Patrick One Month Later
It might seem impossible for some to think that a large wedding like this could be pulled off in only a month, but when my family set their minds to something, anything could be done. Mam , my brothers, and many of our distant family and friends all pitched in to make it happen. I knew Maeve sometimes felt like she was caught in a whirlwind, but I kept assuring her that all she had to do was pick the dress, tell us if she wanted something specific, and meet me at the altar.
She took my breath away when she came down that aisle on Sean’s arm. He won the arm wrestling contest to walk her since her daid was out of the picture for good. He’d decided for his health to move clear across the country to California. Good riddance. The ceremony was a blur as I stood there feasting on her.
Fast forward to hours later, we’d talked, mingled, ate, and danced ourselves silly. The representatives from the other Irish families privately expressed their surprise to me. They were amazed that ours was a love match. It was rarely the case in our type of family, even though it had been so for my parents. I assured them we wouldn’t settle for anything less than our anamcharas . I was confident Sean and Cormac would be the same. Any hopes of alliances between our families through arranged, loveless marriages were dashed.
There were more than one pair of hungry eyes looking at her. I made sure to stick close and to warn them off with a look. No one would ever take her from me. I’d kill for this woman. As the party continued to go on, which could be all night with us Irish when there was music and good alcohol, I stole her away. I knew she was exhausted and didn’t want her to overdo it.
Yesterday, we found out that even though we’d only been together intimately for a month, she was pregnant with our first child. It was the best wedding present in the world. The family promised to keep it secret for now, not that I cared if the baby had been conceived out of wedlock or who knew it. We just wanted to celebrate our wedding. However, I would make sure she rested and took care of herself.
Whisking her off after we said goodbye to our mams , I took her home. We were leaving in the morning for our honeymoon. Her mam had settled in nicely with us. She was the happiest Maeve had ever seen her, and she was overjoyed to be a seanmháthair , grandmother.
My gift to my bride was to be a new house, but not just any house. It was one big enough to house not only our family but my brothers’ families one day and our mams . It was her dream to have a huge, loving family around us. What my banríon , my queen, wanted, she received. As I unbuttoned her wedding dress, I dreamed of what our future would bring. How many children? How many grandchildren? I knew it wouldn’t always be easy, but it would be filled with love.