Chapter Six

"You can go with the first class passengers if you want to?" I sit with Jack with the third class on the Carpathia. We've been provided warm clothes, blankets and food. 

My eyes look over his face. His beautiful blue eyes met mine, and there was such softness behind them. 

"And risk running into my mom and Cal?"

My hands nervously placed the loose ginger hair behind my ear. He swallows hard, apparently trying to collect himself. 

"This is real now Rose."

"I know." I nod. 

"And I don't have much to give you, right now."

"Jack, stop." My hand grabs his in mine and brings them to my lips. 

"When the boat docks in New York and you get off with me, I can't promise you what our future will hold."

"I believe in you, and us."

He smiles. "I love you Rose"

"Even if I'm a spoiled little rich girl?"

He laughs. "Well, maybe not so rich anymore."

We both have a chuckle, and I lay my head on his shoulder. 

"Would you like some hot tea?" He kisses me on the head. 

I nod. 

"You stay here wrapped in the blankets, I'll be right back."

My eyes watch as he leaves. This is not the way I thought my voyage would end. I'm not going back to Philadelphia, and I won't be marrying Cal. And at this point, I am certainly certain I'll never see my mom again. She so easily climbed in the lifeboat, knowing that Jack had a third class ticket, and would probably die aboard the Titanic, and didn't even think twice. Not of his life or any other life aboard.

 My eyes see Cal, and luckily with a blanket wrapped over my head, he didn't notice me. I watch as he searched through the crowd of people. His eyes looked in every direction. The only reason why he would be with third class people would be looking for me. I'm not entirely sure why he thought there was anything left between us. Even if he found me, he thought he could convince me to come with him and my mom? That thought was just mind-boggling how they treated me, and most importantly how they treated Jack. 

Fast forward to 1996 

"Well, now you have it, the whole story and everything I know," Mr. Lovett. 

His eyes were wide through my retelling of the Titanic, but most importantly the story of how I met Jack. 

I agreed to talk to him, Mr. Lovett was in search of something. Something I have. Even though I didn't give him the diamond, I hope I gave him something more valuable. An inspirational love story and the mist of a disaster, and who those artifacts actually belong to that they were collecting. 

I was so very glad the artifacts were finally starting to come off the once mighty ship at the bottom of the ocean. I even got to revisit a few of my belongings: a hair piece and a mirror. It was my first time returning to the Titanic crash site, and I was filled with emotion. The last time I was here, I almost lost my life. I said goodbye to my family, and started a new life. 

The Heart of the Ocean necklace was why I was here. Everyone was hoping I had it and I would surrender it. No researcher understands where it disappeared too. One simple mistake by Cal was putting his jacket on me, which contained the diamond in one of its pockets, and gave me the beauty for a lifetime. 

My hands grab it inside the pocket of my knitted sweater. It's been there the whole conversation unknown to everyone in the room that what they were looking for was there all along. 

Jack and I had such a wonderful life together. We accomplished everything we would hope for. Children, grandchildren. His paintings are now seen in museums, and my modeling pictures will be passed down through generations. Jack passed away from bone cancer 3 years prior. It was the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life. I knew that one day I was going to have to live without him, and I also knew that any amount of time was going to be imaginable. 

As I gripped his hand as he was dying, I made him promise I'll meet him under the clock on the grand staircase of the Titanic. He will grab my hand and kiss it, like he has done many times. And my heart will melt even in the afterlife. 

An hour after my conversation with Mr. Lovett. My feet walk barefoot across the deck of the ship. The water smelled the same as it did the night of the sinking. I walk over to the railing and close my eyes. I see Jack's young face beneath my eyes. I'm looking forward to meeting him, and hopefully I will see some other Titanic passengers I know. 

 My lips kiss the necklace, then I throw it overboard, listening to the plop it makes as it lands in the water. 

"I'm coming, Jack."

The End