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She pretended to consider, acting as if it was a really hard decision.
“Bear in mind, I own a lot of neckties, and I would have no trouble tying you to this bed and spanking your ass until you agree.”
“Wow. I was going to say yes, but I’m suddenly thinking I might need more convincing.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Say yes and I’ll still tie you up and spank your ass.”
“Yes.”
“Marry me soon.”
She rolled her eyes heavenward. “God, you’re a demanding ass.”
“Soon, Kelli,” he stressed. “Very soon.”
“Fine. Soon.”
Epilogue
“Hey, Pop Pop,” Colm said, peeking his head in through his grandfather’s open bedroom door. He’d moved in with Aunt Riley and Uncle Aaron when they built an addition onto the back of their house, creating a little suite for him. Now he spent most of his time there, with Bubbles as his daytime companion, the two of them playing rummy and watching way too much reality TV, though neither of them would ever confess to that. In the evenings, he’d watch sports either here with Aaron or at the pub, surrounded by family and the regular patrons.
Pop Pop glanced up from the romance novel he was reading, tucking it under the pillow with a guilty grin. The entire family was aware of his penchant for steamy romance novels, even though Pop Pop insisted he was reading mysteries and thrillers.
“Well, this is a nice surprise. What brings you here, lad?” Pop Pop stood up and gestured to the small sitting area in his room. Colm took one chair, his grandfather the other.
“Kelli had her sonogram today. I wanted to come by and tell you…” Colm paused, grinning, still struggling to believe the news himself. “Twins. She’s having twins.”
Pop Pop’s eyes lit up and he clapped his hands together. “Bless my soul. Twins! That’s wonderful news.”
“Yeah. Kelli’s over the moon. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
“And you?”
Colm’s smile grew wider. “Dream come true.”
“It is indeed. Oh,” Pop Pop stood up again, “I almost forgot. I wanted to show you something.”
Colm rose and followed his grandfather to the special wall. One entire wall of his bedroom was covered with photographs of the family, each member represented.
The photographs changed from time to time, based only on Pop Pop’s whims, rather than to mark celebrations or special occasions. Unlike most people, he didn’t frame posed senior portraits or wedding photos. All of Pop Pop’s pictures were candids; brief moments in time that, according to Pop Pop, captured the essence of the person photographed.
Pop Pop raised his finger and pointed to Colm’s frame. For the past several years, it had been a picture of Colm sitting at the pub, a pint in front of him as he talked to Padraig one day after work. He’d been wearing a suit, his tie loosened, and he was kicked back, relaxed, smiling. He’d asked Pop Pop at the time why he’d chosen it. After all, it was a simple photo that seemed to show very little. Just him at the bar.
Pop Pop insisted it was the perfect photograph. That he saw an intelligent, family-oriented man who was comfortable in his own skin, self-assured, successful, and on the brink of greatness.
Colm hadn’t known how to respond at the time, but when he’d looked at the picture again, he’d seen it through his grandfather’s loving eyes, and it suddenly hadn’t felt so simple after all.
This time, the picture was different.
“Where did you get that?” Colm asked, somewhat surprised to see that Pop Pop hadn’t updated his photo with a current picture of him and Kelli. There would have been plenty to choose from. He could have used the one of the two of them at Christmas, announcing their engagement. Or one of the small wedding ceremony they’d held at the pub in January. Or even one of the two of them revealing that Kelli was pregnant at a family dinner on Valentine’s Day.
Instead, Pop Pop had somehow found an old photograph of him and Kelli, sitting in his parents’ backyard at a summer picnic. He remembered the day well because they’d just graduated from high school the week before, and they were both excited and ready to head off to college.
Kelli was laughing and talking to him—with her hands flying, of course, one of which held a hot dog. Colm was sitting next to her. She had ketchup on her mouth, and he’d reached over to wipe it off with his finger.
For nearly fifteen years, the picture had been relegated to a slot in one of his mom’s countless photo albums, forgotten.
Colm didn’t have to ask why Pop Pop had chosen it. The answer was written right there in Colm’s eighteen-year-old eyes. His younger self was grinning like a fool…and looking at Kelli as if she hung the moon.
