ALL THE WAY
Chapter Twenty-Eight

Santa Monica, California
October, 1958

Jack pushed his glasses up so that they fit snugger against the bridge of his nose and began to scan the crowd for Rose. She had disappeared some time ago with a few of her friends, promising to be back shortly. However, forty-five minutes had passed since then and Jack was beginning to get anxious. Sighing, he turned his attention back to Mr. Calvert, who was talking to him about something. Jack had hardly been listening, throwing in a few nods of the head to make it look like he was.

"Yes, sir, those two will make it, mark my words," the old man said exuberantly, slamming his hand down on the table and startling Jack.

"Do what? Sorry, Abraham," Jack answered, realizing that the comment had been intended for him.

Abraham Calvert started laughing and took a big slip of champagne. He wasn’t unhandsome, but he was pudgy and loud, which stole from his nice face and pleasant company. Taller than Jack, he loomed over him when he stood. "Our children, my dear Dawson. If anyone can tame Dalton, it’s going to be Mary. You’ll see. She’s got a spell over him, I can see."

Jack raised his eyebrows. From what he had seen of his new son-in-law, he was a normal, well-educated thirty-year-old. What was this business of taming him? Jack chose not to dwell on it, hoping it was the alcohol talking, and shrugged to Abraham.

"You’ll see," Abraham repeated, taking another drink.

Sighing, Jack turned in his chair and once again scanned the wedding guests for his wife. It was harder to spot her, now that her brilliant red hair was fading into a soft gray. He missed it; she could always be found in a crowd. After about a minute, he finally caught sight of her about ten yards away, laughing with a bunch of her friends, including Mrs. Calvert. Jack excused himself from the table and walked as quickly as he could over to where she was.

"I’ve been looking for you," he said softly, placing a hand on her hip. Rose turned to smile at him and then nodded back to her group.

"I’d best be going," she told them as Jack started to lead her away. "Whatever is this about?" she asked of her husband when they were out of earshot.

Jack cleared his throat. "We haven’t even seen Mary yet, and I didn’t want to go congratulate her alone."

Rose sighed happily, linking her arm through Jack’s as they strolled. "I can’t believe she’s married. All my children, gone!" She was being a bit overdramatic, wiping away fake tears, but Jack knew this was going to be hard for her.

He smiled gently. "Eh, I suppose we ought to get a smaller house," he mused.

Rose chuckled, but the idea was not a bad one. She began to contemplate the thought of moving, however, and that made her stomach turn. All those boxes, trying to find a new house…trying to sell the one they had now! No, it was best to stay where they were. Besides, she had become rather attached to the house.

In no time at all, they arrived at Mary’s side. She was clinging to her new husband Dalton, smiling vibrantly. When she saw her parents, she tore away from them and threw herself into Rose’s arms.

"Oh, you finally came over. I was looking for you!" she exclaimed as she pulled away and then moved to her father. "You’re looking well, Daddy."

Jack hugged his daughter and kissed her on the cheek. "I should say the same for you," he answered truthfully. Mary, the most tomboyish of all three girls, had actually willingly picked out a dress and worn it voluntarily without fuss or protest. The dress was amazing, according to Rose and Jillian, who swooned over it for days after its arrival. Made of some fabric Jack could neither pronounce nor remember, it was fashioned in the ‘Josephine’ style of so many years ago. The bodice was covered and the sleeves were edged with lace, and around the hem were tiny embroidered roses. By anyone’s standards, Mary looked nothing short of amazing with the garment on, her blond hair done up, and a soft smile on her face.

Her face, however, turned bright red at Jack’s comment, and she softy hit him on the arm, accompanied by, "Oh, Daddy."

Rose reached out and took her daughter’s left hand to examine the ring. "It looks like it’s meant to be here," she commented, smiling at Mary.

Mary nodded, somewhat placidly. "It does, doesn’t it?" she said softly.

"I hope I’m not interrupting anything."

It was Dalton, rejoining his new bride beside her parents. He was marvelously tall, like his father--one had to be to loom over Mary--but was the handsomer of the two men. Brown hair graced his head, soft brown eyes watched everyone with curiosity, and a strong body made him massive. It was not hard to see why Mary was in love with him; his charm and wit would captivate anyone.

"Not at all," Rose answered, smiling at her new son-in-law. "We were just talking about Mary’s ring. You two did a wonderful job of picking them out."

Dalton blushed and mumbled a thank you. Mary caught his eye with a soft gaze. As much fun as it was talking with her parents, she had seen Danielle a few moments ago and desperately wanted to go talk to her.

"We’ve got a lot of guests, Mama," she reminded Rose, who nodded.

"Of course. We’ll talk to you later," Jack cut in, kissing her once more on the cheek.

Rose didn’t say anything, but followed her daughter with her eyes, watching her run over to where Danielle was with Dalton in toe. Danielle hugged her sister tightly and then mentioned something to her husband. The two women then scampered off quickly while the men were left with the children.

Rose had to smile. Danielle had come such a long way since that night in the bathroom when she had broken down. After deciding that she really did want to teach, she made up her mind that she wanted to go someplace exotic to do so, in this case Africa. The O’Connells had gotten her a job in the middle of Cairo teaching native Egyptians the English language with the help of a Egyptian translator. It was there that Danielle had met--and consequently fell in love with--Radcliff Wilder. He was the complete opposite of her: a daredevil, total rule breaker, all around unscrupulous character. However, as the saying goes, opposites attract. They began to see each other as friends, which turned into dating, and two years later they moved back to the United States with the intent of being married. It was at this time that Radcliff’s father also passed away and Radcliff, whose mother had been dead for ten years, was also an only child. The elder Wilder had made a considerable amount of money during the War by manufacturing and selling airplane and ship parts. And when he died, the fortune went to his son. Radcliff and Danielle were married soon after that, moved into a enormously big house that Rose found no practicality in, and had babies. There were three of them to date: Susan, Emerson, and Karen; and Danielle was again six months pregnant at the moment. It was said that the new baby would be named either Jacqueline or Jack, an honor that made Jack senior smile.

Radcliff had now taken on the role of father and had given up his rootless existence, but there was still that hint of spontaneous ‘Wilder’--as Danielle affectionately called him--to keep his wife enamored. They complemented each other perfectly.

Their other children had all settled down happily and were all with families--well, with the obvious exception of Mary. Michael and Charlotte were still living in Seattle, making a good living as he still worked for Boeing, and had three beautiful children. Katherine was the oldest at thirteen, followed by Brandon, who was ten, and then little Madeline, who was just six. They had come down for the wedding and were no doubt catching up with Jillian and Matthew.

That particular couple had married as soon as the war ended and had children almost immediately after that. To everyone’s surprise, the first two were twins, the now twelve-year-old Andrew and Margaret. James, who was ten, and then little Amelia, who at just five years old had been a recent surprise, followed the twins. Still living in Santa Monica, Matthew now worked for a predominate law firm and Jillian had written and published three novels. They were quite content with their lives, and neither Matthew nor Jillian had ever regretted the decision to marry the other.

Luke had made it home from the war in one piece. It had taken him some time to find a bride thereafter, but he had finally settled down with Audrey Callaghan just a few years ago. She was every mother-in-law’s dream--soft spoken, polite, a good cook--and Rose was no exception. Luke and Audrey had just two children, Natalie, who was now seven, and little Tommy, who was four. They were now living in Eugene, Oregon, where Audrey’s family was from. There, Luke had opened up a pediatrics center while Audrey stayed home with the children. They, too, had come down by way of train for the celebration.

Needless to say, Rose was pleased with the way her family had turned out. And although they were scattered around the west coast, they still remained close. Even Mary and Dalton were leaving, moving to San Francisco in a few weeks. She had no doubt they would have a large family as well. It was a pity that everyone was not close together like they had been.

"Rose?"

She turned her head to Jack and saw him smiling at her. Several minutes had gone by, unbeknownst to her, and she started to apologize softly.

"I’m sorry. I just got caught up in thinking about things."

Jack put his hands gently on her waist and then leaned in to place a tender kiss on her forehead. "I was just going to tell you that they are going to have the first dance in a few minutes."

Rose broke into a smile as she wrapped her arms around Jack’s waist and graced his lips with a tender kiss. "We wouldn’t want to miss that," she said softly, looking at his eyes. They hardly ever got the chance to dance anymore, and weddings were always a treat in the sense that they could.

Grinning, Jack moved away and took her hand, pulling her toward a large, open grassy field that would double as a dance floor. The ceremony itself had been held at a nearby church with the reception at the park where they were presently located. The cake had already been cut and so everyone had been patiently waiting for the first dance between the newlyweds.

A string quartet had assembled itself in a gazebo next to the dancing area and Rose could hear them tuning up their instruments as she and Jack approached. Dusk was beginning to fall as they found a spot and stood, listening somewhat impatiently as Mary and Dalton’s names were announced and then they watched as the couple came out. A blush painted Mary’s cheeks as Dalton took her in his arms and the quartet struck up the first notes of the song. They floated gracefully in each other’s arms, with murmurs of the crowd accompanying the soft music. They were such a handsome pair, everyone decided, both so tall and elegant. And without a doubt, they were very much in love.

Before long, other couples started to join in. Rose felt Jack tug at her hand and she followed him out to the dance floor. Gently, he placed his hand on the small of her back and drew her next to his body. Closing her eyes, Rose was unable to help thinking of the first time they had danced together. It had been such an electrifying moment, a wall torn down in their burgeoning relationship. Even now, she could feel herself begin to feel slightly weak in the knees as she settled against his warm frame. But as always, his strong arms held her in support and once again she was stabilized. They moved together through another slow song, danced merrily through a couple of fast ones and then once again bonded their bodies together as the head violinist announced they would be starting a slow one again.

The first strands of Frank Sinatra’s All the Way began, and Rose closed her eyes, leaning her head in the crook of Jack’s neck. He kissed the side of her temple ever so softly and then began to lead her around the dance floor, singing the lyrics quietly to her. Since the song had been released, they had both loved it. Jack often sang it to her, jokingly, pretending to be Sinatra himself. However, this time it had taken on a more serious note. Rose couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of…something. She couldn’t quite place it. But all of the sudden, she knew she would need to cherish this moment.

Jack felt Rose become chilled and he pulled her tighter against himself, wondering all the while what was the matter. She didn’t say anything, however, just let out a soft sigh and squeezed his hand, a sign that had always been theirs, as if to say, I’m here, for you, with you. Just stay with me.

He continued to sing tenderly to her; almost becoming choked up when he considered the lyrics. How true they were in relevance to his life with Rose. They had been through so much together, but that was just it--together. Always together, all the way. It scared him, realizing for the first time they were no longer the young couple they had been. What would happen when one of them left the other? One was certainly going to have to be left behind for a while. And then they wouldn’t be together. Jack closed his eyes and blinked back some unexpected tears.

"Jack?" Rose’s tender voice broke though his thoughts and he realized he had stopped singing. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he answered throatily into her ear. He couldn’t bring himself to sing to her anymore, afraid the lyrics would overcome the emotions he was trying to hold back. Instead, he just kissed her again and whispered, "I love you. You know that, right? All the way, I’ll love you."

Rose was crying softly now. Had she been thinking the same thing he had a few moments ago? "I love you, too, Jack. All the way," she answered amidst sobs.

The song ended a few moments later, but they remained locked in their embrace throughout the next couple of tunes. No more words were shared. They simply held onto one another, savoring the time together. Things were changing once again for the Dawsons.

Chapter Twenty-Nine
Stories