FAMILY
Chapter Nine

"Unbelievable! The last time I saw you, you couldn’t even afford to buy yourself some food. Now, look at you--you are staying in one of the more expensive hotels in Philadelphia and you have a car. A car!" said Rose when Jack opened the door of his hotel room.

"Things change, don’t you think? Look at you. The first time we met, you were a perfect society girl, and now…you left your fiancé in the middle of the ceremony."

They smiled and kissed. They had been apart for so long…

"Excuse me. I’m still waiting for some explanations here," Kelly interfered.

"She’s right," Rose said, getting out of Jack’s arms. "What have you been doing?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Not so fast. How did you two meet? I want details."

"You didn’t tell her? Fine. I will. Does the word Titanic mean anything to you?" Rose asked.

"The boat that sank? I can’t believe you were on it!"

"It was a ship, Kelly. And yes, we were on it."

They briefly told her how they had met and how they had fallen in love. They also told her how Rose had risked her life to stay with Jack.

"You really did that? Now I know why you wanted so badly to find her. If someone did that for me, I would owe him for the rest of my days."

"He also risked his life for me. Many times."

When they reached to the part of the ship finally sinking, Rose said, "Now…this is the part I’m interested in. One moment I was holding your hand, and the next, you were gone. What did you do?"

"Well, the same thing happened to me. I was kicking to reach the surface, and suddenly I realized that I wasn’t feeling your hand anymore. I shouted your name, but no one came. Then a boat picked me up and took me to the Carpathia. There I kept looking for you, but you weren’t there."

"My mother and Cal were faster, and they saw me while I was searching for you. I tried to break free, but I was too weak. I couldn’t bear to think that you were gone and I was all right."

"When we docked, I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Of course, I knew Kelly had moved to New York, but that had been seven years ago. I didn’t know if she had left, or what. The thing is that, for a couple of weeks I got back to what I used to do, drawing portraits of people for ten cents apiece. On one of April’s last days, a man saw me and saw my drawings. He told me I had a gift, and that he could make it grow. I had nothing to lose, so I accepted."

"He was the owner of the art gallery I visited, wasn’t he?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. He gave me everything I needed to do my drawings, and I handed him a couple of them. Then he showed them in his art gallery, and they were a big success. Unfortunately, he began to ask me to draw more and more. That wouldn’t have bothered me, but I came across a newspaper that made me change my priorities."

"A newspaper? And when do I appear?" Kelly wanted to know.

"Any minute now. Well, I was walking one day, trying to find something to get my mind off the Titanic and all that, when a saw a newspaper dropped in the street. I picked it up to throw it away, but something about the headline caught my eye. It said something like ‘After Miraculously Escaping from the Sinking Titanic, Businessman to Marry His Young Fiancée.’ I don’t know why, but I had to read the whole article. Luckily, the first line named this guy, and guess who he was? Cal. I kept reading, and soon I found what I was hoping I would--your name."

"So that was when you realized I was all right, wasn’t it?"

"Yeah. I was so happy, I can’t even tell you. I got into my car and was about to go get you--the newspaper mentioned the address--when I thought twice. It had been two months already. Who knew what had happened to you? Perhaps you were over me and you wanted to marry him. I admit it, it was a stupid thought, but I had to be sure. I had to get someone inside your house. But who?"

"And here I come in…right?"

"Yes. I was walking to my place, thinking only about you, when I heard someone calling my name. It was this annoying voice I knew so well, but on the other hand, how could she be there?"

"Hey! What’s that about my voice?"

"I turned around, and who did I see? My sister. That was for sure my lucky day. The two most important women in my life had appeared out of nowhere. She looked as surprised as I did. Apparently, she hadn’t taken me seriously when I told her that someday I would go to New York and find her."

"First, you were thirteen. Who takes someone that age seriously? And second, I found you, not the other way around."

"Whatever…" her brother said.

"Let me guess. You told her that you needed her to work as a maid in someone’s house and promised you would explain later. You also asked her to talk to me and find out what my feelings were. Am I wrong?"

"That was what he did indeed. He refused to give me any kind of explanation."

They didn’t say anything for a while. Then the eldest broke the silence.

"I still can’t believe that you were on the Titanic. And that you didn’t even tell me! You do realize that you could have died there, don’t you? What was I supposed to do if that happened? Live my whole life thinking that my brother was somewhere out there?"

"Honestly, I don’t care. I’m alive, aren’t I? And most importantly, I found Rose. And I also found you. What else could I ask for?"

"Jack, that’s so sweet…" said Rose.

"You really are good with women. Now I understand why every girl at school was sweet on you…"

"Excuse me?" asked the youngest.

"Thank you very much, Kelly. I really appreciate that."

"Oh, look at the time! I have to get going now. See ya. And Rose…I was joking. As a matter of fact, I used to think he was…you know…into boys, if you know what I mean…"

"Kelly, out! Now!" he ordered, and then added to Rose, "she was joking. I’m not into boys, but I didn’t spend my time seducing girls just for fun."

"I know," she answered. "I played mad because I wanted her to leave."

"Really? What for?"

"You know…I was supposed to be on my honeymoon by now."

"I get it…well, where do you want me to take you?"

"To the stars," she said, kissing him.

They were so in love…they had missed each other for so long…now there really wasn’t anything on earth that could come between them.

The End.

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