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“Okay, big guy, you shower, I’ll just nap for ten more minutes.”
I shake my head at her before heading into the bathroom for a shower.
* * *
“Ronan, what are we doing here?” A little over an hour later and I’m pulling up at the cemetery.
“You always visit Dylan’s grandmother on holidays, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And you promised Dylan that you’d make sure Maddie knew who she was?”
“Yeah. Where are you going with this?”
“You’ll see, come on, let’s go.” She looks uncomfortable, and it has me questioning whether or not I’ve done the right thing.
As we walk to Dylan’s grandmother’s grave––Maddie in my arms, Liv’s hand in mine––I’m starting to freak out. Maybe this was a mistake? I should have talked to her about it first.
She stops dead, her breath stutters, and she stares at the headstone. I watch her, looking for a reaction, anything.
“You did this?” Her voice croaks with emotion, and I can’t work out if it’s good or bad.
“Yeah. He still has a grave at Arlington, but I arranged for his remains to be moved here to be buried with his grandmother. I wanted a place where you and Maddie could go, I wanted her to have a place to visit him. Liv, shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t––”
I don’t get to finish my sentence. She turns, grabbing my face and kissing me with a passion from her I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.
Maddie’s giggling pulls us apart, and we both look at her and smile.
Liv places a kiss on her nose. “Hey, baby girl, you know how Nanna Andrea and Grandpa George told you about Daddy being in heaven?”
“Yup, Nanna said I have to be good or Daddy would be mad.”
My demon shifts, and I can feel a rage settling in my gut. I hate that they used her father to make sure she was behaving.
“Baby girl, your Daddy is watching over you to make sure that you are okay and that you are happy, that’s all. Can you see that headstone, with Great Grandma Rose’s name?”
Maddie looks to the grave, then looks back to Liv, nodding.
“Well, Ronan had your daddy brought here, to rest with Great Grandma Rose. So anytime you want to visit Daddy, we can come here, and you can talk to him. Do you understand me, baby girl?”
She looks back to the grave, a smile creeping over her little face. “Daddy.” Wanting down, I place her on the ground and she walks up to the headstone, wrapping her little arms around the front. I pull Liv into my arms as the tears fall from her eyes.
“Ronan, thank you for this.”
I don’t have a chance to respond as we hear Maddie say, “Hi, Daddy.” We both turn, realising she’s taken a seat in front of the headstone. “I’m happy, Daddy. And Momma’s happy too.”
My heart swells, and I know I’ve done the right thing. We sit there for another hour as Maddie tells her dad about the last year, before she gets up, running to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Ronan.” She places a kiss on my cheek.
“Hey, baby girl, we have one more person to go see while we’re here.” Liv gets up, pulling Maddie with her and holding out her hand for me.
“Where are we going, sweetheart?”
She doesn’t say anything, she just winks at me and moves in the direction of Rory’s grave. Her and Maddie keep walking, but I freeze a few feet behind them, not sure I’m ready for this.
Liv stops, realising I’m not with her. I watch as she bends down, saying something to Maddie. The kid looks at Rory’s grave, then over at me. She smiles before running back to where I’m stood frozen to the spot.
She grabs my hand and squeezes. “Come on, Ronan, you have to say hi to Uncle Rory.”
