Kieran rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. “Ma, I’m a grown man. I think I can handle it.”
Dee gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’m sure you can, kiddo, but you said the girl has special needs. All God’s children need attention, but a child like that needs extra people to support her. One more will do her good.”
“It might not be a good idea. I’m not sure how it all works, honestly,” Kieran admitted. “I think she struggles with meeting new people sometimes.”
“You let me figure that out. I’ve been praying lately for what God wants next from me. You know I love helping people, taking care of people. I’d put all that energy into grandkids if one of you boys would hurry up already…” Dee eyed them in annoyance, no doubt at the thought of waiting even longer for grandkids. “So let me help. It’s just some tea, after all.”
“All right, but let’s make this a really quick trip, then. Simply the tea and hello—that’s it,” Kieran relented.
Dee wagged a finger at her son as she moved around the kitchen. “The way you talk, it sounds like you don’t want me to meet her.”
“I’m not saying that. I just think it might be weird,” Kieran said. His twin was still trying his best to stifle his laughter, but Kane was practically blowing muffin chunks out of the corner of his mouth at this point.
Dee nodded toward the sputtering Kane. “Look at your brother. If she wants to be part of this family one day, she’s going to need to get used to weird.”
Kieran shook his head and laughed both with and at Kane. After how sad Fiona seemed last night, maybe a surprise meet-the-parents wouldn’t be the worst thing he could do. Maybe his mother would know what to say to ease the tension he had inadvertently created between them last night.
Am I hoping my mom will fix my girl troubles? he thought. Just kill me now.
Chapter 10
“Are you sure she lives around here, Kieran?” his mother asked as he pulled his car to the curb around the block from her building. There was a roadblock sign up, so he figured this was the closest he was going to get.
“I’m sure. I know it’s not ideal, but she can’t afford much,” he told her, knowing his mother probably wanted to help just as much as he did. It was impossible to walk into this neighborhood and not want to rescue every person living here.
“I see,” she said uneasily.
The duo rounded the corner to find a commotion in front of Fiona’s building, with police, firemen, and construction workers all milling around. Kieran saw a gaping hole in the front of the building where he’d been just the night before. He picked up the pace as they moved closer and realized that part of the hole was giving the world direct access to Fiona’s apartment.
“Oh, my goodness, what happened?” his mother asked, clutching his arm.
“I don’t know.” He looked around nervously, hoping to see Fiona and Shea in the crowd of people outside the building. Finally, he spotted a little person with braided pigtails and bright pink earmuffs, and he led his mother in that direction. “Shea!”
A tearful little girl turned to look, glancing at him just long enough to register who he was before she dropped eye contact. She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, sniffling. Her face was red, and she looked like she still wasn’t feeling well. Kieran crouched down so he was at her level.
“Shea, what happened?” he asked her, scanning over her shoulder for Fiona.
“I didn’t get my eggs yet. I have eggs for breakfast.” Shea began crying, and he used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away her tears. Luckily, she didn’t try to pull away from him as he had expected her to.
“Shea, I have a lot of eggs at my house,” his mother interrupted, leaning down to greet her. “Would you like to come over and I’ll make you a big pile of eggs, taller than you!”
Shea didn’t say anything, looking at this unfamiliar woman with distrust.
“This is my mother, Shea, and I know for a fact she makes delicious eggs,” he confided in her, watching the tension in her face ease as she was deciding to trust his mother now that he’d vouched for her. “Where’s your sister?”
Shea pointed in the direction of a police officer, and Kieran saw him interviewing Fiona. She looked even more frazzled than she had last night, if such a thing was possible.
“Go,” his mother told him as she ushered Shea back in the direction of the car. Nodding, he went to talk to Fiona.
“Kieran! What are you doing here?” she asked when she saw him. She glanced past him and, presumably, saw his mother walking with Shea. “Where’s Shea going? Who’s that?”