Rose and Lily were outside Sokup's market bright and early the next morning, ready to ask for a ride to the Dawson farm, where Rose was to learn how Jack had grown up as a boy. She was also hoping that this Jacob person had some stories to tell about Jack. From what she could tell Chippewa Falls was a close-knit community where everyone knew everyone else, so hopefully, this person would have known Jack.

Joseph Sokup had just placed another can of soup on the shelf when Rose entered. He looked up and froze at the sight of the beautiful woman entering the store, a pretty little girl cradled in her arms. He cleared his throat and blinked a few times, bringing himself out of the trance.

"May I help you, Miss?" He managed, feeling embarrassed by his reaction to her. It wasn't that there were no beautiful women in town, it was just that he had never seen a girl quite like Rose before. Everything about her spoke of elegance, beauty, and grace. She was obviously from high society, despite the poor quality of her and the child's clothes.

"Oh yes, are you Joseph? Someone at the restaurant across the road told me that you may be of some help to me...but I don't want to impose or anything," Rose stammered, feeling nervous. Who knew how the people in this town will react to her.

"That I am, ma'am. How may I be of service to you?"

"The waitress at the diner told me that there may be someone here that can take me to the Dawson farm. My husband was from here and...well I wanted to know more about his life here in Chippewa Falls," Rose stammered, the lie falling from her lips seamlessly. If people thought that she was Jack's widow, the more likely that they'll open up to her about him.

Joseph frowned. Jack hadn't mentioned a wife, even though there were rumors that the gloom that Jack seemed to wear like a cloak was because of a broken heart. Could this woman be the cause of that? And why hadn't Jack mentioned her before now? His curiosity was indeed peaked. First the reunion between Jack and the two foreigners last year...now this girl showing up claiming to be his widow when he was very much alive! It seemed like Jack Dawson indeed had a story to tell and he would not rest until he found out what it was.

"Well, I do have a delivery to make...just wait here for twenty minutes and I'll be happy to take you."

Rose felt her whole being light up with happiness. She felt like she was really making progress when it came to finding out more about the man she had loved and lost. She just hoped that the kind people who were helping her would forgive her if they ever found out that she was only Jack's lover, not his widow. She already had a feeling that she had made some kind of mistake already, but for now, she'll just let it be and stick with the explanation of being a widow. After all, she refused to go back to Dewitt Bukater. It was much safer to remain a Dawson.

Rose spent the next twenty minutes walking among the shelves, looking at what the store had to offer when Joseph walked out from behind the counter, bags of groceries in his hands. "Miss...I am ready to go if you still want to go to the Dawson farm."

"Thank you, sir. Come along, Lily. We're about to go for a ride," Rose happily smiled, ready to see Jack's childhood home.

…..

Tommy and Fabrizio took the day off, feeling very overworked. The plan was to clean up the place while Jack did some work in the fields. At that moment, they were waiting for the grocery to be delivered. Normally, the boys would do the shopping themselves, but that week they just didn't feel like making the trip, so Jack had just put in an order for supplies to be delivered.

The house almost looked deserted as Joseph pulled up in front of the house. Rose took it all in with wide eager eyes. The house was beautiful and the perfect place to raise a child it seemed. She glanced to the right and gasped at the tree house and felt a thrill at the sight of the porch swing hanging on the porch. She could just picture herself and Jack cuddled together on that porch swing as they watched Lily climb up to the tree house.

The thrill turned into an ache as she realized that vision was never to be. Jack was gone and she was left to raise Lily by herself. Maybe...maybe Jack had led her here. Maybe he was showing her a place that she could finally turn into a home for Lily.

"Here we are, the Dawson farm," Joseph happily smiled, looking forward to what he thought would be yet another interesting reunion.

"It's perfect," Rose gasped.

"Yeah, it's a right pretty house. I used to come here and visit Jack regularly. Nothing like Mrs. Dawson's chocolate chip cookies," Joseph sighed at the childhood memory of visiting Jack and settling down to a plate of milk and cookies, kindly provided by Irene Dawson, may she rest in peace.

"You must have had a spectacular childhood."

"It was great. This is indeed a great place, heck, a great town to raise a child in."

Rose had no doubt of that. She followed Joseph as he climbed out of the car and began to retrieve some groceries. She lifted Lily into her arms and watched, confused. "You're delivering here?"

Joseph just laughed. "Of course! This place isn't as abandoned as it may seem. Follow me, I'm sure they won't mind you taking a look around."

Not knowing what to expect now, Rose simply followed the kind clerk up to the front door, keeping Lily in her arms. She had to wonder what was to come next. Who was going to be inside the house? One of Jack's relatives? A long lost sister, looking for a brother that's been dead for a good year now? However, would she explain what had happened? Who she was to Jack? Who Lily was? How Jack had become a passenger on the doomed liner in the first place?

Joseph just gave Rose a friendly wink before knocking on the door with his foot since both of his hands were holding bags of groceries.

"Who lives here now?" Rose went ahead and asked, her curiosity now at an all-time high.

The door opened and Rose gasped, seeing a face that she had thought she would never see again.

"Dios mios!" Fabrizio stared as his brown eyes landed on Rose, who stared back in shock. "Bella Rose?!"

"Fa-Fabrizio? Jack's Fabrizio?" Rose could only stare, shocked not only to find a familiar face, but the face of someone she had assumed had perished in the sinking. If Fabrizio had survived...what of Tommy and all of Jack's other friends?

"Fabri, why are you just standing in the doorway there, let the man in with the groceries, mate!" Tommy came up behind Fabrizio, wondering why his friend was standing there frozen in the doorway. He gasped in surprise when he saw not only Jack's Rose but Lily Byrne, daughter of an Irish couple that he had grown close to on Titanic. The couple had a great number of kids, but Lily had been the youngest. He had feared that the whole family had perished, but to see the child alive and well was a great relief.

"Uncle Tommy!" Lily pointed at Tommy, who also stood there staring, frozen in shock.

"You're alive...you're both alive!" Rose gasped, tears evident in her eyes. She felt as if her legs were going to give out, but she remained standing, holding tightly to Lily as she came face to face with the ghosts of her past.

"I take it that you three know each other?" Joseph looked at Rose, then back at the two men in the doorway.

"Oh my god," Rose sniffed, wishing she could wipe away her tears, but her hands were too busy holding Lily at the moment. "I didn't even think to look for you…"

"Tommy," Fabrizio turned to the stunned Irishmen, his eyes silently telling him to go find their friend.

"I'll be right back," Tommy nodded and headed for the back door, that lead out onto the porch which lead to the small field where Jack was working. There was no doubt in his mind that the sad artist would want to know that his lost love was not so lost after all.

"Dios mios, come in! Come in! You must be tired!" Fabrizio beckoned for Rose and Joseph to enter the house.

Rose followed Fabrizio into the living room and sat down on the couch while Joseph went ahead and carried the groceries into the kitchen. Rose sat Lily down beside her and began twisting at her hands, not knowing what to say. How was she to tell Fabrizio that Jack didn't make it? After all, the two men had been companions for so long, and seeing her must have made Fabrizio assume that Jack was with her. She hated to tell him the truth, that Jack was dead and she was only here to find out more about him.

"Rosa, what happened to you?" Fabrizio sat across from her, taking her hand in his.

"Jack and I...we ended up in the water...Fabrizio, I'm so sorry, but Jack...he died. He froze to death in the freezing water...I didn't want to let him go, but he made me promise, and...it's been so hard...but I've been trying to keep that promise. Once I let Jack go...a boat came and picked me up and I've been living as Rose Dawson ever since…"

"You took his name," Fabrizio stated, realizing the reason why Jack had been unable to find her. Of course, he would have looked for Rose under her real last name, not his!

"Yes...it kept me hidden from my mother and former fiancee. It helped me get started on a new life...a new life for me and Lily here...I'm so sorry Fabrizio. I know that you and Jack were best friends. I wish he was here now...I've been so lost without him…"

Fabrizio felt his heart ache as he saw the same grief in Rose's eyes that he knew his own held as well. The grief of lost love. He missed Helga dearly and would do anything to see her again...but unlike his, Rose's grief was temporary. Soon she'll have her love again while his Helga was gone for good.

"It's okay, now. You don't have to cry anymore," Fabrizio took his hand, just as Joseph returned followed by a pair of footsteps.

"You have to come to see, boy-o. It's a miracle if there ever was one, I'm telling ya," Tommy's voice could be heard.

Rose frowned, not getting Fabrizio's words and not understanding what Tommy was talking about, but all was understood just as Tommy came into the room followed by the one person she had thought that she would never see again.

She got up onto her feet, her eyes wide in disbelief, her mind struggling to process the fact that her Jack, her beloved, was supposed to be at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, Jack was standing beside Tommy, looking at her as if she was a ghost herself.

"Oh my god...Jack…?" Rose managed, her mind struggling with the new information. Alive! He was alive, all this time!

Tears were in Jack's eyes as he took one hesitant step closer. "Rose?"