Liam breathes in, steadying. “I’m done hidin’.We’redone hidin’.”
He turns to Linus. “You’re the bravest, most patient man I know. You never gave up on me.” Then his eyes find mine. “You are strength and kindness and make me feel safe in ways I never thought I would.” He sits up straighter. “They’re my life. Both of them. I love them with every fiber of my bein’ and we’re startin’ a family.”
Rory’s breath catches. Maureen covers her mouth, eyes filling.
“Avonna is pregnant.” Liam brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. “We’re not sure which one of us is the biological father. As far as we’re concerned, this baby is all of ours. We’re workin’ with a lawyer to sort out the legalities.”
Liam lifts his face toward his parents. “I’m sick of being estranged. So is Padraig. Avonna encouraged me to go into therapy and it’s helped. I won’t live my life in secret anymore.” He meets Rory’s stare dead on. “I love them. I choose them. Ifyou can’t accept us, now is the time to say it so I don’t waste my time here. I’m done being ashamed and I’ll protect them from anyone who doesn’t support us.”
Silence fills the room. A heavy, shifting quiet.
Rory reaches into his pocket. He places a set of keys on the table. The metal clicks against the wood.
“I kept the townhouse for you,” he says. “You wouldn’t take it before. It can be your home when the four of you are in town.”
Liam stares at them, breath trembling in his chest.
“Your mother and I built those townhouses for our children because we knew you all needed a safe place to live. I destroyed my relationships with all of youse.” Rory fights back tears. “I don’t want forgiveness. None of youse ever owed me forgiveness, especially you, Liam. It doesn’t matter if I regret what happened. It happened. I have to face the consequences. You and your family are always welcome in my home, no judgment. I love you and I hope to be part of your life again.”
Linus places his hand near Liam’s elbow. I feel Liam steady himself between us.
After a long moment, Liam picks up the keys, fingers shaking.
“Thank you,” he says quietly. “I’ll accept this now, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Rory nods. “I know.”
“We’re going to the doctor tomorrow.” Liam squeezes my hand “Our plan is to be in Seattle as home base until the baby’s born.”
Maureen’s tears slip down her cheeks. Cillian looks at Liam with a mix of pride and pain.
“We will take this at your pace.” Rory studies his son’s face. “I want to know you. I want to know Linus and Avonna and I want to know the baby. He or she will be our first grandchild.”
Tears stream down Liam’sface. “Me too.”
Linus slides his hand over Liam on top of mine. He looks at both of us with a warmth I feel in my bones.
I know he’ll find his way back to his da.
Not tonight.
Not all at once.
At least he’ll do it out in the open.
fifty-one
Linus
Two Months Later
Avonna’sbodyispliantfrom everything Liam and I did to relax her.
She rests on her side with a pillow under her belly. Six months along and her movements have grown careful. Her pace is sluggish. Her back is strained. Feet swollen.
Somehow, despite her limited mobility, her voracious sex drive is raging even more out of control.
Tonight she needed our mouths. Our fingers. Our cocks. We gave her everything she asked for, as many times as her body could take. Five orgasms later, she sleeps between us.
