“I’ll see you in court first,” she derided, but she pulled the end of her side.
“Holy mother of God!” I yelled over the resulting bang. “What in Mother Mary’s name was that?!”
Star, ignoring me, demanded shrilly, “See why I want forty percent?!”
Glitter as well as tiny pieces of confetti drenched Aoife, Finn, and Star. Never mind the rest of the room! Even the children stopped squawking to figure out what had caused such a racket.
None cried, of course.
My Aidan would be so proud.
As for Baby Aidan, sensing her favorite brand of mischief, she toddled over to her mother’s side to investigate and tugged on Savannah’s skirt. My eldest plunked her onto his lap instead so she could watch the chaos from a better angle.
Finn yanked on his ear. “That really is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
“Maybe it needs tweaking,” Aoife whisper-shouted. “But the reach is impressive. Thirty-three-point-five.”
“Aoife!”
“They’d be great on July 4th, Finn,” she yelled back.
Aela swept in, hands wafting through the still-falling glitter. “I’m confiscating these. Someone has to be the responsible adult.”
“Thirty-six,” Star hollered. “Final offer!”
Aoife stuck out her hand. “Fine.”
As they shook on it, I tsked—these girls were all work, work, work.
Aoife nudged Finn with her elbow. “Pass me mine, please?”
“Damn, they’re loud,” Paddy grumbled, tugging on his own ear. “Can you turn down the phone?”
“Stop whining.” But I did as he said because they were definitely shouting.
“Aela, I know you talked about missing the Irish kind so I found a recipe.” Aoife beamed at her. “I hope you enjoy it.”
Aela, frowning, unwrapped the tin and then pulled off the lid to reveal a cake frosted in royal icing.
Beneath the frosting, there was a layer of yellow stuff that I recognized as marzipan and then a dense fruit cake.
Paddy whistled. “That looks like mighty fine Christmas cake, Aoife. Wish I were there to eat it. My grandmother used to bake that every year. She’d soak it in brandy too.”
“I did that,” Aoife shouted back. “Fed it a couple times. I also made one that’s kiddo approved.”
Aela pressed a hand to her mouth. “Aoife, you didn’t have to?—”
“Sure I did! As soon as I picked your name, I knew this would work out perfectly. You miss the stuff you had back there.”
Aela’s smile trembled. “You’re the best.”
Camille pressed what appeared to be an extra-large book into Star’s hands.
Star frowned at it, then at Camille, but despite how she ragged Aoife, gently unwrapped the present. Her eyes widened and she gasped once she set eyes on it.
“What did Camille get you?” Paddy demanded.
Star’s voice sounded surprisingly thick. “It’s a scrapbook. Of my parents and Dad on tour.”
