A New Beginning

Chapter 82: I Can Save Her...

Chapter 82: "I Can Save Her..."

"How... How..." Emma squeaks in utter sadness. "How could he?"

Molly, Ruth, Holly, Carl, Peter, and Emma, with Sybil sleeping in her arms, all sit in the family room together. Well, five out of the six are sitting, Emma paces back and forth in front of the fireplace with her sister sleeping on her shoulder. Holly and Carl were dressed in their night clothes and looked especially confused to come downstairs to see Emma was in tears and Peter looking very flustered. Two cups of tea lay on the kitchen table, now very cold as the two older women were trying to soothe their frazzled nerves, Molly offering much comfort to a distraught Ruth.

Considering it was just becoming morning outside and Sybil was technically one today, the elder sister wanted to be the first person the toddler saw when she awoke. Shower the little one with kisses and birthday wishes. Additionally, the back and forth rhythm that Emma was making was soothing for the sleeping birthday girl.

Despite what a happy occasion this should be, worry, anger, and confusion gripped all their minds. The cloak of darkness holding them all in its grasp, a darkness in which Jack Dawson had vanished, likely in pursuit of Caledon Hockley and to rescue Rose DeWitt Bukater. A cold chilly wind pushes at the dimly lit windows and a fire is slowly dying as rosy morning light peeks into the home.

"Emma, darling you're going to wear a hole in the floor," Molly Brown says firmly. "And get your sister motion sick."

"I can't help it!" the girl snaps angrily. She only stops once to say this and then goes back to pacing.

"Emma, you need to calm down," Holly says.

"Calm down! Jack has basically just made himself look guiltier than ever before! There's no way in hell that he's going to be able to see his child's birth now."

"Emma, such language," Ruth snaps. The elderly woman was not thrilled that this seemingly strong and level-headed girl was acting so childish.

"You have no right to criticize me! Why didn't you try and stop him?!" she snaps.

Peter turns to the four people who were present for Jack's apparent run for the hills. Holly and Carl had been basically staying over at the house to help with the search, Thomas sleeping on a cot in their guest room. They had been upstairs sleeping the whole time, while Ruth and Molly were still awake as they were most night, waiting for any kind of news about Rose.

A lump appears in Ruth's throat and fresh tears form in her eyes. She does her best to remain composed, having had much practice in high-class society, but the sheer stress of the past week causes her to begin to cry. Carl offers the frail woman a handkerchief and Molly shifts unhappily, continuing to glare at the fierce young girl.

"Y-You don't think I tried?"

"Obviously, you didn't do a very good job!" Emma barks.

Sybil begins to stir in her arms, and Emma, not wanting to disturb her sister any further hands the one-year-old to Holly.

"Please take her upstairs," the older sister growls.

Holly, wanting to try and keep the peace in the home and make a very upset Emma happy, does so without question. Once they are out of earshot, the young woman turns back to Ruth.

"The man is as stubborn as my daughter. Nothing we could've said would have made a difference."

"And he's basically sentenced himself to more jail time."

"Well you weren't exactly doing a good job of bailing him out," Ruth snaps. "Molly could've paid the bail and this would've been all over, but no, you had to prove that you were a capable lawyer by dragging this out. If you had spent your time helping with the searches, Rose would've been found by now!"