Chapter 51

October 20, 1912

Marion eagerly awaits at the Grand Central platform as Jesse's train arrives at the station. Jon had received a last-minute telegram that Jesse was arriving back to New York for a visit, and they are waiting at the depot, soon after Jon got off work. Jessica stays back to take care of Jack, who was very eager that his uncle is coming back to town once more. The train lets out a whistle as it steamed up to the platform. Jon looks at his watch, as the train was unusually early.

The steam hisses as the train comes to a squealing stop. Crowds of people were soon getting out of the car, then Jesse steps off the train, as he followed a man who was carrying a briefcase and was reading a financial papers, which had been left behind in the train. He does his usual brushing of his hair away from his eyes, as Marion runs to him, arms fully outstretched, like a child running to her father in happiness. Jesse puts down his suitcases and soon Marion embraces him tightly, nearly knocking him down in the process. Jesse returns her hug, and brings Marion closer for a kiss.

"Oh, I missed you so much." Marion squealed, still hugging Jesse as hard as she can, while some of the onlookers looked at the couple.

"I missed you, too." He gently ran his hand through Marion's hair, then kissed her lips again, and squeezed her shoulders. Marion looked up, and saw that Jesse had his hair cut a little bit, especially at the back, as he ran his hand through (think BTS' Nam-joon, as Jesse was way ahead of his time).

"Jack give you a hard time?" Jesse asked jokingly. He gave her a light tap on her nose, then smiled. Marion brought Jesse's head down and gently kissed his little nose. Jesse smiled even more as he ran his hand through his hair, showing his dimples.

"No, we had the most fun." Marion looks up at Jesse once more. "Where did you cut your hair?" she asked, running her hands through his soft hair, caressing every strand in her fingers. Jesse ruffled his hair, then shook his head.

"Got a day's layover in a place near Cincinnati. I walked the small town, until I came to a quaint little barber shop. I figured, why not. I needed to take some of the weight off my head. That nice man really did a job to my hair." Jesse shakes his hair once more, then squeezes Marion's shoulders once more as they made their way out of the platform, to Jon who was waiting for the couple in the front, with Jesse holding Marion's hands.

Jon gets in the driver's seat, as Jesse opens the door for his girlfriend. He helps her in the car like a gentleman, before putting his luggage in the rear trunk of the car. He climbs in the backseat, then they both snuggle in the back seat. Jon is once again reminded he used to do that with Jesse's older sister a few years back. Sure, he got a couple of laughs from his own friends, and some had shunned him, but in the end he married the most beautiful girl he had met, and had a beautiful son together. He had hoped Jack and Rose were having a time of their lives as well.

They arrive back at the Almstead home, like he did after he got back from the hospital many months prior, which felt like it was a million years now. Jack sits on the porch steps, as he eagerly awaits the arrival of his beloved uncle. Jesse gets out of the car, and Jack looks up to see his uncle once again. Jack skips to his uncle, who tries unsuccessfully to pick him up now.

"Oh my, we're getting heavy now, aren't we?" Jesse groaned, then poked him on his stomach.

"He has been eating a lot more now." Jon says, ruffling his son's hair. "He wants to know when you two are going to get together officially. That was his own words."

Marion looks up at Jesse, and he looked down at her, then to his nephew, and smiled as he pushed back his hair once more.

"Oh. Soon." he says, then leans down for a kiss. Jack squealed with delight, while both Jesse and Marion held each other, with Jesse holding his suitcase in his free hand, and Marion's waist with the other, as they made their way back in the house, with Jack trailing behind. Inside, Jessica was overjoyed that her brother has come for a visit, as she hugs her little brother. He then makes his way to the couch, while Jon carries his younger brother-in-law's suitcase up to his room.

"So, what's the good word?" Jesse asks, groaning softly as he sat in the couch, next to Marion, then brushing his hair back as his older sister brings in cups of tea to the living room.

"How was your train ride back to New York?" Jessica asked, as Jesse and Marion reached for their steaming cups of tea.

"Quite long. Took a day's break outside of Cincinnati to find another. Though I ended up taking the late-night express, only to end up in Columbus later that night. Was that something." Jesse says, carefully sipping his tea.

"We've gotten a visit and a letter from Matthew; seems pretty odd since we never heard from him since we got this house." Jon says, coming down the stairs before he began to look for the paper. "Now where did I put that paper?"

"It was nothing, dear." Jessica tries to reassure her husband, as she put a gentle hand on his knee.

"But it had infor-" Jon began, but Jessica shakes her head. Jesse furrows his brow, as he ran his hand through his hair, then scratches.

"What's going on?" he had to ask. Jessica sighs, a sigh Jesse knew wasn't good. Jon comforts her.

"Back in August, we got a surprise visit from your older half-brother-"

Rose was the first to awake from her hotel bed. Their first night in Santa Monica, as she slowly got out of bed, then stretched before walking up to the window and threw open the curtains. Outside they had the most spectacular view they had gotten. She could see the Ferris wheel and roller coaster in the distance to her left, and the pier just in front of the hotel, including a view of the Pacific Ocean. The sun was already overhead, as they had overslept a bit from the train ride the previous day. She turns to Jack, as he was still snuggled under the covers. She sits on the bed, next to Jack. She strokes his blond hair, when he wakes up. He smiles when he sees Rose, playing with his hair. He sits up, then gives her a kiss. Jack gets out of bed, then stretches. Rose sees his stomach a little from his shirt riding up. Jack hugs Rose's shoulder as they walked to the window, taking in the beautiful scenery that Jack wished he could draw, or possibly, take a photo of.

"Isn't it beautiful out today?"

"I love you, Jack."

"I love you, Rose."

They both kissed as they got ready to do the things they had promised to do while they were back on the ship. Riding the roller coaster until they got sick, riding horseback on the beach. Jack places his hand on Rose's stomach, feeling the baby bump Rose had. Rose met his hand there, then kissed some more.

"Matthew has told me in his messages that Cal is looking for Rose. You have any idea what the hell is going on?" Jon asks, with a little fear in his voice. "I know Eric has told us this before, but I want to know what is going on, from your perspective."

"I kind of knew it was going to come down to this. Fortunately, he doesn't know yet I'm still alive, and its been half a year since the Titanic slipped beneath the waves." Jesse says half dryly. Marion smiles, while Jessica and Jon appeared to be sitting at the edge of their seats, with worry on their faces.

"What has Matthew told Cal so far?"

"All Matt told him was he had no idea who Jack and Rose were, and if they were by any chance staying with us. I knew father's idea of working with the Hockleys' was a bad idea from the start. But it's a good thing he's now quit. So far, that's all he told Cal, for now, and if he sees you both wandering the streets of New York…"

"Whoa, whoa. Let's not panic for now." Jesse says reassuringly. He concluded Cal knew his father had worked with him, and as far as he knew, Matthew's company buys the steel from the Hockley steel business to build their trains. He somehow got together with Matthew to try to extract information on Rose's whereabouts since her 'disappearance' from Philadelphia, and had known Jack had come back to take her away from Cal. And that is the reason Matthew had sent that telegram to Jon. The good news was Matthew withheld little information he could give about the couples' disappearances, and to protect his younger sister and her son from this man.

"Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention. The bad news is Cal has hired a private investigator to look for the whereabouts of his fiancé as well." Jon says. Jesse's heart stopped and dropped to his stomach. Things were getting complicated as the seconds ticked by. Now he wasn't so sure if he wanted to reveal where the couple are at this point.

"Good thing Matt only told Cal about the supposed whereabouts of your father. He only told him he lived somewhere out west, but he didn't specify the state, so we didn't want to put him in any danger as well." Jon says, as he sips his tea, while Jack was taking a light nap on his uncle's hard stomach. Jesse was worried about his family, and starts wondering if he didn't help the couple, they wouldn't be in this mess. On the other hand, Rose desperately wanted the freedom from her forced relationship with the man her mother put them both in. She had noticed him back on the Mauretania, until Jack came to her rescue on the Titanic's stern, as she wanted to escape the pain and suffering she was going to have to endure if she indeed married Cal. Jesse was glad Rose was in great hands with Jack, but he still wished he wasn't part of the mess he had gotten himself into at this point.

"So, Jess, what are you going to do?" Jon asked, as Jack hopped off the couch, then yawned. Jesse bit his lower lip, his slight dimples showing, then he gets up from the couch to go outside and play with the tot.

"I'll think of something, though it may not be pretty. But in the meantime, I'll just sit on my hands." Jesse says, giving himself a little stretch, then he motions Jack, and they both go outside. Jon quickly got up from his seat.

"Hold on, Jess. I got something for you." Both Jesse and Jack looked at each other, when Jon arrived with something in his hands. He threw it at Jesse, leaving him barely enough to react to what was thrown at him.

"What is-?" Jesse looked at the weird, oblong-shaped ball, which felt a bit clunky in his hands.

"That's a rugby ball. Play passes with Jack for a bit. That should take your mind off for a while." Jesse furrowed his brow at the thing, but Jack wanted to play with the thing now. Soon, they hear the playful sounds as Jack and Jesse wrestle each other in the dirt and what's left of the grass, and Marion fondly watched them from the porch.

"I think Jesse knows more about the game than I do." Jon says, stepping outside on his porch to watch them, his hands buried in his pockets, as he watched his son hiked the ball to Jesse.

...

Later, they prepared to leave for Coney Island once more, but this time, Marion wanted Jesse for herself for the rest of the evening, as they prepared a light picnic in the kitchen, and Marion sneaked something before burying it, along with the light snacks in the basket. Jessica told the couple to be careful, as she hugged both her brother and soon to be sister-in-law, before seeing them off. They decided to take the cab instead of driving Jon's almost unreliable car. Jesse helped Marion into the car, then he followed, tapping the roof, and they were on their way.

They took their evening slow, but nonetheless, they had a great time together. After the Ferris wheel ride Jesse took Marion to the other side of the park, where there was grass and trees, and the sight where they could easily see the Statue of Liberty. Marion brought the food she had bought from a nearby food stand, to complement their basket, and Jesse unfolded a small blanket. He lays it down on the browning grass, sets the food down in the center of the blanket, and helping her sit down. He groans as he's the last to join Marion on the blanket.

"Isn't it beautiful tonight?" Marion asked, as Jesse watched the rides' light turn on.

"It sure is," Jesse says, facing her, while the screams and laughter roared in the distance. Jesse still gets stressed over the noises, like he was thrusted back into that fateful night. People dying in the cold water, their screams and cries go unheard. Jesse closed his eyes, as he tried to push out the awful sounds of his mind and be with his soon-to-be bride. Marion knows this, and slowly puts a reassuring hand, startling Jesse. He snapped, breathing hard, then looks at Marion, her arms open. She took Jesse in her arms, and they both embraced once more, before Marion was lost in Jesse's passionate kiss, tasting his soft lips.

They looked once more, as the park grew brighter from the lights, and sounds began coming as more people flocked to the amusement park for the night. Jesse laid back, his shirt was open, and Marion in his arms, as she listened to Jesse's steady beating heart. Soon, a whistling sound is heard, and Jesse thought he was back on the stricken liner again, signaling to that distant ship that never responded to Titanic's pleas for help. He shook his head, then leaned in for a kiss. Marion became more nervous as time passed, but when the time was just right, she would make her move. Soon, the moon rose over the ocean's horizon, followed by a shooting star that flew overhead, then disappeared over the horizon.

"This was a beautiful evening, indeed." Jesse says, getting back up, then buttoning his shirt. Marion soon followed, as she took in a deep breath.

Now is the time. Marion thought, as she pulled something from a wicker basket, while Jesse wasn't noticing.

"Jesse, I got something to tell you," she says, grabbing his arm, trying to find the right words. She swallowed hard, then cleared her throat, as she looked up at the beautiful man in front of her. Jesse pushed his hair from his eyes, then gave Marion a small smile.

"Jesse. You are the most amazing man I have ever met. You're very loving, passionate, but at times, stubborn, but that's what I love about you. There's no other man like you, Jesse. You are truly different. When I first laid my eyes on you, I knew the first time you were the man for me. You are feisty, but are protective..." Marion laughed, as tears gently rolled down her cheeks, as she continued, her voice slightly quavering with her emotions. "This is probably queer* for me, proposing to you and the like, but if I waited, there might have been no one for me. But I'm glad you entered my life, Jesse. I pray to God every day, praying that a different, kind man would enter in my life, and you came, and I thank Him every day. You're my knight in shining armor. Sure, we might have some of our ups and downs, but what relationships doesn't? That makes us even stronger. Every time I see you, laying down, sitting, in sadness, I will take you in, in my arms, and take care of you…"

Marion got down on one knee, after watching one of her friends in the past propose to a girl he liked some time ago. She pulled a small box from behind her back. Inside it contained a cufflink, one of her brother's vintage cord bracelet, and a necklace. Clearly a family heirloom she wanted to make with Jesse. She sniffled, trying to hold back tears, as Jesse had tears in his eyes, and put his hands to his mouth. Soon, she saw other girls looking their way, and especially at Jesse's direction. Marion knew she had to make her move.

"I love the way you look after your nephew as if he's your own, and I'd like that when we have our own someday...Jesse Jules Williams, I love you so much with all my heart. Will you allow me to make you even more happier, one that is full of passion, and love? Will you take me on your adventures, of love and passion? Jesse, will you take my hand, and marry me?" Marion choked, wiping her tears from her eyes.

Jesse's eyes filled with tears, but nonetheless, he quickly stood up and kissed her with growing passion. He was too emotional to answer, but he loved her with all his heart, and new memories will be made together, one that is filled with happiness, love, and optimism, as they continued to embrace each other, even as the air grew colder around them, and from somewhere, cheers and claps could be heard while the couple were still embraced.

"Let's go back home." Jesse says, taking off his coat and drapes it on Marion's shoulders, wiping her eyes, then he cleaned up around where they were sitting. Both Jesse and Marion smiled and waved at the cheering onlookers as they made their way to the street to meet a cab to take the happy couple home.

*A/N Old usage Strange or weird