A.J

 

Rae just stood there and stared at him for what felt like the longest time. A.J held his breath. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, and he was afraid that he had made a mistake coming to her home like this. Maybe it was too soon. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and it almost broke A.J’s heart.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, without saying a single word, Rae hurried forward and threw her arms around his neck. A.J instantly wrapped her in his arms and held her close to him.

“I can’t believe you came,” she whispered as she sobbed softly against his neck.

“Of course I came,” A.J breathed out, as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You are the only thing that makes sense to me, Rae. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she sobbed a little harder and held him tighter. “I’m sorry for the things that I have said to you. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean a single word. I was just angry and confused, but I didn’t mean what I said.”

“I know you didn’t,” he assured her as he released her from his embrace, and took her face in his hands. “But none of that matters now. Just tell me that I haven’t lost you, Rae. Tell me I’m not too late.”

“You’re not too late,” she cried as she looked up into his eyes. “You could never lose me, but promise me, that you will never leave me again.”

“I give you my word,” A.J smiled at her. “From now on, it’s you and me.”

He pulled her to him once more, and softly pressed his lips to her. It was everything that A.J had hoped it would be and more.

When he woke up the morning after he reached Stan’s house, Rae was all A.J could think about. In fact, she had been in his head all night, and sleep had come in short, restless periods.

Stan had managed to get him booked onto a flight that night, but it felt like an eternity to A.J to wait. He was just desperate to get on the plane and go to Rae. His plan was to do whatever it took to get her to come back. It seemed simple enough.

Well it was until the plane touched down in Dublin, and suddenly the realisation of what he was doing finally hit him, and he was worried he was making the biggest mistake of his life.

But now he was here and she was in his arms, he knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Rae finally stepped back from his embrace, and smiled up at him. Reaching for his hand she released a deep breath and her smile widened.

“I guess you should come in,” Rae said with a smile, without taking her eyes from him. It was almost like she really couldn’t believe that he was there, and if A.J was honest, he couldn’t believe it himself. But he was, and she was happy to see him, so nothing else mattered to him. They were back together, and this time, he was not going to let her go.

A little over two hours later, the front door opened, and a voice called out from the hallway.

“It’s just us, Sweetheart,” a man’s voice came through the living room door. The moment Rae heard the voice, she sat up straight in her chair, and a worried look filled her face. She looked at A.J and gave him a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and he had no idea what was wrong.

The door opened and an older man walked into the room, followed closely by three younger men. The moment he saw Rae, his face lit up, and the sadness that was in his eyes, disappeared for a moment.

A.J recognised him from the photos Rae had in her room back in San Francisco. It was her father. He instantly stood up as Gerry’s eyes met his.

“I’m sorry,” Gerry said, as he gave A.J a cautious smile. “I didn’t realise we had company.”

“Dad, this is A.J,” Rae said as she too stood up. “I work with him back in San Francisco.”

“A.J, you say,” Gerry said as his face registers a spark of recognition, before he realises who A.J actually was. “Oh I remember now. It’s Father Alex. I seem to remember your mother mentioning him several times.”

Gerry held out his hand to A.J and gave him a warm smile.

“It’s very kind of you to have come all this way, Father,” Gerry said as A.J shook his hand. “I’m sure it means a lot to Rachel, and I know her mother would be very grateful too.”

“It’s my pleasure, sir,” A.J said as he gave Rae a nervous look. He realised that while he had been so worried about what Stan would say to him; he had never really considered Rae would be worried about telling her parents. Or at least now, her father.

It made sense that she would be. She had been raised Catholic, and while she wasn’t really a practising one any longer, her parents were. A.J had no idea how her father would react to her falling in love with a priest, but he was pretty sure he was about to find out.

“They must think a lot of you in that school, Pet,” Gerry said, giving Rae a look of pride. “To have the Father here, come all this way.”

“A.J didn’t come because of the school, Dad,” Rae said as she took a step closer to A.J, and slipped her hand into his. “He came because he loves me.”

For a moment there wasn’t a sound in the room. A.J and Rae just stood there as her father, and her three brothers stared at them both in complete disbelief.

“Maybe I should go make some coffee,” Daisy said as she stood up, and gave Rae a reassuring smile before she turned to Rae’s brothers. “Maybe you guys could help me.”

A.J could feel the nervous energy emanate from Rae, and he wondered if he had completely fucked things up by just turning up like he had.

“What do you mean, he loves you?” Gerry asked once they were alone in the room.

“I mean he loves me, and I love him,” Rae replied, her voice suddenly so small and timid as her hand slipped from his. “A.J and I are together.”

“A.J and you….A.J AND YOU!!” Gerry exclaimed. “RACHEL, HE’S A PRIEST!!”

“I know what he is dad,” Rae shot back impatiently. “I’m not stupid.”

“Right now, I’m not so sure about that,” Gerry sighed as he looked at his daughter in disbelief. “Of all the men in San Francisco…ALL THE MEN, and you fall in love with the one man you can’t have.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Rae exclaimed, as her voice crack with unshed tears. “But it did, and he is who I love…”

“This needs to stop,” Gerry insisted as he pushed his hands through his hair, and blew out a long frustrated breath. “This is wrong. He is a man of the cloth…”

“I’m not anymore,” A.J offered but the minute the words were out, he knew he should have just kept his mouth shut. Gerry pinned him with a look that told him not to push it.

“With all due respect, Father Alex,” Gerry said, putting an emphasis on the father part of the sentence. “I would advise you to say nothing right now. I was raised to respect men of the cloth, and I really don’t want to break that rule by beating the shite out of you right now.”

“DAD!” Rae exclaimed. “Are you listening to yourself? We have done nothing wrong here. I am a grown woman. I know what I’m doing. Why are you being like this?”

“Rachel, this is not up for discussion,” Gerry sighed as he turned back to his daughter. “This is against everything you were raised to believe. I’m just glad your mother isn’t here to see this.”

Rae didn’t reply, but the look of hurt on her face said enough. She stared at her father, and A.J knew her mind was racing with so many responses.

“Maybe I should leave,” A.J said as he turned to Rae knowing that maybe this was the best thing he could do. Rae needed to sort things with her father, and him being there was clearly not helping in anyway. “Perhaps my coming here was a bad idea.”

“I think that would be best,” Gerry said as he sat down on the sofa without looking at either Rae or A.J. “I would like to talk to my daughter in private, thank you very much.”

“What? No!” Rae exclaimed. “I don’t want him to go, anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him. That’s just how it is now.”

“Rae, it’s fine. Right now you need your family,” A.J insisted as he turned to look at her. He gave her a knowing smile and reached for her hand once more. “You need each other to get through the next few days. But everything will be okay. I promise.”

“No,” Rae cried and tears trickled down her face, before she turned to her father. “Dad, please, tell him that he doesn’t have to leave.”

“I can’t do that, Rachel,” Gerry said without looking at his daughter. “He’s a priest, and this is wrong.”

“Rae, it’s okay,” A.J assured her, knowing that this was the right thing to do. “Everything will be okay, I promise you. Right now you need to work through things with your father. My being here will just make that harder. I will talk to you tomorrow. I promise you.”

He kissed her on the forehead and turned towards the door.

“Daddy, please,” Rae begged her father. “If you love me, you will see past all your disapproval and see that he makes me happy. For the first time since everything that happened with Dean….I am happy. Please!”

Gerry didn’t reply. He didn’t even look at Rae, he just stared ahead as tears danced in his eyes. AJ knew that the man was completely torn between doing what he believe to be the right thing, and his love for his daughter.

“Please, Dad,” Rae begged as she dropped down to her knees in front of her father, hot tears continued to flow freely down her face. A.J wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and hold her tight, but he knew that would just make things worse.

“I need to go,” A.J said knowing if he didn’t leave then, he would say something that would only make everything so much worse. He was angry with her father; angry for Rae.

Taking a deep breath, he headed out of the door, and out of the house. It was killing him to walk away from Rae once more, but this time he had no doubt that this was the right thing to do.

As A.J made his way down the front garden, his heart ached in his chest, and he prayed for the strength to just walk away from her, when every fiber of his being wanted to march back into the house and protect her from any more hurt and sadness. He had just reached the front gate when Rae came to the front door.

“So you’re just going to walk away again?” She asked as she stepped down from the front door and took a couple of steps towards him. A.J could hear the hurt in her voice, and he cringed that he had upset her once more. “After everything, you’re just leaving again.”

“No!” A.J exclaimed as he quickly turned back to face Rae. “Of course I’m not walking away. I’m just giving you some space. Rae, I know how much you love me, and I know that you’re angry with your dad. But you’ve just lost your mom, and I’m afraid that if I stay here, you will lose your dad too.”

“But you’re running,” Rae said as she gave him a confused look. “When you should stay and fight. I love my dad, I really do. But I need to do what’s right for me. I need to fight for what I believe in. I believe in us.”

“I don’t want to make things harder for you,” A.J said as he stepped closer to her. “But I promise I am not running. I will never run again.”

“Then don’t leave,” Rae pleaded. “I need you to stay.”

“You’re dad doesn’t want me here,” A.J sighed, but he knew there was nothing to say to make her understand why he thought he should leave. She just saw it as him walking away again, and it was killing him.

“Then I will come with you,” Rae said, surprising him completely as she closed the distance between them. “I won’t let you walk away again. I can’t.”

A.J wrapped her in his arms and held her close to him.

“Rae,” Gerry said from the doorway of the house. A.J released her from his embrace, and she turned to face her father as he stepped down from the front porch too. “I’m not going to stand here and say I understand what is happening. I don’t. To me this is all fucking mad. He is a priest and you, well you are my little girl.”

“But I love him,” Rae said as she looked at her father. “I need you to try and understand that.”

“I know you do,” Gerry sighed. “And I’m not saying I approve. I don’t. But I love you too much to hurt you anymore. I just want you happy.”

“A.J makes me happy,” Rae replied as she took a tentative step back towards him.

“Then he is welcome in my home,” Gerry said, before he looked towards A.J. “I stand by what I said. You’re a man of the cloth, and I don’t approve of this. But I love my daughter, and all I want is to see her happy.”

“That’s all I want too, sir,” A.J said as he stepped closer to Rae and her father.

“Then we will say no more about it,” Gerry said as he offered A.J his hand, and A.J took hold of it and gave it a firm handshake. “I guess you should come back into the house. You’re Rae’s guest, and you are very welcome.”

A.J nodded and smiled, as Rae reached for his hand, and led him back into the house. He knew this was going to be hard, but just maybe everything was going to work out in the end.