Page 101 of Shattered Union

Finally together, where we’re supposed to be. None of us shattered anymore.

Epilogue

Denis

Nine months later

"Ma, Da," Chloe says as she rushes over to us. "What did you think?" she asks us.

"Amazing," Callie replies with tears in her eyes. "So beautiful, you're amazing up there, Chlo, so bloody amazing."

Chloe falls into Callie's arms and I pull them both into an embrace. "She's right, peanut, you were amazing."

My little girl smiles at me, and not for the first time I wonder where the hell the time has gone. She's fourteen now and looking very much like Zoe. Chloe came to me when someone pointed it out to her, wondering if it hurt either Callie or I that she looks like her ma. Of course my beautiful wife set her straight, letting her know while her ma did terrible things, none of us could hate her because she gave us six amazing children.

While I agree Zoe gave me six amazing kids, I hate her and I always will. The bitch hurt my children; she blackmailed me by using my son, and she had Callie beaten, even though she knew she was pregnant. No, I'll always hate the bitch, and I hope to fuck she's burning in hell.

“Ma, can I stay at Mallory's tonight?" Chloe asks, and Callie's gaze comes to me.

We decide nothing without both of us agreeing before giving the children an answer. Callie gives me a slight nod of her head. I wink at her and she smiles widely.

"Sure, darling. Just make sure that you call one of us if you need anything or want to come home."

Chloe jumps up and down on the spot. "Thanks, Ma, you're the best." She squeals as she turns on her feet and rushes over to Mallory, who also joined her dance classes. The two of them, along with Jess, have been inseparable since they met. Chloe loves her new school and her grades have improved.

"So it's just you and me tonight," I say to Callie as I pull her into my arms.

She gives me a wicked grin as she presses her hand against my chest. Our sex life has gotten better and better. Even with five children in the house. We always make time for ourselves.

The past nine months have been different from what I could have ever imagined. Finishing work, I'm eager to get home to be with my family. Walking into the house, it's filled with laughter, happiness, and love. Chloe's become more confident in herself. Mary is chatting a mile a minute, mischievous, and funny. She's taken a shine to Maverick, who makes her laugh daily. Gareth, well, he's got everyone wrapped around his little finger. At a year old, he's happier than any of my other children were at that stage, and I know it's down to the nurturing that Callie has given him. Not to mention the love she has for not just him, but everyone.

Callie gave birth to our twins at thirty-six weeks, born just four minutes apart, they came out bawling. I was present for their birth, just as I was for the other six children. Tadgh was born first, weighing five-pounds-even, and Fíadh was born weighing four-pounds-seven-ounces. Seeing them both in their mother's arms for the first time made me fall even more in love with my beautiful wife.

Callie and I married two weeks after asking her. We got married in her family's back garden. We only had our very closet family attend. All my children were present, along with their spouses. Makenna and Dante, along with Callie's family. It was what Callie wanted, and I'm not one to deny her what she wants.

Callie, Melissa, and Raylee still meet up once a month. They have dinner and drinks and talk about God knows what. Having the women so close has brought my boys home more often.

The past nine months things have been peaceful. It gave us time to mourn Seamus properly. Granda Henry talks a lot about him to the kids, making sure they know all about their granda who saved their big sister. Something that I'll forever be grateful for. Him putting himself in the line of fire to save Holly meant I wouldn't have to bury my daughter.

I lead Callie out of the dance hall and toward our car. "Have you spoken to Jer about what we talked about?" she asks nervously.

Jer and I are even in business together. However the fuck that happened is beyond me. But Mal came to us both with a business proposal about hotels, bars, and nightclubs throughout Europe. Of course, my son had the brains to talk to Callie and Eric first and get them to help him with a business proposal. It means making our business more legitimate. We also asked Callie to come into the business with us, and Eric, being the man who loves his family, has offered to be there every step of the way. So far, we've purchased seven hotels, eight bars, and ten nightclubs around Europe. They're all in the process of being renovated to match the brand that Callie and Eric came up with.

Callie wants Maverick to be the manager of the venture. Get him out of the Houlihan gang and into something less illegal.

"He's going to talk to your da, and see what Eric thinks," I tell her. Mav has darkness in him, just as Stephen does. Maverick's stems from seeing the evil that touched his sister’s life. Seeing her bloody and bruised affected him a lot more than he has let on to her, and neither Jer nor I think he'll want to leave the organization.

My wife finally learnt the art of delegating. She's hired more bar staff, made Preston her second in command, which has him dealing with the day-to-day operations of all the pubs, including the ones in London. Ava is now the head manager at the pub in Temple Bar, which gives Callie a lot more time to spend at home with the kids.

* * *

Aphone ringing rouses me from a deep sleep. I glance at my phone and see that it’s off. Looking over at Callie’s, I see the time biting back a curse when I realise it's not even six thirty.

"Denny," Callie groans. "Make it stop." She pulls the pillow over her ears and turns over.

"Baby," I say grinning. "It's yours." She doesn't acknowledge me. "What," I grunt, answering her phone.

"Finally," Danny explodes. "Makenna has been trying to get a hold of you." I sigh, wondering what’s wrong now. "It's Finn."