Everything in Transit

Who and what are you?

That is a question everybody needs to face at some point in their lives. It is a truth that many people like to ignore; they carry on living their lives soaked in naïve ignorance, doing everything possible to avoid looking at themselves and questioning their existence. Self discovery is something that sounds better on paper. But Katherine Corlett knew who she was. She knew exactly what she was.

Deputy mother, best friend, support and much beloved girlfriend.

It hadn't actually taken her that long to discover all of these truths once she realised what the purpose of her life was. She was there to provide all that love, affection and care that was possible for a person of her young years to give.

The current entity that received the most of her affection was plopped on a carpet that had been spread out on the venue floor, and was playing with a vast assortment of rattles and baby toys. Corrine was the secret star of the tour and hence was spoilt rotten. The Maine were on tour with All Time Low, and Kay had been warned from all sides that Alex was the one to watch out for, yet Alex Gaskarth only had eyes for one girl.

"Where's my favourite baby girl?" Came the delighted tones of Alex from somewhere behind Kay. The latter turned on her bar stool and shot Alex a small smile.

He immediately homed in on Corrine and picked her up, much to her delight and to the shouts of "Ally! Ally!" Alex just laughed and presented Corrine with yet another doll that would soon join the rest of the toyshop that had begun to collect in The Maine's van.

"What's with that blanket?" Alex asked, pointing to the quilt that was slap bang in the middle of the venue.

"If you think I'm going to let her crawl across that sticky and aids infested floor then you're crazy," Kay said with a wry smile as she watched Corrine, still firmly secure in Alex's arms, admire her new doll.

A few moments later John and Zack joined them, and when John saw Kay he pressed a kiss to her temple before placing an arm lovingly around her shoulders.

"Now I knew you liked them young Alex, but this is steep even for you," Zack said with a wide grin, causing everybody around them to burst into pleas of laughter.

Despite the initial mountain of worries that Kay faced when she agreed to join The Maine on tour, there were little complications that arose with the odd lifestyle that tour provided. Corrine would nap in the afternoons before sound check and then would wake up in time to see her papa and four other 'uncles' including her favourite: Uncle Ga Ga, perform on stage, provided she had the little pink headphones over her tiny ears so that they were not sound damaged. After her papa finished playing Corrine would crawl around the dressing room and play with the guitar strings and drum sticks. She usually held out to watch three or four All Time Low songs, but more often that not she would fall asleep either in her dad's arms or curled up on the dressing room sofa, a guitar pick clutched in her starfish hand.

Granted, the permanent presence of a baby raised many a question. The speculations flew from Buzznet to Myspace and all over the internet, but nobody seemed to be able to provide the correct answer. Among the tour members they stuck to a strict but simple code of conduct. Nobody would talk about Corrine and answer any questions, it was simple that way and everyone would avoid talking them selves into a corner. When John and Kay were ready they would share Corrine with the fan base, but at the moment that place seemed far too spotlighted to place a six-month-old baby in to.

Despite this, rumours circulated and some fans turned up to shows with baby toys and tiny t-shirts made for the tot. The fans were not stupid and candid pictures of John and Kay with Corrine were easy to find on the internet. The majority of the fans were supportive and indeed thrilled by the idea of a tiny Maine baby, but there were a few broken hearts on the side of the girls who had been expecting marriage proposals from John.

Everyone knew that when the time came there would be a lot of explaining to do, it was going to be painful, but that was something John was willing to face as long as it meant that he could be happy with his family.

Family was not a word that John would have thought to mean so much to him at the age of 20. He hadn't even begun to live his own life fully but here he was, standing backstage watching All Time Low with a baby girl in his arms. But it all felt strangely right, as if his life before Corrine was just a passing moment of suspension: of transit. Being in one place only temporarily, always getting ready to move on to bigger and better places.

Tour flew by. The Maine travelled up and down America in their van that still faintly smelt of disinfectant, toys flying around and listening to 'The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round' on repeat and before anybody knew it was the last show of the four-week tour.

The boys were getting ready to jump on stage, nervous energy flew off every single of them, especially John.

But before he went to leap onto the stage he turned around and saw Kay standing there, with Corrine in her arms, it was a picture that everybody on tour saw everyday, but something about this night was different.

He took in every detail about her; from the way her auburn hair was pulled into a messy bun to the black flip flops on her feet that were almost falling apart from the constant wearing and the simple blue dress that she chose to wear. Corrine, who was restless in Kay's arms, was wearing a baby sized yellow Maine hoodie courtesy of Peter.

Ignoring the urgent calls from Kennedy to get his ass on the stage, John walked towards Kay and planted a delicate but loving kiss on her lips, resting his hand on her glowing cheek.

"I love you," he said softly, and meaning it with every fibre of his body.

The smile that crept onto Kay's face was a smile that nobody had seen in a very long time, her joy and exultation evident for all the world to see and take notice of.

"I love you too," she whispered, leaning into him and resting her head against his shoulder.

Corrine babbled indignantly, feeling left out from her father's affection. But this emotion was soon curbed when John stroked the tiny tots head and kissed her nose, causing pleasant childish giggles to bubble out of Corrine's mouth.

A perfect family picture.

With one last kiss from Kay, John finally walked on stage taking a hold of the microphone and anybody who was close enough to see, would have noticed that his hands were shaking.

"Hi everybody, you probably all know that we're The Maine from Tempe Arizona, but I just thought that I'd introduce myself again to you all," he said, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice as a odd hush fell upon the crowd milled in front of him.

Kay who stayed backstage moved nearer to see exactly what was going on, and even from where she stood she could pick up the look in John's eyes. It was that old look of determination, of being willing to take whatever criticisms were about to come his way.

"My name is John O'Callaghan and I am a dad."

From out of the corner of his eye he saw Kay and Corrine stood together backstage, surrounded by the boys form All Time Low, merch helpers and tour managers. But at that moment in time, it felt as though there was only Kay, Corrine and himself in the world

John O'Callaghan had arrived at the place that he was always meant to belong to, and he wasn't alone.

Kay was stood at the side of the stage, tears of happiness in her eyes, as John called her and Corrine to join him on stage.

At first she protested with every fibre of her body, but these attempts were swiftly put to an end when Garrett and Jared dragged both the girls on stage, where the bright stage lights instantly highlighted them.

A collective 'aw' rippled through the audience as they saw Corrie, who was delighted to be out in the bright open, and clapped her hands together, beaming up at her dad.

If Elaine Corlett had happened looked down from her high seat in heaven to the scene that was enfolding in a small venue somewhere in America, a smile would have crossed her face because she would have seen the love that was so evident between John and Kay, she would have seen John's smile of pride as he introduced his daughter and the love of his life to the congregated crowd in front of him. She would have noticed her sister's happiness, which filled her soul and caused Kay to shine.

It would have made Elaine happy, and if Elaine would have looked down, she would have seen that everything was just the way it was meant to be.

Perfect.