The Eclective: The Celtic Collection
Page 9
Mattie smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. Of course, the voice was in her head, but she didn’t care.
She watched Joe Jr. and Rachel dancing and felt a tug at her heart. Again, she found herself wondering how time could have flown by so fast. Was this the way it was supposed to happen as a person aged—time would shrink down around you until you could almost reach out and touch it.
She danced a half song with Frank and a few steps with Joe Jr. before having to sit down. So little exertion got her winded these days. She watched Emily approaching her table. Her daughter had aged so well. An image of a seventeen year old Emily seated in the car in the high school parking lot flashed in her mind. Daddy said he thought you might get emotional at certain times as I grew up and whenever I sensed one of those times was about to happen I was supposed to give you one. Was this the time? She was feeling emotional and she relished receiving the cheap little shamrock
But no. “Mom, you look tired. This”—she waved her arm at the revelers—“is going to be going on until the wee hours. I thought I’d take you home now if you’re ready.”
Mattie was ready though she hated admitting it. What a beautiful ceremony it had been.
Emily helped her inside her condo and promised to check in later to make sure she got to bed all right.
“Thank you, dear.” Mattie embraced her daughter long and hard.
Emily looked appraisingly at her mother. “Mom, you okay?”
Mattie smiled weakly. “I’m fine. Thank you for letting me be a part of all this.”
“Mother…you are part of all this. You—and Dad—are why this day happened. I love you so much. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Mom.”
“Joe Jr. and Rachel make such a beautiful couple.”
“Like you and Daddy.”
***
Four months after the wedding, Rachel announced the good news. She and Joe Jr. were going to be parents. “I’m going to be a grandmother!” Emily exclaimed. Mattie was shocked as well. After all, it’d taken her fifteen years to finally conceive. Rachel and Joe Jr. had accomplished the feat in only months. Of course, she was thrilled but once the news set in she began to awake with a new nagging fear. Each day it seemed her arthritis worsened, her energy level declined and she began to worry if she would be around for the new arrival. She’d never seriously considered the promise she made so many years ago but now on the eve of her ninety-second birthday, the words played in her head many times a day.
You’ll be around long enough to hold our great grandchild.
I promise.
No matter what, she would keep that promise to Joe, she vowed.
The day Rachel’s water broke, Mattie was in the doctor’s office. A breast lump Mattie had found several weeks earlier had proven to be malignant. Worse, the cancer had already spread to her liver and bone marrow. Less than two days before Mattie’s last St. Patrick’s Day, she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer.
“Mrs. O’Malley, we can give you a little more time with some radiation and chemotherapy,” the physician explained
Mattie smiled sadly and shook her head. I’m ninety-two, for godsakes! When Emily picked her up in the waiting room, Mattie had already decided this secret would remain hidden inside her, especially after seeing the excitement in her daughter’s face.
“Mother,” Emily gushed. “Rachel’s in labor and delivery now!”
Sixteen hours later, Alannah Mattie Arons was born—a healthy seven pound baby girl.
Escorted by Frank and Emily off either shoulder, Mattie pushed the walker down the corridor of the maternity ward. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her arthritis, cancer, all her aches and pains suddenly seemed so trifle. She was actually going to hold her great grandchild!
The hospital room was decorated with flowers and pink and green ribbons. The room was crowded with both members of each family.
“Grandma.” Joe Jr. proudly led her to Rachel’s bed.
“Oh dear Lord,” Mattie murmured, seeing the tiny face visible in the pink blanket. “So much hair.”
Rachel’s smile reached from ear to ear. “Thank you for coming, Mrs. O’Malley.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world. So this is Alannah.”
“Alannah Mattie. Want to hold her?”
Mattie felt a nervous quiver in her chest. “Oh dear…Emily?”
Emily stepped beside her. “Mom, you can do it. I’m here. Let go of the walker. I’ll balance you.”
“She’s so beautiful,” Mattie spoke quietly as Rachel passed the infant to Emily, who then positioned the newborn in Mattie’s arms.
“I’m really holding my great granddaughter.” Mattie gazed down at the miracle in her hands.
She barely heard Rachel saying, “If Alannah had waited a few more hours until midnight, she would have been a St. Patrick’s Day baby.”
Holding the infant so close to her, Mattie was more aware than ever of that pulling on her, almost like someone tugging at her soul. It wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling, though. In fact she welcomed it. “Alannah Mattie,” she cooed. “You, young lady, are going to be so loved.”
At that moment the infant burped, and everybody laughed, including Mattie.
I did it, Joe. I held our great granddaughter.
After she returned the infant to her mother, Mattie was suddenly overwhelmed with the strongest urge to be alone. She was going to weep and she didn’t want anyone to see her so emotional. “Help me out, Emily,” she said.
“Why Mom? I thought you would be so happy.”
“Oh I am. But I’m also going to cry, baby.”
Emily helped her away from the bed toward one corner. “Mom, cry if you want, but I have something for you. This may help. Give me your wrist.”
Mattie held out her palm and watched as Emily placed the fifth shamrock in her hand.
“This is from Daddy.”
And Mattie cried anyway.
***
Before going to bed that night, Mattie arranged all five shamrocks on her nightstand. She wanted to see them first thing in the morning. Joe must have known Emily was special, entrusting so young a child to pass the good luck tokens on at such particular times. Though she’d lost Joe so long ago, Mattie realized her life had been special too. She could honestly say she was content with the way things turned out.
She glanced once more at the clock. 9:20 PM. Soon she would see another St. Patrick’s Day. Her ninety-third. Mattie smiled. She yawned realizing she was exhausted. Emily had left an hour ago and now Mattie just wanted to sleep.
’Night, Joe.
She ignored the mild pressure in her chest and closed her eyes.
It must have been the church bells that awakened her when she opened her eyes. She listened, but could hear no bells or other sounds. How foolish, there wasn’t a church nearby. She’d been dreaming. The clock on the nightstand registered 12:02 AM.
Mattie began to inhale and suddenly tensed. That scent! She knew it. Creed Irish Tweed cologne.
“Hello, my Mattie O’Malley.”
Mattie stared at the foot of the bed. Even in the dark she saw him. The tall young man was as robust and handsome as she remembered. “Joe?”
“I told you our love would never die.”
“Joe, it’s really you?”
“You didn’t think I’d ever forget you, did you.”
“But…”
“Let me take a close look at you, baby.”
Mattie shrunk into the mattress. “Oh Joe, I’m old and beaten down. Please don’t stare at me like this. You won’t like what you see.”
“Mattie O’Malley, you stole my heart the instant I set eyes on you.”
“I’m not the same Mattie.”
“I said when you’re ready, I’ll be back. Well, I’m here for you, girl. Are you ready, my love?” He reached for her.
“Joe, you missed so much—Emily, Joe Jr., Alannah…me.”
Joe grinned. “Mattie, I saw it all through you.”
&
nbsp; Mattie sensed a soft breeze blow over her—whooosh—and then she was standing beside him. She suddenly felt as weightless as a feather. No aches, no pains, and when she looked a her hands, the skin was smooth and vibrant. All the blotches and age spots had vanished. She reached up. Her hair was thick and full. I’m young again.
When he kissed her, she felt carried away by a tidal wave of passion. “I am ready, Joe. I am!”
Mattie briefly gazed back at the old woman lying in her bed. Her face appeared relaxed and peaceful and this made Mattie feel good because this is how she would have wanted Emily to find her.
Joe’s arms snaked around her slender waist. “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Mattie O’Malley.”
“Where will we go, Joe?”
“Anywhere you want, love.”
Mattie’s eyes roved to the nightstand, settling on the tiny shamrocks. “Can we see The Lucky Charm one more time?”
Joe pulled her close. “Hold tight, babe. We’re there!”
Like that, they were gone.
***
Emily waited for the organ and bagpipe notes to drift away.
She stood at the pulpit. She’d written out a eulogy but had set aside her notes. She knew what she wanted to say. She gazed out at the funeral crowd—Frank, Joe Jr. and Rachel holding tiny Alannah were seated in the first row. The congregation was full. Mattie would have been happy to know so many people cared.
Emily cleared her throat, glancing down just once at the small plastic Irish clovers she’d placed next to a glass of water—the same ones she’d given to her mother over a span of nearly five decades. Then she began.
“I was seven years old when my father, Joe O’Malley, passed away. It was on a St. Patrick’s Day. My mother also passed away on St. Patrick’s Day.” Emily paused to gather herself. “But just before Daddy died, he gave me five shamrocks…”
* * *
Alan Nayes is not Irish but loves Baileys Irish Cream!
Read more about Alan Nayes and his books at www.anayes.com
Follow him on Facebook and Twitter
Brilliant pre-med student Amoreena Daniels needs money. Desperately. Her mother is dying of cancer and her medical insurance has run out. When a seemingly perfect women’s clinic offers Amoreena a generous payment for service as a surrogate mother, Amoreena thinks her prayers have been answered. But then—much too early—her baby begins to move.
The strange dreams, another surrogate’s mysterious death and a drug-addicted former medical intern confirm Amoreena’s worst suspicions: there is something terribly wrong with the pregnancy. Amoreena embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind the endless battery of genetic tests, sonograms and frightened patients, only to discover that she has unwittingly become a pawn in a high-stakes game of biomedical experimentation.
GARGOYLES is the first book in the Resurrection Trilogy series.
Available at:
Other books by Alan:
Barbary Point
Gargoyles (Resurrection Trilogy, Book One)
Plague (Resurrection Trilogy, Book Two)
The Unnatural
Smilodon
Girl Blue
Return to Underland
The Eclective
The Eclective is:
Heather Marie Adkins
P.J. Jones
Shéa MacLeod
M. Edward McNally
Alan Nayes
Jack Wallen
Thanks for reading! Please visit our website to learn more about us.
https://indie-eclective.com
If you enjoyed our Celtic Collection, be sure to check out our other FREE collections!
The Halloween Collection
The Holiday Collection