Watching Amelie wail in her arms, Rose simply rocked the baby back and forth. She moved backwards and forwards in her rocking chair, creating a rhythmic motion that seemed to soothe the child. Rose looked down at her large brown eyes and olive skin and smiled softly.
“Come Josephine in my flying machine…” Rose began to sing softly.
Jack peered around the doorframe from the bedroom and saw his wife rocking Amelie to sleep. She was a natural with the child and he couldn’t help but smile. Her voice calmed the child’s cries and within minutes, she was asleep. Rose continued the rhythmic rocking of the chair. She could feel Jack’s presence and she turned her head to face him. Quietly, he came towards her, looking over Rose’s shoulder to see the sleeping child in her arms. Slowly, Rose stood, holding the baby wrapped in blankets in her arms.
“I’m going to put her down with Jacob in the crib,” she whispered to Jack.
He followed her into the spare bedroom. Fabrizio and Maria had moved out of the Dawson house several weeks before after finding a house just two streets away. Twins were a handful, so Rose had offered to take care of the children whenever they needed a break.
Laying Amelie next to her brother in the crib, Rose covered the babies with the white blanket before stepping back and watching them sleeping together. It was unbelievable. The babies were almost identical. They slept the same way, with their mouths open and their tiny hands by their sides.
Jack sensed something different about Rose and he thought he knew what it was. Since Maria had given birth, Rose had spent as much time as she could with the children, and although she hadn’t yet mentioned anything about wanting children of her own, Jack knew that someday soon she would want to become a mother.
Jack came up behind Rose so quietly it almost frightened her. He put her arms around her waist as they watched the sleeping children.
“They’re so precious,” Rose whispered, not taking her eyes away. Jack kissed her neck just once. She turned to him and he put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a warm hug.
“But exhausting.” Jack laughed. They had taken care of the children all afternoon and it was only now they had fallen asleep. Taking one last look at the crib, Rose led Jack out of the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar in case they stirred.
“They are a handful, but I suppose when it’s your own children all of the sleepless nights are worth it.”
Rose felt tears in her eyes and didn’t know why. Jack came to her and pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, Rose…” He kissed her forehead. “I know how much you love those kids. I know how much you want to become a mother…”
Rose looked up at Jack, her eyes wide and full of tears. “You do? I didn’t think it was so obvious.”
“Of course I know, Rose, because I know you…” He smiled at her.
“You must think it’s crazy, though. I’m not yet twenty and still young to be thinking about such things as children.”
Closing his eyes, Jack kissed her forehead. He hated seeing his wife down and upset. “No, I don’t think it’s stupid. We were young when we married.”
Rose pulled away from Jack and wandered over to the window, seeing darkness falling over Santa Monica. The sea was visible from the parlor window and the roller coaster could be seen.
“But we have so much left to do. We haven’t done the things we spoke about when we first married, such as travel the world.”
“Maybe not, but we settled here in Santa Monica. We might not have ridden the horses or the roller coaster, but we have a life here. After the Titanic and what happened in Philadelphia we lost sense of everything.”
“That’s true,” Rose said simply. She sighed heavily and Jack felt a huge wedge in between him and Rose.
“I want to make you happy, Rose,” he told her. “Are you happy here?”
Rose turned away from the window. “Of course I am. Don’t ever think that I’m not happy here with you, or that I regret anything, because I don’t.” She took her hands in his and stroked his left hand softly. She could feel the roughness of his fingers from his art and the wedding ring that sat on his finger.
“I know that. It’s just that I know how much you want us to have a baby. I know how you look at the twins and long for your own child.”
“I do, but there’s just so much living we have to do. We couldn’t support a child now.” Rose turned back to the window.
Jack hesitated slightly. He knew that money was tight, but it was always going to be. Jack knew he would never be a rich man and would never be able to afford half of what Cal had given her, but he wanted Rose to be happy.
“Why is everything about money? We can live the life that we want to lead. I want a baby, too, Rose.”
Turning to him, she saw the sincerity in his eyes. Sighing, she came into his arms, feeling him stroke her hair tenderly. “Are you sure it’s really what you want?”
The silence was broken by the shrill cry of the twins in the bedroom. Pulling away from Jack, she quickly walked into the bedroom, hearing the cries becoming louder.
“Hush, darling,” she whispered softly as she scooped Amelie up in her arms.
The crying died down as she rocked her in her arms. Jack stood at the door. He crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe, watching Rose rock the child in the dark room. He felt his heart beat quicker. Just looking at her made him love her even more, if that was even possible.
Soft whimpers came from Jacob in the crib, and Jack came forward and leaned over it, seeing his tiny body covered in blankets. Little Jacob always seemed to whimper when he knew his sister wasn’t beside him. Picking the baby up in his arms, he saw that his eyes were shiny with tears. He cuddled the child to his chest.
Rose looked at him and smiled through her own tears. “They’re so perfect, aren’t they?”
“They are,” Jack whispered. “And our child will be, too.”
Rose felt her heart soar. “Are you sure that is what you want? A child of our own?”
Late May, 1914
Setting the table, Maria laid out the silverware while Fabrizio attempted to search the cupboards for some plates. Preparing for dinner wasn’t something he was great at, but when he and Maria had their Sunday dinner at the Dawsons’, he tried his best to help out. Rose peeled some potatoes while Jack changed out of his work clothes into something more suitable.
“Do you want any help, Rose?” Maria asked, setting the last of the cutlery, but she received no reply. Rose was apparently in her own little world of peeling the potatoes over the small sink. “Rose?”
“Yes?” Rose turned to Maria, distracted from her thoughts. Her mind was obviously elsewhere.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re a million miles away,” she pointed out.
A small smile crept across Rose’s face. She hadn’t meant to show any sort of expression, but she couldn’t help it.
Maria saw this change and raised her eyebrows. “Come on. What’s making you so happy?”
Fabrizio came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Because of Jackie boy.”
Rose giggled at Fabrizio, but shook her head. “It’s nothing, actually. I’ve just felt so happy these last few weeks. It feels like Jack and I are…moving forward.” The smile returned to Rose’s face as she turned back to the potatoes and began to hum a little.
Maria fell silent for a moment before pointing her finger at Rose. “Oh, Lord…I know that smile anywhere.” Rose frowned, not understanding what Maria meant. “I remember that smile, feeling that happy, and the reason you haven’t been working for almost two months…”
Rose knew that Maria was scratching the surface, but she and Jack had agreed not to tell anyone yet. Fabrizio’s eyes darted from Maria to Rose, who both grinned from ear to ear. He watched, confused, attempting to crack the women’s code.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” Maria asked straight out. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer, but Rose remained silent, attempting not to burst into laughter. “You are, aren’t you? I know that smile, Rose Dawson.”
“Rose, are you really pregnant?” Fabrizio asked in a serious tone. He wanted to know if his two best friends were going to be parents. They deserved to be, and he would be so happy for them.
After a few moments’ silence, Rose slowly nodded her head. Maria clapped wildly and Fabrizio hugged her. The bedroom door opened and Jack emerged, tucking his shirt into his pants. Fabrizio laughed at his friend for not dressing himself properly in the bedroom.
“Could you at least tuck that in there?” Fabrizio pointed to the bedroom and Jack slapped his back, laughing.
“What’s all of the clapping about in here?” Jack sat at the dining table and pulled out some tobacco to roll a cigarette, being careful not to drop any bits on the floor, knowing that Rose hated it.
“We know that you’ve gotten poor Rose pregnant,” Maria joked.
Jack stopped rolling his cigarette for a moment and looked up at Rose silently. She said nothing, but grinned at him. “I thought we weren’t telling anybody.” He shook his head, knowing that his wife was excited.
“We guessed. How could we not, with that smile on her face? So, how far along are you?”
“I’m not so sure, maybe around three to four months.” Rose looked down at her stomach. The beige dress she wore hid the small stomach she had. Night after night, she had looked at her reflection in the mirror, not believing that a child that she and Jack had created grew inside of her.
“Well, in all seriousness, I’m so happy for you both.” Maria hugged Rose, who felt slightly teary now that people knew about her pregnancy. Taking a deep breath, she fought back the urge to cry, knowing her hormones were wreaking havoc on her emotions.
*****
After dinner, Maria and Fabrizio went home around eight. Rose had taken a bath while Jack cleared away the plates, knowing how tired Rose became around evening.
The bedroom was dark and there was no light except for the moon through the small window. Standing naked, Rose slowly opened her eyes, looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She touched her stomach tenderly, feeling emotion overcome her. She couldn’t wait to meet the child, to raise it and care for it, and she hoped with all her heart that it would be healthy, just like the twins.
Rose jumped as the bedroom door opened and Jack walked in. As he saw Rose, his heart skipped a beat. Even with their child growing within her, she never failed to stun him. Slowly, he came up behind her, resting his chin on her bare shoulder.
She watched his reflection as, slowly, with shaky hands, he put his hand on her swollen stomach. She put her hand on top of his, stroking it gently. For several minutes, they were silent as they stood in awe of the small swelling that was their child.
“You’re so lovely,” Jack whispered to her. She felt a tear fall from her eye. She didn’t wipe it away. She had been bottling up the emotions all day, hiding them from Maria and Fabrizio, not wanting to burst into tears in front of them.
“It’s amazing, knowing our child is inside me.”
Jack gently kissed her hair and took in the scent of it. “I know, and I can’t wait to meet the baby. It’s going to be so beautiful, like its mother.”
Rose slowly turned to him, not shy of her naked form at all. He touched her face, stroking her cheeks. She closed her eyes, feeling shivers down her back. Carefully, he leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly just once before closing his eyes, too.
“I love you so much.” he whispered to her before kissing her again, but this time with more passion.