Under The Waves

Chapter 15

Once they started to announce the arrival to New York I finally decided to come back. Alice, Nathan and mother were all crying. Of course they're crying! I just told them the truth of Grace and fathers death. Once Joseph caught sight of me he rushed over.

"Oh Clara!" He sobbed while pulling me into an embrace. "None of this is your fault" he continued.

"Oh but it is" I said with deep sadness.

Mother must have heard me because she rushed into my arms. She was crying a painful stream of tears while shaking fearfully. No words were shared between us as she cried in my arms. We just stood there until we were instructed to sit down as we started to board. We began to move towards the line of passengers awaiting the longed safety of land. Many were pushing and shoving to reach the family and friends they had been waiting for. All I could think of was Benjamin. He hadn't come back yet and I was starting to worry. My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed I had taken my first step on land. I was frozen. I couldn't believe I was finally off that ship. Off the murderous ocean. Joseph and Pearl pushed me a few steps further as they tried to reach something. I looked up and saw that they were hugging two unfamiliar faces. It was their parents.

Mother, Nathan, Alice, the babies and I all followed after them. Joesph and Pearl were too consumed by their parents to notice us. I didn't mind though. The look on all their faces proved how much love they have for each other. Many tears were spilt and I found myself in a glimpse of happiness about their wonderful reunion. I began to think about what would have happened if father and Louis survived the sinking. I then was brought to the fantasy of what would happen without the sinking. This would be one of the most joyful moments of my life but now it's the complete opposite. I was brought to reality when Joseph started to introduce us to his parents. Josephs mother, who I had earlier learnt to be called Sophie, approached mother for a hug. Mother quickly passed me Tillie and hugged Sophie.

"Oh thank you so very much for caring for my children!" She said with so much gratitude.

"It was such a pleasure to help your sweethearts!" Mother responded genuinely.

In the end many hugs were shared and I was now holding both Lena and Tillie. I felt so protective of Lena as I felt it was my duty to care for her. After all the time I had spent looking after her, she began to feel like a sister.

I finally caught sight of Benjamin and handed the babies over to mother. He was standing in the crowd of people as he sobbed numbly. He was looking around at all the mixed feelings in the people around him. Some people were angry, some were sad, some were happy as they reunited with loved ones and some spent their time feeling all of the above. Once I reached him, I wrapped my arms around him desperately.

"I'm so sorry!" I choked on my words.

To my surprise he slowly wrapped his arms around me. He didn't say anything, just weeped soundlessly. We stood their for what felt like forever before mother said we should leave. Sophie and Morris kindly offered for us to stay with them. I think we all agreed that this was best. We all needed to stay together. For a little while at least.

We arrived at Sophie and Morris's house after a short drive. They owned what could be considered as a mansion. 3 bedrooms were available. Mother and Alice shared one room, the babies and I shared another and Benjamin and Nathan shared a room. None of us knew how long we would stay here but we didn't want to impose. Luckily Sophie had a crib from when Pearl was younger and they also found another crib they never knew they had. The modern, expensive cribs were perfect for Tillie and Lena. I immediately put both babies to bed and came to the large kitchen in the middle of the house. Lots of delicious food was already prepared and I quickly grabbed a serving of warm beef and some freshly cooked potatoes. I had never been so desperate for a good meal. Everyone else was eating rapidly too. I made eye-contact with Benjamin a few times only to see the amount of pain he had. Everyone including me was still in terrible heartache and there was nothing we could do to help it. So we just sat there as food kept coming and ate away.