Author's Note: Welcome to chapter 7 and thank you, as always, for your continued support!
All she could hear was the rain against the window as they laid together, him trailing a hand up and down her back and her settled in his arms with her head on his chest as she listened to the steady thumping of his heart. Whether she had rolled to him at some point in the night or whether he had reached for her, she was unsure, but when she woke she was in his arms and she had to admit it felt rather nice. He was so warm and she was actually comfortable for once, so she'd made no attempt to move as of yet and was purely making the most of the little time she had before she needed to force herself to get up and face the long day that laid ahead of her.
Nestling deeper into his embrace, she brought her hand from his waist to his chest and tilted her head back on his shoulder to look up at him before smiling when he touched his forehead to her own. "I have to get up in a minute so I can make us something to eat and you aren't helping to make that any easier." She teased, feeling his chest rumble beneath her hand when he chuckled before she hooked her leg over his hip and settled down. He stopped rubbing her back then and brought his spare hand up to comb through her curls, making her sigh.
"I…uhm…there's something I need to speak with you about," He told her eventually, his voice quiet. "I would have brought it up later, but I'm unsure if you and I will have the time to sit and talk about it this afternoon."
"No, go on, it sounds important." She shook her head while brushing her thumb against his chest.
He sighed and thought for a moment before tightening his hold of her and making himself more comfortable. "An old friend of mine, someone Riordan and I used to go around causing mayhem with when we were boys, he…he's sick and he has been for some time, only he's never been this bad before," He explained. "He doubts he has long left, he mentioned it in a letter not too long ago, and he has no relatives or friends around him to make his last days comfortable and see him through to the end, so I thought I might do that. I just can't bear to think about him having to go through something like this by himself, honestly, I want to be there for him."
"Oh, the poor man, what a dreadful thing to have to go through, especially when he has no one around him," Was her response. "I can see why you would want to go and if you can convince your superiors to grant you the time to do so, I think you should do it because I don't have any problem with you wanting to be there for a friend. I don't imagine there's much point in me asking when you're going to be returning though, is there?"
"One can never put a timeframe on these things, sweet one, his time will come when it comes and I can't tell you how long that will be," He pointed out. "I am going to miss you so much. Unless…unless, of course, you want to come with me and then we won't have to be apart for all that time? He has a small guest house down the road from his house, I remember from when I spent summers there in the years before we met, so I could get the key from him and we could stay there. It would mean I can care for him throughout the day, but I still get to come home to you in the evenings and there won't be miles between us for however long all this takes."
A small smile graced her features. "It does sound nice, but I don't want to cause him any bother."
"You won't be, you're only staying in his guest house," He chuckled. "He won't even truly know you're there."
"Maybe I could then. When were you thinking of going?" She asked with a raise of an eyebrow.
He winced. "See, this is the thing. I was hoping to catch the night train this evening if that's at all doable."
"Gracious, that doesn't give us a lot of time to prepare for such a trip." She told him.
"No, I know, but I don't know how long he has left and I want to try and get there as soon as I can."
"It makes sense when you put it like that. I…I'll pack our things this afternoon and that should help a little."
He smiled, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "You don't know how much I love you for doing this."
"You would do it for me if it were a friend or family member of mine in such a position," She reminded him, lifting her hand to catch his own and bringing it to rest between them on the bed. "I'm going to support you."
"I know you are, you always do." He replied.
"Before we can even think about travelling though, we need something to eat which means I should be getting up and making us some breakfast," She sighed, dropping his hand to push back the covers and laughing when he caught her wrist when she tried to sit up and pulled her back down. Rolling onto her side to face him, she looked him in the eye for a moment while he brushed his thumb warmly against her skin and smiled. "What?"
"Come here and kiss me before you go down." He used his spare hand to brush her hair from her face.
She gave him a teasing roll of her eyes at his words before he dropped her wrist and laid his hand on her hip, her own hand coming to rest on the side of his neck so she could hold him in place while she pressed her lips against his. It was a soft, chaste kiss and it ended near enough as quickly as it started, but it appeared to have pleased him when she pulled away again and she let her thumb run along his jawline. "I truly need to get up," She whispered, brushing her lips against his once more before moving away from him and pushing the covers back so she could climb out of bed and pad across the bedroom for her dressing gown. "Your usual, I take it?"
"Oh, you know me so well." He smirked, tucking an arm beneath his head as he looked at her.
"I'll call you down when it's on the table," She told him. "Shouldn't be too long."
Heading for the door, she made her way out onto the landing and failed to keep from smiling to herself as she turned to go down to the kitchen. It was so thrilling to her, the thought of getting away from here for a while. It wasn't under the best of circumstances, no, but Ciarán had never – in all the time they'd been married – let her join him if he needed to go away for a while or taken her on a trip of any sort. All she had really known since she married him and let him move her to Ireland were these four walls and even though she was fond of her little house, she had to admit it would be nice to get out for a time. It would be such an adventure for her.
It would be an adventure for both of them and one she couldn't wait to embark on.
Removing four more shirts from their hangers and taking them from the wardrobe, Margaret carried them over to the bed and made quick work of folding them so she could put them neatly in her husband's case. He was so much simpler to pack for than she was since all he truly needed were shirts, undershirts, trousers, socks and undergarments. If he ended up in need of other things while they were away, she was certain there would be a little town nearby from which she could get them for him. At the moment though, she had no reason to think too much about what she was packing and she was really almost done which was a relief if ever there was one.
It was quite a long train ride to his friend's and they would be quite a way away from home, she learned from her husband earlier on, and the thought of travelling so far in her condition was a cause of concern for her. It made her anxious to know that Doctor O'Clery wouldn't be on hand should something end up happening, but Ciarán reminded her that he wasn't the only doctor in the world and there'd be some where they were headed. He was right, of course, and she was sure they would be wonderful with her should the need for her to go and see them arise, but they wouldn't know her history the way he did and she felt it simply wouldn't be the same.
"Oh, Margaret, stop fretting about something that might not even happen." She muttered to herself.
It was something her mother said to her frequently when she was a girl because she truly worried about every little thing to the extreme. She hoped it would stop as she got older, her parents did too, but it only seemed to get worse and there was no doubt in her mind that what went on to happen to her when she married did little to help that. It was in the past now though, her husband had changed – though he still had the odd slip up – and so she really needed to stop being so foolish and start searching for the good in things instead of the bad. It was going to take quite some time though and that was one thing she would never try and kid herself about.
Running a hand through her hair, she turned to wander over to the drawers on the other side of the bedroom to get a couple of undershirts and that was when she heard a raised voice followed by a clattering downstairs. She forgot all about the packing then, worried Ciarán had done something to hurt himself, and all but ran out of the room before making her way down to the kitchen to see what on earth was going on. It was only when she entered that she noticed Riordan was there, pinning her husband against the wall with both hands holding onto his jumper. "I wouldn't say that about her again if you want to keep your teeth." She heard him threaten.
"Riordan!" Was all she found she could manage as she took in the scene before her. "What…what is this?"
"Are you going to be the one to tell her what was really wrong with Aoibheann last night? Why she suddenly wanted to come home? Of course, I don't mind doing it if you're too much of a coward." Riordan all but spat.
It was then that Ciarán looked her way. "I think this is all a misunderstanding, this is ridiculous!"
"Riordan, let go of him this minute before I go out and summon a policeman," She demanded, relieved when the man did as he was told after a couple of seconds and turned to face her as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Not that I should, given the way you forced yourself into my home, but I am going to give you one chance to explain yourself and you better have a decent reason for coming in here the way you did and creating all this."
"Is the fact that he threatened my wife a 'decent' enough reason for you?" He snapped.
"What? When was this?" She inquired.
"Last night at the public house when you and I were waiting for those drinks," He informed her, straightening his jacket. "As she always does, she was looking out for you and she was telling this 'perfect husband' of yours that she could see right through his little act which is something you seem to be incapable of doing. I have no idea what sort of spell he has you under, but you need to wake up and snap out of it because I am getting sick and tired of Aoibh feeling as though she has to have a part in this battle. She has three little girls she needs to care for and her health is…weak…at best, so this is the last thing she needs to be fretting about at the minute."
For a moment, she was silent as she clasped her hands together and glanced back and forth between him and her husband. It was only when she was about to open her mouth to speak again that Ciarán came to stand by her side, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. "I admit that I was a little blunt with her last night," He sighed when she looked up at him. "But, unlike she claims, I never actually threatened her. She was telling me that you were foolish for trusting me and giving me another chance, as I told you when we went to bed, and I told her to just back off and let us deal with our marriage and she must've taken it wrong."
"If you believe that, you'll believe anything." Riordan muttered.
"I do believe him," She replied, her voice barely higher than a whisper as she moved closer to her husband and brought a hand to his chest. "I mean, it makes sense she would say such a thing about me because she told me to be careful not too long ago and I told her, respectfully, not to. I don't appreciate either of you thinking you have the right to involve yourself in this. I admit, things were rocky between us for a while, but he swore that he would change and do better for me and he honoured his word. I respect that and I…I truly love him for it."
"I have no idea how you can't see we're only trying to help," He shook his head. "You need to listen, Mags."
Ciarán frowned at him. "No, you need to listen to her. She doesn't want either of you interfering."
"I would much rather hear those words from her lips." Riordan growled before looking at Margaret again.
Instead of responding to him, she blinked back the tears in her eyes and cast her gaze down at the tiles while her husband brought her closer to him and buried his lips softly in her curls. She couldn't look him in the eye.
"Right…" Was his response as he threw his hands up. "Well, we can't say that we didn't try."
From where she stood, her eyes still cast down, she listened to the sound of him walking across the kitchen to the door before he left the house and the heavy slam of the door made her jump. It was then that Ciarán took her by the arms and turned her towards him, her bottom lip trembling when she found the strength to look at him. "I wish he – they – could see that you're a changed man now, but they obviously can't." She said gently.
"Because they don't want to," He sighed, taking her face in his hands. "I think they hate how in love we are."
"But…but I don't understand why," A tear trickled down her cheek. "All I wanted for so many years was this."
"In this world we live in, sweetheart, there are going to be countless things we will never understand but have to accept," He shook his head while catching the tear on his thumb and wiping it from her skin. "I think this trip of ours has come at the perfect time. Let's just get out of this town for a while and then, when we return, things may have settled down enough for us to just be able to get on with our lives the way we truly want to."
"Oh, I hope so…" She whimpered, putting her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.
"So do I," He murmured with a kiss to her crown. "So do I…"
He stopped looking out the window on the train and turned his head in his wife's direction when she cuddled closer to him in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent, and he sighed as he watched her for a time. It was a drastic measure, the one he'd been made to take, and it would only cause him more hardship since it would mean he had to look for employment once again, but he had no choice. He couldn't risk her running out and leaving him to his own devices again, making a mockery of him by making him grovel with her to come back. He would have to keep this up for a while, he realized, but it wouldn't be forever and that was the main thing.
He was the head of this household.
He was the one who gave the orders and called the shots, not the other way around.
A woman was required to honour and respect her husband and he would see to it that she did just that.
No matter what it took.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read! Apologies that the last section was so short. Writer's block decided to rear its ugly head, but the next chapter will open with them still on the train and so I can sort of continue it then! I would love to know what you all thought of this chapter and I will see you in the next one :)
