“Nope. Haven’t even thought about you in years.”
My mam is looking down at her hands and I can feel the hurt coming off of her. Maybe Cillian and I need to pay a visit to Colin. Talk to him with his wife there.
“I wonder if you’d be saying this with your wife around. I hear she might not like what we have to say.”
“Go ahead. You don’t even live in Scotland anymore. And how do I even know either of you are my sons? I have eight of them here with me. Them I know are mine, you two? I don’t know if you are. Your mams weren’t exactly faithful.”
“Faithful? You want to talk about being faithful? You’re a piece of shite.”
“Yeah? Well then why are we still talking?”
“First of all, I understand you think you’re allowed to talk to women this way, but you’re not. Now either you can be civil and talk to Fiona and Teagan or I’ll deal with your father instead.”Enea says calmly to Colin.
“Then maybe you need to talk to my faither. He’ll never believe you anyway.”
Colin’s voice is wavering a little.
“You should know that as we speak, his blood is on it’s way to me so that we can run DNA tests. And he’ll know that Callum and Cillian are his grandsons. And all of this will come out. So again, either you deal with us now or later. Either way is fine with me.”
“Fine. I left Teagan for the reason I already said. As for Fiona? Ainsley was getting suspicious the last year. At the beginning, I spent one week with Teagan,one with Fiona and two with Ainsley. When I left Teagan, I spent two weeks with Fiona and two with Ainsley. But one day Ainsley asked why I was away for two weeks when I only had the North Ayrshire area besides our area of North-West Highlands. She told me that I had a choice and I chose her. We already had three kids…”
“And? I had Callum. How could you leave either of your sons?”my mam asks.
“You make it sound like I did it easily. But I didn’t.”
“Then why not call and say you had to leave? Instead of just leaving.”
“Because I did love you both and saying goodbye was harder than walking away.”
“Oh boo fucking hoo. Are we supposed to feel sorry for you? That you fucked around and got caught?”
“Oh I didn’t get caught. Ainsley doesn’t know about any of you.”
“She will soon.”I laugh.
“Well maybe it’s time. And just so you know, I lied. I’ve kept tabs on all of you since the day I left. I’m very proud of Callum and Cillian. We’ll talk again soon.”
Colin hangs up and I hug my mam. She’s shaking and I want to kill Colin. Maybe I never should’ve brought all this into our lives.
“I’m sorry, mam.”
“For what? You did nothing wrong. I’m sorry I chose so poorly with Colin. I wish I had found someone better for you. But then I might not have you. So at the same time, I have to thank him for you.”
“I had you, I didn’t need anyone else. I love you, mam. I never hated my life. I loved every minute of it.”
EPILOGUE
Callum
It’s been a few weeks since our initial conversation with Hamish McGregor. We’ve done the DNA test and he’s gotten the results that Cillian and I are his grandsons. He’s actually reached out to us a few times and has been a lot nicer to us since than that first call. He’s also asked us to come to Scotland to meet with him. Cillian and I haven’t decided what we want to do yet.
My mam said that Hamish called her and apologized for the way he spoke to her. That he was wrong in assuming that she was a liar and a gold digger. My mam said she feels a lot better since he called to apologize, she’s also been a lot happier when we talk. When it comes to Colin, we’ve heard from him once. He said that one day he’d like to sit and talk with my mam and me. I told him that’s up to her and he better not push her to do something she doesn’t want to do. We do know that his infidelities have come out and now Ainsley and all his other children know about all of us. We’ll have to see how that all works out. So far we haven’t heard from any of his other kids.I’m not sure if it’s because they’re processing or if they just don’t want to know Cillian and me. Either way it’s fine. I didn’t know them before so I don’t miss them now.
Cillian and I have gotten to know each other a lot better and having a big brother is really nice. Plus our mam’s have been spending a lot of time together. My mam is considering renting out the Saltcoats house and staying in Doolin full time. Partly for the cafe and the other part is that Teagan is only forty minutes away. I told her that I’d come back and help her move if that’s what she decides to do.
Moira and I are doing great, she’s been the one to keep me focused when all I wanted to do was give up on everything. When my mam was here, she gave me a ring that was passed to her from her mam. They both told me that when the time was right, that was the ring they wanted me to use for our engagement.
Tonight is the night I plan on asking her to marry me. I’ve worked it into one of my routines and I’m nervous but excited. My mam made me promise to video the proposal. Not my routine. Just the end when I propose. She said that specifically, no nakedness in the video. That one made me laugh.
