Psychopathy

Chapter 47- Don't Wake Up

Isabel needed sleep. She was so tired, but every time she slept, she was woken up by the devil torturing her. But she couldn't hold out much longer. She'd just have to risk being pulled under by sleep. Maybe the lake would give her a safe place to sleep. If not, all she could hope for was that she would sleep and not wake up.

***************

"You know, I think it's about time you get your girls home." Reid raised an eyebrow at Akilah's words, before looking over at Teresa. She was sitting at one of the tables, holding a sleeping Ria and stroking the young girl's hair. Reid hadn't even noticed that Ria had fallen asleep. He'd been too distracted by all the dancing. It was a rare moment, having a happy night with his team where nothing came to ruin it. And JJ and Will's wedding was indeed a happy night.

"I don't understand why Teresa doesn't take her inside. There are plenty of places in there to let Ria sleep. JJ took Henry inside to let him sleep," Reid responded, and Akilah laughed. She paused for a moment to listen to the music, seeing if the song was coming to an end. They'd both been dancing all through the night with various partners. They were both tired and had decided to take a break at the end of the song. Morgan would find someone else to dance with, Reid was sure of that.

"I'm surprised you noticed that Henry was asleep and not Ria," Akilah questioned.

"Well, Henry threw a fit because he was tired. When a child is overtired, they become stressed and adrenaline and cortisol flood their systems. It essentially sends them into fight-or-flight mode and they become cranky," Reid explained.

"That makes sense. Henry was overtired and threw a tantrum and that's why you noticed. Ria didn't do that. She literally just sat on the floor and practically crashed right then and there," Akilah responded. The song finally ended, and the two of them went to the side of the dance floor, grabbing some of the non-alcoholic punch. Akilah again suggested that Reid take Teresa and Ria home, and Reid decided she was probably right. It was then that Ria started to cry, tightening her grip on her mother's dress. Her eyes were closed, but there were still tears on her cheeks. That was painfully familiar, wasn't it? Like aunt, like niece.

"Aw, baby, are you having a bad dream? Shh, now, it's okay, you're safe, baby girl," Teresa whispered in Ria's ear. Her cries dropped down to a whimper, but she still trembled. "Shh. Dún do shúil, a rún mo chroí, a choid den tsaol , 's a ghrá liom. Dún do shúil, a rún mo chroí. Agus gheobhair feirín amárach."

"Well, that's a language I haven't heard before," Akilah mentioned as Ria finally settled and went back to sleep.

"It's Irish," Reid realized. He'd only heard it spoken a handful of times, and all of those times, it had been Ciara speaking it. But it made sense that Teresa would know it. They'd grown up in the same household, after all, and had probably been a dual-learner just like Ciara had. He'd heard it enough to recognize it, but it wasn't an easily researched language. The Statute of Kilkenny in 1367 made sure of that.

"Do you know what she said?"

"No. I can recognize the language, but I don't know it," Reid answered, and Akilah thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," Akilah said.

"It roughly translates to 'Close your eyes, my love, my worldly joy, my treasure. Close your eyes, my love, and you will get a present tomorrow'," Teresa said, and they both whipped around to face her. She smiled softly, stroking Ria's hair. "It's one of the lullabies Ciara sang to me when I was little. It took some convincing to get her to give me the translation."

"So you didn't know the translation?" Akilah asked as the both of them came to sit by Teresa. "You don't actually speak Irish?"

"Nope. I missed that lesson. But Ciara had these two lullabies she sang to me all the time. She sang them to me so often I memorized them and eventually she gave me the translation. And now I sing them to Ria," Teresa explained, and Reid thought for a moment. Why would Simon and Kasey Byrne teach Ciara the Irish language but not Teresa? She said her parents had stopped speaking Irish and Ciara never knew why. Was it possible that they stopped speaking Irish early enough that Ciara would know it but Teresa wouldn't? They were only three years apart. That window would be tight. "Are you okay, Dr. Reid?"