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Never being a father himself, Keefe could offer empathy and an ear but not real understanding. He was about to ask another question when the doorbell rang, then voices of Nan and Shamus sounded. It was only a few moments before they appeared in the kitchen.
Keefe swept Nan in a hug the same way he’d done with Sylvia, then shook hands with Shamus. “Welcome home, newlyweds! How was the honeymoon? You’re both looking very tan!”
“It was grand! You should see the white beaches there, gorgeous they were,” said Shamus. “Weren’t they, Katie, love?”
Nan blushed a little underneath her tan and Keefe cocked a knowing grin, which earned him an elbow to his side. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to remind him that his aunt prefers her privacy. “I’m sorry we’re late.”
“No worries.” Connor hugged both Nan and Shamus. It was good to see them again. He hadn’t ever gone two weeks without seeing his aunt and he’d missed her. “Now that you’re here. Let’s sit and eat. I’ve got a starving wife in the next room.”
Shamus went to the living room to find Darcie. “Hello, lass! I’ve come to escort the most beautiful niece in the world to the dinner table. I heard you’re supposed to be off your feet.” Before holding his hands out to Darcie, he greeted Sondra with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Sondra took the empty plate perched on Darcie’s stomach and set it on the coffee table. She then helped Darcie swing her feet off the sofa. “Welcome home Uncle Shamus! How was the honeymoon?”
“We had a grand time, thanks, love.”
Darcie smiled wide and stretched out her arms for Shamus to take. She was the size of a house these days and getting up on her own wasn’t allowed, or even possible really, until after the babies were born. Once Shamus had her on her feet, she hugged him as close as she could. “I missed you.”
“And I missed you. Are you and the babies all right? Simon said you were on bed rest.”
“We’ll be fine, don’t worry. I want to hear all about your trip!”
Shamus got Darcie to her seat, then sat beside her, leaving the seat on the other side of her open for Connor.
It took only a couple short minutes for the food to be placed on the table and everyone to be seated. Soon the clatter of plates and lively chatter filled the dining room with warmth radiating from the mix of laughter and overlapping conversations. Nan and Shamus were being peppered with questions about their honeymoon, while others demanded updates on Keefe and Sophie’s pub. Darcie’s pregnancy, her recent bed rest, and the twins were a hot topic too, with every relative offering unsolicited advice.
Darcie leaned back in her chair, hands resting on her belly as she surveyed the joyful chaos. For a brief, blissful moment, all felt right with the world.
And then it didn’t.
Lately her moods shifted faster than a windstorm on the Atlantic and all it took to set her off was the mention of dessert and Sondra’s brownies. “You know, Sondra,” she blurted, “I don’t know why anyone lets you near a kitchen. Every single time you cook, someone ends up with food poisoning.”
The room fell into stunned silence.
Simon, ever the lying peacekeeper, chuckled nervously when Sondra whipped her head around to him, looking for answers. “Come on, Gingersnap. It’s not like that at all.”
“It is, too. You’re just too big of a wuss to tell her yourself, Simon.” Sondra’s jaw hit the floor and just like that, Darcie was back to her usual sweet self. And her usual sweet self was absolutely mortified. “I don’t know where that all came from. Sondra! Oh, no! I’m so, so sorry!”
Connor put his arm around Darcie’s shoulders. The secret was out. Yes, the delivery could have been smoother, but really Darcie had just done Simon and the whole of Ireland really a favor.
“Simon, is this true?” Sondra gasped as she looked around the table at each pair of eyes. “I make you guys sick?”
“No, not you lass, never you, just your food,” said Henry, assuring her. There was an awkward silence for a moment before he continued. Seeing as the secret was out… “Jesus, I was on the toilet for a day and a half after eating your stew.”
Sondra’s mouth again gaped open. It must be truly awful for Henry to say something like that. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Then another confessed.
And another.
And another.
In fact, everyone at the table had offered their experience with one food or another that Sondra had prepared. Only Simon was left. The wuss, as Darcie called him, hadn’t said a word and if he ever wanted to have sex with his wife again without her mutilating him, then he was going to have to tell her the truth. “All right, all right, everyone. I think she’s got the point now. Truth be told, Sunny, love of my life, you’ve made the whole family sick, even Connor’s dog.”
“Yeah, that brownie you wrestled from his mouth!” Connor snorted a laugh as he recalled. “Rolling around like an animal, he was wrestling poor Bootstrap—and the dog still got sick right into my shoes.”
Sondra began putting the pieces together. “So, when you said you had the flu or something, you really had food poisoning?”
Simon nodded his head in shame. He should have told her the truth long before now.
