YOU JUMP, I JUMP
Chapter Three

Aunt Liz and Uncle Randy stayed with us all day the next day while Mama ran errands. She was buying Christmas presents. I knew it. I had asked her for a toy fire truck, and somehow I knew she would get it. She arrived home shortly before Jo did, looking excited.

"Mama!" Luke cried, running into her arms. She grinned at us mischievously.

"Do I have a surprise for you two!" she said, sitting on the plush carpet with Luke in her lap. Staring at her, I waited.

"Well?" I asked impatiently. She looked seventeen again.

"We are going to Olivia’s house tonight! She’s invited the two of you to spend the night there as well as the full day tomorrow." My stomach bubbled with excitement.

"Really?" I cried as Luke clapped.

"Yes," she said, reaching for my hand. "And you two are going to see Santa Claus in a few days at the department store!" My eyes widened. I had never seen Santa up close before.

"He has time to come to Philadelphia and see us?" I asked incredulously. She nodded.

"Well, you’ll have to tell him what you want somehow, won’t you?" Her blue eyes glistened as she winked at me.

I liked Philadelphia, I really did, but I couldn’t help noticing how much Jo was gone. She barely ever had time to say hello and good-bye to us. I missed her…but I understood.

Aunt Olivia was ready for us when we got there, and she’d set up a small playroom for us in the upper level of her house. There were toys and blocks and games for us to play. She snuck out of the party quite a few times to come and see us. It was the most fun I’d had since Dad had died.

As luck would have it, we ended up moving into the house to stay for the rest of our trip. It was a whirlwind, and I could barely think straight with all of the changes being made around me. Jo and Dave became engaged just before we left our hotel suite, and though I would have loved to have Dave as my older brother, something felt really off. Jo wasn’t herself. My sister was one of those people who could smile through anything…and she just didn’t smile anymore. I know my mother noticed, because she would frown every time Jo avoided her eyes. I noticed how pale she had become, too…and her cheeks looked bony to me.

Aunt Livy hired a young Irishwoman named Lillian to give us school lessons every day and to keep us company. She was nice and her voice was pretty to listen to when she spoke.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas Eve and Mama said she had a surprise for us. We took a cab to the local department store and a burst of excitement coursed through me as I realized we were going to see Santa Claus. Luke was still somewhat confused on the whole Santa thing, but he was interested all the same. I told Santa what I wanted without trouble, but Luke couldn’t say anything. He simply stared at the kindly old man until Mama gently lifted him up. As we walked away from Santa, Luke began to cry that he wouldn’t get anything for Christmas and Mama made him look at her.

"Now I won’t get nothing…" Luke cried. Ever patient, our mother kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his brown hair.

"Of course you will, darling. Santa knows…" She bent to set him down just as a man was thrown into her by another shopper. The shopping bags with Jo’s presents fell, but the man caught Mama around the waist and set her to rights. He had gold-colored hair that fell nearly to the nape of his neck and probably a day’s worth of stubble. I saw his face, but Mama was feverishly trying to pick up her bags.

"Sorry…" the man said, bending over. "Let me get that for you." Picking up the bag with ease, he handed it to her and then I noticed his eyes widen for a moment. Before Mama could look up to thank him, he had disappeared into the throng of shoppers.

"Now, that was odd," she observed aloud.

"He must have been in a hurry," I said with a shrug. My mother looked dumbfounded, staring forlornly at the spot where the man had just stood.

"Odd…" she murmured before turning back to the task at hand. "Come on then, you two. We have to get home to help Olivia decorate the tree."

I couldn’t sleep that night. I was too excited. Christmas was my favorite time of year and I thought if I listened very carefully that I would be able to hear Santa on the roof. No such luck, however, and I don’t remember falling asleep, but I woke when I saw the first rays of sun in my room. Luke and I woke up Jo and met Mama and Aunt Olivia and Uncle Grant by the tree.

The following day, Luke turned three. Jo had been gone all day long, missing Luke’s birthday cake and presents, which was unlike her. Even further, she came home later that evening upset and swore at Mama. I was playing with one of my new toys when Jo flew into the house. Mama looked up from her book, worried, and stood.

"Jo!"

"Leave me alone!" Jo responded, bounding up the stairs. I had never heard her use a harsh tone with our mother, so I felt like something was very wrong in the world at the time. I followed Mama up to her room.

"Jo, are you all right? What happened? Where were you?" Mama’s questions were like rapid fire, one right after the other. Finally, Jo opened the door, her eyes red-rimmed and I lingered in the doorway as Mama entered the room.

"What happened, Jo?" Mama asked gently. No answer. "Jo?" she asked again, her voice rising. Jo shook her head tightly. "Josephine Margaret Dawson, you had better start talking."

"Jesus, Mother!" Jo cried angrily, lashing out at our mother, who had done nothing but worry about her daughter. "Can’t you let me be?" she sobbed. "I am not a child, damn it!" Instant regret filled Jo’s eyes as she reached out to Mama. "Ma, I…I’m sorry, I…"

"I’ll just leave you to your thoughts, Josephine," Mama said coldly, backing away and brushing past me. Jo crumpled onto the bed, looking down. A moment later, she must have noticed me, because she looked up. Anger filled me.

"You’re mean!" I spat at her. Tears filled her light eyes as she nodded. When she spoke, her voice sounded choked.

"I know, Jamie…" she whispered. "I’m sorry." With a sigh, I went to sit beside her.

"I miss Daddy, Jo. Nothing has been the same since Dad died. Mama’s lonely all the time and I just wish she were happy again," I said miserably.

"I miss him, too," she agreed. "Sometimes I don’t know who I am anymore, Jamie." I only stared at her, trying to think of something to say. I remembered our conversation about how Mama had been married before.

"Daddy wasn’t really your dad, Jo…" I said. "Was he?"

"Oh, he was…in every way he could have been," she said, swallowing hard. "But no…he wasn’t my biological father. My real father died even before I was born."

"What is a biological father?" I asked, confused.

"Um...I don’t…" she began, before taking a breath. "When a mother and a father decide to have a baby…it’s the dad who decides to make the baby with the mom." I was still confused, but at least she had answered. I simply shrugged.

"Okay…" I decided to leave her alone. "I’m going to go play with Luke."

New Year’s Eve came just as quickly as Christmas had and with it came even more alterations to my life.

I was awakened by Aunt Olivia on New Year’s Day as she told me to help Luke get dressed and to dress myself because we had to go to the hospital. I stared at her in confusion until she finally said, "Jo was hurt last night and is in the hospital." Dread filled my stomach as I got dressed quickly before helping my brother dress. Jo looked like death. She was white as a ghost and barely looked like she was breathing. I stayed toward the edge of the hospital room, while Mom and the blond man I recognized from the department store hovered around her bed, checking her every so often.

"Mama?" I asked shakily, and she looked toward us tearfully before sweeping us both into a crushing embrace.

"Oh, my boys…are you all right?"

"We’re fine," I said, peering at Jo. "What’s wrong with Jo?"

Mama exchanged a glance with the man before saying, "Your sister fell through some ice. She’s going to be all right…" I noticed Jonathan Hockley asleep in a chair nearby as well as Mama resumed her spot beside Jo’s bed. "Jamie, Luke…" Mama said tiredly. "This is Mr. Dawson. He’s a…er…a friend of mine."

"You’re Jo’s daddy, aren’t you?" I asked, knowing in my heart I was right. The man nodded. "I thought so," I said, sitting beside Mama and touching Jo’s cold hand.

"You’re just like your mother, aren’t you?" he asked, looking more than a bit amused. I looked at Mama in confusion. He chuckled and sat in a metal chair, crossing his legs. A nurse came into the room to check on Jo before turning to Mr. Dawson.

"Here is some medicine for that cold, Mister…um…"

"It’s Dawson," he said, reaching for the medicine. "Thank you," he said kindly to her.

"So, what are your plans?" Mama asked Mr. Dawson. He swallowed and cracked his knuckles.

"I’m moving to Boston," he said after a beat. "I’m taking responsibility…"

"Oh." Mama sounded somewhat disappointed.

"It’s the right thing to do," he said quietly. She nodded, brushing her hair out of her face.

"What about Jo?" she asked. He looked at my sleeping sister.

"If I had my way, she’d never leave my side again…" His answer was simple. "But she’s twenty…and if he is any indication…" He nodded at Jonathan. "…then she won’t be single much longer." Mr. Dawson leaned forward. "I want you to know…Rose…that I am secretly hoping you won’t make me move to Boston alone."

"What do you mean?" Mama asked.

"You know what I mean, Rose," he said seriously, unsmiling.

"It’s too soon to talk about this, Jack," she replied quietly. "After she wakes up, we’ll cross that bridge." He nodded.

"Absolutely."

A few hours later, the door burst open and Dave was there with a blonde girl. They were both pale and sick-looking, but Mama ushered them both into the room and asked if they were hungry, if they needed anything. They shook their heads as Dave let go of the girl’s hand and crept to Jo’s bedside. Sitting in the chair Mama had abandoned, he took Jo’s hand and I noticed him swallow really hard.

"Jo," he whispered. "You’ve got to wake up…okay?"

"The doctor said she should wake up soon. He checked her and she’s going to be fine," Mr. Dawson assured Dave. He only nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Jonathan was standing by the window staring out when the blonde girl walked over to him and tentatively touched his arm. He jumped, but bent to hug her.

"Thank goodness, Gloria…are you all right?" he asked, pulling back to look down at her.

"As well as can be expected. My mother is horrified by what Father did," she explained in a tiny voice. I felt bad for her. Dave joined them, putting an arm protectively around her back.

"It wasn’t her fault," Jonathan replied, nodding at Dave. "Take care of this one…"

"I will," Dave promised. "We actually want to get married as soon as possible, so we might go to the city hall in a bit…"

"There’s a chapel in the hospital," Mama cut in. "It would save you time. You two are in no condition to travel." Gloria looked hopeful at this.

"Oh, could we? I’m so tired…"

"Of course," Dave said. "Rose, could you come with us to talk to someone about it?"

"Yes," Mama said, eyeing Luke and I. She bit her lip.

"I’ll be right back. You all just stay here," she said, and left the room. Dave walked over to Mr. Dawson and held out his hand.

"I’m Dave Stirling…Jo and I have been best friends since we were babies." Mr. Dawson accepted his hand and shook it.

"I’m Jack Dawson…I’m…Jo’s dad." Dave stared at him for a few minutes, absorbing what he was hearing.

"She said you’d died," his confused reply came.

"They thought I had…I thought Rose had died, too…it was all very unfortunate," he said. I noticed him look down at Jo momentarily. "I didn’t even know she was pregnant."

"How long were you two together before you were separated?" Gloria asked kindly, touching Jo’s cheek.

"Two days," Mr. Dawson admitted. I was so confused. I didn’t understand anything that was happening.

"What happened?" I asked, summoning up the courage. Mr. Dawson looked at me, surprised, but there was something else in his eyes.

"My goodness, but you look like your mother." He laughed. "We met on the Titanic. Do you know what that is?" I nodded.

"We learned about it in school," I said proudly. A grin emerged on his face.

"That’s how we got separated, too. I was real sick…in the hospital for a long time…and when I got out, I thought your mom had died, but she was already in California, about to have a baby."

"Oh, my…" Gloria said, looking at Mr. Dawson with sympathy.

"Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?" he replied. "What matters is that we’re all here now and we are okay…" The door opened and Mama found us gathered around him. She raised an eyebrow, but picked up Luke.

"They said that we could use the chapel…there’s a priest on his way. He’s going to bring all the paperwork needed." She paused, looking at Jo. "I hate to leave her alone."

"I’ll stay," Mr. Dawson said. "I owe her." Mama looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Are you sure?"

"Go…it’s fine," he said, waving us off.

The chapel was tiny, with only about ten seats in it. We waited a few minutes before the priest came in. Dave and Gloria signed the papers first before the priest began the ceremony.

"Do you, David Christopher Stirling, take Gloria Marie Edwards to be your wife?"

"I do," Dave said. He looked a bit nervous, but was smiling.

"And do you, Gloria Marie Edwards, take David Christopher Stirling to be your husband?"

"I do." Her voice was small like a child’s, but she was very pretty and I liked her instantly.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Dave pressed a quick kiss to Gloria’s lips and turned to Mama.

"That was great…now, can we get out of here before one of us gets claustrophobia?" Mama and Jonathan laughed.

Jo didn’t wake up for three more days, and I wasn’t even there for it! We had been there all morning and Luke started whining about being bored, so Dave and Gloria took us to a toy store for a little while to get our minds off things. Of course, I wasn’t so easily distracted. When we came back Mama and Mr. Dawson were walking into the cafeteria. They noticed us and stopped, both of them were smiling.

"What’s going on?" Dave asked.

"She’s awake," Mama replied. Dave looked at Gloria excitedly. "Leave the boys with us and go on over to the room." They practically sprinted down the hall.

"I wanna see Jo!" I complained. Mama took my hand.

"You can, just as soon as we get some food."

"But Mama…" I whined.

"James Todd Calvert…enough," she said warningly. I sulked, but walked with them. The women gave us food, but Mr. Dawson insisted on carrying it, much to Mama’s protests.

"This is absurd, Jack. I am thirty-seven years old. I’m not a child…"

"I can’t hear you…" Mr. Dawson replied in a sing-song voice. I smirked and he must have noticed, because he winked at me as we walked into the room.

"Really, I am perfectly capable of carrying food myself, if you would have just…"

"Rose?" Mr. Dawson interrupted, setting the food beside Jo’s bed.

"What?" she fired at him.

"Just hush up for two seconds, okay?" I laughed. Jo, who was sitting up, rolled her eyes.

"Get a room…you’re making us all sick." Mom whirled around in surprise at Jo’s half-smile.

"Yeah, Mom! Shut up already…he’s just helping!" I added, causing her to glare at Mr. Dawson.

"Nice!" she said, simply steaming. "You…are so annoying." The look of amusement never left Mr. Dawson’s face.

"Yes…we covered that point…about twenty years ago." He beamed at her with mischief in his eyes. Mama finally smiled, but stopped herself. I stepped forward.

"I like him, Mom…he’s funny."

"Me, too!" Luke cried, irritating me.

"Copycat!"

"Would everyone stop fighting for two minutes? I have not eaten since New Year’s Eve!" Mama set a bowl of hot cereal before her, to which Jo cringed.

"It’s that or nothing, Josephine, so I suggest you eat." Jo began to eat as Mama turned back to Mr. Dawson. "And by the way, Jack Dawson…you were annoying then and you’re annoying now!" A tiny smirk turned his lips.

"You weren’t complaining then…"

"Too much information, thank you…" Jo muttered with her mouth full.

"And another thing!" Mama went on, ignoring her. "I still haven’t forgiven you!"

"I hadn’t expected you to, Rose. You’re too proud. And I don’t blame you if you never forgive me," he said sincerely. She threw her arms up madly.

"Fine! I forgive you!" I looked at Jo in confusion. She bit back a laugh and shrugged, patting the bed next to her. I climbed in beside her.

"What’s wrong with her?" I asked. She bent down and grinned.

"She’s a loon." I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

"What?" Mama asked testily.

"Oh, I was just wondering when you two were going to kiss, because you’re driving us all nuts."

"Very funny…" Mama said, turning to look at Mr. Dawson, who was not smiling any longer. She looked back at us.

"Go," Jo said. "Twenty years is a long time to catch up on." Being the nosy child I was, I watched as they went into the hallway and crept over to sit beside the door so I could listen. Jo was distracted as Luke crawled into her lap, and she was enthralled with Jonathan. They kept kissing. It was disgusting. I vowed never to be that gross with a girl. I turned my attention to the conversation in the hall. I noticed Mama and Mr. Dawson were sitting beside each other, and he had taken her hand. It wasn’t in a romantic, disgusting way like Jo and Jonathan, but it was like Mama and Daddy used to do when they were happy.

"…as soon as I got to Santa Monica, I met this woman straight away, Liz Stirling. She offered me a place to stay and helped me find an apartment that I could afford. I got a job at this restaurant, a café type place by the beach."

"When did you realize you were…you know…?" he asked.

"About three weeks later, I got sick at work. Really sick. I threw up all over the floor of the café," she said. "They sent me home and Liz took me to the doctor, who pretty much floored me. He said, ‘Mrs. Dawson, you’re pregnant.’ I must have stared at him for about ten minutes with my mouth hanging open." She laughed. "Then he asked how old I was and I said seventeen. He just looked at me with pity…it was ridiculous."

"Were you all right? I mean…how did you react?"

"I was scared shitless, but you know, at the same time, I got a little bit excited because…well…you were…I thought you were…and then…you know." She seemed embarrassed.

"Yeah. I know," he replied grimly.

"I was going to name her Jack. I thought she was a boy…I was so sure…and then she was a girl and I was completely thrown for a loop. Then I started thinking about that song…you know the one…" He let out a chuckle.

"Oh, my God…that is funny." She nodded.

"It was…but it fit. Her middle name was for Molly."

"That was nice of you," Mr. Dawson said.

"She was the only genuine person I ever knew when I was with them. You know?"

"Oh, I know," he agreed. "Do you have pictures of her as a baby?"

"Of course!" Mama replied with a laugh. "I only have one with me…but there are pages and pages in the albums back in Cedar Rapids…she was adorable."

"She’s just like you, Rose," he said quietly. Mama shook her head.

"No…she’s not. She’s like you. It’s frightening…she looks mostly like me, but she’s you. Her personality, her talent…sometimes, when she makes certain faces, it was like seeing a ghost."

"Yet, here I am." He sighed.

"Yes…here you are. And you look exactly the same," she added. "But you’re grown up."

"You are, too," he conceded. "I can’t believe you’ve had three children."

"You’d believe it if you saw my stomach," she joked.

"Oh, stop," he said with a yawn.

"You haven’t slept in days, Jack," she observed.

"I have all the time in the world to sleep," he replied. "There’s no time limit. Not anymore." She began to laugh then, escalating into hysteria. "What’s so funny there, Red?" he asked, brushing a red curl from her shoulder.

"I just realized that this is only the sixth day we’ve ever been together," she choked, laughing even more. He joined her after a second, and quickly, they were heaving with laughter. I watched as her hand brushed his chest and he caught it, the laughter fading. They stared at each other for a minute before he leaned forward and they kissed. A few days before, this might have bothered me, but somehow, I just knew that Daddy would have been happy for her.

Chapter Four
Stories