Chapter Three: A day at the Lake

"I made you two a nice picnic to go with ya to the lake," Gretchen emerges out of the kitchen, a large picnic basket in her hands. "Being by that water makes you hungry."
It's the next day and Rose is in the sitting room waiting for Jack to arrive. She still can't believe that last night was real. It all seemed like a hazy dream...a wonderful hazy dream. the engagement ring on her finger was proof that it wasn't a dream. That Jack was indeed alive and well and wanted to marry her as soon as possible.
"Are you sure you and William can't join us?" Rose asked.
"Positive. He's working at his pa's shop today, so he's busy. Besides, this is you and Jack's day. A day for you two to be alone and get reacquainted with each other," Gretchen shakes her head. "You two have fun today. After all you've been through, you deserve it."
Rose was just about to insist that Gretchen join them when Jack rings the bell. Mrs. Bloom answers the door.
"Why Jack Dawson. This is a surprise," The woman smiled, always happy to see the kind Dawson boy drop by, something he hasn't been doing lately.
"Oh no, we haven't told mother," Gretchen slaps her hand over her mouth. "She's going to be in for a surprise."
"Hello Mrs. Bloom. Is Rose ready yet?" Jack asked, smiling as he sees Rose appear in the hallway, along with Gretchen.
"Rose?" Mrs. Bloom asked confused. "What would you need with Rose?"

"Good morning Jack," Gretchen interrupts the conversation. "Mother, don't be rude. Invite Jack in. He and Rose are going to Lake Wissota today and I've made a nice lunch for them."
"What?"
"Sorry Jack, I forgot to tell her last night that Rose was your long lost fiancee and that you two found each other again last night and that the wedding is in a couple of weeks," Gretchen quickly explained in one breath.
"I don't understand," Mrs. Bloom furrows her brow.
"It's a long story," Jack smiled. "But the important thing is that I found Rose again, and I'm not letting her get away as easily again."
"So you're the someone special she's been moping over and I presume you're the father of the baby too."
"Yes mam. You see it happened on the night before our wedding. I talked her into it. I figured why wait since we were going to be married anyway," Jack quickly came up with a story. "I wasn't expecting a iceberg to delay our wedding."

"Iceberg? Oh my, you two were on the Titanic weren't you?" Mrs. Blooms eyes widen in shock. "Oh you poor dears. You must have been put through the ringer."
"I thought Rose was dead and she thought I was dead...it was a mess," Jack agreed. "But now I've found her, and I'm going to make sure we don't spend another day apart."
Rose was silent during this exchange. Jack was a master at thinking on his feet. Basically he was trying to free Rose of any blame her condition had brought upon herself. But it wasn't Jack's fault. She was the one who demanded to be taken to the stars. She had to rectify the matter. But before she could open her mouth, Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.
"We better be going now. We got to get down to the lake before it gets so hot that we won't be able to get there," Jack smiled.
"Don't forget your lunch," Gretchen holds out the basket. "And have fun you two."
"We will," Jack waves, pulling Rose along behind him after accepting the basket. The two Bloom women watch them leave.
"They do make a cute couple," Mrs. Bloom smiled. "I think Jacklyn whould have liked her."
'You mean Mrs. Dawson?" Gretchen turned to her mother.
"Of course dear," Mrs. Bloom steps back as she closes the door.

Jack and Rose are making their way down to the lake. Both are silent. It's Rose who speaks first.
"Jack...why did you lie to Mrs. Bloom like that? The Renault was my idea, remember? I'm the one who demanded to be taken to the stars," Rose stares at the ground.
"Because it was my fault Rose. I didn't have to take advantage of you like that. I was very wrong for doing that. I should have respected your modesty."
"Modesty? Jack, you saw me naked. By that time there was no modesty between us," Rose laughed and blushed at the same time.

"I wonder whatever happened to that drawing. That was my best work ever. I wish we kept it. It could have gone in the Chippewa Fall's art collection for local artists. I have a couple of drawings in there, but that one would've been a masterpiece."
"Jack!" Rose exclaimed, playfully punching him in the arm. "So much for respecting my modesty."
"Come on Rose. We're here," Jack leads her down to the huge body of water where other couples are gathered around swimming and laying on the blankets. Enjoying each other's company. "The infamous lake wissota."
"Oh Jack!" Rose exclaimed at how blue the water was. As blue as Jack's eyes. "It's gorgeous. I love it here."

"So what do you want to do first my love," Jack asked, wrapping a arm around her shoulders.
"I just want to set here for a while," Rose replied, kneeling down into the cool grass and letting the serenity of the water calm her. "It's so calming here Jack. You must have come down here all the time as a kid."
"Every other day actually," Jack sets next to her. "But I stayed away ever since I came back. When you set here by the lake, you think too much and all I could think about was you and how I allowed you to die."
"Jack..." Rose tries to interrupt. "What happened...it was my fault not yours. I let go of your hand and letted you sink into the ocean. I should have made sure you were dead instead of assuming you were just because you didn't answer me. I'm sorry."
"Oh Rose, I'm glad you did let go. I mean, if you hadn't you probably wouldn't have been rescued and we both be dead now. But everything worked out in the end. Neither of us are dead and we're going to be married in a couple weeks," Jack squeezed her hand. Plus we're going to be parents in four months. So what else could we possibly want?"
"I just can't wait til the day I wake up next to you and know that we'll never be apart again," Rose lays her head on his shoulder.
"Me either Rose," Jack said, looking into her eyes. Rose is immediately drawn in, setting closer as she gently kisses his lips, savoring the all too familiar taste of him. It felt so good being in his arms again after all this time. She never wanted the moment to end.
"Rose...," Jack pulls away from the kiss. "Did you ever hear from your mother or Cal again?"
Rose furrows her brow. What made him bring them up? "No. I never got in touch with mother after I got off the Carpathia. I avoided them and disappeared into the crowd. Why do you ask? Did you see them or something?"
Jack nods. "I saw your mother, but she didn't see me. She was in the infirmary one day looking for you. The poor woman was in hysterics."
"Oh."
"Rose...are you ever planning to talk to your mother again? I mean...it'd mean a great deal to her. I'm sure it would," Jack strokes her hair.
"Never Jack. I never plan to get in touch with her. I bet those tears you saw were fake, or maybe she was crying because her meal ticket was dead. I don't know, but I do know that I never want to see her again," Rose turns her back to the lake. "You know what she was concerned about Jack when the ship was going down? She was concerned that the lifeboats would be too crowded. Can you believe that?"
"Rose...I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," Jack sighed.
"Jack...what's bringing all this on? Why are you now an advocate for my mother?"
"Rose...It's just that...I lost my mother at a young age and I miss her a lot. There's times when I really needed her talks or her hugs...even when I was out on the road. But Rose, your mother is alive and I think you should at least make amends with her sometime in your lifetime...before it's too late. Don't do what I did Rose. Don't wait until she's gone to tell her how you truely feel."
Tears roll from Rose's eyes as she looks at him, his own eyes filled with unshed tears at the thought of his mother. She had no idea he felt this way about his mother...how he missed her. He was always so happy go lucky. She places a gentle hand on his cheek and look deeply into his blue eyes. "Jack...for you I'll think about getting back in touch with my mother. But not until we're safely married. Ok? But I'm I'm only doing it for you. Because you want me to."
Jack just smiled and takes her hand. "Fair enough. Thank-you rose. I just want don't want to see you make the same mistakes I did. That's why I'm talking to you about this."
"I know. But let's change the subject now. I'm starving. Let's see what Gretchen packed us," Rose smiled, opening the basket Susan packed.

Two hours later...

Jack and Rose are now laying in each other's arms beside the lake, looking into one another's eyes, thanking God that they were there together. The past few months had been pure torture for them both.
"Jack?" Rose sighed.
"Yes Rose?"
"I love you."
"I know," He smiled. "I love you too. Maybe even more."
Rose smiled, then directly on impulse, she gets up and heads for the water. "Let's go swimming!"
"Rose wait!" Jack called, looking around at the now deserted lake. "We don't have any swimming clothes!"
"Let's go skinning dipping!" Rose called, already shedding her shoes.
"Rose! Wait! It's October! The water's too cold!" Jack runs after her, thankful that the other couples had left.
"Not colder than the North Atlantic I bet!" Rose called. "Come on Jack!"
Laughing Jack gives in. He takes off his shirt as he runs after her. One minute later they're in the water and in each other's arms. "This is crazy," Jack laughed.
"I know. That's why I trust it," Rose kisses him again.
Swept away in passion, they make love right there in the lake, ignoring the cold water that they had already adjusted too. The lake was indeed warmer than the waters of the North Atlantic.
One hour later they're back on shore, laying in one another's arms.
"Where ever did you become so impulsive," Jack grinned, stroking Rose's damp hair.
"From the master of impulsiveness," Rose grinned. "Jack, you don't know what you've unleashed on Titanic."
"I think I do," Jack smiled, kissing her again. "And I must say I like it."
Rose laughs and kisses him even deeper. They never stop. They go to the stars once again.

Five hours later...

Jack and Rose are gathering up their things to leave the lake. Rose breaths in the scent of the lake once again. Today was a dream come true for her. She can't remember how many times her and Jack had either made love or just layed together in each other's arms. But she did know that they had been touching in some way for the past nine hours. It was like they couldn't get enough of one another.
"Oh Jack, this has been such a wonderful day," Rose sighed, hating to see it end. "I hate to end it."
"Who says this is the end? Rose, today's not over. In fact, I have more planned for us to do at my house, which we're on our way to now. So just relax and enjoy yourself," Jack grinned, lightly kissing her.

A half hour later they're at the Dawson Place. Jack directs Rose to just set the picnic basket on the couch and wait in there for a second. Ten minutes later he beckons for her to enter the dining room with a table set for a candle lit dinner for two.
"Oh Jack...You shouldn't have," Rose sniffed. "How did you ever do this while you were with me the whole day?"
"William's mother came over and fixed the dinner and setted it up. Surprised?" Jack asked.
"Very," Rose nods.
"Come. Let's set," Jack takes her hand and leads her to the table.
"Because it just came back to me...how I've missed you the past six months...Oh Jack...I wish these past six months never happened...that we were together."
"I do too Rose. But that's the past. We're together now and that's all that matters," Jack kisses her hand. "Now stop crying. This is supposed to be a night of happiness, not tears."
Rose just smiled at Jack's words. There was no words to describe how she loved him. No words at all. All she knew was that she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that they'd never be apart again.

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