TITANIC ROSE
Chapter Seventeen
"Oh, Mother, what can I say to
you?" Rose asked herself as she dropped into the chair at her bedroom
desk. The morning sunlight streamed through the windows. Rose rubbed her eyes
and opened the drawer next to her. Underneath her wooden jewelry box, which contained
the most precious jewel ever known, lay paper and pens. She extracted them,
slamming the drawer, and returning to the letter she needed to write.
"I have to write this," Rose kept
telling herself. "If I don't, my life will be completely different. I must
tell Mother everything."
She began to etch the tale of her life since
Titanic, leaving a few details out, like her encounters with John Wilkes.
Dear Mother,
Yes, you have found me, and I congratulate
you. I didn't think it would be so easy. I guess you're wondering what has been
going on in my life, I mean, what with myself moving to Cedar Rapids. After
Titanic, I gave birth to Jack's child four months prematurely. Unhappily, I
cursed myself to the slums of New York, where I met a man named Thomas Calvert.
He cared for me, and eventually we fell in love. We married a few months ago,
and now I am to give birth to his child. I am as happy as I'll ever be. Thomas
does not know about Jack or my daughter who was Jack's baby, nor do my friends
know. I would appreciate if it remained that way.
Rose
Rose glanced the letter over, praying that it
sounded right and this whole ordeal wasn't a trick for her to get back with
Cal. Even so, at least her mother could rest at ease and these foolish games
could stop once and for all.
Scribbling her mother's hotel residence on
the envelope, Rose stuffed the letter inside hurriedly and rushed to dress. If
she met the postman outside with the letter, there was a better chance Ruth
would receive the message as quickly as possible.
She ran out to the postman and tried to catch
her breath. "Please, sir, it is urgent and of utmost importance," she
told him, handing him the letter that contained her message. "Make sure
she gets it well."
"All right, Ma‘am." The postman
tipped his hat and wandered on his merry way. Rose sighed and hoped she hadn't
just made a terrible mistake.
*****
"So is that all that happened during
your day?" Rose asked a few days later as she and Thomas talked over
dinner. "Didn't anything exciting happen?"
"It never does. I've been thinking about
becoming a lawyer. I have the education and everything needed."
"But what about your current job?"
Rose asked.
"It doesn't pay much and it keeps me
away from home much too long. As a lawyer, I could stay here more. And I want
to be here when the baby comes. No risk of you being here alone."
"That's a while off yet, don't you
think?" Rose sliced a piece of chicken. "I mean, I'm only one month
pregnant, Thomas."
"It doesn't matter. And it's a
month-and-a-half that you're pregnant."
A knock at the door interrupted their
conversation. Rose excused herself as she left the table to answer the caller.
When she opened the door, she couldn't believe what she saw. Everything went
white, then black, and then she fainted.
*****
"Where am I?" Rose asked nobody
as she wandered about the cloudy white room.
"The unconscious is a wonderful
thing," answered a voice.
"Father?" Rose asked, stunned.
She placed a hand to her throat and followed the voice to where her father
stood in the mass of clouds about them.
"You did the right thing," her
father said, holding her in his grasp. "Writing to your mother was the
best thing you could do."
"What?" Rose asked, confused, as
the room began to fade. "No, Father! No, come back!" The room faded
into darkness and dissolved into her mother's face.
*****
"Mother!" Rose cried as she woke
up. Thomas had moved her to the couch, and Mrs. DeWitt Bukater hung at Rose's
side.
"Oh, thank goodness, we thought we'd
lost you for sure," Ruth said, running her fingers through Rose's hair.
"Your mother has come for a visit,"
Thomas said, leaning against the fireplace.
"So I see, but, why--how?" Rose
tried to sit up, and discovered that she really couldn't.
"Your letter made me come. I'm so happy
you're married to a wonderful man. I only wish I had been here, through the
good times--and bad."
Rose knew what she meant. She only hoped that
nothing would be revealed to Thomas about her past. "Thomas, I'm still
feeling a little faint. Could you fetch the doctor, dear?"
"Of course, darling." Thomas leaned
down and kissed her forehead. "I'll get him for you. In your condition, we
can't take any chances."
"Thank you." Rose watched as he
took his coat and left for the doctor.
"So, you didn't really tell me
much." Ruth looked uncomfortable, even with her own daughter.
"There is much to say, although I don't
like to discuss it," Rose curtly replied. "Where is Cal?"
"Like I said," Ruth answered.
"He met another rich girl and left me to fend for myself. He didn't really
care about you. But I was left poor and all alone. I saw you at the dock that
dreadful day and knew you were alive, so I promised myself I would find you.
Cal gave up after several months. And we did find you that once. Thomas was the
man that answered the door when we came."
"And that is why we came here,"
Rose added. "But already I had met someone else who spent the first months
with me. His name was John Wilkes--"
"The man who wrote the letter!"
Ruth exclaimed. "You are the woman he wrote of! It was in all the papers."
"Yes. He was with me through the birth
of Jacquelyn, and her death. He got me back on my feet. But there were
problems. Numerous problems."
"You don't have to tell me," Ruth
said. "And what about Jack?"
"He saved my life in so many ways.
That's all I want to say."
"I wish I had been here for you."
Ruth hugged her daughter. "It was wrong of me to be mad at you and Jack
for loving each other."
"I wish you hadn't been so mad,
too." Rose smiled as she looked up at her mother. She then placed a hand
on her stomach. "Mother, I wonder what my child will be like."
"I hope a lot like you," Ruth
replied, putting her hand on Rose's. "Because you turned out wonderful.
And I know one thing. I am going to spoil this baby rotten, and you can't stop
me."
"Please, spoil him like every
grandmother does." Rose laughed. "That's all I want. A family. I am
going to be a mother."
*****
Rose climbed the stairs, extra blankets flung
over her shoulder. It was a comical sight, but it had to be done. Ruth was to
sleep in the spare room at the end of the hall, and they were going to fix it
up tonight.
Ruth stood in the center of the room by the
bed. "This is quite a cozy house, dear. Marvelous, really."
"Thank you. I try to clean every day,
but sometimes it doesn't work."
"Rose, how do you still feel about
Jack?"
Rose placed the blankets at the bottom of the
bed and stood slowly, remaining silent. "Well, I still love him very much.
I always will. It still hurts to think about him and the part he has played in
my existence. But now I have Thomas and my new baby-on-the-way. The pain isn't
as sharp as it once was."
"I'm glad to hear it," Ruth said,
pulling the covers up. "I wouldn't want to see you still so sad when you
have such a wonderful life around you."
Then, out of the blue, Ruth hugged her
daughter out of pure love. Nothing more. It had been forever since they shared
an embrace. And Rose couldn't ask for anything more.