Warning- This is really mushy! I have almost surprised myself because I am not a mushy person normally. I don't know what came over me! Consider it a severe reaction to the show's writers' refusal (which is understandably canon-urgh!) to write Ste and Brendan's relationship in anything ressembling a GOOD PLACE...

(By the way, to anyone interested, I'll restart on Poker Night next weekend. Had to take a break from it when I got a bad case of writer's block... eek!)

...

PRESENT DAY.

"It's a big day." I say to Ste as we stand side by side, dressed smartly but not in suits.

"Yeah. A very big day." Ste says with a twinkle in his eye as he pans his sight over the living room of the Dublin home that I grew up in. The one that was once where dad, mum, Paraic and I lived in before dad left and was eventually replaced by Martin.

For the last two months, Ste and I have been video calling regularly in preparation for today. At times he has been almost childlike in his enthusiasm; like he would just about burst with glee. At other times he has been really reflective; telling stories about him and dad that I never knew. Nothing too intimate; just stuff that made me understand where they had started as a couple and what they had grown to mean to each other.

They had walked a long, long testing road.

"He won't like being reminded of it." I say and laugh lightly.

"No!" Ste laughs too.

"Everyone is here." I say.

"Yes." He says. It is not the first time Ste and his kids have visited Dublin with dad. They make it over as a group about two times a year with dad coming up more often obviously.

I spot Auntie Chez, her boyfriend, Leah, Lucas, Amy, Pete and Lynsey milling amongst others in the room. They are all people I know from Hollyoaks and Chester, where dad has lived in for the last six years. It feels weird having two worlds collide like this, England and Ireland, especially since Mum, Martin, Paraic, my mates, my girlfriend and some of dad's old friends are also here. Together they must carry so many memories of dad over the years.

I know that I do.

I am nineteen. I have all my childhood memories; the good and I guess a few bad ones.

There is one in particular that jumps to mind about dad, when we went to Disney World with Ste and his children five years ago. I can't believe how time flies. It feels like only yesterday in some ways!

That was when I first met Ste or 'your dad's patient better half' as he calls himself. That was a trip that saw a shift in dad in a good way.

Everyone noticed, even Paraic and he is not the world's most perceptive person.

Anyway, I think it was that trip that has led us to today and the declaration that dad sat ma and me down for a couple of nights ago (more on that later!).

I can't help but reflect on that trip and the moment where I, as a fourteen year old kid, with little Leah by my side watched in shock as my dad kissed Ste in the middle of the Magic Kingdom Park of Disney World...

'.'/'.'/'.'/.'.

FIVE YEARS AGO.

Lucas broke off the kiss. He giggled as he pushed his pudgy little hands into their faces pulling them apart.

Ste put his son down slowly without breaking eye contact with Brendan. Lucas ran towards Leah and me and gripped my free hand.

Ste's confused face studied dad's. He licked his lips and looked around; at me and his kids and the other visitors of the theme park some of whom just walked passed and some who were loitering.

Dad reached his hand out to grab Ste's but then hesitated. I didn't know how to describe the expression on his face. There was a hint of complete fear but there was also an edge of desperation and, I guess, need. My dad looked at Ste like he was a basic requirement to life; like oxygen or food or something. Yeah, that's it. He looked at Ste as if he wouldn't be able to breathe if Ste wasn't there and like taking a bite out of him would fill him up and satisfy him ... in a non-weird, non-vampire way.

"I want to come with you. Please. Stephen." Dad said quietly, leaning in so that I could barely hear him.

Ste opened and closed his mouth several times trying to process what was happening; trying to say something but not knowing what.

I was holding my breath because this was crucial. What was Ste going to say? He could tell dad to piss off the way he had for most of our holiday and call up the incident at hotel check in or with Greg the concierge. Or he could maybe see something in dad that was sincere.

"Can we go to the Dewella castle now, daddy?" Leah asked.

Her words pierced through the look that Ste and dad shared. Ste turned to look at her, stunned and dazed.

He cleared his throat. "Um, yeah. Sure."

He brushed against dad to get past him and walked to us. His daughter shyly indicated him to get closer to her so he crouched to get to her level.

"Bwendan kissed you." She whispered into his ear while cupping her hands around her mouth before blushing and burying her face into his arm.

Ste nodded jerkily and dared a glance over at my dad who was standing on his own, looking vulnerable and exposed as he watched the four of us together.

"Yeah." He said as if he couldn't quite believe it.

She giggled and muttered something quietly before giggling again.

"Is he your boyfriend again?"

She said it so innocently it was kind of cute, if I'm honest.

Ste's face dropped.

"Um, Leah. We-" He said but was interrupted by dad who had approached us.

"Yeah. I am, princess." Dad said. "And your daddy is my boyfriend."

Leah clasped her hands over her mouth hiding a smile.

Ste looked at dad with such shock it was as if dad had just revealed that he was worth millions of Euros.

Dad said, "If he wants me to be, that is. Because sometimes I can be a bit of a bad boyfriend, Leah."

"A lot of a bad boyfriend." Ste whispered to dad and stood up straight.

"No!" She said giggling.

Dad nodded. "Yeah."

"But sometimes he ain't half bad." Ste gave dad a shadow of a smile. "Sometimes he surprises me... in a good way, like now, and then I think he is incredible."

Dad's mouth twitched and he raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Incredible?"

Ste's smile got bigger as dad's fingers pushed Ste's fringe off his forehead slowly. "Yeah."

Lucas was getting impatient. I had to grip his hand tight to make sure he didn't run off.

"Daddy! Look dog!" He said going crazy with joy as a guy in a Pluto costume walked by.

"Yes champ." Ste said patiently and then reluctantly said, "Maybe we should get going, ey kids? See the castle?"

"Yeah!" His children chorused as their father collected them around him.

"You can come along if you want." He told me and dad after a moment then cleared his throat. "I mean, I would like it if you did."

'.'/

Dad and Ste spoke quietly to each other throughout the rest of the day. We visited the Castle then went on the Liberty Square Riverboat. Their heads remained close with whispers shared. I couldn't make out everything they said but I got the impression that the bits of chat were about four main things.

EXPLANATION. -"Why now after all this time, here in Disney World?" -"Because I wanted to. Because I craved you and I grew tired of fighting against myself. It's exhausting. But it has protected me. Keeping you at arm's length. Denying you. At least I thought it did."

NEGOTIATION. -"I can't go back to how we were, Brendan. For me. For my kids. I am out the door if that happens. The next time it's final." -"And I know that. That is why I won't fuck it up. I don't want to hurt you ever again."

COMMITMENT SETTING. -"It won't be overnight, Stephen, but I'll get there. I want to change. I want this. Us." Dad threaded his fingers through Ste's. "All of it. I'll show you. Every day for as long as it takes." And Ste said, "You can't get angry at well meaning people just because they say the truth about you and who we are." –"No. I know I can't. I won't." -"Then yeah, I want us to make it work, Bren."

DECLARATIONS. I heard Stephen say, "I missed you so much. It kills me... not being with you."

Finally, after Leah and Lucas had had Pirate makeovers we all stood in a row on Main Street in a thick crowd of eager visitors watching the Dream Come True Parade.

Over the beat of the drum, loud music and cheer of the crowd, I saw dad lean in and kiss Ste lightly on his temple and then his cheek before saying clearly but quietly into his ear,

"I love you, Stephen."

'.'/

That evening we shuffled rooms. I don't think it was ever a conversation. It just kind of happened because it made sense. I moved into Ste and his kids' room, Leah and Lucas moved into my room and Ste moved in with dad.

It was cool that they were together but I knew that I wouldn't have been able to sleep knowing that dad was probably going to find use for the stuff I found in his travel bag. I didn't want to get post traumatic stress disorder or something listening to them carrying on next door! While I knew that Leah and Lucas would sleep through the night as long as washing machine music played in the background.

When dad, Ste and I said our goodnights just outside their door Ste had an arm loosely wrapped around dad's waist. They wouldn't look me straight in the eye. It was like they knew that I knew that they were about to get up to no good! (Shudder)

"Right, I guess it is time to sleep." Ste said to my chest then blushed.

"Yeah, I guess." I smirked.

"Make sure you are ready to leave for the airport by nine o'clock, young man." Dad said speaking to my shoulder and then cleared his throat.

"Oh, I'll be ready." I said and then grinned cheekily. "Just make sure you two are. Don't stay up too late!"

I raised my eyebrows meaningfully then turned on my heal heading to my room.

"Cheeky fecker!" I heard my dad mumble behind me.

'.'/'.'/'.'/'.'

PRESENT DAY.

Yeah. The dad I knew before Disney World was a very different person to the man he has become.

Don't get me wrong, Brendan Brady will always have a way with words, endearing and debasing in the same breath. He will always be a bit of a slick Rick; posturing like the big 'I AM', shrewd and ruthless at times. He will never be the first to volunteer an emotional truth about himself.

But he has left that uncommunicative, closed off, undemonstrative yet aggressive man behind over the years. It has been like the gradual shedding of an ugly skin.

"We should take our places soon." Ste says to me as we stand in the busy living room.

"Yeah." I reply. "Has Martin called you yet?"

He glances at me. "No. You?"

"No." I say.

He nods. "Cool. I'm going to check on Eileen."

"Sure. I'll see what your kids are up to." I say.

"Thanks." He smiles before heading to the kitchen to join ma.

Ma and Ste have grown strangely and unexpectedly close over the years. I learnt, not long after Disney World, contrary to what I thought, that ma didn't have a personal problem with Ste.

She had formed the impression that he was a one night stand of dad's; something about catching them in the act in the living room of the flat dad used to share with Aunt Chez before Ste, the kids and him moved into their house in Chester. Ma had freaked out that dad was some sort of 'bed-hopping homosexual' (Her words! Political correctness is not ma's forte but she means well...). She was worried that she was leaving me in a, and I quote, 'den of iniquity' (which, btw, means a place of immoral behaviour usually of the sexual type- mum uses a lot of biblical references).

Anyway, once things were cleared up and mum realised that Ste and dad were the real deal they got on like a house on fire.

I know that dad would get uneasy whenever they got together whether in Hollyoaks, Dublin or our yearly family holidays abroad.

"What do you reckon they're rabbiting on about?" He would say anxiously to me, Paraic and Ste's kids, craning his head towards ma and Ste while they hugged mugs of tea and leaned into each other conspiratorially whispering and laughing, away from the rest of us.

"Probably comparing notes about you." I would say with a cheeky smile just to rile him up.

That would get him every time because he would stand up suddenly march over to them and lay a possessive hand on Ste's shoulder and say,

"You two having fun?"

Mum and Ste would look at each other and then nod at him innocently.

"Care to share?" Dad would say.

"Nah, it's alright babes." Ste would reply. "Can we help you?"

"Um, yeah." Dad would say and think on his feet. "I was, uh, thinking about doing a BBQ for supper. Wondered if you'd give me a hand at the shops."

Ste would smile knowingly. "Dec can go with you."

Dad would squirm and look at me. "He doesn't eat meat."

"Even more reason to go so he can make sure you buy something veggie."

"Yeah. I guess. Fine. See yis." Dad would say before sulking off and having to make a meal he promised on a whim.

I digress.

Ste goes to see if ma is okay in the kitchen and I go to find Ste's kids who are probably in the reception room watching telly. On my way, I get intercepted by Aunt Chez,

"Come here you!" She says and pulls me into a hug that is followed by an attack of kisses.

"Auntie!" I whine embarrassed.

She starts rubbing my cheeks, cleaning up her lipstick marks while her eyes glow with pride, "I am so proud of you, Dr. Brady!"

"I'm going to be a vet in another four year's time." I say blushing. "It's no biggie."

"No biggie!" She says in shock, "Modest, handsome, strong, smart! And soon, rich! Your girl is one lucky lady!"

I roll my eyes at her ego stroking. "Vet's don't make shed loads of money."

Paraic struts up to us with his posse of friends. Being in the final year of junior school, and after turning eleven a few months back, he is as close at it comes to being a king among men in his universe. He is a dead confident kid (more so than I was at his age) and a demon on the football field. In some ways, he has inherited all of dad's personality and swagger while I have taken on the physique and features.

"Did you hear that our Dec is a right swat, auntie, and came second in his first year exams of 'Animal healing'?" He declares.

"Vet school, twerp." I say with a grin. "And yeah, mum told her already and everyone else here. I think she is planning to hire one of those planes that you can attach messages to, to spread the word faster." I say in exasperation.

Ma has literally become one of those parents that brags about her kids' achievements to anyone whether they give a s**t or not.

"Yeah totally!" Paraic grins. "So, like, are we about to do this thing or do my mates and I have time to have a kick about?"

I look at my watch then around. Everyone is here and surely it is about time.

"I would stay. You don't want to miss this." I warn.

"No. Definitely not. Dad is going to freak out!" Paraic says and bites the knuckles of his closed fist in anticipation.

"I know!" Chez and I say excitedly at the same time.

Amy and Pete come up to us. She is the mother of Leah and Lucas and Ste's ex-girlfriend (!). It is crazy how much Leah looks like her. She is sweet; like mother like daughter.

Interesting story coming up-

Pete is an old friend of dad's from childhood who got involved in a car accident with dad at about my age apparently. It put him into a wheelchair, not that you would notice. I mean, it doesn't stop him really. You kind of forget it's there after a while.

Anyway, dad and him reunited after Pete took up the post of head teacher at Hollyoaks's local comp. He met Amy there when she was working as a teacher's assistant. That was before Ste and her went into business and opened up their café in Chester three years back. It is called Café Hay and serves the most incredible cold and hot veggie food made mainly by Ste. Ste asked for my opinion before he put any of the veggie dishes on the menu which was pretty cool.

Where was I? Yes. Pete. He and Amy fell in love and now they are married and Amy is pregnant with their first child.

I fist pump Pete and kiss Amy's cheeks before glancing at her belly. "How are you doing?"

"Okay. I guess." She huffs with a tired smile and rubs her swollen tummy. She looks in pain. "I'm pretty much done with being pregnant now! It's too hot for it! I wish she would just come already."

Pete smiles sympathetically and rubs her lower back slowly. "Ames is a week overdue." He explains.

"Oh." I don't know what else to say.

"You know what they say works to bring on contractions." Chez says with a sly grin.

"No?" Paraic looks curious.

"A special hug." Chez says and raises one eyebrow meaningfully at Amy. "If you know what I mean."

"You mean sex?" One of Pariac's friends says. Bold little eejit!

Amy winces a little and holds her tummy. "Um. I think we are good."

I change subject and say, "Have you seen Leah or Lucas? I was just going to check on them."

"They are watching cartoons next door, why?" Amy says.

"No reason."

We look at each other, Amy and I, and can't help but break out into a conspiratorial grin. "Is Bren on his way?" She asks.

"I guess so. He is taking his time, though." I say starting to get anxious.

My brother suddenly says. "I'm going to see Leah. And Lucas. Both of them!"

He blushes as he glances over at his mates. Then he squares his shoulders and acts all macho. He is a moustache stroke away from the way dad used to be when I asked him anything about Ste.

"Okay..." I say with a knowing smile. I think my kid brother has a bit of a crush on little Miss Barnes.

Yeah her surname is Amy's. I didn't know that Ste wasn't Leah's biological dad until one of our holidays where dad asked me to hold all the passports. Declan Brady. Paraic Brady. Brendan Brady. Stephen Hay. Eileen McCallister. Martin McCAllister. Amy Hamill (nee Barnes). Peter Hamill. Leah Barnes. Lucas Hay.

Ste adopted her legally which is kind of cool I think.

"Does dad really not know what you and Ste have been planning? He knows everything!" Paraic says quickly.

"No. Trust me." Pete says smiling. "Ste and Dec have handled this like some top secret mission."

I look at my watch and frown. "Yeah. Martin should ring me at any minute."

"Shit." Paraic says quietly.

"Paraic!" Auntie admonishes angrily.

My brother points over my shoulder to a space behind me.

"Looks like all those weeks of planning were for nothing." He says.

I turn around to see that the door is open and dad is standing there holding the door open with one hand and a bag of groceries in the other with a look of total confusion on his face.

"What the hell!" He says as he takes in the guests, music, food and banners.

Okay. Pause.

For this to make sense I need to go back to this morning which in some ways was just like a regular lazy Saturday... at least at face value...

'.'/

It is the second Saturday of Dad, Ste and Co. stay here in Dublin. We have had breakfast and are hanging out at home doing not very much with no set plans... apparently (!). Paraic, Leah and Lucas are playing together. Ste and Mum are out in the garden talking as they usually do. Dad and Martin are trying to make conversation while watching footie on the telly. I am in my room playing video games.

When the clock strikes eleven, however, the plan that Ste and I have meticulously put together over the last two months begins.

11.00 I make phone calls telling all pre-alerted guests that they should be at the house between 13.30 and 14.00. No sooner. No later.

11.15 Mum calls the neighbours and tells them to bring the food they are holding for us over to our place at 13.00 on the dot. Ste calls the bakery with a similar instruction.

11.16 My girlfriend arrives and we go up to my room to hang out and stuff...

11.50 I go downstairs and ask dad if he could nip to the shops to get me some ingredients for a lunch I want to make using one of Ste's recipes.

'Tell him they are very specialist but essential ingredients, Dec. Here is a list.' Ste said to me when we were planning this. 'Trust me; it will take him at least an hour to come back with the right stuff!'

'Why can't you get them yourself?' Dad asks me with a frown.

'I've got me girl with me, haven't I?' I reply as if that makes sense.

Martin, as previously prepped, insists on going with dad saying something about 'men providing' for their families. Dad literally rolls his eyes in despair. I wink at Martin when dad isn't looking. Mum's husband knows he should call either me or Ste when dad and he are about five minutes away from the house so that we can all assume our positions.

12.00-12.30 Ste, my girlfriend and I arrange the living and dining rooms and get crockery and cutlery out. Mum, Paraic and Leah put up decorations. Lucas watches a cartoon.

12.30-13.00 We all get ready in a mad rush and get changed into smarter clothes.

13.00 Our neighbour and the bakery deliver the food. Ste and I set it on a large table while mum and my girlfriend prepare a bowl of alcoholic and virgin punch each.

13.10 Mum puts on some music and turns the volume up. She opens a bottle of white wine and pours a glass for me, my girlfriend, Ste and her. We grin as we clink our glasses together and take a sip.

'I think we are ready.' She says looking around.

'Yeah.' Ste agrees.

'Good job.' She lays a kiss on each of our cheeks before grabbing Ste's hand and pulling him onto our makeshift dance area. They shimmy around together for a bit so I coax Leah into a twirl until I notice that Paraic is giving me evils. I suggest he dances with her while I grab hold of my girlfriend. My brother and Leah both blush and are saved by the bell because,

13.15 My friends are at the door. We go berserk with big hugs and pats on the back. These are my friends for life.

I see Aiden (studying classics) the most since he goes to University College Dublin, too. Freddie (law and business studies) and Siobhan (English literature) go to Trinity. We still see each other a fair amount but nowhere near as much as before even though we are in the same city.

Freddie is still with Dan who studies civil engineering (snore!) at Queen's University Belfast less than two hours drive away. The fact that they are still together after a staggering six years surprises some (Aiden!) since people thought the distance and Freddie's 'spontaneity and impulsiveness' would be too much to overcome. But they make an effort to see each other on most weekends and Freddie says 'the mind-blowing long-distance-relationship sex makes it worth it, guys!' Trust him to bring it down to that common denominator but I know he is being flippant. Those guys love each other to bits. Full stop.

Aiden is going out with Siobhan which shouldn't have been a surprise but somehow it was. It happened so gradually. One day, after we had all gone to a concert to celebrate graduating from school we saw them being suspiciously close. Dan said, 'Hang on, are you guys boning or something?'

Aoife is the only one of us who went over to England for her studies. She and Siobhan graduated from school a year before us obviously. She is about to start her third and final year at Bristol doing History of Art.

'How have you been?' She asks me hesitantly when I finally speak to her. They are the first words I have heard from her in nearly two years.

'Yeah, fine.' I reply. 'You?'

'Yeah, good.' And she leans in to give me a kiss on each cheek.

AOIFE IS NO LONGER MY GIRLFRIEND. She dumped me before going to Uni so that 'I can experience it to the full and you can concentrate on your final year of school instead of travelling over to see me all the time', she said.

It killed me. I won't lie. For the first two months of my final year in school I was a mess but Freddie, Aiden, Dan and Siobhan helped me get back on track. I could not have asked for better friends.

I invited Aoife today because I am trying to make amends and be the bigger person. Maybe today is going to be the beginning of our new friendship.

13.18 I introduce Aoife to my girlfriend, Kyla. Not as awkward as I thought it would be.

13.20 Amy and Pete arrive.

13.30-14.00 Everyone else arrives; family like Aunt Chez, her boyfriend and grandma and granddad and more of dad's old friends.

14.01 Ste tells everyone what to do when the time comes.

14.05. Ste and I convene.

'It's a big day.' I say.

'Yeah. A very big day.' He says.

'He won't like being reminded of it.'

'No!'

14.07-14.18 I get intercepted by Auntie Chez who wants to congratulate me on ranking second in my first year Vet school exams. Then Paraic and his posse join us. Then Amy and Pete join us. Then I wonder where the hell dad and Martin are...

14.19 Dad walks into the house unexpectedly to be faced by an unprepared and not forewarned crowd of family and friends.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Surprise!" Paraic shouts happily.

Dad looks confused.

Mum and Ste rush into the dining room from the kitchen. Ste runs over to dad in distress and shoves him back towards the door,

"No! It's not meant to be like this!"

"Like what?" Dad asks frowning.

"Where is Martin?" Mum asks angrily.

Martin slips into the room sheepishly and says to me, "Sorry, I forgot my phone here so couldn't warn you."

He shrugs his shoulders.

Ste ignores him as he practically throws dad out of the house again and slams the door in his face.

He speaks across the closed door. "Give us a sec, babe."

"Did I just see Peter and Amy there?" Dad says from the other side. "And Chez?"

"No!" Ste squeaks and frantically gestures for all of us to duck and hide while he leans heavily on the door.

"Stephen. What is this carry on all about?" Dad says impatiently as he tries the door handle. "That Declan! Martin had to take me to a Korean store on the other side of town to get half this stuff!"

Some of the guests giggle.

Ste runs away from the door and dives behind a chair just as dad barrels in for a second time. Only this time I am sure that all he can see is the odd foot poking out from furniture.

I whisper, "One, two, three..."

Then everyone leaps out and screams, "SURPRISE!"

Paraic and his lot let off some party poppers and the streamers climb the air before landing on dad's head.

"What?" He says, standing rigid and holding a bag full of useless ingredients. He pulls at the the bits of coloured string hanging off him as Ste walks up to him. "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"Happy fortieth birthday, baby." Ste says and gets onto the tips of his toes to plant a big one on dad's parted shocked lips while placing his hands loosely on dad's waist.

"Birthday?" Dad says as he holds Ste in his arms automatically as he checks out who is here. His jaw drops further.

"Is this a surprise birthday?" He whispers looking back at Ste. He smiles slightly when Ste nods. "Jesus! How did you do this?"

"With Dec's help." He replies. "You aren't pissed off?"

Dad shakes his head slowly, stunned. "I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

"Jesus, Paddy is here!" He points at an old friend of his that Pete managed to track down.

"Yeah." Paddy says. "Mate, I'm not going to lie, things have changed since I last saw you, ey?" He looks at Ste so I am guessing he means the fact that dad is with Ste. "It's good to see you though."

"Yeah." Dad says as he begins to look more relaxed. "Yeah. Same."

He looks at the banners that say things like 'Happy Fortieth Birthday, Dad' and 'Forty is the new Thirty!' and 'Life begins at Forty'.

"Shit. Advertise it why don't you, Stephen!" He says with a dry smile. "I was going to pretend I was thirty for at least another five years."

Eileen scoffs. "Don't worry Bren. Doesn't the saying go 'you are as young as the person you feel'?"

There is a twitter of laughter and Auntie Chez says, "Well if that's the case then you are a very youthful twenty-five, Bren!"

Dad scowls at her but pulls Ste in closer to him. I hear him whisper, "Fuck me! I'm forty!"

"You're still looking sexy, don't worry." Ste murmurs back patting dad's stomach.

"So are we going to get this party started or what?" I say as I pick up a champagne magnum and begin to untwist the cap.

Dad looks at me sternly as he points to the bag of shopping at his feet, "We need to have words, little man. What the hell is a Rambutan?"

I grin at him and wink. The cap pops at hits the ceiling causing the guests to go, "Ooooh!" and cheer.

I say, "The hell should I know, dad! Ask your boyfriend. It was his shopping list!"

Dad turns his gaze to Stephen who looks back innocently for a second. "It was for a good cause."

He smiles sweetly but dad does not look happy.

"You made me hang out with Martin... alone... for nearly two solid hours." He whispers into Ste's ear. I think the only reason I can hear him is because I am so close.

Ste slowly uncurls himself from dad's grip and runs off in the direction of the garden.

"Sorry!" He shouts over his shoulder as dad begins his pursuit.

"Come back here!" Dad shouts after him with a smile on his face.

"No chance! You can't catch me anyway, old man!"

"That's it!" Dad laughs and comes back to me to grab the champagne bottle from my hands before chasing after Ste again.

All the guests migrate towards the double doors that lead to the garden and filter outside to watch dad run after Ste on the green equipped with a large bottle of expensive booze.

"I swear they are such kids." Paraic says shaking his head sadly.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Leah replies.

"All I'm saying is that when your dad tips that champers over Ste it'll be a waste of some perfectly good booze." Freddie smiles. "But if he needs a hand licking it off his hot boyfriend, I'm in!"

"Jesus, Freddie!" Siobhan says and Dan whacks him on his arm. Aiden and I laugh. I don't think Freddie will ever change.

"Are they always like that?" Kyla asks me when Ste shrieks because dad has managed to reach him and shower him with a fountain of bubbly.

"No. But I guess they get along really well most of the time." I pull her into me and give her neck a quick kiss.

The guests are now cheering them on. Ste is half drenched but he grabs hold of the bottle and tries to prise it out of dad's hands pouring some over him in the process.

"Oh no!" I hear Amy say by my side.

I look over at her and she is standing stock still looking down.

I look at the wet decking between her feet.

"I think my water's have gone!" She says in shock.

Pete's face goes white. "What, really? Are you sure?"

"Uh yeah! I haven't wet myself, sweetie!"

"No! Sure, wow!" Pete randomly moves his wheelchair backwards and forwards. "What do we do now?"

Amy grips her stomach. "Oh my God!"

Lynsey runs up her and touches her belly. "She is having a contraction. Let's get her to the hospital."

She looks at Amy whose eyes are closed as she tries to breathe through the pain. "Is that your first one?"

Amy shakes her head. "I didn't want to spoil the party." She whispers while doubled over.

Paraic shouts at dad and Ste who are still wrestling at the other end of the garden and oblivious to the drama, "Hey! Amy is about to have a baby! Thought you might want to know!"

I sharply nudge him across the elbow for his lack of tact.

They immediately stop their horsing around and run to us.

Ste is immediately by Amy's side as she has another contraction. "How often are you getting them?"

"Every three minutes, I think." She groans as sweat breaks out on her forehead and she grips Ste with one hand and her husband with the other. "Ste, I can't have this baby in someone else's home!"

"Do you feel like pushing?" He asks.

Amy shakes her head so Ste turns to dad.

"Get the car. You and Ames go ahead to the hospital." Ste says calmly. "Pete and I will be right behind you."

"Is she going to be okay?" Pete asks in a blind panic.

Ste nods and says. "She'll be fine, mate."

I am amazed at how composed he is until I hear mum whisper to Martin,

"Ste delivered Lucas at home."

Are you kidding me?

Within minutes the party grinds to an end before it even really started. The birthday boy goes off to the hospital with his boyfriend's ex-girlfriend who is about to have his best friend's baby on his birthday.

It is like something off the Jeremy Kyle show only with more love and less bad fashion!

Surreal!

'.'/

Our family hovers in the waiting area of the maternity unit of St Vincent's University Hospital expectantly.

Every time the doors of the labour ward open we think it is going to be Pete with news.

After three anxious hours where we occasionally snack on party food brought over by aunt Chez and her boyfriend, Pete comes out with a ridiculously large smile on his face.

He wheels himself up to us and simply says,

"She is perfect." He breaks down in tears. "They are perfect!"

Dad and Ste give him a three way hug and whisper their congratulations before telling him to get back in there to enjoy time with his wife and new baby.

Dad and Ste then sit back down with a joint visible sigh of relief. One of dad's arms rests over the back of Ste's chair and Ste's head leans on dad's shoulder. They are still wearing their alcohol soaked clothes but I don't think they care or notice.

They have a knack of doing this; cocooning themselves as if they are alone even when the world bustles around them.

Dad nudges his shoulder up slightly and whispers, "You okay?"

Ste nods, "Yeah. I'm just glad she is okay, you know?"

Brendan grunts his agreement before shifting to kiss Ste on top of his head.

"Thank you." He says. "This has been ... memorable."

Ste frowns. "Didn't go the way I wanted. It was supposed to be amazing and the cake is still out in the living room and probably melting if Paraic, Leah and their friends haven't already demolished it."

"Eileen and Martin are with them." Dad reminds him.

"Yeah but-"

Dad moves so that he can look Ste straight in the eye.

"Shush." He places a finger on Ste's mouth and then replaces it with his lips.

I smile, not because of the kiss although even I'll admit that it is kind of sweet. It is because I recognise how dad looks at Ste.

You see, things are never all they seem when it comes to Ste and dad.

On face value the surprise was dad's birthday party and it was in a way. Then the surprise became Amy having her first child with Pete.

But the truth is none of these are as big a surprise as what is going to happen sometime this week and maybe sooner than I think.

I'll let you know what happened two days ago to explain. It is the real reason why mum, Amy and I have been walking around with anxious expectation and why dad has been all over the shop emotionally...

'.'/

Two nights ago, Dad sat mum and me down after supper looking all nervous and stressed.

"Look, I told Amy already and I think you ought to know as well." He said as his knee jerked uncontrollably and he smoothed his moustache down and his back was rod-straight. "I am just going to say it and I am not asking. I am telling you. I am doing it this week."

Then he said nothing for a while.

"Yes?" Mum prompted.

He looked us both in the eye and said after taking a deep breath in,

"I AM GOING TO ASK STEPHEN TO MARRY ME."

...

...

When he said the it was like writing in CAPITAL LETTERS WITH FELT TIP!

...

'.'/ THE END \'.'