Ever After

Kali opened the door to the tour bus and walked into it, balancing the two trays of coffee very carefully. She set one tray down on the closest table so she could close the door without slamming it. She’d woken up before everyone else, so she’d taken it upon herself to go and get the morning coffee. She knew what everyone liked, so she figured why not? She’d even made two trips: one to Starbucks and one to Tim Hortons. Not everyone could agree on one coffee type. Of course she’d gotten herself a French vanilla hot chocolate instead since she couldn’t have the coffee anymore. It was extremely hard to get used to.

She took her drink and another out of the holder and looked to her right. Josh was passed out on the couch, snoring softly. She laughed like she did when she found him like that when she’d gotten up and shook her head at him. He must’ve been awake for a long time last night and just passed out on the couch, she thought. I wonder why he didn’t wake me like usual… Nevertheless, she snuck up to the couch and knelt down beside it, planting a kiss on his lips.

Slowly, Josh’s eyes fluttered open and he took in his surroundings in a dazed confusion. “Kali?” he asked in his creaky morning voice.

Kali smiled. “You fell asleep on the couch, silly,” She chuckled before handing him his cup. “Apology coffee? Since I didn’t really say ‘sorry’ last night—well, not in so many words…” She smirked.

Josh smiled and generously took the warm cup from her. “Thank you, baby,” he said warmly. “And, I’m sorry, too.”

Kali just smiled and kissed him again. She wasn’t mad anymore; she just wanted things to go back to normal as quickly as possible.

She quickly stood up and lifted her shirt to expose her stomach, standing so Josh saw her side. “Look! Do you think I’m starting to show?” she asked in a purposely over-excited voice.

Josh laughed and admired her. “Hm, you still look a tad on the skinny side to me. Are you sure you’re not doing something wrong here?” He sat up and sipped at the warm liquid.

“Me, doing something wrong? Please, Joshua, that’s unheard of.” She flipped her hair and took her sunglasses off her head before returning to the containers of coffee. She picked one up and smiled devilishly. “Want to wake the guys up with me?”

Josh shrugged. “Why not?”

Kali and Josh snuck into the bunk part of the bus as quietly as possible. Kali knelt down and pulled the curtain to Mike’s bunk back before opening the cup and waving it just underneath his nose.

“Nothing’s happening,” Josh whispered after a moment or two.

“Just wait for it,” Kali said, holding it a little closer to Mike’s face.

As if on cue, Mike made a noise and his eyes opened. He stared at the coffee being held in front of his face in a daze for a moment before looking up at Kali.

“Is that Starbucks?” he asked sleepily.

Both Kali and Josh laughed. “Sure is. Wakey, wakey, Michael Ayley.” Kali sang, handing Mike the coffee.

Josh looked around. “What about the rest of them?” he asked quietly.

“Well I guess if they want their coffee to get cold, they’ll stay in bed.” Kali declared loudly enough to wake them all before walking back to the front lounge.

“Ramsay, I’m starting to think bringing your wife with us was a mistake,” Matt groaned. His voice was muffled from his face being squished into his pillow. “First she gets pregnant now she’s waking us up.”

Josh just laughed and shrugged. “I can’t control her, man.”

“What did you do to her?” Ian asked, poking his head out from behind the curtain of his bed. “She used to be such a quiet, nice girl.”

Josh smirked and walked away, sipping on his coffee. Ian did have a point, though. Kali had definitely changed. She used to be pretty reserved back in high school. She focused on her schoolwork and café work and didn’t get into much trouble. She could still be quiet and reserved now, but she was more often than not a total firecracker. He wasn’t sure where she’d picked it up. Surely he couldn’t have given her that little trait. But with an odd bit of pride, he couldn’t deny that he had some part in it. He’d rubbed off on her, just as she had rubbed off on him. They liked it that way.

“What’s on the schedule for today, my love?” Josh asked as he rested his chin on Kali’s shoulder. She was scrolling through her phone.

“Oh, you have a busy day ahead of you, Mr. Ramsay,” she said in a business-like voice. “First, you and I have to go for an ultrasound at 1, then you have an interview at 3, then you need to start getting ready for your show at 8.”

“Sounds like a wonderful clusterfuck of activities.” He smirked.

“Oh, it is. I’m going to make sure you won’t be late for any of these things, you know.” She tapped him on the nose and opened one of the cupboards in the front lounge to fish for a granola bar.

“Oh I know, babe. You never let me be late for anything.”

“Except for putting the condom on,” Ian coughed into his arm.

Kali hip-checked him and he stumbled to the left with a laugh. “Watch your mouth, Octagon.”

“Is that nickname really going to stick with me for life?” Ian inquired as he snagged himself a packet of Pop-tarts.

“Hilarious drunk tweets never leave you, bro.” Mike winked.

“Mm, Josh we should get going,” Kali said around a mouthful of granola. “We’ll be late if we don’t try to flag down a taxi right now.”

“Well, I’m off to look at my future child,” Josh said, grabbing his jacket and wallet. “If I find cereal in my bed again I’m going to snap, Ian.”

“Oops, that was me,” Patty walked out from the back in her pyjamas with a sleepy smile. “I couldn’t resist. Sorry, Josh.”

“No you’re not.” Josh grinned. “I’ll get you back, just you wait.”

Patty stuck her tongue out at him and Sam and Chelsea joined her from the back.

“You’re going for the first ultrasound?” Sam asked in a yawn.

When Kali nodded, Chelsea clapped her hands. “Oh, bring back some good pictures!”

“Do they have taxis in Saskatoon?” Josh asked as he stepped off the bus behind Kali.

Kali walked to the sidewalk bordering the street and stuck her head out. She waved her hand at a white car with a pizza sign on the top of it. When the car stopped beside her she spun around to look at Josh.

“They sure do.” She opened the door and slid over to the other side so Josh could climb in. “University Hospital, please.” She told the cab driver.

She’d booked the appointment beforehand since she knew they were in need of an ultrasound. Luckily, even though they weren’t regular patients there, the hospital accepted them for an appointment immediately. She was worried that since she was travelling across Canada with the band, getting in to see doctors might be difficult. Thankfully people seemed to understand her predicament well enough to allow her appointments. Thank god for the nice people in the world, she said to herself.

There was minor waiting time once they got to the maternity ward of the hospital and before they knew it they were in one of the ultrasound rooms. Josh stood faithfully by Kali’s side while the ultrasound technician got everything set up. It took a moment but she found the baby and it showed up on the screen.

“There it is,” she whispered happily. She pointed to the larger white portion on the screen, “That’s the head, and there’s the little arm and hand, and its legs are all tucked in right there.”

Josh and Kali stared at the screen with happiness that was about to bubble over. Josh squeezed Kali’s hand and looked on at his future child.

Kali held back her tears and smiled. “From this angle it kind of looks like it has your lips, Josh.” She giggled.

Josh chuckled. “Yeah, it kinda does.”

The ultrasound technician snapped a picture on the screen. “Were you two planning on knowing what gender it is before you have it?” she asked. “We won’t be able to tell quite yet, I’m just curious.”

Josh and Kali looked at one another. They hadn’t really bothered to think too much about that. Josh gave a little shrug.

“Do you want to keep it a surprise?” Kali asked.

“We might as well. Surprises are more adventurous anyways.” Josh smirked.

“So no?” The technician inquired politely.

Both Josh and Kali shook their heads. “No thank you.”

“That’s cool, not many parents want to do it the old-fashioned way anymore. Alright, well we’ll just try and get a couple more photos here and you’re free to go. Everything looks fine and dandy in there.” She smiled kindly and returned her attention to the screen.

“It has all ten fingers and toes?” Josh asked.

“It appears so, yes.” She chuckled.

Josh heaved a sigh of relief. “Deformities averted.”

Kali rolled her eyes at her silly husband. He would say something like that.

“I’ll be right back with your photos.” The technician left the room for a moment and Kali pulled her shirt down and sat up.

“Well, what do you think?” she asked Josh, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.

“I think that’s amazing,” Josh answered, leaning down to kiss her. “We made that.”

“I guess you can’t say your birthday wasn’t successful,” Kali giggled.

“Mm, I would never say that in a million years.” He smiled adoringly down at Kali and it still managed to take her breath away.

The technician reappeared with a manila envelope in her hands and handed it to Kali. “There you are. Congratulations on your pregnancy, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay.”

Kali felt a little heat rise to her cheeks. She was still getting used to being called ‘Mrs. Ramsay’, and now there was ‘congratulations on your pregnancy’ added to the list. But she was coming to find that she really didn’t mind much.

“Thank you.” They said simultaneously.

The couple exited the hospital and started walking down the sidewalk. Josh had his arm around Kali’s shoulders and was admiring the warm summer air in Saskatchewan.

“Do you want to walk back to the bus this time?” Kali asked, looking up at him.

“Well, do you want to?” Josh asked with raised eyebrows. “It’s kind of far.”

“It’s only three blocks! If I had known we were closer we could’ve walked here in the first place.”

“Alright, if you’re up for it.”

“We’ve been on that bus for days. I haven’t gotten to stretch my limbs in a very relaxing way for awhile.” Kali snuggled up to Josh’s side.

The couple walked down along the river for a scenic view and even stopped to sit on one of the benches on the bank to look at the pictures again. They could’ve sworn in one of the pictures it looked like the baby was sucking its thumb. Josh had made some quip about it needing braces and Kali had rolled her eyes at him.

While they were walking away from the river and back to the streets, they came across this stationary double-decker bus in front of a large hotel that looked like a castle. Kali gave it an odd look, wondering what it was there for and why there was a small line of people in front of it. When they got closer she noticed a sign that said ‘Frozen Yogurt, Popcorn & Hot Dogs’ with an arrow pointing towards the bus. She gasped.

“No way,” she murmured.

“What?” Josh asked, pulling his attention away from the shops on the other side of the street.

“They sell frozen yogurt over there,” she said, pointing towards the bus
.
“Having a little pregnancy craving, are we?” Josh asked teasingly.

“Maybe,” Kali smirked. “I’m getting some. Do you want any?”

“I don’t know…”

“You might as well; you know you’re going to steal from me anyway.”

“So why can’t I just happily steal from you and save money in exchange for a little germ-swapping?”

“Fine, fine, but I’m picking the flavour.”

“What flavour are you going to get?”

“Hm, double chocolate looks good.”

“Oh, I don’t want all that chocolate in the morning. I’ll get my own.”

“It’s like taking an indecisive teenager out.” Kali laughed as Josh dug for his wallet.

He gasped. “You cougar.”

Kali laughed. “Well I am older than you.”

“Only by a couple months!” Josh protested.

“But I’m like, a year or two older than you maturity wise.” Kali smirked.

“Alright, I’ll give you that.” Josh sighed and smiled.

“In fact, I’m pretty sure Bennie is more mature than you, and she’s a dog.”

“Now that’s just mean.”

“Roar.”

The couple finally reached the front and got their frozen yogurt—Josh got strawberry and was amazed that it was made with 100% real strawberries—and continued to walk back to the bus. They were stopped by one kind fan for a photo and an autograph from Josh, and she even wanted a picture with Kali. Kali liked taking pictures with the Trench fans, but she never really expected them to ask. So it was always a surprise when they did.

Just as they were walking up to the bus, Kali’s phone began to ring. With a puzzled look she took it out and noticed it was Derek calling her.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Kali? Where are you?” Derek asked. His voice sounded strained.

“Saskatchewan…why? Is everything alright?”

Josh turned to look at Kali with a questioning gaze. She simply stared back with just as much confusion on her face.

“No, Kali something happened,” Derek said solemnly.

“…What are you talking about? Derek, tell me what happened.” Kali begged seriously.

“The coffee maker was on and the pot was off the burner because Alison was refilling customer’s mugs and…no one was paying attention to it…it just kind of happened and it was out of control before we could stop it…” Derek rambled.

“Derek, for god’s sake what happened?!”

“Paper landed on the burner and lit on fire. Everything caught so quickly…we managed to get everyone out in time but…the café…Kali, it’s gone.” Derek’s voice was eerily quiet.

Kali nearly dropped her phone. Her mouth fell open and she stared with a pained expression at nothing. Josh stepped closer and put his hand on her shoulders.

“Kali? What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked urgently.

“K-Kali?” Derek asked. “Are you there?”

Kali didn’t feel like she could talk. There was no way the things Derek was saying to her could be true. The café couldn’t have burned down. There was no way her Mom’s café was destroyed; it couldn’t be. Her Mom had started that café when Kali was little and Kali had worked there all her life. The roof of that café was where her and Josh spent so many sacred hours. It was where he kissed her for the first time and told her he loved her and made love to her. There was no way that could all be gone.

“I’ll come home,” Kali finally choked out in a weak voice. “I’ll fix it…”

“Kali, I’m so sorry…I never intended for this to happen on my watch…” Derek pleaded.

“Its okay, Derek, it’s no one’s fault,” Kali’s tone was emotionless. She was feeling numb inside with her denial. But she needed to see this for herself. “I’ll be there tomorrow sometime. I’ll talk to you then.” She hung up.

Josh was now looking at her with wide, anxious eyes. “Kali, please tell me what happened. Why are you going home?” he asked quietly.

Kali looked up into those blue eyes and nearly broke down. That café had as many memories for him as it did for her. What if he didn’t take the news any better than she was taking it? If Josh got upset, Kali really wouldn’t be able to keep it together. It was already hard enough to keep herself from bursting into hopeless tears.

“Josh,” Kali whispered shakily, “the café, it—it’s…gone.”