Haunted Past

*Danielle’s POV*

I was devastated that I had lost my best friend and my husband all in one evening. I had one glimmer of hope left and that was finding Dominick, he was all I had left of my dear best friend, Ellie. I was hoping an officer had him; I would do what my friend would have wanted and raise her son in a stable environment. Telling him of her when he was a bit older, letting him know she loved him dearly and that she was now watching over him as an angel.

My brain was a scattered mess as I rushed along the deck, quickly looking among the battered faces in search of Dominick, when I was knocked to the ground.

“Golly!” I exclaimed, hitting the hard deck. I heard a gasp and was quickly helped up and thrown into an embrace.

“Dani!” I heard someone whisper in my ear.

“Joseph?” I uttered in clear shock.

“Oh, I am so happy I found you! I thought we might have been separated for good and you might have expired with the elements.” Joseph continued talking as he pulled me away slightly to reveal his teary eyes, which caused me to start crying.

“I almost didn’t make it. I was in a lifeboat but jumped out of it as it was being lowered. I couldn’t get off that boat knowing if you were going to make it or not. I went searching for you, and didn’t find you. The bow went under and I was ushered into a collapsible boat before the other two collapsible boats were washed into the water. I just barely survived the panicked passengers trying to climb into my boat, to save their own skin.” I explained my harrowing ordeal, as Joseph pressed his forehead to mine.

“I almost didn’t get a spot in a lifeboat, but thanks to Jenifer and my Mother standing up to the officer, he let me on board.” he said, nodding to his right.

I pulled away slightly to see who he was nodding to and I saw the girl from our cabin.

“Jenifer! I am so happy to see you had made it off the boat and you have Dominick! I was just looking for him. I ran into Elizabeth, she gave me the wedding dress and her satchel and told me she left Dominick on D deck for us to find.” I began rambling.

“Well, it seems Jenifer found him first but what’s most important is that we are all safe.” Joseph pulled me back into an embrace, holding me tightly as if I was going to disappear if he didn’t.

“This is a really happy ending. So, Joseph to hold up my part of our plan. You found Danielle so, here is Dominick. I am sure the two of you will love being parents.” Jenifer said as she passed Dominick to me. I could tell she was heartbroken over something. I wasn’t quite sure of what at the time. But I was just happy to have Joseph and Dominick back in my life.

Just then someone rushed up to me and grabbed Dominick out of my arms. I tugged on Dominick, refusing to release my grip on him until I realized who it was and let him go.

“Oh, Nicky! Thank god!” Nick cried hugging his son tightly.

“Papa!” Dominick cried, hugging Nick back just as tightly.

“I’m sorry about Ellie.” I offered my condolences.

“Me too. She hung on for as long as she could. I lost her about an hour ago below deck. I am going to have her buried in the family plot.” Nick replied, still holding Dominick tightly.

“Oh, so she didn’t go down with the ship?” I inquired rather shocked at this new information.

“No, I was able to get her to a lifeboat in time but I still lost her. At least I have my boy, it’s all I have left of Ellie. I am going to cherish him as much as I can.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “So, how did you find him?”

“Apparently Elizabeth left him on D deck for me to find him but Jenifer came across him first and brought him to a lifeboat.” I explained as I gestured to Jenifer, as she took a step forward.

Nick caught sight of her and smiled. He picked up her hand and kissed it.

“Thank you for saving my boy’s life.”

“It was nothing, really.” Jenifer blushed.

I could sense an immediate connection between Jenifer and Nicholas. Especially in the way they looked at each other and Jenifer didn’t pull her hand away that Nicholas was holding. I turned to Nicholas and addressed him.

“I think you should have these. I ran into Elizabeth a little while ago and she gave me the wedding dress she was to marry you in and some jewelry that your Mother had given to her. I think you have a better use for these items than I would. They should stay in your family.” I said as I handed the items to Nicholas, he nodded to Jenifer and she took them from me.

“Thank you again, for everything. You were a great friend to Ellie and I hope you will remain a friend of mine and will visit Dominick often. I have lost too many things in my life in such a short period of time, I am not taking anything more for granted. I‘m turning over a new leaf and treasuring what‘s valued in my life of family and friends.” he smiled.

I nodded and smiled back.

“Of course! I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, come on Joey, I think we should let these two get to know each other.” I smiled up at Joseph as I put my arm around him, and we walked away ready to start a new chapter of our lives.

*Beth’s POV*

We spent two days in the frigid mid April month on Carpathia steaming towards New York. So many things had happened. I witnessed great volumes of tragedy in a short amount of time.

We finally arrived in port on the morning of April 18 th. As we floated by the Statue Of Liberty, she reminded me of home and who I used to be before Nick changed my way of life. I walked numbly off the ship, unsure of where I would go or yet, what I would do. I heard there were only 705 survivors out of the 2,218 passengers and crew, it was devastating to hear that 1,581 perished.

*

*Jenifer’s POV*

After we had docked in New York, it was a whirlwind romance for Nicholas and I. We were married two months after the sinking in a glorious June wedding. We bought a beautiful Victorian house on the edge of town where we raised Dominick and adding four additional children to our family. Three strapping boys, John, Vincent, and James. And a daughter named Evelyn, who was mysteriously left on our doorstep, when she was 3 months old. Ironically, a year to the day after the sinking of Titanic. We never found out where she had come from, but we took her in and raised her as our own. I noticed that she looked a little bit like my other sons but I never gave it a second thought.

I couldn’t be married in the wedding dress that Elizabeth had previously picked out to wear so I had made my own. I had found in Elizabeth’s satchel a photo of Danielle and Joseph’s wedding. The dress was still beautiful so I stored it away in a steamer trunk with their picture underneath. I had planned on giving it to Danielle when her daughter was ready to be married but that was not to be as Danielle had passed away with tuberculosis less than a year after the sinking. Joseph was so devastated of his loss that he took their infant daughter and moved away to where his Mother, the later famed “Unsinkable Molly Brown” was living in Denver to help him raise baby Catherine.

I had also stored Elizabeth’s diary in the trunk, since she documented the sailing of Titanic and her life with Nicholas and Joseph. I had continued on with entries covering my meeting with Joseph and everything that happened on the decks of Carpathia and a bit of our family life after we were married. It was a great family memento to pass on to future generations.

*Present Day - Nathan in the attic*

I slowly closed the diary. It was amazing what little I knew of what happened to my ancestors on that fateful journey aboard the grandest ship in history. Also finding out a few family secrets, like my Great Grandfather Nicholas was to marry another woman, Elizabeth before he met my Grandmother Jenifer. My Grandfather Dominick’s real Mother Ellie, was murdered aboard Titanic by my Great Grandfather’s first wife to be, only to be raised by another woman that she had roomed with on the doomed ocean liner. My Great Grandmother summed it up best in one of her final entries: it simply read. “Fate works in mysterious ways. I count every blessing I have been given.” It was hard to sell the home that had been in the family for so long but I had this old steamer trunk of memories that I would treasure for my lifetime and pass on to my children. Sharing in the history of the once great voyage that changed many lives in a matter of a few days.