Chapter Five

May 16, 1912

"Good morning, Rose." Hope looked up from her cup of coffee. Rose was hurrying around the kitchen, almost dancing as she got herself some coffee and toast.

"Good morning!" Rose gave Hope a bright smile before putting a couple of slices of bread in the oven to toast.

"You're certainly happy this morning."

"I have reason to be. Isn't everything wonderful? The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and—" Rose pulled back the kitchen curtains, "—the flowers are blooming. What's not to be happy about?"

"How do you feel this morning?"

"Never better." Rose smiled happily, dropping the curtains and looking into the oven to check her toast.

"No morning sickness? No faintness?"

"Not this morning." Rose pulled her toast from the oven, buttered it, and sat down at the table across from Hope. "I'm going to look for a job again this morning."

"So am I. Good luck."

"Thanks." Rose pushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes, biting into her toast.

"Why, where did you get that?"

Rose followed Hope's eyes to the locket hanging from the chain around her neck. "Jack gave it to me."

"Jack? But you said he was dead."

"He is." Rose's expression grew somber. "I don't know how to explain it—but he came to me last night, and gave me this locket. It has his picture in it." She opened it, showing Hope the small picture inside. "He told me to show it to our daughter, Josephine."

"So the baby's a girl, then?"

Rose nodded. "If Jack can come to me in a dream, and give me this locket, then I'm willing to believe that he knows whether our baby will be a boy or a girl. After all, where he's at now, he can get any information he wants."

Hope smiled as Rose closed the locket, clutching it tightly for a moment before going on with her breakfast.