Tuesday, March 18th, 1913

Ruth Dewitt-Bukater sat uncomfortably in the seat of the train that was taking her to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She looked out the window of the train as it rolled along the plains of the Midwest. The countryside she was seeing was much different than Philadelphia, a bustling city. She had never really lived anywhere besides Philadelphia, and she had only traveled to big cities such as New York City and Paris. What would she do in a rural area, anyway? She certainly had no interest in socializing with farmers and third-class housewives, people that she saw as beneath her.

She looked at the scene surrounding her inside the train with disgust. Children of all different ages were yelling and crying, wanting attention from their parents, who were trying to keep up with several children at once. The smell of the food that people were eating made Ruth's stomach churn. There wasn't a single person in the coach section of the train that Ruth would even consider spending time with. She refused to believe that this was her life now – that she, Ruth Dewitt-Bukater, had been reduced to such a level. It wasn't just humiliating, it was unbelievable. How had things changed so much in just a year? A year ago she was on her way to Europe with Rose and Cal, living a first-class lifestyle that many people could only dream of living. Everything was perfect. Sure, she had her late husband's debts to worry about, but that would all be taken care of when Rose married Cal in May.

Now, everything had been ruined. Rose had decided to run off with that steerage boy, who was obviously complete trash. At least the Hockleys had let Ruth stay with them after the ship went down, as she was forced to sell her home to help pay off her late husband's debts. It was unfortunate that Rose had passed away and was no longer able to marry Cal in order to keep their wealth. Ruth had believed that her only daughter had gone down with the Titanic, and was completely shocked when Cal came back from what she believed was a business trip in August to tell her that not only was Rose alive and well, she was married to the gutter rat and living with him in Chippewa Falls.

Ruth was absolutely shocked when she heard this news. She had raised her daughter to be a lady, and not only did Rose run off with a third-class man while she was engaged, she had pretended to be dead and made no effort at all to contact her mother or Cal. She was extremely angry with her daughter, and wanted to have nothing to do with her. While Ruth was slightly relieved to hear that her daughter was alive, she made no effort to get in contact with her. Ruth wanted nothing to do with Jack Dawson, who she saw as completely beneath her. The thought of her daughter being married to such a man absolutely disgusted her, and Ruth didn't want anything to do with her daughter if it meant she had to be around steerage trash.

Ruth was extremely relieved when the Hockleys didn't immediately kick her out following the discovery that Rose was alive and married to someone other than their son. Ruth was shocked when yesterday, Nathan Hockley's personal secretary had come to her room. The men had left for a business meeting, and Mrs. Hockley was out having tea with some of the other women of society. Ruth was left alone in the house with the servants, with nothing to do but sit in her room. She would never forget what had happened.

Nathan's secretary, Mr. Gibbons, had informed Ruth that with her daughter alive and obviously not marrying Caledon, the Hockleys no longer had any room in their home for Ruth. They wanted her out of their house and out of their lives. The Hockleys didn't want to risk any gossip or scandals if the rest of Philadelphia society learned how they had kicked out the homeless mother of Caledon's dead fiancé. They held no ill feelings towards Ruth, Mr. Gibbons informed her, but they no longer had any use to her and they had no interest in her continuing to live with them. It had been eleven months since the Titanic, and seven since they had all learned that Rose was still alive. Ruth no longer fit into the family's plans.

Mr. Gibbons handed Ruth an envelope containing one hundred dollars in cash and told her to buy a railway ticket and leave Philadelphia with the few belongings that she had left. He informed her that a cab would arrive at the Hockley mansion in thirty minutes to take her to the train station, and then quickly left the room, giving Ruth no time to protest.

As Ruth took the envelope from Mr. Gibbon's hands, she felt like someone was strangling her. She was completely speechless, and gave the man no indication that she had heard anything that he was saying to her. When he left the room, she silently sat down on the bed, the crisp, white envelope still in her hands, unsure of what to do. She eventually got a leather suitcase out from under the bed and packed what few belongings that she had left after selling most of her things to pay off the debts she owed. She packed her dresses, shoes, and a few pieces of jewelry that she refused to part with, and silently went downstairs where she waited for the cab driver to come pick her up.

And now here she was, on a train to Chippewa Falls. She was too embarrassed to turn to any of her friends, and she didn't really have any family in the States. Her only option was to turn to her only daughter and her worthless husband. She sighed, trying to block out the noises from all of the other people on the train. What if Rose sent her out on the streets? She couldn't support herself. She only had eighty dollars left after purchasing her train ticket, and that wouldn't get her very far. She would have to get a job, but how? Ruth didn't possess any worthy skills that she could use in order to get a job. She had never worked a day in her life, and had no desire to start now.

Ruth tried to shake these thoughts from her head as the train trudged towards Chippewa Falls. It would be arriving at ten o'clock, which was in an hour, and Ruth would then have to find her daughter's home and confront her. She decided that she had nothing to worry about – Rose was her daughter, after all. She was required to take care of her dear old mother.

"Peek-a-boo!" Rose exclaimed as she brought her hands away from her face, making Molly laugh as she sat in her high chair at the kitchen table. They had just finished eating breakfast – Rose eating a meal that Jack had cooked that morning before he left for work, and Molly drinking warm milk out of a bottle.

"Well miss Molly, what would you like to do today?" Rose asked her daughter, who just smiled at her mother in response. "How about we go visit Aunt Lilly later today? She'll be happy to see her favorite little girl!" Molly laughed at this and stuck her arms out in front of her, wanting to be picked up by her mother. Rose picked Molly up out of her highchair, balancing her on her hip, before starting to clean up the kitchen.

Things had been going well for the Dawsons for the past two months. Jack and Rose settled quickly into being parents to little Molly, who was growing right before their eyes. It was hard to believe that Sunday marked two months since her birth. Rose had insisted that each milestone that Molly reached be celebrated, so she had cooked up a big dinner and invited Lilly, who was now a little over six months pregnant, and Charlie over to eat. They all had a great time, especially Lilly, who swooned over Molly like she was her own child. She couldn't believe that in just a few months, she would have her own baby to look after. Molly would have a new playmate, and it would be wonderful for the two children to grow up together.

Jack was still working at the factory during the week, leaving Rose to take care of Molly by herself during the day. She decided not to go back to teaching acting classes until her and Jack returned from their upcoming trip to Santa Monica. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with her daughter, and with Jack making fairly good money at the factory, she didn't need to work – it was simply something that she enjoyed. However, Molly came first to Rose and she didn't want to miss a moment of her childhood. She loved her days with Molly. While she missed Jack during the day, it was nice to have some time to spend with just her daughter. Rose loved Molly more than she ever thought possible, and being a mother made her realize why parents were so protective over their children. Molly was her whole world now, besides Jack of course, and she would do anything for her baby girl. Molly was a wonderful baby, only crying when she needed something or wanted to be held. Her and Jack were already talking about having another baby in the future.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Rose looked at the clock. It was eleven o'clock. Rose would wait until lunchtime to go over to Lilly's house with Molly. That way, she could make a lunch so that Lilly wouldn't have to cook anything for herself. With her advancing pregnancy, she was often tired and Rose knew her friend needed a break from housekeeping duties.

Rose took Molly into the living room and was immediately greeted by Daisy, who was lying down on the couch, wanting attention from Rose. "Hey there, Daisy," Rose whispered as she leaned down to scratch the young dog between her ears. She let Daisy follow her as she walked over to the bookshelf, where some children's books were.

"Well, miss Molly, what should we read today, sweetheart?" Rose asked her daughter, who laughed in response and grabbed onto one of Rose's long red curls. Rose smiled at this. She remembered the day that Molly had first smiled. It was such a proud moment for her and Jack, to see their baby daughter smile and laugh for the first time. She was growing up so fast.

Rose picked up a book from the bookshelf and sat down on the sofa, Molly on her lap and Daisy sitting next to them. Just as she was about to start reading to her daughter, Daisy leapt off the couch and started to bark, obviously trying to get Rose's attention.

"What is it, Daisy?" Rose asked just before she heard someone knocking on the front door. Wondering who it could be, she sighed and got up from the sofa, balancing Molly on her hip. She walked to the front door and opened it, not believing her eyes at first when she saw who was standing on her front porch. It took Rose a moment to gain her composure and think of anything to say. Molly stared at the strange woman with big, curious eyes, oblivious to her mother's tension.

"Mother," Rose finally croaked out. "What are you doing here?"

A/N: Oooh, a cliffy. I'll try to update soon, but I'm very busy this week! I'll do my best, though. Review please!