Dearest Rose,

I'm sitting here on this plane, watching the ocean below as the plane takes me to Vietnam and all I can think about is you and our final goodbye over the phone. You sounded so lonely and lost, it broke my heart. I wished that I could just be there with you and hold you tight. I wish I could hold you now as this plane takes me even further away from you.

What I think about most is that final night with you, when we had made love and held each other, ignoring our coming separation. I can still remember the feel of your curls wrapped around my fingers, the scent of your perfume, the softness of your skin. The love in your eyes and the sweetness of your smile. All of that is following me to Vietnam Rose and I'm clinging to them. I shall remain clinging to those memories until we're reunited again.

I wish I had more to tell you as I sit here getting closer and closer to the battlefield. The only thing can tell you is how much I love you and perhaps how scared I truly am. That's right, Rose. I'm admitting it here and now. I am terrified. What if the worse shall happen? It's funny how I didn't think about the possibility of dying until I had met you. Before you, I had nothing to lose. Death wasn't anything to fear, because I didn't have anyone to live for. But now...now I have everything to live for and I'm terrified of losing it. I want the future we should have together so badly, I can taste it and to know it's beyond my reach…

I don't want to die. I want to live until I'm an old old man, warm in his bed. I want to have lots of babies with you and watch them grow...but that may never happen thanks to a war I never wanted to be a part of. It's so unfair, Rose. But I guess that's life. It's unfair.

I don't know when I'll get to send this letter or when it'll reach you. I'll probably be in the thick of things, so if you don't hear from me again for a while don't be alarmed and know that you are not far from my thoughts and you're always in my heart. I love you, Rose Dawson. Now and forever…

Love your husband

Jack

…

Rose sighed as she finished reading Jack's letter for what must have been the tenth time. She winced as a bout of nausea hit her as she refolded the letter and placed it back in its envelope. She glanced at the clock and sighed, noticing that her break was over.

"Rose, sugar! Today's special at table six!" Lisa Crabtree, another waitress, and new friend waved as she spotted the redhead.

"Coming!" Rose grabbed her apron and wrapped it around her waist, trying to ignore her rebelling stomach. For the past two weeks since Jack's departure, Rose had felt horrible. Well at least for the first half of the morning anyway. She hoped to see a doctor soon, but worried about rent, she had put off seeing one, afraid that she'd be ordered to take some time off.

"Rose, you look horrible dear!" Lisa gasped as her co-worker emerged from the break room. Usually, Rose was more put together than this with her creamy complexion, sparkling eyes, and an easy smile on plump pink lips, her curls pulled back into a ponytail. Now the girl's complexion was a chalky pale, her lips looked dry and her eyes lacked their sparkle. She looked like a corpse walking.

"Thanks a lot," Rose frowned, fighting against the rising bile in her stomach as she tried to ignore her own dizziness.

"You should have called in. Sylvie would have understood."

"Rent is coming up. I can't afford to miss work," Rose sighed, wishing that her new friend would just let her be so she could get this order and get it over with. "Now if you'll excuse me...I have an order..."

"But Rose," Lisa's protest turned into a gasp as Rose fell into a crumpled heap inside the doorway. Frightened she ran over to the now unconscious red-head. She gently shook the girl's arm just as Sylvie, the diner's owner, approached. "Rose, wake up!"

"What in the world has happened here?" Sylvie frowned, kneeling next to her unconscious employee. "Rose, sweetie? Can you hear me?"

"We were talking. I was noticing that she didn't look at all well. She was insisting that she was fine and then she just fell down...like she was a puppet and someone cut her strings," Lisa explained, forcing herself to stay calm. Panicking would not help anyone, much less Rose.

"Well, let's get her back inside here and give her some room. I think Doctor Wilkins had just arrived for his order. I'll have him come take a look."

Ten minutes later, Rose woke up on the couch that was situated inside the break room against the back wall. She frowned to hear voices not too far away from her. She looked away from the ceiling to see Sylvie and an elderly gentleman just a few feet away in middle of a discussion. It was Sylvie who noticed that she was awake.

"Oh Rose, good! You're awake!" Sylvie rushed to her side, pressing a cool hand to her forehead. "Molly would be cross with me if I had allowed something to happen to you."

Rose tried to sit up but was forced to lay down again when the room began to spin. "What happened?"

"Don't try to sit up, dear. Just stay where you are and relax. We have the good doctor here to look you over. I'm afraid you had passed out earlier. You haven't been looking at all well for the past week or so," Sylvie quickly explained.

"The doctor? I don't think it's that's serious..."

"Rose, you were unconscious for a good ten minutes, and to be honest, you resemble a corpse. You do not look well at all. It's best to get checked out now. The sooner that you're diagnosed, the sooner you can become well again and get back to work. I am not taking no for an answer."

Seeing that there was no getting out of it, Rose sighed in resignation. Besides, Sylvie was right. Something was indeed wrong and she couldn't just ignore it any longer. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

…..

Dearest Jack,

I do not know when this will reach you, but when it does, I hope that you will be sitting down somewhere because what I am about to tell you will surely knock you off your feet. I certainly was. Literally. I am not at all sure how to tell you this. We've never even discussed the possibility. I don't know why, because we've made love enough times for this to happen, but never once have we discussed it or what to do if it should happen. I guess with the future being so uncertain, it never occurred to us that this could happen.

Oh god, you must be so confused, wondering what I am talking about. You must be thinking that it's something awful, but it's not. It's wonderful, really. I mean, I feel like you've left me a part of yourself to hang on to and I'm giving you another reason to fight to come home.

Jack, darling. I guess there is no other way to tell you except to tell you. So I hope that you are sitting down and that you are safe. Because your baby will be wanting to meet you when it's time for you to return.

That's right. I said your baby. I am pregnant Jack. I know, I'm in shock myself. The doctor said that my symptoms are on point and in nine months I shall have a baby to love and take care of. I have to admit, I'm scared. But I'm happy too. This baby...it's a sign, Jack. A sign that what we have...it's real. You're real. All of this is not a dream! Our love exists and the proof of it is growing inside me and in nine months, it'll be out here in the world, waiting for you to come home to us at last!

So fight Jack. Do whatever you have to do to come home to us because it's just not me anymore. I will not be the only one waiting for you. Your baby will be waiting too and we'll be here waiting with open arms.

Love your wife,

Rose Dawson plus one.