Disclaimer: I own nothing from the motion picture Titanic, nor the characters created by James Cameron. I do however, own Elizabeth Foster and Peter Smith, and any others I can think of later...
A/N: Ok, here it is.. Chapter 9!! Hope you like it.. Please read and review and don't forget to tell me ideas if you have them!!
Tommy and Elizabeth had been sitting on the bench for a while talking and getting to know each other before they heard Fabrizio and Helga running up to them.
"Tommy!"
Tommy turned around, slightly startled and somewhat frustrated that he had been interrupted being with Elizabeth.
"Hi, Fabri, Helga", he replied. Remembering his manners, he stood up and introduced them to Elizabeth.
"Fabri, Helga, this is Elizabeth Foster." He smiled sweetly as he turned to look at her, seeing the interest of meeting his friends on her face. She stood beside him and shook their hands.
"Tommy, I thought Helga and I would share the good news!"
"What is it?", Tommy asked, curious.
"Fabrizio and I have found a wonderful place to live in, we have decided to stay in New York." Helga replied, a look of excitement on her face.
"That's great! I'm happy for ya!"
Fabrizio knew Tommy was happy for them but he could tell Tommy was getting anxious because he wanted to be alone with Elizabeth, so he decided to go back to the hotel.
"Well, I guess we'll go now. Helga and I have some things to take care of. See you later."
"Ok, I'll see ya later. Bye."
They waved to each other and Tommy then turned his attention back to Elizabeth. He hated to leave her, but he needed to go back to the hotel as well.
"Well, I really hate to go, but I should go back to the hotel. I have some things to take care of too. I would like to see you again, if you don't mind. Do you think we could meet here again tomorrow about noon?"
"I think that would be great. I would love to see you again. I'll see you tomorrow then. It was great talking with you."
Tommy's face lit up with happiness. "Great, see you then!" He kissed her hand, not wanting to move too fast too soon. She smiled and turned and left.
Tommy walked back to the hotel, more happy than he'd been in a long time.
As they were on their way back to their room, Fabrizio and Helga met Jack and Rose in the hallway.
"Hey Fabri, whaddya say you, and I go buy the things we need and let Rose take Helga to get the things she needs?"
"Yes, I will go! Helga, is that alright? I'm sure la Bella Rosa will take care of you." He smiled and winked at Rose.
"Of course I will." Rose replied with an eager grin on her face.
"Yes, I would like that very much to go with you Rose." Helga replied.
Jack pulled the money out of his pants pocket and split it up evenly, making sure he saved enough money for the things he and Rose would need to take care of later.
"Ok, let's meet in Central Park in one hour and we'll go from there." Jack gave Rose a kiss on the cheek and left with Fabrizio.
"Well Helga, I guess we'll go then. Ready?"
"I'm ready. This should be fun!" They laughed as they walked down the hotel corridor.
As they were making their way out of the hotel, they met Tommy.
"Hiya Jack, Fabri. Where are you two goin?"
"Well, we were I was going to take Fabri to get the stuff he needs and I need to pick up something for Rose. You wanna come along?"
"Yeah, sure. I need new clothes anyway", Tommy replied
Before buying any other items, Jack told Fabrizio and Tommy he needed to pick up the rings from Macy's.
"So, when were you going to ask her?" Fabrizio asked.
"Ask her what?"
"You know, the question of marriage?"
"Oh, well I have a really nice dinner planned for tonight at the restaurant just down the street. It's called La Rosa's. I think she'll like it. It's an Italian restaurant. I want everything to go well so I thought you, Tommy and Helga could help me out. I thought you could help with the food, they need another chef."
"We would love to! Grazie Jack!" Fabrizio's face lit up with utter excitement.
"Yeah! So would I, it'll be great!", Tommy added, enthusiastic.
Jack chuckled and replied, "No problem."
By this time, they had reached the men's department of Macy's.
"Wait here. I'll be back."
Jack went to the jewelry department to pick up the rings while Fabrizio looked around for the things he needed. He found three different shirts and two pairs of pants along with one pair of shoes. Tommy had found two different shirts and another pair of pants and one pair of shoes. They paid for the items and went to look for Jack.
Jack had finally reached the jewelry department and looked for the clerk who had helped him earlier.
"Ah, Mr. Dawson, hello again. Wait here and I'll get your items."
After only about a minute of waiting, the clerk returned with two small boxes.
"Here you are. Have a look."
Jack took the small box that had the engagement ring in it and opened it to reveal the beautiful gold ring. He took it out gently and looked at it closely. He saw the engraving on the inside of the ring and smiled.
"It looks great. Thanks again."
"Not a problem. I wish you both the best."
Jack nodded his thanks, put the rings back into its box, smiled at the jeweler and left with the rings.
Helga and Rose had been to several small department stores, where Helga had bought three dresses and two pairs of shoes. She and Rose had become good friends and they had talked about their lives and their families and they both enjoyed each others company.
"So, tell me about you and Fabrizio. He seems to really like you a lot." Rose asked.
"Well, I think that I have grown to love him. I have never met anyone like him. He has a wonderful personality. He's so caring and sweet. He has a way about him, I can't explain it. What about you and Jack? You both seem very close." Helga smiled, curious about Rose's reply.
"Oh yes, we are very close. We love each other so much. I've never met anyone like Jack. Cal and I certainly never had what Jack and I have now. I can honestly say that Jack is my first, real true love." Rose replied, a small smile on her face.
They had been walking a while and had nearly forgotten that it had been an hour. Rose, remembering the time frame, reminded Helga that they should head to Central Park and wait for Jack, Fabrizio and Tommy.
Jack, Fabrizio and Tommy had left Macy's to go to Central Park, to meet with Rose and Helga. They had finally reached Central Park and had saw Rose and Helga talking and laughing about various subjects.
"Well, seems like you two had a good time. How was your day?" Jack asked, sitting beside Rose, and giving her a light kiss on the cheek. Fabrizio sat down and Tommy sat beside Jack.
"We did. It was wonderful. How was everything for you three?"
"It was good, very good." Tommy replied.
"Well Rose, I have something very special planned for this evening. I want all of us to be dressed nicely so we all need to go back to our rooms and get dressed."
They all went back to their rooms and dressed in their best clothes. Rose and Helga had put on the best dress that they had bought, along with matching jewelry. Rose's dress was a resemblance to her "flying" dress, while Helga's was a light green color. Rose had her hair up in a bun, with a few loose curls hanging beside her face, and Helga wore her hair down.
Jack went into their room where Rose was, to see if she was ready. He saw her and his eyes lit up, seeing how stunning she looked.
"Rose, you look wonderful.", Jack told her. He went up behind her, hugging her and putting his arms around her waist and kissing her on her neck lightly.
"You don't look too bad yourself, Mr. Dawson." Rose said playfully, turning around to face him. She put her hands on his face, leaning in to give him a passionate kiss.
Jack reluctantly pulled and said, "We'll have time for more of that later. Right now, Fabri, Tommy and I need to go and make sure everything is in order."
He looked at the clock in their room and added, "It's 5 o'clock now, I will be picking you up at 5:45 at the front entrance. Will you be okay here by yourself? Helga will be coming with us too. I don't want you to be alone for too long."
Rose smiled softly and replied, "Don't worry Jack, I'll be just fine. You all go on ahead. I'll see you later. I love you."
She gave him a kiss and waited for his reply.
"I love you too." He replied smiling. He said goodbye to Rose and met the others in the hall, ready for the special event.
LATER THAT EVENING
It was now 5:40 and Rose made her way down to the front entrance, where Jack had told her to wait. She was growing excited at what Jack had planned. Even though she didn't know what it was exactly, she knew it was special. She was brought out of her thoughts by a white horse drawn carriage stopping only a few feet in front of her.
Jack got out of the carriage with a charismatic smile on his face. He walked up to Rose, took her hand and kissed it. By this time, Rose had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. Jack took her by the hand and led her to the carriage. He sat beside her and they held hands all the way to La Rosa's.
The carriage came to a stop and Jack got out and then helped Rose. He told the driver to come back at 8:15.
"You ready?", Jack asked with an eager grin on his face.
"Yes I'm ready." She replied returning the smile.
They walked into the restaurant and Rose was amazed at the work he, Fabrizio, Tommy and Helga had done. He led her to a candlelit table towards the back of the restaurant. He had made special reservations to where it was only the two of them, with a few select guests.
They sat down and Tommy brought out the wine, he set it on their table, smiling all the while, and then returned to the kitchen.
Jack poured he and Rose a small amount and Jack began to make a toast to Rose. He stood up, went to stand beside her and he spoke.
"Rose, you are the most amazingly, astounding wonderful woman that I have ever known. You mean the world to me and you are the light of my life. I hope you know how much I love you and care about you. I can't begin to describe the feeling when we are together. I hope that you would consider being with me forever."
Jack sat the glass down on the table and got on one knee beside Rose.
"Rose, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Rose smiled at Jack, tears streaming down her face, touched at his words.
"Why Mr. Dawson, nothing would make me happier. Yes Jack, I'll marry you!" She cried. She watched him pull the ring out from its box and place it on her finger and he returned her smile and they both stood up, to face the crowd that had formed during their emotional moment. They kissed passionately and everyone cheered.
For the next two hours, they laughed, danced and enjoyed spending time with each other. Fabrizio, Helga, Tommy and the owners of the restaurant were there, and even Molly dropped by to congratulate them.
Rose was surprised to see that Molly had brought someone she thought she wouldn't see for a while, her mother. Rose went to greet Molly and hesitantly, her mother.
"Mother, I didn't expect to see you here." Rose said, a serious expression growing on her face. Molly decided to leave them along to at least try to work things out.
"To be honest Rose, I wasn't going to come. But my conscience got the better of me, so I decided to come. I won't be staying long, I just wanted to say hello and wish you both the best. I hope that both of you will be happy together."
"We already are mother. If only you could see that. You are welcome to come to the wedding, but if you decide not to, I understand. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the party. Goodbye mother."
Rose turned and left her mother to think on her words.
Jack and Rose had said goodbye to everyone and they went to wait for Sam, the driver of the white carriage. At 8:15 exactly, Sam picked up Jack and Rose and they stopped and took a romantic walk in the moonlight, thinking and talking about their life ahead of them.
Ok, there it is.. FINALLY... wow.. sorry that was so long.. The next chapter will be more about planning for the wedding to come and we will all find out what it was that Jack had engraved on the ring. ;) Don't forget to R&R!! And don't forget about those ideas if you got 'em!!