Jack was sitting on the front porch sketching when Jacob returned looking rather downtrodden. Jack looked up as the young man approached and frowned. It was so surreal to see the very image of his younger self approaching, looking how he must have looked that one time on Titanic, when Rose had tried to break up with him.

"Jacob? What's wrong? You look like you've just received some bad news," Jack closed his portfolio and patted the spot next to him. He knew that he was mostly a stranger to the young man, but he wanted to make himself available just in case Jacob needed a listening ear from an older man.

Jacob sighed and shrugged, keeping his eyes on the ground. Normally, he wasn't one to brood, especially over a girl. But there was something about Sarah that drew him in, made him want to get to know her better. But after what had just happened...what he had just been told...well it didn't look like that was going to happen. "I pretty much did."

Jack scooted over a little as Jacob sat down with his own portfolio in hand. He couldn't help the bolt of pride that shot through him at the sight. He couldn't help but wonder what other things he had passed on to his son. He resisted the urge to run a hand through the boy's blond locks, that were shorter than his own had been at that age. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jacob again sighed and turned to look at the man that had conceived him. He too was struck with a sense of surrealness, knowing that this was what he may look like in the future. Tall, handsome, and world weary. Maybe even a little lonely if his luck in love didn't change.

"Do you know the girl at the general store? Sarah?"

Jack simply nodded. He knew of young Sarah. She was a pretty little thing that had a fire that resembled Rose's and a father that was almost as ambitious as Rose's mother had been. He sensed that she was the real reason for Jacob's continued visits to that store. "Yes. She's a sweet girl. She kind of reminds me of your mother a little. Pretty, head strong..."

"Engaged..."

Jack frowned. He didn't remember that part. He could have sworn that the girl had been single. Then again, he didn't really make it his business to know the marital status of the young women in town. "Engaged?"

Jacob simply nodded. "I arrived at the store and was drawing her. I was about to ask her if we could take a walk on the lake some time when he came in with her father and he proposed. She said yes. Of course she'd say yes! He's filthy rich according to some of the women in the store!"

Jack felt bad for his son. Of course, his taste in unattainable women seemed to be something else he had passed on to Jacob. "That's bad. I'm sorry. It looks like my artistic talent wasn't the only thing that you had inherited."

"I really liked this girl. She's so much like mother...yet so different..."

"And she's pretty too..."

"Beautiful!"

Jack just smiled in amusement, recognizing the light of first love lit in his son's eyes. "She sounds like someone special."

"She is...but she's engaged to one of the richest guys in town. I'm not rich...at least not anymore and even if we still had the money, I won't inherit any of it. There's no way that she'd refuse him for a guy like me," Jacob gave another forlorn sigh.

Jack felt bad for Jacob. He really did. He remembered feeling the same about Rose...but to his surprise, Rose had not been like any other first class girl. She had looked past the fact that he had been dirt poor and saw his heart and had ended up choosing him over the rich Caledon Hockley. He had gotten the girl despite all odds. Perhaps, the same could be said for his son.

"Jacob, you know...you are indeed a lot like me when I was your age. Not only in looks and talent, but personality wise as well. Mixed with your mother's fire and strength. You're the best of us both and I do believe that is what will win you Sarah. I was a dirt poor wandering artist when I met your mother and she was engaged to one of the richest men on the ship. But she wasn't happy with him. He didn't treat her right back then. Somehow...despite it all, your mother chose the poor artist over the rich heir to a fortune. Sure, we didn't end up together because of circumstances, but she still chose me and you came from that. Who is to say that the same can't be said for you? That Sarah won't see the man you are over your financial and social status? Not to mention, you have some things on your side that I didn't have."

"I do?"

Jack nodded and gave the younger man a gentle nudge. "The Hockley money may be gone, but the name still holds a lot of weight. If it helps with her father...go by Jacob Hockley. Let the high standing of that name help win you the girl."

Jacob smiled, liking the idea. Jack had a very good point! Why hadn't he thought of that? "That may just work! Plus, you should see how that guy treats her! It's like she's supposed to be a possession. Someone to decorate his arm or something! How can a girl who practically runs that store single handedly like such a lifestyle?"

"She won't. You'll just have to show her that."

"Even better, get her to see it for herself. After all, It's not your job to save her. Only she can do that. I saw that for myself and so will she," Rose was suddenly there, standing in the doorway, having overheard the conversation. "Besides, you have Jack Dawson's blood running through your veins. It won't take you long to charm her away from him."

Jack simply blushed and gave a little chuckle. "My charm had nothing to do with you taking your life back, Rose. That was all you."

"But it was that talk in the gymnasium that helped me see the path I needed to take. I believe that our son will do the same for this girl."

"So what are you saying? I should just talk to her?" Jacob frowned.

"Well, that would be a good start. Let the girl know that you care about her. Tell her what you see in her and see how she responds. Be open and honest."

Jacob nodded, finding that he actually liked the advice. He had a feeling that maybe things weren't so bleak after all. Jack was right. He did have some advantages that Jack and his mother didn't have. Not being on a doomed ocean liner was just one of them. "I think I'll do that. But tomorrow. Right now I'm starving and I'm supposed to be challenging Max to another game of poker."

"Jacob!" Rose yelled, exasperated. "I've told you how I felt about that game! And now you're going teach your brother?"

Jacob just laughed and winked at Jack. "Oh come on, mother. It's just a game. Besides, it's in my blood."

Jack quickly looked away from an annoyed Rose and watched as his son got up and disappeared into the house. He couldn't help but chuckle as he felt Rose sit down and lightly slap his shoulder.

"What?" He gave her an innocent look.

"He definitely is your son," Rose shook her head, her annoyance turning into amusement.

"Hey, at least he won't be playing for tickets to board a ship..or even for money. They'll probably play for something boring like food or taking over each other's chores."

Rose sighed and went back to staring out at the horizon, enjoying the comfortable silence that had fallen between them. She risked another glance at the man by her side and felt her heart flutter in her chest once again. Just looking at him made her feel like the seventeen year old that she had once been. She slowly and gently placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Jack...I feel like I used to be. Seventeen, young, and full of artistic ambition and this need to impress a certain young man. Do I even resemble her anymore?" She was afraid of his answer, but she needed to know how he saw her now. To her, he was even more handsome and interesting than he had been on Titanic.

"You more than resemble her, Rose. You are her, and so much more."

"So you still love me, even when I'm no longer young and beautiful?"

Jack laughed and turned to her, his smile bright and his eyes just drinking her in. "You are more beautiful than you were back then. As for being young, you're not old. Neither am I. And yes...I still love you. I probably always will. I love who you were then and I am finding that I love the woman that you have grown into. You are so amazing...that light you see in our son when he talked about that girl...I feel like it's still lit in me, every time I'm in your presence or even think about you."

"Believe it or not, I love you too. I never stopped really and getting to know you again, with all the time and freedom in the world...it's perhaps more than I deserve, but I'm grateful. After Cal's death...I didn't know if I would ever love again...not in the way that I loved you and the way I loved him. I thought it was probably over for me, but I'm glad that I was wrong. That we found each other again."

Jack placed a steady hand against her cheek and leaned in for a lingering, but chaste kiss, ever mindful that there were kids inside. He pulled away and smiled. "I think there's a time for everyone and everything...I think our time is now, at last."

Rose gazed into his eyes and saw a future that she had thought was out of reach. A future that she could only dream of once she had stepped off the Carpathia, pregnant an alone. But she wasn't pregnant and alone anymore. She was no longer a young girl taking baby steps out into the world on her own. She was a woman with children and experience and a maturity that she had lacked at seventeen. She no longer had the naive dreams of a young adult just stepping out into the world, but a knowledge and certainty about what she wanted and what she was capable of and right now...she wanted him. A quiet life with this man that had entered and exited her life and was now back again.

"I agree. It is our time. I want nothing more than to be here with you."