AFTER TITANIC
Chapter Sixteen
Jack immediately released Eliza, and turned
around to face Marge Hathaway, Eliza's mother.
"Jack Dawson. I should have known you
would return to ruin my daughter's happiness." Marge frowned.
"Mother!" Eliza exclaimed, her face
growing bright red. "Don't do this. Mother, please."
"Hello, Mrs. Hathaway. It's good to see
that you're haven't changed a bit after all these years." Jack forced a
smile. He wasn't going to give Marge Hathaway the satisfaction of seeing him
sweat.
"And you haven't changed a bit, either.
You're still insisting on ruining my daughter's life. And now, after she's
found herself a decent man to marry."
"Lee Conway may be rich, but he's far
from decent," Jack said. "But it doesn't surprise me that you want
Eliza to marry a man she doesn't love."
"Lee Conway is a far better man than you
are, Mr. Dawson. I'm proud that my daughter is marrying him, and she is, too.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm taking my daughter to her luncheon. Good day."
Mrs. Hathaway grabbed her daughter's hand and began dragging her to the door.
"Come along, Eliza. We must be going."
"Wait a minute, Mother. I have to wait
for Rose." Eliza drew back.
"Why in the world you insist on having
that girl as your bridesmaid is completely beyond me." Mrs. Hathaway
snorted, letting go of her daughter's hand. "But since you insist, go in
and get her. Then we'll be on our way."
Taking one look over at Jack, Eliza went
through the door where Rose had disappeared a couple of minutes earlier,
leaving Jack alone with her mother, who was glaring intently at him.
"You shouldn't have come back, Mr.
Dawson. Chippewa Falls has changed a lot in the last five years. Now that the
Conways are in control of the town...things are a lot better."
"Is that so? Well, Mrs. Hathaway, I know
from experience that new and better things tend to turn into disasters. So, I
wouldn't sound so cocky if I were you," Jack replied. He had learned a lot
about uppity high society women from the first class dinner with Rose's mother.
Never let them see you sweat, and he thought that Mrs. Ruth DeWitt Bukater was
the best at cold stares. So if he could withstand the cold glares Rose's mother
threw his way, he could certainly withstand Mrs. Hathaway's cold stares.
"You have your nerve, Mr. Dawson. You're
just like your mother, so sure of yourself. It must be a trait."
"I hope so." Jack smiled, then
glanced at the door as Rose and Eliza came out. Rose was back in her blue dress
that she was wearing earlier that morning.
"Are you two ready?" Mrs. Hathaway
asked. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Uh...I'm not going this time
around," Rose replied. "I rather spend the day with my husband."
She took Jack's hand, and lovingly smiled up at him.
"Husband?" Mrs. Hathaway stared at
Jack and Rose in shock. "But you said your last name was Hockley."
"That's a long story, Mother. I'll tell
you on the way. We’d better be going." Eliza hastily pulled her mother out
the door. "See you later, Rose."
Rose waved before turning to her husband.
"So, I'm free for the rest of the day. What do you want to do?"
Pulling his attention away from the door, he
turned to Rose, who was staring up at him innocently with her lovely green
eyes. "Are you hungry, Rose? You left pretty early today."
"Well, I haven't eaten all day, and I
know that's not good for the baby...what do you have in mind?"
"Take you back to the house and cook you
up the biggest brunch you ever saw." Jack smiled. "But first, we
should stop at the grocer’s. I have some extra money from some sketches I sold,
plus all that money Molly gave us," Jack stepped closer to her.
"You still have Molly's money?"
"Yeah. I didn't have anything else to do
with it, so I saved it. I figured that it'd come in handy someday. Come on,
Rose." Jack looked around the store, and saw the saleslady eyeing them
suspiciously. "Let's get out of here. I think that saleslady think we're
going to steal something."
"Why would she think that?" Rose
asked. Even though she'd been away from her high society life for months now,
she was still pretty naive about how the lower classes were looked upon.
Jack just gently smiled at her, and kissed
her forehead. He’d almost forgotten that she was new at this. She was going to
have to learn to accept the dirty looks people would throw her way. "Let's
just go." Jack led her out of the store, and onto the street.
*****
Rose stretched comfortably, after devouring
the delicious meal Jack had prepared. She had no idea he could cook. She
couldn't help but wonder what else she'd find out about him as their marriage
progressed.
"So, Rose...have you given any thought
to what Molly said about your mother?" Jack entered the living room. He
didn't really want to discuss Rose's mother with her just yet, but he thought
it would do her some good to think things through before cutting her mother out
of her life completely. After all, Ruth DeWitt Bukater was going to be the only
grandparent this baby was going to have.
"Jack...do we really have to talk about
this now?"
Jack sat beside her and took her hand in his.
He looked her straight in the eye and nodded. "Rose...she's your mother.
She raised you. Think before you cut her off completely. If not for your sake,
then for our baby's. I mean, she's going to be the only grandparent it'll know."
"But, Jack, she...after all she's done
to us..."
"Rose, think. What exactly did she do to
us besides forbidding you to see me again...what was the horrible thing she did
to us?"
Jack was right. There was no reason for her
to hide from her mother. Besides, she was married to Jack now, and was going to
have his baby. There was no way her mother could force her to return to Cal.
But before Rose could give her answer, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get that." Jack got up and
opened the door for Molly.
"Can I come in?" Molly asked, not
sure if she was interrupting an intimate moment between them or not.
"Of course." Jack stepped aside.
"I just came by to say good-bye to you
two. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you two back together and
your love stronger than ever." Molly smiled, her eyes full of happiness.
"We'll miss you, Molly." Rose
sniffed, rising up to hug the woman who'd been like a mother to her.
"Thank you for bringing Jack back to me. I really had thought I'd lost
him."
"You're welcome, my dear. And don't
worry about losing him. I don't think you'd be able to, even if you
tried." Molly grinned, hugging Rose closer. "I'll be in the next town
over, so if you ever need anything, just get in contact with me. I'll be here
in two shakes of a lamb’s tail."
"Thank you, Molly." Jack hugged
her, once she’d let go of Rose.
"And Molly," Rose said. "If
you see my mother again...you can kind of hint to her about my whereabouts. If
she really misses me...she'll understand."
Molly just stared at Rose with wonder in her
eyes. So, she'd decided to forgive Ruth for trying to force her to marry Cal.
Molly couldn't help but be glad about that. The woman missed her daughter
terribly, and would give anything to have another chance. "If that's what
you want, Rose."
"It is, Molly." Rose nodded,
slipping her hand into Jack’s. This was the hardest thing she had to do. Thank
goodness she now had Jack to help her through it. "It's time I made peace
with her. For the baby's sake."
"You're making a wise decision, Rose. Trust
me, you are." Molly again hugged her closely. "Well, it's time for me
to depart. I'll try to drop by again in a couple of weeks...maybe I'll have
Ruth with me."
"Bye, Molly." Rose sniffed, hating
to say good-bye.
"Take care of them, Jack." Molly
nodded to the boy, who was sadly smiling. He, too, was sad to see Molly go.
She'd been a Godsend for him.
"Don't worry, Molly. I will." Jack
smiled.
Both Jack and Rose stood in the doorway of
their house, waving to the departing car that was taking Molly Brown back to
her home. They would always be grateful to her for all she'd done.