CHAPTER SIX

It's four days later and the Olympic arrived in New York. Rose and Jack are ready to disembark and get the whold confrontaion with her mother over with. Jack and Rose are now in their suite packing their things.
"Are you feeling well enough to travel Jack? It's a long way to Philadelphia," Rose asks.
"Like I've been telling you for the past four days Rose, I'm fine. I'm not even sore anymore," Jack reassures his wife. "Rose, what is this really about? I mean, you've been on my case about my health before, but you're worse today. Does this have to do with your mother?"
"I just don't know what to expect Jack," Rose sighed. "I mean, what if she died on Titanic? Then what? But what if she's alive....I'll have a lot of explaining to do and you don't know my mother...she's very hard to explain things to."
"Don't worry Rose. I'll be with you," Jack takes her in his arms. "I'll be with you the whole time."
"Thank-you Jack. Thank-you for everything," Rose lays her head on his shoulder. "You've been such a guardian angel for me...even when you didn't even know me."
"But I loved you Rose. Even when I didn't know you. I know that sounds corny, but that's how it was. I always felt like I was missing something...like I wasn't completely whole. But when I met you...I felt complete."
"So did I," Rose looked into his eyes. "I was a hollow shell before I met you. In fact, I was planning to jump off the back of Titanic that very night. But then I wandered off and met you."
"Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, we're disembarking now!" The Steward knocks on the door.
"Well it's time to go my darling," Jack smiled, putting a secure arm around Rose's shoulder. "Let's go on deck and meet Fabri. I can't wait to see his face when he sees the statue of liberty."
Rose just nervously smiles as Jack leads her out of the suite.

They stand on the dock outside of the Olympic. Fabri, Kate, Rose, and Jack all huddle together, saying good-bye.
"Well this is it," Jack puts a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
"I'm a'sure. New York is where I belong. Besides, this is where Kate wants to live," Fabrizio lovingly gazes at his new girlfriend. "You have your Rose and I have my Kate. How do you like that?"
Jack just smiled. "I'm going to miss ya Fabri. We've been through a lot together."
"Stay out of trouble and take care of Rose. That's what you're going to do," Fabrizio laughed. "And I will take care of Kate. We plan to marry as soon as possible."
"Well drop us a line. Here's our address in Chippewa Falls. We should be down there in a couple of months if not in a couple of weeks," Jack hands Fabrizio a card.
"Ciao my friend," Fabrizio gives Jack a quick hug. "Take care of that lady of yours."
"You too Fabri," Jack hugs him back, then he hugs Kate. "Take care of him Kate. He's a good man."
"I will Jack. I promise," Kate accepts the hug.
"And you take care of Jack Rose. He's very special," Fabri hugs Rose.
"I will Fabri. You take care of yourself," Rose feels a tear come to her eyes. She hates saying good-bye. They've become such good friends to her...the first real friends she's had.
"Good luck with your mother Rose," Kate hugs her friend.
"Thank-you."
"Ciao!" Fabrizio waves as him and Kate disappear into the churning crowds of New York City.
"Well it's just the two of us," Rose stares into the crowd.
"Yeah," Jack sounds a little sad. "Just the two of us."
"Jack...I'll miss him too if it's any concilation," Rose squeezes his hand. "But at least we have each other. Right?"
"Right," Jack smiles down at her, then his eyes light up again. "So Mrs. Dawson, how does it feel to back on American soil?"
"Ok I guess," Rose sighed. "Well, I guess it's on the white star office. They should know if my mother had survived. Right?"
"Hmmm," Jack nods. "Come on. I know where it is," Jack pulls her into the churning crowds.

The White Star Offices

Jack and Rose have been standing in line waiting to talk to someone in charge for an hour now. Finally they're up at the desk, ready to find out about Rose's family.
"May I help you?" The man asked.
"Yes. I've just gotten back into the U.S. and I need some information about the Titanic survivors. You see my mother was on that ship and I need to know if she survived or not," Rose hurriedly explained.
"What's the name?" The man asked, taking out a list.
"Ruth Dewitt Bukater. Oh yes, here she is. She's among the survivors. She's now livinv in Philadelphia," the man nods. "Is there anyone else I may look up for you Miss?"
"No thank-you," Rose shakes her head. She'd find out about Cal when she went to see her mother. "Come on Jack."
"How about that Cal fella?" Jack asked curiously, noticing that she hadn't asked about him.
"I'll find out soon enough," Rose answered. "So shall we go ahead and buy a ticket for Philadelphia?"
"We don't have any money rose. In fact, I have to find somewhere safe for us to stay. I don't want us running into anymore Sal and Eds."
"Me neither," Rose sighed, then she remembered her engagement ring that Cal had given her. She certainly didn't need it anymore and they really did need the money. "Jack, I have the answer to our problems. I'll pawn the engagement ring of Cal's. It certainly doesn't mean anything to me. What do you think?"
"I think it's a good idea," Jack smiled. "Let's do it."Phil

The ring was worth two thousand dollars, more than enough for what Jack and Rose needed to get a nice place to stay and two train tickets for Philadelphia.
"Well we're all set," Rose clutched her third class ticket for the train back to her home in Philadelphia. "We'll be leaving at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning."
"So what are we going to wear?" Jack asked a little nervously. Usually he didn't care what the upper class people thought of him, but this was Rose's mother...Rose's whole world. He wanted to make a good impression
"We'll go shopping tomorrow morning before we leave," Rose kissed her new husband and squeezed his hand. She knew he was nervous and so was she. Her mother was not going to be happy when she learned that Rose went and married a poor drifter instead of the rich Caledon Hockley.

"Rose...are you sure a life with me is what you want? I mean...I have nothing to offer you. I really don't. I'm dirt poor."
"Oh Jack, you offer me so much all ready. You offer me love, support, protection, and most of all freedom. That's all that matters," She kisses him gently. "I'm absolutely positive that this is what I want. Besides, we're not dirt poor anymore. We're now a couple of thousand dollars richer."
"Rose, that's your money..."
"It's ours Jack. What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. We're a partnership here," Rose smiled. "Now no more fussing. Let's go find a comfortable place to stay the night."

They end up staying the night at a small inn in the better part of town. The room was small with a queen size bed, a window, a closet and a radio.
"Good night Jack," Rose sighed happily that night as Jack wrapped his arms protectively around her, banishing all thoughts of her mother out of her mind.
"Night Rosebud," Jack smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

The water was freezing as they plunged through it, trying to get away from the mad man with the gun. She clinged to Jack's hand as they ran away. Rose turned back to see Cal shoot another shot.
"Move Rose!" Jack shouted, pulling her along.
"Jack! I can't run anymore!" Rose cried.
Another gun shot. This time the bullet landed right next to her, this gave her the strength to keep going.
"Come on Rose!" Jack pulls her up into a room that was completely dry.
She turns again to see Cal pointing the gun, his face twisted in hatred and defeat. "I hope you enjoy your time together!"

Rose bolts awake, sweat pouring down her face and wetting the shirt that Jack had given he to wear as a nightgown.
"Rose? Are you ok?" Jack asked, waking up himself.
"I just had a nightmare Jack. We were on Titanic while it was sinking and we were running from Cal who was shooting at us," Rose begins to sob. "Jack, why am I having these dreams? This is the second one."
"I don't know Rose," Jack pulls her into his arms. "I don't know. But don't worry. Everythings alright. We never were on the Titanic. We're safe."
But for how long? Rose thought to herself, laying her head on Jack's shoulder. All of a sudden she didn't want to go back to Philadelphia. She wanted to go straight to Wisconsin and pretend she had never known the name Dewitt Bukater. But she knew she couldn't do that. She'd have to face her mother sooner or later and it was better to do so now and get it out of the way.
"I love you Jack," Rose sighed.
"I love you too Rose," Jack held her tighter, wanting to protect her from the world outside. "Want to listen to some music?"
"That would be nice," Rose smiled.
"Jack reaches for the radio and a familar song begins to play. Beautiful dreamer, the song Jack sang to her the day after the wedding.
"Is that better?" Jack puts his arms around her.
"Much better," Rose smiled as she lays her head on his chest as they lay back down.
"Jack, I want you to know that I love you and I'm not leaving your side for anything."
"Same here," Jack squeezed her shoulder. They both fell asleep listening to the familiar tune of come Josephine.

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