Hi! we're back! So today is the 11th June, and we have just started writing, so by the time this is up we should be severely late…as per usual. Anyway! Hope you all had a good exam period, and guess what? It's SUUUUUUUMER! :DDD So Talia is going away on the 25th July, and so we're writing as much as we can. Bear with us! Hope you enjoy!
Also QUESTION: would you guys like face claims and other Titanic related things? We're happy to do that to tide you guys over when there are no updates. PLEASE LET US KNOW.
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"With love's light wings did I o'er perch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold"
-Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
A Whole New Life
Chapter 15
The train station roared with the sound of the whistle of a breathtakingly beautiful steam train as it roared into the station, exhaling its smoke like a grandfather's pipe. Rose smiled as it pulled up to a stop in front of her, and looked over her shoulder, flicking her hair out of her eyes as she called for her husband, who had gone to get a bottle of water for the long journey. Santa Monica was on the other side of the country; and although they were both elated to be going on honeymoon, they couldn't help but wistfully think of their bed, which they had been forced to evacuate at three in the morning in order to reach the station. The bottom of Jack's eyes were black as the sky they had encountered as they got into the car Molly had sent for them; and although they had slept a tiny bit; Rose could see her husband's eyelids drooping as he walked to stand next to her, holding open the door of the train for her. She smiled, holding out her hand, which he took, tilting the edge of his hat. Rose lifted the edge of her dress, and gracefully stepped into her cabin; her first experience of not being in first class.
Coach was crowded, with barely enough seats to go round. This was the one thing which they had insisted that they paid for; their friends had already done way too much for them. The hustle and bustle of excited children and their anxious parents racing after them made Rose's ears ring, but she smiled in a similar way to how she had at the third class party on Titanic. Even now, three Irish men were calling for everyone to listen to the music they played with harmonicas and a guitar, accompanied by a rhythmic tapping on the wall. Rose placed the luggage by her feet, and perched on the edge of a seat, where a dark haired woman was patting a baby's back. The infant looked up at her, bemused, and Rose smiled, waving and mouthing 'hi'. The baby giggled, and the Mother turned to look at her, frowning
"What do you think you're doing?" Rose was taken aback. She had heard about over protective Mothers, but now that she was faced with one, she had no idea how to react. She struggled for words, but then as she caught a glimpse of her husband, felt more comfortable and smiled at tetchy woman with the strange and foreign accent that she thought sounded familiar, but just couldn't place it. She had erased all memory of her former life's trips on her wedding day, and although it slightly irritated her, not being able to remember, she didn't really mind, as it meant that she had completely moved on from the life she had loathed. The woman was still glaring at her, holding her baby tightly against her waist; albeit not in a loving, protective way, but slightly resembling the way one held a bag of something unpleasant, and she was sure that if she hadn't been there, the woman would have crinkled her nose at the child who so desperately needed a nappy change.
"I was just smiling at your beautiful baby. How old is he?" the woman's eyes narrowed
"She is one. I'll thank you to mind your own business." The woman's eyes were heavily made up with dark kohl, and her hair hung in ringlets round her pale, china doll like face. She was so pretty and doll like, that Rose had a feeling that if she leaned forward too far, her eyes would roll shut. Her lips were pursed into an 'o' shape, but her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes narrowed. She was becoming very defensive, and she had no idea why.
"I'm sorry, Madam. I wasn't aware that laughing and smiling at a clearly bored child was against the law." She said darkly, and the woman's eyes turned like fire. Rose recoiled slightly. She thought the woman was going to slap her, but luckily, Jack appeared, looking at his wife concernedly. The woman's eyes widened, but before Jack could get a good glimpse of her, she had already stood up and hurried away, her child looking utterly confused in her arms. The chair that she had just vacated was now bare, and within a moment, an elderly woman dressed in a black dress with a crocheted shawl thrown over her shoulders, and her husband, a man with an open smile and twinkling blue eyes with a brown felt hat on his half bald head stood next to her, only supported by his walking stick as he smiled at his wife as she chatted amicably to Rose, he looked as if in wonder at how he had managed to be with someone as perfect as her, and Jack momentarily wondered if they had been together from when they had been his age, and for a moment, allowed himself to dream of his elderly life with his Rose, surrounded by their children and grandchildren, 70 years in the future. He would never ever let her go, just like she hadn't for him.
~.~
Rose and Jack gave each other a look of utter bewilderment, unsure of how to react to a woman over exaggerating so much. Slowly, she felt herself relax; however as the door clicked shut after the woman retreated into the next carriage and Jack blocked a woman ducking into a seat that a man had just offered to her, then pulling his wife into it, so that she was conveniently sat next to both him and an open, albeit stained window, where it was open railway as far as the eye could see, ignoring the man and woman's protests, as soon enough they let it go and retreated into a tightly packed corner. She smiled to herself; her husband may have been poor, but when it came to looking after her and more importantly, loving her; she was the richest woman who had ever lived.
-Santa Monica, California-
The sun was blazing in Santa Monica; so much so that Rose had to pull down her sunhat as she stepped daintily off of the train, onto the cement below. Jack had already jumped off, catching his and Rose's suitcases as they were thrown into his arms, and then placing them quickly by his legs. He looked up at his wife, who was standing in the doorway of the carriage, staring at the horizon, where Santa Monica pier stood regally, but he could not take his eyes off of her. Her eyes were peeking out of the bottom of the ridiculously large sunhat, and the sunlight itself was reflecting off of her auburn hair; making it almost glow. She finally looked down at him, and smiled, showing off her spotless white teeth and held out her hand. Jack held her hand softly in his and helped her down. Rose immediately went to pick up a carry bag, but Jack took it from her, smirking slightly.
"Jack, I'm more than capable of carrying my vanity bag!" Jack smirked again and handed her the bag which felt like it had a brick in it, not some powder and lipstick. Rose looked round her new surroundings, feeling oddly vulnerable; sort of baby like-like she was seeing the world for the first time.
And she relished the thought of seeing new things.
Jack whistled at a cab driver, who rushed over and picked up their heavy suitcases. As the men talked between themselves rapidly, Jack giving the address of the hotel they were staying in; Rose deliberated whether or not to go over to the woman she had almost argued with on the train, who was now struggling with her own bags, the baby precariously balanced in the crook of her arm. She looked up to the long line of cabs and tried desperately to gesture to a driver, but then there was a crash and a baby crying, and Rose saw that her hands had slipped from the handles of the suitcases, making them crash to the ground, but luckily she had caught her daughter, holding her by her waist as she yelled in shock. The woman met Rose's gaze and her cheeks flushed with fury, and from experience, she knew that the poor woman probably felt like a bug under a microscope, and probably very helpless, at that, due to her being alone. Where was her husband, the father of her daughter? She took a step forward, with the intention of going over and politely inquiring as to whether or not she wanted assistance, but as the woman saw this; she picked up her suitcases with a huff and stormed off, and as Rose tried to follow her blonde hair through the crowd, she quickly disappeared, her flowered dress blending into the different colour dresses, suits and pandemonium of the station.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun round in surprise. Jack was smiling at her confidently, and whispered
"Hey. The cab's ready to go now, sweetie. You ready?" she took one last fleeting glance toward the crowd, before smiling back at her beautiful husband, and taking his hand, replying with a kiss on his youthful cheek. The cab driver, Ernie Goldman regaled them with tales of his family all the way to the lodge in which they were staying, 'The Levinson One Stop'. He told them that he lived in a two story house in Santa Monica, right near the pier, and that during the day, he worked as a cab driver, and every third Tuesday he went to go and be the financial advisor for the Mayor. It earned him enough to definitely sustain him and his wife and three children, and Rose felt nothing but respect for him. He did most of the talking, however; as Jack and Rose were quite happy to sit in the back of the cab, his arm round her shoulders and her head on his chest and smiling at each other whenever the man made a particularly bad joke.
Finally, after about an hour, Ernie pulled up outside a green two storey house, with a redbrick roof and chimney, from which smoke was being exhaled as if from a man's pipe. The two upstairs windows were open and had flower baskets hanging from hooks beside them, which were filled with begonias and lobelias and had an amorous aroma drafting from them onto the tired passengers of the little cab's faces. The door was panelled mahogany and had a brass doorknob. The whole house seemed homely, as to Rose it reminded her of her maternal grandmother, Bessie's house; the place that seemed like a refuge for her, a welcome break from her Mother's overbearing nature. Whenever her parents went to a function, they would simply drop her over at Bessie's house, where an apple pie would normally be perched on the kitchen windowsill, and she would perch on the edge of her grandmother's wooden kitchen benches, and eat her slice whilst being watched wistfully by the old ginger tabby cat her Mother had once fondly named Marmalade. The visits stopped, however as her Father became gravely ill, and Ruth decided that Rose's initiation into her world was to begin. She remembered throwing her arms round her elderly relative's fragile hips and hugging her as hard as humanly possible and crying quietly as her Mother briskly ordered her to get into their car. Bessie had stood at her doorstep, Marmalade in her arms, waving at them sadly until Rose squinted so hard that her eyes hurt in order to see her.
The woman had died of a sudden pain in her chest three weeks later. Ruth hadn't even let her go to the funeral, stating that it was of an inconvenience. They had an appointment that day with the dressmaker. That was when Rose's hatred of her Mother truly began.
She shook off the feeling of sadness as she realised that Jack had long gotten out of the cab and was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to emerge. She smiled at him reassuringly, although she could feel herself blushing at her slight daydream. She shuffled over to the door, and place one leg onto the kerb, and putting her hand on the door to support herself, got out, and looked up at the building properly.
"Well, it's very quaint-" she then gave a screech, she had taken a step forward, but unfortunately, in her haste to get out of the car, had managed to trap her dress in the door, and had ripped the bottom. Jack quickly shrugged off his coat and handed it to her, but as he exchanged a look with Ernie, couldn't help but chuckle. She blushed again furiously, and as he saw his wife's expression, Jack stopped laughing abruptly and cleared his throat, miming coughing. Ernie smiled at them and placed the last of their cases on the sidewalk next to them.
"Thanks, Ernie. How much do I owe you?" Jack asked, placing his hand into his pocket
"I'd say 8 bucks would do it, Jack." Rose watched as her husband drew out the required amount of money, and placed it into the hand of the cabdriver, who smiled at them and tipped the edge of his hat as he began to walk round to his side of the car,
"You kids have fun now! Welcome to Santa Monica!" then got in his car, and with a final 'peep' of his horn, drove away.
-line here-
"Well, hi there! You must be the newlyweds! I'm Annie Levinson, and this here's my granddaughter, Dawn. Welcome to Santa Monica!" an old lady at the front desk greeted them as they staggered through the doors of the lodge, weighed down by their bags and the blistering sunlight beaming down onto their faces. Although they must have walked only around 3 yards, the sun had already rendered them exhausted. However, the woman's smile seemed to be contagious, and as soon as they were inside safety, they began to beam too. A blonde child of no older than 10 ran forward and shook their hands politely, who they assumed to be the woman's granddaughter Dawn, and Rose admired her long, sandy blonde hair which was hitched up into a tight ponytail, with pink bobbles attached to the elastic clicking as she ran around, picking up their suitcases, despite their internal fears that her matchstick thin arms might snap; but she seemed formidable and strong, and gestured to a man standing in the far corner to come and drag them upstairs, speaking quickly and confidently, even though Rose was shocked, because the man you see, was...of colour; as her Mother would put it. The words Cal used to describe the foreigners who had been brought over from lands afar were not to be repeated, and were the only things her Mother reprimanded him for, stating that he should behave like a gentleman; no matter in who's company he was in. She had never met someone with a different skin colour to her, and to see a child speaking so readily to him was refreshing, to say the least. A bit of differentiation in her once banal and tedious life.
"Right, you guys are in room 31. I'll get Ade to show you there. Adey? Where are ya' sweetheart?" Annie raised her voice to holler, and the man scurried down, the bags that were once in his hands now in their room. Not taking his eyes from Annie's obediently, he stood, as a soldier might, to attention, and in an accent Rose had not encountered before, said
"Yes, Miss Annie?" Annie smiled confidently at them, and Jack nodded at the man, whom blinked, but gave a nervous smile back
"This is Adewula. He's going to show you to your rooms. That okay, Ade?" the man nodded, and with a gesture of his hand, pointed toward a wooden staircase, which had pictures of Dawn and another blonde couple at the beach, and Rose admired them as they went slowly upstairs. Adewula led them down a few hallways, before stopping outside a brown door, with '31' in brass numbers on it, and handed Jack a key.
"This is your room. Enjoy your stay." As he turned to leave, nodding in respect to Rose, Jack called
"Hey, wait!" Adewula turned round, and looked in confusion to Rose's husband, who was digging in his pocket
"I didn't tip you. You always tip your bellhop. Here. All I got's a 5. That okay, buddy?" Adewula looked momentarily shocked, then surprised, then upset, then happy. He quickly covered these emotions however, and Rose could almost hear the cogs in his brain whirring and grinding as he tried to think of a suitable response to this unexpected act of kindness.
"N-no, Sir. I cannot take money from you, Sir. I thank you for this kindness, but Miss Annie gives me all that I need." Jack tilted his head in mock disappointment, and said in a tone that very slightly resembled teasing
"Come on, Ade. Don't insult me. It's five bucks. Just take it, and make me happy, okay?" Adewula opened his mouth to protest some more but Rose quickly butted in
"Please, Mr.."
"Jenkins." He provided quickly, his eyes fearful as he watched the woman stutter slightly on the unexpected normality of his surname as opposed to the obvious foreignness of his first.
"Mr Jenkins. Please. It would be a big insult to not accept the money as a gift of sorts." The man struggled with this concept, and although she had accepted that he was just a normal man, Rose's upbringing still made her have an underlying feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach as she watched the older man's hand reluctantly snake out and clutch the dollar bills hesitantly, looking down at them as if they were burning his hand, smiling nervously at them, then scuttling away as if he was an afraid beetle. The newlyweds, as they had been dubbed by their hostess looked at each other, and shared a loving smile. Jack placed the key in its lock, and turned it, making the door open with a click. His wife stepped forward to enter, but the last thing she heard was Jack say
"Yeah, how about no." before scooping her up from just underneath the back of her knees into his arms, forcing her arms to go reflexively round his shoulders.
"Jack! You already carried me over the threshold once! No! Jack put me-Jack!" she giggled as he hoisted her into his arms and captured her lips in a chaste kiss and kicked open the door to their small room. Love and a whole lot of lust washed over her, and she smiled as Jack kicked the door shut and dropped her onto their bed. Her love for her husband was eternal, and nothing would ever change that. Not her Mother, not the Titanic, and not even Cal; who had damaged her and pretended it hadn't happened. Panic started to grow again, but as Jack lay down on the bed with her, she felt it disappear. How could she focus on horrible things, when perfection was laid next to her? They kissed for what felt like a minute…a second…not enough, but jumped away from each other like naughty school children as there was a knock at the door. Jack got up first, and gingerly shouted
"Who's there?" for a second, Rose thought that Cal had caught up with them, although she had no idea how this was logically possible. Did he have a cabin in the first class of the train they had been on? Had he flown in one of the machines that she still found worryingly loud? Her stomach lurched as she realised that they were completely defenceless in a town they knew nothing about. Her worry cleared like a winter fog, as she heard a familiar voice cry
"Only me!" and the door was unlocked, and there stood Annie, smiling at them from the doorway, holding a spiral with around 50 keys on it. Between her index and thumb, however, there was a silver one which was labelled in black pen '31' . She swore she could almost hear Jack exhale, no matter how much he tried to mask it with his dazzling smile. She sat up quickly, coughing awkwardly as she realised that she was still lying down, with her hair tousled and dress halfway up her hips.
"I was just coming to see if your room is alright. Is everything up to standard, Mr..?"
"Dawson." Jack supplied and his wife stood up, taking over, looking round at the room she had barely noticed
"It's lovely, thank you, Annie." The woman nodded, but seemed preoccupied by something else, and the redheaded Dawson was instantly curious as to what it was.
"Did you just say your name is Dawson? Jack Dawson? And you guys are from..."
"Originally? Wisconsin. Well, I am." Jack said quickly, looking as confused as his wife. Annie started laughing heartily, and the husband and wife exchanged a look of mutual confusion and bewilderment. Was the woman slightly senile, or were they missing something?
"Wisconsin Dawsons! Well, I'll be! Your Mom was Lily, and your Daddy was Jacob, right?" Rose noticed her husband take a quick step backward, looking uncomfortable at the old woman's knowledge of his family, a subject on which he only spoke about to those closest to him.
"Uh…yeah. How do you know that, Annie?" the woman stopped, then pondered something for a moment, then with a quick exclamation, ran from the room, and they heard a thump. The pair exchanged a look, before the old woman ran back in, wielding a picture frame and holding it in a position so that Jack could lean over and peer at it, and when he did; he recoiled slightly, before leaning forward to get a closer look, suddenly silent. Rose, the concerned wife as she was stepped forward and stood next to her husband and looked at the picture, where a young couple sat, the man wearing a pair of grey spectacles and a stripy shirt with swimming trunks on, and the woman wearing a loose dress, which she noticed was covering a pregnancy bump. The one thing Rose's eyes were drawn to, however; was the woman's eyes, which were a familiar shade of blue. She snapped out of her trance as her husband's index finger traced the woman's inanimate jaw
"Mom? Dad?"
"So you're related to me? How?" Jack asked in surprise, holding the hot mug of coffee in his hands at Annie's round table, his wife next to him, stirring her tea delicately. Annie took a sip of her own coffee, and then licking her lips put the mug down and met the younger man's gaze
"Your Mom's Mom was my little sister, Margaret. Don't tell me she never mentioned her big sister Annalisa" Jack's eyes bulged in surprise and he leaned forward in interest
"That was you? You practically raised her! Oh my God, you're my great-Aunt Annie! And Dawn is my-"
"Your cousin, yes. Oh my, what a wonderful turn of events! Well, I have to make a special dinner! Come down here at 7 sharp, and we'll all catch up, that alright?" Jack nodded eagerly, then seemed to remember Rose, and looked at her eagerly. Smiling, she too nodded
"That would be lovely." Annie shrugged
"Rosie, don't be so polite, we're family now! Now, I'll see you kids at seven, now scat!"
"Honey, do you have the swimsuits?" Rose called into the bathroom, where her husband was getting ready to go out. The window was thrust open and light was beaming in, and since there was 5 hours till dinner was ready; the newlyweds had decided that they would visit the famous Santa Monica pier and beach in the meantime, and hopefully grab some lunch, as they hadn't eaten since quarter past three that morning. Jack finally left the bathroom, smirking slightly, teasingly at his wife as she threw things into a stripy beach bag that she had packed into the corner of their suitcase
"I was in the bathroom, Rosie. Why would on earth I have the swimsuits? Do you really think a two piece would look good on me?" Rose giggled
"Why yes, I think it would really flatter your figure. Seriously, though. Where are the swimsuits? I know I packed them because I remember picking them up and asking you what colour trunks you wanted-" she trailed off as she looked over at Jack and saw that he was holding up her black swim dress, a half amused half patient smile turning up the corners of his mouth and making his eyes sparkle. Rose blushed and took it, mouthing 'thanks' and folding it, placing it next to Jack's trunks, which she'd discovered under the sheets of the bed on the floor. Rose had long since changed into her summer attire, a red and yellow flowered sundress which reached up the crook of her knee and turned out at the sides, and had put her large sunhat back on. Jack had changed into a white shirt and had put his swimming trunks on, as he didn't actually own a pair of shorts and Derek Browns were too big. Together, they hailed a cab and took the ten minute journey down to the pier, and as soon as the cab drew to a halt, Rose ran out and over to the railings, and marvelled at the bright blue ocean, as it glittered like someone had dropped billions of diamonds into it, and the sun reflected off of the tanned backs of swimmers, and children ran round, playing tag in the sand. She stood with her mouth open, just watching for what felt like a second, but in fact; it had been ten minutes of hard bartering over the cost of the journey when Jack finally walked next to her and put his arm round her shoulders. Immediately she looked up at him, her mouth still open. He laughed at her shocked expression, which made her look oddly childlike, like she had received a surprise present. Jack kissed his wife's forehead and smiled as he said
"Told ya' I'd bring us here. And look," he gestured over to the sand, and when Rose did look, she gasped, whilst laughing and hugged her husband, but didn't take her eyes off of the point that he had pointed to
"Looks like they have horseback riding. You gonna' ride like a man?" she smiled, nodding vigorously
"And later we'll ride rollercoasters?" Jack's smirk got larger
"And drink cheap beer?" Rose giggled and nodded again, still looking as a child giggled with glee as they pony she was riding galloped toward the ocean and splashed her with the cool water
"And we'll learn to spit like men. Uninterrupted this time." Rose whispered, causing Jack to crack up, as he remembered her mother's expression when she saw them spitting over the side of the first class railings into the ocean. This was, of course; before he was told by Molly that he had a load of spit down the side of his mouth,
And before he swallowed down the spit he had hacked up with a big, audible gulp.
To be fair, he hadn't made the best first impression, but what did he care? Ruth was no more his mother-in-law than she was Rose's mother anymore. Her and her disapproving glare could kiss his ass. He had the most important thing in the world standing right next to him, and she would never be taken away again. With a squeal of excitement, Rose took her husband's hand and led him toward the slope that led down to the beach, and gave a murmur of excitement as she felt the warm, grainy sand against her feet for the first time.
~.~
Jack spent what felt like a day trying to get their towels to stay in place, as the sea breeze hoisted them into the air and away, leaving a giggling Rose watching her husband leap into the air to try and catch them as they turned into metaphorical kites. She then placed her bag on the edge and ran off to find some rocks to keep them down. It took around an hour for them to finally be able to sit down, the umbrella they had borrowed from Annie up and to lay down on their towels, and as soon as they did; Rose sat bolt upright and removed her sandals, and leaned over, throwing her leg over her husband's waist and straddling him, then leaning down and whispering in his ear
"Jack. Come on. Let's go and ride the horses. Jaaack!" she whispered, then as she said his name in the end, dragging the word out and kissing his ear softly, and he mumbled in his sleep, leaning over and taking Rose with him with a squeal, and wrapped his arms round her. She giggled and leaned up
"Jack. Wake up, darling." Jack moaned and pulled her closer, but she was able to pull her hands free, and shrugging under his strong grip, whispered
"You leave me with no choice," and began to tickle him under his armpits. He immediately opened his eyes and started to squirm, laughing hysterically and releasing his wife, then between gasps, laughing out
"Alright, alright! I'm up!" he rolled over and got up, dusting down himself, then holding out his hand and helping up Rose. The old lady sitting with her husband next to them with her elderly husband, who was playing with a small blonde child in the sand smiled at him
"Don't worry, dear. I'll watch your things for you." Rose and Jack both smiled at her
"Thank you, Madam. That's very kind of you." Rose said sweetly, before following her husband over to where he was speaking to the horse trainer; handing her a few notes. He looked up as his wife wandered over, and smiled and patted the rump of a brown mare
"Sweetheart, meet Jacky. I figured you'd want her." She smiled and smoothed down her skirt, then clambered up, but as she began to become comfortable Jack tutted, and she looked over concernedly
"Uh-uh. You're gonna' ride like a man, missy. No side saddle anymore." She gave a nervous smile
"Sorry, I...I forgot. How do I do it, I just put my leg here?" she swung her left leg over the side of the horse, which gave a groan of pain as the sharp heels of the woman on her back kicked her stomach. Rose sighed at her lack of tact and stroked the horse behind her ears, and Jacky relaxed considerably. Her trainer beamed at the redhead
"You must be somethin' special. Jacky normally hates it when people do that. Rears right up. Given us a coupl'a nice lawsuits, haven't ya' Jacky?" Rose immediately moved her hand away and her husband sped over worriedly, but the woman just laughed heartily and handed her the reins
"Aw, don't worry, lady. She won't hurt ya' Rose remained unconvinced, something which Jack could tell from her facial expression. With a sigh he climbed more gracefully onto his own steed, a pinto mare named Gypsy, who had feathers threaded into her mane, and moss green eyes-an anomaly which the young man hadn't come across before. With a click of his teeth and a gentle pat into the horse's side, she trotted over to Jacky and Rose, who was looking more frazzled by the second as she begged, cajoled and threatened the poor horse to move. Subtly, Jack recreated the action he had just used on Gypsy onto his wife's horse, who began to trot immediately, and Gypsy followed suit. Rose's smile of amazement and slight bewilderment was outstanding-and almost outshone the sunset which was coming over the beach. They had spent a little time on the sand before coming over, and Jack had realised that it was an hour before they were due back, so asked if they could go on a fifteen minute walk with the horses, something which the woman agreed to when she heard it was their honeymoon, and even more enthusiastically so when she had some notes in her pocket.
Jacky and Gypsy trotted gracefully up a grassy hill, in which a small dirt path had become eroded and up to the top, which overlooked the entire bay. Jack pulled on his reins and said
"Steady, girls. Steady." they both instantly stilled, letting out a small whinny of indignation, as if to say 'I had so much more to show you!' Rose gazed open mouthed in wonder, as if she had never realised than the world was so beautiful. She removed one hand from her reins and reached over, clasping her husbands and saying
"Isn't it just gorgeous, Jack?" he smiled, watching her and no where but her, then nodding
"Yeah, sure is."
"So? D'Jacky and Gyps treat ya' alright?" the woman asked as she tied the two horses reins to a pole which had been dug deep into the ground. Jack jumped down first, then helped his wife off-which she did, less catastrophically than when she had tried to lean over to smell a flower on their short ride. She smiled warmly at the trainer, who's accent still no one could place.
"Yes, thank you." the woman grinned and dug in her pocket, and placed a small, white card with a phone number on it. When she looked up in confusion, the weird woman said quickly
"Call me if you need ponies for birthdays or anythin'. Y'know kids love ponies." Rose smiled and waved to her as Jack jogged ahead and grabbed their beach back, thanking the old lady who was now lying on her towel, her blonde grandson snoring gently, gripping his Grandmother's serape.
"So come on! Where did you two meet?" Jack's aunt asked in her loud voice, whilst scooping up some spaghetti onto her spoon, and looking up at them inquisitively. Jack and Rose exchanged a look of mutual discomfort and with a stammer, and not being able to meet her new family member's gaze, Rose stammered
"I…we met on Titanic." Aunt Annie's mouth dropped open, as did Dawn's, although she also dropped her fork, so it fell with a clutter. Jack stared down at his food awkwardly, and Rose felt for his hand under the table, and squeezed it hard. Why did Annie have to ask that? Of all things. Momentarily she realised that it was a fairly normal question to ask newlyweds, but it was just their situation which made it a bad question. Annie stuttered, struggling to find a response, before saying quietly
"You poor..poor things. You're all right? Not hurt or nothin'?" Rose shook her head fiercely, causing Dawn to exhaling relief and Annie to blink
"We got a little bit on pneumonia-but we're fine. The doctor discharged us as soon as we woke up. Please don't worry, Annie." Annie half laughed half sighed as she resumed twirling pasta round her fork, and then transferring it to her spoon
"But honey, I do worry. That's my problem. You know what I did when I heard Jake and Lil had been in an accident? I went to church! Now, I'm not a bible basher or nothin', but I prayed to whoever was listenin'-God, Allah, Buddha whatever-that they would be alright. Then I got down to the station and tried to get a ticket with only 10 bucks. It was a 15 dollar ticket, because I was living in the San Fernando Valley-and they were all the way down in Wisconsin. By the time I got there, the funeral was done and Jackie was living with my niece. I just went on home. I'm sorry I did that Jackie." Jack had tears brimming from his eyes-relieved that at least someone; unlike those cold doctors at the hospital and him and his Gramma had loved his parents. He couldn't help but feel wistful-wishing that Annie had come to see him, to comfort him when his parents had died-but the past was the past, and slowly he out an arm across the table, gripping her hand, which was shaking as she was now sobbing, trying to stem the tears with a blue handkerchief. She looked up in surprise, and said quietly
"I'm so sorry, Jackie." He nodded
"I know."
An hour later and the gloomy tone was long gone from the dinner table, and by the time they all took a last spoonful of their desserts, an apple pie baked fresh by Dawn-everyone was laughing so much they had to hold their sides, AND Annie hit the table, and mid laugh managed to gasp out
"You're kidding, Jackie! You tried to stop her from jumpin' off a boat by callin' her crazy?" Jack laughed and squeezed his wife's hand
"Yep. Worked, though. She's here now." Annie raised a glass, and so did Rose and Jack. Dawn looked round for her juice carton, and quickly poured some more apple juice, then did the same proudly
"Amen to that!" Rose had felt awkward at that last topic of conversation-she hated the fact that she had been so low that she had nearly giveb up. If it hadn't been for Jack-well, she wouldn't have known all of the amazing people she knew now. What would have become of him? She knew that he was determined-but without the motivation of saving the both of them, so that they could dock and begin a new life, would he have survived the Titanic? The answer sent a chill down her spine, and she quickly had to divert her attention to where Jack was now easily teasing Dawn with talk of a boyfriend in her sixth grade class. Dawn looked indignant as she yelled
"I do not! Boys suck! Nanna, make him stop!" Annie gave a hearty laugh and kissed her granddaughter's head, then looked her watch and sighed
"Time for bed, Dawny. Say n'night." Dawn pouted angrily, but seeing her grandmother frown disapprovingly seemed like enough to make her move. She stood up and hugged Jack, then Rose and ran upstairs. As the adults were left alone-Jack turned to Annie
"What happened to her parents?" Annie shook her head and drank her coffee, her brow furrowing. She didn't look up as she said
"They're working in Switzerland. Didn't wanna' take Dawn with them. Poor kid's had to get used to it." Rose saw her husband sigh and pick up his own cup
"Does she understand?" Annie shrugged
"That they didn't want her? Well, sure. She got her Momma's brains. Virginia and Allen don't think about anyone but themselves. They're both doctor's. Only reason they had her was to shut up Allen's Mom. Soon as she was born-they moved down the street and got me to watch her. Allen worked days, and Ginny worked nights, but she said she was busy durin' the day and he said he needed to sleep durin' the night. I've basically been her Momma since she was a baby. Soon as they got asked to go to Switzerland, off they went. Thank God they aren't havin' any more children." Jack and Rose hadn't noticed that they had been holding their breath until they felt the need to exhale, and did so. Annie was now shaking her head in derision, but disturbingly-there was a smile on her face and she just watched them, then said sadly
"Know the worst part?" in unison, they both shook their heads
"Her grandmother? The one who told Ginny and Allen to have kids? Never came to see her. Not even once. Put some money in an envelope and sent it over, but never met her."
If Jack, or Rose, or Annie or even Ade had pushed open the door to the kitchen at that moment, that was adjoining to the dining room-they would have seen Dawn with her hand poised to grab a glass of milk, but it was half frozen in the air as she listened. Her expression grew more and more shocked, until a tear ran down her right cheek, and she wiped it away quickly, grabbed her milk and ran upstairs. Once she reached her room-she put her glass down on her table and threw herself onto her bed, and sobbed into the wee hours.
She had never known that her parents hadn't wanted her in the first place. Her Mom phoned her maybe once every three months, which she claimed was due to a bad connection and costs between Switzerland and America-but now she knew why now. She felt like she had aged ten years in the space of ten minutes.
And she didn't want to. She wanted time to rewind to when her Mom and Dad still lived in America, and at least her Nanna spoke to them-now she refused to, even at Christmas and Thanksgiving and now- Dawn Levinson was sad to say she knew exactly why.
Day 4
Jack and Rose had been in Santa Monica for four days when they started to get seriously concerned about Dawn, who had been acting sullen since the second morning-so much so that the placid Annie was beginning to snap at her for no reason, but they both knew that this was out of worry instead of anger, but they tried to concentrate on having a good time; as Annie reassured them that they needn't have stayed at the house on the second and third day to help out, as Dawn was locked in her room, grounded for swearing at Ade and making him upset. They really didn't mind-but now that she was ungrounded, Annie paid for them both to visit the nearest theme park, Water Springs about 40 minutes away by taxi. Jack had obviously asked to reimburse her- but Annie refused, stating that her good friend George owned it and she got a discount anyway, and that he should think of it as a late birthday and wedding present. He was about to argue with her when Ade came from behind them and grabbed the bags, and handed them to a cab driver. They had no choice-they had to go and enjoy their honeymoon. Jack thought about it for a moment as he and Rose squeezed into the back of the car, and then his heart lifted, and he managed to put his arm round Rose
They were going to enjoy their honeymoon.
Water Springs was like nothing Jack had ever seen before-it was a travelling circus/theme park-which was divided down the middle with red checked tarp, and began with a huge golden gate, and on the circus side, two clowns were unicycling whilst juggling blueberry pie (you could tell from the clowns' white gloves-which were now covered in blue mush from previous pies) and looking very worried. However, outside the theme park side, was a man holding a stamp and a pad of ink, and he was stamping people's hands before they came in, and after they had shown a receipt of a ticket. Jack led his wife over to the gate, and showed the man the receipt of Annie's present. The man smiled and pushed the stamp into the ink, then stamped the newlywed's left hand
"This means that if you leave to go into the circus part of Water Springs you can come back in. Enjoy!" as they stepped through the gates, they were left in awe as the stench of candy floss and popcorn met their noses, and the sound of people screaming in a mixture of fear, joy, elation and excitement made their ears rattle. Rose let out a laugh and squeezed her husband's arm, pointing to something in the distance
"Look, Jack! A rollercoaster!" Jack smiled at his wife's excited expression; seeming to reflect that of a child's when it entered a theme park. Had she really never seen a rollercoaster before. She was turned away from him, and was staring in awe at the attraction, gently tugging on his arm ever so often to try and convince him to follow her over. He leaned over and kissed her neck, causing her to start and crane her head in order to peer at him longingly. He smiled and nodded, and gripped her hand. Together, they walked over to the rollercoaster.
"Jack, I don't know about this…" Rose started as the bar was placed over her lap, and Jack smiled, making sure that his change was at the absolute bottom of his pockets. As the rollercoaster rumbled into motion, Rose grabbed hold of her husband's hand and squeezed as hard as she could. The machine made the cart (which they were sitting at the very front of) crawl up a slope, and Rose started to breath heavily. As it creeped over the edge, Rose yelled
"JAAAAAAAAACK!" he gave a hurried laugh, which quickly was silenced as his stomach flipped and the rollercoaster raced down. Rose was laughing hysterically, and Jack was unsure whether it was from fear or excitement, but either way-as he watched her laugh, he saw her become increasingly green, and shortly after-she stopped laughing and looked subdued. As the rollercoaster went round a loop, he heard her gag, and she leaned forward, opened her mouth-and vomited up her breakfast. As it drew to a halt, and the bar was raised, Jack jumped out of the cart and helped his wife out-as she was now shuddering and reached in her pocket. Shaking, she put the handkerchief against her mouth, but her hands were shaking too much to be able to actually effectively wipe her mouth, so Jack took it from her and gently wiped the edges of her lips, then reached into the bag they had brought and handed her a bottle of water, which she sipped gently, but gagged again and spat it out all over the floor, then covering her mouth and going red in embarrassment. Her husband rubbed soothing circles in her back and she relaxed, but was still shuddering. He helped her to stand up straight, and whispered
"Do you wanna go home?" she thought for a second, then shook her head
"No. I was only sick because of the rollercoaster. I'm not sick sick. Besides- we haven't seen everything here. I believe there's a stall over there that tells you your future. Come on!" she ran over to the stall, and Jack could only watch her go, shake his head in amused disbelief and then follow her
"Ah. De' fortune teller can see your future. Ye' be newlyweds?" Rose looked at her in disbelief, then at her husband, who looked quite apprehensive-but attentive to what the old woman said from across the small wooden table. They had both of their hands stretched over the table, and the woman had Jack's outstretched palm in her hand, and was tracing the lines on his skin-which tickled.
"Ah..I see great happiness and joy, but great sorrow also." Rose looked alarmed
"Sorrow? What sorrow?" the woman's eyes grew wider as she kept reading the palm, and the when a line suddenly stretched away, she tutted and said gravely
"The light shall be bright, then dark-and the two which shall inhabit shall cause great pain and joy." Rose was becoming frantic now and grabbed the woman's arm and cried
"Please! What does that mean! Please!" the woman took no notice and continued
"The one who loves shall leave in times of great trial, and for the 4 that shall pass-a new life shall begin." A bell rang through the theme park, and Rose and Jack jumped, but the woman dropped his hand
"The park be closin' ye' have to leave now..Mr and Mrs Daw-sen!" the way that the fortune teller pronounced the name made Rose feel slightly awkward, and she turned to Jack, who was picking up his coat from the armchair. She whispered
"Jack, please. Help me find out what she meant." He nodded and they turned round, but to their surprise-the woman had disappeared. They were surprised, as they were stood in front of the door, and the room was windowless. Maybe this made Mrs. Dawson more worried about the woman's prediction, but her husband quickly hurried her out, and they ran over to the taxi rig and quickly went back to Aunt Annie's.
Inside the room, the light's turned off, and the cloth on the table flew into the air and rushed over to a set of drawers, which flew open. The cloth folded itself into a neat pile and placed itself inside. The drawers closed with a click, and an old woman, who was leaving the fair, looked back at the place where she had been giving predictions. With a flick of her hand, two wooden panels flew onto the windows and a larger one flew onto the door. On them, read the word 'WITCH'. The woman gave a laugh, her brown teeth bared in a grim smile. She pulled her shawl tighter over her shoulders, and hobbled out of the gates-which gave a creak, and closed behind her.
Back at Aunt Annie's
"I think you're worryin' about nothing, Rosie. She was just making up a load of baloney." Annie said as she chopped a carrot, and Rose chopped a tomato. They were making pork chops, and were talking amicably-but they had to talk rather loudly, as Jack and Dawn had sat down for a game of snap, and between chatting, shouting and yelling-the house was buzzing. Ade was in the backyard chopping wood, and through the window Rose could see him wipe his brow with the back of his hand, before swinging the axe again.
"I hope so, Annie. Things are just going to well, and I don't want anything to harm it." Annie smiled dryly, thinking of her ex-husband Laurent-who had left when Ginny was 10. He had been a lot like Jack-handsome, talented and unable to be tied down. She worried that Jack would eventually bore of married life-for her sake (if he left, she'd never hear from him again) and for Rose's. She poked the chops which were frying and then flipped them, and said without turning
"Ya know, Rosie. Jack loves the bones of ya, and nothin' no old fraud says is gonna change that, alrighty?" Rose nodded slowly, still slightly frightened but turned the salad in the polka dot bowl, and added some seasoning, which basically meant oil and salt. Times were tough, and Annie said it made it taste better. Who was she to argue? In her old life she didn't know what was going into her food-she had thought that caviar came from the ground until someone explained it to her, and she was revolted by the thought of eating baby fish and steadfast refused to eat it ever again, and no matter how much her mother begged, sulked and threatened, she kept to her word. From that day, if she was unfamiliar with something-she would ask, and sometimes would be disgusted, but still intrigued. She found she liked learning new things. Annie forked the chops and slid them onto plates. Rose picked them up and with a steady hand, wiped away the excess oil with a cloth. Annie watched in admiration
"Fine steady hand, ya got there. Ever thought of doin' somethin' with it? Art or cooking maybe?" Rose blushed as she moved onto another plate
"I..I had etiquette lessons. Having steady hands was lesson one. Lesson two was learning to stay quiet unless spoken to." Annie rolled her eyes and scooped some salad onto the plates next to the chops messily, making Rose squeal involuntarily at the mess. She leaned against the counter, one hand holding onto the edge tight, and the other on her hip as she regarded her niece-in-law
"You don't have to be anyone but yourself, honey. We love you as you are. Get it?" Rose blushed and picked up some plates
"Yes. I understand." Annie beamed and picked up the remaining plates. Luckily, she had given her other guests dinner a few hours ago, and they had all retreated to either their rooms or out to walk along the beach front. The house was quiet, and they could enjoy their family dinner in peace. As the women went into the dining room, Annie yelled
"Chow's up!" the rumble of footsteps made the floor vibrate, and Rose and Annie exchanged a look of amusement, and then burst into laughter. The rest of the family rushed into the room and sat down eagerly. They spoke eagerly of their respective days, and everyone had laughed as they heard of Rose's first experience with a rollercoaster. Through the window, anyone would mistake them from a family, who had eaten dinner like this for years and years. Like they had not a care in the world. Like nothing could tear them apart.
How wrong they were.
A/N OK! So this is late; but we promise we have an excuse. Alessia got sick, like really sick so she couldn't finish up 15; but she is REALLY sorry. Then Tal went away to work and well..Alessia had a lot to do, like finding a job of her own (no luck). Special thanks to Artemis and her sister (RosePotterDawson) for letting us know they'd remembered and then wishing Alessia better 3 you two are the sweetest! And also, if you have the time, please read TitanicLover91's story. She needs all the reviews and support she can get. We promise it's a good story :)
On the plus side; this is a lot longer than we had anticipated it would be; as we had to go through an entire week of honeymoon- so we hope you liked it-and by the time you read this-chapter 16 will be in its editing and 17 and 18 will hopefully have been started. See? We're planning ahead now! Isn't that exciting? ;D
Now onto something a little bit more...serious. We have a feeling everyone's seen a flame before, but if you haven't, it's a review which isn't constructive criticism, but just hate hate hate. Now, our friend got a load of them on her story, and don't get us wrong it's a damn good story; but it's...controversial to say the least. We're just going to say that if we ever get criticism on our stories, we deal with them, we don't ignore. Normally if you say something to us that we find offensive, we'll just grit our teeth and get on with it, but we'll make this clear; we would NEVER flame anyone because it's just cowardly and wrong. We believe in constructive criticism and will always answer every single review we get, even though it might take us a while to get round them all.
That's all, and also; basically-a flame directed to us means that you're in a position to answer to us. Just warning you. If you're stupid enough to hide behind anonymity to hate on people you've never met…
My motto is 'Don't start something you can't finish.'
Finally; if you ever need to ask us something about the story and updates and stuff, please let us know. We also give out advice to anyone who would like it.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
-Talia&Alessia
xxx