Page 13 of Steadfast

I watched as Mom gave Judy a tour of the house, apologizing about the mess in the boys’ room like she’d actually been upstairs in the last year. They made their way into the kitchen while Mom talked about the cost of groceries and feedinggrowing boys and a picky eight-year-old. By the time Judy made moves to leave the house, she was practically eating out of my perfect mother’s palm.

“I’ll make note of all of this,” Judy said as my mom guided her toward the front door. “From what I can see, I don’t think we’ll have any reason to visit again.” She chuckled. “As long as there aren’t any more kids on the roof!”

I stood at the window and watched until her car left the curb out front, and then it felt as if my entire body deflated.

“She gone?” Mom asked, still standing by the front door.

“She’s gone,” I confirmed.

“Thank Christ,” Mom muttered, walking back to her room. “I need a drink.”

Richie found me on the couch sometime later, my hands still shaking as I stared blankly at the blank TV screen.

“How’d it go?” he asked, dropping down beside me.

“Incredible,” I rasped back. I still couldn’t believe it. “I wish you could’ve seen her. My mom should’ve been on the stage. It was fucking masterful.”

“That’s good, right?” he asked tentatively.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“I really wish you could’ve seen her,” I repeated, looking over at him. I wasn’t even sure how to explain what I was feeling. “But I’m glad the kids didn’t.”

“Why’s that?” he whispered, his eyes on mine.

“Because it was like looking back in time,” I whispered back. “Like when we were little. She was charming and self-deprecating and warm. She was my mam again for a few minutes. If she hadn’t gotten so many things about the kids wrong—Aislingisn’t the picky eater,Ronanis—I would’ve worried I’d fallen into the Twilight Zone.”

“So, she’s still in there somewhere,” he said thoughtfully.

“Maybe,” I breathed. I shook my head. “But I doubt we’ll see her again.”

“What happened?” Cian asked, stomping into the house. He was soaked.

“We ran out of balloons pretty fast,” Richie explained. “So I pulled out the hose.”

“Yeah, Dick didn’t play fair,” Cian said dismissively. “What happened?”

“All good,” I replied, standing up. “She said there’s no reason to visit again.”

“Mom showed up.” Cian’s relief was visible.

“She deserves an Oscar,” I confirmed.

“Thank Christ,” he muttered. His tone and inflection were so similar to my mom’s that I jerked in surprise.

“I’m going to go tell Sersh,” I said, rounding him. “Grab a towel and clean up the floor. You’re getting water everywhere.”

I’d made it to two steps from the slider before strong arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the floor.

“What are you doing?” I squeaked, squirming as Richie laughed. “Put me down.”

“I think you deserve a little fun,” he replied, carrying me outside while I flailed. “You seem very…dry. And it’s such a hot day—”

“Don’t you dare,” I warned as the kids came into view. My mouth snapped shut as I watched Saoirse squeal and duck behind Aisling. Ronan had the hose, and he was using it to his advantage, his thumb over the end of it to make it spray wildly in the girls’ direction. He belly laughed. Aisling charged him, and getting sprayed directly in the face didn’t deter her as she tackled him. They went down in a tangle of limbs, their laughter filling the yard, and while they were distracted, my quiet, serious pre-teen sister snatched up the dropped hose and turned it on them, laughing maniacally.

“Sersh,” Richie called. “I’ve got another one for you!” He carried me forward.

---