Page 63 of Steadfast

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “Anything you need, remember?”

She wandered back out while I cleaned the kitchen. Cian was going to feel so smug when I told him we were going back home. Even if it was temporary, I was thankful. We’d left so much behind when we’d left, it was a relief to know that we could go get it and say goodbye properly if it came to that.

Maybe I’d even get to see Richie and explain. I thought about it while I frosted the cake. Would he even give me the opportunity to talk to him? If I was in his shoes, I didn’t know if I’d be willing to forgive him.

“Kelly kids,” I called when the cake was done. “Time to sing happy birthday!”

“What?” Cian said in confusion as he hopped off the couch.

“What the hell did you think I was doing in here?”

“I don’t know,” he replied defensively as Saoirse laughed. “I thought you were making muffins or something.”

“Nope,” I said as Aunt Ashley came out of her room. “Birthday time.”

“It’s not his birthday,” Ronan pointed out as he climbed onto a stool.

“Belated birthday time,” I conceded.

“You didn’t have to do this,” Cian said quietly, looking down at his cake, the top covered in candles. “Thanks, Mam.”

I hid my jolt of surprise, but no one else did. Aisling looked at him wide-eyed. The kitchen was silent.

“You’re welcome,” I said finally, reaching for the lighter I’d found in a kitchen drawer.

I lit the candles and listened as my little family sang the happy birthday song deliberately off-key. Cian smiled brightly, looking younger than he usually did, as they drew out the words and sang completely out of sync. When he blew out the candles, we all cheered.

“Thanks for blowing those out in one go,” Aunt Ashley teased. “I was a little worried that cake was going to catch the rest of the house on fire.”

“Yeah, E,” Saoirse said. “Maybe next time use the little number candles, not a single candle for every year.”

“Where’s the challenge in that?” I asked, grabbing ice cream out of the freezer.

“Careful,” Cian warned, handing blown-out candles to Ronan and Aisling to lick the frosting off. “They’re still warm.”

“What in the world?” Aunt Ashley murmured, looking toward the front window. “Who’s here?”

She strode toward the front door.

“Can I have a corner piece?” Ronan asked, distracting me.

“Me too!” Aisling said.

“Hey, maybe I deserve the corner piece since it’smybirthday cake,” Cian joked.

“Good thing there’re four corners,” I said dryly. I looked at Saoirse. “You want one, too?”

She wrinkled her nose. “No thanks. Extra ice cream, please.”

“I want extra ice cream, too,” Ronan said quickly.

“Can I help you?” Aunt Ashley asked someone outside the house. I was only vaguely aware of what she was doing as I worked on serving the cake, and the kids bickered and joked.

“I’m looking for Aoife Kelly,” a familiar voice replied.

Everything inside me froze.

The same couldn’t be said of everyone else.

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