Ever After

Josh held out his hand for Kali and pulled her up the three steps into the band’s fancy new tour bus. She gasped when she saw the main area, her eyes opening wide.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“What do you think, babe? Pretty swanky, huh?” Josh smiled proudly.

“Well, it’s certainly a step up from Walter.” She chuckled.

Walter had been the name for the van they’d toured in for their first Canadian tour. It’d been a piece of junk, but a piece of junk that was a trooper. It’d backfired and chugged its way as far is it could take them.

“That’s for sure. C’mon, I wanna give you a tour bus…um, tour.” He pulled her farther inside.

Kali laughed at him and ran her fingers over the smooth granite countertops. The tour bus had shown up outside 604 Records the previous night and the boys had all but started living in it. The band left for their Canadian Masterpiece Theatre tour in two days with Kali, Chelsea, Sam and Patty in tow. Josh figured he’d better get her acquainted with the tour bus now instead of later.

“This is where we’ll be sleeping,” He pulled her down a very narrow hallway that had bunk beds cut into the walls all the way down it. Curtains covered most of them. “The only shitty part is there isn’t a bigger bed in the back or anything. So we can’t snuggle unless we’re on top of each other, and well, that’s not exactly snuggling anymore…” He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.

Kali shrugged. “That’s fine.”

Josh feigned hurt. “You’re not going to miss snuggle time?!”

“We’ll have to settle for cuddles on the couch before bed,” she smiled. “Only if you aren’t gross and sweaty though.”

“So picky.” Josh sighed and continued pulling her. He pushed aside a long heavy curtain and revealed a small room with a black leather couch big enough to seat seven, a 30” flat screen TV mounted on the wall, and a gigantic mirror on the wall opposite the door.

“What’s this room for?” Kali asked as she inspected the TV. “Can I watch my guilty pleasure in here?”

“No, no Vampire Diaries. That’s for your laptop only with headphones in.” Josh rolled his eyes and Kali laughed. “This is a room where many a video game will be played.” He stared at the TV admiringly.

“Video games, of course,” Kali nodded.

“It’s also for a little privacy…you know, if you want to just get away from everyone for a little while…” He wrapped his arms around Kali’s waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Or if I want some time alone with my wife.”

Kali covered Josh’s hands on her stomach with her own and smiled. She knew she should’ve seen this coming.

“You know, with all the honeymoon sex and the birthday sex, you’d think that’d be enough to last you for awhile.” she chuckled.

“When it’s you, you know I can never get enough.” He smirked and kissed her jaw.

“You, sir, are incredibly insatiable.” Kali tilted her head a little and her eyes fluttered closed.

“Stop being so good at what you do to me then.” Josh kissed down the side of her neck slowly.

Kali made a soft noise and spun around, grasping Josh by his collar. “Never.” She kissed him firmly, falling back onto the couch.





“Are you okay, Kal? You’ve been looking a little on the sick side.” Chelsea pointed out over a light lunch of sushi.

It was just Kali and Chelsea on the bus, all the boys were out doing an interview at a local radio station in Calgary, and they assumed the other girls, Patty and Sam, were shopping.

Indeed, Kali hadn’t been feeling very great for the past few days. She’d been weak and slightly grumpy, and not to mention she’d been throwing up at least once a day. She didn’t know why. As far as she knew she hadn’t ate anything bad, and it didn’t feel like the flu or a cold. She had no idea what was wrong with her. Well, she had an idea; she just didn’t want to admit it.

She simply shrugged. “I just haven’t been feeling very great. It’ll go away soon.”

“Hm, I hope so,” Chelsea chewed her lip and dug around in their sushi bag. “Maybe this seaweed salad will cheer you up!” She pulled out a black plastic container of the salad and popped the lid off.

Kali thought she wanted it until the smell hit her nose. It smelled off, not like it should. Immediately she felt the now familiar churning in her stomach.

“Damn it!” she cursed before rushing to the bathroom of the bus.

When she was done emptying her stomach of everything she’d just consumed, she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and stared into the mirror. She dug out her phone and googled her symptoms. She had a feeling, but she was too scared to believe it. All the results that popped up on the search engine made ice seep into her veins. She nearly dropped her phone as she rushed out of the bathroom, almost running into Chelsea on the way.

“Jesus, Kal! What’s wrong?” she asked.

Kali inspected the calendar that hung on the cupboard. “What’s the date today?” she asked quietly.

“The 12th, why?”

She flipped between the previous month and the one they were in now, not wanting to believe it to be true.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…” she repeated with increasing anxiety.

“Kali Ramsay, would you please explain what is going on?” Chelsea demanded.

Kali turned to her friend with wide eyes. She was looking even paler than before. Her heart was pounding and she could feel cold sweat on her forehead.

“I’m late,” she said just above a whisper.

“Late? For what?”

“My period. I didn’t get my period.” All the colour drained from Chelsea’s face immediately. “…Oh.”

“I-I think I’m pregnant. I’m on a tour bus, and I think I’m pregnant…”