Ryan
While the men went to the main clubhouse to talk a prospect directed the women into what they called the old clubhouse. What had once been an two level school had been converted into a bar/dinning hall. The women who introduced herself as Sin stepped forward and showed them up to private guest rooms. She was a little surprised to see how nice the rooms were. When two rooms were offered Ryan declined stating that she and Dervil would share.
If anyone knew the cost of being a Mulligan it was her. She'd have given anything to save this younger generations from learning that price the hard way. Still no matter how many rules they put into place for their protection it hadn't made a difference. First with Lia, then Dervil and now Ella the niece she'd never even got to meet. That weight hung heavily on her now as they headed back down to meet these biker women.
In the past Ryan knew the family had connections to the club but hadn't really been invovled. As the three women introduced themselves and the babies Ryan knew SOA held alot of BS. Brinn and Liz were in the process of making a late dinner while Sin showed them to their rooms. Without missing a beat Ryan stepped into help and Dervil went to the little one Nate when he began to fuss.
"Dervil. Did your mum and dad want to torure their children. If I remember right your brothers are Hugo, Ivo and Alfie. Not exactly...conventional names" Sin questioned soon after introductions and seeing no harm meant behind it Ryan found herself smiling. Hadn't the family ribbed Shay often enough for the names she'd given her children.
"Call me Dar but ay I fear they did. My da's side holds alot of old names. My guess is mum wanted to hold to their tradition. Unfortunatly kids in school arent real keen to listen to the why of your name." Dervil explained as she cuddled the baby and the sight had Ryan needing to turn away from the sight. The cost of being a Mulligan she reminded herself as she helped finish off the salad.
"How is the older women who was hurt?" Ryan questioned as Lia apeared at the base of the stairs and dinner was placed out on the farm.
"Busted hip and a concusion. The club is footing the bill so once release she'll be going into a tempory senior care home. Atleast till she'd back up and rolling full steam. Got herself untied the night...."Liz began but faultered a moment mentioning her friends "Got herself untied but was took weak to make it to the phone. She'll be getting hooked up with a life alert when she goes home too" Liz finished when Sin gave her back a rub in support.
"Best start eating. The men will come when they come" Brinn interjected into the silence as Lia, Dervil and Ryan.
To her suprise Lia moved to Liz and took Angus while Sin rolled out the Ember out of the kitchen in her highchair. Lia and Ryan had both eaten before the flight but Dervil hadn't as she wasn't the best flyer. Going to Dar, Ryan took little Nathaniel and motioned for her niece to eat. Sitting she realized all three women were looking between Liz and her with their babies.
"Get your food hot for once momma's." Ryan teased pulling Ember's highchair closer to her own seat. It had been near twenty one years since her twin girls were born. Eighteen since the last babies in the family were this size. And as none of the youger generation were moving too quickly to bring forth the next gen Ryan enjoyed the baby fix.
"When I was young there were always children and babies around. A vast hoard of children between the two bloodlines. While I was here I learned how theraputic it is to talk to a baby and simply hold the wee piece of inocence. It also reminded me of the safety I felt as a child in a world I now ken was anything but safe. My own brother...."Lia quietly murmered gently brushing a finger over little Gus's nose setting the wee one into slumber. Hearing her words tears glazed her own eyes thinking not of the grown man Colin but of the lad he's once been.
"He lost the right to that title years ago sweetling. With the sheer number of our kin I'm surprised it has not happened before. I grieve the loss of the lad he once was not the man he became. Yer ma can never know. Neala is one of the strongest women I know. But this would break her. Knowing that a lad she took on as hers would harm another of her children. Nay, she must never ken that weight. We will let her grieve the image of Colin she carries in her heart. Your Liam?" she offered as a change of subject as she watched her nieces face and saw the look. At one point or another it was a look all women got when thinging of their men. The question of if they were really their man.
"Do not shoot me cousin but a fine piece he is. The muscles" Dar giggled as the others sat down with plates and drinks. A propect apeared and asked if they wanted anything to drink and Ryan found herself ordering a beer.
"You should see what he hides under the clothes." Lia offered chuckling and it wasn't lost on her the difference in her niece. The way she seemed more relaxed here. "I'm not sure he's mine. Or that if he is that I can give him all of this" Lia confessed when the other womens chuckles faded.
Getting up Ryan placed the baby in a nearby swing then took little gus to place him in another. Calling out to the prospect for two whisky's Ryan sat and turned Lia to face her. This talk had been had with Dervil a couple years back and now it was Lia's turn.
"You can have a future sweetling. The man, the babies if you choose. Like your Liam, Rowan O'Shea came into my life at what I thought was the worst of timing. I was so broken that I could not see the light beyond the dark I was in. He saw that darkness and stuck by me and showed me that if I chose, I could have a happier ending. It has it's bumps and wabbly bits along the way as the past doesnt always stay where it should. But you move forward together love." she offered taking Lia's hands in hers as the poor lasses knuckles were turning white, squeezed so tight.
"Ripper was the same for me. My light after the dark. They fuck up sometimes and miss a step but at the day it's better than existing in what was. The men give us a strength we don't know we need. Just in the simple act of being with us not by any action." Brinn gently offered and looking across the table Ryan saw an understanding she'd never expected to see in the eyes of the mc queen.
"My darkness though" Lia began to argue
"With love, those spells become fewer. Knowing your boundaries helps. He'll learn them too and start placing himself between you and the demons you carry. Boomer became my acceptance of who I am." Sin slipped in and Ryan watched a tear slip down Lia's cheek as she looked between them. Then her eyes settled on Dervil who's eyes held and understanding that would forever break Ryan's heart seeing it.
"Cousin. You pulled yourself most of the way out alone. Became a strong force of a women alone. Letting yourself love him will not diminish that strength. It will only soften the edges such strength causes. Trust yourself to it" Dervil offered far to wise for one so young.
"And if he can't love me back the way I am? What if he breaks me?" Lia voiced her fear
"Then I gut him like a fucking fish and we help you put the pieces back together" Sara surprised them all as she had come downstairs at some point and now stood only a couple feet away.
"Okay" Lia breathed out then took the whisky back in a shot.
YOU ARE READING
Lia's Return (Mulligan Clan)
Romance**This can be read as a stand alone but is a spin off of Blood Wolves Old Lady's. For 5 years her family thought her dead. In those years she became a women they wouldn't recognize. No longer the girl she was before, Lia is now a killer for hirer...
