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Inessa saved me by arguing, "If anyone should be pregnant, it’s me. I’ve been married the longest after Aoife."
"You don’t want kids yet," Aela argued. "Plus, you’re like a baby yourself."
"I’m not a baby. I’m nearly twenty."
Aela snorted. "You’re a baby. Eoghan’s a pervert."
"He is not," Inessa complained.
"The age gap makes it hotter," I countered. "You’re missing out, Aela, and you don’t even know it."
She flipped me the bird then peered around her sisters-in-law. "The O’Donnellys clearly like child brides. Only Declan had the good sense to marry someone his own age."
As the others booed her, I retorted, "I’m long since past the age of being a child bride, but I appreciate the compliment about my youthful glow, Aela."
She started laughing, and like it was infectious, most of us joined in. Aoife did as well, though it was a tad strained.
I knew Aela meant well, but she had about as much subtlety as a kick to the head administered via a steel-toed-boot-shod foot.
Aoife’s miscarriage earlier this year was the elephant in the room. We didn’t speak of it unless she brought it up, which she didn’t.
Ever.
Same went with Lena.
With the news that we’d be joining our mother-in-law for lunch tomorrow, it was only natural that she was a hot topic of conversation. One that fudged the unspoken rule of things we were and weren't supposed to discuss.
"It still surprises me that you coordinated the funeral, Aoife," I said softly. "I don’t think I thanked you for that."
Her gaze on the carrots which she was cutting into fancy shapes, she said, "I was better prepared than most of you in knowing what to do."
Therein laid the rub.
"I should have helped more," I said apologetically.
"I didn’t expect you to."
Aoife’s authority over us came in sharp relief to the fact that I was married to the head of the Five Points, and went deeper than the fact that she’d been a part of the family the longest.
Clans like the O’Donnellys had things like matriarchs and patriarchs, but for all that Aidan and I were technically the heirs to those roles, I didn’t think we settled in them naturally.
I was A-okay in letting Aoife be the one who took the position off my hands.
I thought Aidan would be okay with letting Finn take that mantel too. At least, on a personal front.
He was far too bossy to let Finn replace him as head of the Five Points.
As was often the way with so many women clustered together, side-conversations sprung up.
Inessa and Camille started arguing about a show they were watching together, and Aela joined in the bickering because she’d DNFed the series.
With Aoife still chopping veggies, and me just downing my glass of wine, I decided to take the bull by the horns.
"How are you, Aoife?"
She cast me a glance. "I’m fine."
"Are you? Jen told me she was pregnant again today," I said, my tone careful though I was aware that Jen had shared the news with her already.
