AFTER TITANIC
Chapter Six
Rose was six months along in her
pregnancy. She felt very, very blessed. In addition to that, she also felt
miserable. She had terrible nausea, backaches, and headaches. Her ankles were
swollen and her breasts were sore. What had become of the once slender body so
many had adored? In truth, Rose was not at all fat, even though she thought
herself to be. She didn’t have much of an appetite for one who was in the
family way, and she got a lot of exercise, walking to and from work and such.
But Rose had never looked more beautiful.
But when the bills came, Rose
realized that she didn’t make enough money at the bookstore. Though it saddened
her, she knew she would have to quit her job and find one with better pay, if
she could manage. She spent weeks looking. She couldn’t find any place that was
hiring young, pregnant women. Perhaps, after she had the baby, Meg could watch
it. She knew Meg wouldn’t mind.
And Rose knew what she really
wanted to do--be a nurse. She wanted to help people so much. She wondered, if she
had known how, would she have been able to save Jack? Probably not, but that
thought lit a fire under her and made her think of others before herself. Maybe
if she had enough money, she could afford training and fulfill her dream in
five or ten years. But first she needed to find a good, well-paying job.
The only thing she could find was
at a girls’ school a few blocks from her building. It was intended for the
daughters of wealthy men and their wives, and was a boarding school. Rose had
originally gone there for an interview with the intention of working there as a
maid. But the headmistress, Miss Crawford, had a different agenda.
When Rose came for her interview,
Miss Crawford, a kind but strict woman of sixty, asked, "What education
have you received?"
Rose replied, "I went to a
fine boarding school in Philadelphia for ten years as well as finishing
school."
"But then why are you in
such a dreadful position now?" asked the headmistress.
Rose took a deep breath and
decided to tell her. It was the only way she could get this job. "I lost
everything on the Titanic, including my husband." Rose had taken to
calling herself a widow. It made everything ten times easier.
"My God," said Miss
Crawford. "And he left you with no money, no possessions, and an unborn baby?"
Rose nodded. "And if I hired you, you would have to take time off for your
baby."
"Yes, some, but don’t worry.
My friend will take care of it during the day."
"Nonsense!" Miss
Crawford exclaimed. "There is a nursery here for younger children whose parents
don’t want to bother with them."
"So…I’ve got the job?"
Rose asked.
"Yes, you’ve got the
job," said Miss Crawford. "Teaching."
"Teaching?" replied
Rose. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I think you would be a
fine English and literature teacher. Do you know any other languages?"
Rose nodded and told her she could speak fluent French, Latin, and German.
"Excellent!" said the headmistress. "Our French teacher just
passed, so you can teach that as well. Maybe even tutor some of the children in
their Latin." Rose was shocked. Things were really going her way. Rose
would be making more than double the money she had been before, with the
promise of an annual increase in pay--although it still wasn’t tons of money.
She would start teaching right away, and take and one half months off after
delivering her infant. It would be cared for in the school’s nursery while she
worked, and then go home with its mother.
Rose came home and told Meg the
wonderful news. They took each other’s hands and danced around the room like school
girls. Rose stopped abruptly and held her belly. "It kicked!" she
cried. Rose gripped Meg’s hand and held it where the baby was kicking, both of
them laughing. Rose hadn’t been this happy since she was with Jack. And at the
same time, she was sad, because she was remembering a different time, only six
months ago.
"Think about how proud of
you Jack would have been," Meg said, bringing a smile to Rose’s lips.
"Yes," she said.
"I’m really making each day count. And not just for him. For me,
too."