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“Jonathan!” Edel gasped. “Apologize to Gerard right this instant.”
“For what?” Johnny demanded, eyes widening in disbelief. “He’s the one faking a chronic lung disease!”
“We don’t threaten anyone’s backsides with our toes in this house,” his mother countered, hands on her hips. “You know better.”
Turning a comical shade of purple, Johnny opened his mouth to respond only to bite down on his fist with a growl instead. Pulling out a chair, he sank down at the table and glared at me. “I apologize, Gerard.”
“Thank you, Jonathan.” I grinned. “All is forgiven.”
“What a relief,” he deadpanned, but the kick I received under the table assured me that he wanted no such forgiveness. “Where is everyone?”
“Shannon’s next door trying on Halloween costumes with Aoife,” Edel explained, pointing a thumb in the direction of Lynchy’s annex. “Your father’s at work, and the boys have gone to the cinema with Darren.”
“Darren?” Johnny’s brows snapped up in surprise. “He’s back again?”
“He’s their brother, love,” Edel replied calmly. “It’s Seany’s birthday tomorrow so Darren traveled down for the weekend.” Giving her son a knowing look, she added, “He’s welcome to visit them as much as he wants.”
“Hmm,” Johnny muttered under his breath, but made no other comment. I didn’t blame him.
Darren was a dick to my best friend, and sure, a whole heap of crap had gone down in the past year that caused them both to set aside their differences, but at the end of the day, shit stuck.
“Speaking of Halloween costumes…” Edel disappeared down the hallway once more, this time returning with a pair of familiar leather pants. “These should fit you just fine now, Gerard, love.”
“You fixed my pants?”
“It was no trouble, love.”
“Aw, shucks.” I beamed at her. “You really are Wonder Woman.”
“I don’t think he’ll be needing them, Ma,” Johnny chimed in. “Himself and Claire are on the outs.”
“Wow.” I glared at the side of his head. “Thanks for that, friend.”
“Oh, no! Are you in a fight, love?” Edel asked, taking a seat beside her son. “You haven’t broken up with the girl, have you? Because she’s a keeper, Gerard Gibson.”
“No, I haven’t broken up with her,” I grumbled, feeling that familiar pain in my chest at the thought of Claire. We hadn’t spoken since last weekend. Since her date with Jamie. I wasn’t even sure if we were still supposed to be wearing matching costumes tomorrow night, or if she had replaced me with Jamie. Fuck, now I was mad again. “I would never break up with her.”
“True,” Johnny mused. “Because breaking up with Claire would mean that you actually asked her out in the first place.” Smirking, he added, “And we all know you’re too pussy for that, lad.”
“Language, Jonathan,” Edel scolded, clipping her son around the back of the head, before locking her attention on me once more. “You haven’t asked the girl out yet?” When I shook my head in response, she looked at me like I was sporting flowers out of my ears. “Why in the name of God not?”
“Because…”
“Because?” Johnny pushed, still smirking.
“Because,” I replied, dropping my head in my hands. “Just because.”
_______________
“You know, I’m not sure if I’m entirely comfortable with this scenario,” I declared a while later as I sat on the couch in the annex with a squawking blob of blond curls on my lap. “He seems very nice, but I’m not supposed to hold babies.”
“Why not?” Shannon laughed from her perch next to me, where she was protecting her nephew’s head from lagging. “He really likes you, Gibs.”
“Because my mam said so,” I admitted honestly. “One time, I dropped my cousin from Scotland on his head, and there was like this whole heap of drama.” Shifting in discomfort, I glanced down at the chubby little hand trying to snatch up my finger and felt a surge of panic. “I mean, Thomas was fine afterwards. It was only a mild concussion. He didn’t even have to stay in the hospital that long, and the doctors were able to correct the whole eye thing, but Mam was adamant that I wasn’t to hold any more babies.”
“Okay, maybe that’s enough holding for you.” Wisely intercepting her son before he came to harm, Aoife backed away slowly. “In future you can just wave at Uncle Gibsie from a distance.”
“Good decision,” I agreed with a solemn nod.
