I loved to watch Em sleep. It was the most peaceful thing in the world to watch her pulse tick gently at her throat while her chest moved slowly up and down. Every protective instinct in me flared to life, like my body knew she was at her most vulnerable and it was my job to protect her.
Usually I could watch her sleep for hours. Usually. Today I paced back and forth in front of the bed waiting for her to open her eyes. I’d already been for a five-mile run to burn off some excess energy but it hadn’t worked. What if she didn’t like it? Today was her twenty-first birthday. I’d spent my twenty-first in a series of bars and fuck knows where after that. I had no memory after the first ten pints. Sunshine’s birthday was going to be different though. With everything that had gone down this year, she needed a day filled with happiness, and I was going to give it to her. Her flushed, warm cheeks dimpled as she grinned, amused by my excitement.
“Happy birthday, baby,” I whispered.
“Best birthday ever,” she replied.
“How do you know? You’ve only just woken up,” I asked.
“Because it’s the first birthday I’ve ever woken up with you,” she told me.
God, sometimes it’s like she reached into my chest and held my heart in her hand, just to remind me why it belonged to her.
Her answer was rewarded with another lingering kiss before I bounded from the bed to the kitchenette, full of excitement and restless energy. I opened the oven and put the pastries I had warming on a plate, then placed them on the tray next to the expensive coffee I prayed was still hot. Frowning down, I figured the tray needed something fancy like a flower or something. Grabbing a couple of paper towels off the countertop, I folded them origami style into a sailboat and placed it next to the pastries. Placing the folded tea towel over my arm in my best imitation of a butler, I turned to look at her.
“Ma’am, breakfast is served.”
I’d like to say I walked the tray through to the breakfast room but our flat was so tiny that you were literally in the bedroom/living room if you turned around in the kitchenette.
Giggling in delight she sat up against the pillows and groaned sexily when she poured the coffee.
“This is wonderful. I can’t believe you did this,” she squealed in delight.
“I’ll be back in a minute, love,” I told her. Placing a kiss on her forehead, I disappeared to get everything ready. When I came back breakfast was over, and she was in the kitchenette washing dishes.
“Hey! None of that. It’s your birthday. No one washes dishes on their birthday.”
“It’s just another day, O’Connell.” She laughed and I growled at her for not wanting more for herself today. I love that, even growling I didn’t intimidate her. Mostly my acting tough just made her giggle or roll her eyes. We’d come a long way since our spectacular showdown and were closer for it. I sat down on the bed and pulled her by her wrist to sit down on my lap. Pulling a box from behind my back, I placed it in her hands. Her eyes instantly welled up, and all my fears evaporated. It didn’t matter what was in the box. She’d love it anyway. She was tracing her fingers over the ribbon reverently.
“Are you going to open that or stare at it all day?” I asked, amused.
She wound her hand around the base of my neck and kissed me gently, then carefully peeled away the ribbon and tape. I swear to God, I was about to rip open the damn thing myself if she took much longer. Finally she slid off the lid to reveal a silver locket.
“Oh, O’Connell. It’s breathtaking.” She sighed wondrously.
“Open it up,” I told her. Inside was a tiny, perfectly sized picture. Danny was in the center looking pretty pissed off, Liam was smirking, Kieran was grinning, Tommy was pulling a face, and I was smiling as I thought about what my girl would think when she saw this. To get all of us in the locket picture, we had to squeeze around Danny. We looked like a scary arse version of the Brady Bunch. Em burst out laughing when she saw it.
“This is wonderful,” she told me. “How on earth did you get them all to sit for it?”
“I asked Danny to do it, and he told me to fuck off. Pleading and begging didn’t work, and finally Kieran asked him what he had bought you for your birthday. Danny went a bit green and told me he’d sit for one picture and give me fifty pounds if I let him say it was a joint present.”
“I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when it was being taken. I really can’t imagine Danny doing this, even for me,” she said with a laugh.
“Kieran and Tommy fucked about so much, Danny was just about hoarse from telling them off when the picture was taken. He told the photographer he’d stay for one shot, after that Kieran and Tommy wouldn’t have been in it anyway because he would have murdered them. That was the picture, and the photo people sized it down enough to fit in your locket.”
“Thank you so much, love. I’ll treasure it. But you shouldn’t have spent so much money on me.”
“I spent exactly the limit we set for birthdays. The boys all chipped in so I even managed to get a couple of odds and ends in.” She stared at it, running her finger gently across the picture. “It’s a Celtic family locket. You got us in one picture, and I’ve left the other one blank. You know. In case we ever have kids.”
She bit her lip, and her eyes teared up. She handed me the locket as she lifted her hair and secured it around her neck. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to her feet and toward the bathroom.
“Time to get dressed. There’s one more thing you need to see,” I told her and with a quick kiss and a tap on the arse, I left her to get ready.
* * *
“Okay. Open your eyes. What do you think?” I took my hands away and let her look. This was almost as nerve-wracking as asking her to marry me. Back then I was asking her to forget all the crap surrounding me and imagine a better version who’d made something of himself. I was asking her to take a chance on me. Now I was doing the same with this house. Tommy was right. It was a shit hole. But when I was done, it would be a palace. A home for the two of us no one could ever take away. I stared at her expression, looking for any sign at all about how she felt.
“I love it,” she whispered, looking up at it in awe. I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“I know it doesn’t look like much now, but imagine if I cleared out and repaired the front garden, put in new windows and new fencing. Liam and I have gone over this place inch by inch, and the roof is sound. With a bit of hard work, it’ll look great.”
I was rambling now. She’d already agreed to it, so I have no idea why I was giving her the hard sell.
“Can we afford it?” she asked, her eyes full of wonder.
“It’d take all our money and then some. But I’ve worked out a loan with Danny for what we need, and we can pay him back with the rent money we’ll save on our flat. We’ll have to fix it up on a budget but the boys have offered to help with the labor.”
With a squeal she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me loudly. “I can’t believe you found this place. It’s going to be amazing! I know I can’t do any building work but I can clean, strip wallpaper, and paint,” she babbled excitedly. “Ooow, we could go and get some paint samples today,” she suggested.
“We haven’t even had an offer accepted yet,” I pointed out with a chuckle.
“I know, but there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead. Can we look inside?”
“Sure. The agent is meeting us in a few minutes to show us around. It’s pretty rough inside, but the rooms are a nice size. You just have to use your imagination.”
“I can do that,” she whispered as she smiled at me adoringly. Her eyes were full of everything I’d felt when I’d first seen the place, and I knew she was imagining our future in a real home of our own. My heart was so full I felt invincible. The way she was looking at me, you’d think I’d built this place brick by brick myself. I’d spend the rest of the day trailing after her doing whatever she liked just to keep that look. With another squeal she covered my face in tiny kisses, making me laugh, until a discrete cough sounded behind us.
“Are you here for the viewing?” a skinny kid who looked about my age asked.
“Yes, please,” Em answered. She was lit up inside and practically radiated happiness. People couldn’t help but be charmed by her natural warmth, and he was no exception. He smiled broadly at her and with a wink said, “Let’s go and check it out.” My crossed arms and fierce glare told him that I wouldn’t tolerate another wink, and he got the message as he messed around with the keys nervously. Rolling her eyes Em pulled on my arms until I uncrossed them and clasped her fingers between mine. She was used to me getting territorial around her but she really had no idea how many hungry looks followed her around. The agent used his shoulder to push open the front door, past a mountain of junk mail, then fussed about brushing the dirt and paint chips off his suit. The previous owner really had gone to town with a baseball bat, and literally everything would need replacing but it didn’t matter. The more we looked, the more Em fell in love. By the time we were done, there were stars in her eyes. Having realized that flirting with Em was hazardous to his health, the agent couldn’t get out of there quick enough. He told us to call the office if we wanted to make an offer. “I’ll be in touch,” I promised him menacingly, mostly just to fuck with him, but he practically wet himself as he hightailed it back to his car. Em was so caught up in the house she didn’t notice. It was going to be a hell of a day.
* * *
“Can we stop by the gym on the way home?” I asked her. “I forgot to grab my dirty kit, and my wraps need washing and drying by tomorrow.”
“Sure” she replied, happily. I looked at my watch and slowed my steps a little. Kieran was expecting us at five o’clock, and I didn’t want to mess up the surprise by getting there too early. From a distance I could see Tommy standing century at the door, though Em was too busy chatting about paint colors to notice him. He lifted his hand in a wave to me then hurried inside. I opened the door of the gym and stood behind her as she climbed up the stairs. She still didn’t notice that anything was amiss until the boys shouted “surprise.” Kieran yanked on a rope, pulling back the net they’d tacked to the ceiling and dozens of colorful balloons rained down on us. I’d warned Tommy and Kieran both that I’d kick their arses if this surprise had turned out to be shite. I seriously owed them one for the fantastic job they’d done, though it probably hadn’t hurt that Tommy’s ma, Mary, had been on hand to oversee the proceedings. The room fell silent as everyone looked to Em who burst into big, fat, ugly tears.
“Shit, I knew she wouldn’t like it,” Tommy said.
“Well, it ain’t my fault. I told Con we should ’ave got her one of them sexy male strippers like in Magic Mike,” Kieran replied.
“Magic Mike,” breathed Mary wistfully, looking a bit flushed. I bit back a smile as Tommy and Kieran grimaced at Mary, horrified at the thought of one of their ma’s getting horny over Channing Tatum.
Rubbing Em’s back as she buried her face into my chest, I knew these were happy tears. As usual Mary was the first to barrel over with a hug.
“Come on now, lovely girl. No more tears on your birthday,” Mary admonished as she peeled Em off me and stole her for a hug.
“Thank you all so much,” Em told everyone, smiling through the tears. “I can’t believe you all did this!”
“We did the balloons,” Tommy said, indicating himself and Kieran with a big grin.
“That right?” Liam asked him, and Tommy’s dad didn’t look too happy at being left out either.
Rolling his eyes, Tommy mumbled, “We may ’ave had help.”
“You’ve all done a wonderful job. I love it,” she praised them, giving each of them a hug and a big kiss. For the first time, possibly ever, I didn’t get territorial about her showing affection to the lads. Happiness practically radiated from her, and I knew, watching her work her way around the gym, that she wouldn’t be back by my side until she’d said hello and thanked everyone in the room.
A few hours later and I collared Kieran as he was wrestling with Tommy over the last chocolate cupcake. He had Tommy in a headlock as I reminded him we were meeting in Brady’s at ten o’clock. “No problem. I’m sharing a taxi with the guys so we’ll meet you in the downstairs bar,” he told me.
“Earnshaw still coming?” I asked, still feeling guilty about acting like a complete eejit toward him.
“Yeah, but he’s bringing his kid sister so he’ll meet us there.”
“Seriously, arsehole, you’re cutting off the blood supply to my brain,” complained Tommy as he tried to get enough leverage to punch Kieran in the kidney.
“How’ll you know if it does any damage?” Kier taunted back.
“Fuck you! Let go, and you can have the last fucking cake, lard arse,” Tommy said.
“You snooze, you lose ladies,” Liam muttered as he reached behind them both for the cake and devoured it in two bites.
“Motherfucker,” Kieran exclaimed, slack-jawed at Liam’s audacity. He let Tom go and they both scowled at Liam before pouncing on him. Liam was a big fucker, and instead of taking him down as they intended, he just dragged them both across the floor. Rolling my eyes at the losers, I said my good-byes and grabbed my girl.
“Wait!” Kieran yelled as Em was kissing Mary good-bye. Most people had gone, and I frowned trying to work out what he wanted with Em. Liam reached under the table to grab a box. It looked like a toddler had gotten hold of paper and tape and had decided to cover the whole thing as much as they could before it ran out.
“This is from all of us at Driscoll’s,” Liam told her. Em bit her lip and said nothing and I knew she was trying not to cry again. She handled the parcel reverently as she searched for a gap in the tape. Seeing there wasn’t one, she reached into her pocket for her keychain with the fold-out scissors.
“You are seriously the most organized woman I’ve ever met,” Kieran joked.
“Come on, Em. Hurry up,” Tommy grumbled.
“Why are you rushing her? You already know what’s in there,” Kieran retorted.
“I wanna know if she likes it,” Tommy argued.
“Why wouldn’t she like it? It’s a brilliant idea.”
“Oh my God,” Em whispered. I was so focused on the two arsehats arguing that I hadn’t realized that she’d already opened it. Peering over her shoulder, I saw her pull out the emerald green robe that matched my own. The words “Mrs. The Hurricane” were emblazoned on the back in thick black letters.
“It’s silk, mind, so you’ll have to be careful not to get stains on it,” Tommy informed her matter-of-factly, watching her cheeks color.
“Way to fuck up a really good present,” Liam chimed in, smacking Tommy on the arm.
“Oww! That really hurt,” Tommy moaned.
“Man up,” Liam said with a chuckle.
“Thank you so much guys. I love it,” she told them and, handing me the box, wrapped her tiny arms around all three of them.
“Well, you know,” Kieran said with a shrug, as they all hugged her back, “you’re our girl. Happy birthday, Sunshine.”