Promises, Lies and Family Ties

Chapter Two

*Dedicated to Kendale2003 for being a loyal follower of Pinky Promises, the prequel to PL&FT*

Saturday December 10th - Present

Liam huffs, removing his hat from his head and dragging a hand through his mussed chocolate locks before replacing the worn cap and huffing under his breath, “chaos. This is absolute chaos.” Muttering an apology, he’s forced to take a large step backwards when, a moment later, a gaggle of giggling girls stampede past him on their way through the hallway from the living room to the kitchen where he can hear Nathan strumming on the electric guitar he and Clara got him for his seventeenth birthday. It’s been a month since he got it, and his parents are already seriously regretting not getting him something quieter.

Speaking of Clara… “Now do you see why I suggested having the party at a hall somewhere?” A pair of arms wrap around Liam’s waist from behind, small hands reaching up to rest lightly against his pectorals, still toned despite his advancing age.

A smile graces Liam’s face as he links his fingers with his Clara’s, admitting, “next year we are definitely not having any parties here. Capisce?”

“Capisce, tesoro. Oh, jeez…Dane, sweetheart! Don’t hang on that lampshade!” Liam is left in the middle of the hallway while Clara darts off to remove Heidi -Elisa’s younger sister-’s six year old son from the free-standing lamp in the far corner, a screech from the conservatory attracting Liam’s attention. Sighing and berating himself for not agreeing to Clara’s suggestion that it may not be the best idea to hold the birthday party at their house, he heads through the mish-mash of streamers, paper garlands and torn up wrapping paper to the French doors leading to the conservatory. Little girls in tutus prance around, boys with cake-decorated faces and cheeky grins darting to and fro under the watchful eyes of James, his best friend -Elisa’s dad- Peter, and Clara’s cousin Tanya, who is sporting her two year old grandson in a carrier strapped to her chest while barking orders at her husband Robbie. As he gazes around at the mess the entire ground floor is in Liam groans not-so-internally.

It’s then that he spots the reason for all this mayhem – his baby girl. Standing in the centre of the ruckus, as is the norm, is his three year old daughter, Bailyn. Her pink leotard is smeared with white icing and the tulle tutu around her waist is skewed, as is the tiara on her head announcing that she’s the ‘Birthday Princess”. Now Liam is generally very sentimental when it comes to his children and family. He adores them all and makes sure to show it. On this occasion, however, he’d be lying if he said that the mess and the headache niggling at him is all made worthwhile by the smile on his little girl’s face. Alas, Bailyn isn’t smiling, and neither is Liam.

“What’s going on, angioletto mio?”

Bailyn purses her lips, cocking her sweet little head at Liam as he approaches. Dressed completely in pink with her daddy’s eyes and her mama’s features she’s got him wrapped completely around her tiny little pinky – she knows it, too. Since the day she arrived Bailyn has been Liam’s ‘little angel’, his angioletto mio. “Daddy, Tia’s not givin’ my bobble back.” Liam glances between his daughter and her third cousin – Clara’s cousin’s daughter. At first it takes a moment to calm himself, his first impulse being to call out for Clara. When he catches sight of her relaxing for the first time all day with her dad he can’t bring himself to, inhaling a deep breath before crouching to be eye-level with the equally fiery three year old’s.

Ten minutes later Liam has gotten nowhere, and Clara appears just before he removes his beloved cap to yank his hair out from the roots. Placing a calming hand on her frazzled partner, she diffuses the situation with ease, handing over the spare hair bobble she keeps on her wrist before waving the two, now very happy, girls into the living room where Elisa is heading up a rowdy game of pass the parcel. “How do you do that, cara mia?” He huffs, engulfing Clara with his large frame.