It was the next morning. Jack woke up and rolled over to find Rose awake next to him. She leaned in and kissed him. "Finally you woke up."

Jack smiled. "What do you mean? How long have you been up?"

"Not long, but I was just watching you sleep," said Rose with a smile.

Jack smiled confusedly. "Do you do this often?"

"I wasn't doing it in a creepy way," said Rose. "I woke up, and you kept looking like you were about to wake up, so there you go."

"I love you," said Jack, and he kissed her lovingly. "Should we get up?"

"Yeah, we should," said Rose. "Time to start the day."

They went downstairs. "I'll make some coffee," said Jack.

The phone began to ring. "Hello?" Rose said, picking up the phone. "Jack, it's Jena for you."

"Thanks," said Jack, kissing Rose's cheek. "Hey, Jena."

"Jack, hi," said Jena. "Did you have dinner with Mother last night?"

"Yes, I did," said Jack. "Why do you ask?"

"Because she wants to meet us for lunch today. I don't know what's going on with her, but it's too much."

"I think she's just trying to make up for lost time."

"Regardless, she asked me to lunch today, and I can't deal with her all alone. Can you please come with me?"

"Do I have to?" Jack whined.

"Yes," said Jena.

"Fine, bye," said Jack, and he hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" Rose asked.

"Mother asked Jena to lunch, and Jena's making me go with her."

"You sound annoyed," said Rose.

Jack shrugged. "I'm not annoyed, I would just rather be home with you and the kids."

Rose put her hand against his cheek. "It'll be an hour, two tops. And we'll see you after."

Jack had arrived at the restaurant, where Fran and Jena were sitting at a table. "Hi," said Jack, sitting down at the table.

"Good morning, Jack," said Fran. "I didn't realize you were coming."

"Well, Jena told me you asked her to lunch and she wanted to make it a family lunch."

"I hope you don't mind, mother," said Jena.

"I don't," said Fran. "Besides, this morning I met Mia. She's absolutely beautiful."

Jena smiled. "Well, so's Jack's family."

"Yeah," Fran said, almost as if she was just agreeing with something she didn't believe.

"What was that tone, Mother?" Jack asked, crossing his arms.

"Nothing," said Fran, shrugging her shoulders. "I just… I don't think Rose is right for you."

"Excuse me?" Jack demanded. "What do you mean, you don't think Rose is right for me?"

"It's obvious she's a swell, and she seduced you into taking her out of her first class life. She-"

"That's ridiculous," said Jena. "Jack and Rose are perfect together!"

"Yes, thank you, Jena," said Jack. "And by the way, Mother, you lost the right to an opinion when you abandoned us."

"Regardless of what has happened in the past, I'm still your mother."

Jack shook his head and stood up. "Not anymore."

Jack stormed out of the restaurant and Jena followed behind him. "Jack!"

"Can you believe her? The nerve!" Jack yelled, walking over to his car.

Jena followed him. "Jack, wait!"

Finally, he stopped walking and turned around. "I don't understand her."

"Neither do I," said Jena. "I'm sorry, Jack."

"What am I going to do?" Jack asked. "Well, I know what I'm going to do. Either Mother deals with the fact that I'm with Rose or she's cut off."

"I agree with that," said Jena. "Rose loves you more than anything. And I meant what I said: you're perfect together."

"Thanks," said Jack. "How am I going to tell Rose? She tried so hard to make a good impression."

"I don't know, Jack," said Jena, "but I'm with you. If you're not going to have a relationship with her, I won't either."

"I can't make you do that," said Jack.

"You're the best judge of character," said Jena.

"Thanks," said Jack. "Is it wrong if I don't tell Rose? She would be so offended, I don't want to be the cause of that."

"You're not the cause of that, Mother was," said Jena. "But if you think it's right not to tell her…"

"I don't want to lie to her," said Jack, "but I don't know what to do."

"Well, I hope you figure it out," said Jena.

•••

Jack returned home and sat at the kitchen counter. Rose was in the kitchen. "Hi darling," said Rose, kissing him.

"Hey," said Jack.

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Oh," Jack thought for a second about how to answer. Does he tell Rose the truth about what happened with Fran, or does he spare her feelings? "The food took forever to come and we were all starving."

"Well, I hope you're still hungry because I'm making grilled chicken tonight," said Rose. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He still looked so sad, and Rose had no idea why. She put her hands on his cheeks. "Sad boy, what's wrong?"

The phone immediately started to ring. Saved by the bell, Jack thought to himself. Rose picked up the phone. "Hello?" She stood in front of Jack with a sweet smile. "Oh, hi Fran, how are you?" Jack watched Rose nervously as he hoped Fran wouldn't say anything to Rose about not liking her. Rose paused for a minute, then pulled the phone away from her ear and handed it to Jack.

Jack took the phone. "Jack please don't hang up-"

Jack hung up the phone quickly. "What happened?" Rose asked.

"Oh, we got disconnected," Jack lied.

•••

It was a few hours later, and Jack and Rose were upstairs playing with the children when the doorbell rang. "I got it," said Jack. He ran downstairs and opened the door. Standing there was Fran.

"Jack-"

"Was I not clear earlier?" Jack demanded.

Meanwhile upstairs, Rose was still sitting with the three kids, when she heard Jack yelling downstairs. She never knew him to yell at anyone! "I'll be right back," Rose said to the children. "Stay here, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," said Josie.

Rose slowly walked downstairs and saw Jack standing at the door with Fran. What was going on? Rose thought to herself. She quietly listened to their conversation.

"You were clear," said Fran. "I just want to try to talk to you again."

"Fine, about what?" Jack asked, his arms still crossed.

"Rose isn't right for you!" Fran said to Jack. Rose couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she say that they weren't right for each other? She loved Jack more than anything, and she knew that Jack felt the same way. Rose sat down on the stairs and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!" Jack yelled.

"I don't want you going down the same road of a bad marriage that I went down, okay? It's not to late for you to leave Rose and take your kids with you."

"Stop!" Jack yelled. "I love Rose more than anything in the entire world. She's the love of my life and since you have repeatedly disrespected our relationship, you need to leave."

"I'm not leaving!" Fran yelled back.

"Yes, you are," Jack demanded. He continued walking toward Fran, while Fran continued walking backward until she was outside of the house. "Don't ever come back here," said Jack as he slammed the door in her face and locked the door.

Jack turned around after slamming the door and headed back toward the stairs. He stopped as soon as he saw Rose sitting there. "So she didn't like me," Rose said quietly, looking at the floor.

"No, she didn't," said Jack. "But it doesn't matter."

"Why didn't she like me?" Rose asked.

Jack sighed and sat down next to her. "I don't know, sweetheart, and it doesn't matter. I love you, and you love me, and that's all that matters."

He put his hand on her cheek and kissed her lovingly. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you too, Jack," Rose whispered. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head against his chest. "Say more nice things," she whispered.

Jack smiled and laughed quietly. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "The day I saw you on the top deck of Titanic, I knew you were special. And then I met you and realized how beautiful you are, inside and out. The day I married you was one of the top four best days of my life."

"What were the other two?" Rose asked.

"The day Josie was born, and the day the twins were born, and the day before the sinking of Titanic," said Jack. "And every time I look at you, I fall in love with you all over again. I love you more than anything."

"I love you too," said Rose. She looked at him and smiled. "Jack, can I ask you something?"

"Anything," said Jack.

"Why didn't you tell me your mother didn't like me?" Rose asked.

Jack sighed. "I didn't know until this morning. She told me at lunch and I stormed out. I told her off, and so did Jena. No one knew she was going to come here today."

"So, what? If she didn't come, you would have just hidden the fact that your mother didn't like me?"

"No," said Jack. "I was going to tell you, I was just waiting for the right time. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"That's okay," said Rose. She kissed him lovingly. "Let's go back to our children."