Chapter 28

Jack, Rose, and Cora walked into the house a few days later, just after Rose was sent home from the hospital. Rose smiled upon walking through the door, happy to be back at home. She remembered the last time she walked out of the house: she had just watched Lori and Cora interacting and was devastated that she didn't have that relationship with Cora. Now, walking into the house, she had everything she ever wanted.

Only with a few minor cuts, Rose felt absolutely fine to carry on with her life just the way it was before. Well, not exactly how it was before; now she felt like more of a mother than she had felt at all in the last few months.

Jack was holding Rose's things, walking slightly ahead of Rose and Cora, whose arms were linked. He set down the bag, then turned back to Rose, touching her cheek. "Do you feel okay?" he asked. Rose nodded in response, smiling as she looked into Jack's eyes. "Good," he smiled, kissing her cheek.

After standing on her feet for a long time, Rose was getting tired. She walked over to the couch and sat down, putting her feet up on the coffee table. Cora sat down next to her, resting her head on her chest, as Rose put her arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

Jack had to go to work, as much as he would have loved to stay with Rose and Cora all day. Cora didn't have school since it was the summer, so she was able to be home with Rose all day. She was relieved to be able to spend time with Rose, since she felt like she needed to make up for lost time.

Jack sat down on the large chair in the living room and looked at Rose. "I can stay, you know," he smiled at her. "I can stay home and stay with you, if you want me to."

Rose shook her head, leaning her cheek against the top of Cora's head. "You have to go to work, Jack," she smiled back. "You've called in sick the last few days while I was in the hospital. It's time to go back to work." He arched an eyebrow at her, not saying a word. "I'll be fine, Jack. I promise."

Jack sighed, standing up. "Okay," he walked over to her, kissing her lips gently, then kissing the top of Cora's head. "I'll see you later." He picked up his bag and waved before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Rose smiled as she watched him and remembered who he used to be. He used to be so young, so small, in her memory. She remembered how even when Cal towered over him, he never faltered. She remembered how he stared at her as if she was an enigma.

Now, she looked at him and saw someone completely different yet just as amazing. He was a wonderful father, and watching Jack love and care for Cora gave her so much joy. He still stared at Rose, though it was because he loved her and was amazed by her, not because he saw her as a mystery.

"What was it about Dad?" Cora asked suddenly, and Rose looked down at her. "What was it about Dad that you were willing to give up your entire life for him?"

Rose sighed and looked at Cora as she looked back up at her. She brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I was so unhappy, Cora. So unhappy that I was willing to jump off the back of a ship in order to break free," she explained. "And then… your father found me. He found me and talked me out of it, and he… he saved me… in every way a person can be saved. It was that simple. He didn't treat me the way I had always been treated. He loved me for who I was, not for who he wanted me to be and not for my looks or my name. He showed me that there was another way, with him. And it was the best decision I ever made, to this day. And besides…" Rose smiled at Cora. "He's not too bad to look at."

"Oh, gross," Cora laughed. "I don't want to hear this." She wrapped her arms tighter around Rose and buried her head into her chest. Rose leaned down and kissed the top of her head. They both let a silent moment go by before Cora spoke again. "I feel so awful for wasting so much time pushing you away when we could've been like this."

"Don't think like that," Rose whispered. She held Cora close to her, kissing the top of her head. "I… I'm filled with regret, Cora, even though there's nothing that anyone could have done to stop me from leaving. I missed hearing your first words, seeing you crawl and walk for the first time, teaching you to read, to dress, talking to you about your boyfriend… I missed it all. And it's absolutely heartbreaking to me. And there's nothing that I can do about it." Rose wiped her tears. "So… why don't we just try to move on from here?"

Cora nodded, looking up at Rose. "You're still young," she said quietly, even though they were the only two in the house. "You could… if you wanted to…" she looked at Rose, into her eyes. She had Jack's ability of seeing people. "Would you?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know," she said quietly, looking back at Cora. "It won't fix this, and it won't make up for the fact that I missed your childhood. At this point, I just want to fix things with you and be as good of a mother as I can be for you."

Cora smiled. "You are a good mother. You've done nothing but take care of Dad and me since you came back." She looked up at Rose. "And I know it wouldn't fix what we lost, but it could help you, maybe."

Rose looked down at Cora. "Is that something you'd want?" She asked. "Would you want a sibling? A little brother or sister?"

Cora shrugged. "It doesn't help that I'm old enough that I know where babies come from," her cheeks turned a little pink as her mother started to laugh uncomfortably. "But, if it happened, I would be happy. I'd be excited. Besides… you shouldn't base your decisions off of me," she looked away. "Maybe it was wrong that you left, but you didn't know what you were doing when you did. I ignored you and pushed you away for months, knowing full well what I was doing. That's a lot worse."

"Stop it, Cora," Rose shook her head. "Look at me." She took Cora's face in her hands and smiled. "Whatever happened, whatever either of us did… it's in the past now. It's done."

"You know, Dad always told me I looked like you and was like you. Do you see it?"

Rose looked down at Cora and smiled. "Oh yeah, definitely," she looked at Cora with pride, knowing that she was hers, that now nothing could separate them now. "You're so much like me that it's scary sometimes. You look a lot like me. You have my eye shape, my nose, my smile, my facial shape. You've got your father's hair and coloring, of course." She played with Cora's hair, stroking through it gently. "As for personality… you're deep, like I am. You're thoughtful, caring, and strong, you've got my fire."

Cora nodded. "Dad told me about your fire."

Rose threw her head back and laughed. "Yes, well, my fire managed to get both your father and I almost killed. But… yes, you do have my fire. I saw it the moment you stared back at me so angrily the first time we saw each other." She paused, thinking about just how strong Cora was. "You know, you're the only one who has ever been able to make my mother speechless. I yelled at her and screamed at her and called her names… your approach was much more efficient."

Cora looked up at her. "What did I do?"

"You stayed calm and, instead of fighting her and screaming, you acted like she hardly bothered you. When she made that comment about your hair, I was ready to hurt her. I've never seen her speechless like that before." Rose placed her hand on Cora's cheek. "You know you don't deserve what she said about you, right?"

Cora nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "And you don't deserve all the things she did to you either." She gave Rose a sad look, knowing what her mother suffered through as a child. "And you definitely didn't deserve to be taken from us."

Rose smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you," she whispered. "Come on, let's make some lunch."

xXx

"So I've heard the story from Dad, and now I want to hear your story." Cora sat at the kitchen counter drawing in her portfolio while Rose cooked.

Rose sighed, pausing for a moment to look at Cora. She was her daughter, after all. She deserved to know these things, and if it helped them grow closer, she would be willing to tell Cora a bit about how she grew up. Looking back at what she was doing, she began to speak. "I grew up… pretty different from the way you did. My parents were upper class, they never cared about me, they just shipped me off to finishing school and planned to marry me off when the time came. I was sixteen when my father died and I was forced into an engagement to Cal Hockley. And if you thought my mother was bad…"

"I can't even imagine," Cora shook her head. "I'm sixteen now. That would be like you marrying me off now. I'm way too young for that."

Rose nodded. "I felt the same way, like my childhood was just being ripped away from me. It would be one thing if I was marrying someone who would treat me well, but Cal was just awful to me. I just knew whatever life I would have with him wasn't a life that was worse living. Which was why I tried to kill myself that night."

"I'm sorry," Cora said quietly, looking down.

Rose smiled. "I'm not," she said confidently and Cora looked up. "If I didn't go through that, I would've never met your father, and I would've never had you." Cora smiled in relief, and Rose touched her cheek. "Now, tell me something about your childhood."

"Let me think…" Cora began. "Oh! Okay. So when I was turning seven, Dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I lied and said that I didn't want anything, because I knew we didn't have a ton of money at the time. And Dad said okay, then said that he wouldn't get me any presents if I didn't want them. And then I woke up on the morning of my birthday and he sat me down and gave me a wrapped present… and it was a portfolio. My very first portfolio." Cora smiled. "And then Dad told me that we were fine on money, that he was just trying to save up to buy this house, and less than a year later, we moved in here."

"You like to draw, right?" Rose asked.

Cora nodded. "It was always what I was good at," she shrugged. "I always watched Dad do it, I knew Dad was drawing me constantly before we could afford a camera… it just seemed like such a wonderful hobby. I always wanted to do it." Cora looked at Rose for a moment. "What about you?"

Rose turned and looked at her. "What?"

"Well, you had a childhood where you didn't have any freedom, you had a year of your life just changing in every possible way, and then you lost all of your memories and everything. And now, you have an opportunity to figure out what you want to do. A hobby, a job… anything. So… what do you want to do?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know," she smiled at Cora. "I guess I'll figure it out."

A/N: I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long! I've had a lot going on personally and I haven't been writing or wanting to post. This was a short chapter, but it was all I had planned in my outline. I know it's all Rose/Cora fluff, but we do need some of that! Plus, I have a few more things planned for this story before I end it. I know I said that the story would end after this chapter, but I changed my mind. Hope you enjoyed!