Bottom line—she loved him.
It made no sense to wait. He’d done the obligatory dinner with the parents. Twice, since she couldn’t have her parents in the same room. And she’d spent tons more time with the O’Malleys. They were a loud, lovable bunch.
With that thought, her second favorite O’Malley came bounding in the kitchen. Moira had her hair pulled high on her head.
“You know, having access to a group of able-bodied men certainly comes in handy when you have to move,” Moira said as she grabbed a glass and dried it.
“Lucky me, I have access to two families’ worth. I can’t believe Liam, Carmen, Maggie, and Shane all came to help me move.”
“Why not? If you have a big family, use them.”
“They’re not really my family.”
“Sure they are. Plus, now you have the O’Malleys.”
Kathy opened the fridge. “Speaking of, do you think this is enough beer? They should be here with the truck any minute.”
She grabbed a bottle and handed it to Moira.
“That’ll be plenty.” She put the bottle back in the fridge.
“You’re not drinking beer? I have wine if you want.”
Moira’s gaze shifted. “No. I’m good with a glass of water.”
Kathy narrowed her eyes at her best friend. Moira’s lips were pressed together and Kathy could see she was bursting to talk. Then it hit Kathy. “Oh, my God. You’re pregnant.”
Moira’s eyes got wide, almost big enough to match her smile. She nodded, but said, “Shh. We’re not supposed to be telling anyone yet. It’s still early.”
“I thought you guys were going to wait.”
Moira shrugged. “I thought so too. Nature has its own plan.”
Kathy hugged her tight. “I’m so happy for you. You’re happy, right? And Jimmy?”
Moira laughed. “Jimmy’s thrilled, but if you thought he was controlling before . . . whew. It’s a fight every day.”
Kathy pulled away, still smiling. “I think you can handle him.”
“You know it.” Noise from the other end of the condo caught their attention.
Tommy came into the kitchen carrying two boxes. “Hey, Kathy, where do you want these?”
Based on the black marker on the side in Kevin’s scrawl, she said, “Put them over there on the table. Kevin wasn’t too meticulous in how he packed, but that says ‘kitchen’ on it.”
She and Kevin had made trips in their cars throughout the week to bring most of her stuff over. Kevin had still been packing last night.
Yelling in the living room had Kathy abandoning the dishes to see what the problem was. Sean and Kevin stood over Kevin’s overturned coffee table and three boxes.
“You should’ve told me to slow down,” Sean was yelling.
“Why the fuck were you moving so fast?” Kevin yelled back.
Sean’s arms flew up. “So sorry, old man, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
Kathy’s heart picked up pace, but her stomach didn’t churn. Definitely a good sign. O’Malley conflict wasn’t bothering her the way it used to. Weird.
Jimmy burst into the room. “What the hell is going on? I heard your big mouths all the way downstairs.”
Moira stood beside Kathy with her hands on her hips. “The boys are arguing over who the bigger idiot is.” She bent over and righted a box that sounded like it contained a baby’s rattle.
Kathy winced and then checked the side of the box. Kevin’s writing stared back at her. She shouldn’t have felt relief, but she did. It was another box marked KITCHEN, so it was probably his dishes.
Moira hefted the box, but Jimmy immediately snatched it from her. Moira rolled her eyes. “I’ll check the damage.”
Kathy looked at Sean and then Kevin. “It’s not a big deal.”
Kevin crossed his arms.
“I’m sure Sean wasn’t trying to break anything any more than you were. Accidents happen.” She went to Kevin and kissed his cheek. “Your brothers are doing us a huge favor by helping.”
“It’s not a help if they break all my shit.”
He sounded like a mopey kid.
Kathy stroked his back as her arms circled him. “And if you’d taken more time to pack things properly, they would’ve been better protected.”
“Ooo, she owned you,” Sean called. “Tell him, Kathy.”
Then Sean left the room and they were alone for a moment.
“Yeah, tell me, Kathy.”
“Tell you what? How I own you?” she teased.
“You know you do. I’m glad you finally came to your senses and realized what a good idea this is.”
She held him tighter. “So am I.”
They had approximately two minutes of quiet before Liam, Carmen, Maggie, and Shane came into the room carrying boxes.
Liam said, “If we all make one more trip, I think we can get it all done.”
Kathy stepped back. “That’s my cue to order the pizza then.” She swatted Kevin. “Go get our stuff so we can settle in.”
“Our stuff. I like the way that sounds.”
She smiled at him and called for pizza.
* * *
Kevin sat on the floor of their living room surrounded by his family and friends. And yeah, he could look at Moira and actually think of her as a friend now. They’d all pitched in to get him and Kathy moved into their condo. The truck had been returned and now they all sat around eating pizza and drinking beer. Jimmy was already hooking up the TV and stereo, as if Kevin couldn’t figure out how to do it correctly on his own.
But if his big brother wanted to step in, Kevin wasn’t about to stop him. He looked across to Kathy, who was laughing with Maggie and Emma. She sipped on a glass of wine—obviously a glass she’d owned because he’d never thought to buy wineglasses. Even in jeans and a ratty T-shirt smeared with dust and dirt from the move, she was beautiful. He couldn’t imagine being any happier.
Kathy called Carmen to sit closer and Liam’s girlfriend flashed a diamond on her left hand. The women all oohed and ahhed over the jewelry. Carmen’s face brightened with a smile as she looked at
