Jack stood face-to-face with his domineering father, trying to bite his tongue as this old man ranted and raved. The elder Dawson yelled, swinging his arms in rage as he spoke to his son. "Father, I'm a grown man. I'm not going to marry someone for financial gain. I love Rose and she loves me. I will not have you speak badly of her," Jack said when he could speak.
Eric looked up at his son as if he was prancing around the room in green tights and singing. "Have you gone mad? Hockley and I made a deal, and you have to follow through with it."
"Here's a solution! Get Charlie to do it," Jack suggested.
"Charlie got Grace pregnant. He'll be marrying her," Eric said and his voice was sorrowful. "You two boys always have to make my life miserable. You're too much like your mother, God rest her soul."
Jack sighed. "That's not what I'm trying to do," Jack insisted. "I just don't see why I have to follow your footsteps. I don't want to be the next Eric Dawson. I want to be me. The artist known as Jack Dawson. That's who I am."
"There's nothing I can do, then?" Eric asked his first born.
Jack shook his head. "No."
"You're giving me a headache. Go upstairs. You'll leave tomorrow," Eric said, dismissing his son.
Jack walked out of his father's study and up the stairs. He walked into his room to see Grace and Rose sitting on the bed, talking. He reached for Grace's hands and pulled her up. "Congratulations, Gracie. So you're going to be my sister?"
Grace looked at him in bafflement. "Your sister?"
"Yes, Father told me you and Charlie are to be married," Jack told her with a smile and a hug.
Grace squealed happily. "I never thought he'd let us be married! Never in a million years!" she exclaimed.
Rose stood and hugged Grace. "I told you it would work out," she whispered in her new friend's ear.
"Thank you," Grace muttered. "Well, now, I have to go clean the kitchen up. Are you two hungry?"
"No, Grace, we're fine," Jack said after Rose shook her head.
"Good night, then," Grace said and walked out of the room.
Rose wrapped her arms around Jack. "I love you, Jack," she said and sighed against his chest.
"And I love you...my father said we're leaving tomorrow. He's not too happy with me. But he knows he can't change my mind. In a way...I assume he knows I'll be happier with you," Jack told her. "So, where shall we go when we leave in the morning?"
"Hmm...I heard Santa Monica is nice this time of year," she grinned and leaned up to kiss him. "When will we be married?"
"I don't know, Rose...what about tomorrow?"
Rose's eyes lit up. "Tomorrow would be perfect, Jack. Just perfect."
*****
And it was perfect. Jack bought Rose and Gabbie's dresses. Grace was their witness. Eric even had the heart to show up, and kissed the blushing bride on the cheek before saying he had to leave to Philadelphia to work something else out with the Hockleys.
Rose and Jack put the past behind them and looked on to the future with bright and curious eyes. They didn't know where they'd wind up. But they knew they didn't want to settle down. They wanted to keep moving and live life for the moment, since that was their reason to escape. To escape society's rules and frowns. To escape the burdens of their parents. To escape the Hockleys. To escape...and in return for their escapism, they found abundant life and happiness in their marriage.
Jack adopted Gabbie as his own. And soon, the Dawsons were blessed with three more children. Thomas, Grace, and Alexander.
When the Dawsons did settle down, they went back to Paris so Jack could further pursue his art career. Paris felt like home, oddly. But they knew Paris would house their home, but their real home was the world. It was theirs for the taking, and they explored it with their four children. With nothing to escape, that's what you have to do. Live for the moment and don't look back if you already escaped the past...
And that's just what they did.
The End.