Chapter 18

It was the next morning. Rose woke up to the sunlight pouring in. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt Jack's arms wrapped around her waist. She smiled and put her hand on his.

Rose rolled over to look at him, little gold strands falling into his eyes. She heard each inhale and exhale and just felt grateful he still had air in his lungs, after everything they'd gone through together.

Slowly, Jack opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hey, beautiful," he whispered.

"Hi." She leaned over and kissed him. "I can't believe I get to wake up next to you."

"Me neither," Jack whispered. He gave her another kiss.

"Do you have to go to work today?" Rose asked.

"No," he said, and he kissed her again. "It's Saturday."

"Well, perfect," Rose smiled.

Jack smiled back and kissed her again. He couldn't believe how happy he was all of a sudden. Two weeks ago, he was alone, heartbroken. Now, he was engaged to his dream woman, and their daughter was asleep a room away.

"Were you serious last night?" Rose asked.

"Sorry, I just said so many things last night, what did I say?" Jack asked, laughing. He looked at her and stroked her cheek. "Yes, Rose. I was serious."

Rose's heart melted. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I'm very sure," said Jack. He kissed her again and placed his hand on her waist. "How are we going to do it?"

"The inn has an officiant, we can ask him," said Rose. "I plan a lot of weddings there. There's a beautiful spot where we can do it. And I'm going to go dress shopping with Josie."

"Okay," said Jack. "Just make sure you drive and don't make her walk too far."

"I know," said Rose. "It's a good thing we're doing this so quickly. Because the word fiancee will always be associated with evil in my mind."

"Hockley?" Jack asked, and Rose nodded. "Was it just that he and your mother trapped you and used you?"

"No," Rose said reluctantly. "It was mostly emotional, but it was also… physical."

"He hit you?" Jack asked.

"The morning after the party, he was angry at me for going, and he threw everything off the table, all the glass and china, and he trapped me on the chair," said Rose. "And then once you were taken from my stateroom for taking the necklace, he hit me."

"You should've told me," Jack said coldly.

"I didn't know how," said Rose. "We hardly knew each other. I mean, I was scared."

"I know," said Jack. He took Rose's hand and held it in his. "I promise I will never hurt you. I will always take care of you, love you, and respect you."

"I know you will," said Rose. She gave him another kiss. "Come on, let's get up."

They stood up and walked downstairs. Josie was walking around the kitchen. "Good morning!"

"Morning, darling," said Rose. She kissed Josie's cheek. "What are you doing?"

"Made you guys breakfast," said Josie. She pointed to the table, where there were two place settings, fruit, pancakes, eggs, coffee, tea, and toast. "I'm going to the art store. Enjoy!"

"Wait, Josie," Jack began. "Grab a plate. Join us."

"That's okay."

"You have to eat breakfast too, kid," said Rose.

"You sure?" Josie asked.

"Positive." Rose grabbed a plate and silverware and brought it to the table. They all went to sit down and eat. "We wanted to tell you something."

Josie smiled. "Okay."

Rose took Jack's hand and smiled. "We're getting married."

Josie laughed. "Yeah, I know. I heard the whole thing."

"No, Josie," Rose began. "We're getting married today."

"Really?" Josie asked. "Oh my god! Where? What are you wearing? Who's invited? What's the plan?"

Jack laughed. "Well, we obviously wanted you, and Molly, and anyone you want to invite."

"I don't need anyone else," said Josie.

"As for what we're wearing, I thought you and I would go shopping this morning," Rose smiled. "After all, my maid of honor needs a pretty new dress."

"I get to be maid of honor?" Josie asked.

"Of course," said Rose, as if it was obvious.

"Who's gonna be dad's best man?" Josie asked.

Jack shrugged. "I don't need one."

"Nonsense, I'll be both the best man and the maid of honor," said Josie with a grin.

Jack and Rose both laughed. "If that's what you want," said Jack.

Josie jumped up and ran around the table. She wrapped an arm around each of them. "I'm so happy!"

"Me too," said Jack.

•••

Rose and Josie left the house and drove into town. "So, what are you thinking in terms of dresses?" Josie asked.

"I don't know," said Rose. "Something white, simple. I don't need anything super expensive."

"You should get something nice," said Josie. "After all, you only get married once."

"That's not necessarily true," Rose joked.

"You and Dad are not getting divorced," said Josie. "If anyone's meant to be, it's you guys."

"I know," Rose smiled.

"I hope I end up as lucky as you," Josie sighed.

Rose stifled her laughter. Lucky? Her? Sure, she had an amazing daughter and the man she loved, but she lost him for fifteen years and watched her daughter grow sicker and sicker. But right now, in this moment, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world. "You will. With your art talent and kind personality and killer blue eyes? You'll have no problem. Guys will be knocking down your door."

Josie smiled. They drove in a comfortable silence for a moment, and Josie looked out the window. She saw an older woman with curly red hair, similar to Rose's. She had sharp green eyes and no smile wrinkles. She reminded Josie of Rose, if Rose had succumbed to her mother's pressure and ended up unhappy. It also looked like what Josie always pictured her grandmother looking like. Then, she realized she never really knew anything about her, only how she treated Rose. "Was your mom really as bad as you say?"

"Yes," Rose said quietly. "She was awful. She made me more unhappy than I've ever been. And when I found out I was pregnant with you, I promised myself and you that I would do whatever I had to to give you a different childhood than I had."

"As bad as it was, your mom must have done something right, though," Josie thought out loud. "I mean, you're the way that you are. And you're amazing."

"I'm not the way I am because of her," Rose began. "I'm the way I am despite her. Besides, she didn't raise me. A whole team of nannies and caregivers did. I saw my mother during meals, and that's it."

"And you put up with that?" Josie asked.

Rose shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? I was a child. I also thought that I was being raised the way all children were raised. I didn't realize there was another option."

"So once you were off Titanic, did you ever find your mother again?"

"I took your father's name because I loved him, but also because it allowed me to never be found by her," Rose explained. "But once you were born and we were secure and safe, Molly asked me if she could let her know that I was alive-"

"Wait," Josie shook her head. "She thought you were dead for… over nine months?"

"Yes, I did." Rose waited for Josie's response, knowing that she would yell at her.

"Mom! That's horrible!" Josie scolded her. "You let your mother believe you were dead for that long? I can't even imagine how devastated she must have been."

"Josie-" Rose began, but Josie's tangent continued.

"Can you imagine if we got into a fight, and then suddenly I let you believe that I, your daughter, your little girl, the light in your life, had died?"

"No, I can't imagine that," Rosie sighed. "But listen, I said yes when Molly asked me. My mother knew that I was alive, and she never asked to see me. She never called, she never sent any letters, nothing."

"I struggle to believe that that would be true," Josie said. "No matter what the relationship was like between you, she's your mom, and you're her daughter. She still cares about you."

Rose sighed. "I don't really know what to tell you, Josie. She didn't do anything."

"Listen, you're about to marry Dad, and you'll have me. She's harmless now," Josie rationalized. "What's the worst that could happen if you reach out to her?"

"There is no worst case scenario here," Rose sighed. "I just don't want her here. I don't!"

"You can't seriously tell me that you don't still think about her."

"I don't!"

"Or wonder what could be if you had a relationship."

Rose looked down and sighed. "I have wondered, okay? I admit, I have. But it's never rational. Because when I hypothesize about this, I'm always thinking about who she could be, not who she really is."

"I understand," said Josie. "I do. But what about me? I never got to know my grandmother."

"Josie, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that Molly is a better relative to you than my mother would ever be."

"So you really don't think you'd ever want to reach out to her?" Josie asked.

"I'm not saying never. I'm just saying, not in the foreseeable future."

Josie sighed in disappointment. "Okay."

Rose wrapped her arm around Josie. "I'm sorry if that's not the answer you were hoping for, but that's the way I feel right now."

"I'm sorry I brought this up today." Josie looked at her mother. "Today's supposed to be a happy day."

"Oh, that's okay, baby," Rose smiled. "It's still a happy day."

Josie gasped. Rose followed her gaze to a white lace dress in a shop window. "Mom, that would look beautiful on you."

"I don't know, Josie," Rose protested. "It's really expensive."

"Just try it on," Josie pleaded. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Rose hesitated, thinking about it. She looked over at her daughter, who was pulling her arm, begging her. "Fine. Let's go."

"Yay!" Josie pulled Rose into the store, and grabbed the dress. "Oh, it's twenty percent off."

Rose rolled her eyes and walked into the fitting room. "God damn it, Josie!" Rose yelled after a moment from inside the fitting room.

"What?" Josie asked.

"Why are you always right?" Rose walked out of the fitting room wearing the dress. She looked absolutely stunning.

"Mom!" Josie gasped. "You look so pretty!"

Rose smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. "This is the dress, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," Josie smiled. "God, I'm so glad I look like you."

Rose laughed. She looked back at her reflection. "I never thought I'd do this." She wiped away a tear. "I never thought I'd be getting married, and I certainly never thought I'd be lucky enough to get to marry Jack."

"I know," Josie hugged her mom. "Everything's finally the way it should be."