Kane looked at Damien, then at me and said, “I think he is in shock, Alannah.”
“I think you’re right, Kane. I don’t think he believes me,” I mused. “I think I’ll have to show ‘im how serious I am.”
Keela sat up. “You can’t have sex in a maternity hospital, Alannah. Vaginas are meant to be sore ‘ere, not throbbin’ for sex.”
When I chuckled, it disturbed Enzo, who was still looking up at me.
“He is really staring at you,” Alec commented when he leaned a little closer. “I think you’re his first crush, Lana.”
I snorted, then playfully rolled my eyes when the rest of the lads wholeheartedly agreed.
“Do ye’ think his eyes will change colour or stay dark blue like this?”
“I think they’ll be grey like Alec’s,” Keela commented. “All the boys had dark blue eyes when they were born, but they’re all grey now. Georgie is the only one who has green eyes, but that’s because she’s a carbon copy of Bronagh.”
I agreed.
I looked at my friend. “How sore was it?”
“Sore,” Keela grunted. “Jesus, I thought I was goin’ to die, then when he was born, it all went away. It’s weird, but I can’t even remember what it felt like, and I only had ‘im a little while ago.”
I looked down at Enzo.
“I figured if Bronagh can do it, so can I.”
Keela laughed, then winced. Alec was practically in her face asking what was wrong.
“Nothin’,” she assured him. “I’m sore and laughin’ hurt a little. It’s no biggie.”
Alec looked at me. “Don’t make her laugh again.”
Keela laughed at how serious he was, then winced once more. Alec cringed and appeared angry with himself for making her laugh. I looked back down at Enzo, who had finally drifted back into a comfortable sleep. I handed him over to Ryder when he moved forward.
“This is weird,” he commented. “I think that my twins are small, but holding this little man just shows how big they’ve gotten.”
“Your lads are one in six months,” I reminded him.
“Don’t talk about that,” he groaned. “It freaks me out.”
I chuckled as I got to my feet and walked towards Damien whose attention was solely on me.
“What’s that look for?”
“Were you serious?” he asked. “About wanting a baby?”
“As serious as a heart attack.”
Damien frowned. “Alannah, this is what we’ve been arguin’ about. You said you wanted to wait until you were ready for marriage and a baby.”
That was two days ago.
“I spoke to Bronagh about it, and I realised somethin’.”
“What?”
“That there is never goin’ to be a perfect time to have a baby and get married. I’m always goin’ to be busy with work, God willin’, and you’re goin’ to be flat out over the next few years with your apprenticeship. I’m not goin’ to pretend that I’m not scared at how fast things are movin’ for us, but I’m goin’ to learn to take things one day at the time with you. Things are simpler that way.”
Damien licked his lower lip. “Does that mean you want to marry me?”
“Yeah, it does, so when you want to propose to me again, be prepared for that answer.”
Damien hadn’t proposed to me … yet.
It confused me but didn’t upset me because I knew men had a lot of mental preparation to go through when they were popping the question … especially when the last three times Damien asked, the answer was no. The day after Keela gave birth to Enzo, she came home, and we all showed up at her and Alec’s house to fawn over the baby and congratulate our friends.
Bronagh managed five minutes before she started crying, but she had no idea why, and the woman was tearing Nico up from how distraught he appeared to be. She asked me to go to the supermarket with her, so she could walk around and hopefully put herself into labour. Nico was visibly terrified, but I assured him that I would take care of her.
“Why are you so keen on givin’ the man a heart attack?”
“I don’t mean to worry ‘im, but he is no help when I’m restless. I feel like I can’t breathe when I’m inside.”
I understood.
“Are ye’ uncomfortable?”
“Unbelievably,” she grunted as she adjusted her seat belt. “I’m sore, tired, cranky, and just so fuckin’ ready for this baby to come. It’s not fair that Keela was so small and not bothered about bein’ pregnant longer than ‘er due date. I hate ‘er.”
I laughed as I adjusted the driver’s seat in Nico’s car. “No, you don’t.”
“No.” Bronagh sniffled. “I don’t. I love ‘er and ‘er perfect little boy.”
She was breaking my heart.
“We’ll get that kid out of you today if it’s the last thing we do, okay?”
Bronagh bobbed her head. “Okay.”
I drove to our local Tesco that was only five minutes away, and though we just wanted to walk around, Bronagh decided to get some messages while she was there. If she did go into labour, then by the time she got home with her new baby, at least her house would be stocked with food. That was how we looked at it. I got a trolley, then gave it to Bronagh to push, just so she would have something to lean on. Her feet were swollen, so anything to take some pressure off them was a must.