Cormac
Cormac:
An easy silence stretched between me and my brother, Sean, as we watched the evening’s fun draw closer.
It was funny. He’d been thinking about the past. I’d been thinking about the future lately.
Between Patrick, Sean, and me, we had fifteen children.
They were all adults aged from twenty-six to forty-two.
Out of them, six had been fortunate so far to find their anamchara, soulmate. That left sixty percent yet to settle.
My brothers and I, along with our wives, wanted our children to have the same happiness we had.
What Mam and Daid had. They weren’t willing to arbitrarily choose someone as a spouse who didn’t meet their every need and want, including being their anamchara.
Yeah, that meant some of them waited longer than they had hoped to find their perfect match and start families of their own.
But we’d stressed since they were little kids that having your one and only in your life was worth any wait or work you had to put into it.
I was thinking about the future and who might be fortunate enough to find their destined beloved next year.
I was the luckiest. Three of my five had found theirs—Aidan, Aisling, and Tiernan.
I wasn’t ashamed to hope that Shane and Cathal would find theirs in the coming new year.
I adored having five grandchildren, but Cyndi and I wanted more.
We had the most grandbabies. Patrick and Maeve had two sons settled, Darragh and Rian.
They had one grandchild and another on the way.
Sean and Brenda’s son, Cian, was married and had one child.
My older brothers were as eager for more kids as I was. I couldn’t wait to be here next year and see how our family’s composition had changed. Everyone who had joined our family over the past three years had brought us countless joys. But we were greedy and wanted more.
“Looks like everyone made it. Let’s grab a drink and then join them. I wanna see where we go with the stories this year,” Patrick said, sliding over to join us.
Sean and I nodded, slapped Patrick’s back, then headed to the bar off to the side of the room.
Before we got to it, we checked to make sure our wives and Mam were good.
They assured us they were. The loving look Cyndi gave me made me smile, and I blew her a kiss.
Yeah, we’d been married for forty-two years, but I still desired her.
Our love had deepened and grown so much over those years.
After we were fixed for drinks, we took our seats, which involved positioning our wives on our laps, then I got comfortable.
There was a sense of excitement in the air.
Our kids knew what was about to happen. Throughout the nights we were gathered here, we’d spend time each night telling stories.
This was the first night we’d been in residence to kick them off this year.
“Okay, it looks like we’re all here. It’s always the highlight of the season for us to come here to Aran and spend downtime together.
This year, we’ve got five new members. Rian, you’ve pulled off a miracle, somehow tricking Gianna into marrying you.
I don’t know how you did it, but we thank you for it.
Because of you, we gained not only a daughter for the family, but four wonderful other kin—Fonso, Luc, Rardo, and Roc,” Darragh announced, naming the entire DeSantis family, not just Gianna.
Her dad and three brothers had been welcomed into our midst.
As the head of the family, it was his right to go first. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be interrupted. Siobhan, or Siv as we called her, Darragh’s sister, stopped him from continuing.
“Well, four of the five. Roc will disappear if he doesn’t behave on this trip,” Siv snarked.
Roc and her argued and fought like crazy. To hear them, you’d believe they hated each other. Cyndi and I wondered if there was an attraction there that they were fighting, for whatever reason. Siv’s words made others snicker and chuckle.
Roc simply looked at Siv, winked, then blew her a kiss as he replied, “You don’t scare me, sweetheart. I told you. Bring it on.”
Before we descended into an hour-long verbal brawl between them, Darragh took the conversation lead again.
“Your murder schemes will have to wait until after the holiday, deirfiúr, sister. You know the rules. No killing or maiming of family or close friends during the holidays. Isn’t that right, Mamó, Granny?” Dar asked.
Mam gave a regal head dip. “That’s correct, Dar. Only the worst betrayal alters that rule. So far, Roc hasn’t made it to that level,” she replied. There was no sting in her words, and Roc knew it. She gave him a sweet smile.
Roc replied, “Seerie, that’s why I love you. You’re the best. Too bad Siv isn’t more like you. She keeps scaring men away with her temper. She’s jealous of my charm and good looks.”
Siv snorted, rolled her eyes, then looked away from Roc.
“Roc, behave,” Mam warned. The brash ass listened and kept his mouth shut.
“As I was saying, we’ve been blessed with more family.
For you newbies, we have a tradition when we come here.
We gather like this each night and tell stories.
Anyone can request one or share one. We have a blast doing it.
Nothing is off the table to be asked, though someone may choose not to share it.
We steer clear of anything that could be painful to others.
This time of year is about peace, joy, and family,” Darragh added.
“That sounds like fun,” Gianna remarked.
Rian was holding her, rubbing her pregnant belly.
Their first child was due in the first week of April.
The loving looks they exchanged told everyone how deeply in love they were.
My most methodical nephew had taken his usual time to ensure what he felt for Gia was genuine and lasting.
So far, his was the longest wait, if you didn’t count the years Aisling and her husband, Alistair, had held back.
I often wanted to lock them in a room together until they broke down and confessed their love and desire for each other.
In the end, it took an accident and a bit of trickery on the family’s part to force them to admit their feelings.
But their story wasn’t your average romance.
“It is,” Cara confirmed.
“And as part of the tradition, we ask the newest members to go first and ask anyone else to share a story. It can be open-ended, meaning the storyteller chooses what story to tell. Or the questioner may select the type of memory they want to hear, such as tell us your favorite holiday story,” Ashlynn, Darragh’s wife, explained.
“But it doesn’t have to have anything to do with the season,” Karizma, Aidan’s wife, tacked on.
“Gianna, we’d like to have you ask the first one to get us started. What will it be? And for whom? You may confer with Rian, but only this first time,” Dar finished explaining, leaving the choice in her hands.
I sipped my drink as we waited for her to render her request. As Gianna debated, I leaned over to whisper to Cyndi. “What do you think she’ll ask, and from whom? I bet it’s Rory or…Declan.
“I don’t think it will be. I don’t know who, but not those two,” my wife whispered back.
It was two or three minutes before she faced the circle of us in the room.
“At Sunday dinner not long ago, we heard the story of how Patrick and Maeve met. Poor Mom, I applaud your restraint in not choking Dad out.” Gia smirked at her mother-in-law, making her giggle, while her father-in-law, Patrick, mockingly glared at her.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side. I’m the one you like the most.” My oldest brother mockingly stuck out his lip.
“I love both of you. I’ve been meaning to ask Rian, but since we’re here doing this, I thought I’d ask now. Here goes. Tell us the story of how Cyndi, Cormac, Brenda, and Sean met,” Gianna said.
While it wasn’t what I expected, it made me smile. Cyndi was beaming, and the other two were chuckling. Sean and I glanced at each other before we threw back our heads and laughed. It took us several moments to calm down enough to speak. When we did, I pointed to Sean.
“Why don’t you get our story started, brother? I’ll jump in as needed, and the same goes for the ladies. We know our mindset and thoughts, but you should share yours as well.”
“Oh, believe us, if the two of you are retelling it, we’ll have plenty to say. You like to rework things. I think it’s your way of trying to make it seem better than it was,” Cyndi challenged.
“That’s right,” Brenda agreed.
“What do you mean, make it better?” Gianna asked.
“You’ll see. Sean, you can start. There’s no way your stories can be told separately. You both almost killed us with your antics and boneheadedness,” Patrick said dryly.
This had the DeSantis family leaning forward, eager expressions on their faces.
“I’ve gotta hear this,” Roc said as he rubbed his hands and smirked. The others merely nodded.
“Are you ready, Cormac? Brenda and Cyndi?” Sean asked.
“Ready,” I said.
“Go for it,” Cyndi answered.
“Sure am,” Brenda assured.
As Sean began to speak, my mind drifted back to where I knew he’d start. It was the only logical place to begin our stories. Honestly, it was one story that took two similar paths.