Night Flight - Finale

I'm going to plead mea culpa, this was never intended to be a series. 'Night Flight' started out as just a short story about two souls and a chance encounter. 'Return' came to me with the premise that they meet again and circumstances keep them together longer. 'Finale' kept me awake one night with the consequences of that. Comments on any or all of them would be appreciated.

As Rose walked toward the security checkpoint, she held back tears and fought the desire to turn and look at Jack. She knew if that happened, she would run back to his arms and never want to leave. No one had ever touched her that way, both physically and emotionally. They had known each other less than 3 days, but maybe this was what love-at-first-sight was like. It would never work, he was old enough to be her father, maybe even her grandfather. Rose chuckled to herself a little about what her parents would say if she brought him home. No, it was better this way. She would keep and treasure this time for the rest of her life.

She made her way to the gate and boarded the flight. Due to the cancellations, the plane was full. She did manage to get a window seat a little further back and spent most of the time looking out.

Rose threw herself into her work to help keep her mind off Jack. A few weeks later, she realized her period had been almost non-existent. She passed it off as due to her work and long hours, it had happened before. A month after, she had been feeling queasy in the mornings and her period hadn't come again. With a little trepidation, she bought a couple pregnancy test kits. First one, then the second showed the telltale blue lines that she was pregnant. A dozen thoughts went through her mind. Should she contact Jack and tell him? She knew where he lived and had seen his full name and address on a letter while she was there. Would she keep the baby? That one was easy, a resounding YES. What would her parents think? Would she tell them who the father was? Could she keep doing her job? All those and more. She slept fitfully that night.

Rose woke in the morning with a clear vision of what she would do. Contact Jack and tell him? No. This was on her; he had asked about protection and she told him it was safe. Plus, he would want to do the right thing and marry her. He had already raised 2 children, both of whom were older than her. Starting again with a newborn wouldn't be fair to him. Not to mention how his family would react. As for her parents, well she wouldn't be showing for a few months yet so there was time to figure out how to tell them. She would ask about her job, but maybe something could be worked out with her doing remote video presentations. Right now her main concern would be taking care of herself and her baby.

She started eating healthier and didn't go out with her colleagues on Friday nights. She was in a one-bedroom apartment in the city because it was close to work but started looking for something with two bedrooms so she could have a nursery. By five months, Rose couldn't hide her pregnancy any longer. Everything was progressing normally and at one of her checkups, they asked if she wanted to know the sex of her baby. Nodding yes, they told her "it's a boy". Her parents almost flipped out when she told them, especially when she wouldn't say who the father was. But the fact that they were getting another grandson helped to smooth things over.

Rose's due date came, and right on schedule, her contractions started. She headed for the hospital and late that day delivered a beautiful, healthy baby boy. One of his features were the steel gray-blue eyes. She named him Jack although there had never been anyone by that name in the family history. When questioned, all Rose did was smile. She was set to leave the hospital the next day when a large bouquet of bright red roses was delivered. The delivery person confirmed they were for her, but there was no message, and nothing to indicate who sent them.

Being a single mother was difficult, but whenever she was discouraged, Rose looked in her son's eyes. She would remember her time with 'big' Jack and it gave her the strength to go on. Her parents quickly became enamored with 'little' Jack, although she never called him that, and would take him when she had to run a lot of errands, or the occasional trip for work. Her sister would also come over with her kids who were thrilled to have another cousin. A couple of times, Rose had flight connections through Jack's airport. She was always nervous about the slight chance of seeing him again. But it never happened.

Once Jack became a rambunctious two-year-old, Rose realized she needed to move out of an apartment and find a house. She looked for months, but they were either too far away, too expensive, or needed too much work. She was sitting in despair at her apartment after having looked at yet another house when her phone chimed. Could she come look at a house right away? It was a private sale by an older couple. They preferred to sell to a young family, but of course the law wouldn't allow them to advertise that. She bundled up Jack and headed to the address they texted her. It was a small house in the older part of the city, but still close enough that driving to her work wouldn't be a problem. She met the couple who were thrilled with Jack. The house had been well maintained and had a garage and a fenced back yard. The couple said a lot of houses in the neighborhood now belonged to families with young children. Rose fell in love with it, but then waited for the proverbial other shoe to drop. How much was it? Timidly she asked and they gave her a price much lower than she expected and well within her budget. She immediately said, 'I'll take it' and with tears flowing, she hugged and thanked both of them. Two months after, Rose and Jack moved into their own home.

Five years later:

Rose sat in her home office finishing up a presentation. She was a valuable employee and her company had been very accepting about her use of video conferencing. She had even made part of her office into a small studio with professional lighting, cameras, and projection screen. She still had to go into the company office or travel occasionally, but for the most part, she could do her training sessions from home. Jack would be home from school in a little while.

There was a knock on her door, she opened it to find a middle-aged man in a suit. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Rose Perkins, and do you have a son Jack Perkins?" Rose's heart leapt into her throat and she barely cried out "Oh my god, is he alright? What happened?"

"What? Oh I'm terribly sorry Ms. Perkins, there is nothing wrong with your son that I am aware of. I'm here on a different, and hopefully happier, matter. My name is George Bailey. May I come in?"

Rose's pounding heart slowed a little as she led him to the kitchen table. "Would you like something to drink? Water, coffee?"

"I'm fine thank you. Ms. Perkins..."

"Please, call me Rose".

"Very well. Rose, do you know a gentleman named Jack Everton? I am his attorney and executor of his estate. Both you and your son were named in his will." Rose's hand went to her mouth and there was an audible gasp. "When, how...".

"I'm told he had an aggressive form of cancer. It was very quick, but he had a peaceful end. His children inherited most of the estate, but there were two things he was adamant you and your son should receive. The first is a life insurance policy naming you and your son as beneficiaries. There is a note that it should be used for your son's college education. The policy value is $100,000." Both her hands went to her face as Rose fought back the tears. "This is the second item he wanted you to have." He pulled out a large envelope and emptied the contents onto the table. There were a number of sheets of paper that looked like car service records and reports of some kind. Several sheets of pictures of a car, and lastly, a set of keys. Rose picked up one of the pictures, it was Jack's beloved Porsche. But it looked brand new.

"Mr. Everton had the car restored to new condition over the past several years, or as close to new as possible for one that is over 50 years old. He also set up a trust fund that goes with the car to pay for future expenses. It was recently appraised as part of his estate and has a value of around $120,000. The transfer of title is included with the documents. I just need your signature on this form that acknowledges you have received these documents and that you accept what I have listed here."

Rose broke down into uncontrolled sobbing. Jack knew, he had known all along. Starting with the roses when her son was born. Whenever she had run into difficulties and they had suddenly been resolved, she attributed it to good luck. Now she knew there had been a guardian angel looking over her and her son.

Just then the front door was flung open and a young voice yelled out "Mom, I'm home." Jack stopped in his tracks, his hand still on the doorknob. His mother was crying at the kitchen table and a strange man was sitting across from her. Ready to bolt back out the door and run for help, he asked "Mom, are you OK? What's going on?" Rose picked her head up, "Jack, it's fine. Please come over here. This is Mr. Bailey, he brought me some news about a very dear friend of mine. It made me very sad, but also very happy. Can you understand that?" Nodding a little, Jack closed the door and circled around to his mother, giving the man a wide berth. He gave her a big hug hoping to comfort his mom somehow. Spotting the pictures of the car on the table Jack asked what it was. "This is one of the things Mr. Bailey came to talk to me about. My friend owned this car and it was very special to him. He died recently which is why mommy was sad. Mr. Bailey told me that the car belongs to us now." Mustering all the enthusiasm of a seven-year-old, Jack looked at more of the pictures. "Can we go for a ride in it?"

Rose's face lit up remembering the time she and Jack had taken it out. "We don't have the car here yet, that will take a little while. But as soon as we do, we will go for a ride. I'm sure that will make my friend very happy." Seeing his mom cheer up, Jack was more at ease. "Cool! Can I go outside and play with my friends now?" "Go ahead" as Jack tore out the back door.

"You have a fine son Rose. Mr. Everton was very proud of him." The surprise showed on her face, "You knew about him also?" "When Mr. Everton, Jack, became ill, he confided in me about the entire situation. He wanted to be absolutely certain that you and young Jack received what he intended. That information was given to me in confidence and will never be divulged to anyone else."

Rose couldn't decide if she wanted to have the car shipped to her, or to try to drive it home herself. It was safely in storage near where Jack had lived so she had time to think it over. In the end, she didn't want to trust the car to anyone else so she made plans to take 'little' Jack with her to get it. It would be about an 8 hour drive back, but with him as company, the trip would go faster. When she told him, he was so excited he wanted to leave right away. They flew there one afternoon, stayed the night in a nearby hotel, and met Mr. Bailey at the storage location first thing the next morning. The Porsche had been serviced, everything checked, and the fuel tank filled. Rose thanked George for everything he had done, and buckled Jack and herself in. Taking a deep breath, she turned the key and the engine came to life. Carefully putting it into gear, they headed for the highway and home. It was just about dark when Rose pulled into her driveway. Jack had fallen asleep an hour or so earlier, the excitement had worn him out. She brought him into the house, then came back for their travel bags. The garage would only hold one car and Rose meant it to be this one. She pulled it in and took out the cover. She would put it on in the morning once the car had cooled down. Back in the house, Rose put Jack to bed, and crawled into her own shortly after. The entire trip back, she had felt like 'big' Jack was there with her.

Jack of course had to bring all his friends over to see the car and lots of future rides were promised. Rose realized that while the car was in excellent condition, it was still over 50 years old and not very many repair shops would know how to work on it. She did some internet searching for that model Porsche and found an enthusiasts group with members all over the country, and even some around the world. She joined and discovered several of them lived within a couple hours drive of her. Some members had also known Jack and the car.

There was going to be a weekend regional car meet in a couple months and Rose and Jack were invited. By then she knew a number of the members even though they hadn't actually met. This is would be a chance to put a face to the name. Jack of course was thrilled, especially to be able to see a lot more cars like 'his'. The drive took a couple hours, but Rose and Jack had been out in the Porsche on nice days and she was very comfortable driving it. Pulling into the hotel where the group was staying, there were a dozen other cars just like hers. Different colors and condition, some even looked like race cars. At the welcoming dinner, she met everyone along with their family that had come along. She did notice that many of them were older, but one younger man stood out. His name was Mike and his dad had recently passed his car down to him. Mike would later say he was first attracted by Rose's Porsche, only to be surpassed by his attraction to Rose and Jack. Rose would say she was attracted by his gray-green eyes.

The names in this story are made up and any relations to a real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The depiction of the Porsche cars and group though is real.