I'll Hum Along

Rome was absolutely beautiful. That's where Josh and I decided to go for our honeymoon. Strange, calling the trip a “honeymoon”. Even though it was a few months after the wedding, it was still strange. I nearly had a panic attack when someone asked for a “Mrs Josline Ramsay” on the telephone one day. I kept doing double takes when I would look at envelopes addressed to me. It was hard to believe I was someone's wife.

I woke up on a Thursday morning when the sun flooded into the room and the warmth made the bare skin on my back tingle. I opened my eyes slightly and smiled warmly. It was hard to believe I was actually in Italy. I had dreamed of going there since I was little. I was lucky that I also knew basic Italian and Latin, because Josh was completely lost, always asking me what someone had said or what a label meant.

I felt Josh move next to me in the bed, and his arm snaked around my waist under the cover. He nestled his face in the crook of my neck. “Good morning Mrs Ramsay.” he said, kissing my neck, which tickled.

“Good morning Mr Jaulby.” I smiled, rolling onto my side. Josh frowned at me.

“That was not in the agreement.” Josh said.

“Well it should have been.” I said. “Besides, Josh Jaulby had a ring to it.” I said.

“Josh would probably be your name if you were a guy.” Josh told me.

“There wasn't even supposed to be a me.” I said.

“How does that even work? How did your parents not know they were having twins?” Josh asked.

“I hid.” I said, and Josh chuckled.

“You obviously wanted to make a grand entrance.” Josh said, sitting up.

“That's the best way to make an entrance.” I said. Josh smiled, leaned down, and kissed my forehead. Josh shook his head and got out of the bed. I sat upright, keeping the bedding clutched firmly to my body. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“I don't know. What do you want to do?” Josh asked, pulling his pants on.

I thought for a moment. “Can we go to the Trevi Fountain?” I asked. Josh slid his belt through the loops of his pants.

“That place is always crowded though.” Josh said.

“That's because it's a popular tourist attraction.” I said. Josh shook his head lightly. “Aw, come on! We did what you wanted to do yesterday.” I said.

“Yes, but what I wanted to do just involved our naked selves. What you want to do doesn't.” Josh said, putting his hands on his hips. I frowned at him. “I just want to spend time with my beautiful wife.” Josh said. The word almost seemed to get stuck in his mouth; wife. I was a wife. He was a husband. It was strange.

“Well, your beautiful wife wants to go to the Trevi Fountain.” I told him. Josh opened his mouth to protest, but I gave him a look. “Look, I'll make you a promise. We go to the Trevi Fountain, do a little shopping, have dinner, and then we can do that thing you want to do...again.”

Josh looked pensive for a moment. “I think I can handle an hour or two of a fountain.” Josh said. I smiled at him. “As long as I get sex at the end of the night.” Josh pointed a finger at me. I rolled my eyes at him and threw a pillow in his direction. It connected with his his head, and he sputtered. “The fuck was that for?” he asked, and I only shrugged.

Josh and I did go to the fountain for a little while, but soon he got bored just standing around. It was pretty crowded, but I didn't mind. For some reason, I never disliked crowds. Josh was just awkward and wanted to do something. We wound up going to a pizza place that wasn't too far from the fountain. We went shopping for a bit, picking up a few trinkets for our friends, and then went back to our hotel. I told Josh to change into something nicer than what he was wearing, because we were going out to dinner. All he did was flop forwards onto the bed, looking much like Finley when he didn't want to do something. At least I knew where our son got it from.

“Oh, don't start that.” I said, pulling a dress from my bag.

“I'm tired!” Josh whined.

“You're not tired. You're just stubborn.” I said.

“That too.” Josh whined again. I rolled my eyes again. I started to walk towards the bathroom with my dress in hand.

“I swear, if you're not at least half-assed ready by the time I get out of this bathroom, I'm going to kick you.” I said. Josh mumbled something at me and I went into the bathroom. I put my dress on and straightened out my unruly hair that had been up in a ponytail all day. It took all of twenty minutes. When I got out of the bathroom, Josh was still laying on the bed. I exhaled and rolled my eyes at him. I walked behind Josh and kicked his butt.

Josh lurched forwards slightly and twisted around to look at me. “Jesus Christ Josline! What the hell was that for?” he asked me.

“I told you to get ready, didn't I?” I asked him. Josh narrowed his eyes slightly.

“You didn't have to kick me.” Josh stood up.

“I told you I was going to kick you.” I said. Josh frowned at me.

“That actually hurt.” he pouted.

“Oh, suck it up, you big baby.” I said.

“I'm going to have a bruise.”

“No you wont.”

“How do you know?”

“I didn't kick you that hard.”

Josh stared at me for a moment, his eyes still narrowed. “You should be glad you're so damn cute.” I rolled my eyes slightly at him. I picked up one of his dress shirts off the floor and tossed it at him.

“Go. Now.” I told him. Josh walked past me to the bathroom, mocking me as he went. “Don't make me kick you again!” I told him, and he laughed.

“You're an ass hole, you know that?” Josh said from inside the bathroom.

“You love me.” I replied, sitting down on the bed.

“I really have no choice at this point, do I?”

“Not at all.” I said. I heard Josh laugh again and I smiled. Married life wasn't that much different from when Josh and I were just dating. We were still two immature teenagers at heart, and hopefully it was going to stay that way.

It was just my friends I had to look out for.