Michael Ryan walked into Fitzgeralds and joined the regulars at the bar calling over to Assumpta, "Afternoon Assumpta. Glass of orange juice and a ham sandwich when you can thanks." Assumpta appeared not to have heard him and continued to idly clean the glass she was holding. He looked at Brendan for help.
"It's nothing personal Michael, it's just that two days is a long time when you're in love, isn't it Assumpta?"
"What?" Assumpta looked up hurriedly and realised what Brendan had said. "Oh would you ever bog off Brendan. Sorry Michael I was miles away, what can I get you?"
Michael repeated his order while Padraig remarked, "Miles away? Just how far is London Siobhan?"
"Oh I'd say about 300 as the crow flies, but they say love conquers all distance don't they Assumpta?" Siobhan grinned.
"Do you lot ever grow up?" Assumpta stomped off to the kitchen.
Michael sat down on a bar stool. "Missing Peter is she?"
"Yes," this came from Niamh who was wiping down a table in the corner, "and you lot should stop giving her such a hard time."
"Ach she knows we're only teasing," Padraig protested.
"Yes but it's been hard for her. Peter was gone for weeks and just after she gets him back he has to leave again."
"He's only gone for a couple of days Niamh," said Brendan.
"That's not the point. They didn't get to spend all that much time together when he did get back."
"Away with you, they were together all the time," cried Padraig.
"No Niamh's got a point they've always had the kids or us lot around," Siobhan mused.
"Huh I wonder." Michael had a thoughtful look.
"Aye aye there's a man with a plan," Padraig commented.
"Well did you know it's their wedding anniversary in a few days?"
Siobhan nodded. "It is as well. Good man Michael well remembered."
"You think we should get them something?" asked Niamh.
"Might be nice if we all clubbed together, make it a welcome home present too." Brendan chipped in.
"But they haven't decided if they're staying," Padraig pointed out.
"They haven't but maybe if their friends gave them a welcome home present it would help them make the right decision."
"Guilt trip them you mean," said Niamh crossly.
"Nothing wrong with a bit of guilt Niamh, backbone of Ireland is guilt," Brendan said with a glint in his eye.
"Right that's settled, tell us about your idea Michael," demanded Siobhan.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
That evening Peter drove across the bridge over the Angel and felt the old, but familiar, tug at his heart as Fitzgeralds came into view. Perhaps Assumpta was right and it was finally time to come back. He pulled up outside the pub and stared down the road, he could just see the spire of St Josephs in the gloom. He frowned and looked away. No matter how much it might feel like they were coming home their past would always be there to haunt them. So far he'd managed to avoid walking passed the church but he couldn't avoid that end of the village indefinitely if they moved here. Nor could they avoid the looks and the gossip. It would all eventually backfire. Someone would say something to upset Assumpta or the kids and he couldn't bear that. It was nice for a visit but they had to go home and Assumpta would see that soon, he was sure of it.
He hurriedly jumped out of the car. Regardless of how he felt about being back in Ballykissangel, he couldn't wait to see Assumpta and the kids again. He'd only been away for two nights but after his recent enforced absence any time away from them felt like too long.
Upon entering he was greeted by a chorus of hellos.
He grinned. "I feel like Norm from Cheers."
"We missed you," said Siobhan jovially.
"Some of us more than others, eh Assumpta?" Padraig teased. Assumpta glared at him.
Peter smirked. "Well Padraig I'll try not to be gone so long next time seeing as how you missed me so much." This was met with gales of laughter from Siobhan and Brendan. He made his way round the bar and kissed Assumpta whispering, "I missed you," in her ear before saying in a louder voice, "They been here a while? The three stooges in the corner I mean." He nodded towards the, obviously tipsy, occupants at the end of the bar whilst slipping his arms round Assumpta's waist from behind.
Assumpta sighed contentedly and leaned back into him before replying, "Feels like an eternity," in an acerbic tone directed at the regulars.
"Ach you love us really. You'd miss us if we weren't here," cried Brendan.
"Yeah you're a necessary evil," she grumbled and pulled Peter into the kitchen. "So how did it go?"
"Pretty good, they've given me two more weeks paid holiday and agreed I can take a month's unpaid after that. So we've got six weeks to decide."
"Six weeks to move the rest of our things over and to put the house on the market?" Assumpta said hinted with a trace of a suggestive smile on her lips.
"Or six weeks to find someone to take over the lease and move back home," Peter said slowly.
She gave an annoyed sigh. "But you asked them if a transfer was possible?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"There is an opening for me to take over a project. It would require me to be in the Dublin office one or two days a week and work from home the rest of the time." He saw Assumpta's face light up. "I didn't say I'd take it though."
"You didn't turn it down did you?" she said angrily.
"No I said I'd think about it. That we'd think about it."
"I have thought about it." She fixed him with an icy stare.
"Just give me a bit more time." When she continued to glare at him he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the forehead. "You've had more time to adjust to the idea than me."
"Fine," she huffed.
"I'm going to take my bag upstairs, are the kids all in bed?"
"Yes but Sam decided to start rereading all the Harry Potter's the other day so he's probably under the covers with a torch. If you catch him tell him we will confiscate those bloody books."
Peter laughed, "You're just annoyed that he's too old to be read a bedtime story anymore."
"Well I miss getting to read decent books at bedtime. Abby's too old for a bedtime story now too and all Molly wants are stories about Disney Princesses." She rolled her eyes at the latter.
"It's just a phase."
"Well it's a bad one. I keep trying to entice her with Beatrix Potter or Winnie the Pooh but she's just not interested. I hate that all fairytales and Disney princesses teach young girls is to spend their life hanging around waiting for their prince to rescue them."
"Mulan goes off to war for her family," Peter quickly pointed out trying to stop Assumpta's rant in its tracks.
"Yes and she hates that film," she sighed.
"I'm sure she'll grow up to be a strong, independent woman who just occasionally breaks into song for no good reason," he grinned.
Assumpta gave him a calculated look. "You're probably right, that and spend her life batting her eyelids at any vaguely good-looking boy who passes by."
Peter gave a mock-horrified look. "You're right! That's it, strictly books about talking animals or boy wizards defeating evil from now on."
She laughed as he left to go up the stairs wondering how he nearly always made her forget why she was cross.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Brendan walked down the street from the school with a grim expression on his face, which got grimmer as the pub came into view. He didn't want to have to tell his friends this particular piece of news. Not only would they be upset he also worried it might jeopardise their plans to stay.
He pushed the door to the pub open and found Peter standing behind the bar looking very pleased with himself. Assumpta was sitting on a stool on the other side of the bar admiring a pint of Guinness that Peter had obviously just pulled. Brendan nodded a greeting to Padraig who was one of the few customers and made his way up to the bar.
Assumpta turned to greet him saying, "Ah just the man we need," she pushed the pint towards him. "On the house. Not bad for a rookie barman eh?"
Niamh came through from the kitchen and said, "We'll make a decent barman of him yet Assumpta," after seeing the pint.
"Not bad," Peter complained, "It's a thing of beauty." He grinned at Brendan but the grin faded when he saw Brendan's face. "What's up Brendan?"
"Can we talk?" He gestured through the back glancing at Peter and Assumpta. They followed him with worried expressions.
"What's going on Brendan?" Assumpta asked, closing the door behind her.
"There was an incident this morning at the school."
"What sort of an incident?" Assumpta's voice was sharp, her worry evident.
"The kids are both fine, don't worry," he reassured, "and I just want you to know that these views are not the ones shared by most of the people in this village."
"For pity's sake Brendan, what happened?" Peter was losing his patience.
"Okay, okay. A girl in Abby's class was saying things at morning break that upset her."
"What was she saying?" Assumpta demanded.
Brendan sighed. "She was implying that Abby was," he hesitated, "illegitimate. That you weren't married because you were married to someone else," he nodded at Assumpta, "and you were a priest," he glanced at Peter.
Their reactions were almost exactly as he predicted. Assumpta looked furious and started muttering threats. Peter went pale and leant against the wall.
"Anyway Abby was obviously upset and Sam was playing football quite nearby, he saw this so he came over and told the girl to go away. I'm paraphrasing most of this," Brendan said meaningfully. "I'm afraid at that point the girl's older brother, who's in Sam's class, came up repeating all this nonsense so Sam punched him." Peter groaned at this. Brendan gave him a sympathetic look and continued. "Abby was pretty upset but the tears stopped not long after I found my supply of lollipops." He smiled at the memory of how easy it had been to bribe his pseudo niece. "She's fine now. The brother and sister have both received punishments and I will be talking to their parents. This stuff obviously didn't come from the kids." He took a deep breath and said hurriedly, "I'm afraid I have to suspend Sam for a day." He ignored the shocked reactions from his friends. "I'm sorry, I know he was provoked and was sticking up for his sister but the school has a no tolerance policy on violence and I don't have a choice. He'll stay at school for the rest of today but if you can keep him at home tomorrow and then we'll start afresh on Monday."
"I can't believe people would say that kind of thing to their kids," Peter muttered. "Thanks Brendan, we know you don't have any choice." He patted Brendan on the shoulder. "And don't worry we'll be having words with Sam."
Brendan nodded. "I think you also need to explain to the kids, you know the whole back story. I didn't, I thought it was best left to you two."
"I should've done it before we came here, I just," Assumpta's voice faltered for a moment, "didn't want to do it alone."
Peter put an arm round her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "We'll do it this evening."
She nodded and turned back to the school teacher. "Thanks Brendan, must be lunchtime now will you have that pint?"
Brendan looked torn but quickly agreed saying, "It's been a hard morning." Before he left he turned round and said, "I meant it you know, most people would be shocked to hear what those kids were saying."
"They might be shocked to hear it said out loud but I bet quite a few people have thought stuff like that, they just haven't voiced it," Peter said bitterly.
"There are a lot of people in this community who care about you and will stick up for you," Brendan insisted.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
After Brendan had gone Peter pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and slumped into it.
Assumpta leaned against the work top and said, "Well I suppose it was only a matter of time." Peter grunted in response and drummed his fingers on the table. Assumpta sighed, "It's not that bad. It was two kids repeating something their thick parents said. We'll talk to the kids tonight and it'll be fine."
"How will it be fine?" Peter looked up incredulously.
Assumpta could see where this was going. "Peter," she said warningly.
"What? Our kids got bullied today and our son got into a fight."
"He was provoked and he was trying to protect his sister."
"It still shouldn't have happened."
"And he probably knows that. Or he will by the time we're finished with him."
"I don't just mean the fight. The whole thing should never have happened in the first place. Our kids should not have gotten bullied because of us."
"Oh for god sake Peter I thought you'd given up guilt. It's what children do; they pick on weaknesses or differences. If it hadn't have been this it would have been something else."
"But it was this and it is our fault. Don't you see, that's why we can't come back here." He looked beseechingly at her.
"Oh no don't use this as an excuse." She glared at him and realisation dawned. "You were never even going to consider living here were you? You were just hoping I'd change my mind."
"Well I was afraid something like this would happen. Anyway, I was the one who wanted to come back years ago and you refused."
"And you were right, maybe we should have come back then, but I wasn't ready."
"Well I'm not ready now," he said shortly.
They glared at each other across the table.
"It's not fair on the kids." He attempted to reason with her.
"They like it here."
"Not anymore, Brendan said Abby was in tears."
"So I'm selfish in wanting to come back here?" She was losing her temper with him.
"I didn't say that but why are you pushing the issue so much, why now?"
"Because you weren't the only one who gave things up when we left here. This was my home and my business and I want it back."
"The gossip would make all our lives hell."
"It will die down," she retorted.
"When did you stop living in the real world?"
"When did you become such a cynic?" Assumpta shot back, close to tears now.
" 'Sumpta don't you see we can't. The kids are upset, confused and Sam's been suspended, all because of our mistakes."
"What mistakes?" Assumpta's tone was dangerous.
Peter massaged his temples briefly. "I didn't mean it that way."
"Didn't you, because that's just what Father Mac said."
"And if you remember I threw him out."
"Not before he'd got some digs in about you abandoning your post and the people here."
"He was just trying to get a rise out of me."
"And it worked; I saw that look on your face."
"What look?"
"That classic catholic guilt."
"I gave all that up," snapped Peter and then quietly he added, "For you."
"Don't you dare put that on me I never asked you to," Assumpta said furiously. "It's not my fault you haven't set foot in a church since we left here. That is the real reason you don't want to come back. You'd finally have to come to terms with that." She lowered her voice and uttered what had crossed her mind more than once. "Maybe you're worried that if everyone else round here sees our marriage as a mistake you will too."
"You're being ridiculous," he said tersely.
If looks could kill he'd have found himself six feet under at that point. "If I'm being so ridiculous maybe you should get out." She motioned to the door.
"You're not serious?" he said in an incredulous tone.
"I know it's hard for you to believe since you think I'm living in some sort of fairytale, god forbid I just want to come back to my own hometown. But I am deadly serious. Go and have a proper think about why you don't want to stay here." She was shouting now.
"Have we entered some sort of time warp, you can't just bar me now," he ranted.
"I am not barring you I am simply asking you to leave." She spoke each word slowly and deliberately, seething with anger.
"Fine I will and I'll come back when you're being more rational." He grabbed his jacket from the coat stand in the corner and stormed out of the kitchen into the bar. The dog, seeing Peter pick up his jacket, grabbed his ball and bounded behind him.
Assumpta flung the door open and yelled after him, "I am not the one around here who's not being rational," and slammed it shut again.
Brendan, Padraig and Niamh, the only people in the bar, exchanged looks as Peter looked like he might yell something back at the swinging door. Instead he turned and stomped through the bar with the dog at his heels.
"Everything alright Peter?" Brendan started to ask but he was cut off by a curt "Not now Brendan," from Peter who proceeded to storm out the front door. The pub was left silent except for the quiet sobs coming from the kitchen.