Two Years Later

Denver Colorado...

"Josephine! Josephine Dawson come here right now!" Rose called, standing in the doorway of her bedroom, hair ribbons in her hand.

"Rose?" Molly came out of her own bedroom, her hand on her hip. "Go easy on the girl. She's just excited. She's never gone on a long train ride before."

Rose sighed as she twirled the ribbons around her fingers. It's been two years since Titanic had sank out from under them and she had lost the love of her life, and so much had happened in that time. Having gotten out from under her mother's hateful influence thanks to her Aunt Molly taking her in. Adjusting to life as Rose Dawson instead of Rose Dewitt Bukater. Grieving endlessly for Jack and not being able to come out of that grief until she had made the most wonderful discovery. Her pregnancy, which gave her Josephine, an adorable girl with Jack's blond hair and blue eyes and Rose's curls and facial features. She was gorgeous and Rose loved her dearly. The baby had soothed the ache that losing Jack had caused. The child had quickly become Rose's entire world.

Now, two years later, Josephine was asking questions about why she didn't have a daddy like Sally, the two year old belonging to Molly's maid and Josephine's best friend, did. Rose had told her that her daddy had to go to heaven but loved and missed her very much. The little girl had more questions, but they were questions that Rose couldn't answer. After all, she had only known Jack for three days. Three glorious days that had been over far too soon.

Not able to answer the child's innocent questions, Rose had sent her to play with her dolls and had went to her Aunt Molly, who they had been living with for the last two years, and had a heart to heart.

"I know it's not the end of it, Molly. She's going to want to know more about Jack, but I have nothing to tell her. What am I going to do? I'm not going to always be able to send her to play with her dolls," Rose sighed, leaning back in her chair, a single tear falling from her eyes. "I miss him so much...I wish he was here. He'd know what to do. Ugh, if he was here, there wouldn't be any questions."

"Rose, I am so so sorry. I know you miss Jack and poor Josephine misses him too, even though she never knew him. She needs to know about her daddy. Does he have any family at all?"

Rose sighed and closed her eyes, trying to remember what Jack had told her. "Yes. A sister, she had ran off before a fire had killed his parents. But I don't know her name or how to find her."

Molly picked up her tea cup and took a sip. "Darlin', perhaps it's for the best to find this sister. After all, she is Josephine's family and she needs to know of her brother's passing. Maybe she can tell you a little more about Jack as well."

"But how do I find her?"

"A trip to Chippewa Falls for a start. Then go from there. At least that's what I would do."

So now, a week after that conversation, two hours before they were to leave Denver, Rose was chasing after her daughter to fix her hair.

"We just hardly have any time, Molly. Maybe I should leave her here...," Rose sighed, her patience gone.

"No, that won't do. Josephine belongs with her mother. Not that I wouldn't love to keep the girl for you, but she's so attached to you and you her. I can see it in your eyes, you wouldn't be able to live without your baby. I'll get her. We'll get her ready to go together," Molly patted Rose's cheek and went to retrieve her great niece. "Josephine sweetie, your mama is in need of you! Come to Aunt Molly!"

Ten minutes later, the ribbons were in Josephine's hair, pulling the blond curls into a bouncy ponytail and her favorite doll was wrapped in her arms.

"There she is. Miss. Dawson is ready for her trip," Molly pinched the girl's cheek. "Ah she is as cute as button, Rose."

"I wish Jack could see her," Rose winced again as Jack again came to her mind. She couldn't help it. Every time she held their child in her arms and looked into those beautiful blue eyes, Jack came back to her. Josephine had been his final gift to her. A gift that she cherished greatly.

"I know sweetie. He has though. In spirit," Molly winked. "Now come. Time to get you to the train station. Chippewa Falls awaits."

"Are you sure that you don't want to come with us, Aunt Molly? Josephine is going to miss you and so will I..."

"Oh I'm quite sure. I have too much to do here at home. You two go and see about Jack's family then go to California and soak up that sun like you planned. I'll see you both when you return."

Four Days Later...

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin...

It's been a long tiring journey when Rose stepped off the train with Josephine in her arms, sound asleep. She looked around the train station, taking everything in. Everything was so...busy, like all other train stations. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but not the normal everyday rush. She guessed that all train stations were the same. Sighing, she made her way to the exit, wondering where she was going to go to next. She really didn't have a plan thought up. She just wanted to find Jack's sister, tell her of his death and about Josephine, and perhaps get some information about Jack himself. Some information to share with her young daughter when she once again asked about her dead father.

First thing was first though. Finding a place to stay. She walked up to the window where a ticket clerk was writing something on a pad. She waited until he was finished before speaking.

"Sir, are there any rooms to rent here or hotels? My daughter and I need a place to stay," She explained.

"There's Lorraine's bed and breakfast just down the street there, ma'am. She'll be happy to take you and your young'un in. Welcome to Chippewa Falls, by the way."

Rose smiled, grateful for the directions and the man's friendliness. "Thank you sir."

It didn't take long for Rose to find the bed and breakfast. It was a Victorian building with a wrap around porch with a swing and two rocking chairs. It was rather charming and Rose felt at home already. She entered the building and approached the reception desk with a girl a year older than her was reading a magazine. Rose cleared her throat, but it was Josephine's giggle that caught the girl's attention.

"Her hair is like yours, mommy," Josephine took notice of the girl's straight red hair.

"That it is, darling," Rose kissed her daughter's blond curls.

The girl blushed and closed the magazine. "May I help you?"

"Yes, my daughter and I need a room, please," Rose explained, hoping that no one asked for her last name. She didn't know if she should use Dawson or not. After all, Caroline had survived the sinking and would probably show up to dispute it.

"Will your husband be joining you?" The girl asked, curiously.

"My daddy is in heaven," Josephine answered the question before Rose could speak.

"Josephine, the nice lady was asking mommy that question. Never answer questions when it's directed towards mommy, okay?" Rose gently scolded, hugging her daughter close, letting her know that she was still loved.

Josephine just nodded and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. I just needed to know how many people to a room," The girl apologized, feeling awkward.

"It's okay. He died in an accident before she was born. He was from here. I'm hoping to find out more about him somehow to tell her as she grows. She misses him terribly," Rose explained.

"We have a good sized room on the second floor Miss..."

"Calvert. Rose Calvert," She decided not to say Dawson. It would bring up too many questions that she wasn't ready to answer at the moment.

"Calvert," The girl wrote down before handing Rose a key. "I hope that you enjoy your stay and welcome to Chippewa Falls."

"Thank you," Rose nodded, feeling exhausted. Already she felt exhausted. Keeping Josephine in her arms, she went upstairs to her room to unpack and make herself and Josephine at home. For the coming weeks, this bed and breakfast will be their home.

While Rose was up in her room with Josephine, the door of the bed and breakfast opened and entered Caroline Dawson.

"Hello Caroline," The girl put on a fake smile. It was clear that she didn't care for the girl in the least. Caroline had always been an unpleasant girl and everyone had cheered when she had left town with her boyfriend Jack Dawson. But when they had returned, the girl was even more unpleasant than ever before, and poor Jack, who used to be rather friendly, cheerful, and full of life, he was the shadow of his former self. It was as if Caroline had finally sucked the life right out of him. It was a sad day for Jack's friends and sister when the two wed two months after their return to town.

"Here. I'm dropping off these paintings to your mother. Jack insisted on me delivering them today instead of tomorrow. He said that he had made a promise," Caroline rolled her eyes. She had finally talked Jack into making his talent for drawing work for them by starting a business and selling his artwork to the businesses around and about town. It had been a slow start, but in the past year, business was picking up. Jack would draw and Caroline would deliver.

"Good, father was waiting for these. Jack should come himself. Father was hoping to see him today. He wanted to talk to him about doing some fishing on Lake Wissota come winter."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Jack hates winter now and he especially hates ice," Caroline chuckled. "But I'll tell him that your father wants to see him. So how's business? Is your brother around?"

"Business is great. We just got a new tenant. Lovely girl with the cutest child. And no, my brother is not here. I don't know why you keep asking. You're married to one of the town's handsomest men. You keep messing with my brother. Kathy Dawson will find out and we all know how she detests you."

"We're just friends, Bridget. And Kathy should mind her own business. In her eyes, no one is worthy of her brother when in all honesty, I'm the best that Jack Dawson will ever get. He knows it, too."

The girl known as Bridget disagreed about that. Jack was handsome and when he was friendly, kind, and had a good heart, not to mention talented. He could do a lot better than Caroline. The marriage between the two had been a big mistake, but no one, not even Kathy Dawson, had been able to talk Jack, who had been rather depressed at the time, out of it. Now here Caroline was, sniffing after her own brother. Who knew how it was all going to end.

"I will see you later, Bridget. Tell George I came by."

"I'll be sure not to do that," Bridget glared as the girl left. "Some people have all the nerve."

Meanwhile, Rose stood at her window, looking outside, watching Caroline leave. So Caroline was here in Chippewa Falls. She wondered if she had told anyone of Jack's demise. If not, Rose would be happy to share how the girl had shot at both her and Jack, trying to kill them. Rose then looked at Josephine and sighed. She did know one thing. She did not want that witch anywhere near her and Jack's daughter.

…..

"Why you sent her to deliver those paintings is beyond me, Jack. She may have dropped them. You know how Caroline hates your artwork," Katherine Dawson was washing the dishes as her brother Jack sat at the table peeling potatoes. He didn't live with her in the old Dawson house where they had grown up and Katherine had remodeled when she had returned to Chippewa Falls three years ago, but he spent most of his time there, even though he did have a wife.

"She knows not to do anything to those paintings if she wants groceries this week," was Jack's answer. After Titanic, he had been in a deep depression, unable to handle losing Rose. He had allowed Caroline to take over his life and do whatever she wanted because at the time, he no longer cared. When they had returned to Chippewa Falls, he had been over joyed to find that his sister had returned and was marrying his old friend Thomas. But that hadn't cut through his sadness...not enough to keep him from marrying Caroline, much to Kathy's annoyance. Finally, not able to take seeing her brother wed to a woman that treated him like shit, she asked Jack what he had been thinking. Why he was just resigned to this life with that shrew. She was not what their parents had wanted for him, nor what he deserved. It was an unhappy marriage and Kathy couldn't understand why Jack was settling. That was when Jack told her about Titanic...about Rose and how he had lost her. How he would never love anyone like that again and since he had promised to marry Caroline, he might as well go through with it now that Rose was gone forever. She had been his soulmate and without her...it just wasn't worth fighting over anymore.

Jack did lift out of his depression last year, when Kathy had a long heart to heart with him and told him that Rose wouldn't want him to be sad like this. That this sad Jack wasn't the man that Rose had fallen for. That if he truly loved the now deceased girl, he had to live for her. The promise he had made her give, it was now his promise to keep. So Jack had stopped moping and returned to his happy go lucky self. The only thing was that the marriage to Caroline was permanent and for some reason, Jack didn't even think of ending it. Kathy knew why though. In Jack's mind, Caroline was his punishment. His punishment for surviving the sinking while his precious Rose was gone.

The only things that made Jack happy now a days was his art and spending time with his sister, which he usually did all the time most days. Normally, Jack could be found at the old Dawson farm helping Katherine and her husband with the chores or drawing something or talking to his sister about any and everything. It annoyed Caroline to no end, but Jack didn't care.

"You don't belong with her, Jack. She treats you like shit and Bridget thinks that she's cheating on you with her brother. You deserve better," Kathy sighed, rinsing off the last dish.

"Better doesn't exist anymore. And if Caroline wants to divorce me to be with George, let her. I don't care," Jack shrugged.

Kathy sighed and turned to stare at her brother, wishing that things could be different for him. That his Rose had survived and it was her he had married, not Caroline Simmons. But life threw curve balls and all that anyone could do was roll with them. She just hoped that Jack would wake up before it was too late. He was still young, had his health and could still find someone to make him reasonably happy. He just had to do something about the mistake that was Caroline before he got too old to do so.

Little did Kathy Dawson know that the answer to all of her problems was not even a full mile way, putting the daughter she had with Jack to bed.