SWEET INNOCENCE
Chapter Ten
In the morning, Jack and Rose went to school
as usual. They hadn’t encountered Cal at all since Mary’s death. Jack looked at
his friend Fabrizio. He had never seen him so happy. It turned out that he had
been dating Cara for quite some time.
He looked at his math book, trying to
calculate the numbers, but his mind was too preoccupied with Mary. He ended up
falling asleep.
The teacher tapped the desk with a ruler,
waking him up.
"Mr. Dawson, if you cannot stay awake at
school, I suggest you go home." He looked down at him with an angry stare.
"You’re right, Mr. Harrison." Jack
got his books and left the classroom. He left a note inside Rose’s locker,
telling her he would be at home.
He got in his car and went home. He ended up
falling asleep when he got there.
*****
Rose looked for Jack everywhere, but he
wasn’t around.
She opened her locker, and inside was a note
from him.
She read it carefully.
Dearest Rose,
I wasn’t feeling so good, so I went home,
but don’t worry. I will pick you up after school.
Love,
Jack
Rose was worried. It wasn’t like him to be
sick. She saw Fabrizio and Cara.
She hadn’t gotten a car yet, so she asked
Fabrizio for a ride.
"Hey, Fabrizio. Since it’s lunchtime,
can you take me home?" Rose asked.
"Where’s Jack?" Fabrizio looked at
her. She was getting bigger every day.
"He’s home, and I am worried." She
didn’t care about school. She only cared about Jack.
"Sure." Fabrizio took Rose home.
When she stepped inside, he was asleep. She
lay down next to him, falling asleep beside him and covering them both up.
*****
Jack woke up, rubbing his eyes when he
noticed that Rose was there by his side.
He hadn’t expected to see her there.
He lay back down, cuddling next to her. He
still loved her. Nothing had changed that.
Jack went to the medicine cabinet, still
feeling a little off. He noticed there were some painkillers, so he took two
tablets and went back to bed.
He wasn’t ever into drugs, but he felt he
needed them. He never thought that this would affect him as much as it had. He
realized that if he didn’t change soon, he would lose Rose forever. He vowed to
change, wanting to find the old Jack that loved Rose and was happy and content,
but he just couldn’t seem to be like that anymore.
He was turning on the TV when his phone rang.
He answered it.
"Hello. Jack here," he said calmly.
"Hello, Jack Dawson. This is Mary
Whitney, Mary’s mother. I tried locating you. You were there when she died,
weren’t you?" Mrs. Whitney wanted to see the man that had been there for
her daughter during the last moments of her life.
"Yes, Mrs. Whitney. What can I do to
help you?" Jack wondered what this was all about.
"Well, we found some stuff, and it has
your name on it. I was wondering if you would like it." She waited for his
response.
"Yes, ma’am. I sure would." He
wondered what could possibly be his that she had left him.
"All right. Where do you live?" She
noticed that Jack was a very caring man just from his voice.
"I live at 342 Mapleton Drive. Not too
far from Mary’s place," he said.
"All right, Mr. Dawson. I will be there
shortly." Mrs. Whitney hung up.
"All right. See you then." He
wondered what it could be. What could Mary have possibly left him?
*****
Rose woke up to find Jack pacing the room.
"Jack, what’s wrong?" She worried
about him now’a days.
"Mary’s mom called, says she has some
stuff for me. I am wondering what it could be," he explained.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"That must be her." He went to the
door and opened it.
"Hello, Mrs. Whitney. Glad to meet
you." He shook her hand.
"Hi, Jack. Here’s the stuff. I figured
she would want you to have this." She passed him a small box.
He put it down on the table and took the
contents out--a file with his name on it and a few letters addressed to him.
"Thank you, Mrs. Whitney. I appreciate
it." He saw the decorative file with his name on it.
"You’re welcome. Well, I must be
leaving. See you later, Jack." Mary was in a hurry to leave, not wanting
to intrude on Jack.
"All right, Mrs. Whitney. I am so sorry
that this happened. I wish I could have done more," he tried to explain.
"There wasn’t anything that you could
do, Jack. She chose it. You didn’t." She looked at him. Just the thought
of losing her daughter made her cry, but she didn’t show it.
Mrs. Whitney left, leaving Jack alone with
the stuff. He opened the first letter.
It read:
Hello, Jack,
If you’re reading this, something bad has
happened. I never meant to do any harm to you, and I honestly never wanted to
lie to you. I am really sorry that this had to happen. I should have never let
Cal talk me into it. I know there is nothing I can say to fix this, but this
child I carry isn’t yours. You see it’s Caledon’s. He never knew, and I didn’t
want him to know. Is there some way you can ever forgive me?
Mary Whitney
He put down the letter, unable to believe it.
Next, he opened the file with his name on it.
Inside, it had all his personal information and stuff like about his mother and
father and what business the family was in. He wondered why Mary would be into
this kind of stuff. Then he thought it was Cal who had done this all along.
He put down the file and the letter. He was
really upset. Why would Mary do that to him? He no longer felt as guilty as he
had been feeling, though. He felt like a weight had been lifted.
He went over to Rose and kissed her, wanting
to be with her more than ever.
He unbuttoned his shirt, slipping it off and
throwing it to the floor.
"Rose, wake up," he told her.
Her eyes opened.
"What’s wrong, Jack?" She woke up
fast.
"Nothing. For once, everything is all
right." He smiled at her. She was so pretty when she was asleep.
He kissed her passionately. Never had he
wanted her so much as in this moment.
Rose stood up, kissing him and laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked.
"Well, I can’t quite kiss you with this
belly, can I?" She touched her stomach. It had been so long since Jack had
been this way.
"Not really, but I don’t care. You’re
still my Rose." He hugged her.
He lay down on the bed and brought her down
on him. She glowed like a happy woman should.
They ended up making love like wild animals.
Afterward, Jack lay there, so happy he started to smile.
"How is my Rose?" he asked, content
with himself.
"Good. Very good." She lay there,
satisfied. "Jack?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"What came over you?" She wanted to
know, because something definitely had changed.
"All I can say, Rose, is that I am free.
For once, I see everything clearly, and Cal is not gonna get away with
this." He would make sure.
"With what?" Rose was curious.
"Mrs. Whitney brought some stuff for me,
and…well…there were a few letters and a file. Mary confessed everything. The
child wasn’t mine, after all. It was Caledon’s." He got up, holding her
next to him.
"Oh, my God. Cal always wanted a child.
Why would he convince Mary to say it was yours?" She remembered that when
he was with her he had always wanted to have a baby.
"Not unless he didn’t know," Jack
said.
"Perhaps." Rose hoped he didn’t,
for his sake.
"Anyway, let’s get some rest. We have a
lot to do tomorrow," Jack told her as he kissed her on the forehead.
"Yeah, you’re right. I am so glad you
are feeling much better." She held him to her, never wanting to let go.
"Me, too." He lay down and fell
asleep the rest of the night.