May 25, 1912
Rose woke up early on the morning of May twenty-fifth, which was Jack's birthday.
Jack slept until noon.
Rose had a wonderful surprise for him today.
Molly and Ruth were coming to Chippewa Falls from Denver, and Rose had planned a big birthday party for him at his parents' house.
Jack told her that all he wanted for his birthday was her, but she didn't listen.
Liz and Brian had stayed up late last night, working on the decorations for the party.
Molly would be there at three o'clock, and the party would start at 5:30.
Rose had to distract him, from when he woke up, to the party time.
Cora heard Rose get up around eight o'clock AM, and went in the kitchen to see her.
"Mommy, do you want me to help make breakfast?" Cora asked.
"Well, good morning, dear. Sure. You can go get four eggs out of the icebox," Rose said.
"Okay."
"Want to help me bake the cake and cookies, too?" Rose asked.
"Yeah! I'd love to! I will be the tester!" Cora said, Rose laughed.
"All right. That's fine with me. We need to make it before Daddy wakes up, okay?"
"Okay," said Cora.
So they spent their morning baking, and just before Jack woke up to the smell of cookies, they left to take the cake and cookies to Liz and Brian's house.
"Rose has something up her sleeve," Jack said, as he looked for her.
Jack found breakfast on the table, and he began to eat.
Rose got back about twenty minutes later.
"Good morning, honey," she said, right before their lips connected.
"Good morning, angel," he said, and kissed her back.
"Hi, Daddy!" Cora said.
"Hello, Cora," he said, as he gave her a hug.
"So, did you two have fun baking this morning?" Jack asked.
"Um...yeah...we had fun making breakfast this morning," Rose said, cautiously.
"Oh, well, that's good," he said, knowing that she wasn't telling him something.
"Well, Jack, is breakfast good?" she asked, trying to get the look of guilt off of her face.
"Yes, it's excellent, honey. I was thinking, maybe we should have a picnic today, and you and Cora can make some cookies," said Jack, with a grin on his face.
"Well...um...I'm really not in the mood for a picnic today, Jack. I was thinking we could go to Eau Claire. It's not too far from here," she said, trying to cover up her plans.
"If you insist. Well, I need to talk to Dad. I'll be right back," he said.
"Um...NO! I mean...no...he went to town this morning, before you woke up."
He knows something. Gosh, I wanted this to be a surprise! Rose thought.
"Ah...all right. Let me get ready, and we will go to Eau Claire. Be right back," he said.
Man, she is a sneaky one! She has to be planning a surprise birthday party for me. I guess I'll have to act surprised. Or maybe I can act sick. Ah HA! Good idea, Dawson! Then she'll tell me.
He came back out when he was ready to go.
"All right. Let's go!" he said.
They borrowed his parents' car, and headed to Eau Claire.
"Where in Eau Claire do you want go?" Jack asked.
"Um...downtown. That sounds like fun! We can go there."
"All right, then. Next stop, downtown Eau Claire," Jack said, in a mock British accent.
Rose giggled, almost silently.
In about ten minutes, they were in downtown Eau Claire.
They went into several shops. Rose found a swing that held two people, and she absolutely fell in love with it. Jack had enough money, so he bought it.
He also bought some supplies to build a swing set for Cora.
"Daddy, can I help you build it?" she asked.
"Why, of course you can," Jack said.
When they left, it was 2:45, and Rose was driving.
"Rose, where are we going? You just passed up the turn back to Chippewa Falls," Jack said.
"I know. I know. You will find out soon enough where we are going. Trust me," she said.
"All right. I trust you," he said, nervously.
At 2:55, they were at the train station, where Molly and Ruth were waiting.
"Rose..." he said, acting disappointed.
"What? They wanted to come," she said, with an innocent look on her face.
"Tsk tsk tsk..." he said, teasing her.
They drove up to Ruth and Molly.
"Well, Jack Dawson. Happy birthday, son," Molly said. "Hi Rose, Cora. You two better be taking care of this old man here." Everyone laughed.
"Hey, Ruth, how are you doing?" Jack asked.
"Just fine, Jack, and you?"
"I'm great."
"Well, that's wonderful," Ruth said.
Ruth, Cora, and Molly sat in the back, and Jack and Rose sat in the front seat.
"Rose? Do you mind driving to the house. I'm not feeling that well," Jack said.
"Uh...yeah...sure."
Dammit! Everything is going great with the party, the guests, and everything! Why does he have to get sick? Today out of all days!
When they got home, it was 3:45.
Jack went straight to bed, acting like he was sick.
Molly, Ruth, and Cora went to Liz and Brian's to help organize things.
Rose went into she and Jack's room.
"Jack, are you all right?"
"My head hurts. That's all."
"Jack, I'd better come clean with you."
"What is it, Rose?"
"Well...um...I...I sort of planned a surprise birthday party for you. Don't be mad. I just tried to get you away from your parents' house so they could finish up the decorations."
Jack started laughing, and Rose gave him a questioning look.
"Rose, I'm sorry. I pretended to be sick just to get you to tell me. This morning I woke up because I smelled cookies. So...since you wouldn't tell me, I thought that I should get it out of ya myself. I'm sorry."
"Why, Jack Dawson! You made me feel bad, and you were just trying to get the surprise out of me. I guess you won't get your present tonight."
"Aw, Rose, come on. Please?" he begged, with a cute puppy dog look on his face.
"Well, all right," she said, as she went over to the dresser.
She had given Brian some money to go get Jack some art supplies for his birthday.
She walked over to him, with the art folder, nicely wrapped, behind her back.
"Well, after you tricked me, I don't know if you deserve this," said Rose, jokingly.
He smiled, and then she handed it to him.
His eyes lit up when he saw it.
"Oh, my God, Rose. You know I told you not to get me anything," he said.
"Well, Jack, you saved my life. It's the least I could do," she said.
"Well, you saved me, too, but we shouldn't get into that. Thank you, Rose, so much."
Jack stood up, and kissed her passionately.
"I also have a surprise for you later tonight," she said, with a mischievous grin forming on her lips.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really. I think you will like it a lot, too," she said.