“Mornin’, boss lady,” I reply before taking my first sip. I know she knows something about me bringing home my first overnight guest, so I might as well let her ask all her questions before she bubbles up and the baby boy growing in her belly pops out right here on the kitchen floor. “Alright, Nola. Ask away. What do you wanna know?”
And the lid pops off.
“What’s her name? Where did you meet her? How old is she? Is she pretty? Did you have—” and she does a little double wink. “Is she nice? Can I meet her? Is she still here? Oh, please tell me you didn’t sneak her out of here like she’s a dirty secret. Oh, Corrin, you deserve to meet a nice girl and be happy and get married and have a bunch of bald headed babies. Please tell me she’s still up in your bed. Pretty please!”
“Nola Beatrice Taylor!” Footsteps thump from the hall as Fergus stomps out of his office and appears in the kitchen to reign in his soon-to-be baby momma and wife. “You leave Corrin and hislady friend alone.” He has her, and her growing larger by the day bump, in his arms as he kisses her objections away.
“It’s alright,” I say when they finally come up for air. I’m so used to their displays of affection by now, and having to stop talking midsentence, it’s just another normal part of my day. “You can meet her a little later. I’m not going to hide her away in my dungeon forever, “I smile and wink which makes Nola giggle, “she’s just sleeping right now. It was a late night.”
“Mmhmm.” Nola smiles as she fills a kettle with water to make her morning tea. “And an early morning if the smile that you had on your face when I saw you skipping down the stairs is any sign of how your day started.”
“That’s enough out of you, miss nosey Nancy.” Fergus smacks her on the butt then takes her hot kettle from the stove to pour the water in her mug. “Let Corrin do his thing and we’ll meet her when he’s ready. But in the meantime, take your tea and go get comfy on the couch. I want you off your feet today.”
“But, diabhal—”
He cuts her off with a short kiss, then leads her into the living room, one hand on her back, the other still holding her mug. Once she’s settled, and the television is on to some home renovation show, Fergus is back in the kitchen and is refilling his coffee cup.
The door to the garage opens and Tadhg walks in, a huge tumbler of what I’m assuming is coffee in his hand. Ferguschuckles as his brother takes a long sip and lets out an even longer sigh.
“Don’t even ask,” Tadhg grunts as he drops back into one of the chairs in front of Fergus’s desk after I shut the three of us in his office. “My darling, darling daughter Máire is going through some sort of sleep regression phase, or at least that’s what my wife is calling it. I call it baby demon phase. She is no longer sleeping through the night anymore, which means I no longer sleep all night either.”
“Oh, you poor thing.” I take my usual seat to his left and throw a mock punch at his shoulder. Babies cry. Babies poop. It’s just all part of the deal.”
“Just wait ‘til you and your mystery lady have your first,” he barks back as he swings his hand and full force backhands me in the chest. “Don’t come crying to me then, wanting a babysitter. My answer will be an automatic no.”
His talk of Saylor and me and babies is a jolt to my system stronger than the heavy roast in my cup. I sit on it for a millisecond and realize that I’m not freaking out. My heartrate is normal, I’m not having any pain in my left arm, I haven’t gone mysteriously blind, I have no urge to jump up and run away . . . hell, I actually don’t think I would mind that one bit.
An image flashes through my mind of waking up one morning, rolling over to see Saylor’s long blonde hair splayed across our pillows. Her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she starts to wake up, my hand feeling the rolls and kicks of our babyunderneath the taut skin of her round belly. I think I want that—no, I do want that. I want that bad.
“I saw your text at about four this morning when Nola woke me up on her millionth trip to the bathroom.” Fergus’s voice snaps me out of my daydream. “Were you really serious about the MC thing and your chick? She’s involved with the Kings?”
“She more club adjacent I’d say.” I kick my legs out straight, then cross one socked foot over the other. “Her brother is a patched member of the Kings of Anarchy MC up in Resurrection, Wisconsin. Her dad, who passed away last spring, was friendly with he club too because he did a bunch of construction work for them, but Saylor wasn’t even involved in any of that. She has never worked for the club and she doesn’t know about any of their under the table activities. In my opinion, there’s nothing we would need to worry about as far as our business mixing with any of the other Kings chapters that we do actually have business with. She’s one hundred percent innocent in anything other than just being the sister of a biker. The closest she gets to the club is she has been to their clubhouse for family events and holidays. But from the way it sounds to me, she knows illegal stuff happens, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“I think we should give Seamus a call and just give him a friendly hello,” Tadhg comments. I agree with a head nod. “We would want the same in return if the tables were reversed and one of our guys was hooking up with someone in their inner circle.”
If my eyes could do damage with a glare, Tadhg would have holes in the side of his head. “Saylor is not just a hook up, asshole. She’s mine.”
“Sorry,” his free hand shoots up defensively, “I apologize.”
“So, this is real?” Fergus questions after the tenseness evaporates.
“Yes.” I nod, no doubt in my mind. “She is mine. Mo mhuirnín.”
Tadhg and Fergus both let out a whistle. “Does she know what that means yet?” Tadhg follows up with the question of all questions.
“I haven’t told her the definition yet, but she will know sooner than later.”
These men know what it means to call a woman by a special word in our native language. Using a term of endearment, in Irish, seems to be the way all three of us came to the conclusion that the woman we met was the right one for us.
Tadhg was the first to fall when he met Remi, his a stór. His treasure.
Fergus was next when finally pulled his head out of his ass and claimed Nola, his mo fhíorghra. His true love. She also calls him her diabhal, her devil.
And now it seems like I have done the same as well with mo mhuirnín.
“You’re happier than I have seen you in years, Corrin. Maybe ever.” Fergus adds. “And I couldn’t be happier for you.”
“Seems Nana was right about us,” Tadhg says with a deep, sharp laugh. “Once one of us found the right woman and fell in love with her, the rest of us would fall like dominos.”
