Page 17 of An Angel's Share
“Well, I mean, two husbands. Outrageous. Who would want to be associated and seen out with them.” Liam is clearly still drunk from the night before. Or has decided death is a better option than marriage.
Daddy’s knife and fork slams down. Mammy jumps, and I sit up straight. Patrick looks panicked. Daddy never gets annoyed. Before a full blown row can break out, however, Marshall and Jonno come back into the room, pale and quiet.
Daddy turns to look at them both. “All okay, brother? You look a bit shocked.” Concern for his youngest brother is clear on his face.
“Yes, well, it seems that I'm going to be a granda again.” He pauses for a beat. “Evie is pregnant, with twins again. I…” He trails off and looks at Jonno.
A grin slowly works onto Jonno’s lips, and then his face splits into one of the most amazing smiles I’ve ever seen. It lights him up from the inside, and you can practically taste the sunshine pouring out of him.
“Fucking twins again. My sister is off the hook. Xander’s in shock. Kell’s going to have a heart attack. We might need to go home, Marshall. They won’t cope. I’ll have to go and help deliver the babies again.” He’s patting Marshall. “I know she said she didn’t want to wait, but honestly, it’ll be like me, Jude, and Evie, so near in age.”
His eyes turn to me, his smile blinding, and I know what he’s thinking. Cousins. Lots of cousins for our baby. My baby is included in his world.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. What am I getting into here? I just want this baby and the distillery, nothing more. I’m not a greedy woman.
But it seems Jonno Greystone may have other ideas. We need to talk, and fast.
8
Jonno
I can’t stop grinning.My sister is a maniac. I knew she wanted to have more babies, and she certainly is not doing anything by halves. Twins, and so soon after little Rioghnach. I haven’t spoken to Kell or Xan as yet, but I know they’ll be beside themselves, especially Kellen.
He lives on his nerves when Evie is pregnant. Tragedy stalked him for years around childbirth, even pushing him to get a vasectomy and not tell his wife. His fear had him in its grip, so afraid there was something wrong with him, and he would pass it to his kids.
Xander’s a lot more chill. He’s the one holding back the flood waters that both my sister and Kell create on a daily basis. But anything to do with my sister tends to push them both to crazy town.
I’m standing on the grounds of the old house. I can see the old distillery roof over the treetops. The newer, larger distillery is beyond that. Then it spreads six miles outwards, the new entrance over on the far side of the buildings.Dervla, smart woman that she was, wanted the family to be able to put space between their personal lives and the public front, so she switched the main entrances away from the house.
Growing the way they did, in no short amount of time, the offices, workshops, even the distillery itself all supported, and were supported by, the local area. In fact it’s the largest employer around. A total mecca for whiskey in Ireland.
Reveling in the clean air and morning sunshine as I wait for Marshall and Seamus to go around both the old and new distilleries, I hit the FaceTime icon to call Xander.
He answers on the first ring. “Jonno, you’ve got to come home, Kell’s having a meltdown. James and Bucky nearly had to get a flight home.” Xander looks like he’s rolled around in a haystack for a few days. I’ve never seen him look so ruffled. Clearly this news has caused massive ripples.
“Huh. She seems well. Was really calm when she spoke to us this morning. Has something else happened in the last hour?” I raise my eyebrows at him. They both need to get a grip. My sister needs to be calm, and these two are cranking up the anxiety. You’d think they were being asked to give birth to the kids themselves with the way they’re behaving.
“No, but— Twins, Jonno. Fucking twins.” He suddenly grins. “She really knows how to blow us all to smithereens. She was so calm when she announced it at breakfast. Kell fell off his chair gasping for air.” We grin at each other and I see Xander suddenly get pushed from the side.
“Fucking hell, Jonno. Fucking twins again. What the fuck are we going to do? You need to come fucking home. Now. Right the fuck now. Get Marshall and come the fuck home.”
“Oh dear, that bad Kell.” We know he’s lost it when everyword starts with an ‘F’. “We won’t be long,” I pacify him. “Just make sure she doesn’t work too hard. And don’t let her get on that motorbike.” I point at them. They need to try and calm her down, not amp her up.
“Fucking motorbikes,” he shouts. “She got Gerald trying to rig up some baby baskets for the twins to go on mini quads the other day. Between her and Marshall, these kids will be lucky to see teenage years with no broken bones.”
I grin at him as he rakes his hair through. He’ll be bald shortly.
“Try and rein her in, Jonno. We can’t, she ignores us. She might listen to you.” His eyes are pleading with me to do something.
Action needs to be taken, but they’re useless at dealing with my sister. She either just ignores them, or gets upset. They then capitulate. It’s exhausting watching them, never mind living with them. No wonder the older twins are hellions.
“I’ve even rang Jackson to come home,” Kell continues.
Oh God, they really are bonkers. I start to laugh at the thought of that call. They’re barking. Everyone is involved in their marriage. They’d bring in the UN if they thought it would help.
I hear Aoife behind me, and I turn towards her, a huge smile on my face. I decide to introduce her to my brothers-in-law. Mix things up a bit.
“Aoife, come say hello to Kell and Xan. Evie’s husbands.” I wave her over.
