Travels in Eire #66

Cailin rushed into the house to see he father and Darren sitting in the living room enjoying a cold Guinness.

“What's going on?” she shouted looking at both of them. “Dad what were you doing playing snooker. You know how mom feels about that.” Cailin was visibly shaken about this. She worried around money being lost foolishly.

Darren started first, “Cailin, you should have seen your dad. He was as good as any pro I've ever seen.”

“And.....” Cailin wanted answers.

“Sweetie,” her father always called her that, “I did fine. No losses this time.”

“Sean, what do you mean, you did fine? You blew the opposition away! You were the big winner for the day!” Darren couldn't contain his excitement.

“So dad, big day, you won a hundred bucks?” Cailin was now curious since Darren was making such a fuss. She new the guys at the pub didn't bet much as a rule.

“Cailin, let's put it this way. I have now taken care of 2 round trip flights to Ireland for your wedding for you mom and I.” Sean answered smiling at his daughter.

“ARRGH.... you two drive me nuts. Did you actually do any sightseeing?” Cailin asked.

“We took a quick trip to Times Square and the Empire State building. I'm hoping we can take a quick trip to the Statue of Liberty tomorrow since we leave on Monday,” and there was that smile from Darren.

Cailin smiled back and nodded. They only had limited time on this trip and Monday she needed to get into work for a couple of hours before their evening flight back to Ireland.

The evening was a quiet one spent with family. After dinner Darren and Cailin took a walk around the neighborhood. They spent a lot of time talking about wedding plans and plans for both their futures. This was actually the first serious talking they had done in a long time.

“Cailin, aren't you going to miss being here in New York?” Darren asked. “I would hate for you to make the decision to permanently move to Ireland and regret it later. You know I won't leave there except for vacations.”

“Darren, I'm an Irish citizen now, or almost as soon as the paperwork comes through. The one thing is that I have always felt so at home in Ireland. For me New York is the place to visit now. I will miss my parents, but they are only a flight away.” Cailin tightened her hold on Darren's waist as they walked to reassure him.

“Cailn, we have never talked about children. You do want children, don't you?” Darren almost seemed hesitant in asking.

“Darren, I hope you are not planning on children immediately after the wedding. Yes, I want children, but I do hope we have some time to just be together before we start our family.” Cailin was hoping that Darren would agree with her.

“Of course, I don't want to rush. Just checking here,” and Darren smiled back. “You know we are going to have to find a new place to live, right?”

“I think my place is just fine. You should permanently move in with me – after the wedding though!” Cailin teased back since Darren was almost already moved in to her place. “At least we can live there for a while.”

“I hope you don't mind that you will probably be earning more than I do.” Darren seemed a little embarrassed at this statement.

“Darren, it will be both our money. I was never concerned about how much you earn. Your work is so important. It's getting late. Let's head back to the house.”

The two of them were almost back to the stoop of the house when they saw a figure sitting on the steps. Cailin immediately tensed. It was Nick. Darren saw that it was Nick at the same time, and held Cailin a little tighter to make her feel secure.

“Hey there Nick, buddy!” Darren shouted as they neared the stoop.

Nick stood with a big smile on his face. “I'm so glad I caught up with you guys before you went back to Ireland.”

Cailin was not happy to be seeing Nick, but didn't want to cause a scene outside of her parents. “What can we do for you Nick?” she asked curtly.

“Cailin, baby, I know you were hurt when I dumped you, but I think it was the right thing for both of us.” Nick started his speech. “I can see you found the guy who is just right for your temperament.”

Once again Nick was trying to cover, but before Cailin could comment back to Nick, Darren stopped her.

“Nick, my man, you have no idea. She's a handful, but I'm more than up to the challenge. And she's good enough to put up with me too! I can't imagine being with anyone else.” and he turned and smiled at Cailin.

“I just wanted to stop by and apologize for passing out at your party. Guess Darren here is used to pounding them down more than me.” It was difficult for Nick to admit defeat, but he did.

“No problem Nick. It was great craic. Now we've got to get going. Time's running short,” Darren whisked Cailin up the stairs to the front door, and left Nick staring into blank space wondering what just had happened.

Cailin and Darren held their laughter until they were inside the door and out of earshot of Nick. He had been had once again.