I’d spent enough time in this house to know that every night before bed, Molloy’s parents shared a pot of tea at the kitchen table and dissected the day’s events. It was a stark contrast to what happened at the kitchen table in the home I’d been raised in.
“No fear of him,” I replied, adjusting my sleeping son in the crook of my arm. “Fed like a lord and out for the count.”
“And my daughter?” he asked, gesturing towards a chair at the table.
“Overtired. Overworked,” I replied, moving for the chair. “And really fucking overwhelmed.”
“Come to Nana,” Trish cooed, snatching AJ out of my arms and cuddling him to her chest.
“Jesus,” Tony muttered, rubbing his jaw. “Never thought I’d say it after what you put her through, boyo, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, not taking his words to heart. “Me, too.”
“It’s just the baby blues,” Trish interjected. “It’ll pass.”
“I don’t know, Trish,” Tony said, worrying his lip. “What if it’s the other thing?”
“The other thing?”
“The depression after having a baby?”
“Tony, it’s only been a few days since she gave birth, love. Give the girl a chance to adjust. She doesn’t have postnatal depression,” his wife tried to soothe. “She’s just shattered.”
“My mam had really bad postnatal depression after Sean,” I decided to throw out there. “It was… not good.”
“Is that what you think is happening here?” Tony asked, imploring me with his eyes to give him the answers. “With my daughter?”
“No, not right now,” I replied, choosing my words carefully. “But I think we need to have a conversation about what needs to happen next.”
“No.” Trish, quick to catch on, shook her head. “I told you before, Joey, you’re welcome to stay here, but she’s not moving in with you.”
Biting back my frustration, I focused on Tony. “I have my own place – an annex on the Kavanaghs’ property. It’s safe. It’s secure. It’s completely mine. If Aoife comes to live with me, I can be there for her to help with AJ. I can give her the support she needs.”
“She already has support,” Trish argued. “I’m right down the hall, for Christ’s sake. I’m on call 24/7 if she needs me.”
“It’s not the same thing,” I pushed, surprised with how even-toned I sounded. “I know you mean well, and I’m so fucking grateful for everything you’ve done for them, but I need to be with my family.”
“Joey, I love you, but I’m not having this conversation,” Trish growled. “My daughter is not moving in with you.”
“I understand that —”
“You are just out of rehab,” she spat. “You are barely three months clean. Now, don’t get me wrong because I am absolutely rooting for you, but you are hardly the stable solution here.”
“I fucked up,” I held my hands up and admitted. “Spectacularly. I let your daughter down and I put her through hell. I’m not denying it, and I’m not excusing it. But I am standing over it.” Repressing the urge to growl, I drummed my fingers on the table, willing her parents to just hear me. “I love your daughter, Trish. I always have. And yeah, I’m the first person to admit that I haven’t always shown it in the ways she needed me to – in the ways you needed me to, but I fucking love her.”
“Joey.”
“I can do this,” I continued to argue. “I can look after Aoife and AJ. I can, Trish, and what’s more, I will. We’re a family. We’re going to be together, and that’s not going to start when you decide that I’m stable enough. It starts now.”
“And where does Tommen fit into this?” Tony asked. “You’re at school by day. Aoife will be on her own in this annex with the baby until you get home in the evenings?”
“And what about when she goes back to BCS in a couple of months?” Trish interjected. “What do you propose then? With you two attending different schools? I’m going to mind AJ for her while she attends her classes. We have it all organized. How does that fit in with your plan?”
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk about.”
Trish narrowed her eyes in warning. “My daughter is finishing her education and I don’t want to hear a word of protest.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I told her. “Aoife needs to finish school.”
Trish visibly sagged in relief. “Good.”
“Just not at BCS.”
Her eyes narrowed again. “Joey Lynch, if you even think about putting notions in her head, I will —”
Her words broke off when I reached into my pocket and laid the cash on the table in front of them.
“What in the name of Jesus?”
“Where did you get that kind of money?”
“My grandmother.”
“How much is there?”
“There’s fifteen grand,” I said calmly. “Four thousand of that is for Aoife’s tuition for Tommen.” I swallowed deeply and looked her parents in the eyes. “Let me do this for her.”
“Joey.” Trish’s eyes were wild with panic. “She doesn’t even want to go back to school. If you heard the fights we’ve had about her returning to BCS.” She shook her head. “She’s fighting me tooth and nail on this.”
“I’ll be with her at Tommen,” I pushed, sensing her mother’s resistance falter, and going in for the kill. “Nothing has to change regarding AJ’s childcare. If you’re willing to look after him for us while we’re at school, then I would be so fucking grateful.”
“You want her to go to Tommen?” That was Tony. “Private school?”
“I can’t get back into BCS. If I could follow her there, I would,” I told him. “But Tommen is the only school willing to take me.”
“And she’ll follow you anywhere,” he answered for me.
“It’s a good school,” I added. “She would get the best education there.”
“Well, shit.” Leaning back in his chair, Tony rubbed his jaw. “You have this all thought out, don’t ya, boyo?”
I shrugged, not bothering to deny it.
“And what about Aoife?” he asked then. “What is she saying about this?”
“I haven’t spoken to her about it,” I replied. “I wanted to run it by you first.”
“Hm.”
“No, Tony, I don’t want her to move out,” Trish was quick to protest. “It’s not the right time.”
“Trish,” he sighed heavily. “It’s not about what we want, love. Not anymore. She’s over eighteen.” His gaze flicked to AJ and emotion flashed in his eyes. “And the boy’s right. They’re a little family.”
“And if he lets her down again?”
“I’ve a shovel in the backyard that we can use to bury him with.”
Jerking awake in the middle of the night, Molloy sprang up in a panic, immediately seeking out our baby.