World I Never Knew

Household of Kevin & Danielle Jonas the second

“Has anyone heard from Joe yet?” Danielle asked as she strolled into her living room. She sat on the couch next to her husband, Kevin, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “He’s two days late and hasn’t called.”

“Dani don’t worry.” Kevin reassured her. “You’ve known Joe long enough to know he was bound to be late. He’ll show up tomorrow… two days from now at the latest.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Honey, if I know my son as well as I think I do… he’ll be here.” Denise Jonas said to her daughter-in-law.

“If you’re all sure.” Danielle said warily as the rest of the Jonas’ nodded their heads. “I just want my first Thanksgiving as an official Jonas to be a wonderful one and I want everybody here for it.”

“If it will make you feel any better, Kev and I will try calling him tomorrow.” Nick said from his spot by the window.

“Yeah babe, Nick and I will take turns calling him. Knowing Joe… his cell’s probably dead and he most likely won’t have his charger.”

“It really would make me feel better.” She said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Alright, that’s what we’ll do.”

“What can I do?” Frankie asked, sitting down on the couch between his parents.

“You, Frankie, can help me do some Christmas shopping for your brothers.” Danielle said. “We’ll keep the presents a secret between the two of us.”

“Alright Dani,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling at his new sister.

Whilst their children continued to talk, Denise motioned for her husband to follow her into the kitchen. She paced the floor with one hand on her stomach, the other near her heart. Kevin Sr. walked forward and caught her in his arms and began rubbing soothing circles on her back.

“What if something’s wrong?” she whispered.

“Denise, this is Joseph we’re talking about. Nicholas and Kevin are probably right. You shouldn’t worry.”

“I suppose but… I have a feeling that something’s wrong.” She said, referring to her motherly instincts.

“Hey,” he said, pulling away and holding her shoulders at an arm’s length. “Listen to me. Our son is alright. He is smart. If something is wrong he will find a way to contact us. If, and I mean the slightest “if”, something has happened where he can’t contact us, he’ll still be safe.”

He pulled her close again and she buried her head in his shoulder. She couldn’t help the small sobs that overtook her body. Denise Jonas couldn’t help but worry about her second oldest son. He may be twenty one years old but in her eyes he’s still the five year old with the bowl cut and missing teeth.

“He’s alright,” she whispered, to herself and to her husband.

****

“Ow!”

“What’s wrong?” Angela called from downstairs.

Joe stood in the bathroom, facing the mirror, clutching his head. He had just received the most painful head ache of his life. He opened the medicine cabinet to look for some aspirin but didn’t see any.

“Joe?” Angela asked. Joe turned to find her standing in the bathroom doorway, a dish towel in her hands.

“I’m alright,” he said, wincing as another sharp pain rang in his head. “Head ache. I need to get some aspirin from my bag.”

She moved out of his way and he walked to the guest room. He rifled through his bag until he found the tiny white bottle. Shaking the bottle made him realize he didn’t have very much. Inside sat five tiny white pills. He shook two out and walked back to the bathroom.

“Are you prone to headaches?” she asked as he swallowed the two pills with some water. He put the cup back and wiped his mouth with his hand before answering her.

“Not really. I don’t know what it was… it was really weird. That was the worst headache I’ve ever experienced.”

“How do you mean?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Well…” he said, looking thoughtfully at her. “I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s almost like… I feel like my family knows something’s wrong. It’s stupid…”

“No it’s not.” She said quietly, walking downstairs. He stood there for a moment, confused before following her.

“Wait… what do you mean?”

“Well… I kind of got a crazy head ache too the moment of my parents car accident. I’m not saying anything bad happened to your family.” She said quickly noticing the look of panic flash across his face. “It’s kind of like… the opposite thing. Maybe your family was just talking about you… worrying and you sensed it.”

“But that’s impossible isn’t it?”

“Sixth sense. Duh.” She said.

“Right… like the movie.” He said, smiling slightly.

“Except instead of seeing dead people, we receive splitting headaches.” She said causing him to laugh.

He walked over to the front window and pulled back the curtain to be blinded by the sun reflecting off the snow. He sighed and she walked over to him. They stood, shoulder to shoulder watching the snow continue its never-ending fall. She reached over and put her hand on top of his and gave it a slight squeeze.

Neither could deny the shock they both felt at that instant but… neither acknowledged it. They continued to stand, hands touching, hearts racing, watching the winter continue its beautiful wreckage.