Chaos Doesn't Cover It (Natalie)

[William Blake]

It was a wonder Will hadn't gone insane.

Having led a fairly eventful twenty-four and a half years of life, he'd thought that maybe he stood a chance of it slowing down. He wasn't the sort to let himself get bored, he would always be doing something, striving to do better, or get out and try new things. But since he'd found Natalie, and he loved her more than words could express, and all the drama with his Dad was now over for good, he'd figured he would be able to set into some sort of semi-rhythmic life.

It turned out that fate had other plans in mind.

Four words had set everthing in motion.
"Will you marry me?"

And one word sealed the deal.
"Yes."

He discovered that the day you got married truly was the happiest day of a person's life. They had decided that there wouldn't be anything too extravagant, just close family and friends back in Natalie's home town of Duluth, Minnesota. Charlie had staked a claim as Will's best man girl, sitting on her Dad's shoulders next to the altar. Natalie's Mum had given her away, weeping all over her daughter as she did so - Will had to admit, it was hard to keep the tears from his eyes as he watched her grace the aisle, looking positively radiant. Anna had dutifully teased him about it later, as one of Natalie's bridesmaids. Fiona kept quiet, having been close to tears herself.

Everything was perfect. This was the most content he'd been in his entire life, and not even returning to work could disturb how he felt. Then came the surprise. One that should really have been expected after a Honeymoon, but threw him off nevertheless - Natalie was pregnant. Shock, pretty much described his initial reaction, but as time went on, and they talked about it more, he found himself beginning to get excited. He barely slept anyway, at least he'd be not sleeping and taking care of his child rather than not sleeping and fiddling with couplings all night long.

But then something else happened, something which almost tore him apart. About seven months into Natalie's pregnancy, he received a holo from a lawyer informing him that Joe and Fiona had been in an accident, their car had collided head on with a freight transport, neither of them made it. Losing your two best friends in one go wasn't what anyone wanted to go through, but in their will, they had decided that Will would be Charlie and Jane's guardian. It wasn't like he had the best living space for them, but they had no one else to go to, and he wasn't going to give them up.

So, they'd come to live on board with him and Natalie, and he'd had to hold it together as best he could, pushing all the feelings deep down inside while he dealt with looking after the two girls, his wife, and their soon to be born child.

Seeing those round blue eyes for the first time, amidst the wailing and crying, had almost made him forget all about his grief. Natalie had wanted it to be a surprise, knowing the sex of the baby, and while Will would have been happy with either, he was overjoyed when it turned out to be a little baby boy. Jeremy William Blake.

The next month or so was difficult. His and Natalie's quarters were barely enough space to raise a baby, let alone three children. After a week or so, and a few complaints from other crew members about the baby's tears, the Captain shuffled people about, giving them one of the larger rooms for Will, Natalie and the baby (seeing as they were determined to continue working on board), leaving Charlie and Jane in Will's old room.

As much as they tried to alternate, Will ended up picking up slack on the work front, giving Natalie more time with Jay. It was hard, and what with making sure that the girls were entertained and kept out of trouble every waking hour of the day, he was exhausted.

Will had been in the middle of making up a story for the girls in their room when his body had unexpectedly given in to the exhaustion. He was splayed out across the head of the bed, still fully clothed, the girls cuddled up on either side of him. His chin had a thick shadow of stubble around it, and his hair was a mess, but he was finally out for the count, after what felt like an eternity of insomnia.