19:00 28th February 2013 , Murphy's Pub, Lough, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
The Dingles had arrived in Lough half an hour ago, Marlon and Lisa having shared driving duties as they drove to the ferry and then made their way across the treacherous Irish countryside. They'd reached the other edge of the country in good time.
Cain and Aaron greeted the familiar Dingle van with apprehension, and rightly so, for as soon as Lisa disembarked, she gave both men a clout round the ear – Aaron for keeping his mother's whereabouts a secret for so long, and Cain for causing so much trouble. These smacks were quickly followed by hugs and a request for them to help in unloading the van, which had been packed to the brim with items sent from friends and family for Chas. This included two large sacks of baby clothes and toys from Gennie and Nikhil, some items of furniture from Paddy, and some of the bits and pieces Chas had left behind with Belle and Diane.
Once inside, the Dingles were introduced to the newest member of the clan and much tearful cooing and holding ensued. Cain suggested everyone go out for a meal as he and Aaron had become a bit stir-crazy in the house all day. So they were now all sat in Murphy's Pub, Evie being held closely by Belle, who had barely put her down since she'd first laid eyes on her.
"Don't be getting any ideas" Lisa joked as she saw how enamoured the teenager was with her cousin.
"As if" Belle rolled her eyes at her mum, "she's beautiful, but as soon as she starts screaming she's going straight back to Aaron".
"Cheers" Aaron shot back, but took it in good humour. He was glad of the female company; Evie had only stopped crying for longer than ten minutes once the family had arrived.
A middle-aged lady with auburn hair and freckles came over to take their order. When she noticed Evie in Belle's arms, she looked around the table and recognised Cain with suspicion.
"You're Sandy's friend aren't you? Is she okay? I've been trying to get hold of her, with no luck."
Cain had the good grace to look ashamed as he answered, "she's in hospital" he told her, "but she'll be fine".
Fianna was aghast at this news, "hospital? Why? Is the baby okay?"
Lisa saw Cain was struggling and took charge, "the baby's fine, as you can see" she said indicating Evie, "healthy and happy with her family. My name's Lisa, you are…?"
"Fianna. I'm Sandy's boss. I can't believe she's had the baby, and there was me telling her they were practice pains. She'll kill me when I see her. But then why's she still in hospital if the baby's out? And sorry to be rude, but where's all this family appeared from? She told me it was just her and her son" she looked at Aaron, "who looks just as handsome as he does in his picture. You must be Aaron?".
Aaron nodded, amused at the fact the woman hadn't yet taken a breath. She definitely had the gift of the gab, just as his mum had described. Lisa told the lady to have a seat and Belle gave her a hold of Evie as they told her the truth of the situation, including Chas's real identity. The only thing they missed out was Cain's involvement in the birth and the full reason Chas had run away.
Fianna was both moved and astounded by the story, especially at her friend's real identity.
"Dingle? Chastity Dingle? Then she must be Shadrach's daughter?"
Belle laughed in surprise, "you knew Shadders?"
Fianna smiled, "oh yes, everyone round here knows Shadrach Dingle, he'd breeze into town every so often with tales of woe, drink the pub dry, then breeze back out again. Always a gentleman though, and full of tales and songs. He's a local hero."
"Only in Ireland…" Cain scoffed.
"I can't believe we've had his daughter living here all this time and not known about it" she carried on, ignoring the sullen man beside her, "and why's the old fella himself not here? He used to talk of her fondly. And her brother…now what was his name, another biblical monstrosity? Not that I can talk with a name like Fianna…"
"Cain" Marlon told her, "I'm afraid Shadrach passed away a couple of years ago. But Cain's sat next to you" he pointed to his cousin.
Fianna smiled sadly at Cain, "I'm sorry to hear it, he was a grand fella, your Da. Always talking about how clever his two kids were. Always crying into his pint about how much he felt he let you down".
Cain would normally be quick to correct anyone about his parentage, never wanting to be associated with that drunken layabout. But hearing that Shadrach had once lamented his behaviour towards his children made him miss him, just for one fleeting moment, so he simply nodded in response.
Fianna handed the baby back and took their food orders, insisting on it all being on the house. She also offered free board in the pub's spare room for Lisa and Belle who accepted gratefully. When the meal was over, the men went back to the house with the baby and Cain left Marlon and Aaron to put Evie to bed as he drove the girls' belongings up to the pub. As Belle took her bag from her big brother, she took out an old battered exercise book and pressed it into his hand.
"You need to read this" she told him, "Chas left it for me, but I'll let you borrow it. It's a good read"
She skipped into the pub before he could argue, leaving a confused Cain to look to Lisa for an explanation.
"Don't look at me love, I've never seen it before" she told him.
"I'll pick you up about eight tomorrow" he told Lisa, "visiting hours start at nine. I'll get Our Marlon to make us breakfast first".
"Are you going to be okay with little Evie?" Lisa asked worriedly. She was starting to regret saying yes to Fianna's kind offer.
"We managed last night didn't we?" Cain huffed, "and now soft lad Marlon's here, I'm sure we'll be fine" he said, turning to go back to his car, book in hand.
"Cain…" Lisa stopped him, "I know none of this is easy for you. I just wanted to say…well…I'm proud of the way you're handing this, son."
Cain walked away without a word, but he couldn't help a small feeling of pride to buzz through him as he basked in his stepmother's words of praise.