"Let's go!" Sadie said excitedly as she jumped in the passenger seat of Kieran's car with a piece of toast in hand.
"You're not allowed to eat in the car." He informed her. She laughed in his face.
"Fuck off this thing is a piece of shite, I'm pretty certain the toast is of higher value."
"You're probably right." He chuckled. "Let's get moving! I can't wait to see my niece."
"Great-niece." She corrected him.
"Ach don't say that it makes me feel old!" He pouted. "Anyway, she was only a baby the last time I saw her. She must be really big now."
"Yeah, big and bold." Sadie snorted.
"She's not bad now is she?" He still found it strange to hear his 20 year old lesbian niece talking as a mother.
"No. She's just...spirited." Sadie chuckled. "She gets it from me...or so Anne-Marie would have you believe."
"Well she wouldn't take that after strangers." He agreed.
"No definitely not." She chuckled.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing though, I mean look at our Naomi...she's spirited but it just means she has a goal in life and she's going to achieve it." He mused.
Sadie noticed the paternal way in which he spoke about Naomi and smiled. They pulled into the airport car park and headed towards the arrivals lounge. Kieran stained his neck to look over the crowd to see the people disembarking from their flights, looking for his family.
"I wouldn't worry about it Kieran, we'll probably hear them before we see them." Sadie joked.
"Look there they are." A thick Northern Irish accent cut over the din. The woman sounded animated and excited.
"Mammy!" A high pitched voice cried out and a tiny red head bolted towards them.
"Told you." She poked her tongue out at her uncle and bent down to catch her daughter. "Hello button!" She scooped her up and gave her 4 days worth of hugs and kisses.
"Did you go on the big plane?"
"Pain!" The little girl nodded. "Loud." She added covering her ears.
"There he is! My brother...the groom!" Anne Marie, who was a short, plump woman with blonde hair gripped her younger brother and gave him a rib crushing hug. "And my daughter too!" She cried out overjoyed.
"Kieran." Her husband, an average height, well built man with red hair, offered his brother in law a manly handshake and a pat on the back; the Irish man's version of a hug.
"Diarmuid." Kieran nodded back.
"Has she been good?" Sadie asked her parents in between hugs.
"Good as gold!" The doting grandmother smiled.
"Gave the airhostess a bit of an earache though." Her father chuckled. "Her tongue never lay from we took off till we landed." Sadie looked at her daughter with a furrowed brow.
"Kept telling everyone about the wedding and her dress." Anne Marie added.
"Wedding." Aiden sang. Kieran laughed.
"Aiden do you remember Uncle Kieran?" Sadie asked, pointing at the man in question.
"Ke-yan." She smiled at him. He choked up a little bit and smiled back.
"Hello Aiden. Haven't you gotten big?" He ruffled her hair. She frowned and pushed it back out of her eyes.
-
"Shouldn't be long now." Gina smiled when she got off the phone. "They're just leaving the airport now."
"Oh you two are in for a treat!" Diarmuid laughed at the unsuspecting pair. His family were, for want of a better word, charmingly dysfunctional.
"Did you remember to invite Emily round?" Gina asked her daughter.
"Yes." Naomi sighed. "Though I still don't see why she has to be here."
"She's practically part of the family." Gina smiled. "Besides, I think it's important for her to meet her future in-laws in-law."
Naomi cringed at her mother; she was sure if the whole lot of them, Irish included, would move in tomorrow Gina would be thrilled to have them live as one huge happy extended family.
"It's going to be weird seeing Sadie with a baby." Naomi thought out loud.
"You would think that but it's not really." Her brother shrugged. "She's actually a natural mother. It's kind of funny."
"I can't wait to meet her." Gina cooed excitedly. "I love babies."
Naomi rolled her eyes. Her mother was going to love having a baby in the house, even if it would only be for the next 24 hours or so.
-
It was a bit of a squeeze fitting 4 people, 1 car seat and all the luggage into Kieran's tiny car but somehow they managed it, though Anne Marie spent the whole journey home praying the car wouldn't fall apart. When they arrived everyone was waiting expectantly for them in the living room. Gina had just made a pot of tea. Irish people like tea and drink it in large amounts, she had learned this when Kieran had moved in.
"Hello." She greeted them cheerfully. "Welcome to Bristol."
"Everyone this is my bride to be Gina." Kieran said, moving to stand beside her. "And this is her lovely daughter Naomi." He put his arm around the blonde girl.
"Naomi and Gina this is my sister Anne Marie." The words had barely left his mouth when the tiny woman hurled herself towards Gina and grabbed her for a nice, tight hug.
"Welcome to the family!" She squealed emotionally. "Both of you!" She added, releasing Gina and throwing her arms around a startled Naomi. Sadie and Diarmuid fought to control their laughter while Kieran looked at his sister like she was crazy.
"And this is her husband Diarmuid." He added, gesturing towards him.
"Big Derm." Sadie informed them, patting her father on the back.
"And this, as you might have guessed, is the infamous Aiden." Sadie bounced the child in her arms.
"Isn't she precious!" Gina said, rushing towards them to fawn over the baby.
"Say hello to Auntie Gina Aiden." Sadie told her daughter. Gina mouthed the words Auntie Gina and her eyes filled with tears.
"Hello." Aiden giggled.
"Auntie Gina has a special job for you at the wedding tomorrow."
"Wedding!" The child cheered.
"Gina has asked Aiden to be flower girl tomorrow." Sadie informed her mum.
"Oh that is so thoughtful." The over emotional Irish woman pulled Gina down for another rib crushing hug.
"You're a brave woman!" Diarmuid senior joked.
"Yeah maybe we have a bit of a practise later." Sadie suggested looking sceptically at the child.
With the introductions out of the way they sat down for a cup of tea and the usual getting to know you banter. Aiden was in her element as she climbed from person to person putting on her puppy dog face to get more biscuits.
"Ta." She said as Gina handed her another custard cream.
"Who says ta?" Sadie asked, in an angry tone.
"Fank oo." She corrected herself with a mouth full of biscuit.
"She's very advanced for her age." Gina remarked, sounding impressed. "She's talking a lot."
"Yeah, it's getting her to shut up that's the trick." Uncle Diarmuid laughed and grabbed his niece and tickled her.
"Stop that!" Sadie chastised him. "She's just ate her body weight in bloody custard creams you're going to make her sick." She slapped her brother and took the baby from him. Aiden looked dismayed as Diarmuid looked guilty.
"See what I mean." He said to Naomi, who understood completely. Sadie looked so natural with the child that you sort of forgot about all the other stuff surrounding it.
The Bests began to retell all the embarrassing stories they could remember about the groom to his new family. He sat in his chair, jaw clenched, taking deep breaths as Anne Marie recounted tales from his youth.
"Thank Christ!" He exclaimed, jumping out of his seat when the doorbell rang.
"Hello Emily!" He greeted her a bit over enthusiastically. "Thank God you're here."
"Hi Kieran." She smiled wondering what had gotten into him.
"Now my sister is in there so I'd like to apologise in advance for what you're about to go through but thank you because you're taking the heat off me for a while."
"What?" The red head asked, half confused and half scared.
"You'll be fine!" He assured her before pushing her through the living room doors. "Everybody look it's Emily!" He cheered.
"This is Naomi's girlfriend Emily." Gina said proudly. Emily looked terrified. "That's right isn't it? Girlfriend? Or do you prefer the term partner?" She asked them.
"Girlfriend is fine mum!" Naomi cringing, wishing this wasn't happening.
"Anyway Emily these are Sadie and Dermot's parents Anne Marie and Dermot."
"Big Derm!" Sadie and her brother cried out in unison. Their father shook his head and smiled.
"And this is Sadie's daughter Aiden." She motioned towards the tot on the floor.
"Low!" Aiden beamed at the girl.
"Aw!" Emily cooed.
"She's not usually so biscuit covered." Sadie assured her.
"She's gorgeous, look at her little curly hair." The twin smiled. "She looks just like you actually."
"Hear that?" Sadie nudged Naomi in the ribs. "Your girlfriend thinks I'm gorgeous!" She smirked causing Emily to blush. She hurried over and took a seat between the two girls, trying to hide her face. Intrigued by the new face Aiden shuffled over to her mum, who was waiting with a wipe in hand to remove the biscuit crumbs from her face.
"So how long have you two been together then?" Anne Marie enquired.
"Umm...6 months now, officially." Emily stammered, feeling a little uncomfortable being the centre of attention.
"Oh that's lovely. How did you meet?" The girls looked at each other.
"At school." Naomi answered timidly.
"Give it a rest mum!" Sadie whined.
"What?" The Irish woman acted clueless.
"You know what." Sadie glared at her.
"I'm just curious." She said defensively. "I like to know how people meet. Maybe then I can help you meet a nice girl." She added pointedly.
"The day I let you help me look for a nice girl is they day I've asked Derm to kill me!" Sadie said dryly. Naomi chuckled.
"I didn't think Sadie would need much help in that department. She's already got herself a date lined up for the wedding." The blonde remarked, mentally kicking herself when she realised she'd just landed Sadie in it.
"You have a date?" Her mother sounded both surprised and pleased. Sadie took a deep breath and looked away.
"That was Mick on the phone." Kieran returned, having no idea what he'd just interrupted. "They're in town and all so I'm going to run in and pick them up. Back in a minute." He turned on his heels and left again.
"I better make some more tea." Gina said cheerfully.
"So this date?" Anne Marie pressed.
"Thanks Naomi." Sadie muttered to the blonde on her right. Naomi mouthed back sorry.
"Who is it?"
"No one." Sadie sighed. "Just one of Naomi's friends."
"What's her name?" Her mother sounded excited.
"Effy." Emily's eyes widened and she looked at Naomi. "Look it's not a big deal...it's not really a date...it's more like a we're both gonna be there so why don't we go together kind of thing." Sadie stammered.
"It's a date." Naomi confirmed with a grin.
"Wow! Is she nice?" She directed the question at Naomi rather than Sadie.
"She's lovely." Sadie replied flatly, looking to her brother for help but he was too busy laughing at her.
"Well what are you waiting for invite her round!" Anne Marie insisted. Sadie stared at her like she'd lost the plot.
"No fucking way!" She laughed.
"Mammy say fuck!" Aiden giggled, as did everyone else apart from Sadie and her mother.
"Why not? There'll be so many people at the wedding tomorrow I probably won't get a chance to speak to this girl properly." She argued.
"That's what I was counting on."
"Mammy!" Aiden interrupted all the chaos.
"What is it button?" Sadie asked, lifting her up on her knee.
"Tired" She whimpered.
"Are you tired sweetheart? Do you want to go to bed?" Sadie asked, searching her bag for the child's dummy.
"Yes." She nodded with a pout.
"Come on then." Sadie stood up and the child lay her head on her shoulder. "I'll just put her down." She excused herself glad of the escape.
"We're not finished talking about this." Her mother called after her as she walked out the door. Of course they weren't they wouldn't be done talking about it until Anne Marie got her own way.
"If I ever start acting like that you have my permission to put me in a home." She told her daughter, who was half asleep on her shoulder.