Chapter 26
MIKE
“Are we there yet?” Levi whines from the back seat.
“Almost, Levisaur.” I smile as I grip Lucky’s thigh from the passenger seat. “Ma and Da are going to be excited to meet ya.”
“They won’t be mad that you missed St. Patrick’s Day with them?”
I shake my head, squeezing her thigh tighter. “They understood, and they’re thrilled for us.”
“Fudgsicles,” Lucky mutters as red and blue lights illuminate the car.
“I want a Fudgsicle!” the boys beg in unison.
Lucky pulls the car to the shoulder as I reach into her glove box to retrieve her paperwork and hand it to her as she lowers her window.
“License and registration,” a voice booms.
“Doug!” I say, smiling at the officer.
He looks between us, frowning at Lucky before his eyes and flashlight land on me and a smile crosses his features. “Mike!”
I lean across Lucky and extend my hand as Doug slaps it in our practiced shake.
Lucky’s head swivels between us. “Umm, you two know each other?”
“This is Doug. We met on a call a few years back. Doug, this is my fiancée—”
“Lucy,” he finishes.
“You two know each other?” I chuckle, looking between them.
“We went on a date once, a couple months back,” he says with pursed lips.
Lucky locks eyes with me. “We had lunch the day Micah broke his arm.”
Doug crosses his arms. “I didn’t know you were already seeing someone.”
Ah, the first date from hell she told me about. I bite my lip to hold back my grin. “Sorry, mate. We ran into each other at the hospital after that. I knew there was no way I could let this one go.” I squeeze her thigh and lock eyes with her. “When you know, you know.”
“It’s just as well.” Doug taps the side of the car, breaking our trance. “Think I’ll let you off with a warning this time. Have a nice night.”
Once he’s back in his car, Lucky breaks into a fit of laughter, and I grip her cheeks in my hands, planting a kiss on her lips.
“Eww, kissing is gross.”
“Sorry, Mikachu,” I say, breaking the kiss as Lucky pulls back onto the road.
My folks greet us on the porch and the grin on Ma’s face when she sees the boys eases my racing heart. We’re ushered inside, and Da pulls me into a hug. “Good to see you, Mac.”
“Michael Nolan O’Connor. You didn’t tell me you were bringing such handsome lads,” Ma says as she bends down to greet them. “And who might you two be?”
“I’m Levisaur!” Levi growls as Micah hesitates behind him.
I lean down and extend my arms, silently asking him for approval. When Micah nods, I lift him up, holding him tightly against me. “This is Micah and Levi. And I want you to meet their mom, and my beautiful fiancée, Lucky.”
“It’s lovely to meet ya, dear,” Ma says as she pulls Lucky into a hug.
“I’m so sorry that Mike missed spending St. Patrick’s Day with you,” Lucky says, giving me an apologetic look.
I can’t stop the smile from lighting up my face at the fact that this woman remembered my St. Patrick’s Day tradition with my parents. Micah shifts in my arms and I’m pulled back to reality.
“Micah, I want you to meet my Da.”
His head lifts from my shoulder, and he offers Da a small wave.
“It’s nice to meet you, lad.”
Dinner is chaotic in the best possible way. The boys won’t sit still, and it’s pure joy watching my Ma and Da dote on them, showering them with praise and attention, even if the lads are being picky eaters.
Lucky is buckling the boys in as I finish my goodbyes with my folks. “There’s something I need to tell ya.”
Ma looks at me expectantly.
“This sounds serious,” Da says.
I glance over to the car, and Lucky’s smile gives me the encouragement I need to continue. “I know how much youse wanted a big family, how important it was to carry on the bloodline and name.”
“Do ya know how many O’Connors there are in Ireland, Mac? It’s not dying out with ya.”
“Where is this coming from, Michael?” Ma rests a comforting hand on my forearm.
“I heard the two of ya talkin’ about it all the time.
And, Ma, you ask me when I’m giving ya grandkids practically every time we talk on the phone.
It was a lot of pressure on me, and back in my twenties when I didn’t think I could give ya what you wanted, I donated my sample to a sperm bank.
I figured that I’d give ya that big clan one way or another. ”
“Ya feckin’ eejit. It wasn’t that big a deal to us. You probably overheard the two or three conversations we ever had about it. Feckin’ Christ.”
“We just want you to be happy.” Ma nods at the car. “The blood doesn’t matter as much as the family does. And those wee lads are your family. It was obvious the moment you walked in.”
I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. Have I really banjaxed this? All these years spent worrying over something that was a passing conversation. “Aye, they are my family, but they’re my blood too.”
“What are ya saying?” Ma stares at me with tears in her eyes, while Da’s mouth hangs open.
“I don’t understand,” he splutters.
“I wanted to give ya a full clan, and I had no clue that Lucky’d been trying to build her own by herself. She used my sample twice. I had no idea that they were mine when we started dating. We just found out, but we haven’t told them yet.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Ma pulls me into a hug, and I release a shaky breath, wiping the tears from my eyes. “This changes nothing. They would’ve been my grandkids regardless.”
“I expect to see ye and those boys around more,” Da says.
“Aye.”
——————
It takes a few days for the excitement of our double proposal to wear off with the boys.
When we told them that we were going to get married, they were excited but not surprised.
Micah already thought we were together, but he gave me the longest hug.
Levi had a bunch of questions including what room I was going to stay in, could it be their bedroom, where would all my clothes go because Mama’s closet was full, and if I fart in my sleep.
Lucky and I both agreed that the proposal news was a big enough change that we didn’t want to overwhelm them with too much at once and tell them that I was also their father.
That changed quickly when Micah had a nightmare and came running into Lucky’s bedroom looking for me in the middle of the night.
It was the one night I spent at my apartment since I needed to do laundry and grab clothes ahead of my shift the next day.
Lucky told me he was crying so hard from the dream that he started to say “dad” at one point but caught himself.
It nearly broke me that I wasn’t there for him, and we both agreed that we didn’t want to wait any longer to tell the boys.
And I physically couldn’t bear spending one more night away from my family.
My family. My sons. My soon-to-be wife.
So, I packed up as much of my shite as I could, recruited the rookies to help with the rest, and I’ve been here ever since.
“Levi, Micah, can you come down here?” Lucky yells.
Seconds later the patter of little feet races down the stairs. Levi beelines for the couch, hopping over the back of it as he flops onto his side. Micah walks over calmly and sits next to him.
“There’s something we want to talk to you about,” Lucky starts.
“Levi did it!” Micah says, assuming they’re in trouble. I can’t help but chuckle.
“No, I didn’t,” Levi whines.
“It’s not about that.” I look down at them as their big eyes stare up at me expectantly. “Your mom and I—”
“Is this about kissing?” Micah interrupts.
Lucky lets out an exasperated sigh next to me. “It’s not about kissing.”
“Well, I will be kissing my wife,” I say, winking at her.
“Eww, kissing,” Levi says.
“That’s gross,” Micah says.
“Not the point, lads.”
“What Mike and I are trying to say is—”
“When are you getting married?” Micah interrupts again.
“Why are you getting married?” Levi asks.
“Because we love each other,” Lucky and I say in unison. We smile at each other as a chorus of “ewws” erupt from the boys.
“Are you going to be our dad now?” Levi asks.
This is it. Tears well in my eyes, and I blink rapidly to clear them.
“It turns out that I already am your dad.”
Micah gets really still, his mouth slightly parted as he blinks up at me.
I hold my breath waiting for his reaction.
He jumps up off the couch and runs over to me, plastering himself to my leg in the tightest hug his cast will allow.
I can feel the small hiccupping breaths causing tremors in his body, and I bend down to pick him up, pulling him against my chest as he rests his head against my shoulder.
My palm covers his back as I rub soothingly up and down.
“I love you, Mikachu,” I say against his cheek as I plant a gentle kiss there.
“I wanted you to be my dad,” Micah says through small sobs.
“Levi, what do you think about this?” Lucky asks. I search his face for some sort of clue that he’s okay with everything. He’s still sitting on the couch, completely unbothered, leaning into the cushion and kicking his legs off the edge as he shrugs.
“Can I have a hug?”
“Okay,” Levi says as he does a tuck and roll off the couch, landing on all fours before he army-crawls under the coffee table. He pops up next to my leg, and I instinctively cover my crotch in response.
“Uppies!” he says, doing grabby hands. I lean down and scoop him up, pulling his body against mine. He weighs nearly as much as Micah, and I grip them both tightly, as if they were balloons that could float away.
I look down at Levi. “Are you okay with this, lad? Is there anything you want to know? Any questions you’re dying to ask?”
He thinks for a second, and then a Cheshire grin lights up his face. “Can I have a Fudgsicle?”