Chapter 13

The ocean breeze blew through Betty's hair as she stepped out of the car. Already, she missed home and wished she could be with Jack and Rose instead of up in Maine, living with someone she had never met.

The door opened, and a young woman ran out to greet Betty. She was tall and thin, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin. Her coloring was a bit like Rose's, but her eyes and hair were a bit darker. "Hi!" She smiled, rushing over to her. "You must be Betty. I'm Liza."

"Is Liza short for Elizabeth?" Betty asked, wondering if they had the same name. It was too odd and coincidental to be true. Still, Liza nodded, her eyes clearly questioning why Betty was asking. "I'm Elizabeth too."

Liza smiled. "How funny!" She had one of those smiles where Betty was immediately put at ease around her. "It's freezing out here! Let's go inside and warm up."

The chauffeur carried Betty's bags up to the front door, then gave a slight bow. "I hope everything ends up alright, Miss Dawson," he said politely. "We'll all miss you back at the estate."

"Thank you, Arthur," Betty smiled, watching him walk away before walking into Liza's house. It was small and quaint, the kind of house she'd imagine Rose would want. "Your home is lovely, Liza," Betty complimented, continuing to look around.

Liza smiled, pouring a cup of tea for Betty. "Thank you so much," she smiled. "My parents didn't understand why I wanted to live all the way up here, far from them and high society, but I just never belonged there, you know?"

"I understand," Betty admitted. "I don't think I'd belong in high society either, but thankfully my family is wonderfully understanding." She sat in front of the fire, across from Liza, taking a cup of tea from Liza. "Thank you," she blew gently, then took a sip.

The fire crackled between them, and they both felt warm and comforted by the fire. Betty was comfortable there, and she couldn't help but notice how comfortable she felt, especially given how much danger she was in. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay," Betty said finally, trying to end their comfortable silence. "I really appreciate it. And I'm so sorry if I'm disturbing you here."

"Not at all!" Liza insisted. "It gets lonely up here sometimes. I'm happy to have someone else staying with me. And besides, any sister of Rose's is a friend of mine."

Betty smiled as the last bit of chill from outside left her body. "Well, I better be going," Liza said finally, and Betty couldn't help but be a bit disappointed that Liza wasn't staying. She didn't know her that well, but something about her made her feel at ease. "I have to go to work. But make yourself at home. Your bedroom is the one on the right, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and I'll be home in a bit." She finished her tea, then put her cup back in the kitchen. "If you get cold, feel free to take a sweater from my closet. I know it's unseasonably cold."

"Thank you," Betty said politely. "I really can't thank you enough for all of this."

Liza smiled, putting on her sweater. "Of course!" she said cheerfully. "I'll see you later!" She left the house, leaving Betty alone with her fear and loneliness once again.

xXx

Rose woke up, wrapped in Jack's arms. She opened her eyes, smiling as soon as she remembered that Jack had come back to her finally. "Did you sleep okay?" Jack asked.

Rolling her eyes, Rose rolled over and carefully wrapped her arms around Jack. "Jack, you do realize, you got shot yesterday, found out you're going to be a father, and had your sister move away. And you're worried about me? About how I slept?"

Jack smiled and nodded. "Of course I am. You're my entire life, Rose," he leaned forward carefully, kissing her lovingly. "And all of that happened to you too. You watched me get shot. You found out that you're pregnant. You had to figure out what to do to take care of my sister. And you had to sit by my bedside and worry about me. I know how I feel about you, and if I had to sit beside you, not knowing if you'd survive, I would've been a mess."

"I was a mess," Rose admitted, chuckling. "But you survived, Jack. We survived." Jack smiled back at her. "We've both survived everything we've been faced with. And Cal will be caught, you and I will get married, and then we'll have a baby. And then we'll live happily ever after."

It made Jack happy to see Rose in such good spirits, especially given everything she had been through. "I can't wait," he whispered. "I can't wait for us to finally start our lives together."

Rose smiled and rested against Jack's chest, feeling him kiss the top of her head. She placed her hand against her stomach, wishing that she could hold her child, or at least know that they were in there. Right now, she knew she was pregnant, but only because the doctor told her she was. But it still hadn't registered, and she constantly had to remind herself that she was pregnant.

Suddenly, Rose felt Jack's hand settle atop hers, rubbing gently back and forth. "I can't believe we're having a baby," he whispered. "I know it wasn't planned, and I know it didn't exactly come out the way you would've wanted, but I just want you to know, I'm happy about this. I don't want you to worry about me." She turned to look at him, making sure he could see that she was smiling. "And as long as you're their mother, they'll be the luckiest kid in the world."

"As long as you're their father, they'll be the luckiest kid in the world." she leaned forward, touching her lips against his, and holding him close enough that she knew he wouldn't disappear.

Before they separated, both Jack and Rose heard a gasp from behind them. They separated, both turning to look at the door, to find that Anna and William were standing there. "Jack?" Anna said, her voice shaking. "You're alright?"

Rose carefully climbed out of the bed, sitting in the chair and wiping her eyes, trying not to look like the complete disaster she felt like she was. Anna and William walked in, taking their seats next to Jack, smiling at him, relieved. "I'm okay," Jack smiled. "I'm fine. I'm alive, and I'm getting better." They both smiled, so relieved that their son was alright. "How's Betty? Is she alright?"

William nodded. "I talked to her this morning. She's okay, she's just settling in. She seems to be okay, all things considered." He smiled at his son, trying to comfort him. "They'll find him soon, Jack, and she'll be able to come home."

"I know," Jack sighed, and Rose reached over and took his hand. "It's just complicated now. We want to get married soon, and especially with Rose being pregnant, we want to do it sooner. But Betty isn't here. She can't be here."

They all sat quietly, trying to think of a solution. "What if she could be?" Rose asked, arching an eyebrow. "I know we wanted to get married in the garden, but what if we drove up to Maine and got married on the beach? The ocean, the sand, I think there's also a nice hotel up there. It could be really beautiful!"

Jack smiled, bringing her hand up to his lips. "That's a great idea," he agreed, and Anna and William did as well. "We could do it in a few weeks."

"Perfect," she whispered, kissing his forehead.

xXx

The waves crashed against the sand, a sound Betty didn't know could be so comforting. She walked along the coast barefoot, wearing pants and a sweater. She had never really worn pants before, but she could see why people liked wearing them. THey were far more comfortable than dresses, especially if there was a corset.

Liza walked beside her, her hair loose and flying in the wind. Her eyes shone with happiness and relaxation, something Betty didn't quite understand, but now that she was there, she understood why Liza was so happy there. It was beautiful.

"So when did you move up here?" Betty asked. The sky was a beautiful mess of colors, blue, orange, pink, and yellow. She had never seen such a beautiful sunset in her whole life.

"Not too long ago," Liza replied. She tried to pull her hair over her shoulder, but it just fell back, blowing in the wind once again. "My childhood was not exactly the one I would pick for myself. It was similar to Rose's, in that I was only supposed to get married and have children. But that's not what I wanted. I wanted to… write, paint, live a simple life." Betty looked over at her, and for the first time, she could see the pain in her eyes from not being supported by her family. "When I told them that, they told me that I could do things their way, or they'd cut me off. So I left. I work to earn my own money, I live in a house I love, and I do what I want. It gets lonely sometimes, but I'll take that any day over the life they wanted me to have."

Betty nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said quietly. "I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you." They walked silently for a moment, the only sounds the crashing waves and the seagulls above. "I'm the younger child in my family. My brother, Jack, is the one who's supposed to take over the family business, but he's more like you. He just wants to live life to the fullest, travel, and spend time with Rose. I'm the one who wants to work for the company, to make it great, to keep it going after my father retires."

"And they won't let you?" Liza asked.

"My father lets me help with the business," Betty answered. "I go with him and Jack to the office, I conduct some of the business myself, and my father would let me run it, but he doesn't think we'll be taken as seriously. He may have a point, I suppose."

Liza nodded, understanding. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I can't imagine what that's like."

"It's not all bad," Betty smiled. "My brother is the best, and he and I plan to work together in the future. He knows I've got more of a brain for this than he does. But I also know that even with all of that, I can never live the life I want to live and have the future I see for myself."

"What do you mean?" Liza asked. "What life would you want to live?"

Betty hesitated, knowing that while Jack and Rose understood her and that her parents would understand when she decided to tell them, Liza might not. She seemed kind and caring, but some things pushed people too far, and Betty feared that sharing this piece of herself might do just that. "It's nothing important," she said quietly, focusing her eyes on the horizon.

xXx

"I can't believe they're releasing you already!" Rose said incredulously, folding one of Jack's shirts and placing it in a bag. "For god's sake, you were shot only a few days ago!"

Jack chuckled, leaning his head back in the bed. "Now you understand how I felt when they didn't send you to the hospital after Titanic," he said, arching an eyebrow. "But I'm fine, Rose. I'm healing nicely, I have no infection, and the bullet didn't hit anything. I want to go home, I want to spend time with you at home, where doctors aren't interrupting us every time I try to kiss you."

Rose couldn't help but smile at that. She dropped the shirt in the bag, then walked over to Jack, kissing him softly, still afraid that she would hurt him. "Once you're all better, there will be more of that," she smiled. She tried to walk away, but Jack grabbed her, pulling her back over to him, kissing her deeply.

After a moment, Rose finally managed to free herself from Jack's strong grip. "Mr. Dawson!" She gasped. "That is not appropriate. This is a hospital. There are people trying to heal here. Sick people."

"Speaking of," Jack began, changing the topic of conversation to exactly what he wanted to discuss. "How are you feeling?" He asked, reaching his hand to touch her stomach. She still wasn't showing, but when he touched her stomach, he could feel the slightest little something inside her.

"Fine, good," she answered, shrugging. "No more fevers. Just a slight stomach ache." She put her hand on top of his, thankful that all three of them were gave him one more quick kiss before standing and continuing to pack Jack's things. "I still don't know if I've fully accepted that we're having a baby. It doesn't feel real yet."

Jack smiled, his eyes moving from her stomach to her eyes. "I know," he agreed. "I don't think it feels real for me either yet. I don't think it'll feel real until we set up the nursery, or pick out names, or maybe not even until you give birth."

"The next couple of months are going to be busy," Rose reminded him. "We have the wedding, a honeymoon, if we want, and then we have to get ready for the baby. And you need to heal."

Jack smiled and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I am healed, Rose," he told her. "I heal at twice the speed of normal men. That's how I recovered so fast after Titanic. That time I fell through the ice while fishing with my father? I was only sick for a day, and then I healed! My mother thought I had magical powers!"

"Hmm…" Rose put the last item in the bag, then sat next to Jack. "Do your magical powers include getting high society women to fall in love with you? Because I would definitely add that to the list of powers, if I were you."

Jack wrapped his arms around Rose, pulling her closer until she was against him. "Only with the most special woman," he whispered, kissing her softly. "It takes a remarkable woman to fall in love and save someone they barely know."

Rose smiled, leaning forward and kissing him again, but they were interrupted. "You ready?" William asked, peeking his head in. "The car is downstairs."

"Yes," Jack answered, standing and sitting in the wheelchair Rose had brought in for him. He looked up at her, taking the bag and holding it on his lap. "Let's go home."

Rose grinned at him, kissing his cheek, and she began to push him down the hallway, ready to take him home.