JACK AND ROSE: TOGETHER FOREVER
Chapter Sixty

October 20, 1916

"Mihill Anrew Dason. Mihill Anrew Dason. Mihill Anrew Dason."

Rose groaned, and tired to block out Michael's voice by snuggling closer to Jack. "Jack, it's four-thirty in the morning! Make him stop," she mumbled against his neck.

Jack opened his eyes, groaned, and then called out quietly, "Michael! Stop that talking right now. Your Mother and I are trying to sleep! And you’re going wake your sister up!"

Michael said something back, but his voice was muffled. After that it was quiet. Jack sighed and closed his eyes again. Michael had recently learned how to say his full name, and now, that was all he ever said. Even though he couldn't quite pronounce it right. Jack felt Rose squeeze his hand and he squeezed it back. It was sort of a non-verbal sign between them that they had always had. Jack knew that Rose was thanking him right now. He heard her sigh, and then listened as she started to slowly fall back asleep again.

Jack was just beginning to fall back asleep himself when he heard, "Mama, Dada, Jill-i-an, Me!"

Jack's eyes flew open, and Rose sat up, sighing. "We have got to do something about him" she whispered, rubbing her eyes.

Jack sat up next to her. "I know," he said quietly.

For the last couple of nights, Michael had been up at around four, talking loudly to himself. Twice, he had woken Jillian up. Rose, who in one case had just gotten Jillian to go back to sleep, was not very happy.

"Why don't you go talk to him," Rose suggested tiredly.

"Yeah, I will." Jack sighed, getting out of bed and pulling his robe on. He stumbled out of the room and into Michael's room, where his son was sitting up in his crib, still talking to himself. "Honey, you need to be quiet," Jack said quietly.

"Why?" Michael asked stubbornly. Jack sighed; he didn't know where Michael was learning how to talk back like this. He was only one and a half.

"Mike, do you like it when Jillian cries and wakes everyone up?" Michael shook his head. "Well, honey, that’s what you are doing. You're waking everyone up with your talking."

Michael put his head down. "Sowwie," he mumbled.

Jack smiled, and reached down to pick him up. "Hey, come here," he said, kissing Michael on the cheek. "Your mother and I aren’t mad. We just want you to be quiet during nighttime. Can you do that?"

Michael nodded, and then kissed Jack on the cheek. Jack smiled at him. "Come on, back to bed." He gently laid Michael back down in the crib.

Michael snuggled up against his blankets and whispered, "Bye, Dada."

Jack smiled again. "Good night again, Mike." He walked out of Michael's room and back to his own. Throwing off his robe, he fell into bed next to Rose.

"Well?" Rose's muffled voice came from her side of the bed.

"Michael said he would be quiet," Jack said tiredly.

Rose rolled over, as she had been facing away from Jack, and looked at his form lying there. They both started chuckling at the same time. Jack put his arm around Rose's shoulders, and she snuggled close to him.

"When's the last time we had a full night of sleep?" he asked, running his fingers through Rose's hair. Rose closed her eyes and took Jack's hand.

"I don't know. Before Michael was born, I would guess," she whispered, rubbing her thumb over Jack's hand and then opening her eyes.

Jack smiled in the dark and looked down at Rose. He could barely make out her features, except for her eyes. He could see those almost perfectly. Jack traced the outline of her eyes with his free hand.

"You know," he whispered, "I have to get up in two hours to go to work."

Rose laughed quietly. "You just now realized this?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

Rose smiled. "You better get to sleep then, Mr. Dawson."

Jack laughed quietly and squeezed Rose's hand. "Good night then, Mrs. Dawson," he whispered.

Rose leaned over and kissed him gently. "Good night, Jack," she said.

She listened and watched as her husband fell asleep. His breathing slowly became slower and before long it was even and relaxed. She smiled as she looked at him. At one point, Jack smiled in his sleep and rolled over so that his back was now facing Rose. She snuggled down farther under the pillows and held Jack from behind. Two of their hands were still holding each other, so Rose gently squeezed it. She could have sworn that Jack, even though he was fast asleep, squeezed back.

*****

Rose awoke to sunlight coming through the open curtains the room. Confused, she looked over and saw that Jack was gone. He usually woke her up when he got out of the shower each morning. Rose glanced at the clock and saw that it was about 7:45. Jack normally left at 7:30. Still confused, Rose rolled over and found Michael and Jillian, pillows surrounding her tiny body, asleep next to her. She smiled and reached over to grab a note that she saw lying on the desktop. Rose lay back down and unfolded the note.

Rosie--

Thought I would let you sleep. Michael woke up as soon as I did, so I told him it was still nighttime and stuck him in our bed. Then Jillian woke up, so I gave her a bottle and then she fell back asleep. I am going to be at the gallery, nothing special. See you tonight...

Love you,

Me

Rose smiled, stretched her arms above her head, and then sighed happily. In her mind she thought of what she had to do today. She had to run to the store, give Michael and Jillian a bath, do the laundry so Jack has something to wear to his showing in Los Angeles tomorrow, and clean out the pantry. Rose shook her head, and slowly pulled herself out of bed. After pulling on her robe, she walked into the bathroom and quickly showered, leaving the door open in case Michael or Jillian woke up. As she was drying her hair with the towel, she heard crying coming from her bedroom. Rose left the bathroom and walked over to Jillian.

"Mommy’s here," she said softly, picking her daughter up. Jillian continued to cry, so Rose put her against her shoulder and walked back into the bathroom so that she wouldn't wake Michael. "Shh, sweetheart. You are going to wake Michael up."

Slowly, Jillian stopped crying and quieted down. She settled into sleep against her mother and then sighed happily. Rose shook her head as she looked at her daughter. Sometimes her children really confused her.

"Mama." Rose turned her head and saw Michael smiling at her from the doorway.

"Good morning, Mike," she said cheerfully. Michael tiredly walked into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around his mother's leg. Rose ruffled his hair and smiled down at him. "Wanna go get some breakfast?" she asked.

Michael nodded and took Rose's hand before rubbing his eyes with the other. She walked with him downstairs and into the kitchen. After getting him seated, Rose said, "I am going to get the paper, Mike. Stay right here."

She ran off to the front door and opened it. Rose grabbed the paper off the front steps and then walked back in the house. She closed the door behind her and walked in the kitchen, Jillian in her arms the whole time.

"Befist," yelled a fully awake Michael when he saw Rose walk in.

Rose smiled at Michael. "Yes, honey, I'll get you breakfast. Hold on a minute."

She set the paper on the counter and shifted Jillian in her arms. Suddenly, there was a scratching on the back door. Rose went to the door, opened it, and let Addy in. This was a mistake because Addy's feet were covered in mud. Before Rose knew it, Addy had run through the kitchen and downstairs. Michael laughed and got down from his chair before running after the dog. When he got to the stairs, he turned around and went crawling down backwards. Jillian started crying at the commotion and Rose just sat down. She could tell this was going to be a long day.

Early Afternoon

"Hello?" Rose asked into the phone.

"Rose?"

"Oh, hi Jack," Rose answered tiredly.

"You okay?" Jack asked from the other end.

Rose laughed. "Yeah, just fine. It’s been a long day so far. The kids are finally both down for their naps."

Jack chuckled as she described the rest of her day. Afterwards he asked, "Hmm, well, how about you and I go out to dinner and then to a movie?"

"Well, yes, but Jack, we can't bring Michael and Jillian to the movies. Or to dinner. That’s crazy," Rose said before sighing. She wanted bad to go out with Jack; they hadn't done that in a while. But she wasn’t about to take a one and a half-year-old and a five-month-old to dinner and a movie.

"Call Dianna, have her watch the kids for a while. She won't mind. They owe us for baby-sitting anyway," Jack said.

Rose thought for a moment, and then sighed. "We can't do that. Grace has got that cold and Meaghan is still getting over hers. The last thing we need is for the children to get sick. And Brittany and Cameron are at that dinner," she said.

Grace was Dianna and Bryan's daughter who had been born two days after Jillian. They often called Jillian, Grace, and Matthew 'The Triplets' because they were born in the same week. Jack sighed, and there was a pause.

"Call Jennifer. I am sure she'd love to watch the kids," he suggested.

Rose nodded to herself. "All right, I'll do that," she said to Jack. She could practically see him smiling over the phone.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Be ready at five, okay?"

Rose laughed. "Okay. Where are we going to eat?"

"Not anything fancy, Rosie," Jack answered.

"All right," Rose said, smiling. "How's work going?"

Jack laughed. "Just fine. Scott and I have been preparing pieces that we are going to take to Los Angeles tomorrow. It’s taking a while, so I can't talk long."

Rose smiled and then sighed happily. "All right then, I'll let you go. Don't work too hard, okay?"

"I won't," Jack promised.

"Love you," Rose said gently.

"Love you, too. See you tonight, Rose," Jack said.

"Bye, Jack."

"Good-bye Rose," Jack said, before Rose heard him hang up the phone.

She gently hung up the mouthpiece to the phone and then sighed before picking up the mouthpiece again to call Jennifer. After talking to Jennifer and having her agree to watch the kids that night, she hung up the phone again and made her way upstairs. Rose curled up on her bed and was soon fast asleep.

*****

Jack watched Rose from across the table. She was looking out the bay window next to their booth and sighing happily. After a minute, she noticed him looking at her and she turned to face him.

"What?" she asked happily.

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, reaching across the table and taking her hand. Rose smiled at him before taking a sip of champagne.

"This is nice," she commented, putting the glass down gracefully. "It’s so peaceful. We haven't been out like this without the kids in a while."

Jack nodded, all the while looking into her eyes. "I have missed doing things like this, Rose," he said, squeezing her hand. She smiled at him again and squeezed his hand back.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" she asked quietly.

Jack broke into a grin. "About six. Why, Rose? Have you got something planned?" he asked teasingly.

Rose half smiled at him and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe," she said, before laughing.

"Here you are, folks," said the waiter, who had suddenly appeared at the table.

Rose and Jack broke their hands apart and sat back. The waiter put down Jack's soup and Rose's spaghetti and then sat down a bowl of rolls.

"Thank you," Rose said politely, before Jack did the same.

The waiter smiled. "Anything else I can get you?" he asked.

"No, thank you," Jack replied.

The waiter nodded and then left quickly to attend to the other customers. Jack took a sip of his soup and then put his spoon down.

"You know, you could come to LA with me tomorrow," he said. Rose smiled and then sighed.

"Oh, Jack, you know I can't. I would love to, but what would I do with Mike and Jillian? We can't stick them with Jennifer all day. And we can't take them with us. That’s too much for Jillian, and Michael would get cranky halfway there."

Jack sighed and shook his head. "You're right," he agreed. "It's just that we have been so busy lately that we haven't really had time to just be together, like this, for more then a few hours."

Rose nodded. "I know, and I am sorry."

Jack laughed. "It’s not your fault."

Rose giggled and then nodded before taking a bite of her spaghetti. After swallowing she spoke again, "What if we went away in a few weeks. Not anywhere far, even just to a hotel overnight. But we could have Brittany and Cameron watch the kids overnight and then it could just be us for a while."

Jack nodded and then smiled brightly at her. "Sounds good. Where should we go? Maybe that hotel out on the other side of town? You know, that really nice, fancy one with the park next to it?" he asked excitedly.

Rose laughed. "Just let me figure that out, Mr. Dawson. I want you to be surprised. I'll make plans tomorrow while you’re off in LA. Let’s just worry about now for the moment."

Jack nodded and then took Rose's hand again. Rose smiled brightly and then went back to eating. Jack laughed silently and watched her for a moment before going back to his own food.

Chapter Sixty-One
Stories