Jesus Christ himself stood as witness to the pairing; his stance on the cross above them, watchfully adorning the beautiful interior of the chapel.
The ever changing climates over the last week had given way to a beautiful, crisp and warm summer day with a hint of a breeze.
They had come on a journey…
A journey that had taken about eighty hours. A journey which took Rose to the epitome of heaven. Almost four days aboard a train with not much to do aside from being with Jack.
Jack...
The lopsided grin was magnetically drawing her to him even further. The same suave smile which had persuaded the elderly preacher to obtain their marriage licence before dawn and to marry them. This was the life which Jack had described and the life which Rose had envisioned; one lled with such absurd spontaneity that it would almost be ludicrous to imagine, but that was the beauty of this day. Two people were just making memories too good to tell; just that morning, with such unsteady legs they had ripped
the sheets from the bed in which they had become entwined with each other for most of the night, where they had become familiar with each other's bodies as much as possibly could before they fell into a fully exhausted slumber; peaceful and somewhat satis ed.
The streets of the boulevard were starting to come alive with the hustle and bustle of life; people went about their day whether it be to work, to church or to take a walk. In the faint distance and cutting through the silence, steam trains pulled into the train station located just next to the church.
Warm ngers contacted Rose's; touching the pads of her nger to break the daydream which she appeared to have fallen into. The day dream seemed to be endless and something of a reality; when did one's life grow to be so happy that it felt like an illusion?
''Are you all right?''
How could one not be anything but immensely happy?
With the million butter ies breaking ight within Rose's stomach, each one carrying a reason for her to be elated, she could only manage a nod.
Jack's shirt was tinted with charcoal. Her own dress was light yellow in colour. Breezy and cheery; just how she felt. Beneath her garment, she wore no corset. Nothing to contain her any longer.
The quietness was eerie but glancing about, the nondescript of a building would become the place where she married the man who she loved. The building wouldn't matter... the preacher wouldn't...nor would anything but the certi cate con rming them as man and wife. The last time she had stepped foot with a church, it had been to confess her damned sins. Now she was going to marry him.
''Am I a sinner?'' Rose wondered aloud, quietly. ''For loving you.''
''No, Rose. Neither of us have sinned.''
Rose's eyes travelled to the large holdall at their feet. The notion felt unreal but it turned out to be true; one really could carry everything which they needed right there with them, just like Jack had said at dinner aboard the Titanic.
Fiddling with something within his palm, Jack rattled it and then stopped, before repeating the gesture. A sign of
either the boredom of waiting or his nerves. In return, Rose clasped both of her warmer hands around his and he glanced up, taking her breath away with the beauty of their colour. Intense amed blue and lined with such love that she felt her legs almost buckle beneath her. Would that ever fade away? The other side of last week, Rose had been in mourning, devastated, living on memories of one rushed hour in the backseat of a car without a stitch of experience and then, with the darkness of the night after Jack had found her, it had fetched such wonderful passion and wonder. The dawn had fetched a new mood; one lled with such excitement.
The preacher stood in place, the Bible within his hands. Beside Jack stood two witnesses; complete strangers, who were assumed to have worked within the vestry when Jack had arrived there, begging the old man to make Rose his wife. A wandering eye to Rose's none-expanding middle had con rmed that the preacher had anticipated her to have been in a delicate condition, hence the haste. Keeping a hand away from her middle, and her chin raised, Rose simply deterred his obviously judgmental thoughts. Did it matter that she was carrying his child?
''On this morning, before the presence of God, to bring together this man and this woman, I ask for the two witnesses to aid me.''
The two male witnesses shu ed their feet about, as though they had other matters of importance to attend to, perhaps they did, but for the moment, they would be a part of the ceremony.
''Now, Jack, do you take Rose to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only to her forevermore?"
Beneath shining eyes and trembling hands, Jack didn't hesitate for even a moment.
''I do.''
''Rose, do you take Jack to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only to him forevermore?"
''I do.''
''Now, for the exchanging of rings, to solidify your vows.''
Within Jack's palm, he unveiled two simple bands; one slightly larger than the other. Burned together by his own
father with their own bare hands; it was the only two physical reminders of his parents besides himself which existed.
The rst band was a dark gold, shining as though it had the rst day it had been placed upon his Mother's ngers some twenty- ve years before. Taking Rose's fourth nger within his own cool ngers, he shakily pushed it on, and it sat wonderfully neat, just as it had done on his own Mother's hand. It circled, daintily glinting in the dim light of the church.
In turn, Rose took the circular band from his own palm and placed it on Jack's nger, repeating the motion. His was a snugger t, but still enough to stay put and possibly never move. Together, with linked hands, they faced the other; as one.
''Now, with the power vested within me, I can pronounce you both husband and wife. Congratulations.''
A verse from the Bible followed, the preacher's voice booming out within the hollow church, but that was drowned out by the intensity of their watch of the other.
A few simple sentences had enabled them to be legally bound to the other; forever. The eagerness to break ight out of the church worked its way through Rose's belly but she stood, solidi ed to Jack's hand, beneath the wonderful weight of those eyes which had grown to know her inside and out.
Any faint prickling of tears within her eyes, Rose blinked them away for there would be time later for her to crumble within her husband's arms and allow them to fall freely without judgement. Tears of disbelief, of happiness and of complete overwhelmingness.
The ticking clock above the vestry door kept them alert of the time.
''Now for the paperwork.''
In a urry of hurried minutes, a register was signed by all present and then it was tucked away into the seams of the bag. A handshake or two later, and they were escorted back down the aisle to the heavy frosted doors leading back into the New York air.
The sun enveloped them as they went, as well as a large whistle echoing about in the morning dew to grab
someone's attention within the station. Startled by the noise, Rose jumped as Jack grasped onto her waist with his left hand, to steady her footing as they descended two of the large, wide steps which had led up to the front entrance. Curiosity filled her eyes, as he dropped their bag at his feet, snaking his other arm within the layers of her dress, tickling her as he went. Oh, how intimately he now knew her.
Closing his soft, cool lips over hers, Jack solidified their vows, claiming his bride as his for the first time with his mouth, gently and then with an increased urgency that it took Rose a second to remember that they were in public; full view of the world. Her heels caught the step, almost sending her flying back but Jack caught her closer at the waist and with thorough trust in him, she didn't even open her eyes to ensure that she was now safely away from the edge. The edge was always near when he kissed her the way that he did and freely she could fall knowing that he would catch her every single time. Every damned time...
And then, she thought, now's the time…
''Jack,'' she started, pulling back so that she could see his face as she would reveal her news. ''The day that you found me at confession, was a day that I shall never forget, for more than one reason.'' She darted her tongue out, wetting her lips. Seeing his eyes sparkle with curiosity, she wished to continue but instead something seemed to stop her. The night they had conceived their child, she had led his hand to her breast, as an encouragement for him to make love to her and then, in that moment, she took his left hand, with his wedding band shining gold and glittery beneath the
warm sun and she led it to her lower stomach, then she waited. It took a moment, perhaps a minute but it didn't matter because she was within his arms soon after, with his tears soaking into her neck and she clung to him for dear life.
''I'm going to be a father?'' she heard him whisper into her ear, his voice tickling at her. Overwhelmed with such emotion herself, Rose couldn't even speak, so instead she simply nodded.
''We're so lucky.''
Rose squeezed her eyes closed, allowing him to hold her for an unknown length of time beneath the California sun.
Just as they had planned.
Yes, she thought, as she held her husband. We are so damned lucky.
It was only then, Rose fully realised that there were no sins. Only a love which would last forever. And together, they had created a life. What was sinful about that?