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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 20, 2011 7:33:36 GMT -5
Chapter THIRTY NINE
Three days after they got back from Ryan’s house with the rest or Mac’s things, the mail came to Keith’s house. Little Ryan, being very very smart, read the envelopes that came through the slot and ran through the house looking for Nico and Keith. “Unca Keith! Auntie Nicola! We got mail from Ryan Bunny!”
Keith got to Mac first and said, “Let me see what you have there, mate. Let’s see. Bill. Bill. Letter from George. Letter from Emmet. Letter from Damo. Wow they all sent mail, huh, Mac? Even one from Neil. Hmmm. Never been this popular in the off tour time before. Oh, and there is the one from Ryan. Well, I suppose I should wait to read this till Nicola gets in from hanging the laundry.
Nicola came in with her IPOD on and singing away. Keith’s look on his face stopped her cold mid song. She took her ear pieces out and said, “Keith? Darlin, what’s wrong? Something happen?”
He nodded and handed her the letter that was addressed to her from Ryan and took Mac outside to the yard. He poked his head back inside and said, “I called Damo to come and get Mac to take him to the skating rink. He’ll be here in ten minutes. Then we can maybe read that together. Ok, love?” She nodded and smiled at him nervously.
Ten minutes passed and Keith came back in saying, “Damian? Do NOT feed that boy too much sugar while you have him!”
Damian said, “Yeah, right? You try telling him no when he gives you The Stare!”
Mac, “Unca Damo? Candy shop first, please?” fixing him with those puppy dog blue eyes of his. Damian wondered, ‘Is this what me mum and dad went through when I was his age?’
Keith shook his head laughing as they took off in Damian’s Robin Reliant for the rink. He sobered up immediately when he saw Nicola holding that letter and said, “OK, then. Let’s see what he had to say.”
She opened the letter and it read:
Dearest Nicola~
I am writing to you to tell you that Daphne had the baby about a week ago. Her name is Reese Michelle Kelly [Keith, my middle name is Reese. I wonder if Daphne knows that or not.] and, she is beautiful.
That is not the only reason I am writing to you. Youa re so far away and I miss seeing you around. I really was in love with you, Nico. I could see myself building a whole life with you and Mac and being happy and then, I had to go and let Daphne back into my life. I am truly in a misery of my own making and it is all my fault. The ony thing I would never trade from all of this is my baby girl-she is my whole focus for living right now. That and trying, in this letter, to earn your forgiveness for hurting you as badly as I did when I kissed Daphne in front of you in that arcade.
I know I ruined any chance of being with you and you are happy with Keith. For that I can take a little consolation in your happiness, I mean. Know that I will always love you and wish you well no matter how much I have screwed up our future. It broke my heart when I had to let you go.
For what it’s worth, you are a beautiful and talented singer and really should give a thought to performing in the show. You are a rare package of beauty and brains and Keith is bloody lucky to have and hold you where I cannot. I hope that, as soon as things settle into a brand of normal that we can all be civil with one another so Mac can at least know I wanted and still love him very much. He is my first son no matter how things shake out with Daphne and I will always love him. When he is ready to talk to me, my door will always be open to him.
All the luck and love in the world to you,
Ryan
“Well, at least he thought about Mac in this letter. And, he sent your CD that was left at his place back to you. I wonder, what’s on it?” He read the jacket-Break Up Songs. “OK, this you made for which boyfriend? Alex, I am thinking, right?”
She nodded and said, “If you want to play it we can listen to it now. My favorite song on it is call ‘Broken Dream’ and it is the 7th one. I like that is talks about missing someone but moving on. I have, you know. Moved on. I have a man that I love and respect and trust in my life. He is tall, blonde, blue eyed, can surf and man, what a voice! I hit the husband lottery and won huge!”
He laughed and said, “He still loves you. Should I be worried?” She shook her head and smiled at him. He walked over to her in the chair and said, “I love you very much, darlin. I have no plans to ever let you go-now or ever!” as he kissed her on the lips and drank in every inch of her in his gaze.
“He did say one thing I want to do though-I will audition for Sharon and try to sing in the show next tour if she thinks she can use me.”
“I think Sharon will be very happy to hear you want to sing with us, love. Damian will just have to get used to being more of an Uncle and babysitter for his nephew than he is now.”
Damian and Mac were at the Skating Rink slowly cruising on the ice when Mac broke away from Damo and said, “Watch this, Unca Damo! I can skate backwards like Auntie Nicola-I’ve been watching her!” He turned around and backskated in front of Damian who whipped out his cell and filmed this for Nico and Keith and then sent to her cell phone with the vocal tag “You’re never gonna believe what our little guy is doing!”
Nico’s phone went off and she looked at the video and smiled. “We need to hit the rink, love. Look at what Mac can do.” When Keith saw him skating, he grabbed their coats and the car keys. They got to the rink in ten minutes flat and were watching Damian being led around the rink by a back skating Mac who was laughing at his uncle’s slow and careful glides on the ice.
Nico laced up her skates and said to Keith, “Watch this love!” She pushed off on to the ice and glided up to them and said, “Damo, let him go and let’s see if he remembers what his Auntie taught him.” They went around on the ice matching basic moves all over the rink and then, she pushed him back to Damian and said, “Let your auntie stretch her legs a bit, love. Stay with Damo, OK?” When he nodded she called out to the MC and said, “Play something with a beat to it!”
The MC played, ‘Shining Light’ by Annie Lennox and she flew around the rink and did jumps, splits and spins around the ice like an angel. Keith never got tired of seeing her glide around the ice. Damian, who had never seen her skate before, was in awe of her ability and said, “You never did this professionally? You could be a teacher, you are that good! I would be in your class for sure, if you taught, I mean.”
Soon as he said it, ten kids came up to her and said, “Can you teach us how to do that?” Their parents were willing to pay her 60 Euros per lesson and she said, “Sure I can teach you what I know and when I leave for the next tour, I can send you a substitute so you can keep going and we can try to do a show if you all want to, that is.” When they all nodded she got all their names and numbers in her Blackberry and was excited about teaching them all, including Damian who’s mum was skeptical till he showed her the video of her skating around the rink. Then, she agreed to her teaching him.
She said to Damian, “You are gonna need some extra help, Damo. Your blades are all over the ice. Let me try to teach you some control, OK? Maybe it’ll help you with Celtic Thunder dancing too. Who knows?”
She said to Keith, “Come out on the ice and show him what I taught you, love.” Keith glided around the ice and then back skated around the ice back to them and smiled, “She taught me how to do that so we could keep up with Mac on the ice. If she can teach me, she can definitely teach the likes of YOU, mate!” as he laughed and got behind him and pushed him along the ice to the side boards to get his shoes back on.
Nicola said, “I can teach you all on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings from now till the end of August and, by then, I can have a sub in for me to teach you till I get back around Christmas time, OK?’ When everyone nodded, she said, “Then we have a class!” to their cheering. “120 Euros due on Tuesday evenings and we go from 7-9 at night. Saturday, we can make a go from 8 to 11 in the morning.”
On the way home to their house, Nico said, “1320 Euros every week coming in, we won’t be hurting for money and you can do a bit of solo touring. We can make everything you wanted to happen happen now, love! Your dreams and mine!”
Keith spent the rest of that month lining up gigs all around his Derry home so he could be in his own home every night to tuck Mac in and be with Nico. He made plans to go to Glasgowbury for the Festival and planned to have Mac and Nico with him for the four days of the concerts so they could be together, camping out in the band section and have a bit of a holiday with George as well. He went to the Festival for the first time in ages just to see Mac and Nico and of course, watch Keith do his thing onstage. George was so proud of the way Keith’s family had taken to Nicola and Mac. Keith’s sister, Rebecca, was thrilled to have the little guy following her around everywhere she went, saying with pride that she was HIS auntie. It made her happy. When she sung onstage with Keith, Mac knew all the words to the songs, too! He was singing backstage right along to everything Keith did and it was adorable.
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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 20, 2011 20:26:15 GMT -5
Chapter FORTY
When Celtic Thunder came together to record their new CD, Nico and Mac stayed behind in Derry while Keith did his parts in the songs and then Keith came back and Nico went to the studio and recoded her parts and came home. On the way back to Derry, she took a side trip to The Moy to try to see Ryan one last time so he could see how happy she was and how she had moved on with her life.
From Ryan’s letter, she knew he was taking care of his daughter more or less full time and that career-driven Daphne was hard at work at her family’s accounting business, not letting the fact that she now had a child stall her progress one bit. What she had expected to see at Ryan’s place was Ryan at least working from home, baby in his lap. What she DID find when she peeked in his window was Ryan, frazzled and on his last nerve, being yelled at by a shrill voice she recognized as Daphne’s telling him to quit goofing off and get her some figures that were supposed to be on his computer, quiet the baby, and get dinner ready for her when she got hot in three hours. Nico looked at her watch-6:30 PM.
She knocked on his door and, when he opened it, the shock on his face was evident as he let her in. She got right to his computer, finding the numbers Daphne wanted and sending them to her. She then took the crying Reese from his arms and gave her a bath, changed the baby into her jammies and settled her into her crib for the night. Once she was asleep for the night, she set about helping him make dinner for himself and his wife and then she sat down in his kitchen and looked at her watch-7:30 PM.
He asked her, “How are you here? Just when I needed help the most?”
Nico said, “You sound hen-pecked. You need help with your little girl. She is going to pick up on the unhappiness in her daddy, Ryan. Why are you still here? Go to Sharon and fix things. She was saying in the studio today that she wished you were there. You are missed by more than just her, you know. The fans are heartbroken that you are gone. Come back. Ryan misses you a lot, too. He asked if he would ever see you again.”
Ryan sighed heavily, “I can’t leave. Reese needs me. She is all I live for. Daphne and I barely speak to each other without yelling and I can tell it does bother Reese but, what can I do?”
“Leave her, Ryan. Take Reese and go to your mother’s house and live there. She can’t keep abusing you the way she is. It is not healthy!”
‘Ok, I can make the calls right now. Can you help me pack some of her things?” he called his mum and the only thing she heard her say was ’about time’ and he clicked off. Together, they tossed piles of clothes into two suitcases and loaded them into his car. He put the dinner in the refrigerator with a note saying he was leaving her and why and then he impulsively hugged Nico and said, “I will go to Sharon and beg for my spot in the band back. Thank you for forcing me to see what I knew was in front of me, Nico. You saved my life tonight, I swear it!”
She sighed and said, “I’ll believe it if you come out on the tour with Reese nnd can sing again.” She got in her car and went drove back to Derry happy in her choice to be with Keith.
When she got home at 11 that night, he hugged the stuffing out of her and asked, “Where were you? Sharon said you left the studio hours ago and I was about to leave to look for you. Damo is here to watch Mac already.”
She smiled and said, “Put Damo in the guest room for the night, Keith and I’ll tell you both what happened after I left the studio.”
When Damian and Keith came out in their jammies, Nico, in hers, was making tea and had some of Damian’s favorite cookies pulled from the freezer warming in the oven. Damian loved that she made 12 dozen of the white chocolate chip cookies and froze them so when he came to visit, she always had some on hand for him.
“Seriously, if you were not married to Keith, I would marry you for the cookies, Nicola! You are a wonder!” He hugged her around the shoulders and sat at the kitchen table. Keith sat next to him and she told them what had happened to her that night. They were both shocked and saddened by what she told them about Ryan and his life as of late.
Keith asked, “Do you think he will sing with us on the road again?”
Damian said, “I won’t be able to just trust him again to stay. He could leave again on us. It hurt when he left this last time-like he cut himself off from all of us.”
“We need to let him try though, Damo.” Nico said softly. “Now, since you are here overnight, why don’t you both go surfing tomorrow? Mac and I will watch you from the shore. After your skating lesson, of course!”
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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 21, 2011 10:12:28 GMT -5
Chapter FORTY AND A QUARTER
The next day, Nicola had her ten kids and Damian on the ice at 8 AM to put them through their paces and found that Damian was practicing and had improved enough to cruise around the ice in a forward motion but, that he tripped and fell a couple of times when Nico tried to get him to move backwards. The other kids trusted that she would not let them fall and did better with her instructions. By the end of the lesson, Damian was slowly moving around the ice backwards and following Mac as he said, “Come on, Unca Damo! You can do it. Follow me and watch my feet. See? You are doing it. Just don’t think about it and glide.”
Damian followed his nephew around the ice after all the other kids had gone home and tried to trust Nico and Mac and how they cruised around on their blades but, he was afraid of falling and when he let his fear grab him, he would stumble and fall. Keith was out on the ice and caught the last time he fell right before he hit the ice. “Thanks, Keith. Thought I was a goner there.” he said with a small smile. Keith smiled back but Mac laughed and said, “Auntie Nicola, Unca Damo almost fell AGAIN but, Unca Keith saved him from crashing!” in a sing songy voice.
“Damian, you need to trust me. Keith had to do it too and, look at what he can do.” Nico said, with confidence. “We won’t let you get hurt, we promise.”
Nico got in front of Damian and Keith got behind him and Mac took his hand and they got him to go backwards on the ice slowly and then, picked up speed as they glided around. He found if he didn’t think too much about it, he could go around without a single slip. Nico got an idea. She flipped out her Blackberry and asked everyone to meet her at the Rink the following night at 7:30 for a trust building class.
That next night, she saw all the cars there and was getting out with Keith and Mac when she saw Ryan pulling into the lot. He got out warily and smiled at Nico. He got Reese out of the back seat and Nico went right over to the baby and took the carrier out of his hands. Mac ran up to Ryan and just looked at him. Then, he walked over and took his hand and said, “:You left me all alone. Why, Ryan Bunny? Was it because of the mean lady?”
Ryan swallowed the sob that formed in his throat and said, “You belong with your Aunt and Uncle now. They can love you and protect you from all the bad things in the world where I couldn’t. I do still love you and I am sorry I left you behind. Should have never done it, Mac.”
Mac looked up and Ryan with tears in his eyes and then he ran full force into Keith’s arms and cried on his shoulder. Nico had tears in her eyes but, she hugged Ryan and said, “That was a good first step toward healing the pain he has over losing you. It will happen, Ryan. Give him time to work on his grief.”
When they were all in the Rink, including Sharon and Phil, she called all their attention to her. “OK gang, we are here to have a trust building session. I invited all of you because Damian is having skating lessons with me and I thought you all could benefit from the trust building exercise I am doing with him to get him to backskate with me. Go to the rental center and find your size of skates and come back to the ice for our first lessons.”
Keith, Nico, Mac and Damian put on their figure skating skates and waited for the rest of them to come out to the ice. George was first but Nico just smiled at him. Neil cruised out onto the ice and smiled. Emmet was nervous on the ice but came out and took a hold of the wall. Sharon and Phil came out and could glide on the ice but, not very fast so they took to the railing as well with nervous smiles. Ryan was the last one on the ice and, as he glided up to Nico and smiled a small smile at her.
The rest of the band was shocked when they saw Ryan glide up Nico as he did. Damian said, “Um, Ryan? Why are you here? Who invited you?”
Keith said, “I did, Damo. Wanted him to try to mend some fences and I hope this night will help to do that.”
Ryan said, “Thanks, mate. I would like to say to all of you while I have you here, I am sorry I felt I had no choice but to leave because Daphne was pregnant and she made me choose to be with her or to stay and never see Reese ever. If I hadn’t left, she would have given her up for adoption and been lost to me. I left to save her and I am sorry I had to leave without talking to you all face to face. I just hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me and accept me into the group again. I missed all of you very much. I am sorry.”
Nico said, “If I can forgive him, the rest of you lot can try to forgive him too. I can’t ever forget but, I can forgive you, Ryan.”
She circled on the ice and smiled. She nodded at Keith, who went to the IPOD and plugged it into the sound system. He hit play and the music for ‘Shining Light’ by Annie Lennox came on the system and Nico glided out and did the jumps and splits and spins she did when Damian first saw her. George just beamed at how amazing she STILL was but, the rest of them had jaws hanging open while she flew over the ice and did jump after jump and spun around. When the song was over, George said, “Nico, darlin! You still have it! That was amazing!”
“Never stopped skating for fun, George. Just for competition. I can still do my competition routine if I wanted to and that was a sample of it. I want you all to let me teach you how to glide around on the ice in a line holding hands so you won’t let anyone in the line fall. That is the trust element of the exercise. Watch Mac, Keith, and Damo with me. Then we will bring in Neil and then Emmet and we will try it with you all separately so no one feels crowded, OK?” Once everyone had seen Damian cruising along on the ice with barely a stumble, Neil went out with them and flew across the ice with the line easily. Emmet was scared and ,when he went out he stumbled a bit but, Mac caught his flailing hand and said, “Unca Emmet, it is easy if you don’t look at the ice. Trust me, you won’t fall.”
Damian said, “He said the same thing to me and it worked, Emmet. Trust him, OK?”
Emmet did as Mac told him and he barely stumbled as he did his loop around the ice easier as he glided. Then, Nico reached Sharon and took her for a spin and then Phil and they were a bit more at ease when they saw Mac working with Emmet and his fears. When it came time for Ryan to go around, Damian took his arm and pulled him out into the ring and glided around with him going forward and Damian going backward. Nico was impressed with his skills as he was nervous about doing it in class.
Nico then took Mac out and said to the group, “Watch what I have taught Mac how to do with me.” They backskated around the ice and at the end of the Rink, they did slow spins and stopped, bowing to the group. They all applauded and the pair came up to the group again and smiled. Ryan was beaming at how much Mac had learned from Nico in such a short time.
At the end of the session, Nico said, “Now, I hope this brought us closer together as a band and a family. We are going to need to lean on each other through the upcoming tour. Sharon, have you decided on whether Ryan is a go for the tour or not?”
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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 21, 2011 20:06:24 GMT -5
Chapter FORTY AND A HALF
“After a lot of thought, we, that is, Phil and me, have decided Ryan is welcome back into the group if he wants to but, his role will be slightly smaller due to us already promoting Neil to the front of the group. He is in.”
Mac looked at Keith and asked, “Do I have to move back to his house again, Unca Keith? I don’t want to leave you and Auntie Nicola alone, I love you so much! Can I stay?”
Keith and Nico got down on their knees in front of Mac and each one took his hands. Keith said, “We adopted you, little man. You are our kid. We are never leaving you with anyone. You get to come home with us and be with us forever. And, if we ever have a baby, you are gonna be the best big brother ever! Right, Nicola?”
She smiled and said, “Listen to you Uncle Keith. Mac, I love you and I promise you can live with us as long as you want to.” he hugged them both around the neck and saw Ryan flinch a bit. He said, “:Ryan Bunny, you aren’t my daddy any more. I have a better daddy in Unca Keith-he won’t leave me! And, I have a great mummy in Auntie Nicola-she loves me forever!”
Ryan understood and walked over to his daughter and showed her off to the band and to Mac and said, “Guys, this is my little angel, Reese. Reese, this is Neil, Emmet, George, Damian, Keith, Sharon, Phil, and Nico. We are going on tour with them in the fall.”
Nicola taught the kids and Damian right up till the night before they all had to leave for America to start the new tour. That night, everyone gathered at Keith’s house to have a huge sleep over and pack everything into the trailer Keith had rented for the run to the airport the next morning. Keith, Mac, Damian, and Nicola packed their figure skates and put them in the trailer for the trip. Nico was determined Damian was going to learn how to backskate on his own before they came back to Ireland so he could participate in the recital on the 30th of December and not fall flat on his butt.
That morning, Ryan had received his final divorce papers from Daphne and full custody of Reese. He was happy this was not hanging over his head any more but sad that having his little angel in his life came at the expense of his own happiness with Mac and Nciola, whom he still loved. But, she was with Keith and very happy with him-even planning to have children with him so, she was lost to him forever.
The fall tour went wonderful. They had a ten day break in Boston for Thanksgiving holidays and, it was at this point that Nicola started to feel tired and run down all the time. She was with Damian on the ice and she fainted dead away in his arms. He drove her to a nearby emergency room and did not leave her side. After all the blood tests were finished, the doctor confirmed what she suspected-she was pregnant with Keith’s child. Damian was happy and shocked by the news.
“I can’t believe I am the first one to hear the news. You know, I am never the first to hear anything and I know this first!”
Nico demanded his cell phone and said, “Oh, no, Damian McGinty. I know that look-no Tweeting for you about this until I have told everyone in the band-do you got me? Otherwise, your phone and all of the girls’ phone numbers you have on it-they end up in the bottom of the Charles River!”
He could tell she meant it so, he promised her he wouldn’t tell anyone till she gave him the OK to do so. He kind of liked sitting on this big secret for her. He helped her set up a romantic dinner for her and Keith at the Top of the Prudential Building in Boston-right across from the Copley Plaza Hotel where they were staying with flowers and drippy candles-the whole thing and he had the cook make all of Keith’s favorite foods for them. Keith went up there and he was confused till she started talking about how she had spent that day not with Damo on the ice but in the hospital emergency room with him instead.
“What happened to Damo? Did he slip and whack his head on the ice? Does he have a concussion? Should we tell Sharon?” he was asking a million questions at once.
Nico silenced him with a kiss and said, “No, silly. Damian is fine. He drove ME to the ER. I fainted. Go ahead, ask me why, love?”
“Are you OK? You haven’t been eating very much and you have had that cold for days now. Are you supposed to be on the ice if you are that sick?” he asked, now swinging his total concern over to her in an instant. He was scared that something was really wrong with her.
“I really have to put you out of your misery, Keith. Yes, I am fine. In fact, the doctor says in about seven months, I will be dandy and so will our new baby.” He stared at her with an open jaw and a shocked expression. “Um, Keith? I expected some sort of um, reaction from you on this news-not total shock. I mean it’s a reaction but, not QUITE the one I was hoping for, love.”
Once Keith got over his initial shock at the news, he took both her hands in his and said, “I am so happy that you are having my baby! This is gonna be great. Mac gets a little brother or sister-he’s gonna be so happy when we tell him! Damian! Oh good grief-he knew all this time? How the heck did you keep him off Twitter? What did you do to him? Threaten to cut off his cookie supply?”
She laughed and said, “No. I did something a bit worse.” Nico reached in her purse and pulled out his Blackberry and said, “I took his phone and told him if I found out he Tweeted one peep about this to a soul, his phone would be at the bottom of the Charles River fast than I could do a double axel on the ice. He has been suffering in silence since then.”
Keith laughed and said, softly, “Well, love. Much as I would love to kill Damo’s Twitter addiction sometimes, I think you can give him back his cell phone and plug him back into the world. He must be suffering from withdrawals by now.”
“I’ve only had it for barely 24 hours, darlin. He can’t be that bad. CAN he?”
‘He is sitting in our hotel room with Mac and, according to Mac when I called him ten minutes before you came, Damo was rocking back and forth in front of the TV and he is shaking. It’s adorably funny, Keith. Can I tease him a little with the Charles River before I give it back to him? It was Mac’s idea so what do you say?”
Keith said, “Put him out of his misery quickly, please!” as he laughed and held her against his chest. She could feel his shaking laughter and smiled. “It’s November so by May next year-Memorial Day to be precise, we are gonna be parents to this little one. And, before you get squirrelly about the ice skating thing, I can skate-just no more big jumps or spins till the baby comes. The doctor said it is a good form of exercise for me to skate.”
He said, “As long it doesn’t hurt our child I can live with you on the ice. Will it affect your singing?” She shook her head and laughed and he said, “We have to tell everyone now, huh?”
“Not right away. I want to make Damian sweat a bit and then, when he gets his phone back, he can tweet the daylights out of it until everyone knows! OK?” Nico took his face in his hands and kissed him soundly on the lips until he lost his breath and got dizzy in her arms.
They had a beautiful night and when they headed back to the room that night, Nico had Keith shoot pics of her walking along the banks of the Charles River and she threw the black rock she found that looked like his Blackberry into the river with Keith shooting away. He went to the nearest drugstore and got the shots developed. ‘This is the start of a good prank.’ he thought to himself.
The next morning, they woke Damian up from the couch in he suite with pancakes and bacon right under his nose. As he sat up there was a packet of pictures that fell from his chest to his lap and Mac said, “Ooh pictures! Unca Damo, can we look at them together, please?”
Damian looked at them and Nico and Keith were in the door frame of the bedroom watching his reactions as he flipped through the shots and went from happy to scared to shocked in the span of a couple moments. Mac came back in with a plastic baggie of water and a thin black shape and said, “Unca Damo? Is this for you?”
He took the baggie from Mac and the note that was attached said: I am sorry but your cell went in the drink. It’s for your own good, mate.
Damian called out, “Nicola!!! Where is my--”
“Are you looking for this, Damian?” as she waved his cell in front of his nose. He lunged for the device and she said, “Did you really think we could ever destroy your cell phone? We love you, you numpty! And that would be mean! Now, I want my baby’s godfather to come here, give me a hug and tell me you didn’t think I could ever do that to you.”
“You can’t blame me for being scared that you would have done that to teach me a lesson. I love you guys too, you know. And, since everyone in this room knows you are gonna make me an uncle again, can I have me phone so I can make with the tweeting?” Nico laughed and gave him back his phone. He sighed happily and began to tweet the whole ‘loss of his phone’ saga to the world and all about the new baby. Within five minutes, Keith’s and Nico’s cell phones began to go off like rockets with texts about the baby. Shock and surprise to say the least which made them just go back in their room and laugh out loud. They sent Damian a text to tell him to take Mac out to the arcade and have fun with him. They both shouted through the door, “Not too much sugar for him this time! And take Emmet and Neil with you so he does not get to you with The Stare again!”
Mac smiled to himself. ‘I have them under my spell with my stare already. Candy is mine!’ “Can we go skating, Unca Damo? We can try to help Unca Emmet with his skating lessons!” as he dragged Damo toward the door with a wicked grin on his face!
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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 21, 2011 23:51:12 GMT -5
Chapter FORTY AND THREE QUARTERS
Memorial Day weekend, in Derry, Damian came the week before to stay with Nicola and Keith to wait for the baby to arrive so he could babysit Mac for them while they were in the Hospital with the birth. Emmet and Neil came and took Mac out to the Rink and to a movie to let Damian have a breather and help Nico put the crib together so, when she came in the room with a smile on her face, he said, “I have the crib done. All we have to do is put the mattress and blankets in and it is perfect. Want to help me with that, Nico?”
“Damian, you might want to go and get the car, love. The baby is coming right now! Why on earth Keith chose right now to go to the mountains to hike around with his family, I will never know. I am so happy you were with us when we had Lamaze classes so you can be there if he could not be there so, you’re on! Get me to the hospital before the kid comes please!”
They grabbed her overnight bag and drove like lightning to the hospital. Damian barely had time to scribble a note to Neil and Emmet telling them to haul shell to the hospital and to call Keith the minute his cell got into range to get him there too-the baby was coming!
Damian was dressed in hospital scrubs and booties in the delivery room and holding Nico’s hand. She was in a lot of pain but, she was happy because this was so worth it. Damian’s hand was practically being broken through every contraction but, he toughed it out-Nico needed him. The doctor had her pushing and pushing and then the baby came and the doctor said, “Congratulations, Mrs. Harkin! It’s a girl. 7 pounds 15 ounces and 22 inches long. Perfectly healthy. Would you like to cut the cord Damian?”
Damian’s hands were shaking a little as he took the scissors and cut the cord for Nico and smiled. “What are you gonna name her, Nico love?”
“Keith and I talked about this and we have the name already: for the girl her name is Kathleen Josephine Harkin. Kathleen was my mum’s name and Josephine is for you Damo. We wanted to honor our best friend. She is your god daughter, love. She will wrap your heart round her little finger quick.”
“Ah, she already has, Nico. Already has.” Damo said, tears glistening in his eyes. “ I am so honored to be part of your family.” as he squeezed her hand and kissed it.
Neil and Emmet were pacing the floor in the waiting room with Mac. They took turns putting him on their shoulders and walking the floor. They also kept trying to call Keith on his phone with no luck-he was still out of range. Mac said, “Unca Neil? Let me try one more time, please?” Neil gave Mac his phone and Mac hit the redial on it. Keith answered and said, “Neil? Why are you calling me?”
Mac said, “Unca Keith! We are at the hospital. Auntie Nico is having the baby right now. Come quick or you’ll miss it all!”
Neil grabbed the phone and said, “Keith? Mate, you are missing it. Get your blonde butt here NOW. She is in labor and Damo is in the delivery room. How far away are you from the hospital? Two hours?? Hurry, mate! Get here as soon as you can!”
Damian came out into the waiting room and took off the mask and hair cover he had on and smiled. He went to Mac and said, “Your Auntie Nico has a new little sister for you to play with. Her name is Kathleen Josephine Harkin and she is perfect! Healthy and pink and everything.”
Emmet asked, “So, when can we see her?”
“Tomorrow morning, mate. But, Mac and I can go back and see his mummy right now. She is asking for you, mate. Wanna go with me? You get to meet your sister right now.” he took Damian by the hand and went back into Nico’s room and saw her.
“Aunite? Are you OK now? Where’s my sister?” Mac asked softly.
The nurse brought her in right on cue and Mac got to hold her with Damian on Damo’s lap and she took his finger in her little fist. Mac said, “You’re my sister. I get to teach you everything. I love you, Kathleen.” Nico asked, “Damo? Where is Keith?”
Mac said, “Unca Keith is two hours from here but he is coming, Auntie. Unca Neil told me. I bet he is sorry he went hiking today, huh, Auntie?” When he said that, Damian and Nico laughed with him.
Damian saw Ncio yawning and said, “Hey, mate. Auntie needs to get some sleep and so does your sister. We need to get you home to bed and get you some sleep for tomorrow when you get to come back and spend the day with your Auntie and Uncle, OK?”
Mac and Damo went out to the waiting room and Damian said, “Neil and Emmet can bring you back to your house and get you settled and get some sleep there themselves. I can wait here for Keith cuz, ya know, he is heading here before going home. I’ll wait for him and tell him all the good stuff, OK?”
Keith pulled into the parking lot and raced into Maternity as fast as his legs would carry him only stopping when Damian grabbed him and stopped him cold in the waiting room. “Damo? What happened? Tell me everything? What, when, where, why and what did she end up having? Boy or girl?”
Once Damian told him he was the father of a baby girl and what her exact name was, he filled Keith in on the details of the hows and whys and calmed him down before he went in that next morning to see his wife and meet his baby daughter for the first time.
The Nurse brought Kathleen in to meet her daddy and he just fell in love the minute he saw her. He sung ’Castles In The Air’ to her and she curled her little hand around his finger and that was it, Keith was a goner.
He gasped softly after he finished singing, “Oh, Nico, she is gorgeous. I am amazed we made something so pretty!”
Damian said, “Mac already wants to take her surfing this summer. I told him she’s a bit young but, he thinks she can handle the beach this year. He wants to know when you can ice skate again, Nico. I told him the doctor said it would be a month at least but he thinks a month is tomorrow.”
“I’ll set him straight, mate. No worries.” Keith said, laughing. “Did you get the crib done, Damo?” When he nodded, Keith said, that was the last of the baby furniture, then. All set for Kathleen to come home, then.”
Two days later, they came home and settled into their lives for the summer with the baby and Nico. After a month, the band gathered for Kathleen’s christening and Damian was named godfather and Zara godmother of the little girl. She had Neil, Emmet, George, Phil and Ryan there to be her uncles and they all promised right along with Damian to keep her out of trouble and make sure she was safe at all times. Mac promised to be a good big brother and to love her ’forever’ which made Nico’s heart leap and Keith tear up a bit with happiness.
As they were packing up the tour bus in New York City that fall for another tour, Keith said, “Ya know? I am one lucky man. I have my wife my son and daughter and I am traveling with Celtic Thunder singing my songs and making great music. Life is pretty sweet for this bloke from Derry, huh, Damo?”
“We all got lucky when you and Nicola made us all a big ol happy family, mate!”
THE END!
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Post by CelticPrincess24 on May 22, 2011 9:37:30 GMT -5
Aww that was the best ending ever! I love it! Great job!!! you are amazing!!! *claps and cheers*
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Post by celticthunder1510 on May 22, 2011 10:57:50 GMT -5
Humble bowing!
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Post by !!DerryChick!! on May 22, 2011 14:38:49 GMT -5
Sequal!? Please
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Post by meg_cahill21 on Sept 30, 2011 18:40:22 GMT -5
that was really amazing but i still wished nico ended up with ryan... loved Damian in this story and all the jokes had me laughing up a storm, though i wasnt too fond of the age differene between keith and nico cuz i always think that the man should be older but whatev... fantastic story,, u did a great job!!!!
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Post by missufishy on Sept 30, 2011 21:23:33 GMT -5
Aww I really liked this story, great ending.=]
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