Ever After

“Josh, come here, quick!”

Josh’s head snapped up from his custom-made guitar and he instantly set it down before running to the back of the bus.

“Kali, what’s wrong?” he yelled as panic set in. Ever since Kali had told him she was pregnant he’d been anxious and apprehensive of anything happening to her. He had been before, but now it was just a more severe need to protect her.

He found her lying on her bottom bunk with her book lying open on her chest. She looked up at his panicked face and smiled. One of her hands was on her stomach and she motioned for him to kneel down.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Feel my stomach, right here,” She grabbed his hand and put it where her hand had previously been. “There, do you feel that?”

Josh probed his fingers gently along her stomach and his eyes widened a little. He definitely felt something underneath his touch. It was a small spot that felt different from the rest of her stomach.

“It’s…hard,” he whispered.

Kali nodded and grinned. “That’s it, right there. That’s our baby.” She’d reached the 14 week mark in her pregnancy a couple days ago. She’d just been lying in her bed reading when her hand absently began to travel to her stomach and that’s when she’d felt it.

Josh’s eyes were wide and he stared at Kali as a lopsided grin spread across his face. The moment was surreal. He was feeling the beginnings of his own child underneath his fingertips. A million emotions exploded in him like fireworks and he found himself lose his breath. The reality began to sink in that he was actually going to be a father. He’d never seen himself as much of a father figure, but he was so ready for it. It’d be a huge learning experience, but with Kali at his side he knew they could manage just fine.

“Wow,” he murmured, “that’s amazing.”

Kali giggled and sat up to kiss Josh’s shocked face. He unthawed and kissed her back, putting his fireworks of feelings behind it. When they pulled apart, Kali was the one who looked breathless.

“Whoa.” She whispered.

“What’s going on in here?” Mike asked, stepping out of the gaming room. He nearly tripped over Josh.

“Come here, Mike,” Kali waved him over.

“Okay…” Hesitantly, Mike kneeled down beside Josh, who slid over to give him room. “Why?”

“Give me your hand.” Kali held out her own hand.

Mike looked to Josh as if asking for permission. Josh just nodded and grinned.

“Do it, it’s cool.” Josh said.

“I don’t know, that’s what I was told at my first party when someone offered me beer. Do it, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Well, the next morning definitely wasn’t fun.” Mike grimaced.

“Oh just give me your hand.” Kali snatched Mike’s hand from his side and put it over the spot on her belly. “Do you feel it?”

Mike made a weird face. “What is that?”

Kali and Josh laughed.

“That right there is your future niece or nephew.” Josh said proudly.

“No way!” Mike exclaimed. “That’s so amazing.”

“Isn’t it?” Kali beamed beautifully at him. “Congratulations, Uncle Mike.”

Mike chuckled and stood up to go tell everyone else what he’d just done. His voice was saturated with excitement as he retold the story.

“So, since it’s made its presence known, does this mean I can feel up your stomach and kiss it whenever I want?” Josh asked mischievously.

Kali rolled her eyes but smiled. “I suppose. Just don’t rape it; we don’t want it to be scared of you before it’s even born.”

“Alright, alright,” he sighed. “Well, it’s about to enjoy it’s first ever concert tonight, so we’ll see if it’s scared of me after that.” He leaned down and kissed Kali’s stomach.

“You can never be too sure.” She smirked.



Kali followed the dimly lit hallway to the stage. She’d walked this same route so many times now. The stage was where her heart loved to be. Her heart being Josh. She pulled open the heavy door and walked into the darkness that was backstage. She could hear the fans chanting “Marianas Trench!” just outside. She looked around and clasped her hands in front of her hips. She’d chosen to wear a form-fitting black sequined dress that went almost to her knees and black flats to go with it. After all, since she’d start really showing soon, when was the next chance she was going to get to wear an outfit like that?

She could see Mike nudge Josh in the ribs and point towards Kali with his chin. Josh turned his face towards her and that breathtaking lopsided smile appeared on his face. He broke away from the guys and practically ran to her, wasting no time planting a kiss on her lips.

“Hey you,” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the chanting of the audience. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling fine,” She smiled dreamily at him. She pointed towards the stage. “It sounds as though your fans are more than ready for you.”

“Yeah,” He nodded enthusiastically, “and we’re ready for them. I pulled a chair in here for you in case you want to sit down. I couldn’t ask for you to stand for an hour and a half, not now.” He gestured towards a chair set up by the side of the stage so that it had a good view of the band but was more or less hidden from the audience.

Kali smiled heart-warmingly at him. It was really touching that he’d go to all this trouble just for her. But she worried that he’d wear himself out worrying about her so much.

“Thank you, but promise me one thing,” she said, putting a hand on his chest.

“Anything, baby,” He nodded.

“Don’t worry about me tonight. Just go out there and blow everyone’s minds, like you always do.” She gazed at him with her large, dark green eyes.

Josh stared back at her for a moment and kissed her forehead gently. “I promise, as long as you don’t give me anything to worry about,” he said. “If anyone comes up to you and tries to seduce you or something—”

Kali smiled and held up her left hand. “I’ll show them this and say I’m married to a member of the band. And when they ask which one I’ll say the one in the tight pants singing extremely high notes and blowing glitter on the crowd.”

Josh laughed. “That’s my girl.”

One of the backstage people tapped Josh on the shoulder. He had a headset on and a friendly smile.

“Time to go, Mr. Ramsay.” He said.

Josh nodded and leaned down to kiss Kali again for good luck.

“Rock ’em hard, baby.” Kali winked.

“I always do.” Josh grabbed his guitar from Brett and rushed on stage to frantic screams from the fans.

Kali watched the rest of the band join Josh and then took her seat at side stage. She loved watching the band play. They all had so much energy on stage as they fed off the energy their fans gave them. And the fans were just amazing. Kali hadn’t seen so much loyalty and love in one room from so many people. She worried sometimes because she knew how rough it could get in the mosh pit, and she knew there were some younger kids that came to these shows. There’d been the occasional time where she’d even watched the show from the crowd of people and protected the younger kids around her while she’d done it. It gave her at least a little peace of mind.

“This next one is dedicated to someone very special in my life that helped me come out of a very dark place,” Josh was saying on stage as he got behind the keyboard. “It’s called Beside You.”

Kali smiled warmly at him even though he couldn’t see it. She remembered when he’d written the exact words he was now singing in her diary. It felt like so long ago that had happened. But the song still had the same effect on her. It sent her butterflies swarming—turns out the Little Invader hadn’t killed them—and her heart thudding happily in her chest. Josh could be very romantic when he wanted to be, there was no doubt about that.

Suddenly she felt someone tap her shoulder. Kali spun around to see a man in about his 30’s with thinning hair, glasses, and a notepad in his hand. He smiled nervously at her.

“Hello, are you Kali Ramsay?” he asked.

Kali blanched. Who was this guy? Had Josh jinxed it when he’d mentioned someone trying to seduce her while he was on stage? She swallowed a hard lump.

“Y-yes,” she stammered, “who are you?”

“My name is Norm Richardson, I write for Faze and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions.”

Thank god it’s just a reporter, Kali breathed a sigh of relief. Reporters weren’t much better, but she’d take that over someone trying to seduce her.

“Um, okay.” She eyed him warily all the same.

“Is it true you and husband Josh Ramsay are expecting?” He held his pen to his paper readily.

Kali’s eyes widened and she felt the colour drain from her face. How had they found out this fast? Both Josh and Kali believed in keeping their personal life as private as possible.

“Where did you hear that?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“There was a woman outside who told me.” He responded, mildly put off by her response not being an answer to his question.

“Who was she?”

“I didn’t get a name. She had reddish brown hair, kind of tall, dimples…”

Kali’s stomach sunk. Chelsea. How could she do this?

“Please excuse me.” Kali stood up and pushed past the reporter, heading outside.

Josh looked to his left with a charming smile as he ended Beside You, expecting to see his wife smiling back to him. Instead, he saw her walking away from the stage. His smile disappeared and he stared after her but she didn’t turn around to look back at him.