by Trina Lane
Conor dampened a soft cloth and knelt behind Calleigh. His hand rubbed in slow circles as he placed the cloth on the back of her neck. “Muirnín. Please donna do this te yerself. We willna let anything happen te our family. I swear te ye.”
When Calleigh’s body stopped jerking, he wiped her mouth with the damp cloth. He handed her a glass of water so she could wash out her mouth. Sitting back on his heels, he gathered her into his arms.
He felt the coolness of her skin and wrapped his arms around her tighter to transfer as much heat as possible. Trembles took over her body, and she clutched his shirt as he rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ear.
Finally, she pulled back, and he got a good look at her face in the light of the sconces on the bathroom wall. A livid mark in the shape of a hand ran across her left cheek. Seeing evidence of violence on Calleigh made him see red. That vile woman had hurt his sweetheart. He reached up and touched the mark softly, and his heart twisted when he saw Calleigh wince. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
“I’m sorry she hurt ye, mo ghrá. Let’s get ye some ice for that and check on the rest of our family. Rick went to check on Mikey and Bran. I’m sure they want a nice hug from ye.”
They stood and walked into the living room. Rick sat in the club chair and had both boys in his lap, encased in his arms. Their heads rested on his chest, and Conor saw tear tracks on their cheeks.
“Come give yer ma a hug, little ones.”
They looked up simultaneously and scampered off Rick’s lap to run into their mother’s arms. Calleigh gathered both boys to her and held them tight. She smoothed their hair and kissed their foreheads. His little lights were distraught, and it was all that cailleach’s fault. The witch poisoned this house of love with her evil brew.
He didn’t think either boy wanted to be put to bed away from their ma right now, but he could tell the little ones were about to fall asleep in her arms. “I don’t know about ye, but I’m knackered. Why don’t we have a camp out here in the livin’ room the-night. The whole family.”
“That’s a great idea, Conor.” Calleigh smiled up at him. “We can get the air mattresses and have a slumber party.”
“She’s right. Just what our family needs tonight. Mikey and Bran, why don’t you come with me to get the blankets and pillows.” Rick gave Conor’s shoulder a squeeze as they left the room.
Not long after that, they were all lying on the pillows of air. He and Rick were on the outside edges, next came the boys, and Calleigh was in the middle of everyone. The boys were sound asleep, and Conor opened his eyes one last time to see Calleigh looking at him.
Thank you, she mouthed.
I love ye, muirnín, he mouthed back.
Chapter Seven
Mike opened his eyes as the sun came through the window. He looked around the room and saw Brandon next to him on the mattress. They often ended up sleeping together when scared. Last night had been scary. Grandma and mommy were yelling, and Rick and Conor didn’t look happy, but he didn’t understand what had happened. At first, he’d thought Grandma had been mad at him. She kept yelling his and Brandon’s names. When the yelling had stopped he went to find mommy, but she was gone. He was scared she had left. Rick had gathered up him and Brandon and sat in the chair. He told them the grown-ups were having a disagreement, but they weren’t mad at them. Mike liked it when Rick held him in his lap. He was so big and always warm to cuddle with.
He looked next to him and saw Brandon’s eyes open and watching him. He knew Brandon had been scared last night, too. They didn’t need to talk to understand what the other was thinking or feeling. Somehow, they always knew. He sat up and crawled to the edge of the mattress carefully. He didn’t want to wake up mommy, Rick or Conor. Brandon was right behind him. They walked into the playroom. He picked up their trucks and held them out to his brother.
“You want to play?”
Brandon shook his head no. Mike looked around and pointed to the box of blocks. Again Brandon wasn’t interested. Mike saw him grab the front of his pants and pull. He knew what that meant. Taking his brother’s hand, he led him to the bathroom. He stared at the potty. They didn’t have their step stools or seats down here. Brandon was dancing around. Mike was trying to figure out how to make this work when Brandon pushed him. He watched as his brother pushed his pants off, climbed up to his knees on the seat, put his hands on the back of the potty and started peeing. He didn’t know you could do that. When Brandon was done, he did the same and felt much better afterwards.
“Where you ‘earn that?”
“Conna show me. I see him do it. He was on his feet.”
“I hungy. Let’s get mommy.”
They walked into the living room, and he giggled at all the grown-ups. They were in a pile on the floor. Conor and Rick had mommy squished between them. He pointed and Brandon giggled, too. Rick started to move and gave mommy a hug. He turned his head and kissed her. Mike had never seen Rick kiss mommy before. He looked over at Brandon and saw that he was watching, too. When he looked back, he saw Conor talking softly to mommy then he kissed her, too.
“Why you kiss mommy?”
Rick froze. He’d forgotten they weren’t in their bedroom. He’d woken up to feel Calleigh’s soft body next to him and reacted as he did every morning. Hearing one of the boys’ voices catapulted him into wakefulness. He sat up on the mattress to see them standing next to each other at the archway between the kitchen and living room. Calleigh and Conor were sitting up as well, and they all looked at each other with questions on how to handle this one on their faces. He thought maybe it was time to explain everything to the boys.
“Come here, boys.” He patted the mattress next to him.
They walked over and crawled across the mattress. Mike sat next to him and Brandon sat on the other side of Calleigh between her and Conor.
“I kissed your mommy because I love her and so does Conor.” He saw the confusion on the boys’ faces. “Do you know what it means for a man and woman to be married?” Both boys nodded their heads. “Well Conor and I want to marry your mom. You know we’ve been around a lot more lately, but what Conor and I both really want is to be a family. The two of you, your mom, me and Conor.”
The boys didn’t say anything, but he could see they were processing what he’d said. Especially Mike. He was the thinker of the two, always plotting out what he wanted to do before acting. Brandon tended to act first and deal with effects afterward. But they surprised him this time.
“Will you be our daddy?” Brandon asked.
Rick’s heart flipped around in his chest at such a simple question. He and Conor already loved the boys as their own, but to hear them call him ‘daddy’ stirred him deep inside.
“Would you like that? Do you want to call us daddy?” His voice sounded hoarse to his ears.
The two boys looked at each other for a minute, doing that silent twin communication thing they did so often. He held his breath but refused to rush them. Then they both turned to look at him and nodded their heads in unison. Tears gathered in his eyes and he held out his arms. “Come here, sons. Can you give your new daddy a hug?”
He gathered their small bodies in his arms and pulled them onto his lap. Little hearts were beating in their chests and small fingers dug into his shirt. He looked up to see Calleigh smiling with bright happy eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks. He looked at Conor and saw the man’s desire to hold his sons as well.
“Why don’t you go over and give your other dad a hug, too. I’m sure he would love that.”
They jumped and bounced across the mattress to launch themselves into Conor’s arms. After a hard hug, Conor leant back. Mike and Brandon were each straddling one of his legs, and he was supporting them behind their backs.
Conor looked at both boys. “Ye gasurs are the lights of me life. I love ye so much. Brandon ye are like sunlight. Always bright and happy, filling our days with your energy. That’s why I call you mo grian, which means my sun
and Michael you are like moonlight. Reflective and beautiful, ever changing and guiding our lives. That’s why I call you mo gealachí, which means my moon. I would love for ye te call me Da. That ‘tis how we say dad in Ireland. Can ye do that for me?”
Both boys nodded and started jumping up and down on the mattress and cheering. Calleigh’s face turned grey, and she put a hand up to her mouth. She leapt over Rick and raced towards the bathroom. He followed and found her bent over the toilet. After cleaning her up, he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the kitchen, where Conor was making the boys breakfast. He caught their gazes with the question plain in his eyes.
Rick set her down on one of the chairs at the table and pulled up another beside her. “That’s the second time in two days, Calleigh.” He put a hand to her forehead but didn’t feel anything except cool clammy skin.
“I’m fine, Rick. Last night was just from anxiety and stress. I’m sure this morning was just lingering effects.”
“Is there any chance it could be something else? We never did ask you about protection. From Conor’s and my perspective, it wasn’t important, but I realise that was selfish of us. So I apologise.”
He leaned over and kissed her softly then heard giggles from the other side of the table and realised it would take the boys a little while before they got used to seeing displays of affection between them.
She placed her hand on his cheek. “I would love to have another child. I can’t think of anything better than to know we created a life out of the love I share with you and Conor, but I know that’s not the case. I take the Depo-Provera shot to regulate my cycles. Have since Mike and Brandon were born. The last one was administered a week before we got together, so I know I’m protected for another month.”
“Okay, angel, I guess a small part of me was hoping that could be it. Promise me if you feel any worse you’ll see one of the doctors at the hospital. I couldn’t bear it if this was something more, and we didn’t do anything to help you. This family needs you.”
“I promise. Now, let’s have a nice family breakfast because I’m sure this is only the calm before the storm.”
* * * *
A beam of moonlight shone through the bow windows in their bedroom. Calleigh watched the sheer curtain flutter as the heat kicked on. She couldn’t sleep. In fact, she felt smothered lying between Conor and Rick. She moved to climb over Conor. She was poised above him when he snaked his arms around her and pulled down so their bodies were flush. She could tell he was still asleep by the deep, even breaths softly escaping his mouth. She was stuck straddling his hips as he thrust them against her. He mumbled something incoherent, and she dropped a small kiss to his lips. A moment later, his arms fell back to his sides, and she climbed off the side of the bed.
Picking up her robe, she slipped her arms through the soft material and tiptoed out the bedroom door. She checked on the boys then crept downstairs. Sitting in the club chair by the bow windows in living room, she stared out into the night. The cars shimmered with a layer of frost in the streetlamps.
She was exhausted but couldn’t seem to get her mind to shut down. For the past week, she’d felt like someone with bipolar disorder. She had floated the entire day the first morning Mike and Brandon had spontaneously called Rick and Conor dad. The next day, she got a call from her supervisor at the hospital saying Miles had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against her. Rick and Conor had nearly blown a gasket over that one. The boys were making real progress in the potty training. The other day she had gone to get them out of bed and found them already in the bathroom pulling down their pyjama pants.
Rick and Conor had lectured her at dinner tonight because she hadn’t had much of an appetite. It didn’t help that she was still randomly throwing up. Sometimes, she just ended up dry heaving because of the lack of food in her system. She hadn’t told Rick and Conor because she knew they would worry. She knew it was from the stress. When she looked in the mirror before getting to bed, she saw dark circles under her puffy eyes and her hair looked limp. No wonder they hadn’t wanted to make love to her all week. Daily harassing calls from Susan put a pall over the household. They’d stopped picking up the phone for the most part.
The last message she’d left said that she’d gotten a lawyer and going to sue for custody. She’d even mentioned making contact with a representative from the Department of Children and Families to file a report of abuse. Calleigh prayed every day that they couldn’t take her precious babies away. She knew there was no evidence of physical or emotional neglect, but one never knew how government services could twist things to suit their needs. Could Susan really take her children? Didn’t the courts always side with mother, except in extreme cases? Not for one second did Calleigh question her choice of staying with Rick and Conor. She needed them like air and was determined to find a way to make this work. She heard a creak and looked up to see Conor descending the stairs.
“Muirnín? Why are ye down here instead of in bed with us?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t want to wake either of you.”
He picked up a throw blanket on the back of the sofa and walked over to the chair. Lifting Calleigh up, he sat then settled her on his lap and tucked the blanket around them. “Ye wanna talk?”
She shook her head. “Too much jumbled in there to sort out right now. Will you just hold me for a little while?”
“I’ll always hold ye, mo ghrá. Put yer head down and try te get some sleep.”
As Calleigh’s eyes started to drift, he softly hummed one of his favourite Irish lullabies. He frequently did so for the boys when they had trouble going down, and it seemed to work on their mom as well. Calleigh had thought he was asleep when he’d tried to keep her in bed earlier, but he knew the moment she started to crawl over him that she was trying to escape. She hadn’t slept through a night this week and it showed. He knew she was still getting sick, too. She had tried to keep it from them, but her friend Carla had called one evening to ask if Calleigh was feeling better since she’d gotten sick earlier at work. Once or twice, he could understand from stress, but this had moved beyond that.
He looked down and realised she was finally out. Her breathing was even, and her head was limp against his chest. Slowly standing, he carried her back upstairs. When he reached the side of the bed, Rick was awake.
“She get sick again?” Rick whispered
“No, just sitting down by the windy staring out into the night,” he whispered back.
Rick helped him get her robe off, and he carefully laid her down on the bed. He climbed in next to her and rolled to his back. Pulling up the covers, he tucked them around her. He put his arms behind his head and he stared up at the decorative ceiling medallion. “We need te do something. She canny keep goin’ like this. The boys are startin’ te notice, too.”
“I know. Let me think on it some. Try and get some sleep. It’ll be another long day tomorrow.”
Chapter Eight
Rick picked up the phone in his office and dialled the number he’d found online. He hoped a call to one of their good friends from B.C would provide some answers. As he waited for the line to connect, he fiddled with the screen shot suggestions for that new Olympic game they were working on. The art department was currently working on background effects before adding in the code for play. This one was a half-pipe competition, and he noticed that one of the spectators held up an Irish flag, but the colours were in the wrong order. He smiled because he knew Conor would have a fit if he saw that. He was about to give up when the line connected.
“United States Attorney’s office. How can I help you?”
“This is Richard Connor. May I please speak with Ethan Harrison?” He leant back in his chair as the assistant connected him. A few moments later, the cheerful voice of his friend transmitted through the line.
“Rick? How the hell are you?”
“I’m good. How’ve you been? I know we haven’t talked in a couple of months, sorry. What’s new?”
“He’d kick your scrawny ass if he heard you call him that,” Rick said, smiling.
“I know, I know, ‘’Tis not red, ye arse’.”
He laughed at Ethan’s spot-on imitation. “As much as I wish this were a purely social call, we have a situation I wanted to get your take on.”
“That never sounds good. Shoot. Then we can get back to the fun stuff.”
“Well it’s like this. Conor and I have finally found our third. She’s a military widow, who has two little boys. I know I’ve told you about her. Her name is Calleigh Wells. Anyway, her mother-in-law flipped when she found out about our relationship and is threatening to sue for custody and get DFC involved. It’s turned Calleigh into a wreck. What I was wondering is can the mother-in-law succeed based solely on our relationship?”
“It’s about time you and Conor finally got your acts together. It’s been so obvious for the past year that you’re both in goo-goo love with the woman. She and her boys were all the two of you talked about.” Ethan chuckled. “On a more serious note, no judge would take away children from a parent based solely on a moral objection from the third party. As long as you can prove the children are being provided for and living in a healthy home, you shouldn’t have any problems.”
“Thank God. I really didn’t think it was possible, but you never know. So how’s your love life? Seeing anyone?”
“Unfortunately my quest for love has hit a dead end. The last couple dates I went on were disastrous. I swear you’d think I could find one good man in the city of Boston. Is tall, hot, built, smart and desperately in love with me really too much to ask for?”
Rick laughed. “No, my friend. I’m sure you’ll find him. I’ll keep my eye out for you. You know it’s been way too long since we really hung out. Why don’t I give you call when this all calms down, and you can meet the family?”