Cal studied the wall. There was a short crack near the door frame, and the paint was old and dingy. He guessed it had once been pale yellow, but he wasn't sure. Across the room Deirdre was curled up on the bed with her back to him. She hadn't moved from that position since the previous night. With his anger gone, and his wounded ego deflated yet again by Jack's refusal to fight with him Cal hadn't bothered finding out what would happen if he joined her on the bed. Instead he slept sitting up in the chair, though he hadn't slept so much as dozed off for a few minutes in between fantasies of punching Jack and seducing Rose.

Almost twenty years without thinking about her. You couldn't keep that up?

He was exhausted, but his mind was buzzing. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Jack's face. He saw the disgusted look Jack had worn while being insulted. He hadn't said anything. He just sat there holding Rose's hand until it was over. "Is that all?" he asked calmly. "You don't feel like throwing anything? Or maybe you'd like to accuse me of stealing?" It was his calmness that had most infuriated Cal. "And her," he had sneered, turning to Rose. Her face was stone. Jack had jumped to his feet at that. "Don't you even think about her!" he growled.

Everyone else ceased to exist, or at least it seemed that way to Cal. He didn't think about any of what he said next; he just opened his mouth and let the words come out. All he felt when Jack raised his fist was a deep satisfaction. See. He isn't any better than me. But then Rose stopped him. How does she even know? he thought. She can't see him. They can't be that close.

"I hope you're happy." Deirdre's voice shattered the silence.

"What?" Cal said.

"I said I hope you're happy." She sat up and turned to face him. Her make-up was smudged and her hair was disheveled, but she still looked regal. "You just had to do that, didn't you? You couldn't leave it alone."

"I believe, if you'll recall, he started it. I didn't say anything until he made that snide remark about knowing me."

"I'm sure your staring at his wife all evening had something to do with that. Not that I'm taking his side. Although of the two of you he did behave with far more maturity."

"Of course you would take his side."

"I already said I'm not on his side. Nor am I on yours," she said coldly. "I thought perhaps we could come together for our daughter's sake, but all you seem to care about is reviving an old grudge against a woman who doesn't appear to have ever given a damn about you."

"You don't know the first thing about it."

"I know what I saw last night." And with that she leapt off the bed and hurried across the room. She threw open the closet and grabbed a dress. "I know I love you. I know I wanted to finally move on. Together. I don't know what you want." She dressed quickly, keeping her back to him the whole time. She brushed her hair out and pinned it back. There was no saving her make-up, but she could wash it off in the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't think I need to tell you that," she said over her shoulder as she headed out the door.

...

Rose snuggled closer to Jack. She threw an arm across his chest. He kissed the top of her head and tightened his grip on her. "You awake?" he asked sleepily. She responded by nuzzling his chest. "I'll take that as a no."

The house was still when Jack finally woke up. He climbed out of bed slowly, careful not to disturb Rose. He was on his second piece of toast by the time he realized the silence around him wasn't the silence of a sleeping house but rather of an empty one. Chewing slowly, the rest of his toast forgotten in his hand, he walked through the house. "Where did everyone go?" he wondered. There wasn't even a note, and that was unusual.

"Jack?"

"Right here, Petal." He held out his hand.

She took it gratefully. "I had the strangest feeling when I woke up. I don't know where it came from."

"Scared?"

"Sort of. I guess it would be more...unsettled is the word I would choose. I felt like I was the only person left. Isn't that absurd? I think it had something to do with the dream I had."

"What was the dream?"

"I don't really remember. I just know it was more nightmare than dream." She tilted her head toward him slightly. "Did you make toast?" He laughed. "I don't know how you can smell it cold as it is. I'll make you a fresh piece if you want."

"Please? It's better when you make it."

"You didn't hear the kids say anything about going somewhere today, did you?" Jack said as he popped two slices of bread in the oven.

"I can't imagine where they would have gone this early," Rose said. She slowly poured half a glass of orange juice. "You can keep going," he said. "Now stop. It's actually pretty late. It's 11:30."

"That's funny. It doesn't feel late at all." She sipped her juice. "How could we sleep so late? And I can't believe we didn't hear them leave. Was there a note?"

"Nope." He grabbed the toasted bread out of the oven and tossed it onto a plate. "It almost seems like they didn't want us to know they were going until after they were gone." He began buttering the toast. "But that's not like them."

"Maybe Dylan and Eva decided to elope," Rose joked.

Jack froze. "You don't think they really would, do you?"

As the day wore on and still there was no word from any of them Jack and Rose became more and more convinced that was exactly what had happened. "I can't say I blame them," Rose said, "not after everything that's been happening." She shifted to a new position on Jack's lap. "I wish it hadn't come to this though. I didn't want our children to have to do the same things we did."

"Maybe they were just following our example."

"Or maybe we helped drive them to it."

"Nothing that's happened so far comes close to being like what we experienced," Jack reminded her. "Though I guess that doesn't make it better, does it?" He laid his head on her shoulder. "And we still have to deal with whatever revolutionary Lily marries."

Rose shifted again. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that for a while. The man she's most interested in is in Russia."

"Lenin's dead."

"I was talking about Bukharin."

"Isn't he dead too? Rose, could you...d'ya think you could move a little less?"

She pressed a hand against his cheek. "I really can feel a blush."

He touched a spot above her hand. "I can't feel it."

She laughed. "Neither can I, but I was sure you were."

"You-" But he was laughing too.

"It wasn't my idea to sit like this," she said. "I'm not even sure how we ended up this way."

"Compromise."

"Oh, that's right. I wanted to knit. You wanted cuddling. This doesn't seem like much of a compromise to me though considering my knitting things are on the other side of the room, and you're doing a very good job of keeping me on this side of the room." She tensed slightly. "Did you hear that?"

"Uh-huh."

Lily didn't bother trying to sneak in. The house wasn't big enough to hide in, and even if it had been she wouldn't have. Avoiding her parents would just delay the inevitable. "And where did you get off to?" Jack asked.

"Hi Dad," she said wearily. "Before you ask, I'm alone. They stayed behind."

"You were right," Jack said as Rose took her place at his side. "It's Lily. And she's fine. Exhausted from the look of her, but fine."

"You wouldn't just let me have a nap before I explain, would you?" Lily asked hopefully. "I'm sure you've already figured most of it out."

Jack's face softened. "You don't want to eat first?" he said with a small smile.

She shook her head. "Just sleep." She dropped her bag. It seemed to weigh twice what it had when she set out that morning. Rose reached for her as she passed. "They're fine," Lily assured her. "And we would've told you, but that kind of went against the spirit of the thing."

Lily slept until the next morning. She woke up at her usual time and immediately jumped out of bed, fully refreshed. She was halfway through brushing her hair before the events of the previous day came rushing back. "And now I have to explain it to everyone," she said. "They could've come back and done their own storytelling instead of leaving it to me. I have enough to try to explain."

When are you going to do that anyway?

"Well, I can't very well do it now, can I?"

There were four people in the kitchen instead of two, but the extra two weren't Dylan and Eva, much to her disappointment. They were Cal and Deirdre. All eyes were on her as she came in. Her stomach twisted. Say something! But all she could think was What is to be done? And that made her think of Lenin. And that led to an image of Lenin occupying the same room as Cal, and that led to a giggling fit. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "Really...I..." She fell into the nearest empty chair. "You want me to tell you where they are, don't you?" she said when the fit had subsided.

"I didn't come here to find out how to draw," Cal said drily. Jack shot him a look. Deirdre's eyes narrowed. "Yes, that's what we want," he said quickly.

"Well, that's what some of us want," Rose said. "I don't mind not knowing where they are as long as they're alright."

"They were when I left," Lily said. "And they sent their love."

"Doesn't this seem a bit untoward to you?" Deirdre said, looking at Rose.

"Why would it?" Cal said before she could reply. "Considering some of the things she's done."

"I'll thank you to keep your mouth shut about my mother," Lily said smoothly. "I'm sure your part in that story would make a very interesting narrative. As for where they are, I'm afraid they asked me not to tell you. They want some time alone to be married before coming back into the maelstrom."

"So they did get married?" Deirdre said.

"Oh yes."

Things managed to stay relatively pleasant for another three minutes, but then the tension began to mount. Sensing things were about to come to a breaking point Lily said the only thing she could think of, "I dropped out of school."

Lily didn't realize she was holding her breath until her parents' voices reached her ears. "What?" they exclaimed in unison. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a squeak. It was worse than the first day of school. Then all she had been dealing with was twenty six year olds, all eyeing her suspiciously, and now she was dealing with the shocked and disappointed faces of her parents. "Why would you do that?" Rose cried.

"I—I thought it was the best thing," Lily stammered. "I—"

"And when were you going to tell us?" Jack demanded. Even Cal was surprised by the harshness of his voice.

Lily lowered her eyes. "I was waiting for the right time," she said quietly.

A reply was on the tip of Jack's tongue, but Rose took his hand before it could come out. She laid it flat on her lap and traced the word "wait" and then "please" on his palm. Shame washed over him. "I'm sorry," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. She squeezed back.

Lily met his gaze. "I know I should have said something sooner," she said, "but with everything that was happening I just couldn't. I wanted to wait until after things settled down with Dylan and Eva." She let out a short, joyless laugh. "I guess technically things have settled down with them."

"And why'd you do it?" Jack asked.

"Don't tell me you actually care!" Cal exclaimed. "Just a moment ago you sounded ready to—"

"I know how I sounded," Jack said, pronouncing each world slowly and carefully as though he were talking to a small child, "and that was really just the shock talking." He focused his gaze on Lily. "I'm not mad. Neither of us are. Just tell us why, Water-Lily?"

"Well, I decided I was wasting my time. I wasn't learning anything I couldn't teach myself for free—and faster—and to be honest, it seemed like such a bourgeoisie luxury when there's so much work I could be dedicating myself to."

Jack glanced at Rose; she wore a thoughtful expression. "I understand how you feel," she said slowly. "It's as though you're watching the world go by, and you can't be a part of it."

Lily nodded eagerly. "That's exactly it! I—I'm reading about the things that are going on, and I'm part of some of it, but it's such a tiny part. It isn't enough. It used to be, but it isn't anymore."

Cal stared at Jack and Rose. "And you're going to accept that?" he said incredulously. "You don't care—"

"Oh, we care," Rose said coldly. "We care a great deal about the futures of our children. That's why we're accepting Lily's decision to live her life the way she wants to. That's why we accepted Dylan's decision to marry your daughter in spite of who she was." Cal's mouth twitched. "We didn't have to overlook her connection to you," Rose said. "And you haven't given us any reason to, but she did."

Jack placed his other hand over hers. "You should see his expression," he said.

"Does it look like he's holding a drawing of a naked woman?" Rose asked. "Because I remember what that one looked like."

Jack held in a chuckle. "He just looked pissed off then. Now he looks confused on top of that."

"You two really are perfect for one another," Cal spat.

Jack and Rose both grinned brightly. "Thank you," they said in unison before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

"I fail to understand how a woman as well brought up as you could have turned out so common," he said, his face wrinkling with disgust.

"She was mailed to the wrong address," Jack said without missing a beat. "She was supposed to be with me all along."

"We should go," Deirdre said, standing up. She turned to Cal. "Now," she added. Ignoring his scowl, she said, "Thank you for telling us what happened, Lily. I hope it won't be too much to ask for you to let us know when they return."

As soon as they were gone Lily moved toward the door. "No," Rose said. "We're not finished. We still need to discuss a few things."

"But I thought you said—"

"We did," Jack said. "And we meant it. That wasn't just to annoy him into leaving. If we'd wanted to do that there were plenty of other things we coulda done."

Reluctantly she sat down. "I gave away the rest of my scholarship money," she said, "in case you were wondering."

"We were," Rose said. "And how are you paying for your apartment?"

"I'm splitting the rent with two other people. We pay for food collectively as well. I have a job at the library, and that covers everything I need plus there's all the books I can st—borrow."

"Steal, borrow, sometimes it becomes the same thing without you even realizing," Jack said. "Just make sure there isn't a name written on anything you borrow."

Lily sensed he was speaking from experience, but her desire to leave the kitchen—and her parents' questions—was stronger than her curiosity. "I'm not doing anything dangerous," she said. "With the Party, I mean. If that's what you're worried about."

"I can't say we don't get worried," Rose said. "And I know how frustrating it can be feeling like you're trapped, like if you don't do exactly what's expected of you the world will come to an end, but don't run too far in the opposite direction too fast."

"I won't," Lily promised. "I know what I'm doing. Really." She gave each of them a quick kiss and then hurried from the room, breathing a sigh of relief as she went. It was over. She had told them.

"What was that about running too far in the opposite direction?" Jack asked.

"I just don't want her giving up too much without thinking," Rose said. "She won't be able to get it back."

His eyes probed her face. "You gave up everything two days after you met me," he reminded her. "Your entire life changed forever."

"For the better," she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me; I wouldn't even have the children without you." He put an arm around her. "And I knew exactly what I was doing," she said. "I knew what would happen if I got off the ship—either ship—with you."

He smiled into her hair. "I remember how it felt when you first said you were getting off the ship with me. I couldn't believe you'd really said it, that you could really mean it." She hugged his middle. "As though I could have left you. I was probably already pregnant with Dylan by the time I said that."

He couldn't help but laugh. "I thought we decided that happened a few weeks later?" he said. "When we spent the night camping under that willow tree, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

….

Dylan couldn't stop smiling. His food sat on the plate untouched, growing colder by the minute, but he didn't care. Across the table Eva was eating so quickly it seemed like she was barely pausing to breathe. "Aren't you famished?" she said. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days. I feel like I haven't tasted anything in days."

Who needs food when I can look at you? he thought. "I guess I'm not that hungry," he said. "But I'll eat."

"Don't you just feel so much better?" she said. "Don't you just feel like you could fight the world?" Her eyes sparkled. "I sound crazy, don't I? I'm raving. I—I'm just so happy!" She reached across the table and took his hand. "Thank you," she said solemnly.

"For what? Marrying you? Yeah, you really had to manipulate me into it," he joked.

"I mean it," she said. "Thank you for loving me despite….despite where I came from."

He laced his fingers through hers. "Eva, my loving you…I don't care who your parents are or who they were," he said. "I don't care that we didn't grow up the same way. I don't care that our fathers would happily kill each other—" She laughed. "I care about you," he said, kissing her knuckles. "The beautiful, talented, kind person that you are. And I would've married you eventually no matter what."

"You sure about that?" she teased. "What if my father hadn't given up his robbery staging ways?"

"That wouldn'ta stopped me," he said, a trace of Jack in his voice.

Eva's cheeks reddened under his gaze. "When should we go back?" she said.

"When do you want to?"

"Not yet if we can help it," she said. "It's barely been a day, and I'm sure my father—"

"Is fighting with mine," Dylan said. "It doesn't matter if he doesn't like us being together though." He ran his thumb over the empty space on her left hand. He didn't have the money for a ring yet. Soon, he promised himself. "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks," Eva said, smiling.

Three Days Later

Jack flipped to a new page. "Are you sure that's where we left off?" he asked. "I didn't think we'd gotten that far." He read the first paragraph to himself in a quiet murmur. "Does seem familiar," he said.

"That's because we stopped at the top of the next page," Rose said.

"We don't stop in the middle of chapters usually," he said.

There was a smile in her voice. "We got distracted." The meaning of her words wasn't lost on him.

"Oh did we?" he said, affecting an upper class accent. "It's curious that I can't seem to remember it. You wouldn't care to remind me what we were so distracted by, would you miss?" His grin widened as she leaned forward, letting her hair fall around her face. Their lips were inches apart; her body hovered over his lap. She smiled coyly. "Jack?"

"Yes?" Even after twenty years he still had trouble keeping his voice steady. She brushed her lips across his. He shivered.

Just as he was about to loop an arm around her waist she said, "Finish the book."

"Yes, miss." He pulled her into a kiss before she could move away.

She giggled into his mouth. "Jack, no!" His grip was loose; slipping out of his hands would have been easy. But instead she wrapped her arms around his neck. He fell back on the couch, pulling her down with him. The kiss deepened as he helped her move so she was straddling him. He pushed up her dress and held in a groan when his hands met her bare thighs. "You don't want me, do you?" she murmured.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" he said. She undid the button on his pants and slid a hand in. His breathing quickened. "Rose," he gasped.

"I think I just answered my own question," she said. She leaned down and kissed his neck. He squirmed beneath her. "I need you to do something for me," she whispered.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble," he joked weakly.

She pressed her face against his neck and breathed deeply. He smelled wonderful; for a moment she forgot where she was and what she was doing. "No trouble," she murmured. "Now finish reading."

….

Jack paused at the bottom of the page. "You're going to kill me," he said.

Rose snuggled closer to him. "You're in no danger of dying," she said. "And you can even try and get me back later if you feel so inclined."

"Try?"

"Well, there's no guarantee you'll succeed, is there?" She kissed his cheek.

"You're not getting any sleep tonight," he promised, tilting his head to catch her lips with his own.

"Maybe that was my plan all along," she teased.

"Is that so?"

The sound of footsteps cut off her reply. "Dylan and Eva are back," she said. "And Lily is with them."

The trio burst through the living room door. "What are you doing inside on such a beautiful day?" Lily demanded.

"Playing games," Rose said. She didn't need to see Jack's face to know exactly what look he was giving her.

"And reading," he said. "Lotsa reading."

Dylan and Eva, their faces flushed with happiness, dropped into the nearest chair. They giggled as they tried to make themselves fit. "That could be avoided if you each sat in your own chair," Lily said mildly. "But I know separating for that long is anathema to you two."

"You joke now," Dylan said, "but when it happens to you—"

"Who said anything about it happening to me?" Lily lit a cigarette. "I don't have time for something as trivial as love."

"Love doesn't necessarily keep to our schedule," Rose said. "Nor does it take the form we expect. Except in your case," she added, giving Jack a squeeze. "You were exactly what I wanted."

Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. That her parents were deeply in love she didn't doubt. It was the conviction that she too would one day end up like them—and now Dylan and Eva—that she couldn't quite believe. "It would take an awfully extraordinary man to make me act like any of you," she said drily.

"I expected nothing less," Jack said.

"Where did you go?" Rose asked, turning to face the direction Dylan's voice had come from.

"We didn't actually go that far," Eva admitted. "Only across the city." Her mouth tensed. "My parents asked about me, didn't they?"

"A few days ago," Jack said. "But we didn't have anything to tell them."

"I'm sure they weren't happy about that," Eva said.

"Your mother just asked that we let her know when you came back," Rose said. "In fact, why don't you call her now?"

Deirdre was overjoyed when she heard Eva's voice. Without waiting to consider the potential consequences she said, "I'll come and see you. Wouldn't that be better?" Eva didn't have a chance to respond. "Yes, I think so," Deirdre said. "Expect me in ten minutes." A dazed Eva hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Dylan asked.

"She's coming to visit," Eva said. "I just hope she doesn't bring Father."

Fortunately for Eva her hopes weren't very high, so when Deirdre arrived accompanied by Cal they didn't have far to fall. Lily scowled as she watched them through the window. "Must we really keep being civil to him? I know he's your father and all Eva, but he's a terrible human being."

"He doesn't try very hard to endear himself to anyone, that's for sure," Eva said. "I suppose that's what happens when you never have to try to gain anyone's affection."

"Yeah, maybe." Lily kept the rest of her thought to herself. Jack's voice could be heard from the hallway.

"I'm not feeding him," he said.

"No-one asked you to," Rose said. "I asked you to feed me." Their voices petered out.

"I think we're not getting dinner," Dylan said as he came in.

"Oh, he'll make something," Lily said. "He always does."

"For Mom maybe. The way they're acting in the kitchen I'm not sure they even know we're still here."

"You know, we should probably go soon," Lily said.

Eva darted across the room and into the hallway just as the knock came. She gave her hair a quick pat and opened the door slowly, remembering all the lessons in deportment she had suffered through as a child. Deirdre, her lessons forgotten, immediately enveloped her in a hug. "Well, don't you look lovely," she said when she finally released her. "Marriage suits you already."

Cal stood stiffly next to her. He nodded. "Eva."

"Come inside," Eva said, smiling as graciously as she could. He's your father. He's your father.

The visit went better than any of them had dared hope. Cal didn't insult anyone, though it wasn't for lack of trying. Jack and Rose stayed in the kitchen until they left, leaving him without his favorite targets. Lily smiled at whatever he said and threw a barbed comment of her own right back. Dylan didn't seem to notice or care about anything but Eva. The worst moment was then Deirdre asked about the ring and Eva had to admit she didn't have one.

"What do you mean you don't have one?" Cal demanded. "Are you honestly telling me you married her before you could produce a ring?"

"A piece of metal hardly seems worth considering where marriage is concerned," Dylan said calmly. "After all, it isn't the ring she married." In that moment he looked like the perfect blend of Jack and Rose.

Cal grunted a reply and fixed his eyes on the wall behind him. It was full of Jack's drawings. He hasn't amounted to a thing, he thought. No-one but her has ever given a second look to those drawings of his. Yet that didn't make him feel as good as he expected it to.

"Are you planning to stay in California?" Deirdre asked.

"No," Eva said. "We're going back to Wellesley—for a while, at least. In fact, we were just beginning to talk about when we might go back."

…

"I think we should move into the apartment above your sister and complain about all the strange people she lets in," Eva said.

Dylan laughed. "She'd kill us. You know that, right?"

Eva tore off a hunk of bread and popped it into her mouth. "But it would be funny until then."

"I thought Lily was your friend?"

"She is; she's my best friend, really. And if it weren't for her I wouldn't have met you."

"And that's when your life truly began."

"It was," Eva said, looking into his eyes. "I didn't realize it for a long time though." She laughed softly. "I loved you for a long time."

"You say that like you stopped," he teased.

"I will if you keep making jokes when I'm trying to be serious," she said. "And if you don't start drawing again. Don't think I haven't noticed."

He hung his head in mock shame. "You'll have a new drawing by morning."

They went back to Wellesley two days later. Lily went with them, but she only stayed long enough to pack her things and find someone else to take on her share of the apartment. "The real movement is out West," she said. "That's where I'm supposed to be."

Dylan wanted to argue with her, but he knew it would be a waste of time. "Be careful," he said with a sigh.

She hugged him. "Of course."

Dylan and Eva settled into a two-room apartment. It only had a bed, table, and one chair. Fortunately, as Lily had already observed, they didn't mind sitting close together. Cal and Deirdre went back to living almost exactly the way they had been before. Except now they talked to each other about something other than the good old days. Most of the time.

…..

"Tired?"

Rose shook her head. "Wide awake," she said.

Jack hugged her to him. "Good." He leaned in and kissed her. "You'll wanna be awake for this."

"Oh really?"

"Uh-huh." He was already working his way through the buttons on her dress.

"I hope you aren't trying to be subtle," she teased. "Because I think I know exactly what you want."

"You do?"

He swung her up into his arms. "You sure?"

"I—Did we just go outside?"

"I thought you knew what I wanted."

"I thought…" She gasped with excitement. "We're going to the ocean!"

"Well, well, well, looks like you didn't know." He stopped when the water was up to his ankles. "I'm setting you down," he said. "Don't go runnin off again, okay?"

"I won't."

Rose took his hand. The water was cool, but the breeze was warm. She took a deep breath. "It smells nice here," she said.

"But?"

"I didn't say but."

"I thought there was a but coming," he said.

"I wasn't going to say it," she admitted. "But...we're not staying here forever, right?"

Jack hesitated before answering. "It scares me a little to think about wandering off right now," he said. "Not just because of what's going on, the Depression, but…"

She lifted his hand and laid it over her eye. "Because of this?"

"I don't want anything to happen to you," he said. "I couldn't protect you from that. And I know," he added before she could reply, "that no-one could've. I—"

"Jack, I know how you feel. You stopped drawing, remember?"

"Because you couldn't see them." He caressed her cheek. "Why draw if you couldn't see it?"

She put her hand over his. "But you're drawing again. And you're taking me swimming in the ocean."

"I'm holding your hand while we swim," he said.

"Fine," she said, grinning. "Hold it while we see the other half of the world then."

The End