Claddagh and Chaos (16 page)

She lifted her left hand and pointed to the cabinet under the sink. I opened the door and sure enough, there were several home pregnancy tests and a box of tampons.

Once Christi had her vomiting under control, I left her in the bathroom to pee on the little stick. It was the longest three minutes I had ever waited through in my life. When she emerged from the bathroom with a smile, I rushed to her and hugged her tight.

“We’re pregnant, Patrick. Our children will be Irish twins.”

Eight months later ...

“Christi, I know you need to push, but just hold it till I can get my gloves on.”

While Christi’s first pregnancy had been a breeze, this pregnancy had not. She was sick for the first four months, then had to watch her diet as she had developed gestational diabetes. Christi was a rock star, vowing to do anything to make sure this baby was healthy. The one thing that was like the first pregnancy was that she was delivering quickly.

“Okay, Christi, let’s get this baby out.”

Christi had called me back home not long after I’d left for work this morning. Just as I was getting her into the car, her water broke. I told her to close her eyes as I drove like a bat out of hell to get her here. Once I had her in the doors, the nurse rushed her to delivery and ten minutes later, we were about to meet our second son for the first time.

I watched Christi’s face turn red and she nearly took my hand off with her grip.

“Here he is ...”

My attention turned to the tiny pink and screaming, perfect baby who now rested on Christi’s stomach. I watched as Christi took her hand and rubbed his tiny head.

“Hello, Connor, happy birthday.” Christi spoke, although clearly out of breath.

“Patrick, do you want to cut the cord?” Her doctor stood at the end of the bed between my wife’s legs. Her hand was extended toward me, scissors waiting for me to take. With a shaky hand, I took them, cutting the umbilical cord and severing the tie he’d had to Christi for the past nine months. I watched as they took him across the room and began to clean and weigh him.

“Eight pounds, ten ounces.”

I smiled as I bent down and kissed my wife. Her hair was stuck to her forehead and I brushed it off before placing more kisses there. “Thank you,” I whispered to her.

“For what?”

“For your faith in me, for giving me two perfect sons, and for saying yes.”

I watched as a tear rolled down her face, I kissed it away.

“Well, then, thank you for asking me.”

Her eyes were bright with love and happiness. I could only smile back knowing I put that look on her face. I loved her with every cell in my body.

“Are you ready for the next one yet?” I jokingly questioned her.

“Hell no! You keep that baby making thing away from me. I want to enjoy the two we have before we plan any more.”

I could do that. As much as I loved my wife pregnant, I would give her time with our boys.

EVERYONE’S HEARD THE PHRASE, “KIDS say the darndest things.” Christi’s and my two were no exception. Mouth and Megan had fallen hard for each other. It wasn’t long before he moved her and her son, Lucas, into his house. He insisted she go back to school and finish her degree. Lucas had called Mouth daddy from day one. Mouth hired a private investigator and found Lucas’s biological father. He and Tonto went to visit him and convinced him to terminate his parental rights. I’d never seen a happier man than Mouth on the day he adopted Lucas. Two years later, Megan had finished her degree and they were ready to expand their family.

Since Megan wasn’t Catholic, she chose to have their wedding in Ma’s backyard. The ladies in our family went to work and turned the backyard into a wedding paradise, my wife’s words, not mine. Abby had just turned seven and was a junior bridesmaid. Lucas and Declan were best of friends, and while Lucas walked Megan down the aisle, Declan was the ringbearer. It was during that time when children witnessed someone doing something wrong, that they felt the need to tell their parents.

Declan had insisted he and Lucas would stand beside the “big guys” during the ceremony. Christi had assured me that it wasn’t a big deal as long as they behaved. Everything had gone really well with the boys until the minister said, “Do you take Megan to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Mouth didn’t even get the opportunity to respond before Declan yelled, “Mommy, that man said Auntie Megan is awful! That’s not nice; he has to sit in time out.”

Everyone laughed for several minutes, while Declan got very angry. I had to take him aside and explain why everyone thought that was funny.

About a year later, Christi got very sick and it just so happened to be Father’s Day. I had been taking care of the boys for her and letting her rest. On that morning, however, I woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to get up and get some work done. I went downstairs, found that the kitchen light was on, and I could hear voices. I crept around the corner to find my two sons buck naked, flour and eggs all over the floor. They had two bowls between their legs and they were mixing the contents while they sat on the floor. When I asked them what they were doing naked on the kitchen floor, they looked me in the eye and Declan said, “Mommy doesn’t let us cook unless we have play clothes on. We didn’t want Mommy to get mad if we got pancakes on our pajamas.” I couldn’t even be mad at them. I helped them clean up the mess and together we made breakfast for Christi. That was by far one of the best Father’s Days I had ever had, also because we found out Christi had been sick because she was pregnant again.

Growing up, Declan was exactly like me. Anything I did, he wanted to do. Connor, on the other hand, was a person unto his own. He loved to read and discover things. He would catch bugs and then study them. He would watch television, not for the cartoons; he enjoyed the educational channels, such as the Discovery and History channels. Christi always encouraged him.

When Christi gave birth to Katie, the boys were none too happy to have a girl in the family. Declan said he would’ve rather had a new toy than a sister, and Connor, he wouldn’t go anywhere near the baby. They had even asked Ma how to send her back because they didn’t want a baby sister.

One afternoon, I had to stop by the house. I walked into the family room to find Declan and Connor sitting in front of the fireplace with baby Katie lying at their feet. When I questioned them as to what they were doing, they said they had sent an email to Santa and since he had worker elves, they thought he could have Katie. I took my children in my arms and explained we loved all of them, and one day they would do everything in their power to protect their little sister. We never told Christi about that one, I feared she would never sleep again.

Even though they were so young, I had no doubt they remembered my words from that day. Katie was in first grade when a little boy in Connor’s class pulled her hair and then pushed her down on the playground. Connor was playing nearby and saw the entire thing happen. He called out for Declan, who helped Katie up off the ground while Connor walked over and punched the kid in the nose. Christi was called to the principal’s office, she in turn called me when she learned what had happened. I took Connor to the side and had a talk with him. Many parents would have disagreed with what I told him, but he was a Malloy and he might run this family one day. I told him I was proud of him for sticking up for his little sister, however, not to go around punching people for sport.

I gave credit to Declan and Connor for making Katie the tough-as-nails woman she was today. Her brothers had no problem picking on her or teasing her, they just wouldn’t let other children do it. Our children had a bond I could not possibly put into words. It was more than just protection; it was honor and courage. It had no boundaries and for them it was real.

Declan never dated anyone Connor had feelings for and the same was true for Connor. Both of my sons valued Katie’s opinion when it came to the young ladies they chose. Declan’s first year at college, he brought home this nice young lady, Sasha. Katie hated her from the moment she walked through the door. Declan broke up with her when they returned to school. Connor was talking to my father one Sunday afternoon about a young lady he wanted to bring to meet the family. My father assured him he was certain Christi would love her. Connor had responded, “Mom is pure of heart, she loves everyone. Katie’s the one I worry about. She can see the kind of character a person really has.” So when Declan brought his Katie home to meet the family, we all waited with bated breath as our Katie said hello to her. When the two Katie’s hugged each other, we knew she was the one for Declan. He proposed several months later.

When Connor was seventeen, he came to my office one afternoon asking for Muscles. Muscles followed him outside and when he returned with Connor in tow, I knew something was wrong. Connor later confessed he had overheard some of the guys talking in the locker room, and the guy his sister, Katie, had gone out with the previous weekend had tried to get her to have sex with him. When she told him no, he began spreading rumors about her. Connor had decided to key the guy’s car and slash his tires. He wanted the name of a good repair shop so the kid could get his car fixed. Connor had no issues paying for the damage, but he told the little punk if he tried that shit again, it would be more than his car that was damaged. I never told Connor, but I called the auto place and paid the bill. I placed the money Connor had paid in an envelope and gave it to a women’s shelter.

Our children weren’t always perfect little angels, far from it, actually. One event that stood out was when Declan had turned sixteen. He’d gotten in trouble at school and Christi decided that he would lose his car for two weeks. We were having dinner at my parent’s house that night when my father asked Declan how he liked his car. Da had given all the grandchildren a car for their sixteenth birthday. It wasn’t brand new, but it was safe and in good working order. Declan decided to spread his wings by opening his mouth that evening, a choice he would regret his entire life.

Declan answered his grandfather by saying, “Mom took away my keys, the stupid bitch.” He spoke the latter under his breath, or so he thought. I didn’t remember who jumped up quicker, myself or Da, but Declan suddenly found himself six inches off the floor by the collar of his shirt, with both his angry father and grandfather in his face telling him how to speak properly to the women in his life. Da was so enraged, he took the car and sold it. It was an entire year before Declan saved enough money to buy one on his own. Not a day passed after that where he didn’t kiss Christi and tell her he loved her.

The moment that stood out the most in my memory didn’t happen when the kids were little, it happened when our daughter was twenty-three. Ma had just found out she had breast cancer. Once the children were told, they came home and insisted on going to the hospital to see their grandmother. I watched from the door as all three of them climbed into her hospital bed and wrapped their arms around her. Katie placed a kiss to Ma’s cheek and said, “Nana, when we were little, you’d always pick us up, dust us off, and ask us where we hurt. You’d kiss the spot and tell us it was all better. Tell us where it hurts, Nana, so we can kiss it and make it better.” Ma beat breast cancer. She swore it was because of the kids’ kisses.

I STOOD IN MY KITCHEN, tired and feeling a bit sentimental, slowly stirring my cup of tea. I closed my eyes and began to remember the happy moments that had happened in this room over the years ...

The first morning Patrick came down those stairs, found me making him breakfast, and how he took his time thanking me. The many dinners I cooked for him and our kids. I turned to the sink and looked out into the backyard; the wooden swing set still stood as proud as the day Patrick had put it together. If those timbers of wood and steel could talk, the secrets it would reveal. The backyard where we held many birthday parties, cookouts, and Sunday afternoon football games still looked the same.

I remembered the camping trip Declan and Connor planned when they were six. They wanted to do it alone, no help from their daddy or grandpa. I smiled as I remembered them heading into the house once the sun set, they’d had enough, and wanted dinner and to watch television.