Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
The Once Upon A Time Café, Weirbridge
Alyssa brought over a tray with four decaf lattes and a plate piled high with an assortment of Danish pastries and put it in the middle of the table, then peered into all four prams in turn.
‘I can’t decide which one is my favourite.
It changes every week. Oh, wait a minute, this one just smiled at me.
Yup, you’re my favourite this week. You can stay. ’
‘If she doesn’t give me a whole night of sleep soon, I might take you up on that,’ Orla said, chuckling. They all knew she didn’t mean it. Orla loved every single thing about being a mum to Cara, even the sleepless nights.
‘Anyway,’ Alyssa said, ‘can you lot do me a favour and try to persuade this one to stay?’ She gestured to Maddie. ‘Can’t believe she’s giving up this little slice of paradise for some bloke, just because he can hold a tune. Ridiculous thing to do.’
Maddie tried to keep her expression on the calm side of giddy, but failed miserably.
‘When do you leave?’ Sharon asked her. The midwife had been a very welcome addition to their little group.
Maddie, Orla and Sheena had, of course, already been friends, but Sharon had joined them at a photoshoot for a local paper to celebrate all their babies’ January 1st birth days.
When they’d all gone for a coffee afterwards, Sharon had been officially confirmed as a member of the Messed-Up Mums Club, thanks to her terrible taste in men, and the fact that she shared that terrible taste with Orla.
The two women had already decided that, since they were raising half-siblings, life would be so much easier if they teamed up and got along.
Especially as Kyle wasn’t in the picture romantically for either of them.
He’d apparently shacked up with Demi, whom he’d never actually stopped seeing. Neither Orla nor Sharon cared.
‘First thing tomorrow morning,’ Maddie chirped. ‘We’re on the 6 a.m. flight to London, then we’ll fly to Nashville from there.’
Maddie still couldn’t quite believe that this day had finally come.
Dylan had stayed with them for the first week in January, but then he’d had to return to Nashville to carry on with the tour.
He’d managed to nip back for a few days every month, but now that their daughter, Raine Rosina Bennet, had a passport, and was good to fly, they were going out to join him in Tennessee.
Maddie had no idea what being on the road would be like.
Or what life with a Nashville recording artist would be like either.
But she was totally up for finding out. No matter what came their way, they’d figure their way through it.
And as for Raine Rosina… she had her grandmother’s name and Maddie had walked her babe over to the cemetery every week so that her mum could get to know her. The headstone was there now – and the inscription that Maddie had struggled over for so long had finally come to her and was written in gold.
Rosina McShay. Adored mum of Maddie and grandmother of Raine. Forever loved and always beside us, in every star and every speck of light.
Maddie knew that it was true, no matter where in the world that they travelled.
She reached for an apple Danish. ‘What about you two. How was Ireland?’
Both Sheena and Orla grinned at each other, and Maddie now found it astounding that she hadn’t realised they were related before the meeting with Nula in the hospital had confirmed it.
They both had the same green eyes. The same wild red hair.
And, weirdly, given that they had never known each other, some of the same mannerisms.
Orla lifted little Cara, who was beginning to grumble. ‘It was great. Mum was only home for a few days, but it was good to spend time with her. She’s gone off back to… Actually, I’ve no idea where she is, but she did say she’d call tonight and let me know.’
It had taken Orla some time to take in all the changes in her life, and her first meeting with Sheena and Gregor after Orla had discovered the truth had been a wash of hormones, and emotions and tears.
But now, three months later, Orla had nothing but gratitude.
All she’d ever wanted was a big family. Now she had two mums, a dad, a daughter and a baby sister.
She no longer had a husband – Kyle visited both his new babies regularly, and she had no problem with that – but her daughter’s half-brother, Ace, and his mum, Sharon, were part of their family now too.
Orla had more than enough love for them all.
Oh, and just a little bit extra that she might be saving for her next-door neighbour.
So far, their dates had mostly been in her kitchen, with coffee, and lots of chat, but he’d already told her he was ready for more when she was.
Keli, Yvie and Emmy had all volunteered to babysit any night of the week.
At the other side of the table, Sheena was just thinking how lovely it was to hear her daughter talk so lovingly about the mum who’d brought her up.
Nula had done an amazing job and Sheena would be forever grateful.
And she was even more than grateful that she got to be part of Orla’s life now.
Having one child had been a miracle. Finding her second child, the one she’d given up her rights to, and promised never to contact when she was only sixteen years old…
well, that made it a double miracle. She was bringing up her son and her granddaughter at the same time, and when they all got together with Gregor on the weekend, it just felt like the family Sheena had thought she would never have.
Gregor was loving it all too. They’d never be a couple again, but they were great co-parents and co-grandparents. They were family.
Family.
The café door opened, and in came Jessie and Val, who immediately cheered when they saw the mum group. Both of them had become unofficial fairy godmothers for them all, and they’d offered their babysitting services on any night except Thursdays because that’s when they watched The Clansman.
After all the hello’s were swapped and both women claimed babies to cuddle, Maddie called Alyssa over, then handed her phone over to Hugo, Alyssa’s grandad, who was also working today.
‘Hugo, would you mind taking a photo of us, please?’
‘Right, ladies, say cheese,’ he said, as he got ready to take the snap.
They all leaned in close, turned to the camera and smiled.
Family.
Messed up. Unusual. Loud. And sometimes sweary.
But none of them would have it any other way.
* * *