IS THERE LIFE AFTER LOVE?
Chapter One
Three eternal months had somehow passed since
that fateful, tragic night when Rose Dawson's life would forever be changed.
She could see him every night in her dreams. One particular night she awoke
suddenly from that never ending nightmare. Her husband Jack, frozen to her in
the North Atlantic, sinking into the depths as she pried her hands loose from
him. She always felt as if a part of her died with him, but she knew that she
had to keep her promise to him and go on to fulfill their dreams.
Rising out of bed, she pulled on a flannel
robe and held it close to fight the chill in the room. She walked into the
kitchen where she proceeded to fix a glass of warm milk in order to help her
fall back asleep. Being raised a part of Philadelphia's high society, she was
waited on hand and foot her entire life. Rose had to take a crash course in learning
how to do things on her own upon returning to America. She'd learned quite a
bit in these last three months. She certainly wasn't stupid by any means. She
just happened to be born into high society. Now, she was thankful each day that
Jack Dawson had saved her from continuing to live that sort of life, on the
R.M.S. Titanic. Crawling back into bed, she said a short prayer and closed her
eyes to sleep.
The next morning when she awoke, Rose was
nauseous. She had no idea what was the matter. She waited a couple hours until
she could walk steadily, and walked to the nearest doctor from her apartment in
New York City. After a semi-thorough examination, the doctor stated,
matter-of-factly, "You're pregnant, ma'am." How could this be? I
haven't slept with anyone except Jack, and that was three months ago in the
back seat of the Renault in the cargo hold in our Ship of Dreams. So this is
was his child! The more she thought about it, the more it started to make
sense. She hoped she would be able to keep her job as a nanny. She had, in
fact, learned some things that would help her raise her own child.
The very thought of being able to keep her
job quickly reminded her that she was a half-hour late for work at Elizabeth Valmont’s
home. Whether she felt like it or not, Rose had to hurry there, if it meant
running as hard as she could. She rang the doorbell at the socialite's house to
announce her presence. Rose could not afford to miss a day of work, as bad as
she was feeling right now. "Please, Lord, help Mrs. Valmont understand
what You're doing with me," she prayed aloud. When the door opened,
Elizabeth had a worried look on her face. Rose was grateful that she was kind
and sincere like her friend Molly Brown, not snobbish like her mother and her
circle of friends. Mrs. Valmont, like Rose, was recently a widow, so they had
that much in common. "I'm truly sorry for being late, Mrs. Valmont. The
doctor said I have morning sickness, which is what I awoke with. I'm pregnant,
ma'am. I do hope this won't affect my job at all." Sensing the fear and
uncertainty in her eyes, Elizabeth hugged Rose with all she had.
"Certainly not, my dear. How else will you learn how to raise your own
child?" Elizabeth's sincere smile wiped away any doubts Rose still had.
Towards the end of Rose's shift, Elizabeth
asked at the informal dinner she prepared specially for Rose, "What was he
like?"
She saw him straddled atop her in the back
seat of the Renault with all his love for her shining in his eyes. "Jack
Dawson was magical! He saved me from the living hell of the Philadelphia
society that I was born into. And I slapped him in the face for it! Just in the
nick of time did I realize that he was the only real thing left in my world as
it was literally falling apart around me. He was so free-spirited, a
devil-may-care, but he had the warmest heart I'd ever felt."
Rose was granted the next two days off. She
felt guilty about leaving Mrs. Valmont to care for her toddler alone, but was
grateful for the much-needed rest that Elizabeth insisted on. Relieved that her
employer was so kind-hearted, she crawled into bed and was fast asleep within
minutes.
*****
She and Jack were in Wyoming on their
honeymoon, visiting the new Yellowstone Park. New to them anyway. They rented
horses in Jackson, where he would teach her "to ride like a man." The
general store proprietor reluctantly agreed to exchange a sketch of a group of
townspeople by Jack for a man's shirt and pants for his wife. Jack followed
Rose into the back storeroom, which was a makeshift dressing room. She sultrily
peeled off her dress, discarding it to the floor as if she was throwing away
any remembrances of her past with Caledon Hockley and the rest of Philadelphia
and its high class snobbery.
As she stood naked in front of Jack, they
broke into a frenzy of laughter, remembering the first time she stood naked for
him. Now, this was drawing a crowd outside the storeroom door. He was adjusting
the pants for her to fit her bulging belly. She was certainly independent by
all means, but she was turned on every time Jack insisted on dressing her.
Kissing her passionately as they walked out of the storeroom, Jack led Rose
outside the store through the crowd that was staring at them, but they were too
in love to notice.
When their horses were accounted for, Jack
stood next to Rose to help her mount her horse, in case she had any problems.
Then he mounted his own horse and they rose off into the distance. The spacious
view was breathtaking! Jack dismounted his horse and so did Rose. She stood
next to her horse and leaned back, stretching her fatigued back. "Do that
again, and hold that pose," Jack said, as he pulled out his canvas and
materials and sat on a nearby rock. "Put your hand up to your forehead and
start to run your fingers through your hair. Perfect." He sketched her
with as much love as the first time in her private suite on the R.M.S. Titanic,
except this time he was far from nervous, as he had been that night. She knew
better than to try to carry on a conversation with him while he drew, as it
always broke his concentration.
When he was done, he closed his canvas,
and Rose strolled to the rock where he sat and joined him. "Does this
pregnancy foil any of the dreams we made?"
He pulled her onto his lap and whispered
into her thick burgundy hair, "Never. This is just as magical as anything
we've ever dreamed. Don't you ever forget that! I just never thought it would
be with you." The sky had turned a soft pink in the sunset. "We'd
better set up camp here," Jack stated, and Rose got up as he unpacked the
bedrolls and blankets on the saddles.
He unrolled the bedrolls and spread them
side-by-side on the grass. He laid down and gazed at the starry sky, where Rose
joined him. "Where to, miss?"
"To the stars," Rose answered,
leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Mmm," Jack murmured,
remembering that exact conversation in the Renault. With that, Rose rolled over
and straddled atop him, kissing him hard. He held her close until she had to
push herself up off of him to catch her breath. He teased her lips with his as
he held her free breasts, whose nipples were hardening with the passion between
them. He, then, unbuttoned her shirt and pants, and slipped them off of her.
She undressed him with experienced fingers. With the two blankets over them to
fight off any cold against their naked bodies, Jack made love to her with more
passion than she had ever seen in him, even their first time. Now they were
free from her mother, and Caledon Hockley, that bastard who called himself her
fiancé, and his manservant Spicer Lovejoy, forever. She could now love her Jack
Dawson with all the passion in the world until the end, and no one would ever
come between them.
She also had Jack's assurance that he
loved his child that was growing inside of her.