Rose sighed, feeling more bored than she had ever felt in her life. Jack and William had ordered her to bed as William went to fetch the doctor. Jack didn't like how exhausted she seemed. He wanted to know the due date as soon as possible, and to stay safe, the boys thought it best that Rose stayed off her feet until they knew what was going on with the baby. What made it worse in her eyes was that Edith agreed. Of course, the old woman would. Anything that kept Rose out of the way was good in her eyes.

"The doctor should be here any minute now," Jack rolled himself into the room, heading straight for the bed. He sighed as he once again wished that he could stand and sit on the bed next to Rose. It would be too much work on himself and Donald to have his cousin help him on and off the bed.

"I hope he hurries up. I can't stand this. It's boring and I rather be at the desk writing or sitting on the porch with you or preparing your dinner. This is the pits," Rose sighed.

"It won't be too long. Will's been gone for a while now," Jack took her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze. "Just think, if you're about to give birth, we'll have our baby in our arms soon and you'll forget what boredom feels like."

Rose gave Jack a longing look. This wouldn't be so bad if he was in bed with her, his strong arms holding her close and her head pillowed against his chest, where she could hear every beat of his heart.

"What?" Jack asked, wondering why she was looking at him like that.

"Tonight, can you hold me like you did before the accident?"

Jack blushed and felt guilty. Ever since he came home, there had been very few intimate moments in bed with Rose, mostly because he felt that without the ability to do what normally came from such intimate moments, he kind of had been avoiding them. Of course Rose would miss that.

"Are you sure? I mean...I'm ill-equipped for star-traveling nowadays."

Rose couldn't help but giggle. "I'm sure. I just miss your arms and...just being so close to you. I know it's impossible with my impossibly big belly, but still…."

"We'll do whatever you want, Rose. I promise," Jack smiled, placing a lingering kiss on the back of her hand.

"Jack! Rose!" William's voice rang throughout the house.

"He must be back with the doctor," Jack released Rose's hand and rolled himself towards the door. "We're in here, Will! Rose is waiting for you!"

William entered the room, followed by the doctor, who went straight to Rose.

"Let me examine the patient in peace, please," the doctor eyed both men, expecting them to leave.

"Come on, Jack," William took hold of Jack's chair to wheel him out, but Jack grabbed the wheels. "No way. When we had that scare, I was locked out when Rose may have needed me the most. I am not going to leave her now."

"Mr. Dawson, it is quite inappropriate for the husband to be in the room when the wife is being examined," The doctor huffed, taken aback by Jack's insistence.

"How so? I helped her get in her condition. I've seen everything there is to see before. It's a stupid rule not to allow the husband in the room. It's a rule that Rose and I both feel is useless and intend not to follow, by the way. I will be here when you examine her and I will be here when our baby decides to enter the world. There is no other choice in the matter."

"I agree. Jack and I both feel that it's best that he's by my side. I don't think I'll be able to do it without him," Rose sided with Jack.

The doctor opened his mouth, looking as if he was going to argue, then he closed it and sighed in resignation. He wasn't about to argue over the matter. If the young man wanted to be in the room, he wasn't going to stop him. "Very well. Just stay out of my way while I examine the young lady. I need to check the baby's position and check and see if Ms. Dawson has dilated yet."

"William, you may go," Jack turned to his friend, again taking Rose's hand in his own.

"Fine. I'll be right outside if you need me," William rolled his eyes, stepping out of the room so the doctor could get to work.

It didn't take long for the doctor to do his examination. Rose kept hold of Rose's hand as the doctor examined her belly and checked to see if her body was preparing itself for birth. When he was finished, he straightened up and cleared his throat, appearing satisfied with what he found.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, I say that things are progressing normally. The baby is in position for its arrival and Mrs. Dawson is one centimeter dilated. Which means she will be giving birth any day now."

"This is great news," Jack grinned, feeling the happy optimism he always felt when talking about his child. Soon, he'll be holding his son or daughter in his arms. It really did mean the world to him right now. "Do you know exactly when she'll give birth?"

"Sadly, no. But when the pains start and last shorter than five minutes, have someone fetch me. In the meantime, take it easy. No heavy lifting and no stress. Continue to eat healthily."

"Doctor, this doesn't mean that I'll have to stay confined to bed does it?" Rose frowned, hoping that she'll be allowed to be up and about after this.

The doctor simply laughed. "Of course not. In fact, some think that moving around will help bring the baby faster. Just don't do anything strenuous. Let the two young men out there do the heavy lifting and let your husband spoil you, Mrs. Dawson. That is my advice."

"Thank god," Rose pulled herself up into a sitting position, happy to be allowed to move now.

The doctor just laughed. "Call me when the pains become less than five minutes apart. I will be here to see the new Dawson into the world."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir," Jack chuckled as William came in to see see the doctor out.

"Jack," Rose got up and walked over to him.

Sensing his wife's intentions, Jack held his arms out. "Come here, Rosebud."

"I'm too heavy for you, Jack," Rose giggled as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her cheek.

"You're perfect. Let me enjoy having both of you in my arms for just a little while longer."

"Are you happy, Jack? I mean, about the baby being here soon?"

"Of course. I can't wait to meet him or her. Rose, you'll never know how much you and this child mean to me. You're what's keeping me going right now."

Rose smiled, Jack's words warming her from the inside out. Just looking into his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. All of his love was right there in those beautiful blue eyes. "I do hope that our baby has your eyes."

Before Jack had a chance to answer, William returned and rolled his eyes. "So I suppose that the both of you want me to roll you both out of here, huh?"

"Seeing that I am enjoying having my Rose and Rosebud in my arms, yes. It would be greatly appreciated," Jack laughed at his friend, who again good-naturedly rolled his eyes and took hold of Jack's chair and rolled both Jack and a giggling Rose out of the room, past a surprised Donald and onto the porch. ,

"Thank you for riding train rails Jack and William. I hope you enjoyed your trip, my lady."

"It was the best train ride I ever had, thank you, kind sir," Rose giggled, rubbing her nose against a grinning Jack's.

William just smiled and rolled his eyes. "Enjoy yourselves. Dinner will be ready soon I suppose."

William just shook his head as Jack and Rose shared a deep kiss, forgetting all about him. Smiling, he walked into the house to find Donald standing at the door, staring out at the kissing couple.

"Hey four eyes, what are you? A peeping Tom?"

Donald blinked and stammered, taken aback by the accusation. "What? I wasn't spying on them!"

"Well then what are you doing just standing here at the door creepily watching them? Only a spying peeping tom would do such a thing. What? Did mommy put you up to this?"

"No! I was just looking outside, thinking about taking a walk. But...oh okay. I was kind of watching them. I was just wondering why does Jack get all the cute girls, like Rose? I can never even dream of getting a woman like her to even look my way. But Jack, he never had that problem. All he has to do is smile and girls fall head over heels for him. Even if he can't walk, women still want him. Mother pointed out how the women of this town keep stopping by and dropping off casseroles. If it was me in that chair, I wouldn't be getting anything."

William snorted and rolled his eyes, feeling annoyed. Jack always said that William took too much joy in bullying his geeky cousin, and maybe he was right, but honestly, Donald Dawson asked for it constantly. "Girls like Jack because he's friendly, charming, and he's not a momma's boy. If you cut the apron strings and stop letting your mother control you, you'd get the same attention Jack does. A woman is not going to marry a man that won't stand up for her against his mother. I can tell you that right now."

Donald sighed at the ground. William was right. He couldn't expect to achieve what Rose and Jack shared if he didn't start living his own life. But William, and maybe even Jack didn't understand. He didn't want to desert his mother. He didn't want to leave her to be by herself. He was all she had.

"Looks like we have another visitor," William stated, seeing a town car drive up the path and park in of front of the porch. He felt the heaviness of dread settle into his stomach as Ruth Dewitt Bukater stepped out of the car, looking as cold and regal as ever. "Oh fuck, here we go..."

"Is that Rose's mother?" Donald stared, noting that the woman had the same red hair as his cousin's wife.

"What gave her away?" Donald's answer was sarcastic, as a girl Rose's age exited the car on the other side. She was more slender than Rose, yet her hair was the same red color, but her eyes was bright blue.

"Who is that?" Donald stared. The girl was even prettier than Rose in his opinion.

"I don't know, but I think she's related."

"Rose Dewitt Bukater!" The girl happily squealed, running upon the porch, ignoring the displeased glare that Ruth gave her.

Surprised, Rose blinked as she saw the one person she hadn't even thought that she'd see again came running onto the porch. She instantly stood up from Jack's lap and stared in disbelief. "Laura? Oh my god, is it really you?"

The other girl laughed and hugged Rose happily. "Of course it's me! Aunt Ruth came to visit and was telling us all about your adventure and you marrying that boy and so I had to come and see you! Oh my word! She's right! You are pregnant!" the girl known as Laura pulled away and gave Rose a good once over. "Pregnant and glowing! You look wonderful!"

"I look awful you mean," Rose laughed. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!"

"I had to come. You're my favorite cousin after all and I was devastated when I thought you had perished in that disaster. Imagine our surprise when Auntie Ruth showed up and told us all that had happened. I had to come see you, tell you off for allowing your favorite cousin to believe you dead, and to meet the man that had seduced you into throwing away all that Aunt Ruth had worked for you evil girl," Laura giggled. Her eyes widened when she spotted Jack, right behind Rose. "Well, seeing how handsome he is, I certainly can't blame you. I'd take off on Cal too."

Rose laughed and shook her head. "Oh Laura, I am so happy you are here and to finally introduce you to my favorite person in all the world. Laura, this is my husband Jack Dawson. Jack, this is my cousin Laura Dewitt. We grew up together. She can probably tell you all kinds of embarrassing stories about me."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Laura greeted, nodding at Jack, just as Ruth came up onto the porch, a stormy expression on her face.

"Really, Laura! What would your mother say if she knew how you're acting? I promised Gloria that if she allowed you to come with me, I'd make a proper young lady out of you, yet here you are acting worse than Rose on her worse day!" Ruth huffed before Jack could respond to Laura's greeting.

"Gee, thanks a lot mother," Rose sighed with an eye roll, seemingly forgetting why she had wanted her mother to come back now that she was actually here.

"Really, Rose. You have been a horrible influence."

"Don't listen to her. You've been great and mother sends her love with a promise of a proper wedding gift," Laura giggled, her smile widening as she spots William and Donald watching from inside. "And who are these handsome young men?"

Rose had to laugh. She had almost forgotten how crazy her cousin was when it came to boys. Back before her own father had died and Cal had entered their lives, Rose and Laura would sit up and talk about the servant boys and the sons of the women their mothers associated with and giggled over which was the cutest ones. Then her father had died and Cal came and Rose grew more calm and serious, but Laura seemingly remained the same.

"The one on the left is my friend's Gretchen's fiancee William. He's been staying here and helping me and Jack since the accident, mother told you about that, right? He's been a godsend, truly. And the one he's standing next to and looks similar to Jack is Donald Dawson. He's Jack's cousin. Jack's Aunt Edith and Donald showed up two weeks ago I think it was, wanting to help as well. Boys, this is my cousin Laura."

"You have been letting strangers stay with you, Rose?" Ruth stared at her daughter in disbelief. What had been going on here since she's been away?

Rose sighed, already feeling the tension fill her body. Maybe it was best if her mother had stayed away after all. "They're Jack's family."

"Well, I would like to meet this Edith. Hopefully, she is nothing like that Molly Brown. Such a vulgar woman."

"Mother, cut it out. We all know that in reality, you love Molly. You're just being difficult. Please be civil. The doctor said I should avoid stress. Keep that in mind, please."

It was at that moment that Edith Dawson steps up behind Donald and William, curious about why the two of them were just standing there.

"What are you two doing just standing there, watching the grass grow? With the baby due any day now, there is work to be done!" Edith huffed, then frowned to see Ruth and Laura. "Who is this?

"Oh, Edith, let me introduce my mother Ruth Dewitt Bukater and my cousin Laura Dewitt. I am sure that you and my mother will get along swimmingly," Rose introduced, wondering how all of this was going to go over. It could go either two ways. Her mother and Edith will hate each other or they will become best friends. She had no way of telling what would happen.

"I do hope you have some tea being made. It was a horrid train ride and my back is as stiff as a board. Speaking of which, Laura stand up straight. No slouching. Rose does not have to worry about that anymore, but you still have to find a suitable husband. It is too bad that Cal is taken now," Ruth made her way into the house, handing Edith her purse and gloves as she did so as if the woman was a servant and not worth her attention. "Oh and have the boys get our bags and take them up to my room. We will suss out where Laura will sleep later."

Rose watched in disbelief and maybe even a sick sense of satisfaction as she watched her mother give Edith Dawson orders. It served the woman right for how she had bullied her these past two weeks.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, Rosie. This cannot end well," Jack couldn't help but chuckle himself.

"Oh, I don't know, Jack. It seems that an old aunt of yours has met her match. It's going to be fun to watch," William winked as he went to help Donald gather the bags from the waiting town car.