"Oh my god, Rose!" Ruth gasped, horrified.
"I got her," Jack reassured, scooping his wife up into his arms, feeling like one of those heroes in the Nickelodeons.
Lisa came up to tell everyone that dinner was ready, just to see Jack come out of the nursery with the unconscious Rose in his arms. She frowned, not liking the picture. "What happened here?"
"She remembered something and then passed out," Jack explained, before walking pass his cousin and into his room, and laying Rose onto the perfectly made bed. He didn't know why he had brought her in here, but at the moment it felt like the right thing to do. He knelt by her side and looked at her sleeping features, wondering what was going through her mind. He sighed, wondering why she had remembered that moment with him before any others. He looked up at the three women that had followed him, all crowded in the doorway. It was Ruth who stepped forward, her face grim, her lips trembling, and her voice cold. It was the Ruth he had met on Titanic, not the grandmother that Cora brought out.
"Mr. Dawson, how did you and my daughter really meet? I would like the truth this time, not some story about propellers."
Jack winced and looked away, a little ashamed at his part in the lie.
"Ruth, this is really not the time..." Molly tried to interject.
Ruth turned her rage on Molly, having enough! It was enough that these two people, who had not been in her daughter's life for longer than she had been, knew her daughter the most! It wasn't fair! She was hurt and angry and needed someone to take it out on.
"Don't you dare, you vile vulgar woman! This is all of your fault! Always in the papers, loud and boisterous, making yourself more famous than anyone has the right to be! Girls like Rose were happy being refined, well brought up girls for any rich man to marry until you came along with your garish ways and made them want to be like you!"
"Oh my god," Jack frowned, having enough. No matter what Rose was so insistent on never speaking to her mother again! "Are you actually blaming Molly? Rose wanted out of that gilded cage you had her in before she even knew either of us! You want to know the truth? No, I did not save Rose from falling overboard because she wanted to look at the propellers! You know Rose! She was never a silly girl...especially not that silly! I saved Rose after talking her out of trying to jump off the back of the ship just to get away from you and Hockley!" He got to his feet and placed himself between Ruth and the bed where Rose still laid unconscious, unwittingly placing himself as her protector once again.
"What?"
"You heard me. She was going to jump off the back of Titanic. I came upon her just as she crawled over onto the wrong side of the railing. I had managed to talk her out of it by making her realize that the water was painfully cold and that she didn't want to do it. I was helping her back over and she slipped and almost fell in anyway...but I didn't let go of her hand...god, holding her up hurt...but it was worth it...saving her was worth everything we went through on that ship...we both managed to get her back over onto the right side of the railing, with her screaming the whole time...and that's when the crew showed up..."
"Why did you lie?" Ruth asked, her lips trembling as she tried to hold back her sobs.
"Rose was embarrassed. She knew she'd never hear the end of it from you and Hockley and it wasn't like either of you would care that she was so miserable...so desperate to get away from you both. She wanted to get me out of trouble without embarrassing herself and that stupid story was the way to do it. So if you want to blame someone, look at yourself. Leave Molly alone. She had nothing to do with it. Her only role in the whole thing was helping me not make a fool of myself at that dinner and keeping Rose's survival a secret from you...and helping me when Rose disappeared. So you stop picking on her, you hear me? If anyone is vile and vulgar, it's you."
Ruth was speechless. She wanted to fight back, to deny Jack's allegations...but she knew it was the truth. Looking back, remembering just how unhappy Rose had been since the engagement and how her depression had worsened and how Ruth herself had worked hard to ignore it and manipulate Rose into behaving herself...she knew it was true.
"I need some air," She turned on her heels and rushed past a shocked Lisa and downstairs, leaving Jack with just Molly, Lisa, and the unconscious Rose.
"Was that necessary, Jack?" Lisa frowned, not knowing what to think of any of this. Jack had been so distant and standoffish with Rose since they came to the house, but now here he was, standing between the redhead and anyone that might mean her harm.
"Yes it was. You have to be firm with Ruth or she'll manipulate the truth to something that's more her liking and I wasn't about to let her place it on Molly," Jack turned back to Rose and sighed, feeling the wall he had erected to begin to crumble a little bit more. He didn't know how long he could keep his feelings for Rose at bay. He could feel himself already giving in and it hadn't even been a full day since seeing her again.
"I have to say, thank you, darlin for coming to my rescue like that. You truly are a knight in shining armor," Molly sadly smiled, touched that Jack had came to her defense.
"Well, you are basically my fairy godmother in all of this. You were always there to help me, even when I was just a strange steerage guy who had a crush on a girl he had no business knowing," Jack simply shrugged with a wry smile.
Molly smiled as she walked over to Jack and gave his shoulder a supportive squeeze. "You had every business to know her. Take it from a lass who people think had no business in high society. Ruth was only voicing what they all thought about me. I was very aware of that. You'd think that once you hit it big, people would treat you better. Truth of it is that they treat you worse. New money they call you."
"Yet you're helping her after all she said about you," Lisa made a face, not getting Molly Brown at all. If it had been her, she'd let both Ruth and Rose muddle through on their own.
"Oh, I'm not doing this for Ruth. I'm doing it for Jack and Rose. I know that you think Rose is awful for leaving Jack and for so long, but it wasn't her fault..."
"I know, I know. She was sick. It still doesn't make Jack's misery for the past few years any better. I just want what's best for my cousins."
"Believe me, helping Rose and rebuilding this family, it is for the better. Trust me," Molly looked at Rose and sighed. "She's not a bad girl, darlin. I know she had hurt Jack, but if she had been in her right mind, she would never have left his side. You would have probably liked her. You two are a lot a like."
"If you say so," Lisa shrugged. "Jack, what about dinner?"
"Feed Molly and Ruth. Maybe Molly can bring a plate up for Rose. I'm really not hungry," Jack shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes on Rose.
"You have to eat something..."
"Just a plate for Rose, please," Jack sighed, really in no mood to eat anything. He just wanted to sit here and think and wonder what this new memory may mean.
Molly simply nodded and left the room, thinking that it was best to go in search of Ruth. Jack had really given her a well deserved talking to that couldn't have been easy to take.
Lisa stood there for a minute more, observing how Jack looked at Rose and sighed, annoyed. "You still love her. I can tell. You're making a big mistake."
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just taking care of Cora's mother. Besides, we took vows. In sickness and in health...and she's sick right now."
"And you're vulnerable. If you're not careful, you're going to let yourself take her back and open yourself up to more heartbreak and you can't do that Jack. You have Cora to take care of...you need..."
"I know what I need, alright. Not going to be making any big decisions about my relationship with Rose until...she's Rose again. I need her in her right mind before I can make a proper decision. Right now...I just want to help her get her memory back so Cora can have her mother in her life. That's all. Anything more than that...it'll have to be decided on later."
"Jack?" Her voice was weak as she came awake, her head moving in the direction of Jack's voice as she searched for him with her senses.
"I'm right here," Jack went back to her side, kneeling down on one knee, taking her hand in his, Lisa seemingly forgotten. "I'm right here."
Lisa just rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, realizing that the conversation was over. She could only hope that jack meant what he said. Help Rose get her memory back for Cora's sake, but leave all other decisions until later. Hopefully by then, he'll return to his senses and remember the pain that she had caused.
It wasn't that she wanted Jack alone forever. She just wanted him to have a wife that will never leave him, no matter how sick she was.
Rose looked around the unfamiliar room and frowned. The last she remembered, she was in Cora's nursery. "Where am I?"
"My room. I thought it'd be more comfortable than the nursery floor," Jack explained. "Are you okay? You were out for a good five or ten minutes."
Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the familiar scent of charcoal and something so warm and safe and strong filled her senses. It was a scent that she hadn't even known that she had missed. She knew then that her mind may have forgotten Jack...but something inside of her hadn't and it had missed him greatly and now basked in being home again.
"This is so familiar..."
"I don't see how. You've never been here before," Jack chuckled, watching her take everything in.
"I can't explain it. Like...I don't remember our time together, but my senses...it all screams that I do know you. That you're familiar and safe and that I can trust you...if that makes any sense...god I must sound so insane to you."
Jack couldn't help the small smile that curved his lips, nor the small flame of hope that flared up in his heart. "Not at all. I get it and you can...I mean...trust me that is. I'd never do anything to hurt you."
"I want to...Molly and mother...they always push...they expect me to remember something I can't...but you're different..."
"There's no hurry here, Rose. You take your time. Cora and I will be here. I promise. We're not going anywhere."
Rose opened her mouth to say something else, but Ruth returned, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Jack watched her warily, not knowing what the woman had on her mind to do.
Ruth cleared her throat. She indeed had something to say, she just hoped that she'd be allowed to say it without interruption. Jack still seemed on guard and ready to jump to Rose's defense if need be. She didn't even think that he realized that he had become the protective husband once again.
"Rose...I won't tell you about all of our relationship, because it's best that you remember on your own...but I must warn you that our relationship...as mother and daughter...it wasn't what it should have been. I was not a good mother to you at all. I was selfish and manipulative and I...I didn't realize just how much you meant to me until I had lost you. I do love you dear and I regret all that I had done and I'm not the same woman that you're bound to remember. I just thought that I should warn you before it all returns so hopefully you won't end up hating me all over again."
Rose frowned, taken off guard by this confession. "Mother?"
"I can't say anymore. The girl...Lisa...she's bringing you both up a plate of food. I better go before Molly once again regales poor Mr. Dawson about how her husband had almost burned all their newly found money in that stove. Really, I don't see why she finds that so funny," Ruth shook her head, before turning around and leaving the room, leaving Jack and Rose alone, once again.
"Did that have anything to do with...my recent memory?" Rose frowned, confused.
"Sort of. What all did you remember exactly?" Jack asked, wanting to switch the subject away from Ruth.
"You hanging onto me for dear life, not letting me fall into the ocean and telling me to pull myself up, that you got me and won't let go….where were we Jack and how did I get on the wrong side of the railing?"
Jack sighed, not knowing how to go forward from there. Titanic was the reason for her mental break. What if telling her about it made it worse But she was going to remember anyway. Wouldn't it be best for her know so she'd be prepared for the coming return of those memories? So she won't be so overwhelmed? .
"Jack?" Rose frowned, not liking how quiet he had gotten. Where had they been? What had they been up to? Why did it feel like he didn't want to tell her?
Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling himself. He was going to have to tell her. He couldn't leave her in the dark, especially when more memories were bound to come and scare her half to death. He tightened his hold on her hand and he opened his eyes to meet hers. His licked his lips and rubbed her hand with his free one, wanting to give her as much comfort and support as possible.
"Rose...have you ever heard of the Titanic disaster?"
"I read something about the inquiries and wasn't Molly on that ship?" Rose frowned.
"Yes, she was...and so were we. In fact, that's where we all met Molly...and where we had met each other. It's also the reason you had your mental break."
Rose blinked in shock. She had not been expecting this revelation. She hadn't even thought about where she could have possibly met someone like Molly Brown, much less someone like Jack Dawson, this beautiful man who was the father of her beautiful baby! All of it started on a doomed ocean-liner?
"It's a long long story and...well it's probably best we go through it as the memories return...that way it won't be so overwhelming, yeah?"
Rose quietly nodded, not knowing how else to respond. What could one say when one finds out that not only do they have a mother, husband, and child that they don't remember, but that they had survived a big maritime disaster?
She looked at Jack, a tear streaming from her eyes. There was still one big question that Jack's answer didn't solve. "Why was I on the wrong side of the railing though. The ship wasn't sinking, I don't think...how did I get there?"
Jack didn't answer Rose's question until Lisa came in and silently placed two plates down on the bedside table, glared at Jack one last time, letting him know that she did not support this, and walked out of the room once again. He sighed and turned his attention back to Rose, feeling like he was carrying a weight on his already worn shoulders.
"I didn't know you before Titanic...but from what you've told me...you weren't very happy. Your mother, Ruth, she was making you marry a man you didn't love because your father didn't leave you an inheritance. You were totally overwhelmed with the control they had over your life and...well, I guess you thought that jumping off the back of a ship would take that control back. Lucky for both of us, you ran pass me and I managed to talk you out of jumping into the water...just for you to slip and almost fall in anyway."
Rose winced, embarrassed. "I sound like I was a handful."
"You just wanted the freedom to do what you wanted and dreamed to do. There's nothing wrong with that."
"And my mother wanted me to marry someone for money?" Rose frowned, not sure how to feel about this new piece of information. "Was that what her little speech was about?"
Jack nodded. "I guess she meant well. She was just trying to keep you guys in the life you were accustomed to, I suppose. It wasn't the right thing to do, by any means, but I can't say any mother wouldn't have done the same."
"I wouldn't. I mean...I would never force Cora into a loveless marriage just for an easier life. I want her to marry for love and to follow her dreams, whatever they may be."
Jack couldn't help but smile. That was Rose at her very core. The very woman that he had fallen in love with. The woman he was trying so hard to avoid, but couldn't. "I'm not surprised to hear you say that."
She sighed, feeling more lost than ever. She had no idea who she was. She had thought that her relationship with her mother was decent, but now, she's finding out that it hadn't been a pleasant relationship after all. There was so much that she didn't know and she was almost afraid to find out. The only reason she wasn't was because of Jack. Whoever she had been, she had him and he was worth remembering the bad as well as the good. She would do it, as long as he was waiting for her at the end of the tunnel.
"You must be hungry," Jack took one of the plates and held it out to her. "Lisa's a pretty good cook."
"I don't think she likes me very much," Rose sighed, thinking about the glares the blond woman had thrown her way a number of times.
"Don't mind Lisa. She's just overprotective is all. She'll get used to you."
"Jack..."
"Rose..."
They laughed at the fact that they spoke at the same time. A comfortable vibe settled over them and they found themselves looking into each others eyes.
"Thank you Jack...for your kindness...compassion and...well just being so wonderful when you have every reason not to be," Rose began, feeling the need to say something pertaining to how she was feeling at that moment.
"I'm not doing anything a husband wouldn't do…," Jack blushed, feeling a little uncomfortable. Was it true that not every husband would do this for his ailing wife, two years after she left him?
"Even after she had disappeared for two years without a word or explanation?"
"Especially then. And there's an explanation. You were sick. It wasn't your fault. It was a hard day for us both and I should have been with you, not at work. I should have known better."
"But how could you have known? I just wish it hadn't happened at all. I never even dreamed that I had people who cared about me much less a husband and a child and now that I do know...I can't help but wonder where I'd be now if it had never happened…if I had kept it together."
Jack knew. They'd still be in Santa Monica most likely. The pier would have been their favorite place. Titanic and all of it's angst would be far behind them...and they would be together in every way that a husband and wife would be together. He had no doubt about that….and she would not only have his heart, but his trust. That was one thing she would never have lost.
"Look, it's not something that can't be repaired. Cora is still young. She won't remember that you weren't always by her side. That bond can be repaired. It will be, I promise," Jack smiled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"What about us? The bond between you and I? Can that ever be repaired?" Rose winced as the words left her mouth. She wished she had never said that. She hadn't meant to put him on the spot like that. He was being kind and trying to be her friend. He was probably doing more for her than he knew was wise if he wanted to keep his distance. Those words may remind him of the distance he may have wanted to keep.
Jack's eyes widened in shock and realization and then he looked away, the wall coming up. He was relieved that Rose had said something, to be honest. He had let himself slip back into old habits and that was dangerous. He still loved her, more than anything. If he let it things would go back to the way they had been before her disappearance. He would effortlessly give her all of his trust once again, barely any questions asked. He couldn't do that...not now. He needed more time. He made himself let go of her hand and again look at her, this time his wall firmly up.
"I think that right now, there are more important things...like Cora. She needs that bond with you back as soon as possible," He answered, taking a deep breath, hoping that she wouldn't push him on it too much.
Rose tried not to feel disappointed by Jack's words. After all, she couldn't possibly expect him to want to do anything towards their marriage after her abandonment of him, no matter whether she was sick or not. It was just that….she had these feelings inside towards him. When she was with him or was just looking at him, she had a sense of safety and home...of...desire and another emotion that she didn't dare name yet.
But she could be patient. She won't push for more than he was willing to give and right now, he was only willing to assist her with Cora and perhaps softening the blow of any memories that come up. She couldn't expect anymore than that. It was more than she deserved, really.
"You're right. Cora comes first...I was just...getting ahead of myself."
Jack felt guilty, but he couldn't encourage anything but friendship and in a way, he was almost hesitant to offer that. Despite knowing why she had left, it still hurt, not to take into consideration that he didn't know if she would forget again. He held the plate of food out to her, not knowing what else to say or do.
"You should eat. Keep up your strength."
Jack picked up his own plate and they ate in silence, with Rose taking quick secretive glances at Jack, feeling like a school girl with a crush. Was this what it was? A crush on a handsome boy? Because it felt stronger than a infatuation that would likely fade sooner or later. She more than liked Jack. She admired him. She prized his opinion of her. She wanted...she wanted to never leave his side again. And it was more than him being handsome. He was kind, compassionate, intelligent and understanding. He actually listened to her worries and tried to soothe them. He was just...the best man she ever knew...well right now he was the only man she ever known, but she had a feeling that he was still the best when it all came down to it. Again, she silently cursed her mind for ruining everything.
Finally they were finished eating, but an awkward silence now existed between them. Jack cleared his throat, getting to his feet as he took Rose's plate. "I guess I'll take these downstairs...I'll send Molly up."
"Jack..."
"Yes?"
Rose chewed on her bottom lip, trying to gather her thoughts into something coherent. During their silence, she had given it a lot of thought and came to a decision. He obviously didn't want to pick up where they left off, and she could understand that, but there was a more...innocent option that she wondered about. She was almost scared to ask it, but she had to. She needed to know her boundaries.
"Can we be...friends, then?"
Jack blinked back his shock. He hadn't been expecting her to question their relationship again. She had no signs of even thinking about it, but it wasn't a bad question. In fact, it was kind of a relief. He smiled and nodded. "Sure. We can be friends."
Rose smiled happily. "Good."
Jack simply smiled before leaving the room, leaving Rose to her thoughts. She had no doubts that she was in love with Jack. The strong feelings that had swept through her when she had laid eyes on him...that could only have been love. She was also sure that he felt the same way. She just had to show him that she wasn't going to hurt him again. That now that she was back in his life, she was back in it for good. Maybe once she got that trust back, they could return to what they had once been.