Chapter Text
Thursday April 19 1912
The small water droplets raced down the window as her eyes fluttered open. Realising where she was and the events of the previous night, she groaned. No hope was left in her mentality. Only the need to succumb to her mother and fiancé's every need.
Pulling herself out of bed, she wandered over to her dressing cabinet. The familiar feeling of numbness flowed through her insides as she rummaged through the contents of her dressing cabinet. After a while, she took a liking to a light-pink dress made of fine cloth. After she dressed herself, she let herself slowly roam around her new home, trying to take her mind off of what happened to herself last night.
Stop it. You're weak. You let him do this to you, your weak. ”Stop it, get your mind out the gutter.” Rose warned herself, trying to shove down those unpleasant thoughts deep down inside her, even though she knew it was true.
Eventually, after a good 30 minutes of roaming around her property, an unsure maid approached her. “Good morning, Miss Dewitt Bukater.” the young woman softly greeted. Rose looked her up and down, taking in her appearance in hope to get some familiarity with the girl. She had dirty-blonde hair pulled back into two braids, with nervous mint-green eyes. The woman was dressed in a stiff, grey shirt with 2 buttons at the top. Her sleeves were rather long, and she donned a matching grey grey skirt which flowed down to her ankles. On top of her shirt and skirt, she had a white ruffled apron which went down to the bottom half of her skirt. Her hands were covered with white gloves.
“Good morning..? Who are you? Are you one of the maids?” she asked in a cold tone. Any remaining motivation to use warmth and kindness when speaking was taken from Rose the previous night. “Im one of the housemaids, ma'am. My name is Adelaide Harris.” the maid kindly introduced. Rose's gaze hardened. Adelaide chewed her bottom lip anxiously, waiting for the curly-haired woman to respond.
“And where are you from, Adelaide.”
Her green eyes shifted uncomfortably. “I..uhm. I was born in London, then I moved to Florida in 1902, ten years ago. My family stayed there until 1908, then we moved to New York in hopes of a better future.” Rose's brows knitted together, reflecting on what she had just been told. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again.
“When did you get this job? And when were you born?” She interrogated, watching as her blonde maid nervously twiddled her thumbs, avoiding eye contact implying that Rose was intimidating her with her bluntness. “I-I was born on the 2nd of may in 1889. I got this job on the 25th of March in 1910, after I was interviewed on January 17th.” She’s worked here two years, huh? Interesting. Even though she didn’t have any motive to speak warmly anymore, she didn’t want to leave an impression on her maids. “Well thank you for sharing that with me, Adelaide. Im sorry if I intimidated you, I just do like to get to know my staff. And you seem like a very proper maid.” She praised, watching as Adelaide’s cheeks flushed.
”T-thank you Miss Dewitt Bukater. Master Hockley sent me up here to get you for breakfast.” she informed, trying her best not to acknowledge how Rose's eyes slightly widened in fear. Whatever’s their business is their business. It’s not my place to intervene, Adelaide reminded herself. Beckoning Rose to follow her, they both made their way downstairs to the dining table where Cal waited, a stern look on his face.
”I have brought your fiancé here on your request, Master Hockley.” The maid informed, her previous gentle and kind tone shifting into a monotone voice. The dark haired man gave her a nod in gratitude, before he turned his attention back to Rose. As soon as he laid eyes on her, Rose felt herself shrink under his gaze, a fresh wave of fear washing over her.
”Sit down. Now.” He demanded, fixing her with an unforgiving look. Obeying him, Rose swiftly took the seat facing her husband. At first, they ate in silence before Cal broke it. “Im going on a business trip to Edinburgh. I’ll be back in around 3 months” He stated. Rose blinked up at him. “Huh? Why?” Cal chuckled.
”For work, sweet pea. Don’t miss me too much, I’ll write to you. I've had our housekeeper, Mrs Bailey to pack for me. So don’t worry about that.“ As if I would pack for you anyways.
She gave him a refined smile. “If you say so..dear.” The words dripped off her tongue as if it were poison. Cal smiled back, before they resumed eating.
If Rose was honest, she was overjoyed that Cal, her overbearing and abusive fiancé was finally leaving for a long period of time. A small break from what god had recently tested her with filled her with glee. Upon finishing and waiting for Cal to leave the table before she did, she hurried out to the many gardens of the house, hoping to soak in her temporarily relief.
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2 months later, Friday 28th June 1912
Yet another maid was found holding Rose's hair back as she vomited into a bucket. It was in the early hours of a warm June morning, and lately she found herself being..lethargic. Many mornings now, she found herself being sick in the morning and having odd amounts of food. Cal negatively responded to this, commenting on her “weight gain.” She held back her own tongue, preventing herself from saying something she knew she would regret.
Ruth had suggested a doctors appointment, suggesting that she might be experiencing her first pregnancy. However, her daughter had refused to attend a trip to the doctors, insisting she had just caught a bug. But as the months went on, she found her symptoms getting worse. Eventually, she gave in to her mother, that’s why she found herself in a hospital room.
”Good afternoon. You are Rose Dewitt Bukater, yes?” The man questioned. She nodded. He hummed as he wrote a few notes down before Ruth begun to speak. “Yes, good afternoon, Doctor Cornelius. My daughter has been experiencing odd symptoms, and we think she’s pregnant.” She explained.
”Why, that’s wonderful! So we can confirm this, please tell me your symptoms, Miss Dewitt Bukater.” he politely asked. The woman hesitated before she responded. With a sigh, she begun to describe them.
“Well..I haven’t had a period for the last few months. I've been feeling nauseous and vomiting most mornings. I've been feeling even more tired.” She mumbled, fidgeting with her hands.
“I see. Anything else?”
“Uhm. No.” She confirmed. Watching her doctor flick through a few notes, she held her breath in anticipation. She really really hoped she wasn’t pregnant. She was only 17, and she wasn’t no where near ready for another person in their household. Observing Rose's figure, he wrote down a few more notes. “Excessive weight gain..” he quietly muttered, causing Rose's brows to knit together. Why are doctors so..uncouth? She found herself growing more frustrated with Doctor Cornelius by each second.
”Well ma'am. Judging by your symptoms and..changes physically, I can confirm you're pregnant.” Ruth clutched Rose's hand in excitement, yet she lurched back in fear.
”I couldn’t possibly be pregnant! Im 17!” She cried out, receiving a frown in return from her doctor.
“Rose!” Ruth hissed angrily. “Watch your manners.”
She sighed. “I‘m sorry…Doctor Cornelius.” She apologised, internally cursing out her mother.
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That night, she wept and cried. She was carrying a monsters child. And though the monster wasn’t in bed with her, now that she actually knew a part of him was inside of her she found it hard to enjoy her temporary freedom.
The thought of raising a child in their unstable home broke her. She or he would go through what Rose did, and she didn’t want that for anyone else.
“Why was it you..” she whimpered, tears spilling down her cheeks. Out of every man, Caledon Hockley was the one who take her. The one she was bound to.