ALL THE WAY
Chapter Four

"Do you think the kids are all right?"

Jack nodded in answer to Rose's question. "Yes, Rose, I am sure they are fine. Brittany is a good baby-sitter."

Rose sighed and leaned back against Jack. They were sitting in front the fireplace, a mug of hot cocoa in her hands and nothing but a blanket covering their bodies. It was night now, and the only sounds were Jack and Rose's soft and whispering voices, the cracking of the fire, the howl of the wind, and the occasional hoot of a night owl.

"I do worry about Luke, though. Jack, he is only three months old. We really shouldn't have left him," Rose continued softly.

"Hey," Jack whispered as he turned Rose's head to face him. "Our children are fine. They love Brittany, and she will take good care of them. Besides, Cameron is there, too. And you know how good he is with little children."

Rose nodded before she sighed again. "I suppose you are right," she whispered.

Jack kissed her softly and set his cocoa down. He opened his arms and wrapped Rose inside his blanket. "Did you have fun today?" he asked quietly.

Rose smiled. "Yes. I had a wonderful time, Jack. It was so much fun, I can't wait for tomorrow."

"Well, tomorrow is a big day, Miss Rose. First, I am going to teach you how to ice skate with those handy-dandy skates we borrowed from the lodge. And then, after lunch, I am gonna teach you how to ice fish."

Rose closed her eyes and took Jack's hand in her own. "What happens if the ice breaks?" she asked.

"It won't, I promise you. I asked the guy at the lodge and he said that the ice is so thick that it probably won't be thawed until May. He estimated it was frozen about three feet. Maybe more. Which means," he stopped and looked at Rose. She opened her eyes back up and smiled. "It means that we are both going to have to work at getting through the ice."

"I don't think I will mind," Rose promised. She closed her eyes again and snuggled down into Jack's arms, just letting him hold her. She was warm, content, and never wanted to leave his arms.

Jack rested his head on her head and breathed in the smell of her hair. Even after being married eight years, being this close to her drove him crazy. Suddenly, he remembered something he had to tell her.

"Rose?" he asked in a whisper.

"Hmm...yes, Jack?" Rose asked back. Her eyes were still closed, but she turned her head in the direction of where Jack was.

"I have to go away next year..."

Rose's eyes shot open and she sat up. "What?" she asked in disbelief. "What do you mean you have to go away?" Her voice had risen from a whisper to almost a shout.

"Shh. Don't worry, it’s not for very long." Jack whispered. He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him. "The gallery is planning their summer tour for next year, you know, making reservations, taking care of publicity...that sort of thing."

"So?" Rose asked. She had calmed down a little, but she was still wondering as to why Jack was telling her all of this. And why he was telling her now.

"Well, they have a lot of my work lined up for the exhibit...and they want me there. Don't worry, I won't be gone the whole summer. Bill just said I need to be there for the major cities in the States...Boston, Chicago, and New York. I won't be gone more then two weeks altogether," he explained.

"Oh," Rose whispered. She snuggled back into his arms. "Why are you telling me this now?" she wanted to know.

"Because if I can't, or won't do it, the gallery needs to know now so they can make other plans."

Rose sighed and kissed Jack on the arm. "Can't they just send you to one place?" She felt Jack shake his head.

"No. I already asked."

"I want to go with you to one of them...we can take the children even. Luke will be older, and so will Jillian and Michael," Rose said. She looked up at him and smiled. "I want to go to New York with you...that might be fun. We can go visit our old apartment and things like that. See the church we got married in."

Jack smiled and then leaned down to kiss her on the nose. "Sounds good..." he said. He pushed her down so that she was lying down on the floor and the climbed on top of her. Jack wrapped the blanket over the top of them and kissed her again. "...except for one thing."

"Hmm? And what is that?" Rose asked lazily. She wrapped her arms around Jack's neck.

"I think we should go without the kids."

"Oh...Mr. Dawson...two vacations all to ourselves in two years...you will start to spoil me," Rose whispered. She smiled up at him. "Now get me up off of this floor; I am freezing."

Jack started to laugh and stood, pulling Rose up with him. He wrapped the blanket once again around their bodies and held Rose tight.

"Better?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Rose whispered. She laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his bare body.

"We can talk more about the tour later. We have more important things to attend to at the moment," Jack whispered into her ear. She felt tingles go up and down her body as he said this and her chest started to move up and down rapidly.

Rose brought her head up and looked into Jack's eyes. "I agree fully, Mr. Dawson," she whispered, her face breaking out into a soft smile.

Jack smiled back, and then with one motion swept Rose off the ground and held her in his arms. Rose nuzzled her nose against Jack's and closed her eyes as he carried her over the bed. He gently set her down and pulled the sheets away from both of them before lying down next to her.

Rose forgot to feel self-conscious as Jack looked at her. All she could think about was how handsome he was. "What happens if the fire goes out?" she asked softly, remembering that it was the cabin’s source of heat.

Jack gently traced her neck with his lips and then planted soft kisses on her forehead. "We'll heat things up enough," he finally whispered.

Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around Jack. He stopped kissing her face and looked at her looking at him. Without her even having to say a word, Jack moved closer to Rose and covered her mouth with his.

*****

Rose lay awake in Jack's arms, a peaceful smile on her face. Things were always so perfect between her and Jack, that after every time she wondered how it could get any better. But it always seemed to.

She lazily glanced over at the fire and saw that it was almost out. Just a few small flames and some hot coals remained.

Rose shook her head, remembering what Jack had said about heating things up enough; she certainly was perfectly warm. The body heat being transferred between Jack and her was enough to keep the whole room warm.

She rolled over in Jack's arms and saw that he was asleep. A soft, content smile was on his face and his chest moved softly up and down. Rose closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him, taking in the scent of his skin. As she began to drift off to sleep, Rose couldn’t help but keep thinking about Jack's art career.

'God', she thought, 'he is so much luckier then a lot of artists. Most artists now-a-days are struggling to make a few dollars--Jack is able to support a family of five off of it.'

Rose decided that she didn't mind having Jack be gone a few days for things like the tour; it kept his art going. And being an artist was what Jack had always wanted to do for a living. And with all the extra things he did at the gallery, like flyers and posters and helping out a few times a week, Rose knew he would be involved with this for a long time. Strange, but she had never really thought about it that way before. It had always just been something he did that they happened to get money from. With that income, Rose's pay for the small amount of work she did at the theater, and the money they had saved from Cal's coat, they were set for life.

Rose smiled as she finally drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep with Jack by her side. Things were better then they had been in a long time--the war was over, Jack and Rose had a wonderful marriage that was still going strong, they had three beautiful children, a good home, steady incomes, enough money to get the children through college, thanks to Cal, and enough love to last forever. Things were going beautifully, and Rose hoped and prayed that they would stay that way for a long time.

Chapter Five
Stories