Steadfast (The Kelly Family #1)

Chapter 1

Aoife

My life has been defined by two things,

the love I have for my siblings and my ability to survive.

“D on’t stop,” I mumbled, gripping the edge of my desk.

I tipped my ass up further, groaning, and dropped my forehead against the wood as I came.

A chuckle came from behind me as I gasped for air, and a few moments later, I felt a kiss between my shoulder blades and a light breeze against me as we separated.

Downstairs the house filled with noise as the front door was thrown open and slammed shut again.

“Shit,” I grumbled, straightening.

I twisted and reached for the jeans I’d dropped on the floor.

Kicking my underwear toward the dirty clothes pile in the corner, I hopped sideways, pulling the pants up my legs without them.

My shirt and bra had been tossed onto my nightstand and as soon as I found them, I yanked them both over my head, barely pulling them into place before I was gently tackled onto the bed.

“You think they know we’re here?” Richie murmured, grinning against my lips. Bracing an arm beside me, he rolled us so his back was to the door, and I was partially hidden.

“It’s cute that you think they’d assume we weren’t,” I replied dryly, still a little breathless as I adjusted my shirt. I looked him over. “You’re getting better at throwing your clothes back on.”

“They do seem to have a strange type of homing beacon when it comes to you.” He grinned, completely unbothered by the noise coming from downstairs.

“I’ve had some practice getting my clothes back on in a hurry.

Once I realized any shirts with buttons were a terrible idea, I think we turned a corner. ”

I laughed. “Are you going to that party tonight?” I asked, reaching over the edge of the bed as I heard feet pounding up the stairs.

“Without you?” Richie scoffed. “No.”

“You could go.”

“It isn’t any fun without you there,” he replied easily, leaning his head on his hand.

Jesus, he was beautiful. Between the Italian genetics from his dad’s side and the Indian ones from his mom’s, my boyfriend was almost startlingly attractive.

Sometimes, when I looked at him, I couldn’t believe that someone in real life actually looked like that.

The weirdest thing about him, though, especially since he looked the way he did?

He was kind. Genuinely. It was baffling.

I’d spent my entire sophomore year of high school wondering how in the hell I’d caught the eye of the nicest guy in school, but after almost three years together, I didn’t question it anymore. Somehow, Richie Lewis and I fit.

“Bed check!” my younger brother Cian yelled as he threw open my door. “Show me your hands, Dick , or I may have to rip them off.”

Tightening my hand around the shoe I’d snatched off the floor in preparation for that exact moment, I chucked it. Cian didn’t even see it coming before it hit his chest.

He let out a hilarious grunt of surprise.

“Fuck off, Cian,” I sang, shooing him away with my hand.

“Can’t,” Cian said, leaning casually against my doorframe.

Richie’s body shook with silent laughter, and I jabbed him in the side with my thumb. While I loved that Richie got along with my siblings and never got annoyed when they interrupted us a thousand times a day, I would’ve appreciated a little help from his end.

“What?” I said through my teeth when Cian didn’t elaborate.

“Some little bitch called Aisling a jack-o’-lantern at school today—”

I dropped my head back onto the bed. “She was wearing that bright-ass shirt today, wasn’t she?”

“The orange one?” Cian replied. “Correct. That, along with the—” He gestured toward his perfectly straight teeth and shrugged.

“Fuck,” I muttered, rolling uncoordinatedly off the side of the bed.

“I tried to tell her that she’s just gotta wait a fuckin’ minute, and she’ll have perfect teeth like the rest of us,” he said, looking past me to grin at Richie, who’d had braces when we first started dating. “Good genes, you know?”

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered, pushing past him. “You looked ten times worse before your canines grew back in.”

“I did not,” he argued.

As I hurried down the stairs, I could hear him and Richie scuffling in the hallway.

I rolled my eyes. Richie was always up for roughhousing with my brothers.

He had two older brothers who didn’t live at home anymore, so maybe he missed the comradery.

I thought he probably liked being the oldest for once and able to actually win the little wrestling matches.

Though, that was probably coming to an end.

Cian had sprouted up so tall over the past year that he had to wear shorts to school every day.

He acted like it was part of his style, but I knew his jeans were all just too short.

I needed to remind him to hand down the less-trashed pairs to our little brother Ronan.

“My minions,” I called, throwing my hands into the air as I reached the kitchen. “How was your daily dose of education, and what have you brought for me?”

My twelve-year-old sister Saoirse snorted, barely glancing up from whatever teenage vampire romance she was reading. Ronan laughed and tossed a shiny red apple my way. I caught it, barely, and raised my eyebrows at him in surprise.

“It’s too crunchy,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Mrs. Carron said we had to finish our food at lunch, so I stuck it in my pocket. You like the crunchy ones.”

“Thanks Ro,” I said, reaching out to scrub my hand over his short hair.

“You like mushy apples, Ronan?” Richie asked, sliding to a halt beside me. “Nasty.”

“Ripe,” Ronan argued. “I like my fruit to be ripe .”

“You’re ten, Ro,” Cian said, panting as he shoved Richie out of his way and stole my apple. “The picky eating shit is getting old.”

“Shut up, Cian!”

“Am I wrong?” Cian asked the room.

“Where’s Mom?” Aisling interrupted. She must’ve really been crying because her cheeks were still flushed, and the little wispy brown hairs that had fallen out of her braid were stuck to her cheeks.

“Haven’t seen her today,” I replied.

“What’s it been, two days?” Cian asked, taking a loud bite of my apple.

“Three,” Saoirse muttered, not looking up from her book.

“Eh, she’ll be back tonight, I bet,” he said, smiling at Aisling.

“Unless she’s dead,” Ronan muttered.

“Ro,” I snapped, smacking the back of his head.

“You think Mom’s dead?” Aisling asked worriedly, her eyes filling with tears again.

“Happy?” Cian asked Ronan, who grimaced.

“She’s not dead,” I assured my baby sister. At eight years old, she was getting too big for me to hold, but I picked her up anyway. “You know Mom, she’ll be back when she’s good and ready.”

“Candy said I look like a jack-o’-lantern,” Aisling said with a sigh, dropping her chin onto my shoulder.

“With that name, Candy’s just pissed her parents only gave her one career option,” Saoirse grumbled.

“Huh?” Aisling said in confusion while I glared at Saoirse.

“Stripper, Ash,” Cian said helpfully. “Candy is a stripper name.”

“It is?” Aisling grinned.

“How do you even know what a stripper is ?” I asked in exasperation, putting her back on her feet. “Jesus. You guys are a bunch of delinquents.”

“But they’re your delinquents,” Richie said cheerfully, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

“Lucky me,” I sighed.

He kissed my temple.

“What are we having for dinner?” Ronan asked, his head in the fridge. “Can I have this cheese?”

“Don’t touch it,” I warned, hurrying over to the fridge. “We’ve got just enough for the tater tot casserole tonight and tacos on Thursday.”

Ronan groaned. “Tater tot casserole is gross.”

“Boo hoo,” I shot back, closing the fridge and standing in front of it. “It feeds us for two days, and it’s got all the food groups.”

“It tastes like shit.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Stop poutin’,” Cian ordered.

“I won’t put the tots on your portion,” I assured Ronan.

“Tots are the best part,” Saoirse said, shaking her head.

“They’re mushy,” Ronan argued.

“They are not!” Aisling practically yelled.

“Thought you like shit mushy,” Cian needled.

I stood there in the center of the chaos and took a deep breath.

It was the last week of school before summer break.

Mom hadn’t been home in days. The house was hot because the air conditioner broke the year after Dad died.

Aisling looked like a fucking jack-o’-lantern.

Ronan hated summer break because I wouldn’t let him leave the neighborhood, and none of his friends lived close.

Saoirse was losing access to the school library, and Cian was just always a pain in the ass. They were hot, stressed, and worn out.

“Yo,” Richie yelled, raising his hands in a stop motion.

“Thank you,” I breathed, looking up at him.

He winked.

“Listen up,” I said, glaring at Cian as he opened his mouth.

“You’ve got free breakfasts and lunches for four more days, yeah?

So, eat while you’re at school. No raiding the fridge when you get home.

We’ve got exactly enough to get us through five more dinners.

Tater tot casserole, tacos, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti. ”

“That’s only four,” Ronan pointed out.

“Leftovers on Saturday,” I snapped.

“Fine. Geez.”

“I’ll grocery shop this weekend after work, alright?”

“Maybe Mom will bring home some groceries,” Aisling said hopefully.

I swallowed tightly as I looked at her. Somehow, she still didn’t seem to get that we were on our own. We’d been that way since Dad died when she was four years old.

“Yeah, maybe,” Cian said kindly, glancing at me. “You never know.”

Ronan rolled his eyes, but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

“Leftovers on Sunday,” Richie corrected, wrapping his arms around me from behind. “Saturday night I’ll bring pizza after work.”

“Yeah! Pizza!” Ronan cheered.

“Nice,” Saoirse said, nodding.

“You don’t have to do that,” I murmured quietly.

“You know we always have extras that people don’t pick up,” he whispered in my ear. “No worries.”