FROM NOW UNTIL ETERNITY
Chapter Twelve
After talking a bit more on the
wharf, Jack and Rose decided to go back to Jack’s apartment. They had a lot to
talk about and plan for, and the wharf wasn’t the place to do it. The place was
silent as they entered. Chloe and Carter must have taken the children out
somewhere, much to Jack’s relief. After the argument that morning, the last
thing either Jack or Rose needed was his nosy sister breathing down their
necks, trying to make sure that they weren’t doing what they had already done.
"Do you want anything to eat
or drink, Rose? Chloe has just been to the store, so we have everything right
now," Jack offered as she took a seat on the couch.
"No, thank you. Everything I
eat seems to come back up anyway, so there’s no point." She sighed.
Jack felt miserable. It was his
fault that Rose was in this situation. If only he could have kept his hands to
himself. He was such a screw-up. He could see his parents shaking their heads
in disappointment if they had been there. And Chloe…he didn’t even want to
think of her reaction when she found out. After all the judgmental things he
had said to her and Carter since their arrival…he had done much worse than
running away. He had gotten a girl pregnant, and they were only sixteen! She
was definitely going to love this.
"So, where are we going to
go from here?" Rose stared at him, her green eyes wide and trusting,
making him fall even more in love with her. She was all that he had, really.
Her and the baby.
"I don’t know. We can always
put it up for adoption. Give it a good home with parents that can take care of
it better then we can. We can even choose and meet the people. Or we can keep
it. Raise it ourselves, together. The choice is yours. What do you want to
do?"
Before Rose could answer, Chloe
and the others returned, ice cream in hand. Chloe stopped when she spotted Jack
and Rose on the couch, neither looking too happy. She wondered if Jack had
taken her advice after all. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Rose. She did. She
seemed like a nice, levelheaded girl. But she knew from experience that sixteen
was much too young to settle with one person. Jack needed to explore and grow.
Not settle down, not just yet.
"Rose. Hello," she
greeted, noticing that the teens were holding hands, so maybe her advice wasn’t
being taken. Well, there was only one thing to do, since she was Jack’s
guardian. It was up to her to make sure he was making good decisions. "I’m
glad you’re here. I think the three of us should sit down and talk. Carter,
will you take the twins into the next room, please?"
"Sure." Carter nodded
at Jack and Rose before escorting Lily and Paul into their room.
"Chloe, this isn’t the time.
We’re kind of in the middle of something important here." Jack glared at
his sister, not liking this one bit. She was up to something.
"I just want to talk to you,
Jack. Really, I want to talk to Rose. I think she’d understand my concerns a
bit more." Chloe smiled at the young woman, who stared at her, confused.
"Rose, you know I made decisions when I was about your age that I now
regret. Regrets that could have been avoided if I had just listened to my
parents."
"Chloe, this doesn’t concern
you." Jack glared at his sister, wishing that she would just leave them
alone so they could figure out what to do about the coming baby. Why couldn’t
she see that this didn’t concern her?
"I say it does. You two are
sixteen years old. Much too young to settle down with just one person. You need
to explore and see who else is out there before deciding to see only one
person. Rose, what I’m trying to say here is that I think you and Jack need to
take a break from each other."
"What?" Rose and Jack
looked at Chloe in disbelief. How could she even suggest such a thing? Take a
break? Especially now, with Rose pregnant with Jack’s baby?
"I think you’re way out of
line here, Chloe." Jack glared at his sister. "Take a break? You have
some nerve."
"Jack, I’m just
saying…"
"What, did you take this
break from Carter before you ran away with him? Huh?"
"This isn’t about me and
Carter…well, then again, it is. Jack, you’re too young to settle down with just
one girl. Just like I was with Carter. Everyone saw that all those years ago
except me. And now I see you making the same mistake."
"Rose is not a mistake. She
is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I won’t allow you to come
between us just because you regret getting together with your boyfriend! If
you’re having problems with Carter, concentrate on fixing them or taking your
own break, but leave my relationship with Rose alone!"
"So, that explains your distance."
A cold voice spoke up from behind them. Chloe turned around to face her
boyfriend, who was leaning again the far wall, hurt shining in his eyes. She
immediately regretted her words.
"Carter, no. I…I was just
trying to tell Jack and Rose that…"
"Being with me was the worst
thing that has ever happened to you. Well, I understand. Then again, I don’t.
You were the best thing that had ever happened to me. I thought I meant the
same to you. I guess I didn’t."
"I do. I do feel the same
way, but when we met, I was young. Things could have turned out so much
differently for us than they did. That’s all I’m trying to tell Jack here.
Settling down with one person at a young age is never a good idea."
"Well, it was good enough
for you and Carter, and it’s good enough for me and Rose. Now, if you don’t
mind, I’m taking Rose out of here so we can continue with our conversation
before we were so rudely interrupted. Come on, Rose." Jack grabbed his car
keys and led the way outside, leaving his sister guiltily facing her boyfriend.
*****
Rose and Jack stood outside of
Rose’s apartment building. It had been hours since the confrontation with
Chloe, and still nothing was decided about the baby. All they had done was
drive around town in silence, see a movie, and drive around some more. Now it
was late, and time for Rose to return home.
She sighed, looking hard at the
ground, her thoughts roaming to what Chloe had said. She was right about one
thing. They were both so young. What if Jack felt like she was trapping him
with the baby? Maybe he was just being a gentleman when he told her that he’d
never leave her. She couldn’t be the cause of making him being unhappy. He’d
had enough unhappiness to last a lifetime. She had to make sure that this was
what he wanted…what he really wanted. That he wasn’t just doing it out of
nobility.
"Jack…I’ve been
thinking…about what your sister said. Maybe this break thing is a good
idea…I…"
"What? You’re agreeing with
her? You want to break up now? With the baby?" Jack looked at her with a
mixture of anger, hurt, and disbelief. He couldn’t believe that she was saying
this. He had thought they meant more than this. That they were meant to be
together forever. Why did she want to end it now?
"All I’m saying is…"
"I know what you’re saying.
And if that’s what you want to do, fine, but that’s my kid you’re carrying, and
I will be a part of its life, Rose, and a part of the decision. Neither you nor
my sister can take that away." Jack turned and stormed back to the car,
ignoring Rose’s call for him to come back, that he had misunderstood.
Rose stood outside her building,
hurt, confused, and angry. Jack had blown up at her for no good reason at all.
Maybe a break was a good idea. Maybe they really weren’t meant to be together.
If he could be angry with her after one little sentence, who knew how he’d be
around a child? Turning around to go in, she wished that things were different.
That she was with Jack, happy and carefree. No argument, no baby, just life.
Life as she had once known it to be.