Chapter Eight: Confrontation

Three days later...

Gretchen and Christina are setting on the loveseat stitching when a finely dressed man and older woman steps into the hallway, both taking in their surroundings and not liking what they saw.
"Are you sure she's in this god forsaken place Cal?" Ruth asked, her voice full of doubt.
"That's what the letter says. Besides, this place does suit Rose. Don't you think with her behavior on Titanic and all," the man nods.
That's when Christina recogniizes him. Caledon Hockley. He had finally arrived to collect his fiancee. She can’t help but grin. Her plan was working perfectly.
"What are you smiling about?" Gretchen asked.
"Oh nothing," Christina looks back down at her stitching.
"May I help you?" Mrs. Bloom comes out of the kitchen to greet the two strangers.
"Yes. We're looking for a young girl with red hair and..." Ruth begins.
"We're looking for Christina Banksworth!" Caledon interrupts. He decided it would be best to do what the letter directed. Just in case Rose really didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be scared away by idle gossip.
"She's right over there sir. Knitting with my daughter," Mrs. Bloom nods over to Christina, who tries to keep her eyes on her stitching.
"What did you do this time Chris?" Gretchen whispered.
"Nothing," Christina simply answers.
Cal is now standing in front of her. "Are you Miss Christina Banksworth?"
"Yes I am Sir."
"You wrote me a letter and now I want to know where she is," Caledon crosses his arms. He wasn't going to beat behind the bush with this girl and if this was a trick to get money away from him, he was going to make her pay dearly.
"Follow me Mr. Hockley," Christina puts down her knitting and gets her coat.
"Chris where are you going?" Gretchen asked.
"To give Mr. Hockley what he wants," Is Christina's answer as she pushes past William entering the house.
"Where is she going with those two swells?" Will asked curiously. "And who are they anyway?"
"A Mr. Caledon Hockley, I don't know who the woman is," Gretchen replied, then she gasps and drops her knitting. "Oh my God Will! That was Caledon Hockley!!! Rose's ex-fiancee!"
Will's eyes grow big. "Rose is home alone too! She had assured Jack that she'd be fine by herself! Come on! I know a short cut!" Will grabs Gretchen and they both head for their car, praying to get there before Caledon Hockley does.

Dawson House....

Rose is setting in her rocking chair with a warm blanket thrown over her legs, reading a book when there's frantic knocking at the door. She sighs as she pushes herself out of the chair and answers the door for Gretchen and William to rush in, frantic expressions on their face. Rose can't help but giggle.
"What's gotten into you two? You look like you've been racing the devil," Rose closes the door.
"Rose, you've got to get out of here now!" Gretchen tries to catch her breath. "They'll be here any minute!"
Rose is confused. "What are you two talking about? Who's going to be here any minute?"
"Cal! Caledon Hockley and some woman! They're on their way here and we came to warn you! Now come on before they get here," William takes her arm just when there's banging on the door.
"Rose?" A all too familiar voice calls out. "Rose?"
"Oh God...it's my mother," Rose's hand slowly raises to her mouth.
"And your ex is with her," William replied.
"What am I going to do?" Rose asked.
"Well...just remember you're not alone...we're here with ya," William squeezes her shoulder.
Rose swallows and nods, thankful that she'll at least have the support of her two friends, one of them being a male. She didn't trust Cal one bit. Who's to know what he'd do when she refuses to return with him. Taking a deep breath she opens the door to her mother and ex-fiancee with Christina standing between them.
"Hello mother," Rose coldly greets. "Mr. Hockley."
"Rose...it is you," Her mother bursts into tears and pulls her into a tight hug. A hug that Rose doesn't return. "My dear...you look a mess."
"Well that's what being left to die in the middle of the North Atlantic does to you mother," Rose glares coldly at the other woman. "Not that you'd care."
"Rose..."Ruth's hand flies to her throat. "How can you say such a thing? I'm your mother. I love you."
"That's a laugh," Rose crosses her arms. "Well I guess I should invite you two in. It's the polite thing to do," She steps aside to let the three people in.
It's Cal who speaks first. "Ok Rose. You've had your fun, now it's time to come home so we can continue on with the wedding plans. I think eight months is enough delay, don't you?"
"For a marriage to you? No time is enough," Rose steps back.
"Come on Rose," Cal tries to grab her arm, but Will steps between them..
"Don't even think about it," William crosses his arms.
"And who are you?" Cal glares coldly at William.
"A friend of the family," Will glares right back. "I suggest you leave right now Mr. Hockley before her husband gets back."
"How did you find me anyway Cal? I mean, I didn't leave any clues to my whereabouts or anything and I doubt you were smart enough to make a connection between Rose Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater," Rose asked.
"Your friend here wrote me a letter, informing me that my recently deceased fiancee was indeed alive and well and awaiting my arrival to come and retrieve her," Cal nods towards Christina.
Rose glares openly at Christina. "You bitch," She coldly replied.
"Chris how could you? I thought you were Jack's friend," Gretchen crosses her arms. "I guess I was wrong."
"I am Jack's friend. That's why I did this. That's why I wrote the letter. Can't you see how wrong she is for him?" Christina defends her actions. "I mean she even killed his baby! How can you call that love?!"
Hurt and pain appear in Rose's eyes and she flees upstairs to her room and locks the door.
"Rose!" Ruth runs up the stairs after her daughter and stands in front of the door where she hears sobs. What a horrible mother she's been. All she's been thinking about all this time has been money and nothing but money. Not about Rose. Not about the sort of pain she's gone through for the past couple of months since the disaster. It was time she made a change and stopped thinking about what was best for her but what was best for her daughter. Help her daughter get through this heartwrenching tragedy. "Oh my poor Rose."
Gretchen stands behind the woman and hears warmth and genuine love of a mother for her daughter. Maybe she could help Rose. Help her heal like none of them were able too...not even Jack. "There's an adjoining door in the nursery. I doubt she thought to lock that. You can go in by there."

Ruth looked at the kind girl, her daughter's friend. "Thank you," The older woman enters the nursery and enters her daughter's room. Rose is face down on the bed, curled up in the fetal position crying her eyes out, tendrils of red curls cover her face. Rose just sets on the bed and puts her arms around her and holds her. She's relieved that Rose doesn't try to push her away.
"My poor sweet Rose. What a horrible tragedy you've been through."
"I killed my daughter mother...I killed her. She was so tiny..."
"Shhh Rose. It wasn't your fault. This type of thing happens to us all...it happened to me. Rose...you weren't my first child," Ruth hugs her daughter tighter. "I was your age, newly married and seven months along with my first baby. It was a sunny day when the labor pains began. I was so scared for the baby. I didn't know if it would live or die. Finally, ten hours of long labor...my son was brought into this world...he had only drawn one breath, then his heart stopped and they couldn't get it to restart. He died. Little Matthew was dead. I buried him in the plot where your father's now buried. I remember you asking me who Matthew was at your father's funeral, but I pretended not to hear you. I didn't want to even think about my dead baby."
Rose had stopped crying at this point and was sitting up looking at her mother with wide eyes. She couldn't believe what she was being told.
"You know...your father never did forgive me for that. After the baby was declared dead, he came into my room and called me a cold murderess. That I should be put away for what I did to his son. Then he stormed out, I guess to visit his mistress Diane. He didn't think I knew about her, but I did."
"Oh mother...I had no idea," Rose wipes away her tears. "Jack...he held me and told me it wasn't my fault. That these things happen and that we'll try again when the time was right. Even though I know he was devastated...he never once showed it or took it out on me."
Ruth smiles warmly. "Sounds like you married a very good man Rose. I'm glad you found him when you did and I'm sorry...really sorry for my horrible behavior. Before and after Titanic. When I saw the ship go down...it was like losing that baby all over again except this time it was worse. I got to know you. I got to watch you grow up into a beautiful young lady and love you more and more each day. I thought I would truly die that night."
"Oh mother," Rose sobbed, falling into her mother's arms and lets her hold her and rock her, til she finally falls into an exhausted sleep. Ruth smiled. She had truly gotten her daughter back...and bonded with her as well. They had something in common now. They had both lost a child.
Ruth sighs as she gets up. She knew what she was going to do once she got downstairs. She was going to inform Caledon Hockley that Rose was not going to be returning to Philadelphia with him and neither was she. She was going to stay right here with her daughter and continue to build a relationship with her. Then she was going to cook dinner...something she hasn't done for a long time now. She finds Caledon setting on the couch, his arms crossed. The girl Gretchen and the boy she's with are standing at the opposite side of the room glaring at the nervously shifting blond.
"I hope you know that Jack will hear of this," Gretchen coldly replies to Christina. "And when he does you can kiss any chance of friendship with him good-bye."
"We'll see about that. I'll just ask him to forgive me," Christina smiled arrogantly.
"Caledon...Mr. Hockley," Ruth spoke up. "May I have a word with you alone please."
He nods and follows her into the kitchen.
"Well, did you talk some sense into her Ruth? Is she packing her things now?"
"For one thing Mr. Hockley, any union between you and my daughter is now impossible since she's married to Mr. Dawson," Ruth begins, but is interrupted by Cal.
"Well get it annulled. It's that simple."
"No it's not Mr. Hockley. Rose is in love with her husband and I'm not going to stand in the way of that any longer. In fact, I came down here to tell you that my daughter will not be returning to Philadelphia and neither will I."
"What?!"
"It turns out that she never loved you and will never will and I was wrong on insisting on a marriage between you two. In fact, I give my sincere apologies and wish you luck in finding a bride that can return your feelings for her."
Cal grows angry and grabs Ruth by her shoulders. "Are you crazy? You promised Rose to me! Not some gutter rat! This is your doing dammit!"
"And I'm undoing it!" Ruth jerks out of his grasp. "Now I'm sorry and would appreciate if you left this house right now. Before Rose's husband get home!"
"You can't be serious."
"I am Mr. Hockley. Now good day!"
"Well I hope you know you're out of the house for good. Don't bother coming back. In fact, I'll send your possessions to you...second class!"
"Fine by me. Good day Mr. Hockley."
Caledon glares at her one more time and storms out of the house, passing Jack on the way out.
"Looks like you won Jack!" Cal hollers. "Enjoy the little slut. She's all yours!" Then he disappears down the street.
Jack enters the house to find Gretchen and Will in a staring competition with Christina. "Was that Caledon Hockley I just saw storming out? And where's Rose?"
"Yes it was," Ruth appears in the kitchen doorway. "He of course was just leaving. Don't worry about Rose, she's upstairs asleep and I was just about to put dinner on. So don't worry about that either. I have everything under control," Ruth grins and disappears back into the kitchen.
"Ok. And that was Rose's mother right?" Jack asked.
"I guess," William replies flatly, still glaring at Christina.
"Ok. What's going on here? The tension here is so thick you can cut it with a knife," Jack stands in the middle of the room. "Who wants to go first?"
"I guess I will since I was the only one foolish enough to actually say she was a friend," Gretchen speaks up. "Jack, Christina here wrote a letter to Caledon Hockley telling him where to find Rose, then she leads him here herself. If it wasn't for William knowing a shortcut, Rose would have been here by herself."
"What?" Jack asked, turning to Christina. "Is this true?"
Christina looks at the floor and nods. She's sure she could get Jack to forgive her anything. She'll get to forgive her for this then she'll come up with another plan that was sure not to backfire. "I thought I was helping Rose put away some of her demons. You know, get her to face up to her past and put it away for good. I thought that it'd be good for your marriage if she got all that stuff out of the way. I'm sorry Jack. I didn't mean to upset her. I really didn't."
Jack's mind is in a daze. All of this was too much. "Ok. How did you figure writing Cal would help my marriage?"
"I don't know. I thought if she was sure that it was over with him and her...that you two would grow closer. How foolish of me huh?" She forces a tear to slip from her eyes. Perfect effect and had worked plenty of other times.

Jack sighed, spoting a tear in her eyes. He couldn't stay mad at her when she felt so bad. And obviously no harm was done. Rose was upstairs asleep and had seemed to work things out with her mother, so something good did come out of Christina's plan. "Well...I guess there was no harm done," Jack shrugged.
Hot anger builds up inside William. He couldn't stand here and Let Christina get away with what she did and he wasn't going to. Jack may be able to forgive the letter, but he'd never forgive Christina for actually accusing Rose of killing that baby.
"Aren't you forgetting something else Chris? Aren't you forgetting that you accused Rose of killing her baby! Aren't you forgetting the part where you sent her upstairs in tears and that it was her mother who went up to comfort her?! Why aren't you telling Jack that part?!" William gets up to her face, that's growing paler at the moment. "That's right Chris. This littlle act of yours is up!"
"What?" Jack stares at her, shock is clear in his penetrating gaze. "Did you say that?"
"Yes she did Jack," Gretchen comes to William's side. "She did say that and she didn't apolagize for it either. I don't even think she's sorry for that."
"Jack listen, I didn't..."
"Get out," Jack calmly points to the door.
"But Jack if you'd just listen...." Chris tries to dig herself out of the hole she had inadvertantly dug for herself.
"Are you deaf Christina? Get out!!! Get out of my house right now or I'll physically throw you out!" Jack yelled.
Christina backs away in shock. She had never heard him get so angry...or threaten physical violence against anyone before. The way he was looking at her now...all that forgiveness...that fondness was gone. He didn't even like her anymore. Any chance she had of getting him back was now gone forever. She had finally stepped over the line when it came to Jack. She had done the unforgivable. She had attacked Rose where she was most vulnerable and Jack could never forgive that.
"And have your bags packed and out of my house by time I return Chris," Gretchen turns to her. "You're no longer welcomed in my mother's house."
"Gretchen...not you too. I can understand Jack turning against me like this, but you...you're my best friend. We've been best friends ever since we were small. Don't let her get between us."
"I'll be home in another hour and if you're not gone by then, I'm calling the police and I'll have you put in jail for trespassing," Gretchen coldly replies.
Christina sniffs. "Ok. Fine. I guess you're happy William. You finally took both my friends away from me. I hope you're very proud of yourself."
"I didn't do anything Christina. You did this all on your won. You should have left things well enough alone," William crosses his arms. "Now do what Jack says and get out now before I help him physically throw you out."
Looking at the three of them one last time, Christina storms out, swearing revenge to herself. She was going to get even with all of them. With Jack for taking Rose's side, with Rose for taking Jack away from her, with William for always getting in her way, and with Gretchen for dumping her like this. She was going to get even with them all! Sooner or later.
"Well I'm glad she's gone," Ruth reappears into the living room. "What a horrid girl."
"Mrs. Dewitt Bukater," Jack turns to the older woman. "I'd like to thank you for being here for Rose like that. I hated that she had to go through that again."
"Don't thank me Jack. It was my pleasure to be there for my daughter. At least one good thing came from this tragedy. I got my daughter back."
"Jack?" Rose appears at the top of the stairs.
"Rose," Jack immediately goes to her and takes her in his arms. "Oh Rose, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here."
"That's okay," Rose smiled, glad to be in his arms, where she felt safe from all the bad things in the world.
"Don't worry about Christina. She won't be coming around here anymore. I promise," Jack holds her tighter, a feeling of foreboding coming over him. Something big was going to happen, but he didn't know what. Maybe now would be a good time for them to take off for Santa Monica. All three of them, he could buy Ruth's ticket. He'll talk to Rose about it later.

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