Titanic- The Curse

Josephine.

As the months passed, Elisa's belly grew, sooner or later I was able to feel the little one moving inside of her. We had to keep ourselves hidden, we acted like husband and wife when we were out and about. We took a walk to the park one day, we held hands as most couples do, she turned to me and said, "I love you. I have felt it for a while but with all that's happened in the past, I feared telling you. When we get home I would love for you to touch me as a husband would." I smiled and promised that it would be special. On the way home we picked up some great food, I said I'd cook a meal, it would be like a couple courting for the first time. I drew her a bath, she slipped into a dress that we had made for her, it was beautiful, she was beautiful. I set the table, I lit the candles, I pulled out her seat, she sat down and I sat next to her. Elisa was blushing the whole time, we talked about everything, from the moment we met, until I got her back. I gave her a dessert and she didn't finish it. I asked her candidly, "are you ready to take this step? That I am to touch you as a husband would?" Elisa smiled, she took my hand and led me to our room.

Walking to the bedroom, I was trembling a little, but I was excited. I could finally touch the woman I love. Elisa took me straight to the room, I began undressing her, she was so calm. I took off her undergarments, her baby belly was beautiful, she lay on the bed beckoning me towards her. I began to undress and she told me to keep the clothes on. I took my hat off, my jacket, shirt and tie but she told me to keep the pants and braces on. I was lay next to her, stroking her body, kissing her cheek, she pulled me towards her and whispered, "slip your fingers inside me." I slipped my fingers inside and she was warm, wet and thrusting until she soaked my fingers, I slid my own fingers inside of myself, we were soon climaxing together. We continued this all night, eventually we were exhausted. We both fell asleep, then Elisa woke me suddenly, she was bleeding. I got dressed quickly and ran to get the doctor, he told us that the baby was in an awkward position, that he would need to perform an operation to get the baby out. The doctor brought with him a lady, she would help him with the surgery. The doctor and the lady cut out the baby, it was a girl and she was beautiful. The baby looked exactly like Elisa, she was healthy, she was early but healthy and a healthy weight for being around two months early. The doctor stitched up Elisa and said that they would be around in a few days to check on the baby and check on the wound from the surgery. Elisa took to being a mother extremely well, I loved watching her feed her, the baby was normal, i done many tests and she was just like any other baby. We began to feel like a family, we loved when Elisa could get up and take a walk, we would walk for hours with Josephine in the stroller. We were in love, no one suspected that I was a woman, I could kiss Elisa in the street and not one person looked in our direction. Except for the prudish ones, that didn't like couples embracing in public.

I was delighted when she called the baby Josephine, i began to call myself Joseph after that. Elisa was now Mrs Gold, we were making love more often once she became physically able to. We were now a family, no one questioned it. We kept our friend group small, mostly men like us, we did meet a number of ladies like us, but they were very judgemental towards us for having a baby, they didn't think it was sensible. I wondered why and I asked one of our lady friends why she didn't think it sensible? She replied, "that little one will grow up and one day discover daddy is really a lady." I told her that we had a plan for that, as long as she was loved, we believe it won't matter to her. I began to have my soirées again, with our friends that were willing to stand by us, then the war hit, Josephine was turning three, as a male they tried to conscript me, but our friend who was a doctor, wrote me a letter to the government telling them that I am of ill health. I knew then that I had to do something to help the war effort. I had family over in Europe, as did Elisa. I sent letters to Ireland and family in America to make sure they didn't go and if they did, that I prayed that they came home. Elisa and I set up a charity where we gave out food to families whose fathers and sons joined the draft. We noticed a lot of black people who were extremely poor before the war, but when their husbands and sons were away, their poverty got worse. We helped as many as we could for as long we could. We noticed people showing disdain as we helped the black people, but we didn't let that deter us, we helped who needed help. We read the papers daily to see how the war was progressing. We heard that family members that joined in the war were home, but badly injured. There didn't seem to be an end to it. We decided to just focus on our family, we were safe where we were, but we still had our secret to hide. Josephine was growing fast, the war was ending, she was becoming a beautiful young lady, she began school, she was also baptised, she had her first holy communion as well, we enrolled her in a Catholic school. We couldn't believe how fast she was growing, then one night when Elisa and I were making love, Josephine must've had a nightmare, she opened the door, I was luckily under the sheets, she didn't see my female figure. Elisa got up and took her back to bed, I could hear her asking, "what was daddy doing to you?" Elisa tried to explain it away, but she was floundering. Elisa came back and said, "once she's twelve, we must tell her the truth." I said, "what if she asks about her real father?" Elisa said, "we will tell her that he died long ago, I found a grave in the graveyard, that would say it's him." I told Elisa that we should wait until she's old enough to understand. Elisa asked why? I told her, that "Josephine knows that we love her, once she's happy in life, she will understand, you never know, she might turn out like us." Elisa was extremely happy with my choice of words, she understood. Our family is the most important thing to me, nothing and I mean nothing will break it.