WHERE I WANT TO BE
Prologue
Rose disembarked the Carpathia,
keeping her head down to avoid the cameras and her mother and ex-fiancé. She
never wanted to see either of them again. Pulling the coat Cal had forced on
her closer around her shivering shoulders, Rose continued on through the crowd
and out into the dark streets of New York City to embark on a new life. If she
had looked back, she would have seen a familiar figure going in the opposite
direction, but she didn’t, so she started her journey alone and heartbroken.
*****
Jack Dawson continued to the
train station. He had searched everywhere for Rose, but there was no sign of
her. So, after the journey on the Carpathia, which seemed to have lasted
forever, he decided to end his wandering and return to his hometown of Chippewa
Falls. He had friends there, plus his parents’ house was still standing. He
could stay there, mourn for Rose, and decide what he was going to do next.
Sighing, he disappeared into the darkness, unaware that Rose was alive and
well, going by his name, and heading for a different part of town.
Nine Months Later
Rose yawned, tired after the long
hours she had spent, hours giving birth to the baby of the only man she had
ever loved. It was a bit of a surprise when she had run into Molly Brown in New
York after disembarking the Carpathia three months earlier. She had never
expected to see anyone from high society again. When she came face-to-face with
the older woman, she had fainted dead away. When she woke up, she was in a
doctor’s office and was told she was three months pregnant and to take it easy.
Molly took over from there. She had taken Rose to Denver with her to live,
agreeing to keep Rose’s survival a secret from everyone. As far as anyone knew,
her name was Rose Dawson, a distant cousin of Molly’s who had run upon some bad
luck, and Molly was helping her get back on her feet again.
The next six months had flown by.
Rose had shopped and readied herself for the new arrival by day, and by night
she had been closed up in her room, mourning Jack, remembering each and every
moment they had spent together and wished that their baby could know its
father.
And now the birth was over with,
and she had a perfect baby son named Robert, after her father. She would have
named him Jack, but she thought it’d be too painful. Slipping out of bed, she
glided over to the crib and picked her son up in her arms.
"Hey, there, Robbie. How are
you doing? I know. You miss Daddy, don’t you? I do, too. I wish you could have
known him, Robbie. He was perfect in every way. Someday, I’ll find you a new
daddy, but not yet. I’m afraid Mama’s not ready to love anyone besides you and
Auntie Molly right now."
Carrying the baby out onto the
balcony outside her room, Rose lifted the baby up towards the stars.
"Look, Jack! This is your son, Robert Jack Dawson. He’s perfect, Jack!
Thank you so much! We love you and miss you!"
"Rosie? What are you doing
out here, darling? It’s cool, and you’ve just given birth, too." Molly
came out and guided Rose back into the room.
"I was showing Robbie to
Jack. Oh, Molly, I wish Jack could have seen Robbie. He would have loved
him."
"I know he would have,
darling. I know." Molly wrapped a warm, comforting arm around Rose when
the young woman began crying once again for her lost love.
"Oh, Molly, what am I going
to do without him?"
"Do what you’ve been doing
all along, Rosie. Survive, darling. That’s what you’re gonna do. Survive."