AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At the firehouse, he told Devon that he was engaged.
“You gave the girl a ring?”
“Not exactly. I moved into her house.”
Laughter rang out. “Saint fell out of the nest at last. But you need to officially ask her and buy her a ring.”
“I don’t have any money yet,” he whined.
“I’ll lend it to you,” Devon said.
“You’re too generous as it is. I can’t have you buying my engagement ring. That’s collusion.”
“Ha! No worries. Did you even ask her yet, or are you assuming because you’re living in her house she’ll marry you?”
“Well, a little of both. I asked and she refused and said to move in instead, so that’s what I did. We don’t know each other long enough to get married. At least according to Aisling.”
“She’s a smart girl,” Devon said. “You’re really a lucky guy, Mike.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to tell me that.”
Devon patted him on the back. “She’s lucky, too.”
“I wondered if you were going to say anything,” Mike replied, laughing.
The siren sounded. “Yikes, I haven’t heard that thing in a long time,” someone said as everyone’s phone alerts went off.
“Yeah, they’re using the siren again in addition to the phone alerts,” the chief said. “Let the public know we’re going out.”
“A pedestrian almost got hit by a truck last month up in LA. So we’re going back to letting the world know we’re on the move.”
They grabbed their gear and got onto their assigned vehicles, the station doors opened, and the trucks were on their way. Fire season had officially started.
Chapter 3
Fire Season
“Repeat after me, Michael,” the preacher said. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
Mike held the ring at the tip of Aisling’s finger. “With this ring, I thee wed,” he said, his voice shaking.
Slipping the silver band onto Aisling’s finger made it real. Others had told him marriage wouldn’t feel any different after living together for three years, loving each other unconditionally. But they were wrong. His heart was pounding in his rib cage; he felt a little sick, almost giddy. Loving her more than he thought he was capable of, Mike knew that the words he’d uttered,in sickness and in health, till death do us part, were real. He’d only love Aisling for the rest of his life, forsaking all others.
Then it was Aisling’s turn. She took the thick band off the offered pillow and began to slip it onto Mike’s finger, repeating after the preacher, “With this ring, I thee wed. In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do us part.”
“I love you,” she whispered, knowing how emotional he was prone to get and that if she didn’t help him get through the ceremony, he might not make it.
They held hands, looking into each other’s eyes as the preacher made his final statement, giving them permission to kiss. That was all Mike needed; he grabbed her and started blubbering into her neck, alternating passionate kisses with crying, the congregation tittering in a combination of embarrassment and understanding that he really loved Aisling. The display was so Mike.
Then he swept her up in an unexpected move and ran with her down the stairs, the train of her dress trailing behind, with her veil and the ribbons on her bouquet flying in the air.
“Oh, Lord Jesus, the groom’s lost it,” one of the Irish relatives said.
“That’s bullshit. Saint men cry at a good steak,” Mike’s Italian uncle Benito replied in defense.
“It’s because he’s Italian,” Aisling’s aunt Booty whispered. “They can’t help it. It’s because the pope lives at the Vatican.”
And so began the family feud. It was weird because the Saints loved Aisling, and the Murphys loved Mike. But they didn’t understand each other, so that when what happened later happened, well, it got a little touchy. But we’re getting ahead of the story.
