AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER13
AILBHE
ONE MONTH LATER
Today's the day. I can't hide it anymore. I need to talk with Preacher. I've had the pregnancy confirmed. The test was correct—I'm pregnant. I'm actually six weeks along, which is really early. I'm still terrified, but after talking it through with Ruairi who realized a few days after I found out, I realized that it would be okay. That I’ve managed to find a way to be a mam to our younger siblings, and having a baby in the mix will be hard, but I can do it.
I was a little confused as to how he knew, but I soon realized that he’s not stupid and with me being sick every morning it wasn’t hard to figure it out.
Once the kids had gone to school, he sat me down and we spoke. There were so many tears, it was cathartic. Ruairi let me know that no matter what, I wasn't alone and he would be here to help. He has asked about the father, but I haven't told him who it is. I think I'm more scared of telling Preacher about the baby than anything. I have no idea how he's going to react, and that's what has me scared the most.
"Ailbhe," I hear Hannah yell. There's fear in her voice.
My feet move quickly as I rush toward her. "What's going on?" I ask as I reach the front door and see that she's opened it.
"Ailbhe?" I hear the low tone and look up, shocked to see Freddie Kinnock standing at my door. "It’s been a while. You doing okay?"
"Hey, Freddie," I say with a smile as I step in front of Hannah. "Honey, why don't you go play in your room? I'm going to talk with Freddie. He's a friend of Ruairi's."
Hannah nods and flashes me a smile. "Bye," she says and runs up the stairs.
I turn back to Freddie. "Come in, but Ruairi's not here."
He steps into the house. "I'm not here to see Ruairi, Ailbhe. I'm here to see you."
Now that's shocking. "Um, okay. What's going on?"
We take a seat on the sofa and I wait for him to get to the point of why he's here.
"Your da's a piece of shit, Ailbhe," he tells me.
I can't help but laugh. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know. Christ, Freddie, Da's been a prick for years. You only just realizing that?"
His lips twitch. "Knew it for a long while, but I found out about a month ago just how fucked up he is. I never realized it was your da, though, Ailbhe. I hadn't seen him in years."
My brows furrow. "What happened?"
He sighs. "It’s shit that I have to be the one to tell you this. Your da owes Jed O'Connor thirty grand."
Ah, so that’s what this is about. "Yeah, it was over forty and now it's down to twenty-six."
His eyes widen at my words. "You took four grand off in four weeks?"
"How did you know I was the one paying it off?" I'm not surprised that he knows everything. Then again, I'm shocked Da's let it be known that he's a fucking dick and making his child pay for everything.
"Jed had a very loud conversation outside the Shebeen pub last month, where he let it be known that he was tired of waiting for money from your da. However, your da was a dick and told him ‘Al’ was paying it. Didn't realize it was you he was talking about. But it was fucked up, and I've been looking into it since then. I found out last week that it was you. Imagine my surprise when I also found out you're still living at home. What the fuck happened?"
"Nosey fucker, aren't you, Freddie?" I ask. "How's Ava? I haven't seen her in a while."
The easygoing smile leaves his face. "She's grand. Same old Ava. You know that."
"Not nice when someone dives into your life, is it?"
He releases a heavy sigh. "Christ, Ailbhe, I'm trying to be nice and help you."
"I appreciate that, and it was a low blow asking about Ava. I'm sorry." Everyone knows Ava is off-limits. They have a very tumultuous relationship. It's been years but there's still something between them. "What do you want to know?"
"You were going away for college, right? What happened?"
