(A/N: I'm bringing this story back. Instead of including every state in the US like I had originally planned, I'm going to skip around so I can tell a more interesting story and hopefully defeat writers block. Thank you to everyone for sticking with this story. I'm sorry about the second hiatus this has been on. Hopefully it'll be the last one.)
Dear Jasmine,
I know, it's been several months since I wrote last. I have no excuse really except that these past months have been a whirlwind of traveling. We've seen all of the western states, meaning Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. We've been to Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Next on the list is Louisiana. Jack is talking about staying a while there because I want to see New Orleans and he wants to stay put for a while like we had in Washington. I don't blame him. The car is better than a train, but it is still exhausting. We've been going practically nonstop. It's time to rest and just live quietly for a while. After we experience New Orleans that is. It is going to feel good not moving around all the time.
I will write again. I can't make any promises when, but trust that a letter will come when I have something interesting to say.
Take care,
Rose
Bellevue Louisiana was a small town about 20 miles away from New Orleans. Jack had made a stop in town to gather more supplies, just for Rose to exclaim that she loved the town. It reminded her of Chippewa Falls. It was a farming community and small and cozy and most of the citizens seemed friendly and everyone seemed to know everyone else. It was something that Rose had been missing and since they were looking to settle somewhere, why not in the small community? It wasn't far from New Orleans and Rose had spotted a small farm house that she could just picture her and Jack making into a home. Not a permanent home of course, that was Napa, but a place to rest while they took a break from their travels.
Jack of course agreed. He couldn't see a reason why not, plus the place also reminded him of Chippewa Falls when he had been a child and helped his father with the farm work.
The farm didn't cost them much at all, but the person selling did warn them that they may want to hire some sharecroppers for some extra help. Rose had frowned. She had never heard the term sharecropper before and was curious about what a sharecropper was and why the man who sold them the farm suggested that they hire one.
That first night in their house, laying out in the back yard, under the stars, their arms wrapped around each other, Rose decided to approach the question.
"Jack?" She asked, looking at Jack who was looking up at the stares.
"Rose?"
"What is a sharecropper and why should we have one?"
Jack blinked, taken aback by the question. He looked at Rose, his expression asking if she was serious. "You really don't know?"
She shook her head, feeling rather awkward. Was she supposed to know?
"I guess you wouldn't, being a city girl and all. There would be no need for you to know..."
"Well I want to know now. What is a sharecropper?"
"A sharecropper is someone that stays on the property and works the land for the share of the harvest. Like say...we decided to grow corn. We have someone come stay with us and help plant and harvest the corn. We pay them by giving them some of the corn while we keep the other half."
"Oh...kind of like a servant, but instead of money we give them part of what they grow?"
"Right. My folks never used sharecroppers, we never did farm much. Only had enough for ourselves, but I knew of other families that used sharecroppers. Some of them tried to cheat them out of what they owed and treated them badly, which was another reason why we never used them. It's too easy to abuse the system. Sometimes, it's no better than slavery."
"Hmm. I learn something new every day it seems."
Jack chuckled and continued to watch the stars above. "That man was wrong. We don't need sharecroppers. We're not planning to plant and sell anything. And who knows how long we'll be staying."
"I hope it's for a while. I need a rest," Rose yawned, cuddling up closer to her husband.
"So do I Rosie Posie," Jack chuckled, kissing the top of her head.
"It's going to be a good life here."
Jack silently agreed. Here you can really see the stars and the scent of honeysuckle filled the air, making him even more relaxed and full of memories of his childhood in Chippewa Falls.
…..
The next month found Jack and Rose settling into a quiet life in Bellevue Louisiana. They would mostly stay to themselves as they went to the market and different shops and walked the countryside, but there were times when they came in contact with people, from farmers to the sharecroppers that worked the land. At first the good looking couple were the talk of the town. The women swooned over Jack's good looks and friendly personality and they wondered about the elegant Rose and her first class mannerisms. They both were a mystery, but they were well liked by everyone. Neither Jack and Rose had a bad opinion about anyone in the small country town.
During the day, Jack would go into town and sit in the town square and sketch the people that he saw walking to and from their destinations. From farmers to sharecroppers and their families. He would sell his sketches for 20 cents a piece to the farmers and would just give the sharecroppers the drawings he had made of their families, not having the heart to charge them anything, knowing that they would probably need every cent they managed to make.
Rose kept herself busy by reading, writing, and she had begun to knit, thinking that she could make Jack some winter gloves or a hat or something. She didn't know what had gotten into her, she was just feeling really creative.
It was a nice, quiet life. A loll in all the traveling they had been doing. Rose had never felt better than she had in that first month in Louisiana. But that soon changed at the beginning of the second month. She had just woken up with her stomach tied in knots. Ignoring the nausea, she made her way into the kitchen and was putting on some eggs when her stomach rebelled and she had to race to the bathroom to empty her stomach of the dinner she ate the night before.
She pressed her head against the cool seat of the toilet as Jack came to stand in the doorway. He had just come down in time to see Rose race into the washroom.
"Rose, are you okay?" He walked over and knelt beside her, placing a soothing hand on her back.
Rose nodded, beginning to feel better already. "I'm fine. I guess I have some kind of stomach bug..."
"Listen, I'll cook. You go to bed and I'll bring you some broth and crackers. We'll keep it light today."
"Oh Jack, no. That's not necessary. I'm feeling fine now."
And she was. Well as fine as she was going to be after that little scene.
"Still, I rather you take it easy today..."
"Don't worry so much. I will. Now let me finish your breakfast before you go to the square to draw today."
The next couple of weeks, it was more of the same. Rose would wake up sick and throwing up, but in a few hours she was better again. Despite her recovery afterward, Jack had her go to the doctor, wanting to know why she was sick in the mornings like she was.
Both Jack and Rose were shocked by the diagnosis.
Rose and Jack sat in the examination room. Rose leaned back against the examination table, feeling a little nauseous once again. Jack stood next to her, her hand clasped in his as he pushed her curls out of her face. He looked up as the doctor entered with a notepad in her hand.
"We have the test results," The doctor looked up and smiled at the couple, signaling that this wasn't bad news at all. "Congratulations. You're going to become parents. Mrs. Dawson is with child."
Rose blinked, shocked by the revelation. Of all the diagnosis, she hadn't been expecting that one. She didn't know why, since she and Jack hadn't been too careful when it came to pregnancy. They looked at one another. It was Rose who responded first with a small laugh.
"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later," She smiled, a tear in her eyes. A baby...Jack's baby. A part of him growing inside of her at that very minute. Just the thought made her giddy. "I hope it's an artist, like it's daddy..."
"With a fiery spirit, like her mommy," Jack chuckled, kissing her hand. The baby had not been planned at all, but that was okay. The best things in life were never planned anyway. They were just going to be starting their family sooner than expected.
"Are you happy?" She asked, a tinge of fear in her eyes. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't want this. If somehow a family was the last thing he wanted right now. After all, they were in the midst of traveling the country with their time in Bellevue being just a pit stop. Now that there was a baby, who knew how long they would stay in this small town.
"Of course. This baby, it's a part of us. I love it already, just like I love you," Jack smiled, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's going to be okay, Rose. This baby is going to know nothing but love."
"You're going to be a great daddy," Rose grinned, remembering how good Jack had been with his little cousin Lily.
"And you'll be a great mommy. This is one lucky baby."
The next month saw Jack and Rose preparing for their new arrival. Jack had began to convert one of the bedrooms into a nursery, painting it and filling the room with furniture and supplies. Like a rocking chair and a baby bed and changing table. It would be months before the birth, but Jack and Rose were happily looking forward to it.
It was the third month when tragedy struck, sending Rose into what she would say was the darkest period of her life. She had been standing on a ladder, trying to hang some curtains. Jack had just returned home and was taking off his coat when he heard a scream and something hitting the floor. Jack dropped his portfolio and rushed into the nursery to find Rose on the floor, clutching her stomach, her eyes squeezed shut as she moaned in pain. He frowned as he saw blood seeping down her legs. He didn't know much about pregnancy, but he knew that wasn't good.
"My baby," Rose sobbed as a pain ripped through her, a sinking feeling taking her over.
Jack went to her, lifting her up into his arms. "It's okay, Rose...it's okay..."
He carried her into the bedroom and had called the doctor.
It took the doctor ten minutes to arrive and examined Rose. When he was finished, he sighed and shook his head as he stared at his now sleeping patient.
"I wasn't able to save the baby. I am sorry. But she is young, she'll be able to conceive again."
Jack bowed his head, sick with the news. Poor Rose. She had been looking forward to this baby. It had meant a great deal to her that a product of their love had been growing inside her and coming to life. Now it was dead. He grieved the loss of their first child, but he knew it was going to be extra hard on Rose. "Thank you, doctor. I...I'll tell her."
"I suggest that you wait six weeks before trying again. Her body needs to heal and reset sort of speak. I am also going to sit up an appointment for next week. I want to make sure that she's healing okay."
"Yes sir," Jack nodded as he showed the doctor to the door. Once alone, he looked towards the bedroom where Rose slept, wondering how they were going to survive this most recent loss.
…..
Dear Jasmine,
I wish I had more to tell you other than I don't think I'll ever be happy again. I never got to hold my baby. I never got to sing it to sleep or read it a bedtime story or watch it take it's first steps. How could I lose it so easily? Why? What if I'm never meant to have Jack's baby? What if I'm never meant to be a mother?
I once thought I was lucky, but now all I feel is cursed…
Rose
