A MISUNDERSTANDING
Chapter Ten
Broken Silence
"W-what brings you to these
parts?" Rose stammered out, and winced at asking such a stupid question.
For the first time in her life, she felt gawky and unsure. It was as if the balance
of the universe was broken when Jack and Cal were in the same room.
The words hung in the air,
drifting down like a leaf that had lost the breeze. "Well...you brought me
here, actually."
Cal’s head spun round and round.
It felt like a dream. It had to be a dream. But it wasn’t. Jack was real, as
well as very much alive. The silence was deafening and making them all go mad.
Taking a deep breath, Cal got his composure together. "What, Mr. Dawson,
is that supposed to mean?"
Jack stammered in confusion,
obviously kicking himself inside for not preparing for this meeting. Cal
smirked and swooped in with a harsher tone. "I’d like to remind you that
you are standing on my property, using up my time. Now, is there a particular
reason for this sudden...visit?"
"Yeah, there is. I thought
it was kind of my God-given duty to be able to see my own daughter."
Involuntarily, Cal grimaced. The
suddenness of Jack’s arrival had made him forget all about Jayvelin. He had
known the first time he laid eyes on her that she was Jack’s daughter, but the
full realization of what this now meant dawned on him for the first time.
As if on cue, the door leading
into the entryway swooped open and Jayvelin, a vision of child innocence and
beauty, was standing before the struggling adults. In a soft, silver-belled
voice she said, "I heard someone scream."
Rose gathered her up and
whispered into her ear. "Oh, I’m so sorry. I was just so shocked. That’s
all." Then, speaking up, she said, "Jayvelin, there’s someone I’d
like you to meet. This is Jack Dawson."
*****
Hours had passed, and the awkward
situation had marched on. Jack had come with a mission, and he wasn’t leaving
until he had seen for himself if Rose had really had his child. He was seated
in the kitchen with Jayvelin on his lap, showing off her new ability to read.
On the other side of the table sat Rose, a cheerful Jacob on her lap. And,
finally, sitting beside Rose was Cal, a protective arm around her shoulders.
Every so often, Jack would glance in Jacob’s direction. His resemblance to the
pictures of Jack as a toddler were uncanny, but Rose had said nothing to
suggest...no, it couldn’t be.
Finally, Jacob’s eyes began to
close, and Rose gathered the two children up to get them ready for bed. With a
sigh, Cal saw the uselessness of being a jerk to Jack and invited him into the
sitting room. In awkward silence, they sat in the breezy room. Jack was
comfortably leaning back on the sofa while Cal warily gazed at him from his
father’s old recliner.
At length, the silence became
unbearable, and Jack blurted, "Are you Jacob’s father?"
Shocked, Cal’s eyes locked with
his. "No, I’m not. You, of all people, should’ve known that answer."
"So--so Rose told you that I
was the father..." The sentence hung uncompleted, Jack not sure whether it
was a fact or a question.
"No. She never said a thing.
I questioned her about it once, and only once, but didn’t get a smidgen of
information. I can tell you, though, that there is no possible way that either
one of those kids could be mine, but I am willing to give them the best
childhood I know how."
Rose drifted into the room and
stiffly sat down on the empty sofa opposite Jack. "There are some
unanswered questions."
The men nodded their obvious
agreement. She looked up from her lap into the blue orbs of Jack’s eyes.
"I’m so, so sorry for all of this. I’ve made some terrible choices, not
realizing how many people would have to suffer for it. You, Cal…hell, I’ve made
a mess of Jayvelin and Jacob’s lives and how they see a father-figure."
Jack knew that she would break
down if he didn’t intervene. "Listen to me. It’s okay. No one lives a life
without regrets. But you have to tell us what happened. What did you do?"
Brushing a silky strand from her
shoulder, Rose began her story. She was telling it for Cal, and Jack, and her
children. But she was also telling it for herself. Too long she had kept the
secrets to herself. They had to surface.