Petals of the Rose

by Mascalzone Latino

It had taken the sinking of Titanic for Cal to realise just how much he had truly cared for Rose. When he finds Rose on the decks of the Carpathia, Cal vows to make it up to her in his own way. A/N 2 April: Chapter 4 will be uploaded soon with a bit of luck!

1. Chapter 1

I found myself watching Titanic on Saturday night when I got home from work, primarily because it was Billy Zane's birthday and he was the main reason why I saw the movie 16 times at the movies, hehe. Anyway, I've been reading Titanic fanfiction on and off for the past several years and thought that I'd finally try my hand at writing something Titanic related. I've always been more of a Cal girl – maybe it's the tall, dark and handsome thing. I will do my best to update this as often as I can but I'm about two thirds through a Bachelor of Arts degree and am beginning third (and final) year papers as of today so there will be times where I can't update as often as I would like.

22 November 1911

Mrs. James DeWitt Bukater announces the engagement of her daughter Rose to Mr. Caledon N. Hockley, of Philadelphia. The date of the wedding has not been fixed, but it will probably take place soon after Easter.

Ah, there it was. Cal couldn't help but smirk upon seeing the announcement in the newspaper. Now, Philadelphia society – and the entire world – would know that Rose was officially his and there was nothing that they could do about it. He knew that the idea of announcing the engagement in the newspaper was most definitely Ruth's idea as Rose had been too upset and confused by everything that had happened since her father had passed away. Stunned even. She was definitely stunned when Cal had placed the engagement ring on her finger.

Cal knew that his father would be issuing an invitation for Ruth and Rose to attend dinner at the Hockley mansion very soon – if not that night, then perhaps the following night – so that other members of the Hockley family could formally meet his betrothed for the first time and then the wedding planning could begin in earnest. Ruth and Rose would be doing the planning but the Hockley money would be paying for it.

Ruth had made it perfectly clear to Rose that she expected her daughter to marry Cal, regardless of whether she had any feelings for him because she knew just how precarious their position in Philadelphia society was, following the death of Rose's father. As Ruth had put it, her late husband had left a legacy of bad debt hidden by a good name. She did not want the DeWitt Bukater name to be dragged through the mud. They were women of society and society dictated that Rose submit to Cal's will.

And submit she would.