ANOTHER PROMISE KEPT
Chapter Seven
When I woke up later that same
afternoon, I vaguely recalled the events of that day, though I couldn’t say
what had really happened and what had been a dream. I knew for a fact that I
had had my baby, but as for the rest…
"Oh, you are awake.
Good." I turned to look at Helen, who apparently had stayed by my side all
this time.
"How is she?" I asked,
referring to my daughter. I knew it was a girl because I had heard the doctor
telling me that she was a girl as he placed her in my arms.
"Oh, she’s perfect! Ten
fingers and ten toes."
I smiled and sat up in bed. I
couldn’t believe that I had a daughter! But that wasn’t all I cared about in
that moment. I had had a vision of Jack, and I needed to know if it had been
real.
"Is…you know what’s funny? I
had a dream of Jack. I dreamt that he was alive. How crazy is that?" I
asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Rose, it wasn’t a dream. It
was real. In fact, he’s outside right now. I think that Mom is giving him the
talk."
"Oh, God. So, it happened?
This is bad…this was so not the way that I wanted him to know about the baby!
What if he doesn’t want her? What if he thinks that I’m using the baby to make
him marry me?"
My friend laughed.
"What could possibly be so
funny?" I asked, annoyed.
"You should’ve seen his face
when the doctor put the baby in his arms. I mean, he was scared to death, but
he looked happy. I guess everybody experiences that when they become parents
for the first time."
"He was happy?" I
repeated.
"Yes, Rose, he was happy."
I smiled.
"He must be very worried
about you. I’d better call him."
I thanked her, and she left. Not
five minutes later, the door was opened again, this time by Jack. Seeing him
there, carrying our baby in his arms, brought tears to my eyes, but I was a
careful to hide them.
"Just so you know, I never
intended to insult you earlier. My hormones have been out of control
lately."
He just laughed and passed the
baby to me.
"I was stupid. I should’ve
never asked you if you were pregnant. I guess I was in shock. Too many
surprises too soon."
"I never thought I’d see you
again," I whispered after a pause.
"For a moment, I thought
that, too. When I didn’t see your name on the list, I thought that you had done
something stupid, like jumping from the boat and onto the Titanic. But I had
Molly’s word that nothing would happen to you, so I chose to trust her and not
to panic. However, I must confess, I was starting to lose hope."
"But I don’t understand.
Molly’s a very well-known woman. Why couldn’t you find her? I imagine that her
address must be easy to get."
"Sure, for a decent-looking
man. Apparently, I don’t seem too trustworthy. I imagine that people thought
that I couldn’t possibly have something to do with the famous Molly
Brown."
I laughed. The truth was that
Jack didn’t look like the kind of person someone in Molly’s place would talk
to. But our friend was a special case.
Suddenly, I felt incapable of
looking Jack in the eye, so I looked down at the baby, who had fallen asleep in
my arms. Besides, I had a very important question that I needed to ask, and I
did not want to see his face when he replied.
"What are we going to do
now?" I asked, still looking at the baby.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…about everything!
What are we going to do? Everything has changed now--we have a baby now. Well,
at least, I have a baby. I understand that this is not what we imagined. That
carefree life we talked about is not suitable for us now that we have a baby.
And I also know that I wasn’t supposed to be pregnant, but…" I was stopped
by his laughter. I looked up and found him sitting by my side on the bed.
"Rose, when we were on the
ship, I did make plans. Believe it or not, I am not that carefree. I usually
have some idea of the places I want to visit. So, on the ship, I did make plans
for us, for the two of us. I confess that I never thought of the possibility of
having a baby, at least not right away, but now that it has happened…" He
paused, and I looked curiously at him. This was it; my whole life depended on
what he said right now. "Rose, there’s no place where I rather be than
here, by your side and with our baby."
"So…you’re happy about the
baby?" I asked, trying not to sound too surprised.
"More than happy. I’m
overjoyed. Even better, I love the baby." He paused and looked me in the
eye. "And I love you, too, Rose."
I started to cry when I told him
that I loved him, too. He smiled and kissed me.
"Oh, look at the happy
family!" Molly exclaimed when she saw us.
"We wouldn’t be a happy
family if it wasn’t for you, Molly. Thanks for keeping your promise."
"Always a pleasure, son.
So…have you thought about a name yet?"
"No…somehow I always thought
that it would be a boy, so I had thought of naming him Jack, but…she’s not a
boy. How about you? Any ideas?" I asked the father of my baby.
"Surprisingly, I do,"
Jack replied. Molly and I looked at him, amazed. "How about–and tell me if
you don’t really like it, because we can always think of another one–Josephine?
I thought about it when we were flying."
"So, you really have thought
about us? About the future?" I asked.
"Yes! See, I told you I’m
not as carefree as I might look."
"Josephine’s perfect,"
I declared. "Josephine Dawson. All right, then, Josephine Dawson. I’m
going to tell your name to everyone else. By the way, have you seen
Helen?"
"The last time I saw her,
she was talking to Fabri."
"Oh…interesting. Helen and
Fabrizio…so, I’d better talk to J.J. Somehow, he still thinks she’s only
five."
We all laughed. I imagined Jack
as an overprotective father, but I couldn’t. The thought itself made me want to
laugh. Well, I guessed there was plenty of time before our little Josephine
fell in love with some street artist. Jack and I would have already figured out
what to do by then. One thing was certain--I was not going to act like my
mother.