23
Rose woke up to the sound of Jack’s soft breathing in her ear, his arm firmly tucked around her, holding her close. Sighing she kissed his lips then made her way out of his arms and downstairs. She needed some time to herself. She hadn’t really letted the news of her pregnancy sink in yet. Last night was so busy with her getting sick and Jack being so excited about the baby…it had made her excited too. But today reality sunk in and she was now worried. What kind of mother was she going to be? How would she know how to care for the child? Her mother was no role model. Ruth had always handed her off to a nanny when she was a child and hadn’t paid her an ounce of attention. But things were different for Rose. There was no nanny, and Rose didn’t want to do that. She wanted to be a hands on mom. But how would she know how to be a hands on mother? Who would show her?
Entering the kitchen, she pours a glass of ice tea and sinks down into the chair, burying her head in her hands.
"Rose?" Nancy ask, noticing the girl at the table as she entered to begin breakfast. "Are you ok dear?"
Rose looked up at Nancy with tears in her eyes. "Oh honey what’s wrong?" Nancy immediately goes to her.
"I’m scared Nancy. I
have no idea how to be a good mother. My own isn’t exactly a
role model of motherhood. What if I hurt it somehow or do the
wrong thing?"
"Shhh Rose. You won’t do the wrong thing. What
you’re going through now is a common fear among all new
mothers. Trust me, when you have this baby everything will come
to you, like second nature. And if you need any help, I’ll
be here for you. And so will Jack. You’re not alone in this
sweetie. "
"I just want to give her a happy childhood. Far happier than mine has ever been."
"You will darling. You will," Nancy smiled, pulling the girl into a hug. "Now how do you feel about helping me with breakfast? It’ll take all those worries away."
Rose nodded. "Ok."
"Morning Rose. Mom," Richie grumbled as she came downstairs followed by Jack and their father.
"Morning," Rose smiled as Jack came up and gave her a good morning kiss.
"Did Rosie sleep well last night?" Jack asked.
"Most definitely," Rose smiled. "I love you."
"Jack come on. We have work to do," Richie complained grumpily.
"Don’t mind him. He
woke up on the wrong side this morning," Jack laughed.
"I’ll see you at breakfast."
"Ok," Rose sighed as he kissed her once more before
following his brother and father out the door. "He’s so
excited about this baby. You know he’s fabulous with
children. He’s going to be a great father."
"Rose…I’m so happy that Jack’s found you. After that how Kimberly thing…I never thought my son would be happy again. But I’m glad to see I’m wrong. Jack’s happier now than he’s ever been in his life and I know I have you to thank for it."
"Nancy you’re giving me way too much credit. When I met Jack…he was the happiest person I knew. It actually put me in a bad mood because I was so depressed and I thought life was horrible. But then Jack took my hand and pulled me into his world and I’ve been happy ever since. I can’t even remember the reason I wanted to jump into the ocean that night. But I’m glad I didn’t."
"I’m glad you didn’t either. Now I have two new daughters in law and two new grandbabies on the way. I know Charles isn’t very happy, but I’m ecstatic."
"…Why doesn’t Charles like Richie. I mean…he’s his eldest son…"
"Charles loves
Richie…it’s just that…he had such higher hopes for
him and when he didn’t follow through on those hopes,
Charles was more than disappointed."
"And none of this pressure fell on Jack?"
"As the youngest son, Jack never had the burden of being the son that did good on his shoulders."
"Oh. But Richie’s done no worse than Jack…."
"It’s like I said earlier, Charles and Jack are closer than Charles and Richie ever have been. Plus Charles will always be harder on Richie. No matter what," Nancy sighed.
"Mom! Is breakfast ready yet?" Jacklyn came bounding down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Not yet dear. Why don’t you come and help Rose and I? That way it’ll get done quicker."
"Oh Rose congratulations on the soon to be new edition. Didn’t I tell you guys if you weren’t careful there’ll be a baby in your future," Jacklyn laughed.
"Oh Jacklyn behave," Nancy scolded her daugther.
"Jolene seems nice," Jacklyn takes a pan down from the cabinet. "I can tell that Richie really loves her."
"I can too. I’m so happy he’s found someone to love him so much," Nancy nodded.
"But what about her family mom? What if they show up like Rose’s mother did? Something tells me they’re not as civilized as Ruth Dewitt Bukater is?"
"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it Jacklyn," Nancy sighed. "Right now help Rose. In her condition she needs to be careful."
"So Rose, what are you hoping for? A boy or a girl?" Jacklyn makes conversation.
Remembering her dream Rose smiled. "I think it’s a girl. With blond curls and crystal clear blue eyes."
"I hope Richie has a boy myself," Nancy smiled.
"That’d be perfect, one of each," Jacklyn laughed.
"Molly Nancy Dawson," Rose smiled, remembering what she had called her daughter in her dream. "That’s what I want to name her anyway if it is a girl."
"Oh Rose…I’m touched," Nancy is almost in tears, noticing the last name.
Rose smiled, happy that she made her mother in law happy. Nancy has been more of a mother to her than her own and she wanted her to know it was appreciated. "I just wanted to do something to say thank you for being so good to me. And that was the only thing I knew to really show appreciation. I haven’t talked it over with Jack yet, but I’m sure he’ll agree."
"Agree with what?" Jolene appeared in the doorway.
"Rose is naming her baby
after my mother if it’s a girl," Jacklyn explained.
"How about you?"
Jolene blushed. "Everything’s been moving so
fast…I haven’t really thought about it."
"How about Jonathan Charles Dawson. It’ll put daddy in a good mood," Jacklyn said. "That is if it’s a boy."
"I’ll have to talk it over with Richie," Jolene nodded. "But I do like the name."
"Oh dear, I forgot the eggs. I’m going to have to run to the market real fast to get some," Nancy sighed. "Jacklyn come with me. Rose and Jolene can handle things while we’re gone."
"Ok mother," Jacklyn sighed. "You girls will be okay while we’re gone won’t you?"
"Of course," Rose nodded. "Go on. We’ll be fine. Besides, Jack will probably stop in while you’re gone to check on us. So go."
"Ok. We’ll be back in a jiffy," Nancy nodded following her daughter out the door.
"Well it’s just the two of us I guess," Jolene swallowed nervously. She really didn’t know Rose too well and judging from her accent knew she was from high society. And all the high society women Jolene knew were snotty and mean, even though Rose didn’t seem that way, she had only known her for a couple of hours.
"Well…I guess we’ll start toasting the bread," Rose smiled warmly. "That’s one of the few things I know how to do well and I wouldn’t even know that much if it wasn’t for Jack. Of course he’s still giving me cooking lessons."
Jolene had to laugh. "You mean you don’t know how to cook?"
Rose blushed and shook her head. "I grew up in the upper-class part of Philadelphia. If my mother ever caught me anywhere a stove she threw a fit. One time, I was trying to help our cook bake christmas cookies and my mother threatened to fire the poor woman if she ever caught her trying to teach me manual labor again."
"Oh wow."
"You can say my mother was the terror of the house. But my
father always made things better…up until his death that
is."
"So how did you meet Jack?"
"On a ship. It was love at first sight you can say," Rose nervously smiled, not wanting to go into Titanic. "You can say he saved my life."
"So you gave up all that
wealth to marry a poor artist?"
Rose eagerly nodded. "Being rich a part of high society
isn’t all it’s cracked up to be Jolene. There’s
always someone telling you where to go, how to dress how to
behave. Who to marry…It’s not as illustrious as
everyone wants to make it out to be."
"Being poor isn’t all that either Rose. Sometimes it’s so bad you don’t know where the next meal is coming from. Sometimes it’s so bad you’d do anything for money, or other people would do something to you for money. Or the people you trust most…hurt you in the worst way. If it wasn’t for Richie…I would probably be dead now…"
"I guess we both lucked out then," Rose layed a comforting hand on her Jolene’s shoulder. "Both saved by a dashing Dawson man huh."
Jolene laughed. "Most definitely."
"What are you two talking about?" Richie enters.
"Our dashing Dawson men," Jolene smiled, wrapping her arms around her husband.
"Where’s mom?" Richie asked.
"Her and Jacklyn had to go to the market to get some eggs," Rose explained.
"You know I can cook dinner tonight. How do you all feel about some Shrimp Gumbo?" Jolene volunteered.
"That would be great. Rose you’ll love her gumbo. It’s the best," Richie grinned.
Rose only smiled in answer.
"Richie there you are!" Charles showed up behind his son. "It’s not even breakfast yet!"
"I was just checking to make sure that Jolene was comfortable."
Charles rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, you’re getting as bad as your brother. Now come on."
"Later ladies," Richie bowed before following his father. Rose burst into laughter.
"Richie must be taking lessons from Jack. Charles had a horrible time keeping Jack away from the house when we first came here," Rose giggled.
Jolene smiled brightly. She knew then that she had found a kindred spirit in Rose. They may have had different backgrounds, but their experiences were similar. Both were trapped in a unhappy life, but were rescued by true love.