A/N: Hi okay so little explanation. We never meant to split up chapter 15; we didn't want to make you wait anymore-so Talia suggested that we upload it in two parts-and that's what we did. Now this is part 2; so ENJOYY
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Your honeymoon tells the world-and maybe you-who you are.
GINGER STRAND,Inventing Niagara
A Whole New Life
Chapter 15.2
The last day of a honeymoon is always known to be one of the most frantic days of your life. Perhaps behind your wedding day, but the rush of packing, calling a cab to collect you and panicking as one tries to find the ticket is all together not a pleasant experience. Luckily, Jack and Rose had the good sense to begin their packing the night before, after a game of poker with the entire guest house, including elderly pair, Mrs Roger and Miss Hartman from Long Beach- who had decided to have a break from their normal life, consisting of getting the paper, and waiting for their children (who live in Denver) to visit them. They never came. After hearing this, Dawn immediately attached herself to the two women, knowing of their loneliness. Annie had no problems with this, enjoying her normally rambunctious granddaughter sitting with two wise women who taught her knitting, crochet and told her stories of their childhood. Also playing was the quiet Ade, who not surprisingly-was extremely quiet and muttered 'sorry' whenever he got a full house, which annoyingly was quite often. It was an involuntary reaction, Jack figured. After all those years of being persecuted against- it wasn't a shock that Ade found it so strange being treated as an equal by Annie and her family. It was one of the rules when you stayed at the Lodge; there was no racism toward Ade. Annie wouldn't tolerate it. She said that one of the younger guests she'd had a few months ago had called him.. She had trailed off and looked at Dawn pointedly. Jack and his wife both knew what she had meant though-and apparently, they had been thrown out before their first night had even begun. They went to stay up in Witcher Hotel-the only famous and luxurious hotel in Santa Monica-and not to mention it was almost three times more expensive than Annie's. At Witcher they employed black people as waiters and cleaners, and those who stayed in penthouse suites even had a black maid all to themselves. Annie spoke with disgust of the owner, Barnaby Witcher, who many years ago had been unlawfully acquitted of assaulting a black woman as she walked down the street with her two young children. Everyone knew that he had done it-people had witnessed it. Unluckily though, they were easily manipulated and the poor Mother would have to live the rest of her life with a crooked jaw where he had kicked her. The elder woman gave a sigh at this point and put down her cards, rubbing her eyes as she said
"I fold." Slowly, Jack and Rose did the same, leaving just Ade with cards in hand. Everyone's attention was on him, even the elderly women and Dawn. He muttered another apology as he placed down his cards to reveal yet another full house. The entire company groaned, which quickly turned into laughter and Jack playfully slapped the man on the back
"Ade, you have to show me how you do that." Ade gave a tiny smile and said jokingly, and possibly in the loudest voice he could muster
"I'm sorry, Mr Jack." Jack tutted at him jokingly as Ade pulled all of the chips toward him, but leaving a short distance between him and them; as if he was worried of the reaction he would receive if he claimed the chips definitely. Annie looked around tiredly, and her eyes stopped on the two elderly visitors and her granddaughter, who was now yawning-but as she saw her grandmother watching her quickly tried to smother it- desperately pretending that she had been opening her mouth in order to speak, as opposed to the reality. Annie marched over, her hands on her hips and barked
"Young lady, your bedtime was over two hours ago! Did you really think that if you hid I wouldn't notice? Upstairs! Now!" Dawn opened her mouth to argue but Annie's eyebrows narrowed, and she glared at her granddaughter in warning. Dawn immediately backed down, but began to pout. Without even looking at her companions she stormed past her grandmother, pushing her away by shoving her shoulder against her armpit and flounced up the stairs, stomping as she went and slammed the door behind her so loud that he whole place vibrated. The entire company winced; and there was silence for a brief moment, before Ade gave a small exhale of his breath-and Annie said in annoyance
"Temper from her Momma. I'm sorry, everyone," she raised her voice loud enough for the residents upstairs to hear
"My granddaughter doesn't have any manners!" Dawn upstairs stamped hard on the floor, and her aim was good- she managed to pick the exact spot where the ceiling would be just above Annie's head. The vibrations caused some of the ceiling plaster to fall in small rain-like droplets onto the elder woman's head-who coughed and spluttered at the taste of the horrible dust. She gave a cry of anger and spat out the words
"Excuse me." She then excused herself and flounced upstairs, causing one of the loudest screaming matches any of the guests has ever heard to occur-one that sounded like was going to go on through the night. The newlyweds exchanged a mutual look of amusement, only breaking it when Jack looked away, shaking his head derisively and put his arm around his beloved wife and announced
"I think we're gonna head on up too, everyone. Goodnight." Rose smiled meekly at all of her fellow guests, feeling extremely happy; but very, very tired. She hadn't even realised how much so until Jack had mentioned going to bed. She gave a fleeting glance to the clock, and her eyes widened in surprise as she was that it was half past twelve in the morning. She found herself yawning and immediately she covered her mouth daintily. Jack was smiling at his wife, who he found looked beautiful no matter what she was doing. He took his hand in hers and led her upstairs, yelling
"Goodnight Aunt Annie! Night Dawn!" the screaming stopped for a short second, in which time the grandmother and granddaughter yelled
"Night, Jack! Night Rose!" sweetly, then almost immediately they began to yell at each other again. The young couple began to laugh, and continued up the stairs. They collapsed onto their bed with an elated sigh and were asleep within a minute of their being over the threshold of their bedroom. They dreamt pleasant dreams, of their united futures together.
The hotel was buzzing the next morning, and Rose opened one sleep filled eye, and listened carefully. She heard glasses being clinked, plates being moved and clanging together and voices chatting. No shouting. Dawn and Annie had obviously made up. She gave a tiny yawn and rolled over, and realised that Jack had spent the entire night with his arms around her. She smiled and put her arms round him too, and he stirred-giving a happy sigh as he tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her toward him. As he did, she placed a soft kiss on his nose, and it made him chuckle as he managed to finally wrench open his eyes. As soon as he saw his wife, who was smiling sleepily his grin got bigger and he murmured
"Good morning." She smiled back at him and whispered
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" he gave a yawn and wriggled under the covers, trying to rouse his limbs which had fallen prisoner to numbness during sleep. She gave a small chortle as he groaned with indignation after he hit his toe on the bed stand. She had no idea what he had planned for the final day of the honeymoon-but was looking forward to it, whatever it was.
Unless it was another day of him complaining about how Ade beat him at poker.
She knew that Jack wasn't saying it from a racial point of view, but she couldn't help but feel that he didn't feel a little bit sore that he had lost to someone. It didn't matter what colour, faith or gender they were- much like most men, Jack resented losing to anyone. He was in the bathroom now, shaving away the small amount of facial hair that had grown in the time that they had been there. He had initially, once learning that he and Annie were related to take any of the free toiletries that had been left, but Annie put her foot down, and told Jack that it did not matter if Jack was rich and Annie poor, that he was the one on his honeymoon and that he deserved to be treated. There really wasn't much room for argument, no matter how much he grumbled under his breath about feeling like he was 'taking his flesh and blood for a ride'.
She wandered over to the door of the bathroom, where her husband was struggling to get to a certain space on his neck with his razor. She perched on the counter in front of him and gently took the blade from him and pulled it against his skin. She then flicked the razor under the sink, and watched the stubble flow away down the plug hole. As she turned round, Jack placed his lips on hers gently, and as he pulled away-whispered
"Thanks, Mrs Dawson." She gave a giggle at the sound of her new name, wondering when exactly it would sink in that in fact, she was married. Not to one of those stiffs that her mother adored, but to the man she loved. Her Jack.
Jack gave a coy smile and said calmly
"Now, how about a shower?" she nodded and hopped down from the counter and got out the soap that was kept in the cupboard above the sink. She unbuttoned her nightdress once she heard the door click close, however when she turned around to grab a towel, she found that her husband was still there-grinning. Her stomach gave a hiccup as she realised what he meant, and it was made oh so much more real as he pulled off his shirt and kicked off his socks.
-AWNL-
Once breakfast was done with, and they had gathered their shoes, they left for their last day in Santa Monica. As Jack closed the door to his Aunt's business and placed his hat on his head, Rose threaded her arm through his, and they walked down the steps onto the street
"So, where are we going?" Jack opened the door to the cab for his wife, and watched him suspiciously, she got in quietly and within a second, Jack was sitting next to her. She waited for him to tell the cab driver where he should take him, but to her surprise-the driver simply pulled away from the curb and began to drive in the opposite direction to where they normally went, into the centre of Santa Monica and toward the beach. This time they were headed toward the streets leading out of the city. Rose elbowed her husband in the side, and he groaned in pain-rubbing the spot where her sharp elbow had been. She hissed at him
"How does he know where we're going and I don't? Jack!" her husband had begun to chortle and put his arm round her, holding her close against him. He whispered
"I called the cab company while you were helping Annie with the dishes. I told them. Annie prepaid it too, cause' we'll be in this cab a little while."
"Well, will you at least tell me what we're doing?" he pursed his lips and shook his head. Rose slumped back in her seat and gave a sigh. She realised she was still a little sleepy, as her eyes began to droop. Soon, she was fast asleep.
She began to dream.
"Jack! Jack, dinner!" Rose yelled up the stairs, before walking back into her kitchen and placing the huge dish of stew in the middle of her dining table. The one big dish was surrounded by smaller dishes, filled with potatoes, tomatoes, various vegetables and a plate of bread. She pulled off her apron and washed her hands, not even turning round when she heard cluttering and a chair scraping
"Alice, sweetheart-slow down." Her six year old gave a giggle, so small and sprite like that even Rose began to laugh. It was like the sound was contagious.
"Yes, mommy." Rose turned and sat on the seat next to her daughter and began scooping food onto her plate, and cut up the pieces of meat from the stew as Jack walked in, smiling at his family as he sat, as head of the household at the top of the table. He whistled when he saw the food
"Rosie, this looks absolutely delicious-doesn't it, Ally?" Alice nodded vigoursly, so hard she reminded her mother momentarily of one of those novelty things she'd seen in a store. She worried momentarily that her daughter's head would snap off completely. The married couple then plated up their food, and Jack took his wife and daughter's hands in his own and bowed his head-then began to thank God for the food they had received. They had still not become overly religious, but Jack insisted, stating that the God that had spared them that fateful night in 1912 was the one who had given them their biggest blessings; each other and their precious Alice. However, as Jack was finishing, there was a loud smash, and suddenly- around seven men were in their kitchen. Immediately Jack stood up and moved in front of his family-protecting them. They both paled however as someone they had never wanted to see again pushed in front of the others, brandishing a revolver. Jack gulped as the man, Caledon Hockley grinned and said
"I never lose Jack." And began to pull the trigger-
"JACK!" Rose screamed. The cab swerved and the driver swore as he gave other people a rude gesture when they bibbed their horns at him. Her husband immediately held her close and whispered
"It's okay, Rosie. I'm here. I'm here, sweetheart. What happened? Are you alright?" she began to sob, and buried her head in the crook of his arm. She was vaguely aware of the car stopping and Jack thanking the driver, who stated that he would 'give them some space' and got out, and from peeking, Rose saw him light a pipe and begin to smoke. Jack pulled her chin so that she was facing him, and forced her to meet his eye. She immediately blushed in embarrassment and tried to move, but to no avail-he was extremely strong; at any rate-stronger than she was. She whispered desperately
"Please, Jack. I don't want to talk about it." He watched her curiously, and more importantly, worriedly. These night terrors had been plaguing Rose for as long as they had been together, and although he knew what (and more importantly who) they were about. He was disgusted that this man had been able to dig himself so deep, like a parasite. He didn't know if Rose would ever fully stop worrying about it, be able to move on with her life. Here she was, shuddering on her own honeymoon about that bastard Cal.
He should have knocked him out, not that creep Lovejoy. Maybe he would have hit his head on the side of a table and then maybe, just maybe-his wife would be able to move on with her life with him. Rose gave one short breath, and rubbed her eyes quickly. She decided that she was no longer going to act like the victim. As soon as she was 100% sure that she would not burst into tears, she finally looked at Jack, and smiled encouragingly.
"Well? Aren't you going to show me what exactly it is that we're doing?" Jack managed to snap out of his reverie and grinned, gesturing to the edge of the hill, overlooking the ocean far away in the distance. On the ground was a red cheque blanket, and a basket whose lid was not properly fitted due to the amount of food inside of it. If you sat at the correct angle, you could see the skyline of Santa Monica and in the horizon-greater California. Rose let out a quiet gasp, muffling it with her hand. She threw her arms around Jack and hugged him to her as tightly as she could. She let out a breath of excitement and beamed at him, exclaiming
"Jack! It's absolutely perfect!" he smiled back and took her hand gently in his, bowing his head and saying in a faux bourgeoisie accent
"Milady. Would you care to sit a spell?" She gave a giggle and nodded, sitting down gracefully. Jack sat next to her, and opened the basket. Immediately a bottle of white wine and a bed roll fell out, and he cursed under his breath- much to his wife's amusement. He placed the two carefully back into the basket and took out some cheese and a knife, and began to slice them.
"Would you like some wine?" Rose rolled her eyes as she noticed how hard her husband was concentrating on getting everything to balance in the basket. Truly, she was quite overwhelmed at how much work he had put into this. It was the last day of their honeymoon, sure-but she thought that perhaps they would just go somewhere nice. From the looks of things; based on the location and presentation of where they were-Jack had been planning this for a while
"Jack." She said gently. As he looked up, she kissed him softly, squeezing his hand as she drew away and whispering
"Thank you for being you."
-AWNL-
The night grew still, and the couple lay on the soft grass, their arms round each other as they stared up at the sky, and Jack made up some constellations and pointed at them, spouting fake nonsense about Zeus and other Gods from other cultures that he had learned about on his travels. He hoped that his educated wife wouldn't pick up on it. He pointed at another row of stars and said
"That's...Sirius. The Dog Star. It's the brightest one in the sky." Rose raised an eyebrow and pointed at another space in the abyss and stated
"Are you sure? That looks a lot brighter-"
"Yes, I'm sure! Now over there is...err.. Dasher and Dancer.." Roe let out a short laugh and held her husband closer. His cheeks flushed pink and he muttered
"Great work, Dawson." His wife kissed his cheek softly and pointed at a row of stars and said
"I think you forgot Prancer and Vixen." He stared at her in disbelief
"Comet and Cupid?" she grinned at him and quietly finished
"Donner and Blitzen." She honestly never ceased to amaze him. His parents had forever been telling him of that poem, 'A Visit from St Nicholas', especially around Christmas time. However, they frequently recited it throughout the year, and he was now beginning to understand it was to scare him into behaving-so as not to lose his gifts. He wondered if all parents did that. They had to be; even the cruellest parents like Ruth had obviously told their children. Rose, as if reading his mind said
"My nanny used to tell it to me on Christmas Eve before I went to sleep. She also read 'The Night before Christmas'. That was my favourite." He regarded her, and even though she was not directly looking at him, he could see that this subject was troubling her. He murmured
"Where were your folks?" she scoffed and said angrily
"At a gala or some other event. Ever year a party with dignitaries was more important than me. I never missed out though; the servants and my nanny would throw a party down in the kitchen once they had gone out. Cook would make roast turkey and roast potatoes and Christmas pudding...it was magical. We would sing and dance until an hour before my parents were due to come home, then I would go to bed. I preferred it that way." Jack stared at her in disbelief. No...not disbelief. He found this kind of behaviour perfectly plausible from someone like Ruth, but from what Rose had told him about her father, he was more surprised.
"So you never had a family Christmas? With both of your parents?" she shrugged, quite an unladylike action for her
"If I did, I can't remember it. I was only ever important to my Mother when she needed something to seem like a good wife. Daddy was good to me, but he'd listen to mother when it came to upholding his reputation. Quite sad now that I think about it." Jack held her tighter, kissing the top of her head. He murmured in her ear
"I promise you, we will have the best Christmas anyone has ever had. We'll invite over everyone we know, Annie, Dawn, Ade, John, Molly, Ciara, Terry and Cassie..Ruby..Paul..Michael..Liam and Aoife we'll invite 'em all! I promise you, Rosie." She stared at him in awe, and without warning crushed her lips on his and whispered
"I love you." Over and over.
And she did. Forever and forever.
Fireworks began to erupt above them, causing the sky to light up and covering up the stars. Rose stared in surprise, gasping at the array of colours and sounds. The reflection caused Rose's face, which was facing up go different colours. Jack was beginning to get the feeling that she had never seen fireworks before. The fireworks set off on Titanic to send an SOS was different-they were white and were something that one would rather not remember. These were pink, green, blue and yellow. So many different colours and shapes that Rose's expression resembled a child in a newly constructed toy shop. As the words spelt out
"Love you, Rose" her cheeks went pink
And it sure as hell wasn't from the fireworks.
-AWNL-
The next morning had been rather depressing. Rose knew from the moment that she opened her eyes blearily and felt that her husband wasn't next to her that something was wrong. She immediately sat up, ignoring her head swimming and got out of bed, and placed her ear on the door, listening
"Now, Jack-you know I ain't one for charity."
"This isn't charity, Aunt Annie. We stayed here as customers, and loved it as family. I want to pay for my room and my food. Please." Rose opened the door slowly and went and stood next to her husband, taking the wad of money from his hand and placing it in Annie's, saying softly
"Take it as a down payment toward that new fridge you needed. We're giving it to you as family to make your life easier." The woman tutted and said in annoyance
"You kids are just startin' out. You need this more than I do. Please." Rose shook her head belligerently
"No. Please, Annie. We love you; we just want you to have an easier life than we expect you've had. Please." Annie muttered under her breath, but nodded and tucked the money into her pocket. As she turned and went downstairs, Jack kissed his wife's head and muttered
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. How long were you talking to her?" Jack looked at his watch, squinting at the small face
"About 20 minutes. Only took you 2. You women must have super powers." He put his arm round her and they ventured downstairs to the smell of bacon. She held him closer and whispered with a smile
"Something like that."
"Now y'all take care. Don't take so long to get back in touch next time!" Annie hollered from the door, Dawn beside her waving. Ade was watering the flowers at the front of the big house and looked up to, tapping the corner of his hat then waving too as the young couple got in the car. Immediately, Rose opened the window and waved too, yelling
"We'll see you soon. Promise! Christmas, thanksgiving but soon!" as they became smaller when the cab drove away, she slumped back in her seat, letting out a single huff. Jack put his arm round her and said reassuringly
"Don't worry, sweetie. You're not going to be apart from them for long." She sat closer to him, and nuzzled herself into his side, whispering
"How do you know, Jack?" he kissed her head and murmured
"Because they're your family. You're stuck with them forever now."
Oddly, it was a comforting thought.
As the cab drew into the train station and they were about to clamber onto their carriage, Rose and Jack took one last look back at Santa Monica, their arms round the other' waist. They gave a sigh of contentment, and finally got back onto the train so they could go home, and begin their new lives together.
A/N When I told Talia that I was going to have this done and edited in one day she seemed to believe me, but Ia didn't so I'm pretty impressed that I managed it. I know it's chock-a-block full of clichés but sometimes they're needed-especially in the holiday season.
Hope you all had a happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Kwanza and a happy new year to you all!
God bless, and goodnight!
(For the last time this year)
-Talia&Alessia
(The2DawsonGirls)