I took his hand and slipped the band on his ring finger. “A leash on a tiger,” I said.
“Grand,” he said. “Just fu—” CeeCee put her hand over his mouth, and he pretended to bite her. She laughed and moved it. “Just grand. You’ll never lead me astray.”
We kissed and then started dinner.
Epilogue
Cash
Two Years Later
“Get the door!”
I grinned at my wife before I went to answer it. Ryan was on her shoulders, hitting at the balloon animal she had around her head, laughing his ass off. Her hair was full of glitter, and she had a tigress painted on her cheek. Connolly ran around with her friends, hyped up on too much sugar.
I had warned my wife about the dangers of sugar and kids mixing, but she ate it with them, so she said there was no excuse not to give it to them. She was of the mind that we should practice what we preach.
The grin was still on my face when I opened the door. It fell when I was faced with three people.
“We were in the neighborhood.” Killian shrugged. “Thought we’d stop by for my niece’s birthday party.” He was wedged between his wife and Saoirse.
“This house is invite-only,” I said.
“We have an invite,” Kill said, looking behind me.
I turned and found Father Flanagan, but he shook his head. He didn’t invite them. I’d told him about the situation with Saoirse after what had happened to my wife and me at the cemetery. He was as shocked as I was that Saoirse was still alive, and that Killian hadn’t told him. When I asked him if he was mad or was going to hold a grudge, he told me no.
“Holding a grudge only turns you bitter,” he’d said, “because only you can live with you. I’m not the one to judge.” He pointed up to the sky. “That’s a burden I’m blessed not to have to carry. When I chose to walk in love, I chose the hard road. It’s not the path of least resistance, but in the end, it’ll be worth it. Because when we go, Cash, we all go alone, and our sins are our own. I’ll only be judged for what I’ve done. ‘He did it first’ or ‘he hurt me first’ will not be good enough. Not for—” he nodded up again. “And not for me.”
That was that—until this moment. Until his eyes connected with Saoirse’s for the first time in years.
Kill cleared his throat. “Father Flanagan didn’t invite us.”
I looked at my brother, and he nodded behind me. My wife stood there with our children. She smiled and waved at me.
“After I spoke to Kee, and she told me thatsomeonerefuses to sing for her, I decided that someone—” he pointed to his chest “—has to teach those children how to sing.” Kill grinned. “Properly.”
“Daddy two,” Ryan said, lifting up two fingers, trying to figure out why there was another me on the other side of our door.
“Daddy,” Connolly said, coming to take my hand. She had dropped the “Cash” part a week after she decided to give me the name. “Who are they?” Her eyes jumped between Kill and me, focused on the same thing Ryan was—how much we looked alike.
“I’m your uncle,” Kill said. He introduced his wife, whose name was Megan. Then Saoirse.
“You can call me Gran,” Saoirse said, “if you want.”
Connolly smiled. “How about Grandee?”
“I’d love that,” Saoirse said, wiping her eyes. “Very much.”
Keely slid her hand around my side and Ryan took my other hand. After a tense few minutes, I sighed and moved back some. Keely gave a low whoop and moved aside so the three could enter.
Before they did, I stuck my foot out, stopping Killian from entering. I looked each of them in the eye before I spoke. “For my children,” I said, “since you played on their sympathies. But not for me.”
Killian met my eye, reminding me of myself when I was determined to get whatever the fuck I wanted. “We’ll wait,” he said, and then he rolled into our home.
The kids ran after them, excited to get to know new people. We were an unconventional family, but our connection was even stronger than blood. Even Keely’s mam gave Saoirse the evil eye when Connolly introduced her as her new Grandee. Those children belonged to all of us.
Keely stared at me for a minute and then wrapped her arms around me, looking up. “Life doesn’t always go the way we want, thief of hearts,” she said. “But no matter what, good or bad, it goes. It moves forward. Bad times come. They go. Good times come. They go. But forever. That’s us. You and me. And them.” She nodded behind her at our children laughing in the background.
