Cross My Heart

Even just being on my own with Finley for a week was an adventure and a half. I really didn't know how Josline did it, to be honest. Josline was normally the one who got up to change or feed Finley. I normally bathed him. I was more of an observant parent. Josline was the hands-on one. I definitely had a strange appreciation for Josline that I didn't before. She balanced her career and family with almost near perfection. It just astounded me how she did it. She was like a super hero. No, she was a super mom.

I had noticed, however, that Finley looked much more like Josline than anything. My mom said that Finley looked like me when I was a baby, but the only similarity was mine and Finley's eye colour. Finley had Josline's round face, and eye shape. The nose, I wasn't quite sure about. Josline said that when Finley got older, he would look more and more like me, because all babies have “round faces” according to Josline.

I brought Finley out into the living room, and sat him down on the couch. He was finally starting to sit on his own. I leaned back on the couch, keeping an eye on my son, in case he decided to try to crawl off the couch. I turned on the TV and turned it onto Much Music. Ellaries Dollhouse was supposed to be on that day. The show started with the normal intro, and the VJ, who's name I missed due to Finley's loud squeal when the audience started cheering on the TV. I smiled at him and put him on my lap, because he was getting very close to the edge of the couch. It was maybe about a half an hour into the show when the VJ announced Josline, Airin, Marque and Keith's names. They normally all did interviews. Airin felt like if only two people went for the interview, it would make the others feel left out. I pointed at the TV, attempting to get Finley's attention.

“Hey, Finley! It's mommy!” Finley started bouncing up and down on my legs, making weird, excited noises. I couldn't help but laugh at him. He really was a happy baby. He didn't cry all that often. I turned my attention back to the TV.

“So, your new album just came out about a week ago.” the audience cheered. Airin had a goofy smile on his face, like he normally did. “What is it like, it being your third album?” Josline lifted the microphone to her face.

“Well, technically, it's not our third album. It's Ellaries Dollhouses second album. It's the third album that Keith, Airin and I have worked on with one another.” Josline said. “Still cool though.”

“It is a really cool feeling, it being Ellaries Dollhouses sophomore album. It's like that unreal feeling that you get sometimes. “ Airin stated.

“And what about you Marque? Since it's your second album, you may not have as much experience in the whole recording process. But, what's it like?” The VJ asked.

“It's a pretty odd feeling. I didn't think that I would actually ever be in a band. Especially in a band with people who I already knew so well. When I sent in my audition video for them, I thought, 'There's probably a couple of people who would really want to be part of this band'. But I was happy when they picked me.” Marque said.

“We wanted the whole process of picking a replacement for Colbie to be fair. Josline had brought up that Marque plays bass, so we sent an e-mail to him saying that we'd like him to send in a submission. It was a completely fair thing. We didn't just pick Marque because we all knew him, and knew that he played bass. We picked him because he was the best submission we got.” Keith answered.

“That's cool though. Speaking of what you never thought you'd be doing. If you guys hadn't actually formed the band, what would you guys be doing?” Airin was the first to answer that question. He leaned back in his chair and exhaled.

“I would be a hobo.” Airin said. The audience laughed. “Yeah, I would be hobo-sexual. Just because.” Airin laughed.

“We'd just see him on the streets of Vancouver with a sign that says, 'I used to be cool. Need money to make me cool again'.” Josline said.

“That was harsh Josline.” Airin said, sticking his tongue out at his sister.

“Suck it up Airin.” Josline retorted. The audience laughed again.

“How do you two deal with their sibling bickering on the road?” The VJ asked Marque and Keith.

“I just put my headphones on and I tune everyone out.” Keith said. “I don't really notice any more. They think it's normal to talk to one another in a tone reserved for the partially deaf.”

“Keith is like, the peace-keeper. He makes sure that no one ends up killing anyone else.” Marque said. I smiled at how well everyone interacted when they were being interviewed.

The rest of the interview went by quite hilariously. They talked about how everyone had been coping with Josline being a new mom. There were some pretty funny questions being asked, and they talked about the new video they were premiering. Over-all, great interview.

Around 11 o'clock, I got a text message from Matt saying to watch the news. I was confused, since I didn't normally watch it. I turned it on anyways. I sat back down on the couch and watched it. The reporter came on and started to talk about a news story. “There had been an explosion at a downtown Vancouver night club at around 9 PM this evening. There had been a number of reported injuries, and only 4 fatalities.” I sat straight up and looked at the TV. “So far, only 3 names have been disclosed to the public. Jenna Harvey, and Brandon and Olivia Greene. The cause of the explosion is still being investigated.”

It almost felt as if my heart jumped right into my throat. I couldn't actually believe what I just heard. Both Brandon and Olivia. Sure I didn't get along with either of them, but I felt this automatic sense of depression just fall over me. I looked around for my phone. The whole time I was wondering if Keith knew or not. I found my phone and dialed his number quickly.

“Hey Josh.” Keith said. He still sounded happy. I didn't want to be the one to make him upset, but it had to be done.

“Hi Keith.” I said.

“You sound rough. What's up?” Keith asked.

“Are you sitting down?” Keith didn't respond for a few seconds.

“I am now. Why?”

“Well...”