A/N: I updated one of the chapters of What Rose Forgot. There was a scene that I always wanted to put in and I forgot to, so I updated it. It's not important, but if you want to read it, it's chapter 14
A few hours had passed. Jack and Rose were going out for lunch. Then, Jack was going to go back to the hotel while Rose talked to Josie. Rose was upstairs changing her clothes and Jack was downstairs waiting. Suddenly, the front door swung open. Josie ran inside. "Mom!" She stopped short and dropped her bags in the living room when she saw the strange man just standing there.
Jack looked at Josie. She looked different than Jack had imagined. She looked younger, and she had blonde hair that was straight at the top and curly at the bottom, and she had icy blue eyes, just like Jack's.
What was he doing there? Josie thought to herself, and who is he? In sixteen years, Rose had never had a man over at the house. Josie ran up the stairs. "Mom!" she called again.
"Josie?" Rose called back. Oh shit. She's here. How's she here? She's five hours early. She must have seen Jack.
Josie ran upstairs. "It turns out the train wasn't delayed. But I wanted to surprise you, so I didn't call. And in return, I got a surprise downstairs."
"Oh, Josie. I missed you!" Rose hugged her daughter.
Josie pulled away. "Who's the man downstairs?"
Rose sighed. She wanted to prepare more before this happened. "Josie, let's sit and talk."
"No," she said stubbornly. "Who is it?"
"I'm about to tell you, if you'll let me."
"Fine," Josie said and she sat down on Rose's bed.
Rose sat down next to her. "Remember how we talked about your father?"
"Well, we never really talked about him. You just told me his name and that he was dead. And that you met on Titanic"
"Yes, well, we met on Titanic, and when Titanic sank, we both ended up in the freezing water. We found a piece of wood from the ship, just big enough for one. I ended up on the piece of wood, and your father stayed in the water. Your father died before a boat returned for us. But I was saved by the boat. And so were you."
Josie was in tears. "Why are you telling me this?"
Rose wiped Josie's tears. "Because after I was saved by a boat, your father made it back to the surface and was saved by a second boat. I just didn't know it. I didn't even know he was alive. Until yesterday."
Josie's eyes widened. "That's him downstairs, isn't it?"
Rose took Josie's hand. "Yes, it is."
"I don't even know what to say," Josie said quietly. "I don't know what to do. He missed my whole life. I know that it wasn't on purpose, but he did. I also feel like you put me on the spot here."
"No, Josie. I didn't realize you were going to be home so early. I was planning on talking to you when you got home, and then ask you what you wanted to do." Rose looked at Josie. "But you still do have a choice. What do you want to do?"
Josie looked at her mother confusedly. "What do you mean?"
"You can meet him, or if you're not ready, I can tell him that. It's up to you."
Josie sniffled and smiled. "I've been without a father for long enough. It's time for us to meet." Josie leaned in and hugged her mother. "How are you dealing with all of this?"
Rose sighed. "It all feels so surreal. I accepted long ago that he was dead, and that I'd have to raise you alone. I never overcame it, though."
"I know," said Josie. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Are you getting back together with him?"
"We haven't really discussed it yet, but I think so. It's different this time. We have you to think about."
"Just do what makes you happy, okay? Don't worry about me." Josie smiled. "You've done nothing but take care of me my whole life. Now it's time to take care of yourself."
"I love you so much, Josie," Rose said and kissed Josie's cheek. "You ready?"
"I'm ready."
Josie slowly went downstairs. She was nervous. So was Rose. And so was Jack.
"Hi," Josie said, as she got to the bottom of the stairs. "It's really nice to meet you."
"You too," said Jack. "I've heard a lot about you."
Josie smiled. She shook Jack's hand and then gave him a hug. Jack was so relieved that she seemed to have accepted him. He was already amazed by his daughter. "Did Mom already give you a house tour?" Josie asked.
Jack smiled. "No, she didn't."
"Well then I'll give you one. Come on." She took his hand and dragged him to the front door. "This is the front door area." The front door area had a brown bookcase and little paintings.
Josie pulled Jack into the living room. It had a big gray couch and a small television, and a round table with two chairs. "That's our little work table. That's where we study and do work and stuff."
Next, Josie brought Jack to the kitchen. "This is our kitchen. The fridge is for leftover takeout, the freezer is for frozen pizza and ice cream, the microwave is for day-old coffee, the oven is for making our socks toasty, and the broiler is where we store some of our shoes."
Jack laughed. Rose was horrified. "You make me sound like a horrible mother, Josie!"
Josie shrugged. "I just tell it how it is." She brought Jack upstairs into her room. "This is my room. You can take a look around if you want."
Jack looked around her room. It was really organized. He came across a picture frame in Josie's room. It was a picture of Rose looking down at Josie as a baby with a sweet smile. It pained Jack that he wasn't there for it all.
Josie must have noticed that Jack was hurt. "You're here now. That's all that matters."
"Thanks, Josie," said Jack. Josie was really amazing, and she was handling this whole thing incredibly well. Jack continued looking around. He arrived at her bookcase, which was filled with all the classics, and more. "I'm guessing you like to read."
"I love to read," said Josie. "Mom's seriously worried that if I read anymore, my brain is going to explode."
Jack laughed and looked around at her collection. "Is there any book that you don't have here that you really want?"
"I don't know, actually," said Josie. "But every summer, there's a used book fair and I pick out whatever looks interesting, and I promise myself that I'll read them all by the next summer. So I'm always busy reading something."
Jack smiled. "I like that. I used to spend hours at book fairs when I was a kid," he said.
Josie smiled. "Onto the next room?"
"Onto the next room."
Josie led Jack upstairs, and Rose followed along, but not too close. She wanted to give them some time together. She showed him Rose's room, which had a large bed with a multicolor quilt and two large closets. "Mom made this quilt out of my baby clothes."
"That's amazing. You remembered to wash them first, right, Rose?" Jack asked playfully.
"Rats, I knew I forgot something." Rose smiled.
Josie just opened the door for Rose's bathroom. There was a double sink. "This is Mom's bathroom. As you can see, there's a double sink, so she brushes her teeth in one of them and washes her face in the other." Josie looked at Jack and smiled. "That's a lie."
Jack laughed. "Funny."
"And that's house tour!" Josie said.
"Josie, I made a list of stuff to order from Al's, let me know if you want to add something."
"Al's?" Jack asked.
"Al's Pancake World. They have the best Chinese food around," Josie explained, looking over the list.
Jack looked over Josie's shoulder at the list. "Rose, who's going to eat all this food?"
"We eat about a third of it, and then live off the leftovers for a week. It's a family tradition," said Josie.
Rose placed the order, and made coffee for herself and Jack. She sat next to him and handed him a coffee.
"Okay, I'm going to go do homework," said Josie, leaving the room.
"What? It's Friday night," said Jack.
"I know, but I like to get my homework and studying out of the way by Saturday night, so that I can do extra credit stuff on Sunday." She then left the room.
Jack turned to Rose with wide eyes. "Don't look at me," said Rose, "I don't know where she gets that work ethic from."
Jack smiled. "She's an amazing kid, Rose. You did an amazing job with her."
"Thank you," she said and kissed him.
Josie returned. "Oh, and I have a softball game to go to tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come."
"You play softball?" Jack asked.
Josie laughed. "Uh, no." Rose laughed. "It's my friend Dean's softball game."
"Sure, sounds like fun," said Jack.
"Perfect," said Josie and she went back to her room.
Jack looked at Rose. "She has a boyfriend?"
Rose nodded. "Yep."
Jack took a deep breath. The doorbell rang. Rose went to stand up and Jack stopped her. "Let me," he said with a smile.
"Thank you," said Rose.
•••
They ate dinner, and then Rose went to talk to Josie while Jack was in the bathroom. She knocked on Josie's door. "Come in," said Josie.
"Hey sweetie," said Rose, sitting on Josie's bed. "How's your work going?"
"It's okay, I have some left." Josie looked at Rose suspiciously. "I know you didn't just come in here to ask me how my work is going, so how about you tell me what's really going on?"
Rose smiled uncomfortably. "I wanted to know, if it would be okay with you if I asked your father to stay the night. He doesn't know that I'm asking you this, so you're not put on the spot here. Just let me know what you're comfortable with."
Josie smiled. "I'd love it if he stayed." Rose smiled back. "He makes you so happy, I can already tell. You want him here. And so do I."
Rose stood up and gave Josie a kiss on the forehead. "You're the most amazing kid, you know that? I love you so much."
Rose left the room and went to talk to Jack. He was sitting on the couch, reading something; Rose didn't see what it was. "Hey."
"Hi," said Rose, "I have to ask you something."
Jack looked up. "Tell me."
Rose took a deep breath. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"
Jack was a little surprised. "Are you sure? I-is Josie okay with this?"
"Yes she is," said Rose. "We both want you to stay here with us tonight."
They kissed until they heard something in the background. "Ehem." They separated and found Josie standing there with her arms crossed. She was smiling, though. "I was going to come watch television, but my guess is you'd rather do… what you were doing."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Josie, come watch television. We're fine."
They watched some television, and then Josie went to sleep. Jack and Rose went up to bed. Jack sat down on the bed. "She's amazing, Rose."
Rose smiled. "I know. She was always that way. She was an adult by the time she was four."
"I don't know how you did it," he said, as she sat down next to him. "I really don't. You also seem… different."
"I think that I was had three different personalities. When I was with you, I had broken out of my shell and I was free."
"I loved seeing you that way."
"Me too," said Rose. "Then after you, when I couldn't get out of bed. I gave myself nine months. Nine months to be as upset and depressed as I wanted. Then after that, I had to become a parent. I had to put everything aside and put Josie first."
Jack smiled. "I can tell you're a wonderful mom to Josie. I've been with the two of you together for only a few hours, but I can still tell."
Rose kissed Jack. "It's weird having you here. I've been alone in here every night for sixteen years."
"Good weird, I hope," said Jack kissing Rose again.
"Yes, of course."
