ALL THE WAY
Chapter Eleven

Thanksgiving Week, 1926

Jillian Dawson sat looking out her bedroom window at the beach below her, thinking about a million different things at once. Her father's cousins were coming to their house today. Jillian had never met anyone, outside of her parents and brothers and sister, that she was related to. She wondered what they were like. And she wondered if they would like her. She wasn't like most ten-year-old girls. Jillian would rather sit down with a good book or go to a play than sit around and play dolls. She did like playing dress up, though, but that stage was fading quickly. She hoped there would be something the twins, Theresa and Marie, who were her age, would want to do together.

Jillian was also thinking about her parents. They had been acting odd lately, especially her father. It was his cousin. Why should he be nervous? Jillian wondered. And her mother was fussing around, cleaning every single room in the house from top to bottom. Rose hated cleaning.

Jillian sighed and hoped that all of this would pass quickly. Her mother was not very much fun when she was tense and nervous, and her father didn't talk much. And besides all that, they kept giving each other secretive looks. Once, Jillian had caught Rose saying something about the boat, whatever that was. They had stopped talking about the boat when she had entered the room a moment later.

"Jillian Margaret Dawson! Please come down here right now!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed tiredly when she heard her name. And not just Jillian. Her full name had been used, which usually meant something had happened and she was responsible. Geez, what did I do this time? she wondered, and she got up and straightened her dress out. She sighed once again, and then started out of her room, making sure to close the door, walking quickly downstairs to the kitchen.

When she entered the room, she found her parents standing against the counter tops. Her siblings were lined up like soldiers across from Jack and Rose, looking scared and nervous.

Jillian shot Michael a look that said, What did we do? He just shrugged and opened his eyes wide. She ran over and took her place between Michael and Luke, so that everyone was lined up according to age.

Rose and Jack just stared at their children for a moment, causing fear to enter the hearts of the younger members of the family. The four children held their breath, wondering what was to come.

Finally, Rose spoke up. "First of all, none of you is in trouble." There were four individual sighs, and Rose almost smiled. "We are here to talk about what we expect from you while our guests are here. First of all, there will be no back-talking, arguments, complaints, etc. Michael, if I hear about frogs in beds, mud in shoes, causing people grief, you will be in big trouble. Jillian, you are to play with the two girls. I do not want you sneaking off to meet your friends by yourself. If you go, you must take the twins. Luke, you will do what I tell you when I tell you to do it. And the same practical joke restraint applies to you as it does to Michael. And Danielle, I don't want any complaints about baths or eating dinner. And sweetie, you have to share your things with the other kids." She stopped and looked at her children. "Everyone understand that?" They all nodded in unison.

Jack stepped in after that. "Now, as for sleeping arrangements...the twins will be in Jillian's room, Alex in Luke's room, and Debbie will be either in Danielle's room or with her parents, who are going to sleep downstairs in the guest room. I expect all of you to include the children." He looked at them sternly. "Your mother and I had better not hear about you ganging up on them...especially you and Jillian, Michael." He eyed his son closely. "I want you all to make our family welcome. They are our guests. Treat them as you want to be treated."

"Can we go now?" Michael asked, annoyed that this was taking so long. He sighed heavily.

"One last thing...no burping, spitting, any bodily noises that are not appropriate," Jack said, trying not to laugh himself.

Rose smiled at Jack and then at the children. "You may go now," she said to them. Michael quickly ran off to find a slingshot he had been playing with. He had to hide it before his parents found it. Jillian went upstairs to think some more, still puzzled by her parents' behavior. And Luke and Danielle went back downstairs to finish the game they had been playing.

Jack turned to Rose after everyone had gone, and raised his eyebrows. She just smiled and leaned against him.

"How is my beautiful wife this morning?" he asked softly into her hair.

Rose pulled away and looked at Jack. She was confused by what he just said. "Why are you being weird?" she asked.

"I'm not being weird," Jack defended himself. "Why?"

"Well, usually that phrase is followed by how did you sleep or Rose, I've got bad news." She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was up to. "So what's going on?"

Jack sighed and wrapped his arms around Rose. "I guess I am just nervous," he confessed. "I haven't seen Sarah Kate in years. I've changed a lot. What if she thinks I am boring or something?"

Rose laughed softly. "You're not boring, Jack," she said, halfway teasing him. "Seriously, it's not like you've changed that much. And I bet she's changed a little, too. No one stays the same forever. You guys were fifteen when you last saw each other. Darling, from what I've heard, you were a little devil when you were fifteen. Not to say that you still aren't sometimes, but I think I like you better when you are normal, sweet, and loving Jack. She won't be totally the same, I promise you. And besides, you can have fun without being a devil."

"I suppose you're right," Jack whispered before he kissed her softly. "And I wouldn't be calling me the devil. I heard you did some pretty risky things when you were fifteen as well."

Rose grinned and playfully punched him in the arm. "Just because my mother called the cops to find me that one..." She held up one finger."...time I sneaked out, doesn't mean that I was a little devil in training. It was just once!"

Jack started laughing. "You got caught by the Feds, though. Even that never happened to me."

They were both in the middle of laughing when the doorbell rang. An immediate silence followed that ringing, and Jack looked at Rose, worry in his eyes.

"Come on," she whispered softly as she took his hand and started leading him into the front hall. Amazingly, all four Dawson children arrived at the same time and lined up by the door, wanting to get a look at their new extended cousins.

Rose gave her children a look over and saw that they were all neat and clean and then she took a deep breath. Quickly, before she could chicken out, she opened the front door and came face to face with a couple and a little girl standing in front of them.

"Sarah Kate!" Jack gasped from behind Rose. He pushed around his wife and hugged his smiling cousin.

Rose took this time to study the people on her doorstep. Sarah Kate looked like a female version of Jack. She had a the same blue eyes and, although her hair was darker, the same blond color. She was tall like Jack was, but, unlike Jack, she was stockier and had more meat on her bones. Her husband, Robert, was standing next to Sarah Kate looking a bit overwhelmed. He had dark brown hair and soft brown eyes, which complemented his stylish glasses. Robert was not much taller then Sarah Kate was, and he had around the same body build. The little girl, who Rose assumed to be Debbie, was a mix of her parents. She had blue eyes like her Mother and the dark hair of her father. Quickly peeking around the three people standing in front of her, Rose saw that the other three children were behind their parents and little sister.

Now Jack was showing all of them into the house. Rose moved aside and let the family in. The children all gathered to one side, next to the Dawson kids, and stood watching while the adults were introduced to each other.

Jillian watched as her parents started talking and joking around with her new relatives. She rolled her eyes at the commotion and then glanced to where the other kids were. The little girl, Debbie, looked scared and confused as she hung onto her older brother Alex's leg. And the twins, Theresa and Marie, were standing together, looking slightly overwhelmed as they glanced at each other eagerly.

Jillian decided she was going to introduce herself, and her brothers and sister, to the twins, so she marched over to where they were standing and then stuck her hand out.

"Hi!" she said brightly, as the girls uncertainly shook her hand. "I'm Jillian. Over there," she said pointing to her left, "is Michael. He's a year older than I am. That's Luke, the one with the funny look on his face. And Danielle is the little girl with the green dress on."

One of the twins started to speak and the introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Marie and next to me is Theresa. The boy is Alex and the little girl hanging onto him is Debbie."

"How old are you?" the other twin, Theresa, asked Jillian.

"I'm ten and a half!" Jillian said proudly. "Michael is eleven, Luke is seven, and Danielle is four. What about you guys?"

"We're ten," Marie answered softly. "Alex is seven and Debbie is five."

"We're all around the same age!" Jillian said excitedly. "Well, except for Michael." She turned and gave her brother a mocking look. Theresa and Marie giggled along with Jillian and then they stared talking about what they liked and didn't like. And after only a few minutes, they were already becoming close friends.

The four adults were also making friendships amongst each other. Jack got to re-meet his cousin and bond with her husband, Sarah Kate and Robert got to meet Rose and learn about who Jack married, and all of them were happy to find each other. They were after all, family.

*****

Much, much later, after the children had been sent to bed, Sarah Kate, Robert, Jack, and Rose sat around the living room talking and catching up on all they had missed the past years.

They were in the middle of talking about Jack's life right after he left Chippewa Falls in 1907 when Sarah Kate brought up something Rose had never even considered.

"So, Jack what did you ever do with your old house?" His cousin asked the seemingly reasonable question, not expecting the answer she got.

"What?" Jack and Rose exclaimed in unison, giving Sarah Kate questioning looks.

"You know," Sarah Kate began, confused as to what was going on, "the house where you grew up."

Jack gasped. "What do you mean? Your family inherited it because I was only fifteen. I just assumed you sold it or something after I left."

Rose and Robert just sat back, watching the scene unfold in front of them. Both were very confused, especially Rose. She couldn't figure out what was going on. Jack had told her his parents died in a fire. Wouldn't that mean house fire?

Sarah Kate's eyes grew large and she shook her head. "No, it's yours. Once you turned eighteen, legally, the house became yours. I always thought you knew..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

Jack leaned back against the couch and didn't talk for a minute. "You mean to say," he finally got out, "that I still have a house up in Chippewa Falls that belongs to me? Wouldn't they just sell it?"

Sarah Kate shook her head. "No, when you left we made sure that they would hold the land and the house in your name for up to twenty years after you turned eighteen. So, I guess it's still yours. It's been what...nineteen years. Let's see, you left in 1907...yes, that's nineteen years. You got until next summer, I think."

"Jesus Christ," Jack whispered softly. He closed his eyes and tried to take what he had just been told in. It wasn't registering, though, and he had to keep telling himself over and over that he owned two houses.

Rose gasped after a minute. "I thought your parents died in a fire, Jack!" she exclaimed, wondering if her husband had been lying to her fourteen years.

"Yeah, a barn fire," Jack mumbled as he sat up and covered his face with his hands. "A lantern blew over one night, catching the barn on fire while my parents were in it. They were up in the loft and the ladder had burned before they could get down. There was no way for them to get out, there were no windows or anything up there..." he stopped talking and remained silent after that.

Rose's heart swelled at the sight of her husband and she moved toward him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Damn it, I never should have said anything," Sarah Kate mumbled before looking down.

Rose looked up at her. "It's all right," she assured her.

"Yes." Jack finally brought his hands away from his face as he started to speak. "It's all right, Sarah. I'm glad you told me...us. Now I just gotta figure out what to do."

"Jack," Rose began softly. She waited until she had his attention before going on. "Maybe right now would be a good time to tell them about...the ship," she finished lamely.

"What ship?" Robert asked curiously, finally speaking. Jack and Rose glanced at each other and nodded. It was Rose who started telling their story. "Ah, back before I met Jack I was engaged to a man named Caledon Hockley..."

It took a half hour before they had finally finished telling the Bradshaws the story of Titanic. Rose and Jack had taken turns telling different parts, and they left out nothing. Not even the drawing or the car. Now Sarah Kate and Robert sat back, looking at Jack and Rose in shock. They didn't know what to make of the story they had just heard.

"Oh, my God...I had no idea," Sarah Kate finally whispered.

"Jesus, do the children know?" Robert asked softly. "I mean, should I tell our kids about this?"

Rose shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "No, our children don't know yet. I guess maybe one day we shall tell them. But they are so young, especially Danielle, I just don't think they would understand."

"And I don't think telling your kids would be the best idea," Jack continued. "One of them will likely pass it to our children, and we want to be the one to tell them...when the time is right."

Sarah Kate and Robert nodded together and then it was silent throughout the whole room. In fact, the only sound in the whole house was the clock in the living room chiming eleven o'clock.

Everyone just sat there for a while, each left alone with their own thoughts. Words really did not need to be spoken, there was nothing left to say that mattered, and some things are better left unsaid.

Finally, all four people headed for bed, emotionally drained from the night's conversations.

Rose was lying in bed some time later, having a hard time getting to sleep. The subject of Titanic and the news about Jack's old house were clouding her mind and making it impossible to get some shut eye. She sighed softly and rolled onto her side, hugging a pillow to her chest. Once again, she tried to close to her eyes. But all she saw was freezing cold water and flames all around it. An odd combination.

There was a fussing of sheets from the other side of the bed, telling Rose that Jack, too, was stirring. She quickly rolled over to her other side and looked to where he was.

"Jack, darling, are you awake still?" she asked in a soft whisper.

There was a soft sigh from her husband. "Yeah," Jack said quietly, his voice sounding far off and disconnected from the rest of the world.

Rose moved over until her body was pressed against Jack's and she leaned against him, her head resting next to his. "Why are you so far over?" she asked softly.

"I didn't want to wake you up," came Jack's honest reply.

Rose smiled. "I can't sleep either," she whispered back.

Jack turned his head and kissed Rose's forehead. "I don't know what to do about that house," he finally confessed to her, talking against her hair. "I don't want to sell the damn thing. There are too many memories. And I feel like it's my only link to my parents. And then, I don't know if we can afford to keep it, either. Shit. I just wish they had sold it like I thought they did."

"Do you really, Jack?" Rose challenged. "Do you really wish it were gone?"

Jack didn't know how to answer that, so he just kept quiet. He didn't really know what he wished right now. "You know," Rose continued softly, "we could go up there."

Jack sat up and looked down at her. "What?" he asked.

Rose smiled gently. "We could go up there, to the house. We can get it cleaned up, stay there for a few days. And then you can decide what you want to do."

"Right now?"

"No, in a few weeks. We could spend Christmas up there, Jack. It would be fun, for you and I, and for the children. They would love it. You know they would. And I never been to Chippewa Falls. I kind of want to see it."

Jack settled down next to Rose again and put his arm around her shoulder. "If we go, I don't know if I am going to be able to sell it. What if we can't afford to keep it, Rose? It would be crazy to have two houses."

"So what, Jack? You always loved being crazy. Come on, what do you say?"

Jack glanced at Rose and realized she was right. He sighed and then spoke again. "All right, we can go."

Rose grinned and kissed the side of his shoulder. "I promise everything will go well. And I'll be right by your side the whole time."

"I love you," Jack whispered in response to what she said. He took her hand. "What do ya say we try and fall asleep now?"

"Sounds good to me," Rose quickly agreed. "I love you, too, Jack. Good night."

Chapter Twelve
Stories