HOPE
Chapter Four
To The Stars Once Again
The coat that Cal had put on her the night of
the sinking was finally dry and hanging in the closet. Rose walked over to the
closet and reached into the left coat pocket. Then she pulled it out...the
Heart of the Ocean.
Molly said nothing, but had a look of awe on
her face. After a couple of seconds, she said, "Sweetie, where did you get
that?!"
"Cal gave it to me as an engagement gift
the night Jack and I met." Rose was staring into the blue diamond. Cal had
looked into it and seen numbers—money. She looked into it and saw the deep
pools of Jack’s baby blue eyes. She closed her fist around it.
"That isn’t a..."
"Diamond? Yes," Rose replied,
almost the same way that Cal had answered her surprise the night he had given
it to her. "This is the necklace that Jack drew me in. It is the only
physical memory I have of him. That was the one and only reason I kept it.
Otherwise, I would have thrown it into the ocean when I first realized I had
it."
She started to smile as she recalled the look
on Jack’s face when she had asked him to draw her. Wearing this...wearing
only this, she had said. The look on his face had been priceless, more
valuable than the diamond. Then, of course, the look on his face when she had
come out of her bedroom and taken off her kimono was beyond words. I’m sure
my face was just as in shock. She had never been nude in front of a man
before. She had told Cal that she wanted to wait until their wedding night. I
made the right choice. My first time was meant to be with Jack.
"Well, darlin’, it’s been a long day.
You’d best be getting to sleep now, all right? You need your rest. Sleep tight,
young Rose," she said as she tucked Rose into her bed. In a way, Rose
liked being taken care of. It made her feel like a child again. It reminded her
of the way her father had taken care of her when she was sick.
Rose took the necklace and placed it gently
in the nightstand drawer. "Good night, Molly, and thank you. For
everything." She smiled and a few minutes later drifted off to sleep.
Her dreams came soft and comforting. Her
own words echoed in her head. "To the stars..." She pulled Jack into
the backseat of the car, much like the way he had pulled her over the railing
the night they met. Jack was in the corner, and Rose was nestled closely next
to him. She could feel her hair standing on end. She knew what was about to
happen, and was not afraid or ashamed. She loved Jack and wanted her first time
to be with him. He knew what was to come, too, and asked, "Are you
nervous?" Rose whispered a ‘no,’ but deep inside, she was scared out of
her mind. She wasn’t sure about how to move or how to act. All she knew was
that she loved him.
Rose kissed his fingers one by one. His
hands were rough but soothing. She saw the expression on his face turn from
giddiness to pure love and compassion. He was a true gentleman. He had not
forced himself on her at any time since they had first met. But it was time.
"Put your hands on me, Jack," she whispered. Rose grabbed his hand
and placed it on her breast. He kissed her passionately and tilted her onto her
back. She welcomed his weight with growing passion.
Rose’s hands fumbled to remove his jacket
and shirt, while he was trying to remove her dress. She acted only on instinct.
It was the only thing she had to go by. They were both totally unclothed, and
he sensed the almost confused look on her face and whispered, "Is this
your first time, Rose?"
She thought about how to reply to that and
simply said, "Yes. Are you disappointed?"
He looked at her and smiled. "I think
it’s beautiful that you want me to be your first." Rose smiled back at
him, and what very small doubts or nerves she had were completely erased. His
warm body against hers created sensations that she never felt before. He kissed
her gently on the neck and on the face, working his way towards her waiting
lips. They kissed with building passion.
The rest went by in a blur. The next thing
Rose knew, Jack was in her arms shaking. "You’re trembling," she
observed.
"Don’t worry. I’ll be all
right," is what he replied. She looked into his deep eyes, and all she saw
was love. The love he had for her and for life. They kissed one last time there
in the car, and he laid his head on her breasts. She kissed his forehead gently
and ran her fingers through his hair. She never wanted the night to end. Rose
just wanted to hold Jack in her arms forever.
That was when Rose woke up in confusion. She
didn’t know whether to be happy or to start crying. Jack’s voice came to her as
it had the night before. Don’t cry, my Rose. The time we shared together was
wonderful. It should be remembered as a wonderful thing, not a sorrowful thing.
I have brought you this dream for a reason. Rose could almost picture him
smiling upon her. Now sleep soundly, darling. You have much need. In the
following months I will be watching you closely, and so will Molly. So don’t be
afraid. I love you, always and forever. Good night.
She wrapped the covers around her shivering
body. Rose suddenly became aware of the fact that Molly was watching her from
her bed. She could see the look on Rose’s face. She must have looked extremely
confused. She did not know whether to believe the voice she had been hearing,
or to ignore it. Instead of trying to explain herself to Molly, she decided to
pretend to not notice her. Rose drifted back into a dreamless sleep. In the
morning, it would occur to her what Jack had been trying to say.