Once I get fully gathered and have reminded myself why I shouldn’t do anything with him, I enter the kitchen to a full spread and everybody else.
“Oh wow, I thought dinner was tomorrow,” I say.
“It is,” Rowan says while filling her plate. “This is what a normal meal looks like for us.”
“Well, with four growing boys, I got used to cooking buffet style just to feed everyone,” Mary says.
“What about Rowan? She eats just as much as us.” Conor speaks with his mouth open and full of food.
Mary smacks him with a wooden spoon, causing him to close it.
“Help yourself, dear.”
Sliding into the seat farthest from Calahan, I happily dig in, excited and worried to try everything. Only one emotion is warranted as the knife slides through the steak like butter. I knew to expect good mashed potatoes from an Irish-American family, but these ones have to be the best in my life.
No good at keeping my mouth shut, the moan is involuntary as I bite into the perfectly cooked carrots. Before I even open my eyes, I already know Callahan is looking at me again. Heat has replaced the earlier joy his eyes showcased. The small curl of his lips is enough to hint at how he reacted to that sound.
“So, Monty, no siblings then?” Conor asks.
“No.”
“Lucky,” Declan says before being hit in the head by Finn, proving his point.
This starts an argument that has them each choosing sides. Mary stays neutral, watching them all yell over each other.
She talks to me one-on-one, causing my skin to crawl. Always awkward around mothers, my lack of experience with a good one makes the doting put me on edge. More used to the stilted, frank way of my father, her refilling my plate and patting my shoulder makes me more uncomfortable than the idea of being alone with Callahan. A few minutes ago, that seemed like both the best and worst idea.
“So are all of Rowan’s friends as pretty as you?” Conor winks, one corner of his mouth tilting up.
Now it’s Callahan hitting him. He jumps up, and Finn steps in front of him, crossing his arms.
“Not again,” Finn says.
“He started it,” Connor yells, causing Callahan to smirk.
When it seems like it’s de-escalated, Rowan jumps up and hits all of them, starting a brawl. They don’t take it easy on her, but she holds her own. It’s only Declan who looks like he is suffering as he tries to crawl his way out of it.
I jump in to help him, leveling a hit or two of my own. Quinn looks absolutely delighted and quickly tackles me into the chaos. I can’t figure out who is hitting whom, and I can’t stop laughing.
“Enough!” Mary yells, and we all instantly hop up. Declan sits back down while mumbling the wordheathenscausing me to laugh even more.
It feels good and foreign to be in this place with a family like this. I didn’t know if I would figure out how to fit in, but now I wonder if I’ll ever want to get out. Something inside of me cracks, and a littlebit of that long-buried hurt leaks out. I don’t know if it’s in a positive way or not, but I try to ignore it.
“We should go to Patty’s,” Conor says, drinking down the rest of his beer.
“Hell yeah,” Rowan says.
“No way,” Declan throws his arms up and shakes his head.
“Are you going?” Callahan asks me.
All I can manage is a nod, getting one out of him as well.
“Then let’s go,” he says.
In the end, it’s just me, Conor, Callahan, and Rowan. Finn has to go home to his wife and baby, and Declan is serious about not wanting to. Quinn is too young to drink, so she pouts the whole time we get ready to go. Almost everything in me says getting drunk with Callahan is probably unwise, but the lower half of me can’t be bothered to care.
When we walk in, the place looks like somewhere where everyone knows your name. It’s completely wood, from the floors to the walls to the bar. The stools have peeling red leather rounded seats on metal legs. Behind the bar is a glass mirror that looks older than everything else.
