Boston Blood

chapter 72

Frankie's eyes flickered open, slowly but her brain felt like it had been working all night. She felt exhausted as she lay in her bed. She jumped up, suddenly too aware that the other side was empty ands cold. She glanced at the clock, it was still dark outside and she heard the rain still hitting the glass. Had she dreamt it? It made sense for last night to be a dream, it was too wonderful and terrifying to be real. She sat up and rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to think. Then, an ear-shattering scream made the blood run from her flushed face and she jumped out of the bed and towards the sound. "Lucy? I'm coming, are you okay?"

Frankie skidded down the hall and into Lucy's bedroom where she saw Lucy pointing out into the hall, a look of terror on her beautiful face. "Auntie Frankie! There's a man in the house! I saw him! He was watching me sleep and then I woke up and he was gone. Frankie I'm so scared. He's out there, I know it." Frankie picked Lucy up and cradled her in her arms, praying that she would calm down and not wake the baby up. "Ssshh, baby. It's okay. Everything's okay. It was just a nightmare."

"No! No it wasn't. He was there! At first I thought it was uncle Cillian but when I looked again, he was gone. Ugh, I hate stupid nightmares."

Frankie froze. She could hear the sound of deep breathing coming from the hallway and she knew then she hadn't dreamed it. He was here. Cillian. He was here. Oh God, should I tell her first or let him do it? Shit, how is she going to take this?

Frankie had to tell her. She just prayed Lucy would be happy and not upset and confused too much. She could feel the tension radiating off Cillian even from ten feet away. This must be killing him, but if they were going to be together, then Lucy needed to know the truth. Frankie took a deep breath and rubbed Lucy's pink cheek with the back of her fingers. "Lucy. I need to ask you something, okay? Now, this is going to sound crazy at first, but you just need to stay calm, okay? Everything is okay." Lucy's entire little face was scrunched up with confusion and if Frankie wasn't so nervous herself, she would have laughed. "Lucy, you said that you thought the man you saw was uncle Cillian, right?" Lucy's eyebrows furrowed even closer together and this time, Frankie couldn't help the smile pulling at her lips. When Lucy nodded, Frankie continued. She was shaking a little and she knew her voice was too. "What if I told you that it was uncle Cillian. That he was here in the house and wanted to see you?"

Lucy chewed her lip for a minute and Frankie didn't push her. This was a lot and she knew Lucy needed to take her time to process what she was saying. "I don't get it. Uncle Cillian is in Heaven with aunty Bridget. You told me he was."

Frankie's heart shattered. She thought she had told Lucy the truth, hell, it was the truth up until a few hours ago. She felt awful. "Baby, Uncle Cillian isn't in Heaven. I know this is difficult to understand. I was confused too. I did think he died before we came here but he didn't. He just had to pretend he died so we were safe. He wanted to keep us safe and to move here and to have a different life." Frankie knew she sounded ridiculous and even though Lucy was only eight, she was looking at Frankie like she was ten years older than her. "I-, what?"

Frankie was flustered and she let Lucy go to walk to the door. The poor kid was going to lose her mind and Frankie couldn't be sure if that would be in a good or bad way. "He's here, baby. Uncle Cillian is here. Would you like to see him?"

Lucy stood up and held onto her teddy bear. She was as white as a ghost but all she could do was nod. Frankie released a shaky breath and opened the door. Cillian stood there, like a deer in headlights. He had a little smile on his face and he looked like he was caught between wanting to laugh and puke all over the floor. "Hi, baby."

Lucy stood motionless for what felt like a lifetime and Frankie was growing more nervous by the second. Cillian was panicked then and all he could think to do was slowly lower himself down to his knees so that he was at Lucy's level. His heart broke when he saw tears falling from Lucy's eyes. Frankie held her breath.

"Are you real?" Lucy's little voice shook as she took a tentative step towards him. Cillian's eyes were wet now as he held out his arms. "I'm really real and I am so so sorry."

Lucy wiped her nose on her teddy bear and closed the gap between them and Cillian couldn't wait to wrap his arms around her after all this time. Both he and Frankie couldn't believe how well she was taking this. She was so calm and grown up and...

"You stupid stupid stupid shithead uncle Cillian! You're not in Heaven! You're here! Where the hell have you been?" Cillian tried to shield himself as he felt the full force of Lucy's unexpectedly heavy teddy bear, crashing into every part of his body. Frankie yelped and tried to pull Lucy away but just as soon as she reached her, she felt Cillian's massive arms wrap around them both and soon the three of them were lying on the floor. "Hey, hey. What have I told you about that language young lady. Although, I might let it slide this time because in this case, you're 100 percent right. I was a complete fucking shithead." Lucy stopped him and pulled herself onto her knees. "Yeah you were. But at least I get a Euro in the swear jar now." Lucy's face pulled into a massive smile and she jumped into Cillian's arms, wrapping them so tightly around his neck that he almost couldn't breathe. Frankie was sitting beside them and was now crying too. She knew it would take a while for Lucy to fully understand what had happened, maybe when she was older she would get it but all that mattered now was that they were safe and together. Frankie watched the two of them and smiled for a minute before she felt herself being pulled into a group hug. "Frankie, does this mean we can finally go fishing now? And uncle Cillian, can you get me a new bike and maybe now I can get those dance lessons I wanted and Oh, oh, can we get a puppy?"

Lucy jumped up and down on the bed as Maggie began to fuss. Frankie picked her up and gave her a cuddle. "This one needs a bottle. When I get back, maybe Lucy will have finished her list." Cillian ran his hands through his wavy hair and looked up at Frankie, smiling. "Yep, she's gonna punish me for a long time, isn't she. I better start looking for a job so I can get her everything she wants." Frankie bent down and pressed her lips to his before whispering into his ear; "Hey, this is just the start of it, shithead. Don't forget, tomorrow we have to tell Michael."

Frankie winked and left the bedroom, just in time to hear Cillian's pained groan. She laughed as she went into the kitchen to make Maggie's bottle, unable to contain the huge smile on her face. It was real and Lucy was going to be okay. Michael would be fucking pissed at first but once he saw how happy Frankie was she knew he'd calm down eventually. They were all going to be okay and the unfamiliar feeling returned making Frankie's stomach twitch as she boiled water for Maggie's bottle and her smile widened; she was finally going to be okay.

The end.