I wanted to give Mr. Calvert a little story. He was obviously an important part of Rose's life and the father of her children so I wanted to create a little something. Completely inspired by all the pictures which Rose carries about with her mainly the one of her on the beach with her husband and kids...super cute!

You Loved Me Back To Life

His eyes were beautiful; not dark or light. Greener with flecks of gold and brown.

He was handsome. Very handsome. Sturdy and strong with large hands which he had clasped behind him. In his naval uniform, he was smart and pristine without an air of honour or importance about him.

Rose had seen him before a time or two, perhaps even five or six in recent weeks and he had nodded his hat in a polite 'hello' and she had inclined her head in return.

Now though, he stood before her. A velvety voice asking her a question she hadn't been asked in a long while.

"Care to dance?"

There had been no introduction. He had simply found her in a dense crowd and stopped before her as though his intentions were clear. An extended hand was held out to her and as she let her eyes meet his properly for the first time, something incredible happened. Her stomach faltered. Her breathing started a little heavier. Behind her, she was suddenly aware of the females dropping their gazes upon him and with low voices and giggles they debated just what his intentions would be. He was the source of admirers about the local area, when he was about, the girls would gather together like a gaggle of geese to inspect the way he walked, stood and smiled.

The curve of his lip turned up at the corners, into a slow, wonderful smile that caused her stomach to stir more.

''I never dance with a man whose name I am not aware of.''

He raised a dark brow, widening his smile.

''Perhaps if you dance, I shall tell you more than my name.''

His response caused her to smile, and after tossing a bright blonde curl away from her forehead, twisting it behind her ear and then she smoothed her hands down to her waist to straighten out her burgundy smock. As she stepped into him, she blinked to his eyes once more; they were exquisite and the colour, beneath the lovely heat of the sun was uncertain to spectate which one shade they shone.

He offered his hand out to her, and when touching his fingers for the first time, a spark flew. Like magic. Perhaps electric. Once before she had succumbed to such a feeling and it had taken her entirely on a path one was unintended to take but the one which had sealed her fate. Changed the course of her destiny. Enabled her to fall deeply in love.

As she stood beside him, Rose noticed that his skin was deeply tanned, as though one spent much of the year in hot climates. It was unimaginable just short weeks before, the war had ended and now the navy had been returned to dry land. Rose, who had spent much of two years in France as a nurse, had also found herself back on the Pacific Ocean shores. Now, after two beers as a celebration to commemorate the end of the war with former colleagues, Rose found herself within the embrace of a young naval captain.

As his hand gained her waist, she was pulled inwards and a scent of something caught her. Manly. Spicy. Sensual.

"Well, you have your dance, Mr-"

"Calvert." He smiled, holding her hand steady, with an excellent posture before he led her off in a medium pace to the band's music. "Robert James Calvert of Cedar Rapids, Iowa."

Rose dared another glance at his face. "Well, Mr. Calvert, you are a great dancer."

"I am?" He raised his brow, leading her further into the crowd, away from where she had once stood. Around them people sipped beer, ate barbecued food and merrily danced into the late afternoon. A celebration of life and of those who had given their life in the war. "It's good to know, it has been so long since I danced, I thought they had invented new steps."

Laughing at his playful demeanour, she eased into him. "I fail to recall the last time I also danced."

It was in fact as highly sharp in her mind now as it had been then. 13th April 1913. She had danced with Jack Dawson.

"I find this entirely unfair." Robert turned, as they moved their way down towards the throng of people dancing in a similar way.

"What?" She raised her eyes to his.

"I tell you more than my name and I get nothing in return."

Smiling politely, Rose glanced at how effortlessly their feet moved in tune and in time with the others as though it was perfectly rehearsed.

"Rose." She told him quietly, "Rose Dawson."

"Miss. Dawson, I assume?"

Rose paused a moment, admiring how the sun light cast off his chestnut brown hair making it appear lighter than usual. In her earlier years, she had posed as a widow, or at least when one assumed that was her status, she never deterred it. What use was there when she felt a widow? Felt married to Jack. She had felt married to him all of these years and yet, when she had been referred to as Miss Dawson, it felt—correct.

"Yes."

"Are you courting any one?"

"No." She replied, slowly. "And what of you, Mr. Calvert?"

"I have never married. I am not seeing any lady at the moment. I have terrible luck on dates, you see."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Well, I have been vomited upon. Mauled like a bear. A girl once brought her entire family to dinner. Another burst into tears when I wore a shirt she didn't like."

Rose threw her head back to laugh and the sound rippled across the crowd so loudly that it was hard to believe that it belonged to her.

"Oh, how disastrous. They sound a little touched."

"Yes. So, I'm hoping for better luck now on." He told her with a chuckle, and her face felt as though it was on fire.

"Well, I hope you happen to have better luck. I bet it's pretty lonely out on the ships."

His face tightened into a knot. "It could be. I was busy though. As I'm sure you were too. I hear you saw the front line first hand?"

Rose dipped her head. "Yes. I saw death, perhaps as much as you."

"I'm sorry for that." Robert's voice seemed to soften from that gravelly husk to something more soothing. "I am happy to see you here though and in good enough spirits to celebrate."

"One cannot let their spirits be dampened."

"I was asked if I could ever return to the sea, after such turbulence out there and I hope to, one day. I hope to take a trip out to see Europe and how it will recover from this."

Within his face, Rose saw the effects of the war upon a young man. The scars which had wounded. But there was hope. She admired that. Having never fully felt recovered enough to return to the sea after the sinking and yet she had been able to. To help in the war. For others. Not herself.

"Would you return to the navy?" Rose asked, ''that is where you were, wasn't it?''

Robert nodded. "I doubt it." He sighed into an exhale. "A decade is too long but I had my thirtieth year out there and it will be my last. I want to see my family. I want to see land."

"I like that honesty. It is refreshing. "

"You do? Hard to find that these days."

"Are your family in Iowa?"

He nodded. "Most."

"What brings you to California?"

"I find this utterly unfair how I answer many questions of myself and none to you." His eyes sparkled with a playfulness which made her smile. Usually, she never spoke of herself. There was not a need to reveal. Not a wish to. Rose Dawson lived a fairly remote, quiet life and it was enough for her.

"All right." They slowed, and Rose watched her feet moving and how the leather of her Mary Janes had worn down. How Robert's shoes were perfectly polished and gleaming. His legs were solid, and wide beneath the trousers of his uniform, whilst her dress seemed to dance about them as they went.

"I was living in Santa Monica for the years before the war. I returned after." It was that simple.

"You don't strike me as a California girl. Was this your birth place?" The question should have made her stiffen but it didn't.

"New York City, I guess." It was the place where she became Rose Dawson. Where she had become a woman upon solid ground.

"Will you return?"

"I like the ocean too much. I like to wake with the breeze. I like the warmth." Losing herself in the backdrop of the rolling waves lapping upon the pure, white sands behind them, Rose was brought back when the dance came to a slow stop.

Politely, Robert stepped back from the embrace. Allowing her to stand freely once more. His arms went to clasp behind his back and her own linked by her belly. He was tall, she noted for the first time and a tad broader than initially recognised. There was a sensitivity about him and part of her observed that, pondering about the man beneath the uniform.

"Thank you for the dance." She spoke first, and he smiled.

''Thank you for reminding me that I have use for my legs.''

Rose dipped her head low, with her laugh.

"Could I buy you a drink?"

"No, thank you."

"How about dinner?"

Rose blinked, as he squinted his eyes in the late afternoon sun. He wished to spend more time with her? Glancing about, each person was laughing and engrossed with someone or something. People were celebrating. People were living...for the first time in an age, it felt as though there was a need to feel the pain and anger drain away and just let the light through the cracks. There had to be a peace now.

"I'm not so hungry."

After a sigh, he nodded wearily. "All right."

Sensing his disappointment, her heart sank deeper into her chest. A man interested in a woman was not unheard of. Even a man interested in her had been common pre-war, but she had shunned the lot. Having never needed a man, or wanted to be with another. Jack had been her entire life. Somehow though, she felt as though he seemed to smile upon her at that very moment as she allowed her eyes to travel to Robert's lips. How full they were. How her stomach flickered like a caged butterfly with need to soar.

There seemed to be an honest, caring man beside her. A man with a good family. An honest man. A man who was handsome and seemed kind.

"But perhaps a walk to the pier?" Rose's voice seemed to be filled with much more hope that she intended it to contain. As he narrowed his eyes out toward the way of the pier, they both knew that it would be quite the walk.

''Yes, I would like that.'' Robert went to turn on his heel but then ceased, turned back to her and raised a brow. ''That is a good walk out there, Miss. Dawson. Do you have anyone to make aware of your whereabouts?''

A breeze came across them both, and it seemed to awaken her senses tenfold.

''No, I don't. It is just me.''

''Very well. I shall ensure to deliver you home safely myself then.''

Starting the way of the pier, Rose's heels clacked upon the stone of the pavement as they walked away from the crowd, which was growing thicker by the word of mouth, one assumed.

''There would be no need, Mr. Calvert. I know these streets like the back of my hand, having spent the best part of six years here, the war aside. I find it to be peaceful to drift about alone.''

''You find solstice in the sea?''

Rose whipped her head face him, as they walked side by side in slow, matching strides. A few strands came loose from her braid and she swatted them away.

''Why do you ask?'' She snapped, unintentionally, as though a secret had been discovered.

''There is a way about you that seems that way. The sea speaks to you, the way it does to me, perhaps for very different reason.'' Robert's eyes sparkled; a jade green for a second. It was quite hypnotic and Rose softened.

''Yes. I guess it does.'' Gazing out at the strip of water out ahead of them, and to the side, Rose felt the salty air freshen her face. ''I never went to the beach as a child. I never saw such a wondrous site until I first came here. I always loved the sea; to sail. But then I found out just how wonderful it was to lay by myself with the sand as a pillow and the surf as a blanket.'' She had spent many evenings that first summer out in the surf. Alone. Speaking to Jack as though he was right there with her. He was. He would caress her face at times; she was sure of it.

''You sound just as mad as me.'' Robert cut her reverie with a laugh. It was deep and rumbled within his chest as though he had held back. ''My folks think I am touched for loving the sea as much as I do. When I joined the Navy, they finally saw how mad I truly was but then I came out here, my brother and I before he passed. He truly loved the Pacific air like I do.''

''I'm sorry about your brother. Did he pass in the war?''

A single nod answered her question. ''A single gunshot wound to head. I take comfort in the fact that it was instant but my mother will never recover.'

''Oh, Mr. Calvert. I can never imagine how a mother could feel. Or a brother. I am an only child and-'' Rose ceased immediately, recalling just how she had never given snippets of her life to easily away to a stranger. Or anyone. Her lips paled into a thin line as Robert stopped their walk for just a moment, to consult her wellbeing.

''Miss. Dawson?''

That face. How handsome he was. How filled with concern. The heat had to have caused her to feel a little touched, though it wasn't so hot. ''Yes.''

''Are you well?''

''Yes,'' she managed, ''I just was crippled for a moment. To hear of your brothers passing, it just—I feel the pain of that and I have no right to, as a stranger but-''

''Pain is a universal language.'' He interrupted her. ''When you care, you feel. The more you feel, the more pain is crippling. When a man is in love with a woman, and that love is taken or fades...it wounds just as deeply as a physical wound. Perhaps more. Would you not agree?''

Rose wanted to speak. Her mouth was open, her tongue couldn't move. A watery line filled the rims of her eyes, but she couldn't shed them. As a shiver moved through her, she couldn't even shake or tremble. It was as though she was rooted. Robert was honest. He was direct. His words were so very, very raw. As raw as the day that she had lost a man who she loved very much.

''I-I would agree.''

''So, yes. It would be all right for you to be affected by hearing of such a death.''

Rose blinked several times and the wind seemed to dry away the tears which had formed. ''This world has become so changed beyond recognition that merriment seems so far away.''

''You seemed happy back there.''

''I was. I am.'' She allowed herself a glance back to his eyes. ''Are you merry?''

''Yes. I have nothing else to be, Miss. Dawson. The past is there for a reason. I cannot return my brother. I cannot bring back the lives of the deceased from this damned war. But we are here, alive and thriving. We have to celebrate that, even if just to honour those who we have lost.''

Swallowing a hard lump within her throat, Rose dug her nails into her palms. This night felt almost like a dream, even a slight déjà vu when six years before another beautiful man had told her to live. To soar. To make life count, regardless. With a solemn smile, she shook her head to dismiss the irony. ''An old friend said something very similar to me once.''

''Hmm. A wise person, indeed.'' Robert ushered himself forward in two wide steps and Rose followed, slowly regaining confidence.

''He was.'' And there, that was the only reference which Rose would ever use of Jack Dawson again – or for a very long time at least. ''What are your plans here, then, Mr. Calvert?''

''I intend to see a few old friends. The night life has changed somewhat or so I hear, so I plan to sample some of that.'' He turned to meet her gaze. ''May I speak freely and ask you to not call me Mr. Calvert either. It sounds dreadfully boring and I do like your given name so much that I would be very much inclined to use it, if I may?''

''Yes. Formalities are not in my forte either.'' Oh, how they used to be, she wished to add. Now, she was just Rose. To most others. A simple flower. A simple name. It was all she wished to be.

''Well, then, Rose, what are your plans?''

''I don't plan past today.'' she answered, wistfully. ''How can you, when you never know what tomorrow could fetch?''

''Well, well, you are quite the spontaneous one.''

''I can be, yes.'' She smiled. ''I just like to live each day to the very fullest. Especially now, as you say. We cannot change the past.''

Once upon a time, that statement would have caused pain. It would have caused a wound that would not heal. Jack's death was still a deep wound. But it was slowly healing. Repairing her.

The pier seemed to be so very far away, when yet, it was just across the north beach. Craning his neck, Robert watched as the tide swept up across the shore and the sky turned a darker tinge of blue ready for the sun to set.

''I have to admire you, Rose.'' Her name slipped from his tongue so sleekly that it gave her goosebumps. So did the compliment. Regularly, they would be hard to accept but she returned it, so eagerly and honestly.

''I have to admire you, too. I have to say, you have an admirable job. What sounds like a loving family. With what you have endured, your appetite for life is wonderful.''

''My family are wonderful. They care. Too much, perhaps. My mother is crazy about grandchildren, and I am the only son left now so that falls to me, doesn't it?'' The mock anger in his voice made her laugh.

''I suppose she is just ensuring that you have a family of your own, perhaps. Isn't that what all men wish for in the end? A wife and children. Or at least company. Just the fulfilment of it.''

''Always.'' He replied, sharp and fast. ''Would you not like that?''

The pace of his answer surprised her and with soft eyes sweeping across her, she found how she shivered beneath them or the breeze, which wasn't entirely clear. Robert unbuttoned the blazer of his uniform, shrugging his arms out of it to reveal a white linen top beneath which showed just how athletically built he truly was.

''May I?''

Rose nodded, as he draped the blazer across her shoulders and the coat enveloped her immediately from the chill. Pulling the labels further up her neck, she clutched at them and marvelled at the lovely scent of him.

''Thank you. One forgets just how the wind chills you as the sun goes down.''

''I am warm blooded. My mother always said in the snow and ice, I would be outside without a coat and that has remained.''

It was as though; a startled intoxication fell over Rose at that time. Her legs were floating, her stomach fluttered about in the most peculiar way. As he took a glance back to her, still with his hands clasped at his lower back, his eyes were a blazing green with a fiery golden thread running through in an almost haunting way. A brisk chill came, almost knocking her sideways she was that dazed and after a second, when she felt as though it would take her with it, two sturdy hands grasped onto her forearms and settled her in place.

''Woah, thought the wind would take you there.''

''I'm sorry,'' she felt heat flush her cheeks, knowing that such a vivid colour of eyes would cause the wind to cause her to stumble.

Robert's grip upon her forearms was warm, steady but not too strong. His hands were rough but gentle. His face not so far away from her own. Her own hands had clasped onto his bare arm, where his shirt was rolled up to the elbows to expose strong forearms. Her own pale skin to his own was a stark contrast but a wonderful one.

''D-do you spend much time outdoors?'' She wondered aloud.

''Yes. Every day.''

''You skin is w-wonderful,'' she stammered, ignoring an ache to touch his hands, to trace her fingers across them and inspect their beauty. A man's hand told many a tale about the person who owned them. How she had worshipped a man's hands before and now, felt that same urge to touch Robert's in a tender way.

Robert moved his hands from her forearms, she believed he would step back but his left index finger came up to her cheek, tracing the curve of her nose and then to a stray curl which had fell out in the wind.

"I have admired your skin since I first saw you the week before last. The pale translucency of it." His voice was soft, transporting her into a wave of frequency which only they could hear. "I heard your laugh. And I saw how vibrant you were. I watched how you took a horse out there into the waves and rid her all the out and back. You galloped and your hair flew about you. I saw nothing else for days but the way that one vision lit up my thoughts like nothing has in a long time."

Rose's gaze fell into a daydream. As though the way in which his voice thread its way through her was magic. There was a mutual admiration and though it wasn't surprising, it was terrifying. Unsettling.

"I'm sorry if that sounds ludicrous," his hand retracted from her cheek, as though realising how ridiculous he sounded.

"No, perhaps it doesn't." She was warm suddenly. Hot, even. His jacket seemed to burn her and she didn't want to remove it for fear of never inhaling that stomach fluttering scent again.

"It doesn't?" He blinked in surprise. "I would think it would sound delusional."

"No. I think we have some sort of infinity."

"I felt that from when I laid eyes on you," he pinned her beneath the gaze which had grown intense. "As though there was a connection. A reason. You seem such a wild horse and to have a wonderful fire about you."

There it was. The moment which she had felt as though Jack Dawson had smiled down upon her. That he had filled her with such guidance all of these years and now it was time that she was to make her own destiny. Now, life was for her. To move forward. To control. A stillness came over her; soothingly calm.

"And when I saw you, I think my heart stopped for a moment, fleetingly."

Smiling, revealing brilliant white teeth, Robert exhaled the relief. "You really are just as crazy as I am."

Rose's laugh pierced the quietness of the air. They had walked quite afar from the crowd and they were now just figures in the foreground. Up head of them, the north beach loomed, spreading for what seemed to be miles outwards. It was as though, when facing forward, nothing else existed but them and the sea.

''I like it, though.''

Then, they were stood. Face to face. Rose blinked her eyes; his stare returned to fix on her and she became paralysed once more. Did he know the great power he had over her? With a single stare she felt rooted to the spot. An ache within her started in her stomach and worked its way through her entire body. His presence so close to her was distracting. Rose hadn't noticed how the blazer was almost pressed to his shirt meaning they were almost touching and their torsos just an inch or so apart. How would he feel against her without any outer clothing? What if all barriers would eventually be shed between them leaving two exposed souls baring everything to the other? Her cheeks began to glow ashen with the thoughts which she quickly discarded from her mind.

''Are you well?'' Robert sensed her change in mood.

''Yes.''

The disturbing thoughts left her head as quickly as they had initially come. With a raised eyebrow, Robert laughed aloud.

''Good, I thought that perhaps I had said something out of sorts-'' The wind startled her again, sending her weakened state thrusting forward. Had she ever felt this willowy? Robert ceased her weak legs from buckling, by grasping her hand and pulling her towards him so that their bodies almost toppled backwards as he supported her weight as she fell against him, unexpectedly crushing herself to his torso.

''Good grief,'' Rose's head rested just below his chin and she resisted a single look upwards until she felt him lean forward, his lips nearing her ear until they were literally a small fraction away. ''I-I am not usually so affected by the brisk winds.''

''They do come from nowhere,'' his voice was laced with amusement but there was not a trace upon his face. Her breathing had naturally stopped just from his nearness. Everything about her tingled just from his body been in such close proximity to her own. ''When you are oblivious to everything else about you, they do seem to-'' he hesitated, ''steal your breath.''

Rose felt the rim of her eyes seemingly fill with water. Whether it was from the sting of the wind or the severity of been close to another man, she didn't know or even think for before she could he was soothing her.

''You can trust me,'' Robert whispered, as though he sensed her clattering nerves. The way his voice travelled through her was electric. It caused a shock down her neck, to her spine and into her stomach. Even her legs felt affected. They felt weak...dizzy...she had to remember to breathe and as she did, it came out as a sigh.

His breathing could be felt on her cheek. It was warm and welcoming to her.

''I do trust you,'' it was a harsh whisper, but it was the only way in which she could respond when she was pinned beneath his peculiar set of eyes once more.

His right arm was holding onto her waist, but with his left, he couldn't help but let go of her hand to reach up to stroke her face. She seemed to flinch but it was beyond her own control for just a second.

Robert knew in that moment; she had unknowingly allowed him a glance into her past; she had been hurt. There was such a great hesitancy right there. ''It's all right.'' He continued to stroke her face, upwards to her cheeks and then down to her lip. ''I won't hurt you.'' She knew he didn't mean physically but mentally. He wouldn't impale her soul. He would help heal her. Somehow.

Robert's eyes beneath the sinking sun seemed to completely match the ocean but in comparison to the other, the waves were dull. She held his shoulders so tight having not stood within the arms of another man for so long that it felt almost like the first time. There was an urge to resist, but a greater part of her felt at ease. Safe. Warm.

''I know that. I-I'm just not used to it, that is all.''

Robert searched her face for something to tell him that her feelings may even possibly reflect his; that he was in complete awe of her.

Rose closed her eyes as his hands came up to her cheeks and wiped away a single tear. Her emotion wasn't from anything but the current combination of overwhelming urges which were taking over her body.

Why did her head and her heart pull so? She couldn't ignore them both for they both indicated towards the man before her. The man who she could not imagine before her even just for a minute or her life would grow unbelievably cold once more. Her grasp on his arm tensed tenfold as the very thought terrified her but the shaking seemed to have subsided though she was still left feeling exposed to someone fully; it was unsettling. ''Perhaps that it what is absolutely absurd.''

Robert narrowed his eyes. ''It is quite.'' A smile came upon his lips. ''I find myself in quite the state about you. I questioned my own sanity frequently, but for me, meeting you, I feel as though something is very clear.''

''What?''

''I know that I could absolutely adore you.''

Robert leaned forward ever so slightly, so that their mouths came into contact for just the briefest few moments. Her lips tingled as his own felt so soft, cushioned and the smallest contact caused her heart to fall; to soar. Rose's fingernails dug into his shoulders to ensure that she wasn't about to fall over herself once more. Her body was entirely crushed against his and instead of pulling away, Rose found herself inhaling the scent of him. It wasn't the first time she had taken the smell of him, the steely feel of his body and the intoxication which seemed to surround him.

The entire time of their dance, she had found herself treading upon forbidden territory as she allowed herself to be held so close and so still. Her body had belonged with another man for so long. Her love had lain with him. Her heart would always be his. Jack Dawson.

But now, the act a man and woman should share upon their declaration of love for another or perhaps the very least an exchange of affections, was right before her. Robert had kissed her. As soon as she had entirely allowed herself to set eyes upon him, her universe had been filled. Her life had changed once more, and whatever small infatuation this might be right now, would no doubt grow into something. Something beyond beautiful.

Rose's eyes hesitantly opened to find his own heavy-lidded gaze upon her. With his hand upon her cheek, she felt unable to move. ''I sense your fear. Your hesitance. I have it, too.''

With unshed tears, she blinked up at him. ''You do?''

''Yes, how can I not?'' His hand at the base of her spine caused flames to travel up her back, to her neck and into her stomach. ''I suppose that we have both loved, perhaps lost. We are both raw in some ways. The war has affected us, greatly.''

With a swift nod, she agreed. Robert was correct in many ways but Rose was naïve and new to such feelings and how exposing oneself could alter the others perception of her.

''Yes, it has."

"I want to adore you."

There was no time for her to gasp in surprise or fear as his lips came down on hers once more, just a little more passionate than before.

Within a second, his left hand was upon her cheek, stroking and holding her there in place as his hesitant lips moved against her own The most innocent kiss had caused her to completely feel seduced into a new life. A life in which she would become a wife and a mother.

I have no idea of how historically correct this is of post war life, but I just wanted to write something cute and fun. So, ignore any mistakes you may find about if people ate bbq'd food or drank to celebrate the end of the war in the USA!

Thanks!