As I heard the words, I saw a big, meaty fist coming for my jaw. It clipped me hard, and my head snapped to the side as I saw stars.
I rounded on the bastard that had sucker-punched me, only to see Atlas standing there, shaking his right hand out. “That’s for settin’ up my sister,” he bit out.
Another punch came at me from my left and caught my temple.
Pain radiated from my skull, and I stumbled back, falling against a table. That one hit hard, but I managed to stay on my feet.
Then, another punch came from nowhere and landed on my left kidney. I doubled over, clutching my side before letting out a pained groan.
Fuck, that one hit the spot. I wanted to puke.
“You okay, Dad?” Rex called over from the corner where Aislynn had ushered him and Rome.
“Yeah,” I croaked.
“Well, he’d better be,” Maureen piped up. “I’ve got a glass of Macallan here with his name on.”
I perked up at that and saw my mother-in-law holding up a glass full of amber liquid. Her eyes were soft and her smile wide as she studied me closely. She cleared her throat and shouted for silence before her eyes drifted back to me.
“Aiden,” she began. “I never got to raise a glass for you at your wedding to Aislynn, love, so let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the family.”
She held the whiskey up high and called out, “May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more. To Aiden and Aislynn.”
Then my heart swelled as the entire room toasted us.
“To Aiden and Aislynn.”
Aislynn
The Next Day
I stoodat Mam’s kitchen window, gazing out at my boys playing soccer with their dad, Callum, and Donovan.
My brothers had come over early to hash things out with my husband. Yesterday’s non-fight was over before it even started, which was good, seeing as I didn’t want to ruin Rosie’s wedding day. But it was like Mam said: we were Irish. It was tradition to have a punch-up at a family wedding.
Mam filled the Yorkshire pudding tins with batter and slid them into the hot oven before closing the door.
“There,” she murmured as if to herself. “Twenty minutes, and they’ll be ready.” She moved over to the stove to stir the gravy. “My grandsons love my gravy, so I’ve made extra for you to take home for them.”
I smiled because she was right. “Thanks, Mam.”
She eyed my belly. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” I answered. “Pregnancy’s been a breeze so far.”
“Did you take that job in Rock Springs?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. Pagan wants me to take Kennedy up on her offer. He says with the baby coming, it’ll be better if I have my own business so I can commit to my own hours, and he’s got a point. Rosie said she’ll do my tax returns and monthly accounts, and the Kings want to hire me to renovate some of their buildings, so it looks like I’ll be good for work for a while.”
The week before, Kennedy had called and offered to rent the bottom floor of her building to me.
She was a lawyer and owned offices in Hambleton, some of which she wasn’t using. I’d spoken to Pagan, and he told me to go for it. Between us, we had more than enough money to start me up, and the timing would be good for me because I could open my business after I had the baby.
Mam put the wooden spoon down and picked up her cup of tea from the counter before coming to stand beside me. “They look like they’re having fun,” she murmured, taking a sip from her cup.
I watched Roman get the ball past his dad, then he struck it hard and sent it sailing between the two stumps they were using as a makeshift goal.
Rex ran over to him and gave him a high-five, and Donovan let out a loudwhoop.
