The next day, Rose woke up and stood at her bedroom window which looked out onto the back yard. She was surprised to see that Jack was already up and awake, chopping wood by the looks of it. Rose couldn't help but notice that Jack's physique had changed through out the years. He was more muscular. Probably stronger from years of work and exercise. His blond hair was darker, but still shined in the sun and he still had a something that drew her to him. She couldn't say what it was, but it was still there. Yet, he had changed through out the years. She could tell that, just by looking into his eyes. There was a sadness there that hadn't been there when they had first met. She wasn't surprised by it though. After all, there had been Titanic...and if Titanic wasn't enough to put the sadness there, she knew that the great war and what he must have seen over there in Europe definitely was. It made her sad that he had to experience that.
"Momma?"
Rose turned around to see Olivia in the door way. The girl smiled as she joined her mother at the window and stared out.
"Is there something you needed me for, darling?" Rose asked, her attention now on her daughter.
"Not really. I just wanted to see you," Olivia shrugged. She smiled as she looked at her mother. "Mr. Dawson is nice, mother. And handsome. Jacob looks a lot like him."
"Too much like him," Rose wistfully smiled. "And yes, Jack is nice. That hasn't changed about him."
"It's sad, though. You two were in love and had a son yet had separate lives thanks to the sinking. It's all so tragic," Olivia sighed, still stuck on the idea of the romance of it all.
Rose just laughed and rolled her eyes. She had been a year older than her daughter when she had met Jack, yet she had never had this fanciful notion of romance. Yet, she was the one that had a spontaneous love affair with a poor steerage passenger.
"Darling, not everything is about romance and tragedy. What Jack and I shared back then...I doubt it would have lasted. Everything had been so...rushed and spontaneous. We were children who barely knew each other. It was for the best the way things had turned out I suppose. Your father had to grow up and so did I and I'm certain that Jack had to go through his own experiences as well. Things happened the way they were meant to," Rose sighed. She really believed her words. Things had turned out the way they had been meant to. Her, Jack, and Cal...they had all needed to become the people they needed to be and the only way to get there was the way things had happened.
Loving Jack...it had made her a stronger person and had given her a responsibility that she would never had gotten if she had never met him at all. She wouldn't have had Jacob and wouldn't know a thing about supporting herself and without Jacob, Cal wouldn't have let down his walls and became a man that she could love and of course, the twins would never had been born.
So all in all, the only thing she did regret was that Jacob and Jack didn't have the relationship they should have had if Jack had raised him, like he would have if they hadn't been separated on Titanic. She'll always regret that.
"Do you think I'll ever love someone like that?"
"Olivia...I want you to find a love like that, but...I want it to mature into what I had with your father. I don't think Jack and I would have lasted because it happened so fast and it was so intense. I want you to have a mature love that can last."
"But how do you know it wouldn't have? Would you want to try again with him?"
Rose sighed, wondering how she had gotten into such a conversation with her daughter. "To be honest, I don't know. Things are different now. We're different."
"But he still loves you. He looks at you when he thinks that you're not looking and you do the same," Olivia continued. She just couldn't let go of the notion that her mother may reconnect with her old lover. She would love it if that happened. After all, in a few years, she and Max will start their own lives and Jacob will most likely be gone as well. Their mother would be alone, unless she found someone to love. Someone like an old acquaintance that she had loved before. It would be so perfectly romantic in her mind.
"Olivia Josephine Hockley! What an outrageous claim!"
"Why?"
"It just is. Jack and I...we're just friends at the moment and we have to get to know one another again. I am not the same young girl I was when he knew me and he knows that. There's no way that he's still in love with me."
"Well, I think he is and that it's tragically romantic that he had never moved on," Olivia sighed.
Losing her patience Rose sighed and walked away from the window after one last glance at Jack, who seemed to be finishing up. "No more of this, Livvie. It's time for breakfast. Go wake your brothers."
Olivia pouted. She wanted to get to know all of the story that had happened between her mother and Jack Dawson. She wanted to know the chances of feelings reigniting. But her mother was being stubborn and it was best not to push her luck. Folding her arms, she turned and left the room to do what her mother had ordered.
Rose watched her daughter go and shook her head, feeling half annoyed and half amused. She was sure that Olivia's personality was from Cal's mother. She definitely didn't get it from her or her mother Ruth. Hearing the boys beginning to wake up, she went downstairs and began breakfast, trying not to think about Olivia's musings of Jack's continued feelings for her.
...
Breakfast was finished and everyone was beginning to go their own way. Rose was gathering the dishes when she saw Jacob with his portfolio in his hand.
"Where are you off to?" She asked, curious. He had been gone for an awful long time the day before and wondered if the pretty store girl they had met when they had arrived was the reason.
Jacob paused and blushed. To be honest, he was going to go to the store to see if Sarah would let him sketch her, but he wasn't ready to let his mother know that just yet. She would just get all misty eyed and sniffle that he wasn't her little boy anymore.
"Nowhere in particular. Just for a walk around town. See if I can get inspired."
Rose nodded, chewing on her bottom lip as a thought occurred to her. She wanted Jacob and Jack to bond somehow. What better way than over something they both had in common? "Why don't you show Jack some of your work? I am sure the he'd love to check it out."
Jacob shrugged, his cheeks growing even more red. He wasn't really one to brag about his art and showing Jack his art felt like bragging. Besides, what if he wasn't interested? "He probably wouldn't be interested in my drawings."
"Of course he would be. You did get the talent from him after all and it's something that you have in common. He wants to get to know you, what better way than through art?"
Jacob saw a hint of sadness in her eyes and couldn't help but feel it himself. He loved Cal and to him, he was his father, he had missed out on nothing. But Jack had missed out on his entire childhood. He hadn't been given the chance to really be a dad to him. Really, he had no idea how he would feel if he found out he had a grown son and had missed out on the formative years of his life.
"I'll show him," Jacob nodded, giving in to his mother's request.
"Thank you," Rose smiled, happy about the decision. She hoped that in time, Jacob would feel just as comfortable with Jack as he had with Cal. In a way, Jack's reappearance was good. Cal had died just when Jacob was becoming a man. There was still so much he needed to learn about the world out there. Who better to teach him than Jack?
...
Jacob found Jack on the back porch, with his own portfolio opened in his hand. It seemed that the older man was watching and sketching the twins, who were laughing and teasing each other among the flowers. From what he could hear, Olivia was reciting the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet while Maxwell was clapping, shouting bravo! He looked over Jack's shoulder to see the very image of Olivia and Maxwell. He had to admit, Jack was indeed a great artist. Far better than him.
"You captured them perfectly," Jacob complimented as he sat next to Jack who looked up from his work and smiled.
"They made a great scene. I thought Rose would adore to have it captured," Jack shrugged. "It's been a while since I felt inspired like this," Jack closed the portfolio, finished with the drawing.
"I draw. Mother thought that you'd might like to see them. You don't have to if you don't want to...I mean...they're not that good..."
Jack stared at Jacob, surprised by the offer. He hadn't been expecting it. "I'd love to see your work. I mean, if you want me to. I know how personal drawing can be sometimes."
"I don't mind. There's nothing really personal in here. It's just family and places," Jacob shrugged, handing his portfolio to Jack, feeling nervous. What if he didn't like his drawings? What if he thought that he sucked and had no artistic talent at all?
Jack opened the portfolio and found himself staring at the pictures in awe. Jacob definitely was talented. His style was different from Jack's of course, but the talent to capture a person's essence it was all there.
"Jacob, these are excellent. They are definitely better than mine," Jack flipped through the pages, impressed by what he saw. A picture of Rose, looking down with a tear in her eyes. Another sketch of his siblings, their hands clasped and uncertainty in their eyes. There was even one of Cal. He looked just like Jack remembered him, except the sharp edges of arrogance was gone, replaced with the soft curves of kindness and calm. It was a Caledon that Jack had never met. It was the Cal that Rose had loved and mourned. At the end, he closed the portfolio and smiled at his son. "You are amazing."
"You really think so?"
Jack nodded, handing him back the leather bound folder. "They should be in a gallery somewhere for the world to enjoy."
"As should yours. Mother was right, your work is excellent."
"She talked about my work? How much has she told you?" Jack was curious. Had Rose shared his experience drawing French girls? He certainly hoped not. Even though Jacob was of age, he didn't think he'd want his son to be drawing nude prostitutes. Or any nude women for that matter.
"She told me a lot about you. Especially when I had learned that father was not my father. Every April, we'd sit in the parlor and she'd talk about the time you two shared on the trip. She told me how you saved her life. How you two fell in love and how I came to be. She would cry..."
"I'm sorry. I...I wish that things had been different. That we had found each other somehow. But I'm glad that she had you and him. I'm glad that you both were well loved."
"You still love her, don't you?" Jacob asked, studying the older man curiously, remembering the talk he had with Maxwell.
Jack couldn't lie. His love for Rose...it had kept him from moving on with his life. He just couldn't see himself with anyone else but her. So yes, he had remained alone. It hadn't been an unhappy life. But at times, it was a lonely one.
"I am in love with the seventeen year old girl that I had met on a doomed ocean liner some years ago."
"I don't think that's answering the question," Jacob smirked. "Do you love her or not."
Jack laughed. "Wow, this seems familiar. Your mother would think you rude and uncouth for being so blunt."
"Well, according to my mother, I get all my personality traits from you."
Jack laughed, highly amused. This young man...he saw a lot of himself in him, but he saw Rose too. It was fascinating. "You are definitely your momma's son. But to answer your rather blunt question...it's complicated. I...look at her and I see the Rose I knew on Titanic. But I know she's changed through the years. We both have. I can't rightly say I love her until I get to know her again. Heck, things were so fast on Titanic...I can't even say that was really love...even though I think it was. I mean... I've judged all women by her model. So it had to be love."
"You never married and had kids, so yeah," Jacob nodded. "But I understand what you're trying to say. You want to get to know the person she is now. Not just the person she was then."
"Right."
"For what it's worth...I think you two would still be good together. Her eyes light up when she looks at you and I haven't seen her this happy since father died. It'd be nice if you two could...reconnect."
"So you wouldn't mind?"
"I wouldn't and neither would Olivia. Max on the other hand...give him time. He still mourns father deeply. It's not easy losing a parent."
"I can understand that. I've never gotten over losing mine. I still expect to see my father out here chopping wood or with a fishing pole slung over his shoulder to go fishing. Or mother in the kitchen at the stove," Jack shrugged. "I understand how both of you feel and I promise, I would never try to take his place. I know that I couldn't. No matter what may happen with your mother."
"Maybe you should talk to him. Reassure him some."
"Of course."
"Well...I best get to the store to see if I can draw that shop girl Sarah, before her boyfriend shows up," Jacob chuckled, getting to his feet, happy to have spent the time with Jack. He really was finding that he liked and admired him.
"Sarah? Oh I know of her. Yeah, her boyfriend is a bit of a jerk," Jack chuckled, not wanting to encourage Jacob to pursue the girl, but feeling that he wasn't in the place to discourage him either. Not with his past.
"Yeah, I don't know what she sees in him."
Jack just laughed and grinned. "Well, maybe she'll find something a whole lot better. Just be careful, alright? Men like that boy can get pretty mean and aggressive."
"I will. I'll be back in a few."
Jack stood on the porch and watched Jacob walk away, shaking his head in awe. It was as if he was watching his twenty year old self walk away, heading off for another adventure. It made him feel happy and sad at the same time. And the questions about his feelings for Rose...they also gave him more to think about.