Wherever You Go

Chapter 14

"You and Mr. Kelly will get married immediately, within the week. I believe Friday will do nicely, you can let me know if you have any conflicts."

"Friday's fine." Katherine said softly after exchanging a reluctant glance with Jack. 

It was the next morning, and Joseph had been adamant that Jack also be present when he told the couple his conditions. It had taken a lot of effort from the boys, Katherine, and Jack himself, to actually get him to The World offices, but they knew Pulitzer wouldn't care about that, so they'd done it. Jack was currently glaring at the floor, and Katherine could tell he was fighting the urge to mutter some choice words under his breath. 

"Very good, I'll make the arrangements. As for the child," Pulitzer gestured to Anna, who was sleeping soundly in Katherine's arms, "she will have to stay out of the limelight for a while after the wedding. Do you have a nanny?"

"No."

"That's fine, I'll hire you one."

"Why would we need - " Jack gathered up the strength to speak, but he was cut off before he could continue. Pulitzer wasn't allowing any interruptions today, it seemed.

"Someone will need to care for her when the two of you make public appearances, which you will be making, naturally. Of course, we won't be able to pass the child off as being yours biologically, she's much too old, but after a few months we can introduce her to the public and claim that she was adopted. People will believe it, given Mr. Kelly's upbringing, they'll assume he has a soft spot for orphans such as himself."

Jack clenched his jaw and willed himself to be silent. Pulitzer had been stealthily insulting him and his social status ever since they'd gotten there, and he was trying to keep his temper in check. 

"In fact, that reminds me," Joseph continued, "Mr. Kelly, we're going to have to bring someone in to teach you how to behave as a member of the upper class in public. Dancing, table manners, etcetera."

"What?!" Unable to stop himself, Jack shot to his feet, but he didn't make it very far as his broken ribs and the stitches in his stomach painfully reminded him of their existence. He bit back a cry of pain and doubled over, quickly but gently lowering himself back down onto the chair. Katherine took hold of his hand with her free one, and he squeezed it gratefully, still grimacing from the pain.

"I can help him with all of that, father. No sense in paying someone to do what I can do for free." She reasoned with Pulitzer and he nodded thoughtfully.

"That will be just fine, as long as you make sure to be thorough." 

She rolled her eyes. "I will be, I promise. Is there anything else you need to discuss with us about?" 

"Hmm... I suppose you can go, I will fill you in on wedding details at some point before the ceremony." 

"Alright, thank you." She helped Jack to his feet and they left the office their hands still entwined, simply happy to be spending time with one another again.

oOo

On Friday, an hour before the wedding, Katherine was in the wedding dress she had hastily picked out a few days prior, and Clara was helping her get ready by putting her hair in some fancy updo that Katherine didn't care about one way or another. Clara was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door. The two girls looked up to see Jack, who looked very handsome in a suit, despite the fact that his tie looked ridiculous. Katherine stifled a laugh, and she stood up and walked over to him.

"Jack, your tie is all wrong."

"Yeah, I know." He looked at her somewhat sheepishly. "Davey was gonna show me how to do it, but he's trying to keep Les under control, so Crutchie tried to help me... it didn't work out too well."

This time, she did laugh. "Here, I'll do it." She took the tie out of the odd-looking knot Jack and Crutchie had somehow forced it into, before beginning to tie it correctly. 

"You're not supposed to be here." Clara said to Jack, shaking her head. "It's supposed to be bad luck for you to see the bride before the wedding."

"Yeah, we're not gonna do that." Jack rolled his eyes at that idea. "We've spent too much time away from each other lately."

Katherine nodded in agreement. "Anything bad that could possibly happen still won't be able to ruin anything completely." She finished fixing his tie and stepped back slightly to take in his appearance, and he did the same. Clara watched them stare at each other before sighing.

"Okay... I'm going to finish getting ready. You two... enjoy." She left the room, but they barely noticed.

"You're beautiful." Jack said softly, and Katherine smiled.

"You're not so bad yourself." 

Jack looked at her for another minute. "Hey Ace, guess what?" 

"What?"

"We're about to get married." Her grin widened, and he grinned back at her.

"We are." 

Jack pulled her in for a gentle kiss, and she happily reciprocated. They pulled away after a while.

"I'll see ya at the altar." He gave her his parting words before sauntering out of the room, leaving Katherine to watch him go, smiling and breathless.

oOo

That night, back in Katherine's apartment (Pulitzer had already cancelled the lease on Jack's apartment), Jack and Katherine were sitting on her couch together, Katherine with her head on Jack's shoulder. They had very reluctantly entrusted Anna in the care of Katherine's parents for a few days at their insistence, so that they could have a honeymoon of sorts.

"I've missed you." Katherine said quietly, lifting her head to look up at him. She noted that his injuries were healing, and she was very grateful for that.

"I've missed you too." Jack gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"These have been some of the hardest few weeks of my life."

"Yeah." He nodded. "It turned out okay though, didn't it? We get to be together with Anna, and we were gonna get married anyway."

"Were we?"

"Yeah, we were. You didn't really think I wasn't gonna ask you?" Katherine just shrugged in response and he gave her an amused look. "Of course I was! I was just waiting for the right moment, but I had it all planned out and everything."

"Yeah? How were you going to do it?"

"Nothing too fancy. I was gonna have some of the boys help me set up some candles on the roof..."

"That's a fire hazard."

"Quiet." Jack rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we were gonna light the candles, and then I'd lead you up to the roof, being extremely romantic as usual."

"Of course."

"And then after talking to you all smooth-like for a while to make sure you didn't suspect nothing, then after a while, I'd get down on one knee, and hand you the ring. And I'd tell you... I'd say, 'Ace, you're one of the best things that's every happened to me, and you've made my life so much better since you've been in it, and I dunno what I'd do without you now... will you marry me?"

It was obvious that he was being very serious, and honest to the point of no longer being inside of his comfort zone, but he'd said it anyway. Tears formed in Katherine's eyes.

"And then I'd say yes."

AN: Me? Ending almost every one of my stories with a proposal? It's more likely than you think! SO that's the end of this story after about... two years of writing it, I think? I should have another story up really soon, and in the mean time, check out some of my other stories or my new spam book if you feel like reading all my weird thoughts (shameless self-promotion oops).