Ambush

Chapter 101

When I got home that evening, I enjoyed my Italian dinner cooked by my Irish fiancée.

Seamus’s grace was particularly on point.

Once we were all holding hands, he said, “Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us all to be together here.” He couldn’t help but pause and look over at Juliana. “In God’s name we thank you.”

There was a perfectly synchronized “Amen” said by all the kids, Mary Catherine, and me.

After dinner, when everything was cleaned up and the kids were diligently working on homework assignments, Mary Catherine snuggled up next to me on the couch as I stared out at the lights of the city.

She wrapped an arm around my waist and laid her head on my chest. She said, “Michael, I’m ready to get married.”

That was not something I saw coming. It had been one of the foremost issues on my mind until Antrole’s death. Now, hearing this beautiful woman, whom I loved more than anything, say she wanted to marry me, I was at a loss for words.

She sat up and looked me in the eyes. “I’d like to do it sooner rather than later. In fact, I’d like to get married as soon as possible.”

“Is it because you’re afraid that if we wait, Seamus might not be able to preside? He is looking a little frail.”

“That’s part of it. But you’re the rest. You and the kids. I love you, and I can’t think of anything I’d want more than to be married to you and raise these kids.”

I sat up and kissed her. We kissed so long that the kids started to make noises from the dining room, where they were doing their homework. Chrissy said she might be sick. That meant it was a good kiss.

And it wouldn’t be the last one these kids saw.