O Come, All Ye Kellys (Love & Luck #7) - Isla Olsen Page 0,27

am I the ridiculous one in this relationship?”

I grab my Kindle from my nightstand and relax back on the bed. But I’ve only managed to read a couple pages when Dec appears in the bedroom doorway, a contrite expression on his face. “I’m sorry. I was being an ass.” He comes toward the bed and I move over a little so he can sit down. Looking deep into my eyes, he says, “I really appreciate the thought. And I love that you’re thinking about our future. I’m just worried this might be too much for us right now.”

I send him a beseeching look. “Will you at least come and look at the place?” I know as soon as he sees it he’ll fall completely in love and that’ll be that.

Dec lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ll think about it.”

* * *

“Have you picked names yet?” My mom asks as we dig into the Chinese food later in the day.

“If they have they’re not telling,” Lila grumbles. “They’re like Fort Knox when it comes to that info.”

And the reason for that is because we still haven’t settled on anything. Considering how easily Declan and I have always clicked, you’d think deciding baby names would be relatively easy. But no. It seems everything I like, he hates. And everything he likes sounds as though it belongs in a Young Adult book. I mean, is Farrow even a name?

“Well, how about Donald?” Mom suggests, reaching over to rub my dad’s shoulder. “If it’s a boy, of course.”

“Um…that would be a firm no,” I say.

“What? I thought it would be nice to name him for your father, especially considering you gave up the family name. Not that I disapprove of you doing that.”

“That’s a nice idea…in theory,” Dec says carefully. “But we can’t name our son that. Sorry, Don.”

Dad shakes his head, shoving a forkful of Szechuan beef into his mouth. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

“Well, whatever you decide for the name, just make sure you call us the second the baby’s born, okay?” Mom insists.

“Of course we will,” I assure her. “I promise, even before they get all the goopy stuff off, we’ll have you on the phone.”

Mom’s mouth turns into a slight frown. “Well, you can let them clean the poor thing first, Heath. But don’t dally with letting me know what the sex is. If it’s a boy we’ll need to move quickly on the bris.” She shakes her head. “This time of year, and with you two living so far away…the logistics will be a nightmare.”

I exchange a glance with Declan, whose features have formed into a wide-eyed, panicked expression.

“Uh, Mom…let me save you some worry—there won’t be a bris.”

Mom looks aghast. “Heath David, are you telling me my grandson won’t be circumcised?”

“Okay, well, first of all—you might not even have a grandson,” I point out. “But, yeah, if it’s a boy he won’t be getting circumcised.”

“But, Heath—”

“Mom, calm down. This isn’t about religion…although, the fact that Dec’s Catholic does come into a tiny bit. But mainly it’s a personal choice.”

“What kind of personal choice?” Mom presses.

“Well…” I glance around, from my sister, to my mom, to my dad, and finally to Dec. With a sigh I decide to just blurt it out. “Declan loves when I play with his foreskin and I don’t want to deprive my son of that pleasure!”

My mom’s mouth falls open in shock. Across the table, I see my dad with an egg roll paused midway toward his mouth. He glances at it for a second and then returns it to the box it came from.

“Thanks for not waiting until after we’ve eaten to share that information,” Lila deadpans.

15

Aidan

* * *

“And this is my unicorn. And this is my Barbie doll. And this is my Elsa backpack. And this is my coloring book…”

I follow Ben’s three-year-old niece, Katie, around as she points out all her presents. “Wow, these are amazing. You must have been really good this year for Santa to leave you all this cool stuff.”

She nods solemnly. “I was very good. Not all the time but most the time.”

My brows shoot up. “Well maybe next year you can work on being good all the time?”

She frowns thoughtfully. “I try but sometimes I don’t ‘member.”

“Hey Katie, why don’t you make Aidan some tea?” Ben’s sister, Maddie, suggest.

Her eyes alight, Katie rushes over to where a toy kitchen is set up by the far wall and busies herself making ‘tea’. She has a little