Matthew Joseph Dawson certainly was not a quiet child, for he screamed constantly for months. When he was around five months old in June, he quieted, and Jack and Rose finally felt at peace. And then the hair pulling started. Jack's hair was in less danger than Rose's, but even his hair was being yanked on. In early June of 1913, Jack was holding Matthew, who was screaming at the top of his lungs. He was a handsome young boy who already looked a lot like Jack. He had Jack's blond hair and his sweet and innocent blue eyes, and even his face was similar to Jack's. And according to Jack, his habits were the same.
"Shh…Matthew, honey, please stop crying…" Jack begged the screaming infant, but nothing worked. How he was going to get the infant to stop crying was unknown to him. "Are you hungry? Mommy isn't here right now to feed you, Matthew, but she'll be home soon…" No use; Matthew was still crying. Jack sighed. "You want to play with Daddy's hair?" Jack lifted him slightly, but to no avail. He sighed, and suddenly, a horrid stench came to his nose and it was clear to him; the child needed to be changed. "Well, you could have told Daddy…"
Jack carried him into the nursery and rested him on the changing table. "I'm not exactly the best at changing, so when Mommy gets home, I'll have her fix your diaper." He did the best that he could, and he was right; he didn't do the best of jobs. Oh, well, he thought, Rose will fix it when she gets home. He picked up Matthew and kissed his face. "Who’s Daddy's good boy?" Matthew was laughing now, and Jack let out a sigh of relief. At least he was happy. Suddenly, the front door opened and Jack heard Rose's sweet voice call for him.
"Jack, honey, I'm home!" she called, and Jack left the nursery to greet her.
"Hi, sweetheart!" Jack said to her, kissing her cheek. "How was the school?"
"Wonderful! The children are the sweetest things!" Rose replied, kissing his cheek and then his lips. "But not as sweet as my handsome little boy!" She smiled at Matthew and lifted him from Jack's arms. "How is my little baby boy? Did you miss Mommy?" The little boy only laughed in response. "I'll take that as a yes! Um…Jack? When was he last changed?"
"Just before you came in, honey."
"Oh, all right…you’re terrible at diapering." The two of them burst into laughter.
"Love you, too, Rose." He was joking, of course, and he kissed her before Rose went to correct his bad diapering job. When she came out, she was alone, and Jack could only assume that she had put Matthew down for a nap. At this point, he was lying on the couch, and when Rose walked into the parlor, she smiled and pinned him to the couch, sitting on his stomach. Jack could only laugh blissfully. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Hoping that after five months of being together, we can finally make love…" she told him, playing with the buttons on his shirt.
Jack smiled gently at her. "I was hoping that you'd ask…" With that said, he gently lifted her and rested her on the couch, crawling on top of her. And he began his work at removing her clothing. Once their clothes were removed, they began to passionately make love.
*****
About an hour later, they were torn from their lovemaking when Matthew started screaming, so Rose grabbed Jack's shirt, pulled it on and went to tend to Matthew. Jack stood, pulled on his pants and stood in the doorway, watching as his beautiful Rose fed his beautiful son. As if feeling his eyes on her, she looked up and smiled.
"You know, it isn't appropriate to look at a woman while she is breastfeeding her babe," she said, smiling.
"Well, it also isn't appropriate to draw a woman in the nude in her fiancé's stateroom," Jack told her, and she blushed and looked down at Matthew again.
"He's such a beautiful baby…I'm so glad that he looks like you, Jack…"
Jack smiled and walked over to her, kneeling down and looking at Matthew as well. "You couldn't have given me a more beautiful baby boy…" Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door and both Jack and Rose looked up. "I'll get it…here, let me have my shirt back." He took his shirt back, pulled it on and buttoned it before going to the door. At the door stood a pretty young woman who seemed to be about Rose's age. She had dark hair.
"Sarah McNash! What brings you here?" Jack asked her.
Sarah smiled flirtatiously, batting her eyes furiously at him. "What, can't I visit an old friend? Jack Dawson, don't you tell me I can't see you anymore!" she said, walking into his house uninvited.
"Uh…why don't you come in?" Jack asked. "Why don't you go into the kitchen? I'll be right there…"
"Oh, but why don't you come with me?" Sarah asked him, unaware of Rose's presence.
"Because, there's a mess in the parlor and I need to clean it up."
"Oh, I'll come with you!"
"I'd rather you not."
"What are you hiding? You've never been this secretive!"
"You want to know so damned badly? My wife is busy feeding our son and we just got finished doing things that are none of your business on the couch and she needs her clothes back!"
Sarah gaped at him. A wife? But…but…he was her Jack! Not some other woman's! And he had a son? He was married with a child? Sarah couldn't believe it.
"Um…if you'll excuse me…I-I have some…stuff to do…" With that said, Sarah quickly left the Dawson household. Jack, who was still leaning against the doorway, sighed and went back to the nursery.
"Who was that, honey?" Rose asked as she was gently rocking Matthew back to sleep.
"An old friend," Jack replied slightly harshly. Rose turned to face him.
"Are you all right? You seem tense…" She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, very gently massaging the back of his neck with her hands.
Jack only sighed. "I'm all right…I have you, remember?" He smiled and kissed her forehead gently before leaving to go upstairs.
Rose only stood there, watching him ascend the staircase. Someone had greatly upset him…she didn't know who, but it was obviously someone of importance.