Chapter 11
Jack looked at Rose for a moment. They were both pretty much in shock. How did Cora find them, and what did they do now? Rose spoke first, reorienting to the situation. "You better go," Rose said quietly. She hated saying goodbye to Jack, she wished they could just stay together forever from now on. But right now, Jack had to deal with Cora.
"This is the worst possible way this could've happened," Jack said quietly. Not only had he lied to Cora for weeks, but he didn't get to tell her himself. Instead, she had to find them together. God, she must have felt so betrayed. Jack hated the fact that this had happened. He would happily go back five minutes before, and possibly relocate his reunion with Rose somewhere more private. What was he expecting, kissing her out in the open, where everyone could see them? It was a small town: if Cora didn't see them, someone else would've, and Cora still would've found out the wrong way.
"I know," Rose placed one hand on Jack's shoulder and one around to the back of his neck. "But you just have to go and tell her the truth. Everything."
Jack looked into her turquoise eyes for a moment before nodding. "I'll call you," he whispered. He gave her another quick kiss before running after Cora.
Rose stood in her place for a moment, leaning against the wall for balance. She couldn't even think about what had happened with Cora. She simply smiled, a tear trickling down her cheek. "He loves me," she whispered to herself.
•••
Jack finally arrived at the house. He hadn't managed to catch up with Cora, but he saw her shoes at the door and knew she was home. "Cora?" Jack called, but there was no answer.
There were only a few memories of Cora being angry at Jack that came to mind. The first was when she was six. Jack had told her that it was time to go to sleep, but she wasn't tired. And instead of going to sleep, she stood at the top of the stairs screaming. The next was when Cora was twelve, maybe thirteen. She had an important art event at school that she was supposed to go to, but due to a severe fever and virus, Jack had not allowed her to go. She was angry at him, but she understood that it was what Jack thought was best. And the last was right now. Jack already knew she'd be really angry about this one, and it would take a lot to rectify the situation.
Jack slowly walked up the stairs and knocked on her door. "Cora," he said in as nice a voice as he could summon. "Can I come in?"
"Fine," an angry voice replied. Jack slowly opened the door to find Cora sitting on her bed, hugging a pillow close to her chest. He sat down on the edge of the bed, pausing for a moment. Cora looked up at him, the tears in her eyes finally spilling over as she spoke. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
"I know," Jack said quietly. He wanted so badly to have done this right. But he really did think the way he handled it was the proper way. The only mistake he made was the location of his kiss with Rose.
Before Jack could begin to explain, Cora spoke again. "That was Mom, wasn't it?" She asked. Jack didn't answer right away. "I know it was her. I've been looking at pictures of her my whole life. I look like her. Unless I was imagining this-"
"You weren't imagining it," Jack interrupted her. It was time to come clean about everything. He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his strength for the story. "When you were three months old, your mother didn't die. She left." He paused, looking at Cora. God, hearing all of this would break her heart. But he needed to keep going. "I got home one day, and she was just gone."
"So not only have you been lying to me lately, but you've been lying to me for my entire life," Cora said angrily, and Jack winced. She looked so hurt, and he knew she was. But he genuinely thought it was what was best for her. "Why? Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"
"Cora, you have to understand, when she left, I had no idea why. By the time you were old enough to ask about her, it was clear she wasn't coming back. I didn't want you growing up thinking that it was somehow your fault, or carrying around guilt and anger that she hadn't stayed. And most of all, I didn't want you to think she was coming back, because I knew at the time that she wasn't."
It did make a bit of sense to Cora now. She understood why Jack had lied, but she still thought it was the wrong thing to do. "Were you ever going to tell me the truth?" She asked.
"When you were eighteen," Jack replied. "I was planning on telling you when you were eighteen, so if you wanted to find her, you could."
"So I guess she came back." Cora didn't look at him now. She looked down at the pillow in her arms and played with one of its loose threads. She couldn't decide how she felt about her mother. After all, she had left for sixteen years. And all of a sudden, she reappears in their lives? It wasn't right.
Jack sighed. "When Molly arrived, she brought your mother with her-"
"That was a month ago!" Cora yelled. "You've known about this for a month? And you didn't tell me?" She was angry now. No, she was livid. Jack had lied with her over and over again. "When I asked you, explicitly, were you hiding something, and you said no. You made me feel like I was crazy."
"Please, just let me explain," Jack begged. Cora stopped to let him explain. "When your mother came back, I was so confused and overwhelmed, and I needed to figure everything out. I had to talk to her and find out what happened."
"So did you?" Cora asked. Talk faster, she internally begged Jack. She needed all the information.
"After Titanic, she had a really hard time. She was constantly having nightmares and flashbacks. It was really bad, Cora," Jack sighed. "It turns out, she had a mental breakdown. It all became too much for her to handle, and she lost all of her memories. Not just of Titanic, but everything. Me, you, everything. When Molly found her, all she could remember was her name and that she was from Philadelphia."
"So she doesn't have any memories?" Cora asked.
"She has them back now," Jack explained. "She's been on medications, and she's been remembering things slowly. But now, she's okay. She has them back and she's alright."
"When were you going to tell me?" Cora asked. She scoffed. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"Yes, of course," Jack smiled. "I was going to tell you all of this sometime this week."
Cora looked away. "Am I expected to meet her? To like her?"
"There aren't any expectations here, Cora," said Jack. "But she's really wonderful. And I hope you'll give her a chance."
Cora stopped for a minute, thinking about everything. Today had been a life changing day. All within one hour, Cora had found out that her mother wasn't dead, that she had left her, and that now she was back. "Are you getting back together with her?" Jack paused. He nodded slowly, bracing himself for Cora's reaction. "How long have you been together?"
"Since today, when you saw us," Jack answered. "Everything can happen in your own time. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I just hope you give her a chance."
Cora nodded. "Fine," she crossed her arms over her chest. Now that she had all the information, she tried to understand Jack's intentions. But she just couldn't understand them. "I still don't understand why you wouldn't tell me about this. I get why you told me she was dead, and that's fine. But when she came back, why not tell me about it?" Jack didn't answer, so Cora continued. "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm sixteen. I can handle the truth."
"I know you can," Jack sighed. "I know how strong and resilient you are. And I know that you could've handled this." He smiled at her, for a moment feeling pride at how strong she was. "But no matter how old you are or how grown up you become, you're still my daughter. My first instinct is always going to be to protect you from anything that could potentially hurt you. And when I found out about your mother, I didn't know how difficult it would be for her to have her memories coming back. I didn't know if she'd have flashbacks and nightmares again, and I didn't want you to have to watch that happen. You have to understand, Cora, I might make mistakes, but I always, always, try to do what's best for you."
Cora nodded slowly. She did understand why Jack made his choices, but she was still so angry. "So if you could go back and do this all over again, what would you do?" She asked. "Would you tell me?"
Jack paused to think about the question. He still believed that he did everything the best way he could. He thought back on all the times Rose had called him, crying about a nightmare she had. It was hard for Jack to watch, and he was a grown man. How could that have affected Cora? "I would do it all the same way."
Cora nodded slowly before getting up. "That's the problem."
"Wait," Jack called for her, and she reluctantly turned back around. "What is?"
"I trusted you," she said, tears running down her cheeks. She couldn't believe how Jack had hurt her. "I thought we had a relationship where we could trust each other, where we could tell each other anything. You broke that trust!" She shrugged. "I guess I was wrong, assuming we had that."
That broke Jack's heart, hearing how devastated she was that he had done this. "Cora-" Before he could say anything, Cora ran downstairs and out the door.
Jack put his head in his hands and screamed. He felt awful about everything. He wondered if he had just told her the truth the whole time, what would've happened? She wouldn't have been better off, that's for sure. She probably would've grown up carrying around the fact that her mother hadn't loved her or cared about her. And Jack couldn't have inflicted that on her.
A few minutes passed before Jack went downstairs, looking for Cora. He assumed that she would just be downstairs or on the front stoop. But she wasn't. "Cora?" He called. He searched the whole house. "Cora?" But she wasn't there. He then ran out the door, searching the park, library, and everywhere he could think of. Cora knew that running away like this would give Jack a heart attack. But he had to think that she was safe. She ran away. She didn't want to be found, especially by Jack.
Maybe she went to see Rose or Molly, Jack thought to himself. He quickly picked up the phone and dialed Molly's hotel phone. Finally, after what felt like a year, Rose answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Rose." Upon hearing Rose's beautiful, velvet voice, Jack started to cry. God, he was so overwhelmed. So much had happened recently, and Cora running away had just torn him apart. He needed to know where Cora was. He needed to know that she was okay.
Rose covered her mouth, listening to Jack cry. She couldn't remember hearing Jack cry before. And it broke her heart. "Jack, what happened?" She asked. He didn't answer; he just cried. "Jack, talk to me. Please."
"She left." Jack cried. "I-I searched everywhere for her. I don't know where she could be."
"Okay, Jack, she's okay," Rose assured him. She had to get him to calm down somehow, and didn't exactly know how to do it. "She's angry. She left. But she's safe, wherever she is." Rose stopped for a second and gathered her thoughts. Jack had been her rock, not just the last few weeks, but throughout their whole relationship. Now, Jack needed her, and she needed to be strong for him. "Listen, I'm going to come over with Molly, and we'll figure out where she is. Okay?"
Jack finally calmed down and nodded. "Okay." He was grateful that he wasn't alone in this anymore. He was never truly alone: he always had help from Molly and Lori. But now Cora had another parent, and that was nice. That was comforting. "Thank you."
"Of course." Rose smiled, her heart aching. She just wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him that it would all be okay. "Everything's okay, Jack. I promise." She said goodbye to Jack, then turned to Molly. "Jack needs us. We have to go."
Molly went to stand up. "I'm coming with," Ruth interjected.
"Oh, absolutely not," Rose yelled. She had dealt with her mother unwillingly thus far, but she couldn't bring her to Jack's. Jack was already a mess, and he definitely couldn't deal with Ruth at a time like this. They hadn't seen each other since Titanic, for one. And after the contempt and hatred she showed him on the ship, there was no way she could bring her. "There's no way you're coming with us."
"Well, why not?" Ruth demanded. She was Jack's mother-in-law, and Cora's grandmother. To think, she hadn't even met her grandchild yet! That wasn't right. "I'm a part of your family!"
"Only by blood, Mother," Rose shot back.
Molly stood next to Rose. "Listen, Ruth, we just can't take you with us. I'm sorry. It's just the way it has to be." She felt for Ruth, although sympathy was the last thing the woman deserved. "We'll be back later." With that, Molly and Rose hurried out the door.
•••
Jack paced around the living room. All he could think about was his conversation with Cora, and how it hadn't gone as he imagined at all. He knew Cora would be angry and hurt, but she was more than that. She was betrayed. She hadn't even said anything about Rose or if she was angry at her. She was too focused on disappointment with Jack.
There was a knock at the door a few seconds later, interrupting Jack's train of thought. He rushed over to open the door, and Rose rushed inside hugging him tightly. "Have you heard anything?" Rose asked. She was obviously nervous, and although she was desperately trying to hide it, Jack could see the fear in her eyes. He slowly shook his head. "Well, we'll find her."