She said, “So what we’re saying, Katie, is I can’t remember when our wedding was?—”
Fraoch interrupted to say, “I ken, twas a small number of morrows afore Lughnasadh. Or yesterdays dependin’ on which way the wheel is rollin’.”
Magnus grinned. “That is a lovely time of year, good day for a wedding.”
Ash said, “Lochinvar do you know when that is?”
Lochinvar said, “Aye, tis the haymonath.”
Hayley said, “Haymonath? Fraoch, do you have any idea what that is?”
“Aye, tis easy tae understand!” He grinned, using his finger to tap on the table as he said, “Tis An t-Ògmhios, then An t-Iuchar, then Lughnasadh comes at the beginning of An Lùnastal.”
My eyes wide, I joked, “I swear, I have to learn Gaelic.”
Hayley said, “This is what I mean though, we need to celebrate some anniversaries, we need to mark the year. It’s important.”
Fraoch said, “I agree, ye hae tae celebrate the wedding anniversaries so the bairns will ken that all the parties arna just for them.Sometimes, the cake is for Uncle Frookie.”
Hayley raised her glass. “And the bouncy house!”
“When is your birthday, Fraoch?”
He shrugged. “I daena ken, we dinna celebrate the day, so there was nae reason tae mark it, we had many feast days though, for the saints… M’mother told me I was born after Beltane on the day she saw the first bloomin’ bluebells.”
Hayley rolled her eyes. “A while back I figured out he means the month of May. He’s a Taurus, makes sense, right?”
“I think what we are learning is that we need to just have a big party in the summer and celebrate all the birthdays and anniversaries at once.”
Emma raised her brow. “You think the kids are going to be cool with that?”
“Okay,” I chuckled. “We celebrate all the kids’ birthdays and ignore the grownups just like always, win-win.”
Everyone laughed.
“And it’s good that we don’t celebrate a bunch of anniversaries because I would have no idea what to get Magnus for a bronze present.”
Hayley said, “I know! You know how people will get baby booties bronzed? You can do Magnus’s boots!”
James said, “This is a perfect reminder that not all ideas are good ideas.”
Magnus was quiet. Then he asked, “What is for the five year anniversary?”
“Why?”
“Nae reason.”
She looked at the list. “Wood.”
He nodded.
I said, “What are you up to? It’s not our five-year, it’s our eight-year and as you point out we’ve been married for years, possibly decades, I’ve been your wifeforever…”
He shrugged. “I just wanted tae ken.” Then he asked, “Chef Zach, ye promised the bairns dessert?”
Chef Zach hopped up. “Yes indeed. A real old fashioned colonial specialty, gingerbread.”
He got a bundle from the counter in the kitchen and brought it over calling the kids around. “Real colonial gingerbread!” He untied twine and pulled the cloth edges away.
