CHAPTER FIVE: A New Life Begun

Jack and Rose have just returned to Chippewa Falls and are unpacking their things. Especially Rose had all her belongings to unpack and put up.
"Rose...you're still happy aren't you?" Jack asked, looking over at her, afraid that she might be regretting marrying him already.
Of course I am Jack," Rose laughed. "Listen, I'm going to draw a bath. Do you want to join me?" Rose seductively asked, just as there's a knock on the door.
"I will in a second. Just let me answer that," Jack points down the stairs.
"I'll be waiting," Rose smiled, moving into the bathroom. Jack watches her disappear into the next room then runs down the stairs to open the door.
His mouth drops open when he finds his ex-girlfriend Christina Banksworth standing at the door. Her eyes light up with joy when she notices it's him that opens the door.
"Hello Jack," She greets, her blue eyes shining with relief. "Long time no see."
"It sure has!" Jack's shocked expression turns into a open grin. "How've you been?"
"Not too good, but that's life. Right? Gotta take what it throws at ya," Christina grins again.
Jack just nods and notices his manners. "Well don't just stand out there. Come in. Tell me what you've been up too," Jack pulls her into the house.
Christina glances around the house and notices a brand new portfolio laying on the table. She can't help but wonder what happened to the portfolio she had given him for his birthday three years ago. But she wasn't going to ask what happened to it. If he was going to forgive her, she had to forgive him too. Whatever happened to the portfolio...it must have been serious.
"Well...Samuel dumped me a couple of days ago. So I just came home...where I knew people and they knew me. I decided that was best."
"It worked for me," Jack shrugged.
"Jack...I need to tell you something. I need to apologize for what I did to you. For leaving you there in Santa Monica. It was wrong and Samuel wasn't worth it. He ended up dumping me in the end. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"
Jack's silent for a couple of minutes before answering her question. "Of course I forgive you," Jack smiles. "Not that there's anything to forgive. Leaving me for Samuel was something fate had intended. Everything happens for a reason. To be truthful Chris...I forgave you a long time ago."
"Really?" She tries to keep the delight out of her voice but seems to fail at it.
Jack nods.
"Oh Jack!" Chris throws her arms around him in a tight hug. Everything was going better than expected. She didn't even have to do that much begging. "Oh thank you Jack, thank you. This means so much to me."
"Well I'm glad," Jack pulls out of the hug. "You haven't been beating yourself up over that all this time have you?"
Chris doesn't answer. Of course she hasn't but it's best for him to know that she has...make her apology seem even more heartfelt, not that it wasn't but this would have a lasting effect. She slowly nods and casts her eyes to the ground. She was a great actress.
"Oh Chris...you shouldn't have," Jack shakes. He does something she wasn't expecting. He squeezes her shoulder...as if she was just a good friend he was giving moral support too, not a long lost love. Where was the warm hug she was expecting, the words filled with his undying devotion? Why wasn't his gaze filled with heated passion?
"Jack...I was wondering...do I still have a..." Christina begins but is suddenly interrupted.
"Jack! Where are you! The water's getting cold," a stunning red head comes down the stairs, her cascading curls bounce as she comes down the stairs. She looks up and notices Christina standing there. "Oh we have company. I'm sorry. How rude of me."
"It's okay Rose," Jack immediately goes to her and takes her hand to lead her the rest of the way downstairs. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Christina Banksworth. She's a old friend of mine. Chris, this is Rose Dewitt Bukater Dawson. My wife."
"Your wife?" Christina balks in shock. She looks Rose up and down and notices her pertruding stomach. She must be with child. Six months along to be exact.
"Yeah, we were married yesterday afternoon," Jack smiles adoringly at his new wife. He had never once stared at Chris that way.
So that was the wedding. Everyone in town had gone to see her life get flushed down the drain. "H-how long did you two know each other?"
"A year," Jack quickly speaks up. "We were going to be married six months ago, but unforeseen circumstances made us delay the wedding."
"Oh I see," Christina nods, trying to wipe the shock off her face. "Well it's nice meeting you Rose."
"Rose just smiled. Christina looks at her again. She was of course a society girl. Only a society girl would have a name like Dewitt Bukater. From Philadelphia society by her accent. Christina already didn't like her. Not because she wasn't a nice person, but because she has ruined her plans. She had gotten to Jack first. If Rose wasn't there...she knew Jack would have taken her back. She just knew he would have.
Suddenly there's a knock at the door.
"Ladies let me get that and I'll be right back with you," Jack goes over to the door just for Gretchen and William to come barging in.
"Jack we need to talk!" Both say in unison. It's Gretchen who notices Chris first. "Oh Christina...you're already here...with Rose and Jack...in the same room."
"You sound worried Gretchen," Christina goes to her friend. "Whatever can be the matter?"
"Gretchen just looks at the floor, her face filled with guilt for not telling Christina that Jack was getting married.
"What's wrong Chris? Aren't you glad to see that Jack had found himself a real lady this time?" William stands face to face with her.
"I'll make some tea," Rose uncomfortably replied, disappearing into the kitchen.
"Does she know how to make tea Jack?" Christina asked.
"Of course she does. What a stupid question," William snorts.
"You two stop it!" Jack interjects. "Listen, this is Rose's first night in this house and in her condition...I will not have her upset by you two constantly throwing barbs at each other. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Jack. I"m sorry," William apologized. "I'll be civil for Rose's sake."
"Good," Jack nods and brightly smiles once again. "Well don't just stand there. Set down!" Jack waves everyone over to the living room.

"Jack is that a new portfolio?" William picks up the brown prortfolio. "Oh wow and it's made of real leather too."
"It was a wedding gift from Rose. My other one...well it's not with me anymore," Jack guiltily replied, remembering that it was Christina that had given him the portfolio that was now laying at the bottom of the North Atlantic.
"This one is a whole lot nice than your old one anyway," William places it back on the table. "Now you can really draw. A picture of Rose and that baby will be real nice to hang up over that mantle there. A new generation of Dawson's."
"Have you thought of names for the baby yet?" Gretchen asked curiously.
"Well we were going over names for a boy a week ago. We're thinking about naming it Jonathan Nicolas if it's a boy. After my and Rose's fathers. We don't know what we're going to name it if it's a girl. Rose is thinking about Hannah Margaret, after my mother and a friend of ours," Jack explains.
"Tea's ready," Rose reenters, carrying a tray with five steaming cups setting on top.
"So Rose," Christina clears her throat. "Where are you from...in fact, you look sort of familar."
"Philadelphia," Rose sets next to Jack, who immediately takes her hand.
"From high society by the looks of it," Then it hits Christina where she had seen Jack's new bride from. She remembered last year, Samuel had dragged her to a Philadelphia dinner party for his schoolmate Caledon Hockley, who was announcing his engagement to a Miss Rose Dewitt Bukater. But this girl couldn't be her. Rose Dewitt Bukater died on the Titanic, so said the society pages. "You wouldn't happen to be acquainted with a Caledon Hockley would you?"
Rose immediately goes pale and Jack gazes at the ground. "Why would you think I knew a Caledon Hockley?"
"Oh I don't know. It's just that your maiden name is th same of his now deceased fiancee. So sad. He had taken her and her mother on Titanic to get home from a tour of Europe and the ship sinks, taking her with it. No one knows why she didn't get on a lifeboat."
"Maybe because she was running to something a lot better than marrying that swell. Word has it that that Hockley fellow was an unimaginable bastard," William comes to Rose's defense. "I suggest you drop the subject."
"It's just friendly conversation Will. That's all," Christina turns to him. "I was just telling them about the poor man's lost. He was devastated to lose someone he loved so much."
"Love? Caledon Hockley doesn't know what the word love means. All he cared about was his money and reputation. He didn't love me, he loved the reputation marrying me would have given him!" Rose angrily stands up. "Do don't feel too sorry for the man who had went to disgusting lengths to save his own hide!" Rose storms back upstairs.
"Rose wait!" Gretchen goes after her.
"What did I say?" Christina asked, already knowing why Caledon Hockley hit a sore point with Rose.
"I better go check on her," Jack flately replied, heading for the stairs.
"Jack," Christina stands to go after him, but William stops her. "I think you've done enough damage here. I suggest you go home," WIlliam snorts.
"I didn't do anything. I was just making conversation."
"Yeah right. I don't believe that for a minute Chris. You're jealous and when you're jealous you're mean and that was a very mean thing you did bringing up that Cal fella."
"I didn't know she knew him...in fact, she's supposed to be dead. I'm sure Mr. Hockley would be ecstatic to know that she had survived the disaster."
"He won't know Christina. Rose doesn't want him to know. You say you care about Jack, but you're threatening to tell the man who tried to kill him on a sinking ship where to find his wife. What is that?"
"I don't understand."
"It's a long story. It's up to Jack and Rose to tell it, not me. But leave Caledon Hockley where he is...in Philadelphia. Do I make myself clear?"
"Tell Jack I said bye. I'll see him later," Christina turns and leaves, leaving William looking after her, a worried glare in his eyes. He knew that she was up to no good and he had to talk to Jack about it...let him know that he can be expecting a visit from Mr. Hockley any day now.
Christina angrily lays on her bed and just thinks. How dare this happen to her? How dare Jack get married when she need him most? How dare that Rose Dewitt Bukater steal him away from her like that? Didn't they know that things supposed to go her way? That she's supposed to be the one coming out on top? Christina sighs and flips over on her back to look up at the cieling. Oh what was she thinking? This was her own fault. Jack would be hers right now if she had never left with Samuel. But now he had found someone else. Someone prettier and nicer, and of course richer. How did they get together anyway? Why would Rose dump someone as rich as Caledon Hockley for a poor guy like Jack? Maybe she needed a chance to reconsider her decision. Be given a second chance to return to her life as a society belle, on the arm of one of the richest men in the country. Leaving Jack and maybe the baby she's carrying to Christina.
Christina had never really thought of herself as a mother, but for Jack, she'll give it a go. Yes, that was a perfect idea. But how can she get Rose to reconsider her decision to leave her old life behind?
Then the idea strikes her. Oh yes. That was the perfect idea. Getting out a pen and a sheet of paper, she begins to write, a smile coming over face. Soon Rose will be out of the way and Jack will be hers. She was sure of it. But she was going to wait to mail the letter. Wait until the right time. Of course that'll mean patience, but as the saying goes, all good things come to those that wait and if she waited long enough, she'll have a ready made family waiting for her.

HOME

CHAPTER INDEX

CONTINUE