Page 21 of Aidan

I nod.

“I’ll call you later.” Aidan stands and bends to kiss my forehead. Then he walks to the door.

I follow because I have to lock up behind him. Once he’s gone, I sag against the wall with a huge sigh. My life was never supposed to be like this. Except it is. I head back upstairs. The living room is still empty, so I go to the boys’ room. They’re playing their video games like usual. To my surprise, though, they also recently cleaned. Their clothes have all been put away and all the dirty dishes are gone. Their beds are made, and I don’t trip over their shoes or schoolbags they usually dump right inside the door.

When was the last time this place had been tidied? Far too long ago. I hope it lasts.

They pause their game and I sit on the bottom bunk where Kellen sleeps. They pivot from their positions on the floor and face me.

“I want to talk to you about more grown up things before I talk to Aisling.”

While I have no intention of sharing everything, there are certain things the boys deserve to know.

“Is this about the money?” Kellen asks again.

I’d put him off once before, but I can’t any longer. “Yes. Before Da died he borrowed money from someone to help with the pub. Except now I can’t pay back the loan.”

“What does it mean that you can’t pay it back?” Carson asks.

“And who were those men?” Kellen adds.

I try for a half-truth. “Those men worked for the man Da borrowed money from. They came to look at the pub because if I couldn’t pay the loan, then their boss would have been the new owner.”

The twins share a concerned glance.

“Will Aidan really keep it for us?” Kellen asks.

“Yes, but the only way to do that is by marrying him. He is going to pay off Da’s debt and make sure no one else will be able to own the pub but our family.”

“What is Dublin like?” Carson’s question is almost hesitant.

I pause as I scramble for how to describe it. “Do you remember going to Belfast?”

They both nod.

“It’s a bit bigger than that. But there’s tons of stuff to do and see. You’d go to a bigger school so you’d have a chance to make a lot of new friends. There’s a really pretty park there called St. Stephens Green. It has a walking path surrounded by lot of trees and flowering bushes. There’s a pond and two fountains. I think you’d really like it.” I’ve only ever been there once, but it had been a memorable experience.

“Where would we live?” This is also from Carson.

I clasp my fingers together between my knees. “Aidan said for now, we’d live with his family.”

“What’s his family like?” Kellen asks.

“I don’t know. I’ve never met them. But they can’t be too bad, right? You guys like Aidan, and I bet his family is just as nice as he is.” I hope.

The boys grow quiet again. Kellen glances up a few seconds later. “Can we take our stuff?”

I slide off the bed to sit on the floor by them and take his hand. “Of course you can. Anything you want. Aidan said they have lots of room.”

He didn’t actually, but if he’s rich enough to pay ten thousand euros without blinking, he has to live in a massive house. He did call it an estate after all.

“How about this? Why don’t you two talk it over for the day. Aidan wants to take us out for dinner. We can let him know our decision then.” I make sure to say ‘we’ because their opinion and decision is just as important as mine.

“You know Aisling will want to go,” Kellen points out. “She’s excited to get more brothers who do her bidding.”

That makes me laugh. “She does have a way of getting you two to do exactly what she wants, doesn’t she?”

They both smile which eases some of the pressure inside my chest.“I’ll leave you to talk.”

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