LOVE LASTS FOR ETERNITY
Chapter Eleven

Jack's POV

As Nathan and I walked down the busy street, neither of us paying much attention to our surroundings, neither of us saw the tall, dark-haired man approaching us in the distance. We didn't notice him before he noticed us. Well, he didn't notice Nathan. It was me he had his infuriated eyes on.

"You!" he yelled angrily, swinging his fist at me. His punch hit me hard in the side of my face, causing me to stagger sideways. He shoved Nathan out of the way and pushed me against the wall of a shop. I could smell alcohol on his breath and grimaced at the smell. "Where is she?" he yelled in my face. I knew straight away who he meant. Cal had come back to find us.

His face was full of fury, his hair still a mess from the sinking, his suit still torn. He looked like a wasp that had been shaken up in a jar--deadly angry.

"Tell me where she is!" he demanded.

I decided to use the skillful lying that had made me a success at poker. "Cal, Rose didn't survive," I told him.

He looked shocked. He let me go and stepped back a bit, his hand running through his greasy black hair. "I don't believe you. You're lying. Trying to protect the little whore."

Now it was my turn to punch him in the face. He yelled and staggered backwards.

"Don't you ever call Rose a whore again, you bastard!" I yelled. "And she is dead. She died in the water."

Cal looked like he wanted to murder me. "Oh, really? Well, you obviously saved yourself instead of her. Exactly what I'd expect from a gutter rat." I aimed another punch at him, but he dodged out of the way, and my fist slammed into the wall. I gasped as the bricks scraped my knuckles, drawing blood. Cal just laughed. Then he had a thought.

"Or maybe…maybe she's not dead. Maybe you're just lying to keep her safe. Ha! Of course! Well, I'll find her. Mark my words. One way or another, I'll have her back for myself!" And he staggered off down the busy street, laughing to himself like a maniac.

I looked at him, realizing what had just happened. Rose was in danger. He might be drunk, but he was serious. Cal had strong connections and could bribe the police into launching a city-wide search. I had to get her to safety as soon as possible.

"Jesus Christ! Who the hell was that?" Nathan asked, shocked. He had backed against the wall the whole time.

"That was Caledon Hockley."

Nathan gasped. He remembered what Rose had told him the night before and put two and two together. "Oh, my God," he said. "We’d better get home. The others will be back by now."

The walk home was silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I knew I had to get Rose out of the city as soon as possible. There wasn't time to wait for money or arrangements. It had to happen soon.

As we approached the house, I gave my bag to Nathan. "Here," I said. "If Rose sees it, she'll want to know what it is."

Nathan took the bag and slipped it into his own. He didn't give me his usually happy smile. He just looked straight ahead, a frown on his face. I knew he was as concerned for Rose as I was.

As we walked into the house, we were attacked by a mob of pups, but I didn't crouch down and stroke them. I picked my way past them over to Rose, who was sitting on the sofa, the yellow pup sleeping in her arms. She looked concerned as she saw the dark bruise that had formed on the side of my face.

"Jack, what happened?" she asked in a worried voice, touching the bruise.

I winced in pain. "Rose, we have to leave now. We're in danger."

She looked even more worried. "Why? What happened?"

"Cal's here. He knows we're alive."

I hated having to tell her this, seeing how scared she looked. I explained about him finding Nathan and I and how he was drunk and about the fight. She understood how serious the situation was. Selina looked equally worried when we told her, too. Lucy was upstairs playing, and it was a good thing, too. We didn't want to frighten her.

"Where will you go?" she asked us.

We looked at each other. "Well, the only place I know we can go is Chippewa Falls," I said. I was reluctant about returning. It held bad memories. But we were running out of options, and at least I knew people there who would welcome us into the community. "Is that okay with you, Rose?" I asked.

She smiled. "That sounds great. It sounds like a nice place, from what you've told me."

"Then it's settled. We'll leave for Chippewa Falls as soon as possible."

"I can get you tickets on a train to Canada tomorrow morning. It stops off there along the way," Nathan offered.

"That would be great," said Rose. "Thank you for all you've done for us, Nathan."

"Hey, what else could I do? I wouldn't just turn away my closest childhood friend, would I? I'll go down the train station now and get the tickets."

I took some money out of my pocket. "Here's the money for them," I said, but Nathan refused to take it.

"No, the tickets are on us. Think of it as an early birthday present for you," he said to Rose. "And since you won't be here for your birthday, I guess I'll give you the real present when I get back," he added with a smile, and left.

Rose smiled, but still looked worried. I moved closer to her and put my arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay, Rose," I said, trying to comfort her. "I won't let him find us. In a couple of days, we'll be in Wisconsin, far away from him."

She suddenly burst into tears and buried her head in my shoulder. I tried my best to comfort her, but she didn't stop. She suddenly looked at me, her emerald eyes filled with tears. "Jack, I've got something to tell you," she said, fighting back more tears. "I...I'm pregnant."

My heart skipped a beat. She was pregnant. Rose was pregnant with our child. I hugged her tight.

"Rose, that's great!" I said, delighted.

"So, you're not mad?" she asked.

I was shocked. "Why would I be? We're going to be parents. How can that be anything other than the best news in the world?"

She hugged me harder. "I thought you wouldn't want it. I was so scared. If it was Cal, he would probably accuse me of doing it just to annoy him."

I looked at her. "Rose, forget about Cal. He's no longer in our lives. Well, he won't be, anyway. I'd never not want our baby. It's impossible."

"Oh, I'm so happy! We're going to be parents!" she said excitedly.

"How far along are you?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Five days, I think. It must've happened on the Titanic."

"Yeah, I guess so. Does Selina know?"

"Yes. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even know yet. She noticed I was showing signs and took me to the doctor. Lucy's adamant that I'm not pregnant because my stomach isn't big."

I laughed. "Don't worry. It'll grow soon."

"Don't remind me. In nine months, I'll be as big as a whale."

"Well, I don't care if you are as big as a whale. You'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Ah…thanks. I wonder what the baby will look like."

"It'll obviously have the same gorgeous looks as its mother."

"Hey, it might look like you. Or maybe it'll be a mix of both of us. I'd like that."

"Yeah. Me, too. Whatever it looks like, it'll be loved."

Nathan came back a little while later with the two train tickets to Chippewa Falls. Then he went upstairs and came back down with the bag containing what he'd bought earlier.

"Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it, but I only bought it today," he said.

Selina came downstairs with Lucy so she could watch, too.

Nathan handed the bag to Rose and she looked inside. She looked a little puzzled at first, but then a huge smile spread across her face. From the bag, she pulled out a red dog collar and a matching leash. Both of them were puppy-sized. I realized what the present was. Rose leapt up and threw her arms around Nathan.

"Oh, Nathan, thank you! I've always wanted a dog!"

He gestured towards the pups playing over in the corner. "Well, take your pick," he said.

Rose walked over to the pups and beckoned me over. "Jack, come and help me choose," she said.

I followed her over. We examined the pups individually, but both our eyes kept wandering towards one in particular. It was the little yellow pup. She looked up at us with her big hazel eyes and I felt my heart melt. I looked at Rose and she looked at me. That was it. The pup was sold.

I scooped her up in my arms and said, "How d'you fancy living with us?"

In response, she licked my nose and gave a happy yap. I handed her to Rose and she happily cuddled her close. We took her over to the sofa and let her settle down between us.

"Now all she needs is a name," said Selina. "We didn't name them because we thought it would be harder to part with them if we did. So, what are you going to call her?"

Rose picked up the puppy and examined her. "Hmm...maybe something to represent her fur? Goldie, maybe? What do you think, Jack?"

"Um…it sounds like the sort of thing you’d call a goldfish. Hazel, for her eyes?"

"She doesn't really look like a Hazel to me. She's such a sweet puppy. And her fur is a gorgeous honey color. Honey? How about that? Honey."

I tried it out in my head, looking at the puppy. It sounded perfect. It represented her fur color and her sweet nature. Honey was our newest family member.

"I think it's a perfect name."

Rose smiled and picked up the red puppy collar. "Welcome to the family, Honey," she said, fastening the collar around her golden neck. Honey herself seemed pleased with her name and yapped happily, sporting her brand new collar.

That night, Honey followed us upstairs to bed. We tried to get her to stay downstairs with her brothers and sisters, but she wouldn't hear of it. She stumbled up the stairs behind us, and after falling down several times, eventually managed to hitch a ride by clinging to my leg. As soon as we got to the landing, she dropped to the floor with a light thud and scampered to the bedroom. She somehow managed to climb up the duvet and settled down between Rose and I under the covers.

"Well, I guess we may never be alone again," I said.

"I suppose so. But I wouldn't have it any other way," Rose said.

She sank down under the covers and lay peacefully on her side, stroking a sleeping Honey's back. I smiled. Rose was the picture of tranquility. She looked as happy as could be. I leaned over Honey and kissed her forehead.

"Night, Rose. I love you," I said before I fell asleep.

Chapter Twelve
Stories