4

Rose awakens early the next morning to a empty bed and the smell of bacon and eggs. Yawning tiredly she slips downstairs and is surprised to see Jack cooking.

"You can cook?" Rose raises a eyebrow.

"Of course. I had to learn to when I left home and had to take care of myself," Jack laughs at Rose surprise.

Rose smiles and shakes her head. What else is there that I don’t know about you?"

"You’ll just have to find out," Jack shrugs. "I’m just full of surprises."

"Well I’m glad one of us knows how to cook. I can’t even boil water. Even thought I never was expected to know how to do that sort of thing. Mother was abdamnant about having a cook for cooking and a maid for cleaning," Rose shakes her head. "There’s so much I’m going to have to learn."

"You’ll learn it Rose. Don’t worry," Jack smiles reassureingly just as Lisa enters.

"Oh good you’re cooking breakfast. Wish I had known. I would have stayed in bed longer," She yawns.

"You stay in bed long enough girl!" Butch Dawson push his way pass his daughter. "Jack what are you doing? That’s woman’s work."

"It’s not when you live by yourself and cooking is your only option for a decent meal," Jack shrugs. "Living out there has taught me a lot."

"You should let your wife and Lisa take over," Butch crosses his arms.

"Oh daddy let Jack do what he wants. I’m grateful for the break. Besides, I needed a break," Lisa kisses her father’s cheek.

"Well how about another break. Your cousin in law here can fix lunch while us men go work on that shed outside."

Rose pales. "Me? Cook?" She looks at Jack who only shrugs.

"Uh…that may not be a good idea," Jack intercepts.

"And why not boy? Doesn’t your woman know how to cook?"
Rose and Jack just share a apprehensive look. "Not all that well."

"Well then Lisa can help her this afternoon. It’s time you both became useful around here," Buth huffs.

"I say making breakfast is useful," Lisa lifts her chin. "Saves me some work."
"Shut up girl. Don’t talk when not spoken to," Butch glares at his daughter.

Rose looks at Jack quizically. She guessed things on the other side of the tracks weren’t all that different from first class life after all.

Later that day, before Jack left to help with the shed, Rose and Jack spend some alone time together. Rose is freting about helping with lunch.

"Jack I’m going to burn everything! I know I will! I don’t know how to cook to save my life!" Rose paces the floor.

Jack stills her by placing two secure hands on her shoulder. "Rose you’ll do fine. Have some confidence in yourself. Plus Lisa is going to be helping, so it’s not like you’re going to be on your own."

"But Jack…"

"Shhh, you’ll do fine," He kisses her tenderly, pulling her closer in a tight embrace. She sighs and lays her head on his shoulder.

"You’re the only person who’s ever believed in me like you do," Rose sighed.

"That’s because I see all that great potential you have Rose. You can do anything you set your mind to," Jack kisses the top of her head. "Don’t let anyone tell you different."

"Jack! Come on! We want to finish half of this by lunch!" Butch’s gruff voice floats through the door.

"You be careful Jack," Rose kisses him.

"Hey if I survived below freezing waters I can survive this," Jack laughed, kissing his wife. "I’ll see you at lunch. And don’t worry. You’ll do fine. In fact walk down with me. Lisa’s probably waiting for you."

Rose nervously nods and follows Jack down stairs where Lisa, Butch, and Vic are waiting.

"You do know carpentry don’t ya Jack?" Vic asked.

"Of course," Jack nods, looking at Rose, noticing her nervous expression. "You can call me a Jack-of all trades."

Rose couldn’t help but giggled at the joke that was purposely directed at her.

"Ha ha. Come on funny guy," Butch holds the door open. "We’ll be back in three hours. Have lunch ready by then."

"Yes daddy," Lisa nods. Five minutes later, Rose and Lisa are in the kitchen. Lisa is showing Rose where everything is when there’s a knock at the kitchen door. Lisa opens it to reveal a man with black hair and brown eyes. He looks nervously at Rose then back at Lisa.

"I thought you said it was ok to come over," The boy whispers.

"Of course it is. Rose will be cooking the lunch while we’re upstairs. It pays to have a sister in law.

Rose pales. Lisa was going to leave her to do this alone? But she thought she was going to help. "Lisa? We’re supposed to be doing this together," Rose stammers.

Lisa rolls her eyes and giggles. "Oh Rose don’t be a stick in the mud. It’s only lunch. You can handle that by yourself while I’m busy with Dan here."

"But lisa…"

"You’re a real sport Rose. Thanks. Come Dan. Upstairs in my room," Lisa and the man named Dan leaves a mortified Rose alone.

What was she going to do now? She didn’t know the first thing about cooking. She had thought Lisa was going to be here to help, but instead she was upstairs…having relations with another strange man. One would say rose had room to talk, because she had done the deed in the back of a renault with a man she barely knew. But that was different. She knew she loved Jack and was going to spend the rest of her life with him. He was her first, her one and only. Lisa seemed to enjoy the company of a assortment of men.

She sighs looking around the kitchen. What was she going to do? Go to Jack? Tell him what happened? Then what? Lisa will hate her for getting her in trouble. Hot tears spring to her eyes. She’s at a loss at what to do. If lunch wasn’t prepared, Jack’s uncles will be mad. Rose looks at the refridgerator, leering at her, taunting her, letting her know what a failure she was. Burying her head in her hands, she sobs, not knowing what else she can do.

Two and a half hours have passed, and Jack grew concerned. Lisa may be a little much for Rose. It’d be a good idea if he went to check on her. Turning to his uncles, he said as much and headed back to the house. He enters the kitchen back door and finds Rose in tears, nothing was prepared and Lisa was no where in sight.

"Rose? Rose sweetie what’s wrong? What happened? Where’s Lisa," He kneels down in front of her and removes her hands from her face to reveal read tearstained eyes. "Have you been setting here all this time crying?"

"L-Lisa had a male visitor. After you left. She went up there with him and hasn’t come back down. She said I can handle lunch," Rose hiccuped. "I’m sorry Jack. I didn’t know what to do." She bursts into renewed tears.

"Shhh Rose. Don’t cry. It’s going to be alright. I’m going to kill Lisa though, dumping this all on you without warning," Jack’s eyes flash with anger. "I’m going to have a long talk with her."

"Jack…don’t…I don’t want to get her in trouble."

"I won’t yell ok. It’ll just be between me and her. Now stop crying. I’m here, I’ll take care of everything ok. Now let’s see. We have a half hour to have something prepared. Let’s see what we have in the refridgerator," Jack opens the refridgerator and looks in. "Let’s see, we have cheese, butter, bread, and soup. I got it. Rose this is quick and easy and it’s the first meal I ever learned to make and you’ll be a hit with it."

"Jack?" Rose looks at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I’m going to teach you how to make grilled cheese and tomato soup. It’s simple. Come on, I’ll show you. Your first lesson in the Jack Dawson school of cooking."

Rose had to smile at his bright grin. He always knew how to brighten the most gloomiest day. How to make a bad situation seem small. "Ok. Professor Dawson. I’m all yours," Rose gets to her feet.

A half hour later, Jack’s uncles come tiredly stumbling in to the delicious smell of piping hot tomatoe soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Since Lisa had yet to make an appearance and Jack was angry with her deserting Rose like she did, they only made enough for the five of them.

"Where’s my daughter," Butch gruffly asked, as Rose took her seat next to Jack.

"Uh…she wasn’t feeling very well. So I told her to go on up and rest. She said not to bother making enough for her since she didn’t feel like eating," Rose covers quickly. She was so used to lying to her mother and Cal that thinking up a lie to cover Lisa was second nature.

"Hmmm," Vic nods. "Rose you’ve outdone yourself. This is the best grilled cheese I’ve ever eaten. It’s more buttery than most."

"Old family secret," Rose looks at Jack. "We fry them in lots and lots of butter." It wasn’t a lie. Jack was her family now and it was his idea to use a lot of butter to fry the sandwiches in.

"But the best thing to do to make it even better," Jack takes a piece of Rose’s sandwich and dip it in her soup. "Is to dip it in your soup and enjoy." He feds the dripping piece to his wife who giggles.

"Newlyweds," Butch grumbles, rolling his eyes.

"Well Rose, I can’t wait to see what’s for dinner," Butch wipes his mouth as he finishes his soup.

Rose looks at Jack with panic in her eyes. Jack speaks up for her. "Spaghetti and sauce with garlic bread and salad."

"Jack," Rose hissed.

"Trust me," He whispers just as their’s a knock at the door. It was Ronald Flintstine.

"What do you want boy," Butch glares at the man that had shown interest in his daughter. He disapproved because Wilma would have a fit if she knew his precious boy was interested in Lisa.

"J-Jack. I came to visit Jack. It’s been a long time," Ronald stammers.

Jack gets up. "Ronald hi!" Jack greets happily.

"Jack make it quick. We still need your help outside," Butch glares at his nephew, not liking that Ronald had another excuse to come to his house.

"I just came over to say welcome back Jack," Ronald looks a the ground. He was really there for Lisa, but he didn’t want her father to know that. When he saw Jack, it was a logical excuse.

"Thanks Ronald. Is that all?"

The other man nods. "I guess I better go. Ma doesn’t like me coming over here at all."

"Ronald wait…I need you to do something for me," Jack quickly grabs his arm. He was going to have Rose do this, but it’d be better if Ronald did it."

"What?" Ronald asked suspiciously. Five years ago, before Jack left, Jack would come up with these schemes that would get him in trouble. He wondered if these were one of those schemes.

Rose comes up and takes Jack’s hand.

"Don’t worry this won’t get you in trouble," Jack laughed at the memories. "I just need you to do me and Rose a favor. Especially Rose."

Ronald looks at Jack’s lovely wife. She was the most beautiful girl he’s seen. Jack was lucky to have found her. "Ok. For Rose, what do you want?"

"I need you to go to Mrs. Lavery and ask her to come to the Dawson residence. Rose needs her help ok."

Ronald nods. It sounded easy and safe enough. "Alright. Fine. See ya around Jack."

"Thanks Ronald," Jack smiles as the young man walks away.

"Jack…what’s going on? And why did you tell them I would cook spaghetti? I don’t know how to cook that?"

"Because we have the ingredients. And don’t worry, Mrs. Lavery will show you how to cook it. Don’t worry Rose. I’ve taken care of everything."

"Oh Jack," Rose hugs him tightly. "I love you so much. You’re always pulling me out of trouble."

"I love you too Rose," Jack smiled, kissing his wife passionately.

"Jack! Come on! We have a lot more work to do!" Vic called impatiently.

"I better go. Don’t worry Rose. Mrs. Lavery will be here soon to help."

Rose kisses him one last time before he walks out the door to joins her uncles. She sighs happily, wondering what she had done to deserve such a wonderful husband. Little did she know that her past was going to rear it’s ugly head that afternoon.

*

Mrs. Lavery arrives that afternoon, a newspaper from New York city clenched in her hand. She wondered what did the young Mrs. Dawson need her for? Of course the young couple had a lot of explaining to do after what she had saw and read in the newspaper. She was going to get those answers before she offered any of her help. She liked Rose, but she didn’t like secrets. The newlyweds obviously had their fair share.

"Mrs. Lavery!" Rose greets as she opens the door to the knock.

"Rose call me Betsy," The woman nods. "Ronald said you needed me."

"Oh yes. You see…I…"

"Rose I hate to interrupt," The woman steps deeper into the house. "But I have some questions that only you can answer I’m afraid. You see the demand on more information about that liner that sank a couple of weeks ago has been through the roof. Newspapers were selling out. So my husband thought it a good idea if we special ordered some papers from New York. Just our luck, the issues they sent us was a special section of the victims. We looked through the paper and there were tons of pictures and articles. Imagine my horror and surprise when I see the picture of the new wife of my daughter’s best friend. Except the girl’s name in the picture is Rose Dewitt Bukater and she had supposedly gone down on the Titanic. She was the young fiancee of the son of a steel Tycoon. A Caledon Hockley."

Rose goes pale. This couldn’t be happening. "May I see the article?" She asked, her voice weak.

"Sure," Betsy hands the girl the paper. Rose opens the paper and gasps. There she was. It was the picture at the gala last year when Cal had announced their engagement. Caledon has his arm around her waist, proud of his trophy. Rose looked less than thrilled and she was. Try horrified. She hadn’t hated Cal back then, but she didn’t like him either. Marrying him was the last thing she wanted, but as always her mother guilted her into accepting his proposal. "The resemblance is amazing and the fact that you both have the same first name…"

Rose closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to keep her composure. She looks at the door, wondering where Jack was when she needed him. "I don’t know what to say."

"How about the truth dear," Betsy kindly said, noticing the haunted look in Rose’s eyes as she was remembering her past, before and during Titanic.

"Would you like to set down?" Rose motions for the couch. No one notices Lisa come down the stairs she stays at top of the stairs, curious. She had come down for something for her and her lover to eat, but she had a feeling this was going to be a lot more interesting.

Betsy nods and sets on the couch. "Do you know the girl in the picture Rose?"
Rose takes a deep breath and nods. "Yes I know her. I know her all too well. I used to be her."

Betsy nods. "I thought as much. Mind explaining why your fiancee thinks you’re dead and you’re here married to Jack?"

Rose swallows. "Well…my maiden name is indeed Rose Dewitt Bukater and last month I was in engaged to Caledon Hockley. Betsy…it’s a long horrible story…something I can’t find the strength to go through right now, especially now without Jack, because it’s his story as well. But I will tell you this. I met Jack on the Titanic. He stopped me from jumping off the back of the ship. Told me a story about falling into Lake Wissota and how cold the water was. Practically scared me into coming back over. I slipped, but he managed to pull me back over. You see, the reason I was trying to kill myself was that I didn’t want to marry Cal but at the time there was no way out. My father had left a lot of debts when he died and my mother didn’t want to be a seamtress so she sold her daughter off to the highest bidder. I was going to end it when Jack told me not to do it. We spent time together and we found ourselves falling in love. I had told Jack I was getting off the ship with him when the ship hit the iceburg. We went through the sinking together. We ended up in the cold waters. He made me promise to move on no matter what. When the boat came back…I thought Jack had died, but he hadn’t. He was so weak…but he was breathing. I got the boats attention and we were rescued. On the Carpathia, when asked our names, we said Jack and Rose Dawson. We hid out from mother and Cal, and when the Carpathia docked, we disappeared into the churning crowd. The next day we were married and after a couple of weeks decided to return to Jack’s hometown. That’s not the full story, but a close enough account to explain why I’m not married to Caledon Hockley but to Jack Dawson."

"Oh you poor dear," Betsy shakes her head. "I’m sorry. I never meant to bring up such sad memories. The sinking….going through that…it must have been horrible for the both of you."

"It was. But Jack and I were together and I knew as long as we were everything would be ok. I love Jack Betsy…with my whole heart. I never met anyone like him before. He saved my life more than once."

Betsy smiles gently. "Of course you love him dear. Maybe someday, when you both are ready, you can share the full story of what happened. But for now that will do."

Rose smiles. "Thankyou. You’ve been so kind to me since I got here…I’ll never know how to repay that."

"Darlin’ you don’t have to repay nothing. I love Jack as if he was my own son. I’m so glad you’ve made him so happy. I never seen him this happy before."

Rose smiled.

"Now tell me, what was it you needed my help with?" Mrs. Lavery lays the paper down on the couch.

"Well as you may guess, I grew up pampered. I know nothing about cooking. I was a stroke of luck that Jack returned early and showed me how to make grilled cheese. But now they want me to cook dinner and I have no idea what to do. Jack said to make Speghetti with sauce and garlic bread. Of course he can’t help this time, so he wanted to ask if you’ll show me how to make it."

"Why of course dear. I’ll be happy to show. Come, let’s start. It’s getting late and they’re be returning in another hour. Don’t worry, this doesn’t take long to make at all," Betsy guides the younger woman into the kitchen.

Lisa comes out of her hiding place and glides to the couch where Betsy had left the paper. It was opened to Rose’s picture. "Well well. Looks as if our newlyweds have a secret." She tilts her head looking at the picture. The girl in the picture was definitely a souped up version of Rose. She knew there was something about her. She looks at Cal and sighs. He certainly was a handsome fellow and had a need for a new fiancee. She smiles. That would be a perfect way to escape this drab existence. Instead of bedding these small town men who she knew would never marry her, she can land this grieveing millionaire. But how can she go about it? She looks to where Rose disappears and smiles as a plan forms in her head. Soon she’ll be going from Lisa Dawson to Lisa Hockley if she played her cards right.

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