Lyla woke one Saturday morning, the arms of her love wrapped firmly around her, which had become the norm. She liked waking up like that, feeling warm and safe. As soon as she awoke, her heart would start racing and she could feel the overwhelming love. She hoped that the feeling would never go away.

She shifted in Louis' arms so that she could see his sleeping face. His expression was always so soft and she wondered what he dreamed about. Lyla always seemed to be the one who woke up first and knew he'd wake up shortly after, so she waited, admiring him.

"What are you looking at?" Louis said, groggily, sensing that he was being watched.

Lyla answered with a kiss.

Louis opened his eyes and stretched.

They sat in silence as the sun rose higher in the sky.

"What're you thinking about?" Louis asked, feeling that he may fall back to sleep.

"Would you ever want another child?" Lyla asked hesitantly.

Louis thought for a moment. "Well- well, I s'pose I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a daughter. Maybe name her after me mam. She had a brother and me da' had three brothers; most all my relatives have been men. It's all well and good, but it'd be nice to have... a break in that. Do you want more children?"

Lyla nodded, "I love August and am so thankful to have him in my life again. I think he'd be a great big brother. I hope I don't sound horrible for saying that I want to raise a child from infancy. I missed most of August's firsts and I constantly wonder what it would be like."

"You don' sound horrible. I'd like to see those things too," Louis said. "Did you want to start trying for one?"

Lyla smiled, "not yet. Soon, but not yet." She paused. "Tell me about your mother. And your family. Do you have a lot of relatives over in Ireland?"

"I've got me plenty of uncles over there. Cousins, aunts. We never really talked even before I left though. I'd like to go back and visit though. Someday. Before me mother died, we saw her brother a lot. Afterwards, not so much. I sometimes wonder what he's been doing all this time.

"Mam was a sweet woman until you made her angry but she was kind hearted. She dragged me and Marshall to mass every Sunday and as many other days as possible. She was Catholic but me da' was Protestant. Plenty of arguments over that. It's gotten to the point, though, where I don't really remember what she looked like."

"You don't have any pictures of her?"

"Nah, we didn't really take pictures. And any ones we do have from back then were taken by her. I do know that I took after her – she gave me her eyes and hair; Marshall is almost a spitting image of our dad."

"It sounds like she was beautiful. What was her name?"

"Molly. Molly Rose Connelly."

"That's a good name," Lyla said, smiling.

"Mhmm... She died when I was nine and Marshall was thirteen. She had been sick for awhile, and it finally took her one night when I was reading to her. She liked getting me to read from this old book of Irish fairy tales to her every night when she started having to spend all her time in bed. Most of the time, she'd fall asleep while I read. I would keep reading and it would wake her up. She'd thank me and then send me off to bed. When she died, I didn't even know it happened until I got to the end of one of the stories. I just thought she had fallen asleep.

"Me da' was angry at me for a while after that. He hated that he didn't get to say goodbye. Started drinking heavily and Marshall pretty well took over raising me, even though he wasn't much older. Dad left when I was fifteen, just after Marshall turned eighteen. He was thoughtful enough to leave some money, but Marshall quit school right away to start working. We played gigs around the city, which earned a little money, but it was mostly Marshall's work in a warehouse and bar that helped keep us going."

"Is Marshall much like your dad was?"

Louis chuckled, "yeah. Me da' and mam were as opposite as me and Marshall are. We both have parts of each parent, but Marshall got dad's obnoxious nature and charisma while I got mam's more reserved nature, I guess. But Marshall's a better man than dad was."

Lyla nodded, unsure of what to say. She hadn't seen any of Marshall's good nature, but Louis was convinced it was there and she trusted him.

"Where's your mum?" Louis asked, never having asked about her family. "Is there anyone besides your dad?"

"No," Lyla said. "My mom died after giving birth to me. I don't really know the details. I just know they didn't make it to the hospital in time. I think that's part of the reason he was so angry about me being pregnant – he was worried. Both of his parents died before I was born and he didn't have any siblings. I don't really know about my mom's side – if she had living parents or any siblings. I think my dad became so obsessed with keeping me safe that he unintentionally overdid it."

"Will you ever introduce him to August?"

Lyla shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know."

"I know he's done unforgivable things, but he was well-meaning," Louis replied. "August deserves to know where he comes from in any case. I think you might jus' regret it if your dad were to get sick again and die without meeting his only grandchild."

Lyla shrugged, "maybe." She smirked, "maybe after we have that other child of ours."

Louis laughed, "okay. Then, my love."