Unbroken

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His name was William and he was fine, kind man. He had swept Rose into his arms when she had been off to the side at the hall, after abandoning Jack with the blonde woman, and danced around the room with her. He made her giggle innocently and laugh. And though he wasn't like James, a bit rough around the edges and perhaps a little too vulgar with his words, he was a nice distraction. A nice distraction from the pain that seemed to ever-presently settle in her chest, and the surprisingly pang of jealously she had felt when Jack had been whisked off by that busty blonde woman. For a man that was quite clearly taken he sure came to the cafe alone a lot.

William and Rose stood by the front door of the cafe; he was looking down on her dotingly, and Rose naturally just averted her gaze. She wasn't used to a man's affections but found Will innocent enough.
When he leaned down to peck her, though, she turned her head slightly, allowing him to catch her cheek instead. Pretending not to notice that he had been aiming for her lips, Rose just bid him a good afternoon and sent him off with one of Ellie's famous lemon scones. The man shrugged at it and then left.

Seeing Jack sitting at his usual table by the window made Rose's heart pang again. After last night she had vowed not to talk to him outside of just serving him. For whatever reason the man had an effect on her. She shouldn't have been as bothered by the blonde woman as she had been. Perhaps it was the fact that the woman had emanated sexuality; as most soldiers did, Jack didn't want emotional attachments. But it seemed he had found a pretty little thing to sink himself into each night. Rose shook her head at the thought and moved behind the counter.

"I know an avoided kiss when I see one. My Ellie did that enough times when we were young for me to know it when I see it," John laughed as he approached the young woman. Her cheeks flamed pink and she just smirked at John. He enjoyed teasing her. "I'm not ready for any of that yet," she shrugged. "He is a nice man. He offered to take me out tomorrow. I do like him, John, he's just... I'm not sure."
"Not like your James?"
Or Jack. The thought surprised Rose and she bit down hard on her lip, suddenly guilty. How should she compare other men to a soldier she barely knew, especially with a dead husband she had loved so dearly?
"Yeah," she murmured, "something like that."
 
Ellie had come inside when she saw Jack sitting at his table with the paper. "Have you heard from your mother?" She asked curiously, crossing her legs under the table. Jack thought Ellie was sort of like a mother figure to him here. She had grown up on the streets of New York City and never shared how she had come to live here in France. She was very open but very secretive about things she wanted to keep to herself. Jack loved her and she loved him. They were Americans abroad and had to stick together.

"Not a word." Jack replied with a shrug. "My guess is that she can't find enough money for stamps." He took a sip from his tea and placed the cup back down. Ellie nodded, running a hand through her grey hair. "From what you have told me of her I can only imagine." She sighed, her hint of a french accent leaving and being replaced with one heard only on the east coast back home. It made Jack smile when she reverted back. Some of the other American soldiers had interesting accents. There were a few from the south with a twang and a few from the north that sounded very nasally. It was fun being able to hear accents everywhere one went. It made him relax, for some reason.

"You haven't slept, Jack." Ellie noted as she looked at his eyes. "I did not last night, no. I will sleep later." He shrugged and finished off the scone, licking his fingers to make sure all of the crumbs were off. "Actually, I may go back now." If he played his cards right, Hannah would wake and leave to go home. He would then have the house to himself to sleep and do as he pleased. Jack loved his freedom and he liked being alone. But companionship was a good thing from time to time which was why he ventured to the cafe. "I'll be off now." He stood and finished off his cup.

"Good day, everyone." He waved to Rose, John and Ellie as he walked back out the door and into the street. Men on their way to work passed near him and he saw a man here and there wearing a uniform. Getting home had never been so sweet to him. Thankfully Hannah had left. There was a note on the counter for him and he knew some of the words. They were unhappy. She had threatened to leave him before and he had not stopped her. Hannah was nice, she was pretty, the sex was great, but she was so dependent on him that it... Well, it turned him off. He ripped the note up, guessing it said she was going to go sleep with someone else and never come back. She would though.

Jack wondered if it was pity that kept him from sending her away when she came back. She wasn't married, at least that he knew of. So how did she make her money? Other boyfriends, he supposed. With a roll of his eyes the paper landed in the trashcan and Jack went to lie down for the rest of the day.
 
"I'm going to fuck her," is what William would say to the other soldiers when he would get back from visiting with Rose. It was all a game to him - he would waltz around with Rose around town, making her smile and giggle. She was a cute girl but not the type he'd settle down with. He imagined with her big belly and short stature she wouldn't be all that fun in bed. She probably wouldn't even suck him. The other soldiers jested with him about how he was taking her for a ride; and though that had been his initial hope back at the dance, he had grown attached to her. She wouldn't pleasure him but she was a dainty little thing with a cute smile. Normally he wore a grin of his own when he was around with her.

Their smiles had long since dissipated today, though, as they stood before each other in a nearby park. William had been taking her back to the cafe to rest, but his words had stopped her dead in her tracks. Now she was standing under a big oak tree with her hands balled tightly against her ride.

"How could you say that?!" she sobbed. Her eyes were wide and glassy. Will hated it when she cried... and damn, she did it a lot. When she tried to talk about her husband or about the massacre Will would usually just wrap her up into his arms and try to change the subject. James, James, James. He wanted to yell at her that the guy was long since dead, but hadn't wanted to cross any lines. Eventually she'd realize it.

Will looked at her, half annoyed and half exasperated. "Rose, it was just a suggest-"
"I don't want your bloody suggestions!" she screamed at him. Her little eyes were red with fury now. Will took a few steps forward and tried to calm her, but she backed away. Rose continued to sob at him, "my baby is all I have left, and you want me to get rid of it? At some botched doctor who's gonna somehow get my baby out?!" Her voice was breaking at the mere thought of him; for him to suggest she get an abortion made her heart clench.
"So many little babies just like mine died in that fire - and you want me to kill mine?"
Seeing that they were making a scene, Will grabbed Rose by the waist, a little more forceful than normal. He pressed her against a nearby tree, out of the views of those walking by. His hand covered her mouth and though she tried to rip herself away, he held her steady.
"I'm only looking out for you, honey," he said, pinning her there. Rose was thrashing but he had her closed in; with her small stature, she had no chance against him. "It'll be good for you and me, yeah? I'm only looking out for you. How are you gonna raise a baby when all he reminds you of is your fucking dead husband? And you expect a man like me to look at him like he's their baby? Honey the baby will just cause you more heartache." His knees propped in between her legs. "Come on, it'll be okay."
 
Before William could say another word he was ripped off of the young woman and punched square across the face, blood flying out of his nose. The crack from Jack's knuckles was a welcome sound as he watched the asshole fall to the ground with a strangled cry as he clutched his poor nose. Jack spit on the ground next to him, glancing at Rose. "C'mon." He told her, offering up his arm, his voice low from anger. It had seemed as though she had been avoiding him ever since the night at the dance and of course now he had to step in. He gently began to guide her away, back towards the cafe where he knew that she would be safe away from that man.

"Don't look back. Keep walking." He instructed her quietly. There wasn't as much staring as they walked down the road and took a left onto another street, filing out of the line of sight of all the gawkers. Ahead was another cafe with a table open outside. Jack led her to it and had her sit down in one of the open chairs.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Jack asked as he looked her over. He took a seat in the chair across from her, moving it a bit closer so that he could observe how she was doing. It had been about a month since they had actually spoken and she looked even more pregnant than ever before. That baby would surely be born soon. "How much longer is it?" He asked and motioned towards her belly. The owner of the cafe was about to approach them when he waved his hand away. "Un moment, s'il vous plait." The man nodded, glancing at Rose before he scampered off into the cafe. "Do you need something to drink? Something to eat?"
 
Rose had been in such shock that she hadn't realized that William was being pulled off of her until he was spitting blood out on the ground. Jack was suddenly holding her close against his side, and before she knew it, he was guiding her away from the scene. William was spitting angry curse words out at them, calling Jack all sorts of foul names and even throwing a few at Rose, too. Had she not been so rattled by Will pinning her against that tree she would have pushed Jack again; for whatever reason, she was angry at him for keeping the company of such flexible, easy women. Perhaps she had thought him greater than that... not that she should have. Perhaps it was just his initial kindness that made her think he might have been different from the rest of the soldiers in this town.

When they sat, Rosalie's knees were still shaking. She rubbed her fingers underneath her eyes trying to rid of the smeared mascara there. Will had quite obviously upset her.

She leaned back into the chair and averted her eyes from Jack. It seemed most times he found her she was in some sort of inner turmoil. The thought made her feel vulnerable. She didn't want him to come saving her like a knight in shining armour every time she was in need; he had other ladies to tend to, after all. She didn't need him there.

Pressing her hand against her stomach, Rose sighed. She traced the little daisies that were scattered in a print all over the dress. If one looked close enough they could see the seams had been let out significantly to accommodate her.
"He wants me to get rid of my baby," she whispered, still looking down. No way she was getting lost in those eyes again. "N-Not enough put it up for adoption... but... but, remove it from me." The mere thought of it made Rose's shoulders shake. At this stage in her pregnancy she could be going into labour, albeit it would be very dangerous and very early. And Will wanted her to kill the child inside of her? Rose wanted to vomit. How could she marry a man like that? Will had already been proposing the idea of marriage.

Tipping her head back a bit, she sniffled and fought back the tears. "I was stupid to think he wanted to make a family." Realizing he had asked her a question, she told him quietly, "a month and a half left. It is scary. Like I told you, I still think it is a boy."

Standing from the chair, Rose looked at his shirt. "I should go find him," she murmured, "make sure he's okay. You hit him pretty darn hard."
 
Jack stood from his spot and shook his head. "Rose, don't. He's bad. Please, if you do anything... Don't go back to see him. It would be better if you just let him go." He was still doing his best to relax after the small fight. "He almost hurt you... Please don't go back to that. Please." His tone was fierce and his eyes were hard. "Please just let me take you back to John and Ellie's."

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers, wondering if he would have to restrain her. He promised that he would never ever lay a hand on a woman in a violent way unless it was to protect himself somehow.

"Please Rose. Let me take you back to John and Ellie. Please..." He was almost pleading with her now, biting his lower lip as he waited for her to answer him. "William will only hurt you if he goes back, whether it be with his words or with his body. Men like William... They don't learn."
 
Rose was surprised by his sudden protectiveness. As though he were her brother or even husband, Jack willed for Rose not to go back to Will. She didn't understand his concern. Though he had seemed to worry about her when she had been crouching behind the corner at the cafe and then again at the dance, she highly doubted he actually cared. Men like him had other things to care about - not only the many ladies that came running to kiss their feet, but also impending deployment. Will had explained as much when they had first started going out. As a French soldier he could have been asked to leave the country at any moment. Rose doubted that it was any different with Jack.

Looking suddenly defiant, Rose placed her hands on her hips, "what's it matter to you if I go back to him?" she rebutted.

Speak of the devil. It hadn't taken William long to find the two of them. The town was small after all.
He appeared from around the corner and Rosalie caught glimpse of him from over Jack's shoulder. There was an ugly vein bulging in Will's neck, and Rose was sure she had never seen a man so angry. His nose looked like it had stopped bleeding but it was crooked and red.

"Don't!" she yelled as William approached, looking intent on the back of Jack's head. She came between the two men, knowing that violence between the two soldiers wouldn't end well.
Will had his fist wound up at his side, and his shoulder flexed with the strain of it.
"Move aside, Rose!" he bellowed. Rose shook her head and put her hand up towards him. "Fucking bastard! You're no fucking ally, you're a filthy German in disguise! I knew them Americans were rotten! The Germans got you good, didn't they, fucker!?"
Both his hands were fists now and Rose took a few steps back only to collide with Jack's chest. She jumped and shook her head, "please, William. You need to cool down. You-you-you are angry. There is no need for this. Jack just didn't want me to see you hurting me!"
 
Jack stood there with a raised brow, his arms crossing over his chest. He let the other man yell at him without giving him any emotion at all. There was nothing to get emotional about and if he needed to hit him again he would hit him again. Looking down at Rose Jack sighed. She really did not need to stand between them like this because Jack was a big boy and he could handle himself. Also, the fact that she had wanted to go back to him... It just made his blood boil. Why didn't women get it?! His mother didn't get it until it was too late... The flashbacks were too much.

"Listen. Go home, Will." Jack muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Do not lay a hand on Rose again, okay? She is pregnant and doesn't need this shit right now. So please... Please leave her be. You sound like a raving idiot when you say I'm a German. You can hear by my accent that I am an American." He really did not want this to continue on and he looked down at Rose. "C'mon, we need to get you home now." He murmured and took her arm gently, beginning to lead her away.
 
Rose was sure that she could see steam coming out of Will's ears; with his face so red and that vein bulging, he looked like he was out for blood. And though Rosalie knew that Jack could handle himself, being probably double her size and having at least an extra forty pounds of muscle on Will, she knew that Will would be less inclined to plow through her if she was there. And if Jack was insistent on protecting her, why shouldn't she do the same for him?

Will went on to rant in a mix of French and German, spewing words so fast that even as a French native, Rose couldn't understand what the man was saying. She could only pray that this wasn't the true side of Will that was coming out - he had been kind and sweet to her up until today. Perhaps the tragedies of war were weighing down on him too heavily. Rose's uncle had gone mad from what he had seen in the First World War.
She merely nodded her head at Jack as he took her elbow and began to pull her away. The last thing that they needed to do was make a scene in the middle of the street. People sitting at nearby tables were already staring.

Their steps were a little bit quicker than before as they made their way back towards Ellie and John's cafe. After they had rounded a second street from where Will had cussed at them, Rose began to stop, placing a hand against her side. She was beginning to get a cramp and Jack's legs were probably twice as long as hers.

"Why do you care so much?" she murmured, averting her eyes as she leaned against the brick side of a building, trying to catch her breath. "You seem to show up right when I'm getting myself into trouble, but I don't need you to intervene every time, Jack. You don't have to be there every single time. Surely you have other ladies to entertain."
 
Jack looked down at Rose. That kind of hurt. "I help you because that is my job, Rose. I help people. It's why I became a soldier. That doesn't mean I cannot help you two. And, I know I don't have to help you all the time, okay? But when a man is pinning you against a tree and you are this pregnant... I am going to worry about you and intervene because it is the right thing to do." He told her fiercely. Jack wanted to yell, he really did. He wanted to ask her if she was truly that stupid? But that was his anger getting the better of him. With a groan he placed his hands over his face and went to pull at his hair.

"I am allowed to care about you, Rose. I am. People can care about you, okay? It's okay to ask for help. It's okay for anyone to ask for help." He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the roots again. His hair grew too damn fast.

"Do you really think that I would just ignore someone when they were being hurt? Do you really think that of me, Rose?" Jack needed to stop talking. He offered her his arm again and walked slower as they approached the cafe. He didn't want her to get hurt and get winded if the walk was too fast or too hard. "Please... Just let me get back to them... And then I will leave you be if that's what you would like." He muttered softly under his breath.
 
Rose felt angry. Hurt too, though she didn't really understand the latter feeling. She was right in saying that Jack had showed up just about every time she had found herself into a sticky situation. But why was it that he always seemed to appear? He wasn't her husband, her brother, even a friend. Just a stranger. Yet he seemed fierce in protecting her. Perhaps that was just his nature - he was soldier, after all. And though Rose knew that she couldn't hold malice towards Jack she still felt angry at him. Angry at him perhaps for protecting her but not even looking at her twice. She had seen the way he looked at other ladies. Even Genevieve. But to him, she was a very tainted and very displeasing woman. Round with a baby, he didn't want her. Rose didn't blame him. Didn't blame Will, either. But at least Will had given her a time of day.

When they reached the front of the cafe, Rose's arm was still loosely linked in Jack's. She regarded him but when he looked down at her she looked away. She kissed his shoulder and left a little red mark on his uniform. Innocent.

"Thank you," she murmured simply, "for standing up for me and my baby."
Then she disappeared back into the cafe.

The next morning a beautiful bouquet of roses sat on the front counter of the cafe. Rose's eyes widened and when Ellie explained that they were for her, Rose smiled faintly. Jack didn't seem like the Rose type of guy, but maybe he had sent it as a peace offering.

A soft frown creased her brow when she realized they were from Will. In his messy soldier scrawl the little brown card stated he was sorry. That he was a fool. Even that he loved her.
Rose put a hand against her head and shook it. Jesus, she was dillusional for thinking that they had come from Jack. Just last night she had finally admitted to herself - and Genevieve in their late night girl talks - that she had a silly crush on the American. She had been silly to think he might have come to that epiphany too.

Rose pushed the roses to sit nearly beside the cash register and then turned to the kitchen to bury herself into her baking. She would deal with William later; right now, her heart was still trying to figure out her feelings for Jack.
 
Jack gripped the sink and looked in the mirror. There were so many different feelings going through his mind that he really needed to figure out what was happening. With a sigh he shook his head and started to splash his face with the cold water that came out of the spout. He cared for Rose. He did. But, there was something that held him back. It may have been the baby in her belly... In all honesty he wanted to wait until she had the baby to say anything about it. There was something about it being another man's baby... Jack felt like it was disrespectful to even think about getting intimate with her. When the baby was born things would be different.

It took him a few days to go back to the cafe in order to see Rose. One afternoon he turned up with a small bouquet of flowers in tow. There had been tulips growing in the garden next door. His neighbor had given him a ribbon and he had tied them together with it.

It had been days since Hannah had last been at his apartment. Almost a week. They had another falling out and she had threatened to run once again. Jack had been angry with her and told her he had never wanted to see her again and he was sick of all of her lies. This had angered her and off she had gone with all of her things.

Ellie stood behind the counter and smiled at Jack, glancing at the tulips. "Those are beautiful." Jack nodded and sniffed them, taking one out of the bouquet. "There you go." He offered her. Ellie took it and placed it in a cup where they housed extra change. "Is Rose here?" He asked hopefully, clearing his throat.
 
Ellie saw Jack and her smile widened. That boy was like a son to her, and she enjoyed seeing his face around their cafe. Lord knew she'd cry like his mother when he was deployed again. She had lost track of how long he had been inhabiting their little town, but knew it was only a matter of time before he went into Germany or went home. Both ideas made her brow crease. She had always hoped he would settle down in town and make a little family; she had mainly seen him around town alone, though, the odd time with a beautiful blonde on his arm.

Seeing the tulips, an array of pretty colours, and then hearing him ask for Rose made her smile. Genevieve had told the woman about Rose's pining for the man. At first Genevieve had been wary about their odd relationship. She feared that Rose would get her heart broken again, or that she would turn Jack away if he came knocking. Now it seemed the latter had come, and Ellie's eyes grew starry at the thought. Like her daughter she feared for the two of them, both from different worlds, but wasn't one to push a man with flowers away.

"She's upstairs," Ellie explained, "she hasn't been feeling well lately. I have got the mind to think she might be nearer to her due date than she thinks, being so large. But doc says they are just those darn Braxton Hicks."

She guided Jack up into the small apartment above the cafe. It was barely big enough for two people, but now it managed to house all four - soon to be five - of them. Ellie turned to the door by the washroom and knocked softly. "Rose honey, are you decent? You have a visitor." She grinned at Jack before kissing his cheek. "You be good to her, son. I know you will."
 
"Thank you, Ellie." Jack murmured, returning the kiss on her cheek before he was let into the room. He took a deep breath and looked for Rose, noticing that she was laid up in her bed. She did look a bit pale... Jack hoped that everything would be okay with her.

"Hi." Jack said softly as he approached her bedside. There was a stool off to the side that he reached for and placed it so that he could sit. With a flourish he took the tulips from behind his back and offered them to her if she wanted to take them. "I picked these for you... I wasn't sure how you felt about tulips but they are about to stop blooming and... I really like them." Jack said with a gentle blush.

As if she knew what had just been said, Ellie bustled into the room with a glass vase. "Thank you." Jack smiled, taking the vase from her. Ellie nodded and was back out the door and down the stairs again. Jack placed the flowers into the vase and placed them next to her bed. "Ellie told me that you aren't feeling well... The baby might be coming soon?"
 
Rose sat up a little bit farther in her bed when Jack entered the room. Her cheeks were pale but brightened with a faint little smile when Jack had revealed the tulips to her. As she had noted earlier that week when Will's roses had been delivered to her that Jack wasn't the type of man to be sending roses. She smiled when she took the tulips and placed them into the vase. They had probably just been plucked from the ground outside and not bought at a store, but they meant more to her than any paid flowers would have been. The image of him bending down and picking tulips from a garden made her smile.

She nodded her head as he drew closer to her on the stool and asked about the baby. The idea that the baby would be coming soon weighed down on her. She knew that she could only stay with Ellie and John so long - as much as they said she could stay as long as she needed, she knew she needed a place of her own to raise her baby. Ellie and John paid a nice wage for the times but it was meager considering what a small apartment might cost.

Rose rubbed her hand up and down her expanded waistline, "Ellie says she's thinks I am farther along than I thought." Her and James had been married six months before she had discovered she was pregnant, so it was entirely possible. They had been young and in love.

Feeling the baby kick, as though sensing his mother was speaking of him, Rosalie grinned. "Here, he is kicking. You can feel." Before he had a chance to lift his hand or pull away from her, Rose took his hand and pressed it against the roundness of her. The baby met with a swift kick. It felt like the warmth from Jack's hand was penetrating right through her. She smiled faintly at that and rubbed her small hand over the top of his. She realized once more how much bigger he was than her.
 
Jack's eyes lit up when he felt the kick of the baby in her belly. It had always been a foreign concept to him, pregnancy. Mostly because he was a male and his mother had never really talked about it. Not that they had a need to. Jack had been an only child as far as he knew and had never experienced his mother with a swollen stomach like that of Rose.

Another reason was that Jack had never really seen himself as the father type. Being a soldier meant living a very dangerous life. As a young boy his mother had told him that his father had been lost in a war. Jack wasn't sure that was the truth.. He just wondered if his mother had always told him that so he wouldn't be disappointed. There had been a few times he had seen letters written by a man named Charles addressed to his mother. Charles had been the name of his supposedly late father. It hurt him knowing that she could keep such a secret from him all his life. But, Jack loved his mother and he someday hoped to return to Pennsylvania to buy her a new home and support her until she passed on.

The feeling of the baby kick brought hope to Jack. Even in this time of stress, dismay, and violence, there were babies being born. It was something that spurred him on in wanting to make the world a safer place. He wanted all of these babies and the babies in all war torn countries to know that there was hope. He needed to take a deep breath because all of the the thoughts that were crashing down upon him were beginning to suffocate him. "That's amazing... I have never felt a baby kick before... It doesn't hurt you does it?" He asked curiously, keeping his hand in the same spot in case the baby decided to kick again.
 
Rose could tell from the startled look on Jack's face that he wasn't used to such feelings. The young woman had too felt strangely surprised by the faint kicking of the baby; perhaps it just solidified that there was a living little person inside of her. Rose was still trying to come to terms with that. She figured it would all come full circle when the baby was born and graced the world.

When the baby began to shift again Rose took his hand and moved it against the side of her abdomen. Because she was such a small woman before the pregnancy she was mainly just the swelling baby.

"It doesn't hurt when he kicks," she explained carefully, "sometimes the baby shifts at night though and wakes me up. I know that'll be nothing compared to what I'll feel when the little guy decides to come out to us though."

She looked at Jack and smiled softly at the way he seemed to adore her baby. The gentleness he touched her with made her warm. "How come you came here Jack? I know it's not to talk about the baby."
 
Jack looked at Rose and he thought about how to phrase what he wanted to say next. Taking a deep breath he bit his lip and let it out. "When you feel better, and even if that means it is after the baby is born, I would like to make you dinner at my apartment... If you would let me. Or, we could go out for some food." He suggested with a small blush coloring his cheeks. It had been a long time since he had taken a woman out for a meal or made one for one. This was an exciting time.

"I hope that's okay with you. I asked John if he was alright with it and he said he was fine with it but it is completely up to you." Jack wrung his hands in his lap, kneading his fingers some nervously.
 
Was he was asking her on a date? Rosalie raised her eyebrows but then smiled. As angry as she had been with him just a few days ago, how could she turn away a man yielding a bouquet full of tulips and a warm smile? As angry as the young woman had been with him she couldn't help but feel drawn to him. He was kind, caring, and sweet. And though she doubted that he was romantically interested in her she was honoured that he was inviting her over for dinner.

The baby kicked again against her hand and both of them jumped a bit. It was nice to be able to share these little feelings with someone else – especially a man. She could only pray that if she bore a son he would have a good male figure in his life. Rose would make sure that their baby knew of his biological father but she also knew, to her dismay, that would need a man in his life. To be honest she probably needed one too. There was nothing more to treasure than the warm hands of a man on you. The way that Jack touched her now reminded her of her James, making her smile.

"You do realize I am a package deal, yeah?" she murmured, looking down at his hand against her belly. Because of the size of him, he seemed to span half of it. Her baby would probably fit nicely against him. Rose tried to shake that idea from her mind. "That if I do come for dinner we are going to have to keep stepping away to tend to a little baby. From what I've been told, they can be quite demanding."
 
"Oh. Trust me, I know what I am getting into." Jack replied as his hand finally moved off her belly. Those kicks had been enough for now. "I cannot lie to you and say that I have ever been around a baby because I have not. I am an only child so I never experienced my mother being pregnant. Or anyone else for that matter. So I suppose that it would be an initial shock to the system." He admitted and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long again and would need another trim.

"I do think that if I asked John and Ellie, they would take the baby for an evening for you so that we could enjoy it." Jack shrugged his shoulders. From what he had heard of motherhood, people sometimes rallied around taking care of a baby. John and Ellie had helped care for plenty of babies being brought up in the community along with their neighbors and even their neighbors. Even if Rose didn't know it, they were a very family oriented community and she would learn that once the baby arrived.

Jack hoped that she would let them help. She seemed quite stubborn about some things and that worried him. Not the stubbornness as much as the unwillingness. Sometimes you have to ask for help. Jack had learned that the hard way when he had first come to another country all by himself. It was the reason he was friends with John and Ellie.
 
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