“You’re right, of course,” I mused. “Sometimes when I think about everything, I just have a moment of disbelief that we went through everything thrown at us and made it out to the other side. It seems so surreal that we’ve lived the life we have.”
“We survived it, though.” Keela raised her head. “You, me, and the others got through all the bad things we encountered, and d’ye wanna know why?”
I nodded.
“Because we’re strong, and nothin’ can or will come between us.”
The knot that had formed in my chest over the memories flooded through my mind faded until only warmth and love remained.
“How did I get so lucky to find someone as perfect as you to marry me?”
Keela’s lips twitched. “Alannah says I was dropped on me head as a child and that I don’t know any better.”
When I laughed, I quickly covered my mouth and widened my eyes.
“Don’t tell her I found that funny,” I pleaded. “She’ll think she’s a god or something.”
My wife chuckled. “I’ll take it to me grave, playboy.”
I hummed and slide my hands down her body until I palmed her ass.
“What do you say we finish what we started in the kitchen this morning and—”
I was cut off by a large, fluffy monster as he dived onto the bed and rolled around, thinking it was playtime.
“Junior,” I scowled. “Down.”
The spoiled dog didn’t budge. Instead, he just rolled on his side and licked my face, making Keela laugh.
“He is exactly like his daddy.”
I grimaced as I wiped my face dry. “Storm learned his boundaries, though; Junior jumps over them without a care in the world.”
Keela chuckled as she reached over and scratched his belly. “I miss your daddy, baby boy.”
I placed my hand on my wife’s thigh when she straddled me so she could reached Junior easier. I looked at her face as she smiled down at our dog. There was hurt in her eyes whenever she looked at him, but that hurt was fading as time passed. Two years ago, the first member of our family passed away. Storm lived until he was seventeen years old, and he led a good life for a dog. He had survived being shot ... and attempted murder by Aideen Collins on many occasions.
Not long before he died, we decided to see if we could breed him. He had been our only pet, and we had never wanted to add more of them to our family once we had so many kids. We had always planned to get Storm neutered, but we never got around to it, having always been busy with our children, our jobs, or both.
It took one try with a breeder we found. Storm sired a litter of four full-breed German Shepherds like himself and as we had pick of the litter, we chose the only male. Junior earned his name because he was a carbon copy of his father. There were no differences between them, so much so that Aideen Collins believed Storm was born again and that his bloodline was cursed. He was two years old and was already as big as Storm was when he reached adulthood.
“Junior!”
Junior’s head shot up when he heard Murphy’s voice holler from downstairs. A second passed before he scrambled off the bed, out of the room, and zoomed down the stairs. I heard my second born yelp, followed by heavy laughter.
“Murph loves him somethin’ bad,” Keela said as she turned and looked down at me. “He still misses Storm.”
All of our kids loved Storm, but Murphy had a close bond with him, and had formed a brother-like connection with Junior not long after he was born.
“He’ll always miss him, we all will, but we had a long time with him. We have a lot to look back on and smile when we think of the beast.”
“Yeah.” Keela smiled fondly. “He was pretty great.”
I tugged her down until her face was an inch from mine.
“If I get you out of those clothes, I’ll make you feel pretty great.”
She chuckled. “Ye’ promised the boys yr’d bring them to laser tag today.”
“I did?”
“Ye’ did.” Keela nodded. “Enzo reminded me about it when they got back from their football games.”
As if on cue, Enzo shouted, “Da, hurry up! The next session starts in half an hour.”
Keela laughed when I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. She rolled off me, then pulled me out of our bed with her. She got a kick out of me keeping her close as we descended the stairs of our house. We both looked at Miller when he met us at the bottom of the steps.
“I don’t wanna go play laser tag.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“I wanna stay with Mammy.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause she said she’d give me a big cookie after dinner if I did.”
I scowled. “You’d ditch me for a cookie?”
With a straight face, my son said, “Every single time, Daddy.”
Keela burst into giggles and lifted Miller up into her arms. I steadied her when she struggled slightly in hosting him up, and it made her huff.
“You’re gonna be a little man before I know it, baby.”
Miller put his forehead against his mom’s, and said, “No, I won’t.”
“That was cute,” I said. “If the other women were here, they’d be hounding my brothers for more babies.”
Keela snorted after she kissed Miller’s cheek.
“Not likely. We all agreed that five is our number. We’re too old for more kids.”
I raised a brow. “You’re forty-one, and I just turned forty-six. I don’t think that’s old.”
“It’s not,” Keela agreed. “But me body can’t carry any more babies. It would break me back.”
I placed my hand on her lower back and massaged it, making her melt. She went into the living room with Miller while I went into the kitchen, looking for my other sons. I slid my arm around Ace’s waist when he reached for the refrigerator, making him laugh.
“You’re always eating,” I told him when I released him.
“‘Cause I’m always hungry.”
I snorted and looked at Murphy, Enzo, and Ares, who were sat at the kitchen table eating their dinners. Junior was lying at Murphy’s feet, relaxing. I quickly reheated my food and joined them.
“Eat fast,” Enzo told me. “We don’t wanna be late this time for tag.”
I rolled my eyes. “Last time was an accident.”
“Ye’ mixed the slot times up by four hours, Da.”
“It could have happened to anyone.”
“No, it couldn’t.” Ares chuckled. “It only ever happens to you.”
Little shit.
“Well, we won’t be late this time, so eat up.”
I started eating my dinner just as Ace huffed and puffed from across the room as he tried to open a jar of carrots. Keela walked into the room, saw him struggling, and tried to help, but it wouldn’t open for her either. I stood and took charge.
“I’ve got this.”
She handed the jar to me, and when she realised I was having difficulty, she smiled, but said nothing ... Ares did, though.
“Da, relax. You’re goin’ to burst a vessel.”
I didn’t let up on trying to open the damn jar.
“You don’t understand, son,” I huffed and puffed. “Opening sealed objects is one of the perks of having me as a husband. As a man, I can’t leave this bastard of a jar unopened. I’ll never get an erection again with it hanging over me.”
“Oh. My. God.” Murphy laughed from the table. “Auntie Alannah is right; you’re out of your bloody trolley.”
My ego breathed easy when the lid of the jar finally loosened, but somehow as I pull my hand away, the wrapping of the jar gave me a paper cut, adding further insult.
“Ow!”
It stung. It stung like a bitch.
“Let me see,” Keela cooed as blood rose from the slit on my thumb.
Ares took the jar of carrots from me as I focused on my wife. She got some paper towels and dabbed at my thumb, wiping away the blood, but it kept on coming.
“Ow, woman.” I hissed when she squeezed my thumb. “Be careful.”