Chapter Fifty-three

When Jack and Rose returned to the Dawson estate, they found a sight that they had not been expecting. A black limousine with an old man getting in the back, with Lindsey's teary face in the car window looking out. Rose was horrified to recognize the man, who had once attended one of Cal's parties in Philadelphia. Albert Linningston.

"What are you doing! Let her go!" Rose cried out, running up to the old man and grabbing his arm before he could disappear into the car.

The old man looked at Rose as if she was nothing but a pesky insect that he could swat away easily. "I had come to collect what is mine, Mrs. Dawson," was the cold reply.

"You can't do this! Our lawyer called the judge to halt custody proceedings," Jack came up behind Rose and placed his hands on her shoulders, showing her support. He was not going to let this old man come and take Lindsey without a fight.

"He was too late. I have a court order here, already signed by the judge. It says that I have full custody of the girl and that she is to come with me, not tomorrow, not next month, but now. She is mine now, Mr. Dawson. There is nothing you can do to change it."

"Oh yes there is! Lindsey is our daughter and we are not going to let you take her without a fight!" Jack pulled Rose aside and stood face to face with the elderly man. His parents had always told him to respect his elders, but he couldn't do that this time! This old man was the worse of them and he deserved no respect from him!

The old man was not intimidated by the younger Jack. He knew ruthless men when he saw them and Jack Dawson was not one of them. In fact, Albert was pretty sure that he could beat this young man at everything if he so chose. "Well then be prepared for the biggest fight of your life, Mr. Dawson. I will not allow my granddaughter to be raised outside of the family. It's bad enough that her father was a gutter rat. I will not have matters be made worse by the likes of you."

"The likes of me? What is that supposed to mean?"

Rose decided to speak up then, having enough of all of this. "You go on about her being your granddaughter. Why weren't you there to claim her when Stacey died, huh? Where were you when guardianship was left to me? Why come out now when we're wanting to adopt her? Why are you so interested in raising her now, because you obviously had no interest in her until a few weeks ago!"

"That is none of your concern, Mrs. Dawson. The reason why does not matter. All that matters is what I want now. And I want to my granddaughter."

Rose saw red and wanted to scratch the old man's eyes out. She balled up her fists, as if she was ready to punch him. "You unbelievable bastard..."

Seeing the fire in Rose flare up and afraid that it'd only make things worse, Jack stepped in between his wife and their new nemesis. He placed gentle hands on his shoulders, but his blue eyes were hard with determination. "Rose, calm down. Seeing you like this is not good for Lindsey. I'll call the lawyer and see what our options are, but we have to keep a cool head about this. For Lindsey's sake."

Jack then turned to Albert, his voice hard and still determined. "In the meantime, she stays here with us."

"No. She will be going back to New York with me as of now. There is nothing you can say or do to change that. Of course, you can always have your lawyer contact mine and we can prolong this in a court of law. But as of now, we have a train to catch. "Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson."

Not giving the couple a chance to respond, he ducked into the car and slammed the door shut, cutting off any further communication.

Rose ran after the car as it pulled away, driving down the driveway, taking Lindsey with it. "Wait! At least let us talk to her! Let us say goodbye!"

But it was too late. The car was gone, leaving Rose to collapse onto the pavement, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Lindsey nooo!" Rose screamed in devastation, not believing how fast they had lost her.

His own heart breaking, Jack went over to Rose and pulled her up to her feet, holding her close. "Rose….come on. Let's go in..."

"No...Lindsey," She sobbed, inconsolable. She had never felt a pain like this before. It felt like someone had ripped her heart right out of her chest.

"Rose...please..."

"Jack? Rose?" Kathy came running outside. She had been inside writing a letter while allowing Lindsey to play outside. She was surprised to hear loud voices outside and now Rose sobbing in Jack's arms with no Lindsey in sight. "Jack? Rose? You're home? Where's Lindsey?"

Jack turned on his cousin, feeling betrayed. He had trusted Kathy to watch Lindsey while they were away. "Where's Lindsey? Kathy, you were supposed to be watching her! How could you just let that man come and take her like that? Why didn't you call us right away?!"

Kathy frowned at the accusation, not knowing what Jack was talking about. "What are you saying? What man? I had a letter to write and Lindsey wanted to play outside. It was still on the property and I didn't see the harm..."

"Well, somehow Albert Linningston came and took her before we had a chance to stop him. He had a court order and everything," Jack sighed, holding Rose as she continued to cry.

"Oh no...oh Jack, I'm so sorry..."

Jack sighed, wishing that things had gone differently. That he didn't feel so fucking powerless like he did now. It seemed that even with money, he still couldn't beat the big bosses of the world. It wasn't fair!

…..

One hour later…

Jack had just gotten off the phone with the lawyers and the news wasn't good. It was probably going to destroy Rose. He had no idea how he was going to break the news to her...how he was going to make up for what they had lost. He had wanted to be a father to Lindsey so badly and he knew that it was especially the same for Rose. She had bonded with that little girl. Loved her completely, as if she had given birth to her herself. This was so wrong on so many levels and it made him angry. He now had money to give Rose any and everything she could possibly want...yet he couldn't give her Lindsey.

Jack headed to the nursery, knowing that Rose would be there, rocking Molly to sleep. Sure enough, there she was, rocking their daughter, who was halfway there. She sang a little lullaby to the child, helping her loll the baby to sleep.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he entered the room. "Rose..."

"Hi Jack," Rose smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Jack couldn't help but to notice how flat her voice sounded as well. As if all the joy had been sucked out of her. It made his heart hurt.

"We need to talk...without Molly," Jack sighed, taking the baby from her and placing her next to her sleeping brother. He gently touched the child's curls as she drifted to sleep almost immediately.

"What about?"

"Come on with me," He took her hand and pulled Rose out of the rocking chair. Silently, he led her back to their room, where he sat on the bed and had her sit on his lap, wrapping his arms around her. "I just got through talking to the lawyer."

"And? What can we do to get Lindsey back?"

"Rose...he said that now that Linningston had custody...there's nothing that we can do. There's no way we can fight that old man and win..."

Hot tears welled up into Rose's eyes. She couldn't believe that this was happening. How could they lose their little girl so easily? It wasn't right!

"Rose?" Jack frowned, tightening his embrace as her body trembled with sobs.

"Why Jack? Why did this happen?"

"I don't know, Rose. I wish I could tell you. We can still try to fight I guess, but the lawyer said that we'd be lucky to even catch a glimpse of Lindsey again, much less regain custody."

At that, Rose's sobs increased uncontrollably. There was no comforting her at all. All Jack could do was pick her up and lay with her on the bed, keeping his arms tightly wrapped around her as she cried. He wanted to cry as well, but somehow kept his tears back, the need to be strong for his wife stronger than his need to cry.