Blackness Takes Over & Blackness Awaits (8 page)

He sets me down and kisses my hair. “Love you Kid,” he murmurs in my hair.

“Love you too,” I smile up at him. “Now feed me before I attack you again!”

We are pathetically dragging ass by the time we’ve gorged on pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and multiple pitchers of coffee. We all crawl onto our large sectional in our usual spots. We have a gigantic brushed leather squared off horse shoe couch in the great room, facing our enormous fireplace. Above that hangs a sixty-inch flat screen TV that fills the space perfectly. The great room, kitchen, and breakfast area are all open to each other with twenty-five foot ceilings and dark beam work. The kitchen is a chef’s dream and I put it to good use as often as I can. Carrera marble counters with dark mahogany cabinets show off the Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances. I could spend all day in that kitchen. The house has warm buttermilk walls and rich wide plank, dark walnut floors. It’s a comfortable happy home.

Sully and I lay head to head in the middle section and Kavy’s head is by my feet on his section, while Cally’s head is by Sully’s feet. ESPN is on and we’re snoring before I even know what we’re watching.

I wake to the sound of the house alarm chirping. Someone just came in the garage door.

“Shit,” I hear Finn curse from beyond the kitchen. He knows the code and disables the alarm before we’re in full alarm mode. “Ry?” Finn yells through the house. Why is it that men just yell without first looking around?

“Ugh,” Cally groans into the pillow he has over his head to drown out the alarm from moments ago. Finn walks over to us and stands at the back of the couch, looking down at us with a bit of glee in his eyes.

“You guys look like shit!” He says a little louder than necessary. We all simultaneously point in Kavy’s direction.

“Whadya do Kavanagh? Bring home a cheerleading squad again?” He laughs, jumping over the couch and lands almost on my hip but not quite. I wrap my arm around his waist and he lies down beside me. I roll on my side and curl up on his chest.

“What’s goin’ on, Finn?” I mumble into is rock hard chest. Finn is a few inches shorter than Cally, but he’s way more ripped. He works out for hours every day, staying in shape for his P.I. jobs, he says. He has the same blond hair and bright blue eyes as his brother but no dimples. He’s still a fine specimen without them.

“Just got done at the gym. Wanted to see what the weekend was lookin’ like.” He glances around and sighs, “It’s lookin’ pretty sorry from where I’m layin’.” I smack his chest and feign personal offence. “Not you Kid. You look good enough to eat. It’s these tools that look like sorry sacks of shit.” He nudges Kavy with his foot. No response.

“You want me to make you some lunch, Finn?” I glance at my watch realizing it’s past noon.

Finn presses his lips to my head and murmurs, “Yeah, if you’re up for it.”

“I want lunch too, Kid,” Sully grumbles behind my head. I reach my arm back to pat his face/head, whatever I can reach really. I think I get some nose and lip.

“Me too,” Cally and Kavy sound off in unison. I push off Finn and sit up, stretching my arms over my head to get some blood moving.

“You smell like pancakes, Kid,” Finn sits up and sniffs my hair.

“It’s eau de IHOP.” I beam, “You like it Finn?” suggestively shimmying my shoulders. He snickers and stands up, pulling me off the couch.

“I told you, you were good enough to eat,” he smirks as he smacks my ass. I squeal and run to the kitchen out of his reach. Finn and I have always flirted. It’s never gone anywhere and never will, but it drove his ex insane. They moved in together three years ago after dating for a year. She hated him living here with me, and I plain hated her, so we were clear on that. She gave him an ultimatum to either buy a place for them to live or she was done. He loved that bitch, I don’t know why (cotton candy flavored cooch was my guess), so he bought a place in Prairie Village near us.

Six months later he came home to find the neighbor’s son, home for the summer from college, buried balls deep in her on the dining room table. I was so sad to see Finn that devastated, but happy the bitch was gone. I helped “move” her shit out. That consisted of me shoving all of it in giant black garbage bags and letting all the guys piss in them. Then we left them on the front porch to bake in the Kansas July heat for a week before he told her to come collect her shit. I had tears running down my face from laughing when she drove away, knowing the hideousness that awaited her! Finn didn’t move back in with us, said he was too old for roommates. I think he felt like a failure and didn’t want to give up a house too. He might as well live here because he’s here all the damn time and crashes in his old room most weekends and some weeknights too.

“Paninis, salad, and soup boys?” I shout into the great room. College basketball is on and they’re all sucked in (it’s our favorite sport by far). I get four thumbs up, but no verbal responses. I can watch the game from the kitchen so I don’t feel left out. Some left over grilled chicken breast, roasted tomatoes, my garlic aioli, and some fresh mozzarella on focaccia sizzle in the panini press; while I throw together a spinach and strawberry salad with my lemon vinaigrette, yum. Then I defrost some butternut squash soup I made a couple weeks ago after a splendid visit to the farmers’ market.

“Come on boys!” I bellow at them. They’re getting louder as the game gets more interesting. I grab a pitcher of iced tea from the fridge and sit down at the breakfast bar to maintain my view of the game.

“Uh, muh gawd Kid, mmmmm,” Cally praises with a full mouth. I wink in response. Our house now sounds like some kind of strange porn gym, the moans and groans of the boys mixing with the whistles and squeaking shoes from the game. I get tickled and started to giggle. Kavy notices and raises an eyebrow at me while smashing his second panini into his mouth. I just shake my head. I’m not that hungry after my manly breakfast, so I enjoy my soup and watch the rest of the game with my boys.

Once the game is over, Cally and Sully start to clean up. Whoever cooks doesn’t clean (House Rule) and since I almost always cook, I never clean up. This works out well, because I hate doing dishes. I’m leaning over the counter on my elbows when I feel two hands slip around my waist. I look over my shoulder to find Finn.

“Thanks for lunch, Kid,” he grins. “It was outstanding as usual.” He gives me a kiss on my cheek and a squeeze before pushing away.

“I’m gonna go hop in the shower guys and then head out to see Mia. What time is this gathering starting tonight?” I ask any of them that choose to answer.

“At eight, Kid. Finn go with her would ya? I don’t like her goin’ to the hospital by herself. That neighborhood is sketchy,” Kavy shoots over the couch to Finn who’s still standing next to me and trying to avoid my glacial stare.

“Kavy, do you need another ass kicking today? I thought you got your fill this morning,” I drone sarcastically, arching my brow at him.

“Kid don’t start, I’m serious. You know that neighborhood isn’t safe, don’t fight me on this.” His tone is getting a little short for my liking.

“Kavanagh I’m not a seventeen-year-old girl anymore. And even when I was I took care of myself just fine. I don’t need a fucking babysitter to assist me visiting a children’s hospital that I go to every fuckin’ week by myself,” my tones are getting louder now too.

“Shannon.”

“Aaron.” He fucking hates that!! Point me. He leaps over the back of the couch and stalks toward me. It’s about to be on.

“Let’s not fuckin’ do this, Kid. I’m not in the mood for your shit or your mouth right now. Take Finn with you or I’m not lettin’ your skinny ass out the goddamn door. You catch my drift?”

“You go ahead and try to stop me from leaving and I swear to God your father will scream when he comes to identify your body, Aaron Kavanagh. Don’t you ever again in your sad life threaten me in our home.” Finn puts his hand on my lower back and scoops it around my waist. I am seething right now at Kavy, but there is no outward evidence of it. I don’t panic.

“Kid,” Finn coos softly in my ear, “go up and hop in the shower. I would like to see Mia too, if you don’t mind the company.” He’s trying to calm me and satisfy Kavy. It’s a nice idea but we’re too stubborn for that to even begin to work. Kavy is so pissed he’s balling his fists at his sides and breathing heavily. This just furthers my wicked mood. I push Finn’s hand off me, round the breakfast bar stopping two-inches from Kavy.

“You thinkin’ ’bout puttin’ those mitts to use on me, Kavy? You wanna throw down, I got no problem.” I put both hands on his chest and push him back forcefully. He stumbles a couple steps, not expecting me to do that. He steps back toward me like he’s going to hit me. Faster than I can react he scoops me up over his shoulder and runs up the stairs. I am screaming at him to put me down and pounding him on the back. I see Sully and Cally and their faces are stunned. Kavy and I never fight anymore. We used to a lot in our early twenties, but never anymore. This is coming out of left field for sure.

He goes into my room and heaves me onto my bed. I pop right back up on my feet like there are springs in my back.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR MALFUNCTION, KAVY?” I’m screaming in his face, his eyes are closed. He opens his eyes slowly and looks right into mine. He’s sorry. Caveman carrying me up the stairs is way out of line and he knows it. I can see it all over his face, but I’m livid. I rarely, if ever, get mad. I’m even at all times. However, if you get me mad I am hell on wheels to calm down. I have a nasty temper and know how to use it. I can hurt people with my words and my body. Usually, if you have the pleasure of seeing this side of me, you’ve earned whatever you receive from me. Kavy doesn’t, so I am trying to reel it in.

“Kid, I’m fuckin’ sorry.” His shoulders are hunched and he’s looking at the ground. “When we were in your bathroom talkin’ this morning, I saw the scar on your hip.” He looks into my eyes and winces. “All I’ve been thinkin’ about today is that night, Kid. How fucked up you were. How it was my fuckin’ fault. I can’t do that again, Shannon, I can’t.” Not what I was expecting. Now I feel like a dick.

“Kavy, look at me,” I’m somber but soft in tone. He looks at my eyes and I swear he’s about to cry. “I’m fine.” I take off my shirt, unbutton my jeans and pull my boy shorts down just enough to show him the scar on my hip. He looks down and cringes. I grab his hand and put it over my hip and the scar, holding his gaze strong with my own. “You saved me that night Kavy. You. Saved. My. Life.” I pull him close and wrap my arms around his middle. “I have one tiny scar on my body from him, but I have my whole life because of you. Don’t you ever blame yourself for that dog’s choice,” I sigh into his chest and can feel the tension melting off him. “I pity the motherfucker that tries to fuck with me now, Kavy. Don’t you?” He lets out one brief laugh, and I pull back to look at him.

“I love you so fucking much, Kid.” He’s coming back around now. “You know that right?” His fingers and eyes are lightly tracing the tattoo that runs along my left ribcage. It starts just below the side of my breast with a Celtic knot that forms a four leaf clover, the stem is a continuation of the knot, loosely intertwining and sweeping down my ribcage to my hip. We all got some variation of this tattoo six months after I moved in with the guys. The first months after Liam’s attack were really hard on all of us. I was in therapy once a week for four years but the first few months were the worst. I blamed myself, hated myself, tried to pull away from everything around me. My boys rallied around me and fought hard to pull me out of that darkness. Sully suggested the tattoo and I jumped at the chance to mark that point as the beginning of my new life…again. The day we went to get the tattoos I was finally able to see the beginning of the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Sully has a huge back piece that goes from shoulder to shoulder with his last name scripted out of a Celtic knot design with the dot on the
i
being the same clover I have. Kavy has his glorious chest covered in a Celtic swirling tribal pattern with the clover at the center of his chest. Cally hates needles so his is a small clover on the inside of his left bicep. The Celtic knot has many interpreted meanings: love, family, an unbreakable bond, the list goes on. Once we realized we are all third generation Irish immigrants, the knot became the personification of our relationship and thus the birth of the tattoo.

“How could you not love me? I mean look at this body,” QVC modeling with each mention, “this face, these tits, these legs, and let’s not forget my winning personality!” We’re both laughing full on after that and my door opens. Finn, Sully, and Cally are standing in the doorway staring at us. I’m half naked and we are both dying laughing. We must look bat shit crazy.

“Kid, you all right?” Sully asks in a “WTF” tone.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I try to get control of my breathing. “We’re all good.” I look up at Kavy and he smiles my smile down at me.

“Well that’s uh, good. Your tits look great in that bra by the way.” He’s staring now so I give a shimmy and a showgirl’s smile. Cally and Sully laugh at that and Finn punches Sully in the arm. I hook my thumbs into my jeans and start to pull them down as I walk to my bathroom.

“I’m getting in the shower now gentleman, if you’ll excuse me.” They just watch me walk away as I step out of my jeans and kick them across the room before shutting the bathroom door.