‹ Prequel: So Close Yet So Far

Meant to be

The Higher the Pedestal, the Harder the Fall

A few days later Ramona heads over to her father's house during the afternoon. She rings the doorbell and Josh answers the door.
"Hello sister of mine," he says letting her in.
"If it isn't my youngest brother," she laughs as she crosses her arms, "What's up?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," he says walking away, she follows him into the living room to see there's a girl there.

"Hi I'm Ramona," she says to the girl.
"I'm Denisse," she says going to shake her hand.
"So are you two . . ."
"Yeah," Josh says rolling his eyes.
"Is Dad here?"

"Yes I am!" Tre exclaims from behind her, causing his daughter to jump.
"Way to give me a heart attack."
"You'll survive," Tre insists as he leads his daughter into the kitchen.

"I know you're not much for wine, but you have to try this one," he says retrieving a bottle out of the fridge. Ramona gets a couple of wine glasses out of the cupboard.
"I didn't know you were a wine connoisseur," Ramona teases as Tre pours them each a glass.

Ramona takes a whiff of the wine and the smell is abnormally strong. "What is this wine?" she asks looking at the label.
"Chateau Gwenivere," Tre says smiling, "good year too." Ramona shrugs and takes a sip. Moments later her stomach becomes queasy. She runs over to the garbage can and throws up a little.
"Told you I'm not much of a wine person," Ramona says dumping the rest of her glass in the sink. "And that was red wine of top of it," she says trying to ignore that the fact her stomach is still queasy.
"Sorry," Tre says putting the bottle back in the fridge. "So what's new?"

"Uhh, I dunno," Ramona laughs, "Found out about Josh's girlfriend." Tre laughs.
"Yeah, going on two weeks. My little boy is growing up so fast!"
"Stop being so dramatic," she laughs, "What does Bianca think of her?"
"Well she set up a rule they weren't allowed over at each other's places without adult supervision," Tre rambles, "They have you to thank for that."
"Joe and I weren't that bad were we?"
"You kids took ten years off my life in a matter of one year!"
"I'm sorry," Ramona says smiling.
"No you're not," Tre smirks, "It's the circle of life, I did the same thing to my dad. Not to mention the number of near heart attacks I caused to your mom's parents."

Ramona still feels sick to her stomach, she catches a glimpse of the calendar on the fridge and her eyes bulge.
"Mona?" Tre asks waving his hand in front of her face, "Mona? Are you okay?"
"Oh umm," she stutters, "I just realized I have to be at the office."
"Now?" he asks looking at his watch, "Its already five."
"I know," she says grabbing her purse, "But, I'll see you tomorrow for dinner."
"Okay," Tre says confused as his daughter runs out of the house.

Once in her car she starts down the street and pulls out her cell phone and quickly dials Joey's cell number. It rings twice.
"Hey babe," he says smoothly, "What's up?"
"I'm three days late and I threw up!" she yelps excitedly.
"You're pregnant!" Joey exclaims.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure yet, I'm going to buy a pregnancy test now," she says turning into the parking lot of the pharmacy.
"Okay, I'll meet you at home." Ramona shuts off her phone and runs into the pharmacy.

Like a mad dash she goes down the fifth isle and picks up a pregnancy test before heading over to the cash.
"Hope it comes out the way you want," the cashier says after Ramona pays up.
"Thanks," she says smiling as she runs back to her car.

It takes her five long minutes to get home. Joey's car pulls into the driveway just as she gets to the front door. Ramona immediately heads to the washroom to take the test. Joey picks up the box.
"Wait ten to fifteen minutes for results," he reads off the label. "So you think you really are pregnant?" Ramona nods excitedly as she puts the test in the sink. Joey thinks for a second then starts laughing.
"What?"
"Its something Jakob said to me," he pauses, "He said we were having trouble because we were actually trying. The only way we could have kids is by accident."
"You talking about Jake's birthday, in the car?" Ramona laughs, "That theory is stupid."
"That's what I said."

They wait anxiously for ten minutes. Ramona goes over to the sink and reads the test.
"Negative," She whispers as she walks past Joey. She goes up to their bedroom and lies down. Joey lies next to her.
"We'll try again and again until our genitals are raw," he says trying to make her laugh, but it doesn't work. "Ramona, it'll be okay. We'll eat more fertility boosting foods and if worst comes to worst we'll try artificial insemination."
"Joey I love you but please stop talking for now," she whispers as she wipes her eyes. Joey sighs and gets up, he slowly makes his way back downstairs.

He realizes he left the bathroom light on. He goes to turn it off when he glances into the sink. . .