LIFE AFTER JACK
Chapter Sixteen
When Jack and Rose got to Caitlin
and Michael’s house, they asked which room was theirs. Caitlin told them that
they could have a room upstairs, first door on the right. Jack carried their
bags up to their room. When Rose walked into the room, it took her breath away.
"Jack, this is the most
beautiful room I have ever seen," Rose said. "Look at this couch. It
looks almost like the one I lay on when you drew me that night."
"You’re right, and we have
the necklace back…" Jack said to Rose before she interrupted.
"Would you--Jack, would you
draw me again?" Rose asked Jack.
"Of course," Jack
answered.
Rose went into the bathroom with
her robe. She came back out with a dime in her hand, just like she had three
years earlier. Rose let the robe fall off of her shoulders. Jack told Rose to
lie down on the couch, and she did. Jack got his pencil and paper out and
started drawing Rose. Rose lay as still as possible because she wanted this to
look exactly like the original drawing. It took Jack about twenty minutes to do
the drawing, but to Rose, it felt like hours. She got up and kissed Jack. Even
though Rose’s belly was starting to show a little bit, Jack had made it look
like the one in 1912.
"Jack, when are we getting
married?" Rose asked.
"Well, when do you want to
get married?" Jack asked Rose.
"Would tomorrow be too
soon?" Rose asked Jack, smiling.
"Of course not. Tomorrow it
is, then," Jack said.
Rose and Jack went downstairs to
announce that they were getting married the next day. Caitlin asked her if she
could be the matron of honor. Jack told Michael that he could be the best man.
Michael graciously accepted. Rose and Jack went up to their room to go to bed.
When they got up there, there was a beautiful picture that popped out at Rose.
She had not seen it earlier. She walked over and touched it. "Monet,"
Rose whispered. It was just like the painting she had had on Titanic.
*****
Rose and Jack awoke the next
morning and got in the bathtub. It took them about an hour to get ready. They
wanted to look perfect for their wedding. Rose had already been up that
morning, crying over Opal, thinking that she would have loved to see her and
Jack getting married.
"Jack, we don’t have
rings!" Rose cried.
"Well, we will stop by the
jewelry store and get them," Jack said.
Rose, Caitlin, Michael, and Jack
stopped at Elmer’s Jewelry Store. They picked out the prettiest, cheapest rings
they could find. They headed for the chapel down the street. When they got
there, they told the preacher they were looking to get married. He agreed to
marry them. So, they all walked into the church. An organist started playing
the traditional wedding tune. Rose walked down the aisle, smiling at Jack.
"Do you, Jack Dawson, take
Rose Dawson to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer
and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"Do you, Rose Dawson, take
Jack Dawson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer
and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"I now pronounce you husband
and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Jack kissed Rose like he had
never kissed her before. They ran out of the church, laughing and smiling. Rose
had not thought about it, but she realized that this was her birthday. She was
twenty-one.
"Jack, today is my
birthday!" Rose exclaimed.
"Well, happy birthday!"
Jack said. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"Well, we could go to an
opera or we could go to a play," Rose said to Jack.
"A play would be fine,"
Jack said.
They went to the local theater
down the street and saw a play called My First Day in New York. It was
about a young immigrant coming to America. When she got there, she found the
love of her life. Jack and Rose went back to Caitlin’s house and went up to
their room. They talked for hours before they finally went to sleep.