It was seven years and nine months after the sinking, and Jack was sitting on a bench in Central Park drawing a picture.
Meanwhile, Jackson and Jackie were walking along the streets. They were at the entrance to Central Park.
"I believe the man is here," Jackie said. "At least, that is what the Jack part of my heart is telling me."
"What about the ie?" Jackson asked.
"Nothing. Let's go," Jackie said, eating a piece of bread. Both seven-year-olds walked into the park. They saw many of their friends and many fathers.
Jackson and Jackie walked past a playground and watched all the little children running around. There was a little boy around age five and a girl around age four. They ran into each other, bumped their heads together, and started to cry. The twins saw two fathers run over, pick them up, and rock them back and forth. They saw a few other children hugging their fathers and their fathers hugging them back. Jackie and Jackson saw a few baby carriages being pushed along in the park and a few fathers stop to pick up the babies, start making funny noises, and feed them with bottles. The twins listened to all the fathers with babies in their arms, trying to sing lullabies. After a few minutes, most of the cries stopped and the fathers put them back in the carriages and moved along or continued reading newspapers or talked to other fathers. Jackson and Jackie heard a few ‘I love yous,’ and ‘I love you, Daddys.’
"I wonder if we'll find him," Jackie said.
"I don’t know," Jackson answered. "His name is Jack Dawson, right?" Jackie nodded. "Well, let's ask around. Let’s start with that man over there!" Jackson said, pointing to a man on a bench with a newspaper. The twins ran over to him.
"Excuse me, have you seen or do you know a man called Jack Dawson?" The man shook his head and went back to the newspaper.
"He's still in the park. Just on another bench," Jackie stated as they walked away. "I love the cold!"
"I hate the cold. And there are a million benches. Can you tell which one he's on?" Jackson asked.
"Nope. There are a lot of people named Jack, Jackson. Let's just look," Jackie said as they walked away.
Rose
Rose was sure that the twins were in Central Park. It was their favorite place to go. She walked into the park and looked around. There were many children running around. She had no idea what Jackson and Jackie were wearing. She saw some of their friends in the park. Maybe they knew.
She asked a few of their friends. Most answered that they hadn't seen them. Others said they were seen, but they had no idea where they had gone.
Rose got quite scared. In New York, there a quite a few bad people and one never knew where they were. She prayed for the twins to be safe and come to her--or go home.
The Twins
Jackie and Jackson looked around for a long time. They had been looking for seven hours and six minutes. After looking for so long, they sat on a bench and sighed. "We'll never find him here," Jackie said. A man who looked like Jackson, only with a different nose, looked at them. The twins looked back.
Jack was a little confused. They had obviously started running, as little children tended to do, and lost their mother or father. Jackie just looked between the man and her brother. Something about them made her smile on the inside.
He stared at them. It was strange. The wide eyes that were looking at him mirrored his own. The boy looked like him and the girl looked like Rose and himself.
Jackie was about to ask Jack something when a voice rang out. "Jackson! Jackie! Jackson Thomas Dawson! Jackie Satine Dawson!" Rose rounded the corner, grabbed each of her children by the hand, and whirled them around. “Never run away like that again! Do you hear me? You could have gotten kidnapped! You gave me a heart attack."
"Mom, we had to find the stranger here," Jackson said.
"I do not care. I told you to never talk to them, ever," Rose said.
Only when she let go did she stand up, saying, "I’m sorry, sir--"
Then she saw who she was talking to. Her voice trailed away. Jack grinned.
Rose, aware of her daughter and son’s presence, threw her arms around him and hugged him every bit as hard as she had just squeezed her daughter and son.
When she pulled away, he leaned in to kiss her, but she put a hand on his mouth to keep him from doing so. She tilted her head towards Jackson and Jackie, who was staring at their parents.
A wistful expression came over Jack’s face. He looked at the twins, then said to Rose, "Who’s…?"
Rose could have laughed out loud. He thought she was married? "Yours."
A smile broke out on his face again. "Are you kidding me?" She shook her head and he hugged her again. After they broke apart again, she said, "This is your father."
There was an awkward silence. Then, Jackie said, "I thought you said Daddy died."
Rose breathed out. She looked up at Jack, who had a much more serious expression on his face now. "I did, too," she replied, looking back at the girl. "It’s getting late, and you need dinner and bed."
"It took seven years, seven hours, and seven minutes to find Dad. Seven-seven-seven. The lucky numbers!" the twins said.
The Apartment
They went back to the apartment. Jack looked around while Rose made dinner for the twins. The seven-year-olds were yawning as their mother took their plates away.
When they were finally asleep, Rose’s strong exterior for her children broke down. She kissed him hard, then hugged him with all her strength, tears streaming down her face.
When he was able to see her face, he brushed her tears away and asked, "Rose, why are you crying?"
"For seven years, I thought you were dead! Dead, gone, frozen at the bottom of the ocean! I thought I was going to be a single mother my whole life! I thought I was alone! I couldn’t go on. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t do it! I broke my promise!"
"Rose," he said, trying to calm her down, "you didn’t break your promise. You kept it and had Jackson and Jackie. And I’m sorry for putting you through that. Don’t blame yourself, all right?"
Rose nodded and kissed him again, holding onto him like he was going to disappear.