"Aunt Rose, Aunt Rose!" I hear Cora whisper into my ear as she shakes me back and forth on the bed. I begin to stir, and when I open my eyes, I'm greeted by the burning sunlight glistening around the young child's face.
"What is it sweetheart?" I croak, still trying to wake myself up completely. She looks at me and rubs her tummy while frowning, telling me that she's hungry.
"Okay Cora, just give me a minute. I'll see if Uncle Jack's hungry and we'll go downstairs and ask that nice lady for some food." I tell her smiling, and she gives me a light peck on the cheek.
"Yay!" She cheers, a bit loudly, and I hear Jack groan next to me on the bed. I look back over to Cora and I shake my head laughing.
"Looks like you woke someone up!" I whisper in her ear and a look of pride comes over her, as if waking him up on accident was the greatest thing she's ever accomplished. She runs over to the other side of the bed where Jack lays and she hops up onto him, and another groan escapes his lips.
"'Wake up Uncle Jack! I'm starving!" She laughs whilst bouncing up and down ontop of him. I try to contain my laughter, so my face begins to turn into a bright red tomato.
"Bloody hell!" Mutters Jack as he opens his eyes from his sleep. I hit his arm, for what he said, which was just enough to jolt him awake.
He sends me a playful glare, which was just enough to set off all that laughter i've been holding in. He looks up too see what the light weight onto of him is and his facial expression changes into an apologetic one once he realizes who he swore at.
Cora looks over to Jack, tears brimming her eyes.
"Oh Cora, did I upset you? I'm so sorry!" Jack exclaims, seeming to be upset with himself.
"I'm sorry I got you angry Uncle Jack." She frowns, looking down and the bed, not wanting to look him in the eyes.
"No! I wasn't mad at you! I seemed like it, but I was actually happy!" Jack tells the young girl, though I know he's lying. Why in the world would he be happy to have someone wake him up by jumping on him?
"I was just so happy to be waking up to my 2 favourite girls." Jack smiles cheekily, sitting up on the bed and leaning over to give Cora a small kiss on the cheek, and then he turns to me, and his sweet lips met mine.
"Can we pleaseeeee go get food now?" Cora asks us impatiently, looking at us disapprovingly for our little 'moment'.
"Sure sweetheart, c'mon, let's get up and go downstairs." I say as I hop out of the warm bed and my feet make contact with the frigid hardwood floor, causing me to gasp at the touch.
"Rose, what's wrong?" Jack asks worriedly, lifting Cora up off the bed and running over to my side of the bed, kneeling down so that he coup look into my eyes.
"Nothing's wrong Jack! I was just surprised that the floor was so cold! Well atleast we got you out of the bed easily." I reassure him, laughing a bit at how much he over reacted.
"Alright, come on, lets go! I'm starting to get hungry as well!" I say, rubbing my tummy in hungry, and I begin walking towards the bedroom door, Jack and Cora following closely behind.
We trail down the staircase, and the familiar voice of Eileen rings through my ears. I could hear her talking to another man and a few women from a distance. The three of us wandered down the hallway and I stopped once we reached the kitchen. I turn back to Jack and give him a nervous glance.
What if these other people judge me? What if they begin to ask questions about Cora? Jack and I both look so young, and it would have made more sense if we had a baby with us, not a five year old girl. They could grow suspicious and begin to ask about our past.
Jack gives me a look of reassurance, mouthing the words 'I love you.' to me, and I mouth it back, suddenly feeling alot more confident knowing that Jack will be there to support me, more then Cal would have ever.
What happened to that blasted man anyways? He probably found someway off that ship. Probabaly bribed an officer or something. What a cold hearted man. What if he finds Jack and I and tries to take me away? No, that couldn't possibly happen, Jack will protect me, I know he would.
"Rose, are you alright?" Jack asks, breaking me from my thought.
"Oh yes, I was just thinking about someting, we ca talk about it later. For now though, let's get something to eat, I'm starving!" I exclaim and Cora nods her head in agreement. Jack reluculantly sighs, and leads us into the kitchen, where Eileen and the other guests catch sight of us as we join everyone at the table.
"Ah! Jack and Rose! How are you this morning? Would you guys like some tea and fresh bread?" Eileen kindly welcomes us, and Jack turns over to me.
"Hey Rose, do ya want anything?" He asks me, and I suppose that he's just going to answer Eileen for me. It doesn't bother me that Jack's 'ordering' my food for me, unlike when Cal did. Unlike Cal, Jack's actually asking me what I would like to eat, but Cal would just choose for me. I felt so useless back then, not even being able to pick out what I wanted to eat.
"I'll just have a cup of tea and some bread." I tell him, and he nods, turning back to Eileen who's just patiently waiting for us.
"We're all doing great, and how about you Eileen? You seem to be working yourself pretty hard this early. We'll both just have tea and some bread." Jack tells her, and she walks over to the kitchen counter where she takes a few slices of bread and pours two cups of tea, bringing it back over to us.
"Oh I'm just fine, thank you Jack. I guess you just get used to the early mornings after years of doing the same thing." She tells us, placing our food down in front of us.
"Thank you!" Jack and I both say in unison, as he takes the butter knife to butter his bread, and then he passes it to me so that I can do the same. Eileen flashes us another smile, before turning to Cora.
"And good morning to you Miss Cora, could I get you anything?" She asks Cora, who's eyes light up once she realizes she's been offered food, but then her smile soon drops, and tears begin to cloud her eyes.
"I want the bread, but I don't drink tea." She said sadly, hanging her head down in shame, sniffling back her tears. Jack and I both exchange confused looks, and Eileen and the other guests just look at us, puzzled.
Jack then lifts Cora chin, and turns her to face him.
"What's Wrong Darling?" Jack asks her in a whsper, but just loud enough so that I can hear. She looks into his eyes, sniffling slightly.
"On the ship when I was getting dinner I didn't want the carrot and I only wanted the mashed potatoes, but the man told me that if I didn't it the whole meal I couldn't eat anything at all." She whispers back to him sadly, and I watch as Jack's face softens at her sadness. He really does make a good father.
"Cora, we aren't on that ship anymore, and listen to me, alright? That man's wrong. For as long as you're with Aunt Rose and I you won't have to eat something that you don't like, okay?" Jack reassures her, a smile coming upon his face. Cora's eyes light up and all her tears seem to fade away.
"Really Uncle Jack? Oh thank you!" She exclaims happily, and a smile comes upon my face aswell.
"Um Miss, may I please have some bread?" Cora turns to ask Eileen shyly. Eileen smiles at the young girl and passes her a place with two slices of the fresh bread.
"Oh sweetie, please, you can just call me Eileen. Would you like a glass of milk with your bread?" Eileen asks her, and Cora's eyes light up again, and she nods her head quickly. We all laugh a little at her cuteness and Eileen passes Cora over a small glass of milk, and Cora thanks her politely.
We all continue our meals in a silence, a few words being said here and there, but no real conversation taking place. After everyone has finished their meals, I get up from my seats and begin collecting everyone's plates. When I go to grab Jack's plate, he looks up to me and has that look of proudness in his eyes. He's proud that I'm making an effort to learn how to take care of a house, even though I've never done a day of work in my whole life.
I bring the dishes over to the sink, and Eileen stops me before I can start running the water.
"Oh Rose, this really isn't necessary. You shouldn't have to do work around here, you're my guest!" She sighs, but I know that I won't give in, I need to learn to do some house work eventually.
"Eillen, I insist. You're letting us stay at your home free of charge, the least I could do is help you around the house. I really don't mind." I tell her, and I begin to run some luke warm water into the dish bucket.
"Oh all right, but don't work yourself too much." She winks at me, before going to fold up the table cloth that was laid out on the table for our meal. Suddenly, a girl gets up from her seat at the table, she looks to be about my age, if not maybe just a few years older, and walks over to start filling up her own dish bucket, grabbing a few plates from my stack and she begins to clean them.
"I was thinking I could help you out." She tells me, and I can't help but smile at her kindness.
"Well thank you, thats really sweet of you." I say, turning to look to her.
"My name's Rose, and you?" I ask polietely, and she snaps her head in my direction, a smile coming apon her own face.
"I'm Samantha. You know what Rose? I think we're going to become very good friends." She laughs, and I nod my head, still smilng, hoping that she's right, that we do become good friends. I could really use one of those.
(Time Lapse)
"Oh Eileen, would you mind if I took the paper up to my room for a short while?" I ask her whilst eyeing the newspaper on the dining room table.
"Oh yes dear, go right ahead. I don't even read these things anyways." She tells me, and I grab the paper up off the table.
"Thanks so much." I thank her, before heading out of the kitchen.
"No problem Rose!" She calls out after me, and I make my way up the stairs and into our room where I see Jack putting Cora down for bed. I hope on the bed, and I start to read the paper. I usually don't read newspapers, but I have a habit of reading before bed, and since I don't have any novels, the newspaper will do.
"What are you reading Rosie?" Jack asks, jumping onto the bed and giving me a small peck on the cheeks. He wraps his arms around my waist, and I turn and give him a kiss. It wasn't forceful like Cal's kisses had been, but it's soft and sweet.
"Just the paper." I sigh, and his eyes light up, as if he's thought of something.
"Do they have a survivors list in there? I got so distracted on the Carpathia that I forgot to check for Fabri and Tommy's names!" Jack exclaims, and I suddenly grow really nervous as I look for any sign of the list printed in the paper. How will he react if their names aren't there? I've never seen Jack cry before.
Suddenly, I stop once I see a page titled 'Titanic Survivours!' . I suck in my breath, and pass the paper nervously. He looks at me, tears already glistening in his eyes, fearing the worst.
After a few minutes, Jack had finally finished reading the list, he looked up at me, tears beginning to stream down his face. I knew it.
"Rose they-" He begin to cry out, but I stopped him.
"I know Jack, I know." I sooth him, and I was ready to take him into my arms and let him cry into my chest, when he did something completely unexpected. He riped the paper up and threw it onto the ground, jumping up of the bed.
"This is bullshit!" He cries out, throwing his hands in the air angrily.
"Jack please just calm down." I beg.
"No Rose! I can't! They're dead and it's all my freaking fault!" He screams out even louder.
"Jack, it wasn't your fault! You didn't do anything!" I say, raising my voice and trying to reason with him.
"If I hadn't urged them to go to the other side of the ship, they would both still be alive!" He screams at me, and it's actually quiet terrifing, and a few tears of my own escape my eyes.
"Maybe that's not what killed them Jack! You had no part of their deaths! Stop blaming yourself!" I cry out, and Jack just seems to be getting even more upset.
"You know what? I can't deal with this shit right now!" He yells, walking out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. I go after him, running down the stairs and I find him putting on his jacket.
"Jack! Please don't leave!" I cry out, and he doesn't even look back at me, he just shakes his head.
"I have too!" He says sadly.
"How long will you be gone?" I ask, still in tears.
"I don't know." was all he said before the door slams shut behind him. I'm going to run to the door to go after him, when someoe puts their hand on my shoulder to stop me. I turn around to come face to face with Samantha.
"He'll come back, I promise." She reassures me, but I find it hard to believe her, but right now, it doesn't matter. Jack left, and it's all because I made him upset.
"It's all my fault!" I cry out, falling into her arms, and she rubs my back soothingly.
"Shh Rose, it's alright none of this was your fault." She says, trying to calm me down.
I suddenly feel someone yanking on the back of my old dress and I turn around to see Cora starring up at me, a frightened look in her eyes. She probabaly heard that whole thing. Great, now I feel guilty as well, we probabaly scarred her with our fight.
"What's all your fault mommy?"
A/N: HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Lol so this is my longest chapter yet! Haha, and i'd like to know what y'all think of how I'm developping Cora's character cause I feel like in the movie, they give just as much info and detail on her thats needed for a minor character, so I feel like I can make her really into my own character, like personality wise. Also, for the next little whie some parts of chapters maybe in Samantha's or Jack's POV. AU REVOIRRRRR~Jaime
