgan" Jack vowed, before leaning over and-finally!-kissing her passionately.

"I love you, Jack" Morgan told him breathlessly.

"I love you, Morgan" he told her.

☠️❤️☠️

It was about an hour later, when Captain Jack and Morgan returned to the tribal village. They mixed the ingredients for the cure and carefully added the Cloudforest Magnolia to the boiling pot. They poured the concoction into wooden cups and placed them on a trolley cart, rolling them out to the bedridden children.

Jack watched with sympathetic eyes at the parents who were sobbing at their children's bedside. Some were comatose and others were moaning in pain and hacking violently. He could see why Morgan was so dead set on getting the Magnolia now. If this cure didn't work, it seemed these kids end was inevitable.

Morgan and Jack walked over to each bed and began giving each child a cup of the purified plant extract. The comatose children had to be fed through a funnel in their mouth to avoid choking. The children who where still awake drank it down without question. Showing that they would do anything to end they illness that inflicted them.

"How long will this take to kick in?" Jack whispered to Morgan, as she gave the final dose to the last child.

Morgan shrugged "It all depends on how--"

"Mama?" A small voice rang out.

Jack and Morgan turned to see that the first little girl they gave the medicine to had woke up from her comatose state. She sat up in bed, more vivid and bright eyed than she had been in months. Her mother threw her arms around her and sobbed happily.

The rest of the children followed suit, awaken from their coma's, stretching and rubbing their eyes. The parents heard their children awaken from outside the hut and came running in. They all hugged their kids and kissed their heads, some falling to their knees in thankful prayer.

Morgan grinned, tears in her eyes as Jack wrapped his arms around her. A room that was moments ago filled with demise and desperation, was now filled with joy and hope!

"You did it" Jack kissed her forehead.

"You mean we did it" She told him.

"No, this was all you" he insisted.

She grabbed him by his braided beard and pulled him in for a kiss. They both closed their eyes, lost in the feeling of being so close to each other. They stopped when they noticed the room had become abruptly silent.

They pulled away and saw all the children watching them and giggling.

"That man your boyfriend, Miss Morgan?" Cheveyo spoke up.

"Uh... yeah, I guess" Morgan shrugged. "I mean, for lack of a better word..."

"Oooh!" The kids giggled and started making kissy lips at them.

Morgan smiled. "You know, if you're all well enough to tease me" she said. "You're probably all well enough to do chores around the village."

The kids all gasped and curled up back in their beds, feigning weakness.

Morgan laughed. "So does anyone have their appetite back?" She asked.

"Me! Me! Me!" The kids raised their hand with Jack following suit.

☠️❤️☠️

That evening the village shared a dinner of sweet potato and seafood stew. The hospice hut became one big sleepover, with children and their families sitting around eating, playing and talking. The village elders all took their turns saying their thanks to Morgan for never giving up on their children.

Morgan looked across the room at Captain Jack as he regaled the children with stories of his adventures. Cheveyo wore his tricorn and a set of twin girls sat on both his knees, he showed them his effects and told them of wear and how he got them. It was almost as if Jack himself became a kid while playing with them. Morgan was enamored by the sight of it.

As the children's bedtime rolled around, the parents put them to bed. Captain Jack walked over to Morgan who was watching them from her medical hut.

"You were really sweet with them..." she told him.

"Who?" Jack asked.

Morgan giggled. "The children!"

"Oh, them!" Jack chuckled. "Yes, children are wonderful."

"Have you ever thought of having one of your own?" Morgan asked, eyes sparkling.

Captain Jack's breath hitched. "A child?" His eyes widened. "I mean... I never thought too hard about it. But I suppose... it would be... nice...? T-To have a little Jack Jr running around."

"Or a little Magnolia?" Morgan suggested.

"Magnolia?" Jack furrowed his brows.

"There's an equal chance it could be a girl" Morgan chuckled. "And besides, after the past couple of days the name Magnolia is seeming better and better."

"I think it's pretty too" Jack smiled at her. "And if she looks anything like you, she'll be deserving of such a name."

☠️❤️☠️

Captain Jack sighed, remembering it all. "Well, that's it, Luv" he said to Maggie. "What do you think?"

Maggie shrugged. "I guess it kinda makes sense why you would go for a great lady like Mum" She admitted. "But I still don't get how anyone could dedicate their whole life to just one person. I mean, I thought you of all people would be smarter than that!"

"You're young yet, you'll understand someday" Jack pushed the bangs out of her face. "As I've said... love is a magic concept."

Maggie nodded. "And Mum was the one to show you real, true, honest love..." She muttered.

Jack looked at her. "Your mother wasn't the one to show me real, true, honest love, Maggie" he shook his head.

"But you said--"

"I said that I felt that kind of love before" Jack reminded her. "It was you who brought up the subject of your mother. Not me."

Maggie's mouth hung open in shock for a moment. "Well then... just wait a minute here!" Maggie said slightly frustrated. "First you tell me about how you met Lucille and how she wasn't your true love! And then you tell me about how you fell in love with Mum! Now you tell me she wasn't your true love! How many other women have there been in your life?"

Jack opened his mouth.

"Never mind!" Maggie cut him off. "We'll be her till Easter if you start naming them all off!" She sighed "Maybe I should start referring to you as the Papa Polygamist..."

Captain Jack started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Maggie asked.

Jack wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. "Maggie, the truth is... the girl who showed me real, true, honest love, came along about a year after I met your mother..."

☠️❤️ 23 years earlier... ❤️☠️

Captain Jack approached Morgan as she laid in their bed in the Captain's Cabin. Her body slick with sweat, her skin pale and gaunt looking and her eyes drowsy and enclosed in dark circles. But she still looked as beautiful as ever...

"Jack..." She breathed. "Come say hello to the newest girl in your life." She placed the bundle she held in the bewildered Captain's arms.

Captain Jack peeled back the top of the blanket and saw his own brown eyes staring back at him. That was all it took...

"Hello baby girl... Hi, Maggie" Jack was unable to take his eyes off of her. "You know what's strange? You are so small and only five minutes old... and somehow you've already made me love you forever." Tears of joy began to spill from his eyes. "You didn't ask to be born, you didn't ask to be here, but now you're here and I love you for just that alone. And I promise that from now on you'll always come first, no matter what. I love you so much, you can't even imagine how much..." he pressed a kiss to her little forehead and breathed in her newborn scent.

☠️❤️☠️

Captain Jack pressed a kiss to Maggie's forehead and finished brushing out her hair as she sat in his bed with him.

"I was really your true love?" Maggie asked, as he tucked her in.

"Of course" Jack answered. "Women will come and go... but you're the only female that will ever truly belong to me. ...Oh! And I think you might be interested in this..." he passed her a portrait.

"That's Mum?" Maggie smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Aye" Jack answered.

"She really was beautiful" Maggie nodded.

"That was the only portrait we ever got to have together as a family before she passed on" Jack told her, wiping her tears away.

Maggie couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. "Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy" she said.

"Happy Valentine's Day, me true Luv" Jack kissed her cheek, crawling into bed beside her. He placed his arm around her abdomen and brought his hand up to stroked her hair as she fell asleep.

In the end, Captain Jack loved Morgan. Even after she had to leave him, she left him with their baby. A little peice of her for him to hold, look after and love. And for that he would always love her and their little Magnolia.

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed this! Be sure to leave a comment as it helps to fuel my writing! Happy Valentine's Day to all and remember love can be expressed on any given day!