O'Hara's Pub
Philadelphia, PA
December 31, 2005
10:45pm
Mike Logan was not a person who usually enjoyed big family gatherings. Most of the major family events he attended while he was growing up centered on funerals. As a kid, it didn't much matter. He and his cousins would eat, then ditch whatever somber gathering the adults had and go cause trouble some where in the neighborhood.
By the time he hit his teens, his mother started to avoid family gatherings, preferring instead to simply drink herself into oblivion so as not to have to deal with whatever holiday, celebration, or death was the cause of the gathering. Logan would still duck out of the house, but instead of harmless fun with his cousins, he'd run with the other kids in the neighborhood and cause more destructive trouble.
Mike supposed that on some level, he missed the fun of eating til you burst, sneaking booze after the adults were already half crocked, and the delicious thrill of running the streets to all hours of the night with his cousins, doing nothing more dangerous than tossing rocks at the passing El train.
As he sat in Pat O'Hara's restaurant, recalling childhood memories with Patty, Kate's oldest brother, Logan found himself wanting to talk Patty into swiping a bottle of Jamison's and heading out to throw rocks at the passing trains. Funny thing was, Patty would probably have gone with him.
Despite the fact that they grew up 100 miles apart, they both grew up as city kids in the same era. Patty was two months younger than Mike, they both graduated the same year and to top it off, Patty was a Homicide Detective in Philly. Of all of Kate's family, he'd always been closest to Patty.
"Mikey," Kate said, walking over to him and slipping her arms around him. "Are you having a good time?"
"Yeah," he returned, kissing her. "What about you?"
"I can't believe Pop turned New Years Eve into a wedding party for us."
"I know, they went all out," he agreed. "This is one hell of a party."
"Yeah, well," she kissed him again. "I guess this one's been in the works for years, huh?"
"I guess it has," he kissed her.
"Get a freakin' room, would ya?" Kate's brother Johnny groused.
"Pay no attention to the troll I call a brother," Kate dismissed with a playful twinkle in her eye, "He's just jealous."
"Yeah, cuz I really wanna swap spit with Mike," Johnny groused.
"So, what the hell was so important that you had to interrupt me making out with my husband?" Kate returned in kind.
"Denis has decided it's time for the O'Hara Brothers Shot," he informed.
"Ah…" Kate released Mike, "One of the few times I'm one of the Brothers. I'll be back in a minute, Mikey" She grinned, then, loudly, "Come on, O'Hara Boys, Irish Car Bomb's all around!" She pecked Logan's cheek and walked off to where Patty and Denis were waiting at the bar.
Logan studied them for a moment. He'd seen pictures of Kate's mom and he could see that all four of the children had inherited Mrs. O'Hara's brown eyes, but that's where the similarities ended. Kate and Patty got Pat Sr's red hair, while Johnny got his mother's dark hair and Denis, for some reason was a sandy blond. Denis and Pat both topped off around 5'9", roughly the same height as Pat, Sr. He was told that Mrs. O'Hara was barely over five feet tall, so Logan couldn't figure out how Kate ended up at 5'10" and Johnny stood 6'1". Must be the same place Denis got that blond hair, he mused.
"Come on, Mike," Johnny called, "Get your Irish ass over here and join us."
"Yeah, consider this your initiation into the O'Hara's," Denis laughed.
Logan walked over to join the group. He remembered most of the story of the Irish Car Bomb tradition, having it heard it years ago. As he recalled, Patty picked up the recipe while bartending in college and turned the rest of the brood onto the drink at his college graduation party. It became a tradition for the four of them to do one at each family party. So far, as Logan knew, no one but the four of them, and occasionally, Pat Sr, was allowed to participate in the ritual.
"Wait a minute, you're letting me in on this?" he asked, clearly surprised.
"Well," Patty began, watching as the bartenders set up a shot glass in front of each of them. "See, the tradition was supposed to be just the O'Hara Brothers doing this…"
"But this one," Denis added, jerking a thumb at Kate, "Decided she could hang with the boys."
"Please" Kate sniffed, "I hang longer and lower than all of you."
"Anyway," Patty continued, picking up a bottle of Jamison's and filling each shot glass halfway. "We figure that by proxy, you're an O'Hara Brother now…" He handed Logan a bottle of Baileys' Irish Crème. "Go on…fill the rest of the shot glasses."
Logan took the bottle, realizing the significance of this action and, with reverence, topped off each shot glass. As he set the bottle down, they all lined up in front of the shot glasses and set their half full pints of Guinness down on the bar.
"Now…" Kate said, "We've got to do this right." She lifted her shot glass and watched as her brothers lifted theirs in unison, with Logan following a second behind.
"You know how to do the drinking part," she explained to him, "But before we drink, we recite the Irish Blessing. That used to go over really big when my Uncle Angelo, the priest was still alive. You do remember the Irish Blessing, don't you, Mikey?"
"How can I forget? You've got it framed in the bathroom," he playfully sniffed.
"I'll ignore that," she shot, then, "Ready guys?"
They all nodded, then, loudly, with a faux seriousness that bordered on sarcasm, began to recite, "May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand." The O'Hara's then broke into broad grins and added, "Fuck all that, let's drink!"
Simultaneously, they dropped the shot's into the beer, lifted the glass and downed the drink, slamming the glass back on the bar when they were done.
"Okay…it's official," Denis said, clapping Logan on the back, "He's one of us."
January 1, 2006
12:30 am
Logan sat at the far end of the bar, eating a meatball sandwich and watching while Kate danced with her Uncle Carmine. Uncle Carmine was from her mom's side of the family, the Cataldi's. They were just as loud and crazy as the O'Hara's and despite the years that had passed since Kate's mother's death, the two families still remained tight knit. Although he hated to admit it, Logan sometimes envied Kate's big noisy family.
"Mike," Pat, Sr, began, sitting next to him. "How're ya doin'?"
"Good, Pat," Logan said, as he swallowed his mouthful.
"Glad to see you're eating," he nodded, studying his new son-in-law.
"The food's great," Logan hated the strange, nervous feeling that was creeping up on him. He was starting to feel like a teenage kid meeting his girlfriend's father for the first time. "Thanks for putting all of this together for us."
Pat held up a hand, "My only daughter got married," he dismissed. "I had to throw a party."
Logan watched Kate try to follow her uncle through the steps of the Alley Cat.
Pat followed his gaze and studied his her for a moment, then turned back to Logan. "She's happy."
"She is," he agreed, wondering how long it would take Pat to issue the death threat that he'd already received from Kate's three brothers, Uncle Carmine, and a few other male family members that he couldn't identify.
"Mike," he began, choosing his words carefully. "I know it's none of my business, but I worry about my girl. She might be an Executive Assistant to the District Attorney and be able to bust some balls in the courtroom, but I still see her as the five year old who cried when her brothers wouldn't let her play stick ball."
Logan smiled at the image and waited for Pat to continue.
"She tells me you heard the whole story of her and Nick," he mentioned Kate's ex husband. "They were too freaking young, she had her mind made up to go to Law School and Nick couldn't handle the thought of a woman who would have a career of her own. He cheated on her and messed with her head." He shook his head. "But Katie held her own. I'd hoped she would come home. But she got a good job and made her career in New York. When you two started seeing each other the first time, I had my reservations. I was a cop most of my life, I couldn't figure out why in the hell she'd want to get involved with a cop." He laughed, causing Logan to laugh with him. "Yeah, it ain't easy. But, you know, she seemed happy and you seemed like a decent guy."
Logan knew what came next and he braced for the impact.
"What happened between you back then, I can't speak of. I wasn't there. I heard Katie's side of the story and was too pissed to hear yours. But you know what? I didn't need to. I never cheated on my Marie, but I know a lot of guys who did cheat. They all got their reasons. My Patty, did it and that's why he's divorced. So, who am I to say?"
"Pat," Logan began, but Pat cut him off.
"I'm not askin' to hear your confession, Mike, that's water under the bridge. Katie's forgiven you, that's all that matters. That girl can hold a grudge," he said, pride tingeing his words. "By now, I'm sure she's taken you to hell and back for it, there ain't much more I can do to you. Although, I did have to hold back the Three Stooges over there. They were ready to pack up the car and ride up to help you see the error of your ways."
"Thank you for saving my ass," Logan laughed.
"Like I said, I'm sure my daughter did enough damage on her own, broken bones weren't necessary," he shook his head. "I gotta admit, I was kinda concerned when she said she was seeing you again." His voice grew quiet, but firm. "She had her doubts, but I guess you proved to her that this was the right thing to do." He fixed Logan with a pointed stare, "I was married to my Marie for twenty three years before she died. I may have been an asshole for twenty two of them, but she knew how much I loved her. I told her every morning when we woke up and every night before we went to sleep. I would lay down my life for her and those kids without a second thought. She told me, right before she died, that she never once doubted how much I loved her and she knew I would be by her side until the end." He stopped, reigning in his emotions. "Look, I ain't no poet or romantic guy and I don't see you spoutin' love songs either."
"Far from it," Logan agreed with a laugh.
"Which is a good thing, cuz Katie ain't the type to buy into that bullshit," Pat laughed, "Yeah, I can tell by that smile that you know what I mean. Just don't think that you don't have to try to do it. Marie once told me she hated the mushy stuff, but the few times I managed to pull it off…it worked like a charm. Ah, I don't know why I'm tellin' you all this. You've been with her a long time, you don't need any lessons on her and you could probably teach me a few things. Alls I'm trying to say to you is, she loved you and you broke her heart. She's forgiven you and obviously still loves you. Don't break her heart again. She's been through enough shit in her life. She doesn't deserve more."
"Pat," Logan seriously said, "I know I screwed up and hurt her. I didn't mean to, but I did it just the same. If I could take it all back, I'd do it in a heart beat. But you know what? I never stopped loving her, even when she hated my guts. I never thought she'd give me a second chance. But she did, and I know how lucky I am to have her back. I'm not going to screw it up again."
"I like you, Mike. So do my boys. You fit in well with the whole motley gang," Pat said, placing a hand on Logan's shoulder. "But understand this, no matter how much we all like you; we won't hesitate to fuck you up if you break Katie's heart again." Pat gave him a broad grin. "Now, do we have an understanding?"
"Yeah, Pat," he nodded, "We definitely do."
"Good, then let me buy my son-in-law a shot of Irish whiskey," he said, standing.
Lowes Philadelphia Hotel
1200 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA
January 1, 2006
3:05 am
"You," Kate began, kicking off her pumps, "Are drunk."
"And you're not?" Logan replied, pulling off his tie and throwing it onto the dresser.
"Don't change the subject, Detective. You were actually standing outside in the middle of Cottman Avenue with my three loser brothers singing Come on, Eileen to my Aunt Eileen…" She laughed.
"Now wait a minute there, Mrs. Logan," he returned in kind, trying to pull off his shoes and finding his balance severely impaired. He sat down on the end of the bed and continued to speak while he removed the shoes. "Let's talk about singing…what about you and Uncle Carmine getting up, stealing the microphone from the dj and singing Mambo Italiano."
"Yeah, but I always do goofy shit like that," she dismissed; unzipping her black dress and letting it fall to the floor. "You," she said, fond smile firmly in place, "Were just one of the boys tonight."
"You complainin'?" he asked, taking her hand and pulling her into his lap.
"Not for a second," she returned, as he put his arms around her. Draping her arms around his neck, she kissed him.
"Do you realize that we've been back together a whole year now?"
"Yeah, I realize that."
"Every now and then, I have to stop and remind myself it's only been a year. We've come a long way since that night at the 3030."
"Yeah, we have. Hell, now I'm officially one of the O'Hara Boys," he teased.
"Did you really enjoy yourself tonight?"
"Yeah, I did," he admitted.
"You and Pop had a heavy conversation," she asked, hoping he'd pass on some of the details. "Did he threaten your life?"
"Nah, Pat and I have an understanding."
"Let me guess, you hurt me, he hurts you?"
"Basically, yeah," he nodded, then, "He was talking about your mother."
Kate smiled, "They really loved each other. They fought, they fussed, but when it came down to it, they loved each other like crazy. At the very end, he took time off of work and stayed with her. He's this big macho guy without a romantic bone in his body and you should've seen him taking care of her. He'd bathe her, dress her, and fix her hair. Mom always had to have her nails done and towards the end, she didn't want anybody outside of the family to see her, so Pop would do her nails too." She smiled, although there were tears in her eyes. "One of the last things Mom said to me was that she wanted me to find a guy like that."
"He really loved her," Logan seriously said. "He still does."
Kate was surprised not only by what he said, but by they way it affected him.
"What?" he asked with a grin, "Didn't think I could understand something that romantic?"
"If you'd have asked me that a month ago, I'd have said yes," she honestly said. "But after Vegas, I realized that you've got this deeply hidden romantic thing going."
"Who me?"
"Yeah, you," she returned, then, "Okay, come on, do something immature to prove to me that you haven't turned into a total Fabio or something."
As his grin turned into a leer, he reached behind her and unhooked her lace bra. After slipping the straps from her shoulders he tossed it across the room. He buried his face between her breasts and moved his head from side to side rapidly.
Kate laughed loudly. "A motorboat? That's all you got, Logan?" she challenged, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.
"I haven't even started," he returned, pulling her back down and onto the bed. With one quick motion, he turned them, so that he was leaning over her. With an evil grin, he tickled her sides, causing her to squirm and squeal with laughter.
"Stop!" she laughed, "Mikey!"
"Am I being immature enough for you?"
"Yes!"
"Good, time to grow up." He kissed her deeply, then pulled back and studied her face. "I love you Katie Logan."
"I love you, too," she replied, slipping her hand behind his head and pulling him back down for another kiss.