Page 13 of Merry Merry Biker

“Girl, of course I worried about you. You should have come to us for Christmas dinner, we had enough. Maya cooked too much, plus the kids would have loved to have seen you.”

Now, that grumbly, grumpy voice I knew and recognised. A smile touched my lips at his grumbling at her. It told me a lot. My Uncle Colm liked Lana. There weren’t many the old man did like, but if he did, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for you.

Lana replied, amusement in her voice at my uncle’s grousing, “I promise I’ll pop over in the next few days. I want to get the house finished so that I can get my furniture moved in come the new year.”

“Do you want me to send the boys over to give you a hand? You’d get it done quicker.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I have help and it is one of your boys, just not any of the ones you are thinking of.”

“What?” Colm muttered. “Who do you have in there, girly? I only have four boys left since…...” Colm stops there getting a little choked up before continuing, “I only have four boys left and one is in prison and the other in Ireland.”

Well, shit, she just outed me. I’m not sure why I was reluctant to let my family know that I was home and safe, and Lana had obviously picked up on my reluctance. Nothing like ripping a bandage off. With a deep sigh, straightening my shoulders, I gripped the door and opened it wider so that I was framed in the doorway.

“Merry Christmas, Uncle Colm.”

My uncle staggered back a step as he took me in, his face a little pale.

“Shit,” Lana rushed forward and slipped an arm around his waist. Not that her tiny arse would hold him up if he went down. I felt like shit—I should have known it would be a shock, but I wasn’t sure how else I could have made it easier on him.

“Tommy,” my uncle whispered, and it gutted me to see tears in the old man’s eyes. “You’re alive.”

Steadier now, he reached for me. There was no way I could have stopped myself, I stepped into my uncle’s hard embrace, making no move to stop the tear that trickled down my cheek. I’d missed this old man. Looking over my uncle’s shoulder, my Sprite was standing, hands tucked under her chin, lip quivering, tears running down her cheeks at our reunion.

All it took was me beckoning her with my fingers, and she rushed over, settling against me, face pressed to my side. It took her pushing against us for my uncle to let go of me slightly and step back but only so that he could cup my face; his eyes travelled over me, noting the bruises and cuts, before dropping to the woman snuggled against my side. His face instantly softened.

“I’ve missed you. It’s good to have you home, son.”

Wiping at my face I smiled, “It’s good to be home, Uncle Colm.”

His eyes again slid to Sprite, and he smiled, “I can see.”

“Coffee’s made and breakfast is nearly done. Why don’t you come in and catch up,” Sprite invited, then she held up a hand, “I know there will be stuff you can’t say in front of me, but once I’ve eaten, I’ll go to the dining room, put my earphones on and start the painting so you two can talk about all that stuff.”

‘Fuck me, if I didn’t love her before I certainly did at those words,’I thought but didn’t say anything, just lifted an eyebrow at Uncle Colm to see what he wanted to do.

“Coffee it is then,” he agreed, clasping my shoulder hard before stepping back. Letting go of Sprite so that she could go into the house before us, we followed her into the kitchen.

As if she knew I needed a minute, she settled Uncle Colm at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee even though I knew he’d have preferred a cup of tea but as she had none in the cupboards, he’d have to make do with coffee. I watched with amusement as he put four sugars in and topped it up with so much milk that there was hardly any colour in it.

Sprite’s eyes met mine with amusement, but she didn’t say anything, just got another plate out and set it on the table before sitting on a chair next to my uncle and tipping her head at the stove with an amused smirk on her face.

“Cheeky bint,” I grinned at her, flicking her gently on the tip of the nose as I walked by. Her laughter brightened the room. Uncle Colm gave us an assessing look but didn’t say anything as I went to the stove and finished off breakfast. Breaking eggs into the pan for scrambled eggs and pressing down on the toaster to get the toast ready. The bacon, tomatoes, and beans were still in the warmer, so it wouldn’t take much longer. I was content to listen to the hum of conversation between two of my favourite people behind me. I knew I had a long explanation to give to Uncle Colm, but he’d let it rest for now until we could talk in private.

A few minutes later, I had everything on the table, and we were digging in. Sprite kept up the chatter and listened with amusement at the stories Uncle Colm was telling us of his grandchildren. I knew that my younger cousin Johnny hadmarried a woman that had children, and Uncle Colm didn’t call them anything but his grandchildren, even if they weren’t his blood. Just like I’d, for all intents and purposes, been treated as his son, not just his nephew.

“Right, I’m going to leave you two to catch-up,” Sprite informed me as she stood up, gathering our plates and put them in the sink.

Then, turning to me, she continued, “Maybe get Colm to help you go and pick up your bike. We can’t leave it where we did. If you can’t remember where it is, I can draw a map.” With that, she walked over to me and pressed her lips to my temple, whispering, “I’ll just be a room away, call out if you need me.”

With those words, she walked away towards the dining room, closing the door behind her. I waited until the door closed before turning back to find Uncle Colm watching me with amusement in his eyes.

“You are so fucked, boy. I was hoping she’d go for one of my boys; never in a million years thought it would be you,” he grinned at me before his face turned serious.

“Talk to me. We got the news that you were dead, blown up. I had a feeling that you weren’t, though. I was so sure I’d have felt it if you weren’t with us any longer. I waited for two years holding onto this place for you but then started to second guess myself, and I thought that maybe I’d been wrong and that you were gone. Just about killed me to get rid of this house, and I held off until Kate Crow brought Lana out to meet me and to have a look. Something told me that she was important, so I sold it to her, then I waited, wondering if I’d made a mistake,” pausing for a breath, he looked at me then smiled a little smugly, “I guess I didn’t.”

Uncle Colm had always been big on trusting his feelings or his gut and to be fair, they’d never let him down before. It was said that my grandmother had had second sight. Doing the jobs I’d done, I had to agree because quite often I’d have a feeling and change what I was originally going to do and it always worked out for the better. Including the time I’d nearly been blown up by my supposed friends.

“You didn’t make a mistake,” I assured him. “She’s making this house into a home and for some reason, she thinks I’m what she wants. I’m going to make sure that she doesn't regret picking me up off the side of the road when I wrecked my bike.”