“
Just want to let you know that Fiona started labour during the night and as of twenty minutes ago is the mother of a beautiful baby boy
!”
“
That
’
s wonderful
!”
he exclaimed.
“
How is she?
”
“
Tired, but deliriously happy. She asked me to call you straight away.
”
“
Thanks, Doris
.
I
’
m so glad you did. When can I come visit her – er, them
?”
he laughed.
“
Well, you can visit any
time except mealtimes. I
’
ve
just left her and I know she
’
d be very happy to see you . . .
and Ronan, thank you for doing this. I can
’
t tell you how much it means to Fiona.
”
Her voice was very emotional.
“
I
’
m happy to be able to do it. She
’
s a wonderful girl.
”
“
Yes, she is and she
’
ll make a wonderful mother.
”
“
I
’
ve no doubt. I
’
ll call in after work tonight, probably around seven
.”
“
She
’
ll be delighted to see you.
”
Doris had grown exceedingly fond of him in the short time she
’
d known him.
Ronan gave the news to Sam and Dermot who were delighted that all had gone well and then he dashed out during his tea-break to buy a large bouquet of yellow roses for Fiona and a cool little suit for the baby.
Fiona
’
s face lit up when she saw Ronan enter the ward. She looked tired but extremely happy. In her arms she was cuddling the cutest little baby Ronan had ever seen. He
’
d seen Conor
’
s sons when they were newborn and they
’
d been scrunched up and ugly but this baby was not at all like that
.
“
Isn
’
t he beautiful?
”
Fiona asked him, stroking the baby
’
s
smooth cheek.
“
He really is,
”
Ronan agreed
. “
Not at all wrinkled, like I expected
.”
He bent in over the little bundle, putting his finger in the baby
’
s hand. The tiny baby grasped it with a strength that surprised him.
“
Wow, he
’
s strong for such a little fellow
!”
Fiona laughed.
“
I
’
ve named him Oisín
,”
she smiled,
“
and I
’
d like you to be his godfather, if you
’
d like that.
”
Ronan felt tears come to his eyes.
“
I
’
d love that,
”
he told her.
“
Hello, Oisín
!”
To his amazement the tiny baby gave a little smile.
“
Well
,
look at that,
”
he said, love for the child welling up in his chest. This little guy needed him and he
’
d make sure he was a great godfather.
Fiona didn
’
t inform him that the smile was probably wind!
He sat happily
,
looking at the baby and chatting to Fiona
,
until he saw she was getting tired. He took the baby from her and put him back in the crib.
“
Congratulations again,
”
he said
,
kissing her on the forehead as he saw her eyes close.
Well, what do you know, I
’
m a godfather, he thought to himself as he walked jauntily back to the car.
Marcus dropped into Zita
’
s flat that evening. He was on a high because he
’
d just won a big contract and wanted to celebrate.
“
Come on, let
’
s go out on the town,
”
he suggested.
“
Sorry, I can
’
t. I
’
m busy.
”
“
Don
’
t tell me it
’
s that asshole Dunne again.
”
He looked at her with disgust.
“
Don
’
t call him that!
”
she yelled, furious with him
.
“
God, you
’
re pathetic. Can
’
t you see he
’
s only using you?
”
“
How do you know that? You don
’
t know how he feels.
”
“
Oh puhleeese, you are delusional!
”
He saw her blushi
ng and realised with horror that she really was serious.
“
I don
’
t believe it. You
’
re in love with him!
Oh, Zita, Zita, honey, how could you let that happen?
”
He just couldn
’
t believe it. What had happened to her? Where had
her common sense gone? She was behaving like a lovestruc
k teenager, for God
’
s sake! He was wasting his time. There was no getting through to her. This guy had bewitched her.
“
Well, sweetie, I
’
ll leave you in his clutches.
”
He got up and headed for the door.
“
No doubt I
’
ll be around to pick up the pieces,
”
he threw at her laconically as he exited the apartment.
“
You know nothing!
”
she yelled after him.
“
You have no idea what I
’
ve been through in my life! You couldn
’
t begin to imagine the things I
’
ve done!
”
But he had gone.
Zita felt sad that Marcus couldn
’
t be happy for her. He was her best friend but he didn
’
t understand how she was feeling. She was thinking of Carl every minute of every day and now
,
as she waited for him to call
,
she was filled with excitement and anticipation.
He didn
’
t disappoint. Their lovemaking had reached new heights. She
’
d prepared a lasagne earlier but neither of them had wanted to waste precious time eating, so they stayed in bed for the whole evening.
“
I
’
ll treat you
to dinner next week,
”
he told her as he stroked her hair.
“
We
’
ll go back to that nice restaurant in Dalkey that you liked so much.
”
She smiled happily. It wasn
’
t the restaurant that was important – it was the fact that he was happy to be seen in public with her. That had to mean something, she told herself after he
’
d left.
Finally, she understood why people over the centuries had been moved to write love poems. She felt like writing one herself!
Y
et another Friday night in alone, Rachel thought as she opened a second bottle of wine. She couldn
’
t understand what had happened to the wonderful life she thought she
’
d had just a few short weeks ago
.
The
gloss had worn off very quickly. Carl was so busy that they spent hardly any quality time together any
more. When he was home he was distracted and spent the time alone in his study. At the back of her mind lay the suspicion that he was seeing someone again. She tried to push it away but with every sip of wine she became mo
re convinced that this was the case.
When he finally arrived home at midnight, her courage fuelled by the wine she
’
d drunk, she tackled him about it.
“
Oh for God
’
s sake Rachel, you
’
re paranoid. I
’
m off to bed.
”
“
That
’
s right,
”
she screamed.
“
Ignore me! That
’
s all you do nowadays.
”
“
Maybe, if you weren
’
t always drunk, I
’
d come home earlier,
”
he snapped.
“
I drink because I
’
m alone every night. I never see you any
more.
”
“
I
’
m tired. I
’
ll sleep in the guest room tonight,
”
he said in a resigned voice as he started
to leave the room
.
“
You bastard!
”
she screamed, hurling her glass of wine after him.
He looked at her, disgusted, and kept going.
She looked in horror at what she
’
d done. Watching the red wine streaming down the wall, she sobered up pretty quickly.
“
Oh my God, what have I done?” she whispered, puttin
g
her head in her hands.
She sobbed for at least ten minutes before going to clean up the mess. When that was done she made herself a cup of coffee and thought about what he
’
d said. She was drinking too much, she knew that
,
but she didn
’
t know how she would cope without it. It kept her sane.
47
Ellie was in brilliant form on Saturday morning. She absolutely loved her new job and it was fascinating learnin
g more about different wines every day.
As for the wedding preparations, she now had the final number of guests – two hundred and twenty. Yes, David had gone over even the hundred allotted. She didn
’
t know half the people on his list but
. . .
he who pays the piper
. . .
as her mother reminded her. If this was what David wanted – well, it was his wedding too. Hopefully
,
some of his invitees would not be able to make it. She had wanted him to come and choose the menus with her but he
’
d said he had to work and was quite happy to leave it all up to her. Did all men about to be married behave like this
,
she wondered
.
Sandrine was another story altogether. Annoyed at not being included the previous week
,
she insisted on accompanying them to the Castle to choose the menus. Marie-Noelle was afraid that her older daughter would make waves but she needn
’
t have worried. Gabriella supported Ellie in all her choices and poor Sandrine could only grin and bear it.
“
It is
,
after all, Ellie
’
s wedding,
”
Gabriella had told her
firmly,
“
and at the end of the day, what she wants is what
’
s i
mportant.
”
Sandrine had met her match so she shut up and went along with it, wondering why she
’
d bothered to come at all.
Two hundred and twenty guests! It was incredible. It was going to be a huge wedding. When she saw the Great Hall she felt even more jealous. She grudgingly agreed with her mother that the yellow/gold theme Ellie had chosen would go perfectly with the décor in the room.