Three weeks later…
Cathleen feverishly packed up the apartment. Adriana walked in wheeling her own apartment.
"Christ! Did you forget Connor?" Cathleen asked and laughed.
"No, he's downstairs," She answered and collapsed on the couch. Cathleen finished packing the suite cases and tossed them into the living room.
"So how do you like the new bedroom?"
"It's weird; we actually have a living room." Cathleen replied and rechecked the entire set of luggage.
Murphy's pants…check, my pajamas…check, both toothbrushes…check, rain and possible snow gear…check, undies…check, every other fucking thing I can think of…check. Cathleen checked everything off her list and finally declared she was done.
"It's taken me four fucking days, but I did it." Adriana smiled half heartedly and then looked off.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing…it's nothing," Adriana muttered and turned on the TV.
"Ok, something's up, what is it?" Cathleen asked and poked her friend in the face with her finger. "So tell me."
"Honestly, it's nothing." Adriana said and flipped through the channels. "IT'S MILEY!" Cathleen let out a shriek and quickly turned over the channel.
"That was close," Cathleen laughed, Adriana snorted as she laughed.
"Ok, there is one thing bothering me."
"Is it Ma?" Adriana nodded and turned off the TV.
"Trust me, you'll be fine, Ma's a really happy person." Cathleen attempted to lie, but failed.
"Just tell her, 'deoch a leat do dhuine.' It roughly means 'I get you a drink.'" Cathleen attempted to teach her.
"Positive it'll work?" Adriana questioned. Cathleen nodded. The boys came clambering in the room.
"Jesus!" Cathleen screamed and noticed that they were slightly tipsy. "They're fucking drunk!"
"We're not drunk," Murphy attempted to correct her.
"If you don't sober up before we get to the air port you can fucking forget even going because changing our fly out date on short notice would fuck us over!" Cathleen said and angrily left the room.
Murphy rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen after her. Connor and Adriana chilled in the living room listening as the fighting ensued.
"They're always arguing," Adriana muttered, Connor nodded in agreement.
"How do you feel?" He asked her. Adriana shrugged.
"WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO GO? ARE YOU GONNA STAY HOME WITH YOUR FUCKING GIRLFRIEND?!" Was all they heard from the kitchen.
"I NEVER FUCKIN' CHEATED OK? IS THAT TOO MUCH FOR YOUR FUCK'N THICK HEAD?!"
"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP, MURPHY!" Cathleen angrily walked from the kitchen to the bedroom and slammed the door.
Connor gave Murphy a questioned look as he walked into the living room.
"Just give her a few minutes to cool off," Murphy said. "We still have to wait for Da."
"Should I go talk to her?" Adriana offered.
"Na, she'll be ok." Murphy answered and tied up his boots. He walked over to the door and gave a little knock.
"Babe, when's Da supposed to get here?"
"Ten or fifteen minutes," She replied angrily through the door.
"See, she'll come out and be just fine when Da gets here." Murphy whispered, the door opened slightly and Cathleen tossed out two more bags. Murphy walked over and quickly entered the room.
"Com' 'ere," Murphy said sweetly. Cathleen ignored him and went through her check list. "Cathleen, I said come here."
She heard the forcefulness in his voice; it was nice to hear it once in a while. She set down her list and walked over by him.
"Trust me, it's never happened, never gonna happen." Cathleen nodded and didn't say a word, she just listened.
"Hello everyone!" came a familiar voice.
"Da's here, we have to get going, do you have the passports?" Cathleen quickly remembered. Murphy patted his jacket pocket.
"Hi Da," Cathleen said as she walked out of the bedroom, she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Are we ready? Our plan leaves in a few hours, but we still have security and all."
Everyone nodded and the boys lifted the suitcases downstairs as Cathleen and Adriana locked up the apartment and turned off all the electrical appliances. They walked over to Doc's apartment and gave the door a rap.
"W-w-w-who is it?" Doc stuttered.
"Open the door," Cathleen replied.
"Off to Ireland, Banba?"
"Aye, we'll be back by the 6th of January, 7th for sure. I taught Michael where everything goes, I printed out new schedules and check lists for truck drop offs, and where we do business. There shouldn't be much else you can't handle; I left the numbers of where we're going to be downstairs on one of the coolers. Oh, I've also left you my car for any use; it's parked where it always is." Cathleen said and handed him the keys.
"Relax, Banba, I've got it under c-c-control. When ye get back we can have a nice family Christmas like always." Doc said and hugged her.
"Love you, Doc," Cathleen said and pecked his cheek.
"Safe flight, all of ya," Doc replied and shut the door. Cathleen and Adriana left the apartments and walked downstairs where the guys were waiting with two cabs.
"I'll ride with Connor and Adriana, unless you girls wanted to share a cab?" Da questioned.
"Yes, we were thinking of sharing a cab and you boys can take the other one," Cathleen agreed. Connor and Murphy finished loading all the bags into the cabs and waited.
"Boys you're with me, the girls take the first cab."
"Logan International Airport," Cathleen told both drivers and the girls hoped into their cabs.
Despite the fact that with was mid-December in Boston, there was more sludge than snow. The wind still hit hard and pushed the cars back and forth slightly. Cathleen could hear the water and sludge fly underneath the tires as they drove. Cathleen rechecked her purse for meds, a wallet, and her passport.
"Shit, where's my passport!" Cathleen hastily questioned. "Never mind, Murphy's got it."
"You fucking scared me," Adriana said and checked her own things.
"Remember when we said we'd run off to Ireland to find some smexy Irishmen?"
"Oh yeah, that was forever ago, but we're no longer running off to Ireland to find smexy Irishmen we're running off to meet their mom." Adriana looked at the ground again as the word slipped out.
"Trust me, she's a great lady! Even though I never met her in person, she seems really cool," Cathleen attempted to help.
The cabs pulled up to a busy terminal and slid to a stop. The people coming and going neither liked nor disliked that two cabs had just splashed the, already mucky sidewalk, with extra slush.
Cathleen paid the drivers and helped the guys empty the trunks. Cathleen and Adriana shivered as they entered the warm terminal.
"We check in and then head over to Terminal E to get on Aer Lingus." Cathleen said off the top of her head.
"She's got to relax," Da muttered.
"I heard that," Cathleen said as they walked up to the front counter.
"Good evening, name?" The woman behind the counter welcomed.
"All the tickets are under McManus," Cathleen said.
"Ok, put your bags on the scale. Here are your tags," The overly happy woman said to the group as they weighed their bags. "Terminal E, have a safe flight, oh by the way your flight has been moved up a few minutes."
The group left their bags and headed with their tickets to the terminal. The walk to the terminal was slightly better than the drive. There wasn't many people stomping the corridors and the moving sidewalks made the walk more enjoyable.
"Remind me again why we're flying at six o'clock at night, fer?" Murphy complained.
"Because this was the cheapest flight I could get without breaking budget AND we'd get there early." Cathleen mentioned as they entered security.
"Shoes off, passports out, put any metal objects: belts, cell phones, rings, glasses, and wallet chains in the baskets supplied for you." A tired looking security guard ordered.
The group did as followed. Adriana went first, followed by Cathleen, who was followed by Da. Murphy beeped as he entered the scanner. He rechecked his pockets and found a few bits of loose change and tossed it into the basket. Murphy walked through with no problem. Connor on the other hand, went through six times still beeping. The security guards patted him down and then released him.
"Jest keep walking," Connor whispered to Adriana who gave him a quizzed look. They gathered their things and headed to their terminal.
Cathleen collapsed on a chair and sorted through her carry on. Murphy drug Connor off to the Men's Restroom.
"What the fuck was that?"
"What?" Connor asked, attempting to look innocent.
"What have you got on you?"
"It's nothing," Connor whispered back.
"Leave your brother alone," Da said as he walked in. "It's just a flask. I know the guards, they're fine people."
Murphy nodded and left, leaving Da and Connor alone. "Thanks, Da." Da nodded and walked away into a stall.
"It was a fucking flask!" Murphy whispered loudly to Cathleen.
"He didn't put it up?" Cathleen replied.
"No, apparently not,"
"Oh, the no liquid rule, I get it. Well anyway I've got about a hundred in loose cash for exchanging and we can exchange more later," Cathleen mentioned. Murphy nodded and looked around.
"Where'd Ady go?"
"Food, it calls to her." Cathleen replied and started sorting through her carry on yet again. Murphy tossed his backpack over to her.
"Any name yet?" Murphy asked and leaned on her shoulder.
"Nope, she said she liked David for a boy and she said maybe Elsa for a girl, but she can't make up her mind, so maybe mom could help." Cathleen mentioned and gave him a quick kiss.
"I hate flying; did I forget to mention that?" Murphy asked.
"Yes, you did a few times," Cathleen answered.
"AIRTRAN AMERICA TO CHICAGO IS NOW BOARDING." A somewhat robotic voice came over the intercom.
"That could get annoying," Murphy mentioned and snuck in another kiss. Cathleen nodded and kissed him back.
"You would not believe the lines! For a cheeseburger!" Adriana mentioned and she walked back.
"Do you want to go over what you're going to say to ma?"
"Sure, I guess," Adriana agreed and bit into her greasy McDonald's cheeseburger.
"I hate that place with a passion!" Cathleen commented. "Ok, 'deoch a leat do dhuine.'"
"Dayoch a leet do hwine." Adriana attempted to repeat with a mouth full of food.
"Swallow, and then repeat." Cathleen giggled. Adriana's face turned red and she finished her bite before she began again.
"Deoch a leat do dhuine,"
"Iomlán!" Cathleen shouted and clapped.
"Really? Wait what?" Adriana asked.
"Perfect, roughly translated; you did better than I did my first few times," Cathleen agreed.
"You're such a good teacher," Murphy kissed her. Connor and Da approached the group.
"I see you're not fighting anymore, eh Murph," Connor mentioned and took a seat next to Adriana and stole the rest of her sandwich.
"Hey!" Adriana said angrily. Connor looked at her with a face of an angel.
"How
are you doing, Da?" Cathleen asked.
"A bit nervous actually,
I haven't seen Annabelle in 26 years." Da said and took a seat.
"Well she didn't seem all that mad, when I told her," Cathleen attempted to bluff him. Da nodded and looked up at the ceiling.
"You know what Michael told me?" Murphy asked, to no one in particular. Everyone gave him a quizzed look.
"He once gave a kid 10 dollars to look up at the ceiling at a mall with his finger pointed up in the air, everyone stopped to watch." Murphy said and laughed, Cathleen gave a less than excited giggle, because she had heard the story a million times before.
"Fine, I thought it was funny," Murphy scoffed and attempted to ignore everyone.
"AER LINGUS BOSTON TO DUBLIN IS NOW BOARDING," a loud robotic voice came over the intercom.
Murphy gripped Cathleen's hand tightly and looked her worriedly in the eyes. She knew this look; it was that look that proved to her he was vulnerable. She nodded her head and gave him a smile.
"Welcome to Aer Lingus, please hand me your tickets!" Another overly excited stewardess said. The group followed the line and eventually made it onto the plane.
"Da, you're sitting aisle then it's Murphy and I have window," Cathleen said to Da as he attempted to find his seat.
"Connor, we're across the aisle from them," Adriana whispered and trudged onto the flight. Connor nodded and took a deep breath.
"Right there," Cathleen said and pointed to their seats.
The straggling passengers finished boarding and found their seats. The crew started their preliminary checking of seat belts and passengers.
"If everyone can watch me for a moment, thank you!" A very hyper stewardess said from the front. "In case of a mid air flight complication here are your exits."
She quickly pointed to her back, her sides, down in front of her and along the edges of the plan. Murphy griped Cathleen's hand and he took a deep breath.
"There are also emergency description cards in the seats a head of you, along with a pair of head phones, for your enjoying pleasure! Once the plane settles in mid air we will dispense drinks and food trays!"
"Good Evening folks, this is your captain speaking, we are flying out from Boston to Dublin Ireland on this fine December night. We have perfect conditions, and a lovely crew on board. We are all set for take off, enjoy your flight." The captain clicked off.
"Turn off all cell phones, electronical devices, Blackberries, and personal computer. You may resume having them on once the captain has turned off the fasten seat belt sign."
Murphy's grip started to strain on Cathleen's hand as the plane moved into the fly zone.
"You're fine, just relax." Cathleen said and checked her seat belt. She gave him a quick kiss and looked out the window as the plane rolled for take off. Da looked less than enthused about being on the plane. Adriana peered out the window, like a small excited child, as they took off and the ground fell beneath them.
Murphy, Connor, and Da all had their eyes closed and they were barely breathing. Murphy's knuckles had turned pale quickly, Cathleen smiled.
At least we know they're kryptonite. Cathleen thought.
It's cute to know they're scared of something! Adriana thought.
We're going to die. Connor, Murphy, and Da exchanged the same thought.
