"Ready Yet" by Sasha Sloan

"KellyMarie, go play with your brother," I chastised the young girl before me as she tried bothering Adrienne. Kelly stuck her tongue out at me before going off to play with her brother, who was bothering Tyler. They've been a handful for the last few years. Tyler and Adrienne have been infinitely helpful. We've just moved our expedition to Ireland after being in Germany for seven years. Over that amount of time, Tyler and I had become part of Adrienne's main crew. We'll be with her no matter where she moves to unless we decide not to. But then we'll have to find another job. And we both love Adrienne so I don't see that happening.

My mother and I have also reconciled over the last few years. She even came out to Germany to live with us and followed us to Ireland. She stays with the kids and I and helps take care of them when Tyler and I are actually busy and need to concentrate. I wouldn't have thought that that would ever happen. But it did.

"Are you busy with anything? I do actually have a task for you."

"I'm not busy, I was just washing up."

"Good, I need you to see if this farm will give us permission to dig into their property a bit. We're right at the property line but I think we might need to go a little further in. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

I sighed. "Why not send Tyler? He's more personable."

"Yeah, but you're Irish. Anyone living this far out has to be old school Irish pride."

"That's prejudiced." She raised her eyebrows at me before handing a clipboard and pen to me.

"Yeah, well, I'm your boss. It'll take you like three seconds."

"Fine, but you owe me."

"I'll make sure a nice bottle of whiskey ends up in your tent."

"Tullamore Dew," I nodded before turning and heading towards the farmhouse in the distance. When I got to the door, I rang the bell and waited, trying to work out what exactly I'd say so I didn't have to think entirely on my feet. When the door was answered, however, everything I had prepared left my mind and I stood there dumbstruck. Noah McManus stood before me. He also looked startled, clearly recognizing me.

There were several minutes of awkward silence as we just stared at one another. Eventually, I remembered that I was working. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Uh, hi, um," I stammered. "I'm working with the crew down at the corner of your property." I pointed, he followed my finger with a squint. "And, uh, we were wondering if we might have permission to extend our dig a little bit further and onto your land. We have a grant, so you'll be compensated for it. I just need you to sign here and here."

Noah just continued to stare at me. I stood there awkwardly, trying to smile but I think it came out as more of a grimace. This is so terribly awkward. But it was about to get more awkward.

"Da, who's at the door and why are you jus' starin' at 'em," Connor asked, coming into view. If I didn't recognize his voice, I probably wouldn't have recognized him. His hair had grown out and he had a very long beard. He also stopped and stared at me in disbelief. I was debating whether or not to go through my whole spiel again when Connor shoved by Noah and pulled me into a hug.

"So you're not pissed at me then?" I asked, patting him on the back.

"What? No. I'm not pissed at ye. I told Murphy to go fecking find ye when we left the States but he's a stubborn eejit. How long have ye been in Ireland for?"

"Like four months," I admitted.

"And ye've been down there the whole time?" He glanced at the dig site. "Is that Tyler?" He squinted. "And are those kids? Ye've got kids on the dig site, is that safe?"

"Trust me, they're safe. Between all of the adults there, they aren't left alone at all."

"Who's kids are they? Tyler's?" I gave Connor a look that told him his question was stupid.

"You do know Tyler is gay, right?"

"I mean, he could adopt, aye?"

"He didn't."

"They're yours," Noah spoke for the first time, studying me. I squirmed uncomfortably. Connor looked surprised.

"Just sign the paper, please," I avoided the question, shoving the clipboard at them. Noah scribbled a signature in the spots I had marked. "Thanks. I have to get back to work now."

Before either of them could say anything, I hurried back to camp. Declan immediately ran over to me, throwing himself around my legs, and talking excitedly about a worm he had found. Kelly didn't even bother to look over from what Tyler was showing her. My mom wandered out of the tent, calling the kids over for a snack. They both skipped over to her, entirely content with their unconventional lives.

"Did you get the signatures?" Tyler asked, wiping his hands off on a towel that was at his waist. I nodded.

"Yup, two signatures from one Noah McManus."

"That's not just a common name from the look on your face."

"No, they're here, and they're all in that farmhouse." He looked at me, trying to work out how to ask how I was going to handle this without sounding like a jerk. I shook my head. I didn't know what I was going to do about it. On one hand, I wanted to see Murphy and I wanted the kids to know their dad. But, on the other, Connor had said he had told Murphy to find me and he never did. So did he even feel the same way after all this time? Probably not. I also wasn't naive enough to think that they'd be in hiding for forever. Something would eventually draw them out. And then the kids would lose the father that they hadn't known about.

I sighed before linking arms with Tyler and dragging him into the tent with me to have snacks with the twins and my mom. And probably mid-day whiskey. I was going to need it.