O Come, All Ye Kellys (Love & Luck #7) - Isla Olsen
1
Aileen Kelly: Change of plans everyone! Brendan and Wade will be home with the baby in a few hours so we’re relocating to their house for the Christmas party
Cait Kelly reply to Aileen Kelly: Um…are you sure they’ll be okay with all of us just inviting ourselves over?
Aileen Kelly reply to Cait Kelly: Of course, why wouldn’t they be?
Cait Kelly reply to Aileen Kelly: Because they have a brand new baby! Maybe they want to spend some time alone with her?
Aileen Kelly reply to Cait Kelly: Don’t be ridiculous, they’ll be thrilled to see us all! Besides Baxter will want to meet his new sister
Connor Kelly: Did they really call her Arya?
Aileen Kelly reply to Connor Kelly: Yes. It’s pretty, isn’t it?
Liam Kelly: Are they expecting her to grow up and slay the Night King?
Declan Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: I think that’s their hope
Finn Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: DUDE! Spoilers!!
Liam Kelly reply to Finn Kelly: *eye roll emoji* Trust me man, I didn’t spoil anything
Shay Kelly: I’m all for meeting the new tyke but how are we going to have a proper party at Brendan’s? Won’t the baby need sleep?
Aileen Kelly reply to Shay Kelly: Anyone who wants to continue on can come back to our place later
Alannah Martin-Kelly reply to Aileen Kelly: Where is the eggnog going to be?
Aileen Kelly reply to Alannah Martin-Kelly: I’ve made two batches so there’s one for each house
Connor Kelly: Has Da made the mulled wine?
Aileen Kelly reply to Connor Kelly: He’s making it now
Bridie Kelly: Oh god, can someone please keep my husband away from Dad’s wine! I swear our bathroom tiles still have a pink tinge to them after he spewed all over them last year
Liam Kelly reply to Bridie Kelly: Eww that’s disgusting I use that bathroom occasionally! I don’t need to be thinking about Mark spewing red guk all over the place when I’m trying to drop a deuce!
Bridie Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: I DON’T NEED YOU TO BE DROPPING A DEUCE IN MY BATHROOM!
Connor Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: Why are you pooping at Bridie’s place “occasionally”?
Liam Kelly reply to Connor Kelly: We’re doing a complete remodel of the house two doors down from theirs and her bathroom is way nicer than the porta potty. Of course that was before I knew about Mark spewing all over the floor
Bridie Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: YOU BREAK INTO MY HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY JUST TO TAKE A DUMP???
Liam Kelly reply to Bridie Kelly: Jeez calm down woman. I don’t break in, I know where the key is
Bridie Kelly reply to Liam Kelly: What? How?
Declan Kelly reply to Bridie Kelly: Everyone knows where the key is Brides
Cait Kelly: In the turtle
Owen Kelly: It’s in the turtle
Finn Kelly reply to Bridie Kelly: No one keeps an ugly turtle on their doorstep unless it’s to hide a key!
2
Finn
* * *
When I get to the address Mom gave me for my brother Brendan’s new place—well, new in the sense that I haven’t had a chance to visit since he and his boyfriend moved in about nine months ago—I have to do a couple laps of the street before I can find somewhere to park; it seems we’re not the only people in this street having a holiday party tonight. There is a free spot in the driveway, but according to a phone call I got about twenty minutes ago from my oldest brother, Shay, Brendan and Wade haven’t arrived home yet and I’m not going to be the asshole who takes their parking space and makes them walk halfway up the street with a newborn baby. Especially when it’s fucking freezing out.
I get out of the car and pull on my coat before slamming the driver door and crossing the wet road over to the side of the street that Brendan’s house is on. My feet crunch over old snow as I travel down the sidewalk, eventually arriving at my brother’s house.
It’s a nice little brick house that Brendan renovated himself; it actually previously belonged to Wade’s grandmother and had been sitting unused for years after copping quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Sandy. But it looks great now; although it’s a lot smaller than my parents’ place—which is only a few streets away—so it’ll be interesting to see how the entire Kelly family actually fit in the smaller area.
I press the doorbell and it’s answered by Liam, one of my other brothers—I have seven—who seems to have