When In Rome

Chapter 15

"Declan, what are you doing here?" Fiona repeated, looking at her brother.

He shrugged. "I happened to be on the continent, decided to drop in and see my favorite sister."

"Really."

"I got a 911 text from Holly J," he said. "Is Adam here?"

Fiona bit her lip and glanced at Adam then nodded and stepped back to let Declan into the room.

He looked at his sister's boyfriend. "How are you doing? Heard you took quiet a spill."

Adam blinked and looked at Fiona. "Um…"

"What?" she asked. "How did you know about that?"

Declan looked at her. "I told you, Holly J texted me. She thought you use some support and asked me come as quickly as I could."

"Oh, so you don't know about…" Fiona began, quickly cutting herself off.

"About?" Declan asked, shaking his head.

"About… the… the dolphins," Adam said.

"Dolphins?" Declan repeated, turning to look at Adam.

"Yeah." Adam nodded. "You know, they're getting caught in the tuna nets. They're dying. So sad."

The older boy raised his eyebrows. "I didn't realize you were such a humanitarian."

"Totally. I love dolphins. They're awesome, the way they… swim."

"We're getting married," Fiona suddenly said, quickly covering her mouth.

Declan looked over his shoulder at his sister. "What was that?"

Adam swallowed hard. "Married," he said. "I asked her to marry me."

He looked at Adam, his expression unreadable, then walked over to Fiona, looking at her seriously. "Are you happy?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Alright, then." He walked back to Adam, who stumbled backwards, holding out his hand. "Welcome to the family."

Adam blinked and shook Declan's hand. "Um… th-thanks."

"You're ok with it?" Fiona asked slowly.

"There's not much I can really do, is there? Unless you're only doing this to get my sister into bed."

"No," he said quickly, though he couldn't help smiling.

The older boy's eyes narrowed, then he sighed. "Ok, so you're not doing it for the sex. I know you're not pregnant," he said, making Adam sigh. "So I can only assume you guys really want to do this."

"We do," she told him.

Declan nodded. "Adam, do you mind leaving us alone for a minute?"

"Declan, this is his room too," Fiona said quickly.

Declan didn't take his eyes off Adam, who nodded. "I'll be right outside." He grabbed a comic book and kissed Fiona quickly before walking out of the room.

Declan moved to sit on the bed as the door clicked shut. "So, my baby sister's getting married?"

She rolled her eyes as she sat next to him. "I'm only twelve minutes younger than you."

He shrugged. "Still my little sister. And you're getting married."

"It it makes you feel better, I'm sure we can find a girl crazy enough to marry you twelve minutes before I marry Adam," she quipped.

He sighed. "It's not that you're getting married before me. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing. Have you given any real thought to this?"

"No," she admitted. "But I don't need to. I didn't need to give any thought about saying yes, because I know I love him."

"I know you do. I'm just… concerned. You have this habit of rushing into things and it hasn't worked well for you in the past."

"We aren't rushing into anything. I don't think so, at least. Adam still has two years until he graduates and we aren't getting married until after that. I happen to think two years is a pretty long engagement."

He nodded. "It might take all two years for Mom to plan the wedding. It's bound to be the blow-out of the century."

Fiona suddenly paled. "Oh my God. Mom. How am I gonna tell Mom and Dad?"

"Well, having Adam ramble on about dolphins certainly distracted me from the news. I might suggest using the same tactic on the parents. Luckily, they like Adam so they'll only kill him a little."

To be continued…