When the black floor of the ocean and the white foam rush together,
High she rides, in her pride, like a sea gull through the gale.
Oh she's neat! Oh she's sweet! She's a beauty in ev'ry line!
The Queen of Connemara is that bounding barque of mine.
When she's loaded down with fish till the water lips the gunwale,
Not a drop she'll take on board her that would wash a fly away;
From the fleet she'll slip out swiftly like a greyhound from her kennel,
And she'll land her silver store the first at ould Kinvara quay.
Oh she’s neat! Oh she’s sweet! She’s a beauty in ev’ry line!
The Queen of Connemara is that bounding barque of mine.
There's a light shines out afar, and it keeps me from dismaying
When the skies are ink above us and the sea runs white with foam,
In a cot in Connemara there's a wife and wee one praying
To the One who walked the waters once, to send us safely home.
Oh she’s neat! Oh she’s sweet! She’s a beauty in ev’ry line!
The Queen of Connemara is that bounding barque of mine.
The baby’s small body rocked in time to the music, her little foot rapping against Ryan’s leg. She had a dreamy expression on her small face and her eyes were largely unfocused, seemingly transported to some distant place by the deep melodic voice and the warm hug she was wrapped in.
Catherine watched transfixed as the family-of-choice snuggled together, their bodies molded together as if they shared the same skin. Once again, deep pangs of regret washed over her for missing out on moments like this, but she did her best to keep her promise and focus on the present and the future. "You have a beautiful voice," she said softly, not wanting to disturb the trance that Caitlin seemed to have fallen into.
"Thanks," Ryan said, a faint flush creeping up her cheeks. "My grandfather used to sing that song to me when we went out on his boat." She laughed softly and said, "I have dozens of songs that I remember singing with him when I was small, but nearly every one ends with the sailor being lost at sea, and his wife standing at the shore cursing the waves."
Blinking slowly, Catherine asked, "Why were the songs so sad?"
"That’s just the way people experienced life," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "The ocean is a dangerous place."
"My father was a sailor too," Catherine said, a look of infinite sadness stealing over her features.
Ryan gazed at her quietly for a moment and said, "I guess you could technically call my grandfather a sailor, but I think of him as a fisherman."
"Ahh," Catherine said, recognizing the difference. "He made his living that way?"
"Yes. I’m not sure how many generations of Ryans have made their living on the sea, but it’s more than a few." She gave Catherine a small smile and said, "I suppose the tradition will die with my grandfather."
"That’s rather sad," Catherine said.
"Yes, in a way it is, but it’s a hard, dangerous way to make a living. The romance of the lure of the sea is mostly fantasy. Not many people fish for their livelihood if they have other options."
Catherine just nodded, spending a moment trying to imagine how vast the differences were between her family and Ryan’s, and how ill-equipped her family members would be to live a life of manual labor. For just a moment she let her imagination wander and realized that Ryan’s working-class family would be just as ill-equipped to live a life of leisure.
I wonder who would acclimate quicker?
she mused.
After a few moments, Caitlin began to stir, indicating her readiness to begin her usual enthusiastic activities. After a brief discussion, they decided to all go down to the pool together rather than heading back to the park, the adults reasoning that they would have much shorter lines after the majority of the families had left for the day.
Caitlin, of course, wore her new Mickey suit, and when they were ready they slogged all of their gear down to the pool. Catherine wore a very becoming straw hat and a plain but very attractive white sundress, appearing to all to be a young mother carrying her adorable baby.
The new Neverland pool had opened earlier in the summer, and it was obviously the place to be on this warm afternoon. The hotel complex held two other pools, but they were both shunned by the patrons who wanted to sample the more elaborate play area.
The irregularly shaped pool area was quite large. A lengthy water slide was tucked into a tall group of boulders, and Jamie rolled her eyes when she realized that her partner would likely be on the slide all afternoon.
They managed to find three lounge chairs in the shade of a grouping of small palm trees planted in giant containers. They had all applied sun block to each other before they left the room, but just to make sure she was protected, Ryan tugged a long sleeved T-shirt onto the baby after allowing the official photographer to snap a few shots of her posing in her new suit. The tot also had on her new yellow hat, giving extra warmth to her already sunny face.
After Caitlin was settled, Ryan handed the baby to her motherin-law so she could remove her own clothing. The sun was behind Ryan’s back, and as she grinned down at Caitlin she pulled off her T-shirt, completely exposing her body to Catherine’s gaze for the first time. She wore her usual suit, which consisted of a tight white sports bra and navy blue high-cut bottoms. But there was nothing usual about the way the suit clung to every curve, highlighting the generous swell of her breasts as well as the graceful curve of her hips.
Catherine tried to avoid staring, but she was not having an easy time of it. After Ryan kicked off her shorts, she stood up tall and began to stretch her arms in a windmill motion, loosening them up before she stressed them. As Catherine stole another glance she was stunned to see that even though the bulk of the sun was obscured by Ryan’s body, the rays radiated around her like a golden aura. Her powerful and remarkably feminine body was displayed beautifully by the gleaming sunlight, and the thought crossed Catherine’s mind that the scene reminded her of the birth of Venus.
The older woman was still staring when Ryan extended her hands and said, "Want me to take her?"
"Huh?" Catherine gaped, not sure of the question.
"Want me to take the baby?" Ryan answered patiently, recognizing the look for exactly what it was.
Catherine extended her arms, blinking slowly as Ryan grinned and took the baby into the pool. Turning to look at her daughter with a totally blank face, Catherine shook her head to clear it. Jamie smiled over and remarked, "Don’t you wonder why I ever let her out of the house?"
Catherine mutely nodded as she looked toward the pool to order her thoughts. But that didn’t help a bit, since Ryan was cavorting in the pool with the baby, displaying her flawless body as she moved about gracefully in the water. Catherine finally managed to get out, "I...I...don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman who looks like that."
Jamie spent a moment looking at Ryan from her mother’s frame of reference. She decided that most of her mother’s friends looked exactly alike. Most of them were small, under 5’6" or so, and all of them were thin. But when Jamie really thought about it, she realized that they were not just thin, they were emaciated. She knew that her mother weighed less than 100 pounds, and she guessed that her friends were the same. Many of them belonged to a gym or had one at home, but even though their bodies were toned, none of them had an ounce of noticeable muscle on them.
"Those muscles," Catherine mumbled. As she said that, it dawned on Jamie that her mother’s gaping had less to do with Ryan’s looks than with her sturdy body.
"Well, part of it is just great genes, but she also has had to look great to have credibility as a personal trainer. I can only assume she’ll get in even better shape by playing volleyball. At least I hope she will," she admitted with a chuckle. "I hate to be so shallow, but that is too valuable a natural resource to waste!"
"I should say so," Catherine agreed weakly, never taking her eyes off the remarkably well-built young woman playing in the pool.
Jamie hopped into the water to join her companion, sidling up to her with a chuckle. "Mother’s mouth is still hanging open, Honey. Maybe you should have worn a T-shirt."
Ryan smiled as she acknowledged, "I saw the look. I’d forgotten that she’d never really seen me before. I guess I’m not the normal Hillsborough matron, huh?"
"No, I think you could safely say that most of her friends don’t resemble you in any way."
"Maybe we should move down there and I’ll set up my personal training business. Your mom could send all of her friends—I’d have a built-in client base."
"Mother is doing great at accepting us, Honey, but let’s not get loony!"
After they had played in the water for a while, Ryan grew too hungry to continue. Catherine called over a waiter and insisted that Ryan order something. She finally relented and got a chocolate malt to tide her over. When it was delivered, Catherine looked at Ryan with envy as she confessed, "I don’t think I’ve had a chocolate malt since I was a child."
Ryan gave her a puzzled glance as she casually inquired, "Why not?"
"Goodness, Ryan, there must be 1000 calories in that!" she laughed, as though that explained everything.
Ryan held up the Styrofoam cup and regarded it carefully. She pursed her lips and shook her head as she said, "No…this one is more like 1500 calories. There was a lot of whipped cream on top that I stirred in."
"That’s more than I consume in a day!" Catherine scoffed. "Much more, as a matter of fact!"
Ryan’s eyes grew wide as she managed to reply, "No wonder you’re just skin and bones! You can’t enjoy life on a starvation diet!"
"But it’s what I’m used to," she insisted, a little defensively.
"That’s probably because your metabolism has slowed down so much. It thinks you’re being starved, and it slows down to conserve resources." She regarded Catherine for a few minutes as she made her offer, "Would you be interested in working out with me? I could help kick your metabolism into gear so you could eat like normal people and help you put some muscle on."
"Is it really necessary to have visible muscles?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to insult either of her companions.
"You don’t need as much as I do since you wouldn’t want to compete in sports, but having muscle really helps as you age. It keeps you much younger looking and helps prevent osteoporosis."
"Okay, Ryan," she said decisively, "you’re on. Where do we start?"
"We start by you helping me drink this malt," she said with a smile as she held the cup out.
Catherine looked reticent but she gamely accepted and took a long swallow. "Oh my God," she moaned as she closed her eyes in pleasure, "I had forgotten how good ice cream could taste."
"Stick with me, Catherine. I’ll reintroduce you to every guilty pleasure you’ve denied yourself," she said confidently as she gave her a one-armed hug.
Boy, will Jim ever throw a fit when he hears this
, both women thought silently.
Thus refreshed, they resumed their games until the sun was fully behind the hotel and the air began to chill slightly. Even though she was cold, Caitlin had no desire to leave her little paradise. When she began to wail, Ryan wrapped her in a big towel and carried her around the pool to spread the sound out over the entire population. Jamie got up and offered a bottle, but Ryan declined, saying, "I don’t think she’s hungry, and I hate to comfort her only through food. She needs to know that she can get over her heartaches on her own."
After ten solid minutes of screaming Ryan finally realized that she was torturing the child by walking around the pool area—keeping the object of Caitlin’s desire right in front of her. Signaling to Jamie, she left the pool and wandered around, finally happening upon a two-story water feature.
A long, winding set of stairs led to a walkway that was below grade, with a large waterfall breaking all around. The noise was intense, just intense enough that Caitlin’s cries couldn’t be heard by the other guests. Now the baby wanted to be released so that she could get into the waterfall, and Ryan had no doubt that she would do so if she let her.
Dear Lord, please don’t make our kids as wild as Caitlin. She just has no fear!
Pausing for a minute she had to acknowledge,
How do you think Da felt trying to keep control of you, huh?
It took another fifteen minutes of constant wailing for Caitlin to finally cry herself out, and by this time Ryan’s head was throbbing. Her companions had abandoned the pool, and as they passed it, Caitlin let out another few pathetic moans, kicking frantically to be released, but Ryan held firm, knowing that the baby had to learn that sometimes she couldn’t have what she wanted.
Caitlin threw herself at Jamie as the blonde opened the door. The little face was still red and streaked with tears, her breathing still choked from emotion. Jamie gave Ryan a concerned look as the baby turned her face from Ryan, refusing to even look at the traitor. "Boy, she’s really pissed off," she marveled.
"Oh yeah," Ryan agreed. "She’s not on my top ten list at the moment either," she admitted. "Mind if I take a nap? My head’s about to explode."