My Life in Shambles(94)
“I’m okay,” he admits. “I knew the flight would be rough but I got through it with a lot of melatonin. My vision is fine, like nothing happened, though I do get this blurriness at the corners when I’m tired. And I’m tired all the time. That’s the worst part. The fatigue.”
“Should we stop and rest?” I gesture to a park bench.
He shakes his head. “Nah. I feel better already. It’s probably because I’m with you. You’re the pulse of my heart, Valerie. A tonic to my soul.”
He stops and pulls me to the side of the sidewalk, placing his arms around my waist and pressing me again him. “You’re everything to me.”
And I’m happy. I’m just so fucking happy with this beautiful world of mine.
“Tell me you love me,” I whisper. “Tell me you love me, and I’ll tell you I love you more.”
“I love you, Valerie,” he says softly, his eyes pining me in place, making me feel his words to my very soul, where they grow and grow, like flowers on a vine, wrapping around me, making me feel beautiful.
“And I love you more.”
*
Padraig ends up staying with us for a week.
Right here in my parents’ house.
Squeezed on my old twin bed.
It actually goes pretty amazing, considering everything that happened and how everyone’s relationship seems to be in the middle of being repaired. There was no awkwardness or strained conversations, no faking a smile.
My sisters were there for the weekend, like they promised. We did more of the fun touristy stuff together and even took the train to New York City for the day. Sandra did her best to bug him and be inappropriate, while Angie grilled him until it was almost a sport for her.
But in the end Sandra pulled me aside and said, “If you don’t keep him, I will.” And then Angie pulled me aside and told me she approved and he had groveled enough and if I didn’t head back to Shambles with him soon I was an idiot.
Well, I’m not an idiot.
Or an eejit, either.
The minute I saw Padraig in that coffee shop, I knew that I was going back with him. I had been so deeply hurt by what he did but I also understood why he did it. I know he wasn’t himself and I know it’s still going to be a rough road ahead of us at times, but as Padraig says, may the wind always be at our backs.
“Bye sweetie!” my mother says to me as they drop us off at the airport, bringing me into one last hug while Padraig brings my suitcases out of the car and to the curb. “Remember to call!” she yells in my ear.
“I hear Ireland is real pretty in the summer,” my dad says, hugging me next. “Might be a good time for a visit, wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re welcome anytime,” Padraig says, offering his hand to my dad when he’s done with me, but my dad brings him into a big bear hug which makes Padraig laugh.
I laugh too.
How can I not? How can I be anything but happy right now?
“Have a safe flight,” my mother says to me waving, as they get back into their car. I watch as they drive off, knowing that I will actually miss them this time. But it’s a good feeling to have, knowing you have family out there that loves you, even if it took a long time to come to that realization. Even if they can be shitty sometimes, that love is still there.
“Well, shall we?” Padraig asks. “A new adventure awaits.”
I grin and reach up to kiss him on the cheek. “You know I can’t say no to those.”
Hand in hand we walk through the airport, hearts full, heads high. We’ve got a flight to catch, heading across the Atlantic and back to Ireland.
Back to my life in Shambles.
Epilogue
PADRAIG
One Year and Four Months Later
“May your joys be as bright as the morning, and your sorrows merely shadows that fade in the sunlight of love,” the minister reads to us in his commanding voice that holds hostage the attention of the guests. “May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet, enough trials to keep you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough friends to give you comfort, enough faith and courage in yourself to banish sadness, enough wealth to meet your needs, and one thing more,” He pauses, looking at me, then looking at Valerie. “Enough determination to make each day a more wonderful day than the one before.”
He looks out to the crowd. “May these two have a love that never ends, lots of money, and lots of friends.” He smiles back at us. “Health be yours, whatever you do, and may God send many blessings to you.”
Valerie squeezes my hands even harder than she’s been doing the whole time that we’ve been up here on the altar. I squeeze hers right back, glad that I have no tremors today except for the one in my heart.
It’s our wedding day.
Something I’ve been waiting for, pretty much from the moment I first laid eyes on her. I knew she was something special and I knew I’d be stupid if I let her go. Every night I thank God that she came up to me and took a chance, even if I was the eejit who turned her down, that she came to Ireland with nothing but hope in her heart and the resolve to say yes to new adventures.