TITANIC ROSE
Chapter Twenty-One
"What--" Rose sat up in bed,
rubbing her eyes. Andrew wailed in the other room. Thomas rolled over beside
her, turning on the light above the bed. "Thomas, what time is it?"
"Three o'clock in the morning." He
groaned. "I think he wants you."
"I'd rather him want you right
now," Rose replied, dreary-eyed, her words slurring, as she left the
comfort of bed. "But you have work tomorrow. I'll go get him back to
sleep."
She wandered into Andrew's nursery, surprised
to see her mother already there, holding the baby in her arms. "Mother, I
think I can handle--"
"Shh, Rose. He's almost asleep again. I
thought I'd save you the trouble of waking up, but I see I haven't."
"He's loud enough to wake the
dead." Rose laughed, leaning against the door. "But I wouldn't trade
him for another baby. No. I love him too much."
"Have you been thinking about Jack
lately?" Ruth asked, putting the sleeping baby back in the crib. "You
seem a little melancholy."
"For some reason, I dream about Titanic.
I honestly don't want to, but--but--I can't help it. It's been over a year, and
I just want to forget."
"You don't forget something as easily as
you wish you could, my dear," Ruth said. "After all, Jack was there.
And I'm almost positive you'll never forget him. No matter how much I
want--"
"Mother!" Rose exclaimed. "I
thought you'd accepted it by now."
"The truth hurts, Rose, and it had to
come out sometime. I want to be here with you, but I can never like Jack. He
was so poor. And you were engaged at the time. You were the one who was
unfaithful, and Jack knew that, too."
"It's not his fault," Rose replied,
tears stinging her eyes. "I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for
Jack. I'd have either drowned out there, or killed myself. You want to know
something, Mother? I didn't slip when Jack saved me from the back of Titanic. I
was about to jump, and he pulled me back over."
Ruth gasped. "Don't tell such--horrible
falsehoods, Rose."
"It's the truth, and the truth hurts,
doesn't it, Mother?" Rose asked coldly, storming from the nursery.
*****
"You didn't come into bed until four
o'clock," Thomas told Rose at breakfast. "I was getting a little
worried. Are you all right?"
"Yes. I just couldn't get back to sleep
after Andrew woke us all up last night."
"Oh, was your mother awake, too?"
Thomas asked.
"She was the one caring for him when I
got to his room. I swear, she is trying to take over, as if I wouldn't be a
good enough mother to my own son. I've barely held him since he was born."
"She's just overly protective of her
grandson, I'm sure."
Rose shook her head. "Mother wants
control over me again. And I refuse."
Ruth entered the kitchen, Andrew cradled in
her arms. "Good morning, all."
Rose sighed and jabbed her eggs with her
fork. "Good morning, Mother. I see you've awoken Andrew."
"He was already awake. I checked in on
him, and there he was, playing in his crib." Ruth smiled.
Rose left the table and went to her mother's
side. "I think it's time for me to feed him."
"Oh, I can do it, dear. Sit down and
eat. We all know that at the littlest frustrations, you do drastic
things."
Rose flopped her arms down to her sides and
looked at Ruth angrily. Thomas sat at the table, noticing a storm between the
women was brewing. "So, lovely weather, huh?" he asked, trying to
change the subject.
"Mother, you had him all yesterday, all
last night, and now you want him all morning as well? Aren't I a good enough
parent to my child?"
"Dear, you're never around for the poor
child." Ruth smirked.
"I'm never around for him because you
always have him!"
"Oh, stop. Just because the first baby
didn't survive--uh--call to you last night, doesn't mean you always have to
watch over him."
"First baby?" Thomas asked.
"Mother was referring to Andrew, of
course. Weren't you, Mother?" Rose asked.
"Maybe it's time Thomas knew the truth.
About Andrew. About Jacquelyn. About John. And especially about Jack."
"Your brother Jack?" Thomas asked.
"What part does he have to play in this? And John?"
"There's nothing to say." Rose
grabbed her son from Ruth's arms. "And, Mother, if you ever come into my
life only to ruin it again, I'll kill you myself."
"More like you'll kill yourself,"
Ruth replied. "Go on, Rose. Tell your husband what really happened on the
Titanic."
"He doesn't want to know, nor does he
care. I wish I had never let you into our home. I wish you'd leave already! Go
back to Cal! Er--oh, God." Rose clapped her hand over her mouth, knowing
that the mention of Cal's name had already revealed too much of her past to
Thomas.
"Cal?" Thomas asked. "As in
Caledon Hockley? The man who came to our old house looking for a Miss DeWitt
Bukater almost a year ago? That Cal?"
Rose slumped into the chair and began to cry.
"Thomas, please, forget everything that you heard. It's nothing, really.
Just a big mistake on everyone's part."
"Rose, you don't have to tell me now.
But I trust you to tell me in time," Thomas said, clasping her hand in
his. "No matter what has happened, I'll always love you."
"So much for not mentioning that bigot
of a man named Cal," Ruth jeered. "So, go on. Tell Thomas about Jack,
now. And his daughter, and yours."
"What?" Thomas asked, looking at
Rose. "We don't have a daughter. And wasn't Jack your brother?"
"No, no, he wasn't, Thomas," Rose
replied, tears running down her cheeks. Even though she didn't want her past to
emerge, she had to correct what Thomas could interpret as something completely
wrong and terrible. "I don't think I can tell you yet. It's still too
painful."
"Tell him!" Ruth shouted.
"Get out of my house!" Rose
screamed, jumping from the chair and striding over to her mother. "Don't
you think you've ruined our family enough? How could I possibly think you
cared? You said you'd forgiven me for everything, and would accept what had
happened. But no. You came here to tarnish my marriage! Get out!"
"I can't leave, dear. I have nowhere to
stay, and I have to pack--"
"Oh, screw packing! I don't care
anymore! Just leave this house at once!"
Thomas walked over to them and pushed Rose to
the side. "Perhaps I could pay for your lodging in a nice hotel until
things settle down. I don't know what has happened, but I don't like to see a
mother and daughter fighting."
"I'll go pack, then," Ruth said.
"I hope you're proud of yourself, Rose. Maybe next time you have an affair
and bear his child, you'll remember this."
Thomas sighed. Could Rose really have done
something this big and not told him? Rose stood by him, sniffing and wiping
away tears. "Jack saved me, Mother. I'd be dead if I hadn't met him."
"Watch out for her, Thomas," Ruth
warned. "You say one little thing, and she'll try to jump off the back of
a ship." She walked confidently out of the room, sure she had beaten her
daughter at this game.
*****
"Rose, what happened on Titanic? And why
did you think you had to lie to me?"
Rose sat in bed, her head in her hands.
"Thomas, I don't think you'll ever be able to understand the pain I have
gone through. It was too much. Titanic was the most awful experience of my
life. And Jack--he was part of making it the most awful experience in my life.
Can we just leave it at that for now?"
"I understand your decision, if it hurts
you so much to discuss the topic," Thomas said, crawling under the sheets
next to her. "But whatever happened between you and Jack, it's in the
past. You have me now, and I know you won't do anything to ruin what we feel
for each other."
"My mother is just a no-good busy-body,
and I always hated her," Rose began. "Please don't hate me for my past
sins."
"I could never hate you, Rose.
Never," Thomas replied, kissing her. "Now go to sleep. It's been a
long day."