Familial Bliss

‘I’m so excited about going home!’ I admit to my boyfriend of three years, Ross.

‘It’ll be nice to finally meet your mom and Darragh in person and not over WhatsApp!’ Ross replies with a nervous smile.

‘It’ll be nice to meet Darragh’s partner James too!’ I say and realise aloud ‘the last time I was home, he hadn’t met the love of his life yet. Goes to show how long it’s been!’

‘We are now boarding rows ‘A’ through ‘F’ from gate B27!’ the overhead intercom announces.

Ross is up like a light, wanting the buggy gone so as its one less thing to have to worry about. I, on the other hand, am a bit reserved. Our boys turned five months old yesterday and I don’t know how they are going to do on a plane. The fact that we’re going to have to take the sleeping beauties out of their carry tots and hold them on our laps for nine hours is daunting. Thankfully the airhostesses are being wonderful in all fairness and let us bring the carry tots on board.

‘They’re going to have to sit on your lap whilst we take off and land, but I’ll keep those in the captains luggage compartment!’ the airhostess named Mary says in a hushed tone.

As the boys were born six weeks premature, they are still no where near the weight they should be for their age, but that’s to be expected. We went through six weeks without their little faces to coddle as they were in incubators until they reached their due date. They have been through a lot in their short lives…especially Hugo. He was born with a hole in his heart and had to have open heart surgery when he was only a couple of days old. We thought we had lost him at one stage, but he’s a fighter, just like his daddy! With Dave on the other hand, it was his lungs that were the main issue. He was hooked up to a ventilator for ten days, but his father instilled the fighting spirit in him as well. Now, five months into their rough entry to this earth, they are going to see their nana and uncle Darragh for the first time! I can’t speak for them, but I for one am excited.

I hold Hugo on my lap and Ross has Dave. They have little seat belts on them that look like t-shirts. As we are in row ‘A’ everyone has to pass us to gain entry to the A330 airbus.

‘Do you realise that each and every one of these people are saying how cute our little family are?’ Ross asks me. ‘Don’t they realise that it’s a nine-hour flight to Heathrow and the likelihood is that they are going to scream the whole way!’

‘Well lets just be grateful they’re quiet now!’ I smile back at him. He gives me a gentle peck on the lips. ‘There isn’t a hope in hell of you saying you joined the mile high club!’ I respond to which he just smiles, his dimples showing nicely.

‘What made you think I want to?’

‘Want to what?’

‘Join the mile high club?’

‘Because we are in an aircraft and the last time we had sex was when these were conceived!’ I smile back. We both let out a chuckle at that one. In truth, we’ve been at it like rabbits since before the babies came home! I don’t know what’s gotten into us as we’re both running on no sleep, but we still make sexy time happen!

As the last passengers board the plane and the door closes, I tell Ross to let me know when we’re there.

‘You do get that we have to change planes in Heathrow, right?’

The plane begins to move and we each have one hand on our corresponding child, our fingers interlaced with the other.

 

Finally, after fifteen hours travelling, we make it to Dublin airport. I don’t know how we meandered through Heathrow as the boys screamed non stop from Calgary! It was lucky that we had brought paracetamol because they were needed…twice!

Of course when we put them into their carry tots and load them into the buggy in Dublin, that’s when the little gits decide to go to sleep! The one time I wanted them to be awake this whole trip, and they’re asleep.

‘Nana isn’t going to be happy!’ I say looking over towards Ross. He looks positively green. ‘Are you ok?’ I ask him.

‘I’m just nervous of meeting your mom is all!’

I pull the buggy over to the side just as we are about to turn a corner, after which there’s no turning back. Ross is hunched over the baggage trolley and I manoeuvre myself so as I’m by his side yet not completely blocking the flow of travellers.

‘Look man,’ I start, ‘my mom is as cool as a cucumber. She wouldn’t dare say anything to you that she hasn’t already said over WhatsApp! She’s going to love you!’

‘But I got you pregnant and were not married and you’re catholic!’ he begins to have a panic attack.

‘I bet you €5 that she will go to see the boys first, and a further €5 that there will be tears!’

He looks up at me and as we are renowned for out bets, he shakes my hand solidifying the agreement.

‘We just have to meet her first!’ I say to which he nods.

At the turn of the corner and through the double doors, we are met with a crowd full of people, my eyes peeled for my mother! I hear ‘cooee’ coming from the right and watch as she tussles her way through the crowd. I indicate to Ross where she is and we move straight into her path.

She bends over to see the boys before she says hi to me and Ross, and, as predicted, there are tears. I put my hand out and Ross takes out his wallet to retrieve a crisp €10 note. Mom gives me the biggest hug ever, pulling Ross into the embrace!

‘Hi Ross!’ she says with a massive smile on her face, ‘its nice to finally meet you!’ and with that I can see the colour return to Ross’s face and he smiles at how welcoming she is.

 

After the rigmarole of getting a car from the Hertz kiosk, and installing two car seats, I notice its dark out. Ross has never been to Ireland before and I promise to show him the most amazing sight of my small town by the sea. I’m not great at directions, but this is a route I have taken many a time before! We get off the M1 and I direct him through meandering, narrow, country roads. The expectation of seeing the town lit up is keeping his eyes open as we’re both exhausted! I tell him to slow as we begin a descent down a significant hill and he instinctively stops in the exact spot I was telling him about.

‘Wow!’ is all he can muster!

‘Told you!’ I sit in the car mesmerised at how much the town has grown in such a short space of time!

With a car approaching us from behind, Ross resumes driving. He backs the car into my mother’s driveway. I notice another car parked outside and am delighted when Darragh, my brother, wraps on the drivers side window. It’s a pity he couldn’t have waited a little longer as myself and Ross were having a welcome home kiss.

‘There’ll be none of that here!’ Darragh shouts as he opens the drivers side door and orders Ross out of the car. I can see the poor man trembling as he exits the vehicle. Darragh, being the prankster that he is, had Ross shaking in his boots for those few seconds where he could have done God knows what to the poor guy! I get out myself just in time to see Darragh throw an arm around Ross and welcome him to the family. ‘I always wanted a brother!’ he tells him.

He releases Ross and opens the back door and asks, ‘you do know there’s two of them…right?’

‘Man did I miss your sarcastic wit!’ I tell him and get Hugo out of the car in his little carry tot, Ross doing the same with Dave.

Mom rushes downstairs just as we enter the house. ‘Come in, come in, welcome, welcome!’ she ushers Ross and Dave into the kitchen. ‘I didn’t know if you’d be hungry of not, so I just made some nibbles!’ she says taking two dishes out of the oven, cocktail sausages and chicken pieces. ‘I’ve also made a platter of sandwiches!’ she announces focusing her attention on the babies.

‘So,’ she asks, ‘which one’s which?’

Ross introduces Dave to his nana as I enter the room with Hugo. ‘Dave has more hair!’ Ross announces. ‘Yea,’ I heave Hugo onto a chair. ‘And this little guy has his father’s dimples!’ I grin from ear to ear looking at her mother, knowing she’s going to get them mixed up easily. Hell, I get them mixed up from time to time!

Just as Darragh hadn’t met Ross, I haven’t met James, Darragh’s long term boyfriend. Well it’s only been a year but people in glass houses and all that! ‘He’ll be over in a couple of hours!’ Darragh says as if he can read my mind!

I take the now screaming Hugo out of his carry tot and hand him to nana. ‘He needs a feed and a new nappy!’ I announce, handing my mother a bag with everything but the kitchen sink in it. Dave starts stirring out of instinct so I hand him to Darragh saying, ‘good luck!’

Ross and I sit at the kitchen table, my head resting on his shoulder, and we watch as Darragh holds Dave out in front of him like he’s a bomb ready to explode.

‘Where is the best place to change him?’ he asks our mother who points to the lovely pink couch in the room off the kitchen. As the house has an open floor plan, I can hear each and every moan of disgust coming from my little brother, and see him navigate the logistics of changing a nappy. I doubt he’s ever changed one before, but there’s a first time for everything…and I’m just too tired to help him.

I just want to close my eyes for a minute as the boys become acquainted with their nana and uncle. I’m half tempted to go to bed!

‘If you can handle a nappy change, you truly are an uncle!’ I say to Darragh who in all fairness is jumping into the role nicely!

Little Dave is happy his dirty nappy is off and begins to kick his legs as Darragh debates which way the new one goes on! He finally lifts up the little guys legs in the air sliding the new nappy under him and just before closes it, a sprinkle of urine hits Darragh in the face. All Ross can do is laugh because of the amount of times Dave has done that to him. Darragh puts his hand over the little guys penis, but that doesn’t stop the sprinkling.

‘Now you’ve done it!’ Darragh talks to his nephew as we can do nothing but laugh. Darragh makes an executive decision and puts the new nappy on fast! He then strips the child as there is pee all over him! ‘You’re not going to pee on me a second time buddy! No way!’ As he attempts to dress Dave again, taking the fresh clothes out of the bag.

As Darragh is doing that, my mom has the kettle on for the bottles. We ordered some things we knew we would need to be delivered here, like a bottle steriliser and a portable crib. Mom has them all set and ready to go!

‘Now, you’ve done one, you can surely manage another!’ my mother says as they swap babies.

‘Ok now Hugo, you have to remember that I’m your uncle and can get you out of sticky situations…but only if you don’t pee on me!’ Darragh says.

‘Do you realise that he’s talking to them as though they’re adults?’ I ask Ross.

‘It’s adorable!’ he replies.

 

As we are so tired and mom and Darragh have wanted to spend quality time with the boys since the minute they got over the fact I was pregnant, me and Ross sit back and let them! They seem smitten, but then again, I’m biased.

When James arrives, Darragh answers the door with Hugo over his shoulder burping him. He walks in the kitchen door and I make as much effort to make him feel welcome as Darragh did Ross. I give him a big hug and Ross does the same.

‘Did you give them to them yet?’ James asks just as Hugo lets out a loud belch.

‘No, they’re up on the bed!’ Darragh answers.

James disappears for a second and when he reappears, he is holding up two Dublin GAA jerseys. ‘It’s a present from both of us to welcome them and remind them where they originally came from!’

‘Oh how adorable!’ I say and hold one up in front of me. ‘Thank you so much James!’ I say and hug him again.

As nana holds the sleeping Dave, having not taken her eyes off of him for at least an hour now, Darragh hands Hugo to James.

‘You’re a natural!’ I say and smile at him as he looks at my son with longing.

‘Actually, me and James have an announcement!’ Darragh says when we all gather around the kitchen table.

‘As mom knows, last week I whisked my lovely boyfriend off to London to see a show. What you don’t know is that when we were at dinner, James proposed to me!’

Mom looks up and her eyes excitedly go from Darragh to James and back again! ‘Really?’ the tone of her voice goes up an octave.

‘We’re getting married mom!’ Darragh smiles, looks at his fiancé and kisses him.

‘We’re having a wedding?’ mom asks with great excitement!

Darragh nods. ‘We wanted Emma and Ross and the boys to attend, so…’

‘We’re getting married on new years eve!’ James finishes his sentence.

‘I wanted to say that bit!’ Darragh chastises him.

‘You were taking all day to say it!’

‘Look honey, they’re bickering like an old married couple already!’ I interject to which everyone laughs.

‘How are you going to pull a wedding together in ten days?’ mom asks.

‘We’ve hired a caterer and have a venue in mind!’ Darragh answers.

‘Where’s the venue?’ mom asks excitedly, unable to throw her arm around their shoulders because she doesn’t want to wake Dave.

‘Theres a little house that’s near and dear to all our hearts and we want to get married there!’ Darragh announces, ‘if that is you’re willing to open your doors to some close friends and family!’

Mom does a double take at him, ‘you want to get married here?’ she asks, surprised.

‘I had my 21^st here, and don’t forget the bon voyage party you threw me in 2012!’

Moms lips are flapping but there’s no sound coming out.

‘Look Sarah, we counted the numbers and we’re only inviting twelve guests and whatever family can get here on such short notice, and it would make the event so special to us if you let us have it here!’ James says with a smile and puppy dog eyes.

‘Look, sleep on it and give us an answer tomorrow mom, ok?’ Darragh looks at her knowing he has caught her off guard! He looks at me expectantly.

‘It would be lovely for us all to be there!’ I pick up on the subtle hint. I nudge Ross under the table.

‘I’d love to be there!’ he says. I nudge him again. ‘Who knows the next time we’re going to make it over what with two hungry mouths to feed now and the cost of travel growing exponentially!’

Mom begins to smile and looks down at Dave who yawns and opens his little eyes. Her own eyes dance from face to face, all looking at her. ‘I guess we have to start cleaning so!’ she says and nods, giving the boys her blessing.

Darragh kisses James and they gaze deeply into each other’s eyes. Ross looks at me and I shake my head indicating that now isn’t the right time!

 

In bed that night, the two monsters fed and changed, I snuggle up to Ross and lay my head on his chest.

‘So,’ he asks, ‘when do you think is a good time to tell them you’re pregnant again?’

‘All in good time my love, all in good time!’ I kiss him passionately as he reaches over to turn off the light.