Chapter 56

November 5, 1912

The next morning Karl and Jesse had their tearful farewell on the train platform, as Karl got ready to leave for Colorado, along with other Norwegians who had stopped in New Mexico, mainly to transfer from one train to the next. Aside from families, and complete strangers, they were the only two who were at the platform, as the rest had been still sleeping back at the house. Karl places his hands on Jesse's arms.

"Jesse, I want to thank you for all you done. I had fun during the time we had with you. You are funny, smart, charismatic in every way, and I want to congratulate you on your wedding. I'm sure it'll go well for you two. Stay safe, for me, and I hope we'll meet again sometime, and we'll have fun again." Karl brings in Jesse for a hug, squeezing him as hard as he can. He slowly looks back at Jesse's face for the last time, clearly wanting to remember that beautiful face. Soon, the Atkinson train began to let out a long whistle.

"All aboard!" the conductor yells, and Karl grabs his suitcase, then slowly walks up the Atkinson, Topeka and Santa Fe train steps and into the car. He takes his seat next to the window, then looks out. Jesse still stood on the platform, looking out to him. He put his hand in a 'v', like he did back on Titanic, before the daring rescue with Rose. The train let out another whistle, then began to pull forward. Karl looked out the window, with tears in his eyes, as he leaves behind Jesse and Albuquerque. Families and friends waved as the train rounded a corner, heading north, to Denver, before disappearing behind a cluster of buildings. Jesse could still see the smoke billowing from the train, followed by the whistling, warning anyone who is in the incoming path of the train. People began to slowly clear from the platform, all but Jesse, who still stood at the platform, until he could hear the train no more.

...

Jesse returned to the house, noting now how different it was now that Karl had left. He had in his hand some telegram papers when he stopped at the hotel after leaving the train depot to see off his friend. Meanwhile Jack and Rose had barely awaken, while Mr. Williams washes up for his day. Rose looks over at Jesse, as he slowly pulled out a chair and sat in it. She gives him a hug, as Jesse sniffed softly. She knew how hard it must have been to let go of a friend, much less the one you loved all your heart. She sobbed softly, knowing that adjusting that one person is gone is going to take time, but they were looking forward to the future as well.

Jesse remembered he still had the telegrams in his hand. He began to leaf through the papers, until he read one of them. Jessica, Jon, and little Jack were making their way to Albuquerque, and were staying the night in Topeka, Kansas. Jon had begun his vacation, and as soon it started, they left New York, to see Marion try on her new wedding dress, courtesy of their grandmother. Jack was also super hyper in the train, and had wondered what Jesse put in his soda back when they were in Coney Island, and everyone laughed. He knew this would be his nephew's first trip out to the desert. He remembered the times Jon would scare his son if he did venture out here, and that he would be encountering bears, mountain lions, the unforgiving frontier; while his sister scolded her husband for doing so, then have a laugh soon after. So far, things were starting to look up for everyone there at the quaint farm house.

Meanwhile Jack had this nagging feeling about Rose's mother, even though she treated him unfairly, especially back on the ship. He wanted to make amends, but Rose kept on telling Jack that her mother only wanted what's best for her, and that was for her to marry Cal, in order to keep the namesake from going under. Jack's suspicious was confirmed when Jesse began to leaf through more telegram papers. He pulled out a telegram, supposedly sent to the wrong recipient, but nonetheless addressed to Caledon Hockley. Rose read the telegram. It was from mother, that said her heart was hurting over the disappearance of her daughter, and if anyone in Cal's regards had found any signs of her. Rose crumpled the paper, tears began pouring from her face, not from sadness, but of contempt of her mother.

"Serves her right for her to do this to me!" Rose says, through gritted teeth, as she banged on the table with her fist, hard enough to make the glasses rattle. Stanley comes out from his room upon hearing the commotion, before closing the door. He slowly looks at Rose.

"What's wrong, my child?" he asks. Rose tries to shake her head like it wasn't a big of a deal, but the old man already knew.

"It's about your strained relationship with your mother, is it? No matter what she does, she's still your mother deep down. Even if she wanted you into a loveless marriage with that moneybags, you're still her daughter."

"She made me suffer! She has never cared for me at all." Rose yelled, then banged her fist on the table once more, but the old man never recoiled. He just looked at her, his steely blue eyes were intense. Jack comes over to Rose's side, putting an arm over the bulge of Rose's stomach.

"Rose, trust me, this old man knows a whole lot than you, me, and Jesse put together. I know she put me through hell with those first-class passengers, and how she tried to humiliate me even. And we both know that didn't stop us, not even Cal's body guard; that's why he's dead. You're too strong for anyone, not even your mother, Cal, anyone, and she knows she can't do anything about it now, Rose. The worst possible thing for her not to do is come to the wedding, your former maid's and ours. Think about it, a mother wouldn't send out a search if she wasn't a caring or a loving mother, all for you. After all, she's also going to become a grandparent herself. To our baby." Jack gently rubs Rose's stomach, as Rose swallows her anger. She almost got angry that Jack spoke the truth, as he leaned over for a kiss.

"You know, this young man knows a lot, for his age." The old man says, patting Jack on his shoulders. Rose couldn't help but wonder, despite the fact her mother put her through the years of torment, and yet…

"What if she tells Cal?"

"You can give her this ultimatum; she must either cut off all connections to Cal entirely or she can never be a part of our's and the baby's lives." Jack kisses her, then continues as he gently rubs Rose's bump, and kneels in front of her. "Think about how you would feel if your precious child had run off into the unknown, with some other man she'd met just days."

Rose swallows hard, as tears began to resurface once more. She sighs, and her breath shakes.

"Give me just tonight. I'll think about it." Rose whispers, then turns to Jack, kissing him.

Jack smiles, then says, "No matter what happens, I'll be right here, always beside you." He returns the kiss, then pats her shoulders. Marion was in tears, arms wrapped around Jesse, while Henry sat at the usual corner, looking over his paper, and not bothering with the presidential elections. The old man was still over the couple. Fabrizio sat crossed legged on the floor across from them.

"I'm glad both of you have come to this decision, and you won't regret it." The old man says, as he embraced Rose tightly. She knew he felt more like a grandfather she never met, and her heart soared in happiness. Somewhere, in heaven, her father was looking down at her, and had made his life better now.

Rose spent the next couple of weeks, as she tries to think how to best contact her mother. That woman had made her life living hell, slowly killing and suffocating her from the inside. One that was solely focused on loveless, not to mention abusive, marriage to a money mongrel, who only cared about money and fame, rather than on her daughter's happiness and freedom. Rose looks out the window, as Marion was chopping woods for the evening fire, and the men had gone off to work. This made Rose envious, and was mad towards her mother that she wanted her to feel the pain she was suffering in. Everything Jack told her was true. Ruth only wanted something to do with Rose, in her best interest, was for her to carry on the name. Rose continually debated furiously about whether she wanted to contact her mother, despite the fact Cal was still searching for her, only he was searching in the general New York area.

...

What finally made her mind is when she saw Jesse and Marion playing with little Jack a game of hide and seek in a nearby brush later that evening. She knew Jesse and Jack shared the bond amongst each other; one that is filled with love and compassion, as if they were truly brothers. Rose knew Jesse was going to make an excellent father someday, as she saw Marion, rosy cheeks from the cold, wrap her arms around Jesse, and he places his hand around hers. She saw Jessica joining in with her brother and soon to be sister-in-law, playing with her son as well, and wished she had that kind of fun growing up with her mother. She puts her hand on her baby bump, thinking she will make sure the baby will have the kind of fun she's seeing in front of her eyes. She would learn from her mother's mistakes and hoped herself to never turn out like her mother.

...

The next day, when the first snowflakes began to fall, Rose gets out a piece of parchment paper, while Jesse found an old feather pen and ink. Rose gave him the paper, and began to dictate heartfelt letter to her mother.

"Jesse, take a note." Rose says, as Jesse dipped the feather in the bottle, and prepared to write what Rose was dictating.

"Dear Mother…"