166Epilogue
Jack and Rose, six months later…
The strong cry of the baby filled our room, waking me from my deep sleep. I stumbled from the bed, opening my eyes, going toward the bassinet in the corner of our bedroom. Jacklyn, our newborn daughter, was the best Christmas gift we could ever imagine having. She was only one week old and already our lives had taken a turn for the better. Her bright green eyes were open, flooded with tears and her rosebud mouth wailed. Goodness, our baby had some strong lungs! I lifted our daughter from the bassinet, sat in the rocking chair, opened my nightgown and placed her on my breast, allowing her to suckle. While I fed my baby, I thought about all that had happened over the last six months.
Jack and I now lived in a small cottage, no longer living in the hovel-like apartment. After Cal had been caught and incarcerated in the mental institution, his father, Nathan Hockley had visited us. Nathan had felt bad about Cal's actions, and devastated, he'd offered us The Heart Of The Ocean, as well as a nice bit of money, as well as this cottage. He also didn't want us to go to the press about Cal's actions. He was offering the money so that we'd keep our mouths shut since he didn't want the public to know about his demented son. He also didn't want me to press charges against Cal.
Jack had been so proud that he didn't want to accept Nathan's generosity, but, I'd gently reminded him that we'd earned this money, this money wasn't charity. It was money we'd earned by suffering from the wrath of Cal Hockley.
Jack finally relented, accepting the funds. We still didn't know what to do with The Heart Of The Ocean. I couldn't stand to wear the necklace – it was a dreadfully heavy thing and I'd only worn it that one time. There was no way I'd ever wear that necklace again, ever.
Nathan had also helped spread the word about Jack's artistic talent to his wealthy friends. Now, Jack gave art lessons to women and children. He made a nice income from the art lessons. We had an art studio on our property where he gave lessons. He also had learned to use paints and now did portraits and landscapes with his paints. Jack Dawson was now proven to be a recognized name in artistic circles. His paintings were fetching a nice rate, plus, he continued signing his art with his initials, date, and a small cross – the cross was to signify his faith in God.
As Jacklyn continued to suckle, I continued thinking about all that had happened to us. Cal had been incarcerated in the mental institution and one day his father had made arrangements for Cal to have a supervised visit to Nathan's home. Upon arriving at his parents' house Cal had gone ballistic, finding one of his father's pistols and shooting himself in the head, ending his life. The newspaper article we'd read didn't give many details as to what had caused Cal to snap, ending his own life. I was sure Nathan didn't want the public to know how Cal had died, but, the story finally did get out into the public. It was also revealed that Nathan had a brother who'd committed suicide when he was only eighteen. All I could do was shudder and say a silent prayer for the Hockley family whenever I thought about Cal's fate – mental problems obviously ran in their family.
I shivered, cradling my baby. When Jacklyn was done suckling on one side, I switched her to my other breast. I groaned, my breast was heavy with milk and I was anxious for my baby to empty my chest. She greedily suckled while I continued to think. About a week after Cal had abducted me, Jack and I had visited Cecile and Lymen at Lymen's office. Jack had felt extremely bad about manhandling Cecile on the day that I was abducted, so he'd apologized and we also thanked both Cecile and Lymen for helping Jack to track down Cal. Cecile still seemed rather troubled and extremely thin. She'd complained about being cold even though it was the beginning of summer!
Curious, Jack and I had spoken to Lymen about Cecile in private and Lymen had admitted to us that he loved Cecile but he felt bad about all that had happened to her. We were shocked to find out about her being a rich man's mistress who'd forced her to starve herself. Lymen also confided that he'd taken Cecile to a medical doctor and he explained that he didn't think she was mentally or physically able to handle a romantic relationship at that time.
Lymen told us that he took Cecile to the doctor regularly to monitor her progress so that she could get well. Lymen also admitted taking Cecile to see a psychiatrist – he wanted to be sure she was mentally stable before he acted on his emotions and married her. Although it was hard for us to do, we told Lymen that we'd pray for both him and Cecile. Cecile was certainly troubled and she needed lots of divine help. During our visit, I noticed Lymen often staring at Cecile, his eyes full of tenderness, longing, and sadness. She'd been wearing a nice yellow dress but it sagged on her bone-thin body.
After Cal's death, I finally reached out to my mother again. I wanted her to see Jacklyn. Jack supported me with my decision, but, warned me that my mother might reject me again. "Rose, I love you and I'll support you with your decision to contact your mom, but, be careful. Don't get too emotionally distraught if she rejects you again." I knew he was referring to the time when I'd spent the entire night in an alley when my mom disowned me. I didn't have the nerve to visit her at the seamstress shop, so, I wrote her a letter, telling her about Jacklyn's birth and I invited her to our cottage on Christmas day.
I knew if my mom came on Christmas, she'd be shocked. I also invited Paul and Thelma – both of them have been married for about a month. I'd also invited Pastor Michael and Geri over for Christmas. I'm sure my mom would have a heart attack – sitting down and breaking bread with Blacks, but, if she happened to change her mind and want to be in my life again, then, she'd have to accept me for the way that I was.
So far, my mother had not responded to my letter. I was hoping and praying she'd show up on Christmas day, ready to accept me back as her daughter. Since Cal had committed suicide, I was hoping that my mother could see the error of her ways, hopefully accepting the fact that if I had married Cal, my life would've been unbearable.
Jacklyn cooed, obviously happy now that her tummy was full.
Jack woke up and stumbled out of bed. It was still the middle of the night. Since Jacklyn had been born, we had not had a full night's rest. A full moon shined in the dark sky, illuminating our room with pale, white light. Jack strolled over to me, getting on his knees beside the rocking chair. Taking his finger, he touched Jacklyn's cheek. "She's so beautiful," he said in a soft voice. "She looks just like you."
I smiled, gazing at our daughter. She did look exactly like me. With her red hair and green eyes, she looked like a miniature replica of me! Jack leaned toward me, and we shared an earth-shattering, erotic kiss.
"I love you, Rose Dawson."
I smiled. "I love you too, Jack."
I'm going to end the story here. I might add a separate Christmas scene later with Rose and her mother - if I do, I'll be posting it as a separate short story. My agent wants me to get back to writing my regular romance fiction right now - so I'm going to read my Titanic fan fiction over in its' entirety probably sometime next year. I'll edit, look for inconsistencies and I'll also use the comments that you've given to me to build a stronger story. I also plan on writing some more Titanic fan fiction next year, too. I'd like to write a modern-day Titanic fan fiction story where Rose, Jack, and Cal are college students! Doesn't that sound like fun?
Please leave a review with your feedback about my story! Let me know what I need to do to make this a better, stronger tale! Thanks again for all the comments and reviews that you've left so far! This was great! I'm now a FAN of writing FAN Fiction! :-)
~Cecelia Dowdy~
Christian Romance Novelist!
titanicfanfiction dotcom