12
It was two weeks
after Jack’s memorial. Rose stood on
the Dawson porch, watching the sun rise, reminding her of the time Jack had
shown her how to fly on Titanic. She
closed her eyes, still hearing him sing come Josephine to her.
She had even began to hum the song, bringing the memory even closer to
her.
“Mrs. Dawson?” A
timid voice asked, causing the memory to dissipate into nothingness. She opened her eyes and glared into a pair
of nervous brown eyes encased in framed glasses. It was Jack’s friend Frederick.
The one they called horn-eyes.
She remembered his offer two weeks ago of sharing more stories of
Jack. But she couldn’t bare to hear
them now. Not with the memory of her
time on the bow still so near, yet gone.
“May I help you?”
She asked, looking at the man like he had two heads. She knew she was acting unfriendly. But it was early in the morning and the sunrise had made her miss
Jack immensely, plus she was hungry.
She hadn’t eaten yet.
“Um…my ma…she wanted to invite you and Mrs. Brown
to dinner tonight. She makes a right
perty roast,” Frederick smiled, trying to seem confident and sure of himself,
like his friend had once been, but of course he failed miserably. Frederick sighed in resignation. He was not sure and confident like the other men about town. He was meek and a push over. Like he always been.
“Why we’d love to
come,” Molly stepped out of the house, a huge smile on her face. “And maybe you can tell us some of those
stories. That’s ok with you, isn’t
Rosie?”
No. It wasn’t all right. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a
stranger’s house and be bombarded with questions about Jack or hear stories
about Jack. She wasn’t ready for that
yet. Not when the very essence of him
was still with her. “That’ll be fine
Molly,” The long suffering lady of high society spoke up. “I can’t wait to hear all the stories about
Jack. I’m sure they’re quite
interesting.”
“You’ll be over
around six then?” Frederick asked, his brown eyes shining with anticipation.
Rose weakly
nodded, afraid her voice would betray her displeasure.
“Very well. I’ll tell ma. Good day ladies,” Frederick tipped his hat and went back the way
he came. As soon as he was out of
sight, Rose turned on Molly.
“Would you mind
explaining why you did that? Why did
you set up that appointment without consulting with me first?”
“I did consult
with you Rosie,” Molly turned and went into the house, closely followed by a
livid Rose.
“No you
didn’t. Not really. I couldn’t possibly say no after you
accepted and right in front of him.”
“What’s going on?”
George and Samantha came down stairs.
“Rosie’s mad at
me. I accepted a dinner invitation for
the both of us,” Molly answered. “Rose,
I accepted it because it’s time. It’s
time that you began what we came for.
To find out more about Jack so you’ll have something to tell your child
when it’s old enough.”
“I was going to
Molly…in my own time…”
“Darling, by time
you got to it, the child would be having children of it’s own.”
“Molly…you’re
right. I do need to talk to them about
Jack…but I can’t. Not now. I don’t know why…I guess I’m scared. I feel like I’m losing him. That by talking about him, and sharing him
with others…I’ll lose him.”
“Oh Rose,” Molly
pulled her friend into her arms in a comforting embrace. “You’ll never lose Jack. He’ll always be with you and this
child. And those memories you’ll be
hearing will keep him alive. Trust me,
you’ll be glad you did this.”
“You’re
right. It’s time to stop mopeing and
get to listening. I better go pick out
a dress to wear. I’m sorry for my
behavior Molly. Yelling at you was
uncalled for.”
“Don’t be sorry
darling. I understand, you’re
hurting. Now go and get things ready.
And then come back down for breakfast.
It’s not good for the little one to go without food.”
Smiling one last
time at her friend, Rose darts upstairs to get ready for the evening’s
activities.
~*~
Rose and Molly returned home that night in good spirits. Frederick and his mother was a plethora of stories about Jack. They had confirmed what Rose had always known. Jack was a fun, mischievous, loving, caring, loyal person. He had lit up the lives of everyone he touched. He was a man Rose was proud to say was her baby’s father and hoped that her child grew up to be just like him.
“Well…did you two
find out what you wanted to know?” George asked, putting down the paper he was
reading.
“Quite a man your
cousin was,” Molly nodded. “Quite a
man.”
“He was more
wonderful then even I knew,” Rose sniffed back a tear. “I think I’ve fallen even more in love with
him then before.”
“I told you Jack
was something out of this world,” George sadly smiled, getting up to hug
Rose.
“Well Rose, I’m beat. I’m going upstairs to bed,” Molly yawned. “Big day tomorrow, since we’re be returning
to Denver.”
“What?” George
frowned. “You’re leaving?”
Rose nodded. “It’s time George. We’ve intruded on your and Sam’s hospitality long enough. It’s time we moved on.”
“But Rose, this is
your home more then it’s ours. You have
every right to stay here. This is that
baby’s legacy. Please stay. Don’t go.”
Rose’s heart broke
at the pleading sadness in George’s
eyes. She knew why he wanted her to
stay so badly. This child was his only
link with his late cousin. If Rose
disappeared, so would the link with Jack.
She was going to have to reassure him that she planned to have him be a
big part of the child’s life. No matter
where they called home. “George…you
don’t understand. If I stay here, I’ll
be breaking my promise to Jack. He made
me promise to go on…to live life with out him.
To do all the things we’ve talked about and more. As much as I love it here…as close as I feel to Jack just by
being here…I can’t break that promise because I loved him too much to do
so. But I promise, no matter where I
am…or what I’m doing, you will be a part of this baby’s life. You’re the only family this child has on
it’s father’s side and I want it to know you.
Understand?”
George nodded,
wiping away his tears, trying to cheer up for Rose’s sake. It wouldn’t do for him to make her feel
worse then she did already. “We’ll miss
you Rose. You’ve became a fixture
here. A part of the family. Whether you were married to Jack or not.”
“Rose’s eyes
widened. “Excuse me?” How did they guess?
George
laughed. “It’s simple. Jack and I had made a promise. When we
found the woman we were going to marry we’d get each other’s approval. Well I had kept my end of the bargain. Jack had met Sam a year ago. But Jack had never even sent a picture of
you. And you know Jack. He never broke a promise.”
“Oh George,”
Rose’s voice was full of tears. He knew
the truth, yet still, he was still accepting her into his family. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say nothing. Both Sam and I know that if Jack had not
died, you’d be on his arm right now, prancing around town, making wedding
plans. So in a way, you are family and
that’s the way you’ll remain.”
“Thank you,” Rose
hugged him tightly. She was truly going
to miss both him and Sam. “Thank you so
much.”
“You just keep
that child healthy and tell it all about Jack.
And bring it here for holidays as well.
We do plan to see you at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“You got a deal,”
Rose sniffed, wiping away her tears.
“Now come. It’s time you get to bed. You have a early train tomorrow,” George
escorted her to her room.
That night,
Rose had a wonderful dream. It was Jack and her’s wedding day aboard the
Titanic, spiritually being wedded.
“I’ll be with you
forever,” He whispered before she awoke with the sun streaming through her
window.
~*~
“Now don’t
forget to write and send pictures when the little one is born,” Sam wiped away
her tears.
“I won’t
forget. Thank you. For everything. From all three of us. Me,
Jack, and our baby.”
“It’s the least we
could do for family,” George grinned.
“We love ya Rose. Don’t forget
that. If you need anything at all, just
give us a call.”
“Thank you,” Rose
wiped away her own tears. She really
hated to leave, but she had a promise to keep and she was determined to keep
that promise.
“All Aboard!” The
conductor called.
“Hurry Rose! We must be going!” Molly called, boarding
the train.
“Good-bye Rose!”
Both George and Samantha hugged her one last time and watched her disappear
into the train.
Rose sat at the
window, watching George and Samantha grow smaller as the train pulled out of
the station, leaving both Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls behind. She faced forward, trying not to think of
all the memories she was leaving
behind.
“Don’t worry
Rosie. You’ll see them again,” Molly
squeezed her hand.
“I know. I just hate leaving…but I had no
choice. I had a promise to keep,” Rose
sighed, examining her pale hands.
“To make each day
count,” Molly nodded.
“Yes. To make each day count,” Rose looked up
towards the sky, knowing that Jack was looking down on her with pride. She was keeping her promise. No matter what. The train continued on it’s journey to Denver, just as Rose was
continuing the journey of life. No
matter what happened, or how hopeless things seemed. She was going to go on and make sure that Jack had not died in
vain.