Redeeming 6 (Boys of Tommen, #4)

by Chloe Walsh

“I was trying to help you,” Darren tried to explain. “You’re too young to be a father.” “I’ve always been a father!”

“I want my baby, Darren!” You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Everything went eerily quiet. Finally, Darren broke the silence when he said, “You do?” “Damn straight I do,” I confirmed, furious. “How fucking dare you and Mam try to take that away from me.”

“You can thank Gerard for those,” she said, pointing disapprovingly to the cigarette in my hand. “He smuggled three packets into the bags I packed for you today.” Good man, Gussie.

“Finders keepers, Joey love. You’re mine now.” Jesus.

“Sorry, Trish, but it’s true,” my best friend replied. “Our girl here is a MILF!” Grinning wickedly, she added, “And when Joey the DILF gets home, there’s going to be explosions.” “Oh, sweet mother of mercy,” Mam muttered, sounding pained.

“How does it feel, old man?” I asked, returning to his graveside and undoing the fly on my jeans. “To finally burn in hell?”

“I pissed on his grave.” “Is that all?” With a heavy sigh, she put her handbag down on the grass and knelt at my mother’s grave beside me. “I’m impressed with your level of self-control. I wouldn’t have been able to contain myself.” “Threw his flowers away, too,” I muttered. “It wasn’t enough.”

“O-ee.” Pulling on the leg of my jeans, a pair of brown eyes looked up at me. “O-ee.” That did it. Seeing Sean’s little face had my heart cracking open in my chest. This kid. He was my brother, but it was different with him. From birth, Sean had depended on me in a way the others hadn’t. I knew he wasn’t mine, but it didn’t stop my heart from beating for him in a paternal rather than brotherly way.

“Seany loves O-ee,” he whispered in my ear as he stroked my cheeks with his chubby little hands. “O-ee make Seany happy.”

“It’s so cool,” Ollie chimed in, catching ahold of one of my hands, while Sean took hold of the other. “Dellie let us help.”

“Who taught you to pull hair? Shannon?” “Actually, it was your girlfriend,” he countered. “When she was screaming my name.” I narrowed my eyes in warning. “Tadhg.” “Yes, Tadhg, yes!” he mocked.

“So, you’re back.” “I’m back.” He nudged my shoulder with his. “About fucking time.” “I know, kid.” I nudged him back. “I missed you, too.”

“Now, I feel like comfort eating.” “Stay out of the biscuit tin, Gibs,” Johnny argued from his perch on the couch with my sister. “You’re in training, lad, remember?” “Yeah, well, you tell my emotions that, Johnny, because I’m feeling raw, lad. Raw, I tell you,” he replied, swiping his car keys off the coffee table. “I’m going on a food run into town.”

“Anything, Shannon like the river,” Gibsie parroted in mocking tone, clutching his chest. “You can have anything, baby.”

When the words, “Nice legs,” filled my ears, I froze in my bedroom doorway. Froze and peed myself.

“I’m here, queen.” His arms came around my body, and I felt myself grow limp against him as my ability to be strong suddenly abandoned me.

“There’s nothing natural about the noises coming out of your daughter,” Gibsie wailed, dodging a fist to the back of the head from Joey. “I want my mam.”

“Just as I thought. You’re fully dilated, Aoife,” the midwife declared. “You’re ready to deliver.” “A poo?” “No, pet, a baby.” “Oh, Jesus, Joe.” Crying out, she clutched my hand and pulled me close. “If I shit in front of you, please don’t hold it against me.” “Molloy,” I coaxed, brushing her hair off her clammy face. “You can do whatever you want in front of me, okay?” “That’s comforting, Joe,” she cried out, hooking an arm around my neck and catching me up in a headlock Kav would be proud of. “Because I think you’re about to see what I look like on the inside.”

Moment later, the sound of a baby screaming filled the room. “You did it, Aoife,” I choked out, trembling just as badly as she was, as the sound of our child filled the room. “You did it, baby.”

“Here you go, Dad.” Moments later, the screaming bundle was thrust into my arms. “Congratulations, Dad. He’s a beauty.” Struck fucking dumb, I stared down at the baby in my arms.

And then he opened his eyes and looked at me. And I was done. My heart no longer beat for me. For the rest of my days, it would beat entirely for the child in my arms. Fuck.

He was every inch his mother’s son with clumps of bloodied blond curls matted to his little head and a pair of lungs he’d clearly inherited from his mother’s side.

“I’m so proud of you,” I whispered, using one hand to adjust the blanket draped over her limp body. “You’re a queen.”

Nanny’s letter. Returning to my perch on the chair at her bedside, I withdrew the envelope my great-grandmother had given to me yesterday. Christ, it felt like a million years ago. Tearing open the envelope, I reached for the note inside only to halt in my tracks when my eyes landed on cash. A lot of cash. “Holy fuck,” I strangled out, eyes widening as a thick wad of fifty-euro notes spilled onto my lap.

“Hey, stud,” I mumbled, feeling groggy and hoarse as I soaked in the sight of him. Instantly, his focus snapped to me, and the emotion I saw in his crystal-clear green eyes was overwhelming. He’s here. He’s really here. “Hey, queen.”

“Actually, we decided to name our son after the man who raised the both of us,” I confirmed quietly. “Because, let’s face it, the only man I ever had to show me the way was your husband.”

“He’s my brother,” a familiar voice snapped, and I swung around to find Shannon, of all people, standing up to a group of girls in the hallway. “And you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” “Is he single?” “You’re not his type.” “What’s his type?” “His girlfriend.” I smirked to myself. Well, this was a turnup for the books. She was defending me.

“So, where’s your other half?” “Claire-Bear? She’s in the year below us.” “No, asshole. Kav.” “Oh!” Gibsie laughed. “Oh, you mean my other other half. He’s in honors maths.” Frowning, Gibsie muttered, “Cap’s in honors everything.” He chuckled to himself, clearly amused with something he was thinking about, before shaking his head and adding, “Fair bit of a genius is your future brother-in-law.”

When Lizzie pushed past me, she offered me a sly wink and nothing else.

This girl. Messy as fuck or not, this girl had my unconditional support. I had a girlfriend and a son to go home to that I wouldn’t have if she hadn’t taken a second to talk me down from the edge that night. The thought of what could have happened—what would have happened—if she hadn’t intervened meant that I would be forever indebted to her. My son had a father because of her, and whenever the shit hit the fan for her, because it would hit the fan, then she would have my backing.

Yeah, for the rest of the school year, she would come under the same umbrella that Tadhg and Shannon did.

“As opposed to you and that junkie brother of yours?” he countered. “Word around school is that big brother got a slut from BCS humped with his kid and—” He didn’t finish his sentence—couldn’t if he wanted to, because I laid the bastard on the flat of his back. A laugh tore from Tadhg’s chest. “Thought we didn’t care about his opinion?” “Change of plans.”

“Dellie, he called our sister a slut,” Tadhg defended with a huff,

He called her dellie...

“Hey, queen.” Her breath hitched and she turned to look at me. “Hey, stud.”

“Ride or die, Molloy,” I knew I meant it, too. More than anything.

“Be with me.” “I am with you, Joe.” “No.” He shook his head. “Be with me, Molloy.” “In what way?” “In every way.” Whoa.

Aoife’s mind-set on her addiction to Joey: Taylor Swift—“Don’t Blame Me”

Taylor Swift—“cardigan”

Taylor Swift—“Haunted”

Taylor Swift—“This Love”