Chapter Ten: Dreams

Friday, July 13th, 1917

The house was dark when they entered it, Rose flipped on the hallway light and illuminated the toys that lay on the floor and the wilting flowers in the vase on the table that accented the foyer. She sighed, she had been putting off cleaning since the wedding and things were starting to get disgusting. It was after ten o'clock and the kids were tired Rose held a sleeping Jack over her shoulder and she felt his drool land on her shoulder. "Lovely" She thought and silently wondered if drooling ran in the Dawson family.

She carried Jack up to his bedroom and took his shoes off and slipped him under the covers, pajamas weren't worth waking the beast.

Anne had laid herself down but Rose still went in and kissed her cheeks. She turned out the lights in the hallway, all dreams of cleaning the house slipping out of her mind.

Her bedroom wasn't any better than the rest of the house, the bed had went un made from the night before and her vanity was covered in jewelry and items she had neglected to put away. She slipped off her dress and laid it over a chair, promising herself to clean it up tomorrow. She laid down in her underwear and the sheets felt nice against her skin the events of the day had rendered her exhausted and she fell into a deep sleep.

The sun shined brightly as she walked along the beach looking at families eating a picnic lunch and an old couple strolling through the sand hand in hand. For a moment she was saddened by the scene and reminded of all she had lost. A young man was drawing something in a portfolio, she sat down next to him and asked him what he was doing.

"Actually I was drawing you my dear, Rose it's me Jack."

"No, you died five years ago if you're here than I must be dead. Jack I was expecting a baby and our son and Anne. If I'm dead they're all alone." Rose buried her head in her hands and cried Jack put his arm around her shoulders.

"You're not dead Rose, I came to visit you. I've been missing you."

"I've been missing you too, if you can visit this way why can't you just come back to life Jack? Why? Is it that hard?"

"It is that hard, but we can enjoy the time we have together now can't we?"

"Yes, I suppose we can."

"How about we go for a walk?" Jack stood up and held his hand out to Rose she took it and he brought it to his lips and kissed the part below her fingers. "Rose, you're doing a great job with little Jack, I was overjoyed when you named him after me."

"Really?"

"Yes, and when you married John while it hurt a little I'm glad you're living my promise. There were many times I was afraid you were going to give up."

"I couldn't I knew you'd be angry with me."

"I would have been, I still would if you choose to give up in the future."

"Jack, why can't I spend eternity with you? Just leave and we can go to some other realm and raise Jack together. He's missing a great man what with you not being there."

"I know, but then Jack would miss all that growing up on Earth has to offer. We can't take that from him." Jack took Rose in his arms and held her there for the longest time, the sun began to go down and he kissed her lips like he had before. "I have to be going now Rose, and don't be afraid I'm always watching over you, and I visit Jack in his dreams ask him about it when he gets older. I love you I never got to say it when I was alive but I love you Rose."

"I love you too."

"By the way, drooling is a customary trait of being a Dawson, as is being half devil if woken up." Jack laughed and started running toward the horizon the scene faded to black.

Rose awoke and sat straight up in bed. Her heart was thumping and she tried to remember the dream she had been having. After several minutes of racking her brain with no avail she laid back down and closed her eyes.

Summer 1917

By August, Rose decided it was best to tell the children about the baby. She had gone to the doctor and he said that everything was progressing properly. With this information she held onto the notion that telling the children was a good idea. Jack wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of having another sibling, he was accustomed to being the only child and with Anne getting half of the attention he had his knickers in a twist. Rose told him that it would be an incredible journey and that eventually he would have someone else to play with. He seemed to take to the idea after Anne's exuberant reaction to the news. Anne had a way with Jack, she could convince him to do anything. Be it good or bad.

Rose received letters from John nearly every week, mostly he talked about the hard work and the way his sergeant had taken to hating him. She wrote him back, describing in detail the way the children played together and how she missed him. When John was shipped off to Europe in late August, Rose found herself distraught. Many ships had been sunk by U boats in the Atlantic and Rose feared losing John to the ocean. While he was worried about fighting in the trenches, Rose feared the ocean and a ship's vulnerability to it.

John's first letter from a base in France put Rose's mind to ease a bit, but a letter from Philadelphia Pennsylvania did not.

XXX

Rose sat down on the porch swing, it was just her and Jack this day Anne had started school that morning and much to Jack's dismay he wasn't allowed to go just yet. Rose opened the letter, it was from her mother. She hadn't heard from Ruth since the night of the sinking, which to Rose seemed like a lifetime away. A part of her felt like throwing the letter in the ocean and taking Jack to the park like he was currently begging her to do. Another part of her felt like reading what her mother had to say. While Rose felt betrayed by what her mother had done she still needed her. She was only twenty one and that made Ruth only forty eight. She missed her mother and wanted her their for Jack and the new baby, they were her grandchildren of course. She would like Anne as well, the girl could win over anyone she spoke with just by flashing the smile that she had inherited from her father. So as Rose opened the letter and pulled out the heavy paper, she braced herself for what it said.

Dearest Rose, Thursday, August thirtieth, 1917

Rose, our relationship has never been a healthy one. I won't even try to lie and tell you that it is. It had it's score of lies, we never really were running out of money. Of course at the time of Titanic I thought we were poor but your father was an intelligent man and while he ran up large depts. in America his foreign stocks were alive and well. In selling them I made enough money to pay off the depts. here and put away some money for me to live more than comfortably on. I never understood why you were so revolted by Cal and I always believed he was a fine match for you. Looking back on it he was a horrible man for you and the world in general. I noticed the bruises your arms always had and I realized he was taking advantage of you. I should have broken off the engagement when I found out he was hurting you, but I was a different woman back then. I hope that you'll still have it in your heart to love me. I've changed so much since you left. I realized that family isn't indispensable. I love you Rose and I hope that you'll accept my offer to come out and visit. I won't come if you don't want me too. I would like to see the life you have made for yourself.

Love, your mother.

Rose closed her eyes, she wanted to believe that her mother had changed. She wanted to love her and forgive her for the things she had done. She tried to believe that Jack would still be alive if it wasn't for her mother's foolish decisions, but then again she wouldn't have met him if her mother hadn't forced her into taking that trip to Europe with Cal and then again forcing her to get on Titanic.

Rose told Jack that she had to write a letter and then they would take a trip to the park. She fuddled around with the right words to put on the paper.

Dear Mother, Tuesday September fourth 1917

I would love to see you but there are a few things you need to know about my life. I have a son named Jack, he's four years old he'll be five on January 12th. He is Jack's child, if you didn't realize this Jack sr. died in the sinking. I have raised Jack mostly by myself since he was born. Please accept him into your heart. He has been described as a maze of wonderment. I would like to agree with that. I got married in June to John Calvert he's my best friend and while we don't share the love that Jack and I did, he makes me happy. John is fighting for our country in France right now, and if I lose him I have no idea how I'll go on. He has a daughter named Anne, she is seven. I adopted her after the wedding and she has actually been my daughter since she was two years old. I'll explain all of that when you get here. I cannot wait to show you my life. I forgive you for what you have done. I do not want my son or daughter exposed to fake people. We are raising them to be wholesome people who love all of man kind. I hope that you have turned into the grandmother that can help teach them the proper rules to living a successful life. I love you.

Love, Rose.

Rose gathered Jack from where he was playing and took off for the post office and then to the park.

XXX

A week later Rose received a letter from her mother that said she would be in Santa Monica on the twenty second. Rose looked around at the disarray that had become her home, she had only tidied up but never officially scrubbed it the way it needed to be scrubbed. She sat the letter on the table and began to clean, her mother was coming and she wanted everything to look perfect.

a/n: this was sort of a transition chapter, I hope you guys liked it. please review. thank you