Chapter 13

There was no formal announcement. Sissy just rushed up to Chelsea and blurted it out. “He finally got off his arse! The wedding plans are a go!”

They hugged and danced and cried and when Katie found out why she was right in the middle. When they finally broke the cell phones seemed to sprout out of the ends of their fingers and they smoked the air waves. Mom, Maddy, Anne, Claire, they were all talking a mile a minute and planned on descending on us in the morning. I took Katie and we went for a walk.

“How do you feel about all of this?”

“I am very, very happy, my Da. I’ll be the best daughter you’ll ever have.”

I corrected her gently and still put a smile on her face. “You’ll be the best first daughter I’ll ever have. I’m sure the ones that follow will rank pretty high as well. Best middle daughter, best youngest daughter ... but you’ll always have the ranking of number one.”

She just giggled and started talking about good names for sisters, or even a brother or two.

The loving Sissy and I had that night was beyond everything we’d ever experienced together, and that takes in a lot. That and the pillow talk between romps made for a very long night. We finally drifted off to sleep at four, to wake when a little whirlwind burst through the door and landed between us.

“Get up, get up! They’re here!”

Sissy just pulled the covers over her head while I sleepily asked what she was talking about. “Grandma Dawes, Aunt Maddy, Aunt Claire, Aunt Anne, Aunt Kelsie, Uncle Clayton, Uncle Clark...”

I grabbed her, giving her a big puppy kiss. “I get it. The family has arrived. Your mother and I will be out shortly.”

She jumped up giggling as she went through the door, talking loudly. “Mum and Da will be out soon. Grandmas, can we start breakfast now?”

There was a lot of hugging and kissing when we finally made it to the dining room. As soon as we ate, I was dismissed while wedding plans were finalized. I took Katie with me to the jewelry shop Claire had recommended. You would miss it if you didn’t know it was there, there were no displays in the windows, just the simple sign “Morrison and Sons” in gold leaf on the door.

Instead of showing us rings, the son of the owner sat us down and asked me to tell him the story of our romance. I did, with an occasion interjection from Katie. He seemed impressed when we finished. “Wow. That sounds like a fairy tale or a romance novel. Let’s build on central themes. She’s Irish. You’re a painter. Here.”

He handed me a note pad and some colored pencils. “Draw what you think would be the perfect ring. I sat and thought while Katie made suggestions before I took a pencil in hand. I worked quickly but with precision, then filled the picture in.

I handed it back to him and he smiled. “Very good. I’m sure she’ll love it. Now, what is your price range?”

I scribbled a number on the pad and pushed it back to him. He just looked and nodded, putting the papers in his vest pocket. “I’ll be in touch. Does she like white gold or plain yellow, would she prefer platinum? I’ll need her ring size. You’ll have to come in and approve the work before we put the finishing touches on it, but we have a very good reputation and I’m sure you’ll be pleased. It can be ready in four weeks, if that suits you.”