"Saffron Times" (Chapter Four)
by Ennon
Disclaimer:"Degrassi:The Next Generation" and its characters are owned by Epitome Pictures and I'm making no profit whatsoever from this fanfic.
A/N- I want to give a shout-out thanks to Ava for her diligent and faithful reviews. What does Albert do next about Craig? You'll find out soon. I'll hold off the 'insisted' for speaking styles.
Toronto - May,1997
"Vancouver! I've always wanted to go there!" Joey shouted as he ran into Julia's apartment.
"What a wonderful opportunity this will be!" Julia beamed as they hugged- and Joey stroked her 7-months pregnant abdomen.
"What's the matter? You don't want to leave the ROM?" Joey asked.
" Vancouver 's where I want to be but it's just not fair to our baby that he or she have to share our limbo," Julia groaned.
"That damned Albert! Leaving Canada just so he couldn't get served the Final Papers and we couldn't get married," Joey growled.
"I know but he can't stay out of the country forever. He has to get his passport renewed one day and. .. oh, why didn't I think of that sooner," Julia exclaimed with glee.
"What is it?" Joey asked.
"Want to see us get the last laugh on Albert for a change?" Julia laughed.
"Yeah, I'd do anything for that!" Joey exclaimed as Julia grabbed the phone and started keying in a number while Joey wrapped his arms around her expanded waist.
"Hello, Pam? It's Julia! Your cousin the Ambassador is due to return to Khartoum in three days, right? Well, there's something I'd like him to carry in his diplomatic pouch!" Julia laughed while Joey hugged.
In a refugee camp in Southern Sudan. . .
"The British Embassy is rewarding me with the Immaculate Arthur Conan Doyle Citation tomorrow?" Albert asked while on the radio (while in khaki shirt, shorts and boots) in a large tent.
"Yes, Dr. Manning! It's in honour of your service to these victims of the ongoing civil war. We're holding the presentation tomorrow in Embassy in Khartoum!" a voice over the shortwave radio proclaimed.
"As much as I hate to leave this refugees , I must make the sacrifice to accept the citation in order to generate as much publicity as possible to their plight. What time tomorrow?" Albert asked.
"11:30 AM!" the voice exclaimed.
" I'll get there by then!" Albert shouted with glee.
"But what about these refugees?" another doctor asked.
"They'll keep coming with or without me," Albert shrugged.
Khartoum, June 3,1997
" Man, it was great getting out of that hellhole, take a real bath and get back into a suit again," Albert exclaimed as he walked into the British Embassy in Khartoum while looking at the nearby Nile River.
"Dr. Albert Manning, I presume?" a distinguished middle-aged gentleman asked at the front desk.
"Yes, sir! And you're. .. .?" Albert asked.
"Ambassador Cheatham. ..and there's been a change of venue. We must do the presentation across the street right this way!" Ambassador Cheatham explained.
"But. ..? " Albert sputtered.
" They're having a birthday party in the embassy presentation hall but our colleagues were happy to oblige us. Oh, since we want you to look your best for any photographs. I'd like you to hand me your glasses for the time being," Ambassador Cheatham beamed as the walked across the Khartoum street to another gated embassy.
"But I'm near-sighted without them," Albert sputtered.
"You'll need to show your passport," a guard exclaimed as they reached the embassy.
"It's Dr. Albert Manning and he's with me!"Ambassador Cheatham said adamantly while Albert handed over the passport for inspection.
"You're on the list. You may enter. Welcome to the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan,"the guard replied.
"Canadian?" Albert asked.
"A proud member of the Commonwealth and happy to oblige. Now that we're inside, in front of all our staff, I'm returning your glasses and presenting you your citation!" Ambassador Cheatham exclaimed.
"But. .. these are my. .. FINAL DIVORCE PAPERS?!" Albert boiled.
"Yes, as the Canadian Ambassador, I'm legally empowered to serve you these and since we're on Canadian territory that means that you've now been formally served with them and with that you and the former Julia Ibañez are each free to remarry. My staff's sending cablegrams and e-mails to the proper Canadian authorities as we speak!" Ambassador Cheatham beamed.
"This isn't the Immaculate Arthur Conan Doyle Citation?!" Albert gasped as he looked at the document.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Ambassador Cheatham proclaimed.
A/N- Arthur Conan Doyle was the creator of Sherlock Holmes and immaculate comes from the Latin for 'not soiled'.
Toronto, June 1997
"You want me to sleep with the stripper, Dave?" Joey asked at his bachelor party a few days later.
"Sure! It'll be your last chance before tomorrow!" his onetime classmate Dave exclaimed at the club.
"Joey doesn't want to hurt Julia," Archie 'Snake' Simpson protested.
"Yeah. She's seven months along carrying my baby! I wouldn't want to hurt her. .and what's weird is that I can't even imagine sleeping with anyone else anymore,"Joey gulped.
"Well, you know what that means!" Dave exclaimed.
"Guys! No! I was drunk when I said that!" Joey laughed.
"You're drunk now,"Dave chortled.
"But. .." Joey protested.
"Roll that video!"Dave exclaimed.
"Not have one last screw at my bachelor party? No way! I'd shave my head before I passed that one up!" the image of 18-year-old Joey exclaimed on the tiny monitor connected to the portable video player.
"Well, I DID want to feel Julia's fingers on my scalp better," 25-year-old Joey shrugged as Dave started shaving his head.
"Glad I never said anything like that on tape! No way am I shaving my head!" Snake laughed.
"Oh, for that reason, I'll always love your shaved head!" Julia exclaimed with a rich laugh when she saw it for the first time when he came back to her apartment that night while she hugged and kissed the surface.
Toronto, Canada-Saturday, June 14,1997
"And by the power vested in me by the Province of Ontario, I hereby declare these two to be husband and wife. You may kiss the bride! I present to everyone Mr. Joey and Mrs. Julia Jeremiah," the minister proclaimed in the very same church that would be used five years later for the wedding of their Best Man and Matron of Honour- Archie 'Snake' Simpson and Christine 'Spike' Nelson.
"How did I do, Mom?" 9-year-old Craig asked- pulling at the neck of his suit collar at the reception hall in the church's basement.
"You did an excellent job of giving me away!" Julia exclaimed before she kissed Craig on the right cheek..
"Mom!" Craig groaned.
" I want to dance with Joey so how I about you dance with that little Emma?" Julia asked- having taken off her face veil from her red hat. She wore a large maternity blue suit with mid shin-length skirt and red flats.
"Mom? Do I have to? She may try to kiss me!" Craig groaned.
"As if!" 8-year-old Emma protested.
"Christine, I'm sorry about. .." Julia half-laughed while covering the right side of her face with her right hand.
" Don't! It's kind of refreshing. Before we know it, they'll start noticing the opposite gender, then our troubles will REALLY start!" Spike laughed while their offspring reluctantly danced together.
"Let's get this party rocking!" Joey boomed as he pulled Julia towards him while the two of them hugged and danced.
"Are you sure about this, Jeremiah?" Archie 'Snake'Simpson asked.
" I think we wrote that song way back then for this very moment!" Joey beamed.
"But I wasn't in . .." a middle-aged man in a tux protested.
"Mr. Prescott, I can't repay you for teaching me to be the best salesman possible and I'll miss you in Vancouver," Joey exclaimed- as a photograph of Mr. Prescott, he and Julia was snapped .
"I couldn't be more proud of you if you were my own son!" Mr. Prescott exclaimed.
"Let's do it!" Snake exclaimed.
Joey, Snake and Mr. Prescott did a slow serenade version of . . .'Everyone Wants Something They'll Never Give Up'.
" And now I've found someone I'd take nothing or no one else for!" Joey exclaimed while he and Julia hugged afterwards.
"You think your two friends will one day see that they're more than friends?" Julia asked.
"Spike and Snake? Nah, they're too set in their ways and too shy!" Joey shrugged.
"But even wallflowers can bloom! I mean of all the people in all the world, I doubt any of our friends would have thought we would have chosen each other!" Julia laughed with Joey.
"Why not? You've freed me in more ways than you can possibly imagine!"Joey beamed while he and Julia kissed.
"Amor, no matter what happens, this day will give us strength in the times ahead! Did I tell you the one about the rabbi, priest and mullah. .?"Julia asked as she whispered into Joey's ear.
"What?! Where did you hear that one!" Joey asked after he burst out laughing at the punchline.
"You'd be surprised the kinds of jokes one picks up eavesdropping on diplomatic corps dinners!" Julia wryly laughed.
As the wedding party exited the church basement with Joey helping Julia up the stairs.
"Craigger! You look more ready to be married than just about anyone else here!" Albert laughed- as he showed up outside- in his khaki safari shorts, shirt and chukka boots.
"Dad! You're back from the Sudan?" Craig asked.
"Aren't you going to give your old man a hug?" Albert asked while Craig gulped then ran up to do so.
"We didn't expect you . .." Joey said a bit tensely.
"Well, life seldom lives up to expectations! Craig told me in our last phone call that you're going to Vancouver in two weeks. How about I give you guys a honeymoon present by taking Craigger off your hands til then? I've booked a yacht and we can go sailing in the Bay of Fundy til then!" Albert exclaimed.
"Can I Mom?" Craig asked.
"You 'll have lots to do these next two weeks before BC,"Albert proclaimed.
"But we didn't plan. ." Julia sighed.
"The decree you drew up says I get to have my son for two weeks in the summer. .and I've already missed seeing him six months," Albert noted.
"Very well, but two weeks is all! Oh, be careful, my son!" Julia pleaded as she hugged Craig.
" I will, Mom! I love you!" Craig exclaimed as he and Albert walked away.
"He seems nice,"Spike pondered.
"Seems is the key!"Julia groaned.
"Are you okay, Julia?" Joey asked as he hugged her.
" I won't be til all three of my loved ones are under my roof again but I'm not going to spoil these two weeks we have to ourselves. They may get to be the last extended time we get to ourselves the next eighteen years!" Julia wryly laughed and patted her abdomen while Joey joined her.
" He knows the train for Vancouver leaves in another ten minutes. I can't believe your ex would put you through all this,"Spike sighed as she, Joey and Julia were in the Toronto Train station two weeks later.
"I wish I could say I was surprised, "Julia groaned.
"If Albert's not back, I'm calling the police," Joey insisted.
" What for? I brought Craig back in one piece two weeks minus one minute after we left!" Albert exclaimed as he and Craig came from behind.
"How does he just pop up like that?" Joey asked in a whisper.
"A gift,"Julia replied while she eagerly hugged Craig.
"Oh, Mom! Joey! It was the most awesome two weeks I've had! We followed a pod of whales and went fishing and windsurfing. .and look what Dad got me!" Craig proclaimed.
"A camera?" Julia asked.
"You keep saying you want him to be well-rounded and it a lot faster than your painting!" Albert laughed.
"Well, I've reserved the dome car for when this train takes us through Rockies so Craig will have lots of chances to put that camera to good use!" Joey exclaimed.
"I'm going to miss you, Son!" Albert said with a gulp as he hugged Craig then left the scene.
"Me,too! Dad" Craig gulped.
"Craig, want to help me load up these last bags? " Joey asked.
"Okay! Looks like Mom wants some girl talk," Craig laughed.
"Thanks for all your advice and talks these past few months. You've been a good friend. I wish that your friend Caitlin had come to our wedding. I wanted to thank her in person for helping to mold my Joe into the wonderful man he is today. I'd want her to raise my children," Julia beamed while holding onto her abdomen.
"Julia, 29's still young!"Spike consoled.
" I know but a mother always wants to make sure her offspring have the best care possible- even if she's not able to do so herself," Julia said with a deep breath.
"I know! That's why I've made Lucy Emma's guardian if anything happens,"Spike explained.
" I have to confess that, a year ago, I'd have looked down upon you," Julia groaned.
"And maybe I'd have thought you were some stuck-up prude princess," Spike laughed.
"But this year has changed me more than any other. I feel like I'm an entirely new woman and I'll miss you and our other Degrassi friends in Vancouver,"Julia exclaimed as she hugged Spike before taking Joey's arm and letting him and Craig help her up the train steps on their way to start their new life in Vancouver.
Friday, August 15,1997 in a maternity room at a hospital in Vancouver, 9-year-old Craig was holding a video camera and taping the proceedings. He and Joey were in hospital scrubs and masks.
"Look at those feet fly!" Joey laughed as he handed over his daughter and Julia cradled the minutes-old baby girl in her arms.
" I told you she was dancing in my womb! The new Ginger Rogers!" Julia laughed.
"She has your hair and nose," Joey beamed.
"And your ears and eyes! Both my babies were born with a full head of hair!" Julia proudly exclaimed in her maternity bed .
"And look how she's grabbing at your zinnias!"Joey laughed.
"She just wants them out of the way for her first meal!"Julia happily declared as she discreetly opened her hospital gown enough and moved the yellow zinnia bouquet out of the way.
"What shall we name you?" Joey asked as he helped cradle his newborn daughter.
"Angela! All my life, I've thought of my own mother as my own angel and I want my little one to know that I'll be watching her,too!"Julia proclaimed as she looked into Angela's blinking eyes.
"She sure doesn't cry like one!" Craig laughed.
"Tell Angela why you like the color yellow so!" Joey pondered.
"It reminds me of Saffron Times!" Julia laughed while cradling the newborn Angela closer to her bosom.
"Saffron Times?"Joey asked with a laugh while he climbed into bed next to Julia,stroked his newborn daughter's curly hair then hugged Julia.
" Saffron's harvested a single day of the year from purple crocus flowers in Spain and quite delicate but, once dried, it becomes the most precious spice in the world. It just takes one dark orange saffron stigma to turn a pot of rice into a rich golden yellow with the rice's natural flavor enhanced. Papa used to say there'd be 'saffron times'. Times so precious that the mere memory of them would strengthen us through bleakness and help us appreciate how wondrous life itself can be!" Julia beamed as she kissed her newborn daughter Angela on the lips.
"Mrs. Jeremiah, you're not sterile!" a nurse exclaimed aghast at the sight of Julia kissing her daughter.
"Of course not! Otherwise, I couldn't have had these two!"Julia laughed as Joey joined her.
"Nurse,instead of getting phobic, how about doing something useful and holding this camera? "Joey asked the nurse while Craig handed her the camera.
"Craig, join us in welcoming your baby sister into our family! Angela, meet your big brother Craig!" Joey happily exclaimed while Craig walked to the other side of Julia's hospital bed and joined his mother and stepfather in a warm embrace over Angela.
Vancouver Airport, October, 1997.
Joey and Julia were somewhat bundled up and carting their two-month-old daughter Angela around while Craig was holding the camera up to Angela's carrier.
"Craig! You will remember to call us on the cell as soon as you land?"Julia pleaded.
"Yes, Mom! Do I have to wear this stupid 'Unaccompanied Minor' sign?" Craig groaned.
"We've been through this many times. You do! Oh, and I've already talked to all the flight attendants about you. They'll each be sitting beside you on the plane in turn so you don't have to talk to any strangers,"Julia cautioned.
"I think that should cover it, Jules!"Joey laughed.
"Relax, Mom. I'm not gold,"9-year-old Craig shrugged.
"To us you are! Now, if your father or Dr. Watley don't arrive or answer their phones, what are you to do again?" Julia asked.
"Have the flight attendant book me on the next flight back to BC," Craig groaned.
"My brave baby boy flying across most of Canada," Julia sniffed as she hugged Craig.
"Not without the plane! Let me go on so I can go!" Craig pleaded.
"Goodbye, Craig! Take good care and call us Thanksgiving Day!" Joey beamed as he hugged Craig.
"Joey, you're as bad as Mom! Dad's changed. He was much better during that vacation than ever before!" Craig beamed as the three hugged and he picked up his baby sister before walking onto the boarding ramp.
"Julia, you worried about Craig?" Joey asked as they watched Craig's plane take off for Toronto.
"I'd like to think Albert's change for the better was sincere but. .." Julia sighed.
"It's only a week! What can happen during. ..?" Joey asked.
"Joe, what a ridiculous thing for one parent to say to another!" Julia scoffed as she and Joey clutched onto their baby daughter.
"So, you won't be spending Thanksgiving with me," Adéle snapped at Albert at that same time as they each redressed themselves in the master bedroom of the Manning House.
"It's Craig's first Thanksgiving without his mother," Albert groaned.
"You said that that Cape Breton vacation was 'damage control'," Adéle sniffed.
"Look, he's not ready to meet you yet! If I'm to have any counter-effect on him, I've gotta convince him I'm more moral than Julia,"Albert snapped.
"Oh, you poor thing. So exhausted from having to hide the 'real you' for those two weeks in Cape Breton. Do you think you can manage a week here?"Adéle laughed.
"You're my light at the end of tunnel! Not to mention, I like how you iron the sheets after we've wrecked the creases!" Albert laughed while he and Adéle hugged.
"And you thought you'd have to totally rely on a maid service after Julia left," Adéle giggled.
"There's no maid in the world I can be myself with the way I am with you!"Albert laughed.
"I've picked up everything. I'll see you as soon as Craig leaves! Au reviour, Amour!"Adéle beamed as she and Albert hugged.
"Craigger!" Albert boomed as he retrieved Craig from the flight attendents at the airport gate.
"Dad! Wait'll I tell you all about our new duplex!" Craig happily shouted as he hugged Albert.
"Craig, you are not to ever mention to me anything about the woman who bore you or her current family," Albert snarled in a voice low enough for only Craig to hear as he hugged Craig in a rather constricting grip.
"Okay,"Craig gulped with a sinking feeling.
"It's so great seeing you again! Wait til I tell you all about our Thanksgiving plans!" Albert boomed without a trace of hostility notable to passersby in his voice as he carried Craig's carry-on bag.
As soon as they pulled up to the Manning House, Craig knew something was terribly wrong. Julia's herb garden was no longer lining the sidewalk, nor were the rose bushes visible. Craig quickly looked around the yard and noticed that every flower and plant Julia had planted were gone with holes filled hastily with dirt and straw in their place. Even at nine, Craig could tell that Albert had uprooted every one Julia's plants. With a shudder, he entered the house carrying his carry-on bag while Albert led the way. Gone was the Manning Coat of Arms on the mantle that Julia had painted as well as her heirloom Persian rugs and antique furnishings. Every solo picture of her was gone and, yes, her image was torn out of every picture that she'd appeared with her son and former husband. Craig silently went upstairs to his old room. Craig's clothes and shoes were exactly as he'd left them almost a year earlier-albeit now outgrown but Albert had also destroyed every one of his images of Julia in that room. Oddly, when he walked by the master bedroom, he noticed a strong odor of gardenia perfume and sniffed. Albert noticed this.
"Oh, I guess it's some of your mother's perfume," Albert shrugged.
Craig turned around in puzzlement- as this was the first mention of Julia's existance since he'd arrived in Toronto.
"OK, I got a new maid," Albert scoffed- remembering that Julia would only apply a slight touch of rosewater to the nape of her neck for special occasions.
"OK, Dad," Craig replied uneasily. He wasn't about to make things worse by asking questions.
Thanksgiving Dinner proved rather tense with every bite going down like lead and few words being spoken in the cavernously silent house. How Craig had wished they'd gone out. At least in public Albert would be animated in public. Then, Craig absently put a glass on the dinner table and Albert's jaw clenched.
"Who the Hell do you think you are f---ing up my table with rings?!" Albert seethed and he started to swing at Craig with his right hand but he stopped in midair.
"Dad?" Craig asked as he felt threatened even though Albert hadn't actually hit him- ever.
"Eat your Yorkshire pudding," Albert snapped.
"MOM! " Craig exclaimed as he ran off the plane in Vancouver a week later practically knocking her down as he hugged her.
"Whoa there! You ought to become the Seattle Seahawks front line!"Joey laughed.
"Craig! You're safe! Your father was. . good to you, right?" Julia asked.
"He fed me and. .. kept me out of the cold,"Craig gulped.
"I'm sorry it didn't go better for you," Julia groaned.
"Mom, it was fine! I was joking!" Craig nervously laughed.
"Stupid slut! Don't ever wear that perfume again!" Albert boiled when he visited Adéle's apartment around this same time.
"So have you told Craig about us?" Adéle asked as she tried to hug him
"No- and your bug spray set things back so it may take longer than I'd thought of,"Albert snapped.
"And how about your hospital colleagues?" Adéle asked.
"I told the day maid to start wearing the gardenia perfume when she cleans during Craig's visits," Albert groaned as he hugged Adéle.
"Julia?"Joey asked her late that night in bed as she was finished nursing Angela.
"Craig's trying to spare me from something. I can feel it," Julia sighed.
"You think we should go for Total Custody?" Joey asked as he and Julia put Angela in her sleeper bed at the base of their bed.
"I've thought about it but Albert does want Craig to be the best scholar possible and on that we're twins and hopefully Craig will bring out whatever sincere good qualities he has left," Julia tried to explain.
"How?" Joey asked.
"Because Craig still loves him- and he has some of Albert in him. To tell him he can never see his father again would destroy him now,"Julia quietly proclaimed with a tear.
"It's okay! With you and Angela in our lives, Craig and I get stronger everyday" Julia beamed.
"Really?" Joey asked.
"Sure! Why before too long, we could help you sell cars by lifting them to impress the customers!" Julia laughed while Joey joined her.
Craig had snuck out of his room and tiptoed outside their room overhearing this but he never let them know what he'd heard. Craig would feel as though he was always on tapdancing on a thin crust barely covering the silent and ominous volcano within when visiting Albert and he never knew when Albert's temper would flash from cordial to hateful in moments. Upon Craig's returns to the Jeremiah Duplex filled with laughter, music and warmth over the next year and a half, he'd always feel like Rip Van Winkle reawakened after those week and two-week visits and happy to see how much Angie had grown in his absence.
Vancouver- late April, 1999
"Julia, Mr. Prescott's retired and is offering to sell me his entire lot!" Joey exclaimed on the phone.
"Joe, your own car lot! It's what you've always dreamed of!" Julia beamed as she hugged him.
"Julia, are you sure? You, Angie and Craig all love it here. We'd be moving back to TO if I accepted," Joey gulped- as he and Julia put a new sweater on their 20-month-old daughter.
"Our home's where our family is- and besides, Toronto's where I bore Craig and fell in love with you! It will be the end of those worrisome cross-country solo plane trips for Craig," Julia noted.
"Uhm, Jules, he doesn't worry. We do!" Joey laughed.
"Craig may think we're being silly but wait til he gets to be a parent!" Julia exclaimed with a lilt.
"So, you think we should risk it all and go back to TO to start from scratch?" Joey asked.
"If we didn't you'd always wonder what if. .and I love it when you go after your ambitions!" Julia cooed.
"Same as when you do yours! I think you're right about it being time to give Ange a baby brother or sister so she won't be alone when Craig discovers the fun of really playing with girls his age just around the corner!" Joey laughed as he hugged Julia.
"That's going to be an interesting time for us all!" Julia laughed.
"Can I play wif the buttons?" 18-month-old Angela asked.
"When we reach the dealership, Infanta!"Julia cooed as the three of them left their Vancouver duplex to give notice to Joey's dealership.
June 14, 1999- Toronto
Late afternoon, in a sidewalk on a busy downtown street, Julia discovered that her right front tire had gone flat.
"¡Qué lastíma! " Julia sighed.
"Something wrong. .? Julia . .. Jeremiah! It's been two years!" Kate Kerwin exclaimed as she hugged her.
"Kate! Yes, to the day! That's when you came to Joe's and my wedding along with your friend Anna! Is she doing better?" Julia asked.
"No, her cancer proved terminal and we lost her five months after your wedding. If my Ashley weren't friends with her, I don't know what her poor daughter Terri would do,"Kate groaned.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Julia sighed as she clutched Kate's hand.
"Thanks for being a good hostess to us and giving Anna one of her last carefree days- especially considering all on your plate,"Kate sighed.
"We mustn't let our own problems keep us from helping others," Julia noted- as she looked askance at her flat tire.
"So are you and Joey back in TO or just visiting?"Kate asked with a deep intake of breath.
"Oh, we're back for good putting down roots here!" Julia happily exclaimed.
"We'd love to have you back at the Royal Ontario Museum. You think you could return when your daughter Angela's in kindergarten?" Kate asked.
"I'd thought about it but it may be after she starts kindergarten," Julia giggled.
" I swear! You look even happier than your wedding day. Say, by any chance are you. ..?"Kate asked with a gasp of astonishment.
"Today's our 2nd Anniversary. I'm meeting Joe at Ali Baba's Caravan Restaurant- and I don't want to be late," Julia giggled impishly.
"I can give you a ride!" Kate offered.
"Oh, no! These news must be first shared with Joe before anyone else! I'll call and tell you all about it tomorrow! You have the same number?" Julia asked.
"Sure but. .." Kate asked.
"Taxi!" Julia shouted as one slowed down for her.
"Kate, I'm not letting your badgering me or any flat tire put a damper on things!" Julia laughed as she got into the taxi.
"Well, give my best to Joey and everyone! See you!" Kate exclaimed as she and Julia waved to each other.
Kate shook her head and laughed.
"Some women get all the luck. I wish I could get Jack back from his partner and I wouldn't mind having another child. Maybe one day you'll find someone, Kate," Kate wistfully sighed as she looked at her reflection in Julia's parked car's door mirror.
"Sayid, your usual table with pillow cushions," the Moroccan waiter exclaimed to Joey at Ali Baba's Caravan Restaurant decked with elaborate tents, hanging brass lamps and other Moroccan décor.
"Yeah! That's where I proposed to Julia. .and later that night, I think that's when we made Angie!" Joey laughed.
"Mr. Jeremiah! A phone call for you!" the waiter exclaimed.
"Yeah! Hey, Lover! Don't worry, you're not late. I closed up the lot and arrived a little early- and Ma's got Craig and Angie for the whole night!" Joey beamed over the phone.
Neither of them paid any attention to the wailing sirens in the background getting closer.
"Amor, I shouldn't be more than five minutes. You know, I didn't think I could be happier when we married but I'm happier every single day!" Julia happily exclaimed over her cellphone while riding in the taxi.
"I can't remember how I lived before you came into my life! How I love you!" Joey unabashedly cooed into the phone.
"I love you more than I thought it was possible to love any--"Julia gushed in amorous ecstasy before her signal was abruptly cut off. .and Joey heard the most horrific crash of a fire engine into a taxi.
Unbeknown to either of them a 17-year-old boy had stolen a fire engine as a prank and had been racing it in the busy downtown Toronto streets for the last five minutes. Several police cars chased after him and the teen was able to get the fire engine to race at speeds up to 90 MPH and just after the light changed and the taxi driver had started turning left, the fire engine crashed into the passenger's side. In less than a tenth of a second, 31-year-old Julia Ibañez Jeremiah (formerly Manning) had her chest cavity fatally crushed by the impact of the fire engine crashing into the taxi then the sheer speed and weight of the fire engine compelled the taxi to be smashed into a tenth its former width when it was compacted against another car and a building. Amazingly her head and even her beatific smile had remained unscathed- frozen in time as a tribute to the last moment before her family's world irrevocably changed. Also killed was the 24-year-old Somalian taxi driver, a 45-year-old Chinese- Canadian businessman on his way home to his family in the next car, a 37-year-old French-Canadian policewoman in the squad car behind the fire engine (having been unable to stop from crashing into the firetruck in time). … ..and Joey and Julia Jeremiah's embryo who Julia had just learned would have been their 2nd (and her 3rd) child due to have born seven and a half months later.
Joey dropped the phone and ran out the restaurant door in his socks (having taken off his shoes to sit on the cushioned restaurant floor) praying that what his heart knew to be true wasn't. From the moment he actually saw the wreck, everything became a nightmare and a blur.