Taking my time, let the world turn.

Closing her eyes she let out a gentle sigh, everything felt so much better with him beside her. “My ma would eat you up,” she chuckled. “And my brothers, well they’d have you out on a rugby pitch in no time.” She tried to imagine Charlie interacting with her family, sitting at the old dinner table she’d grown up having her meals at, or walking down the streets she played in as a child. “I do love making you blush,” Aoife grinned, and reached up to pinch his cheek. “But it’s true. Emma is an amazing little girl and you get to take credit for that.” Still propped on her elbow she studied his face, admiring the shadows and lines she could make out. “I never want to rush things with us, but I love the idea of making her a big sister.”

She wanted more than anything to be a mother. It had been her dream since she was a child herself, and after years of convincing herself it would never be, hearing Charlie say he wanted it too made her heart swell and a grin form on her lips. “I want to do those things too,” she told him, leaning up to kiss him softly. “I want to take you to Ireland and show you off,” she added to his list, thinking of a million other things she wanted to do with him but that one topping the list. “I hope you’re right, we already know you’re an amazing dad so at least the kid has one for sure parent,” Aoife snuggled back into his chest. “Do you think Emma wants siblings?” 

If Aoife was sure of anything, it was that Charlie was a good father. The love he had for Emma was evident and she could tell by the way he looked at the little girl that she was his entire world. It was the way Aoife hoped the father of her children would look at their kids if she should ever be so lucky. She didn’t want to cry anymore, tired of the tears falling and her shoulders heaving, but she couldn’t help it as she spoke. “It was a little boy,” she said quietly, “We named him Patrick Seamus MacKenna, and I’m so afraid I’m going to forget him.” Crying quietly, she let herself melt further into Charlie, finally feeling safe enough to reveal this to him. “But I’m even more afraid that I’ll never get to be a real mother,” she said once she’d taken a breath and wiped at her eyes. 

“It would, but you’re right, without those horrible endings we wouldn’t have what we have,” letting out a breath of air, she snuggled closer. It still felt a little surreal, being so in love with him. “I can’t imagine seeing Emma as anything but a part of you,” Aoife told him. “She’s such a sweet girl and I hope that if things continue the way they are, she can see me as family someday,” She smiled, then went silent for a moment. “I was pregnant once,” she said quietly. It was hard to tell people she was a widow, but there was no name for a parent without their child, there was no word to describe the loss. “We made it nearly to the third trimester.” She didn’t say anything more as the tears came to her eyes and pooled on his chest. 

Losing Niall was like having love ripped away from her, like being told that she couldn’t love the man she’d devoted herself to for no good reason at all. It was the last thing she’d wish on anyone. Shortly after his death she’d thought that he was her one love, that it was impossible for her to love again, but here she was lying in Charlie’s arms and feeling the most overwhelming sensation of adoration she’d felt in nearly a decade. “It felt like I was losing part of him by going back to my maiden name,” she explained. “Like I was giving up on him, when really there was nothing to give up on.” It felt good to talk about it with him, to open up about her past and not fear hurting him. Listening, she let his words soak in, then shook her head. “I don’t think that at all,” she said firmly, her touch still gentle on his chest. “I know that marriages aren’t always like mine was, and I know that sometimes the best thing for them is to end.” Aoife paused for a moment. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re competing with a ghost,” she explained. “I like talking about Niall, and I miss him everyday, but that doesn’t mean I’m not present in this, I want you to know that.” 

Oh dear. After local Beaumont band Spear Revival finished their set on the main stage, an open mic hour was kicked off with a rendition of the national anthem. The only problem? You were pulled onstage to sing it — and you forgot the words! Here’s hoping everyone has forgotten the super embarrassing blunder by the time next year’s Fourth rolls around :( 

Would you like to plot with Aoife? If so all you have to do is message me

Aoife loved making him smile, her heart felt warm as he teased her, the lightness to his tone lifting her spirits further. “I look forward to the morning then,” she joked. If there was one thing their life together wasn’t lacking it was sex. For the first time in ages she finally had a sex life and she couldn’t be happier. “I know,” she agreed. “Everything just feels so right with us. I feel so lucky to have found you,” she confessed. Nodding, she took a breath. “ In a weird way, I wish you could have met him. But then we wouldn’t be together. I’d still be Mrs. MacKenna. That was my married name. I was Aoife Roisin MacKenna. It took me a long time to go back to Moran. It wasn’t until I moved to America that I switched my documents back.” 

“If i weren’t so tired I would jump you,” she smiled sleepily and snuggled closer. Her body felt right intertwined with his, like she was made to be lying there with him. “Really?” Aoife asked, her free hand stroking his chest. “Does it bother you that I’ve been in love before?” The question had been on her mind with the revelation of their feelings. 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t,” she smiled, blatantly admiring his body as she lay there. Crawling under the covers and beside him she lay her head on his chest and let out a much needed sigh, melting into the bed and his body. She felt so safe with him, a nice change compared to her last 24 hours of terror and stress. “I love you,” she murmured, her eyes looking up at him. It felt good to finally say it aloud, finally let him know exactly how she felt. “I never thought I’d meet someone who makes me feel this way again,” she admitted. 

She liked the sounds of being spoiled, even if she wasn’t quite sure what it entailed. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been spoiled, other than earlier that night that is. There was a comfortable familiarity to the way he moved around her room, knowing it as well as she knew his. “I can dress myself,” she yawned, reaching for the shirt. Pulling it over her head she had to take a break half way through, sighing before pulling it down over her body. “You don’t have to sleep in your wet clothes,” she told him, slipping on the shorts and lazily crawling up the the top of the bed. 

“Good, sleepy night,” she repeated with a smile. When he began to stand, she was surprised that he was able to take her with him, her head still resting on his shoulder and her arms around his neck, she felt safe and secure in his embrace. “I can sleep in a little. I don’t have to work,” she said contently as they went into the bedroom. 

“I was,” she stated assuring him and resting her head on his shoulder. Normally she would have jumped up the moment he expressed any kind of discomfort, but she was too tired to think straight. “Suppose we could move to the bed,” she yawned looking at him with tired eyes. “And you could take your clothes off but I don’t think I have the energy to do anything but sleep beside you,” she frowned. Aoife seldom said no to the opportunity to see him naked, or more specifically be naked with him, but tonight she needed to be with him in a more innocent sense of the word. 

Surprised herself, Aoife chuckled softly when she was in his lap, lips still on his and her arms around his neck. She almost apologized until she felt his arms around her and knew that he wasn’t upset. “I was ready to get out anyway,” she told him with a slight blush. Her feelings made her do wild things it seemed and despite her burst of energy she was still exhausted, settling herself into his lap and sighing. 

“Fair point,” she laughed. She wouldn’t have it any other way either. She loved his body almost as much as she loved him. Pressing herself against him, she continued to kiss him like there was nothing else her body was capable of. Hearing him say the words made her feel giddy, like her life was some kind of x rated Disney film and at any moment birds were going to fly in and drape her towel over her. Without removing her lips from his she climbed out of the bathtub and into his lap. 

“It’s just not the most polite thing to point out how utterly exhausted someone appears,” she explained with a chuckle. “Oh no. Sick or nightmares?”