I sat trembling in this near stranger's bedroom. He was in the bathroom, getting undressed and I was supposed to be doing the same thing. Well, I should have been for what he was paying me.

"What's the big deal?" I asked myself. "He'll have me, he'll pay me, and I will be able to afford food and clothes for my baby."

The man door opened slowly, and before I knew it, I was out the door and running down the street. I'd left my baby with my friend, Maggie, a prostitute who had given me this stupid idea.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked in me strong New York accent when I came running to her, panting. "He hurt you or something?"

"I couldn't do it!" I sobbed.

"Well then you're a fool. Because this baby's got one hell of a fever." She said in a matter of fact sort of way.

"What! Give her to me!" Maggie handed me the little girl, named Kate, only a month old and already dying of God knows what. "Oh Lord, what am I going to do?"

"Get some money, hun. Because chances are, she'll die."

I cringed at the thought. I couldn't stomach the thought of loosing my Kate. She was precious to me, and all I had left of Jack. "I just don't see how I can sell myself. It's wrong."

"You'd best decide soon what you're gonna do. That thing aint gonna hold out long."

"Oh God," I breathed. My heart pounded and I was filled with apprehension and anxiety.

"Swallow your pride, Rose," said Maggie. "Go back to her and you know she'll do what she can to save that kid."

I was insulted, despite the fact that I knew she was right. I lied on street against the wall and held my baby close. Maggie bent down and handed me a slip of paper. "It's all I can afford. My rent's due next week…but maybe this will get you where you need to go." She walked away quickly and I opened my hand. She had given me thirty dollars. I called out a thank you but she was too far away to hear it. Somewhere deep inside me, I knew that I would never see her again.

I stood up and went to the post office and scribbled a note. If I was going to my mother, I was going to give her fair warning so she wouldn't be too emotional around me. It said:

Mother,

Jack is dead but I am not. I gave birth to our child about a month ago. Katharine is her name and she is very ill. I need your help so I'm coming to you. I hope that you will accept me into your home, at least until my baby Kate is well again.

Best Regards,

Rose Dewitt-Bukater Dawson

I wondered if she would believe that I was alive when she got the letter, so I reached into my satchel and pulled out the only picture I had of me with Kate, kissed it, and placed it in the envelope. I mailed it and got my ticket on the next ship going to England where I knew my mother to be, based on a newspaper article I'd read some months ago.

Leaving New York was not the hard part. Boarding a ship again was.

Okay, this chapter was very short, but it gets a lot better! Read and review every chapter if it's not too much trouble because I love and need reviews for motive to keep writing.