Jack carried Rose back up to his house with Lucy, firing questions at her. Whilst Amelia and Sarah walked behind with Tilly and Sophia.
Jack laid Rose on the sofa when they arrived back at his house. "When is Mummy going to wake up?" Tilly directed to everyone in the room "hopefully soon sweetheart" Amelia smiled nervously. "Jack, is there somewhere Tilly can sit whilst we wait for Rose to wake up? I think she's a little frightened" "She can go in to the dining room if she likes? My sketch book is on the table in there and there's some coloured pencils on the side… she can do some colouring if she wants" "well Tilly, you should feel honoured, there's not many people Jack would let use his sketch book!" Amelia joked "come on" she held out her hand for Tilly who took it. "I'll go with them" Sarah said "so Rose isn't too crowded when she wakes up" "thanks Sarah" Lucy replied.
—
Jack went in to the kitchen to get a cold compress to put on Rose's head. A few minutes later, Rose began to wake up, Lucy being the only one with her. She groaned as she held her head and began to sit up "hey sleepy head" Lucy smiled "what happened?" Rose frowned confused "you fainted at the party, you're OK though" "where are the girls?" "Sophia is asleep in her pram and Tilly is in the other room with Amelia" Lucy gave a reassuring smile.
Jack walked in to the room and froze as he saw Rose, despite being happy and relieved she was now awake. Rose looked at him, also freezing. "Lucy, would you mind giving us a minute please?" Jack asked. Lucy nodded, despite being confused, it was obvious Jack and Rose knew one another, but how? As far as she was aware, the two of them had never met. "Sure, I'll go and check on Tilly" "thank you" Rose smiled to Lucy as she left the room.
"How…?" Jack said as he stared at Rose "I- I thought you were dead" she stuttered in response "I could say the same to you" Jack said, trying to the lighten the mood, causing her roll her eyes "well at least I know you haven't changed"
Jack chuckled and sat at the other end of the sofa to Rose "what happened to you?" She asked confused "I let you go… I watched you sink" "I woke up as I was going down… I managed to get to the surface and I was rescued… you were too?" He questioned "yeah" she nodded. "And you're married now?" He asked as he looked at her wedding ring, disappointed. She spotted him looking at it and froze "no… well yes… erm-" Rose didn't know what to say, not wanting to get on to the subject of Cal. Jack just looked at her confused but moved on, knowing she clearly didn't want to talk about it. "And you have 2 daughters?" He asked. Rose nodded "Sophia and Tilly" she nodded… "speaking of, why was Tilly with you?" She asked confused "oh, she fell and cut her arm, I offered to help her find her Mum… obviously not realising that you are her Mum…" he said awkwardly "thank you" she smiled gently at his kindness "is her arm OK? I should go and see her" "she's fine, Sarah cleaned it up for her. She's in the dining room colouring now" Jack smiled "oh, thank you…" she smiled weakly again.
Rose went to speak but was interrupted by a small knock on the living room door "sorry to interrupt. Rose, my Mother will be wondering where we are, and it's getting dark, we should probably head back" Lucy said, feeling awkward "I can walk her home later, if she'd like?" Jack looked at her. Rose looked back, unsure of what to do "I don't know… I have the girls with me…" "that's OK…?" Jack said confused. "Alright" Rose nodded "would you like me to take Tilly back to the inn with me, Rose?" Lucy offered "no thank you" Rose smiled gently. It wasn't that she didn't trust Lucy, it was that she didn't trust Cal if he were to turn up. "OK, well I'll see you tomorrow" Lucy smiled "thank you Lucy" Rose replied gratefully.
—
Once Lucy, Sarah and Amelia had gone, Jack and Rose remained on the sofa talking everything over whilst Tilly was still in the dining room and Sophia slept in her pram. "I still can't believe you're here" Jack said "likewise" Rose gave a soft smile "so, how've you been, what've you been up to?" Rose asked "not much… I stayed in New York for a while after the sinking but then decided I needed to come home, face some ghosts I guess you could say. I got a job managing an art gallery, which I enjoy" "you didn't meet anyone else?" "I met a woman, she had a son and we were engaged, but then her seemingly dead husband returned when the war was over, and so she left me for him" he shrugged "I'm so sorry…" Rose said "don't be, being in a relationship with someone like that isn't what anyone needs" he shrugged "you mean, she knew her husband wasn't dead?" She frowned "yes… I was a way of passing time I guess… someone to be a Father to her son whilst his was away" Jack gave a forced tight smile, returned with a sympathetic smile from Rose. "It sounds like you weren't drafted?" She said confused. "No, I wasn't, I broke my leg in 1913. I guess they realised I wouldn't be much use out there" he chuckled. "I see…" Rose nodded.
"What about you? A marriage and 2 kids? It seems like you've been busy…" Jack asked cautiously "you could say that" she chuckled "I erm- well… Cal found me on the Carpathia… so obviously I was forced to marry him. I honestly thought my life was over until I had Matilda. He was beyond disappointed when I had a girl of course, all he wanted was a son. That's when the hitting began. Then when I had Sophia, he was even more disappointed, and he hit me, but this time, Tilly saw him. She was terrified, and that was it, I decided I had to get the 3 of us out of there. I didn't know where to go where Cal wouldn't find us, so we came here" she forced a smile "oh my god…" Jack said angrily "you could say that" she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "How old are the girls?" He asked "Tilly turned 5 just over a week ago and Sophia is a week old today" Ros smiled as she talked about her daughters. "A week?! Rose, how long have you been here?!" "Since Monday" "You ran away with a 3 day old baby?!" He said, shocked. "Well, she was 2 days old when I left, but yes. Jack, trust me, I didn't want to! But I wouldn't have Matilda and Sophia exposed to that… To think it was normal for husbands to hit their wives… there was no way I would let them grow up like that" Rose said, feeling as though she had to explain herself. "I understand…" Jack replied before being interrupted.
"Mummy?!" Tilly grinned as she came in to the living room and ran to Rose. "Hey baby!" She lifted her on to her knee "you're awake!" "I am darling, sorry if I scared you" "it's OK… I got to colour in Jack's book" Tilly nodded "well that was kind of him!" Rose smiled at Jack's kindness. Tilly rubbed her eyes "I'm tired Mummy" she yawned "we can go back to the inn in a minute, OK?" Rose said and got a weak nod from Tilly in response, who rested her head against Rose. Jack and Rose talked for a little while longer about the last 8 years before Rose looked at Tilly who was asleep "I best get her back to the inn" she said quietly. Jack was disappointed, he wanted to spend more time with Rose. "You can put her in the spare room up stairs if you'd like, until I walk you home?" He said hopefully "are you sure?" "Of course" he smiled gently. "Tilly, Tilly?" Rose whispered, getting no answer from her "what are you doing?" Jack asked confused with a frown "I can't carry her yet after giving birth. I'm still in pain, so she has to walk upstairs, whether she's asleep or not" she chuckled gently, feeling guilty for waking her sleeping daughter up "would you like me to carry her up?" Jack said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you sure?" Rose asked "of course" Jack smiled and lifted Tilly from Rose's knee. Rose watched with a gentle smile, seeing how careful he was with her. Cal had never so much as kissed Tilly's head, let alone lifted her up. Yet here Jack was, gently picking up Tilly as though he'd known her her whole life…
(Message for user coughing coffin... in response to your comment on the story... yes, I've watched most of Gilmore girls and enjoyed it hahaha x)