A/N: This is a sister story to 'A Whole New Life'. It tells the story of Thomas Ryan and Ciara Donnogan (as she used to be) from when they were born up-starting with a prologue-this! DawsonGirl #2 wrote this-Alessia, with of course help and advice from Talia :) we're a team that way. Hope you like it!
-Alessia
'They say time is a healer; but darling, I will never forget you.'
Prologue
Shamrock
Philadelphia
Ciara Ryan wept for what seemed like an eternity. Her Tommy, her beautiful, caring,beloved husband..was dead. Dead in that cursed ship-the Titanic. Why had she let him get onto that ship? If she hadn't whined about being desperate to see him he would never have gotten on. He'd be alive, and in Yorkshire. She would have looked forward to throwing herself in his arms, even more so after hearing about the tragedy which had befallen so many and claimed so many souls. Tommy included, and that woman, Mrs De Rossi's son. The Ryan's house was in mourning. Tommy's older siblings had been called, Aideen, Ronan,Declan and Allison and their spouses and children. She couldn't take the pitying looks, the whispers, so eventually she excused herself and ran to her garden, sat down on their bench, and wept. How could he leave her? He promised he never would. He'd known her since the day she was born, 12th May 1882. Their Mammies, Kaithleen and Ailis had been fast friends at school, and had remained in contact as they aged until Kaithleen had died three months ago. Tommy had taken emergency time from work and jumped on the back of a steamer. He was there within 3 days, hugging and comforting her. He'd held her, at age just two and had apparently smiled down at her, and she had smiled her very first smile. They'd been together ever since.
"Mammy? Are ya' alrigh'? Grandpa Bartley says it's time for tea and Aoife is fighting with Seamus." Ciara wiped her eyes and forced herself to smile
"Of course I'm alrigh', sweet. I'm a Mammy, and we'll always be OK." Liam smiled and griped her hand. Together they walked back into the house. Ciara's palm was sweaty. She couldn't figure out which one of them they were trying to convince. She was lost
Tommy..
Tommy..
Tommy..
Tommy.
Shamrock
"How's it so that Thomas is dead? Where there not enough boats?" Aideen, the oldest sibling growled. She bared a striking resemblance to her Father, Bartley; or Bert, as he liked to be called. She had a small, button nose, but a pointed chin and lips were permanently downturned, as if they had once known how to smile, but had long discarded the information. She was skinny like a rake, until you reached her hips, years of smoking, three children and a love of beer had caused her to puff up like a balloon. No one particularly liked Aideen. Not even her Father took notice of her, slyly kicking Liam's football and smiling as he laughed and raced after it, gaining him a glare from Bartley Jr, Aideen's eldest, horrible, bratty son.
"Aideen, the ship was unsinkable. Why would they have so many lifeboats, eh?" Declan pointed out. Dec was the third youngest, the middle child; and Tommy's younger-older-brother. He was the funnest of the five, being like his Father, whereas as his Father was humorous in secret, Dec was class clown three years running, constantly leaving Aideen with worms in her bed, and tadpoles in her water. He was the second tallest, a few inches shorter than his brother, with dark brown hair and sharp hazel eyes with a cheeky glint in them. His son, Declan Jr-or Little Dec, as he was fondly called, had inherited most of these traits, laughing as he pulled on his sisters, Casey and Lianne's plaits as they cried out for their Mammy, Dec's wife Polly in protest.
"Hush yerselves. Don't ya' think it's hard for the child'rn to hear their Daddy's dead?'' Calm, thoughtful Allison, or Allie said in a hiss. The quarrel which had broken out between Aideen and Ronan promptly stopped, and Aidy stopped hitting Bartley with his toy car and looked up in awe at their Aunt, who rarely got involved, rarely was seen apart from St Patricks Day and other Holidays. She was only a year older than Tommy, and they had been immensely close. Ciara nodded gratefully and picked up Aoife, holding her to her closely. She and Liam were all she had left of Tommy now. They were her world.
"We should have stayed in Dalkey.'' Aideen muttered, and as Ailis came back inside with some coffee, she slammed her cup down, then shouted
"Where we starved? Where your Da couldn't get work? Even if we'd stayed in Dalkey, Aideen-this would have happened, Thomas would have had to go to work to support Ciara and Liam and Little Aoife. Can we not rejoice that Thomas was here at all?'' Aideen stood up, humiliated and red facd. As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,
"You expect me to rejoice in the fact he isn't coming back? Tom is dead, Mother! He isn't coming back. Answer me this; who will support Ciara and your grandchildren now? This is nothing to celebrate!" Her Mother had tears running down her cheeks, and for a moment, Aideen's anger faltered and she looked away in shame. In that instant, Ailis ran away sobbing. Bert stood up angrily and grabbed his daughter's face, forcing her to meet his glare
"You are a disgrace, Aideen Ryan. You think you feel mourning for Thomas? You didn't just lose a brother that night. We lost our son. Now I'd like you to leave, and don't return until you've apologised to your Mother." then he let go with a snarl and followed Ailis into their room, leaving the living room in silence. Liam walked quietly over to Ciara and gripped her hand. Aoife emerged from where she'd been hiding her face in Ciara's shoulder and peered up at her Mother in bewilderment
"Mammy? What does Auntie Aideen mean, Daddy's dead?" Ciara felt her heart break, and as she looked at the faces of the other adults in the room, she could see that emotion was shared.