Travels in Eire #62

The weekend for the trip to New York City arrived in no time and Cailn and Darren headed to the Dublin Airport early on a Friday morning. They would arrive at JFK International for a late lunch and be partying that evening. It was a seven hour flight, so there was plenty of time to rest, read, and chat about what to expect. This was Darren's first trip abroad and he was like a kid in a candy store and wanted to know everything.

Cailin promised that if they could squeeze in a bit of sightseeing that she would take him to the State of Liberty and to the top of the Empire State Building. Most other sightseeing would have to wait for another time. Cailin was going to meet Ruth for an afternoon of dress shopping after which she hoped to have her wedding dress. Darren would be on his own during this time and she was going to send him to Times Square to check things out.

There was no need for anyone to meet them at the airport as Cailin knew how hectic the traffic could be and it was only a matter of taking a taxi to her parents. Cailin realized that Darren had gotten very quiet after they had been through immigration with their passports and picked up their luggage.

“It's so big and crowded,” he whispered in her ear.

“That's life in the big city here, my love,” she tried to play it off, but New York City and a first time in the United States could be very intimidating. Cailin tried to reassure Darren that all would be fine.

While Cailin was supporting Darren, she had other things on her mind. It had been months, but there was this little feeling in the back of her mind that she might have to deal with Nick again. She was hoping that he did know that she was coming back into town, but somehow he always seemed to find out. She had never talked to Darren about Nick, and was a little concerned that she should not have left that detail out of this trip. She had emailed everyone at work to let them know she would be stopping by if time allowed, but that this was a trip for her parents and for finding a wedding dress.

Rob, her boss, and Bonnie, her assistant, would be at the engagement party so she knew she could fill them in there. Cailin had given her mother a list of friends who she would like to have attend the party, and Nick was definitely not on that list.

As the taxi stopped in front of her parent's house, Cailin felt a little strange after being gone all summer. She was excited to share her excitement with her mother and introduce Darren all around.

“Darren, the only names you really need to worry about are my mom and dad, Kate and Sean. My gran will probably tell you to call her granny, or gran, like I do, even though her name is Mary. After that you are on you own for remembering names. Just smile and use that great Irish accent to your advantage,” Cailin was trying to make it easy for Darren.

They didn't even make it up the stoop when the door opened and Kate came running out to greet them followed by Sean. Grabbing both Cailin and Darren in her arms she doled out a huge hug of welcome. As she finished Cailin did the honors of introductions and Darren and Sean shared a sturdy handshake.
“Well, let's stop this show for the neighborhood and get inside. Granny is waiting for you two.” Sean was very self conscious about the neighborhood watching all the goings on. But they already knew as Kate and Mary had been talking about this visit at the local shops.

“Cailin, I see you have chosen a nice strapping Irishman for yourself.” Mary shouted as they approached her sitting in her chair. She was always the ultimate flirt.

“Nice to meet you m-mam,” Darren stuttered as he realized that Mary was about the same age as his grandfather.

“Oh, call me granny, son. You'll be part of the family soon enough. The only thing that would get me back to Ireland is this wedding.” Cailin could hear the excitement in her gran's voice.

Kate stood in the doorway for the kitchen and shouted, “Okay, all hands on deck. If we're going to get this engagement party going this evening, we need load of help and lots of cooking. So even Darren will be helping Sean with chairs and tables, and of course, the liquor. Let's get busy.”

Kate was on a mission. No party in her house would ever be a shabby affair. While all the food was home made and much of it prepared earlier in the week, there was still much prep to do. Next stop on this visit was Darren and Cailin's engagement party.