I was one of those people back when we lived in Seattle. And I ruined it.
“Where’s J.P.?” I ask.
“Late morning nap.” Darragh puts a finger on his lips and then looks at Sophie, who’s eating and reading a book.
Scarlett stays close, hand loosely linked with mine, claiming me. Standing by me.
“Darragh’s daughter is from his first marriage,” I whisper. “His ex is a doctor, living overseas now.”
Scarlett nods, and I think about how her head will explode when I explain my other brothers’ marriages and how they came to be. I can give her a brief run-down on Christmas Eve.
“Finished!” Sophie skips to Darragh and hands him her plate. “Uncle Cormac!”
The way she still gets excited to see me and rushes into my arms breaks me into pieces every time. “Hey, munchkin. I want you to meet someone.”
Scarlett stiffens and steps in from the doorway where we were lingering, waiting for Ana. “Hi, Sophie.”
“Who are you?” my niece asks, her nose scrunched.
“This is Scarlett.” I pull at my collar, tempted to say her last name, but I’m not sure Sophie will exactly understand. There are so many O’Rourkes at this point. “She’s my wife.”
Sophie’s face freezes, and she shrieks, “Daddy!”
I didn’t know what I expected from an eight-year-old, but her reaction sets me back on my heels.
Darragh puts down his phone and rushes over. “What?”
“Uncle Cormac got married, and I wasn’t invited to the wedding!” Her high-pitched wail could break glass.
I nearly snort at the reason for her outburst. “Soph, there wasn’t a wedding. Scarlett and I just…”
Yeah, I don’t know how to finish that.
“Hi, Sophie,” Scarlett takes over. “I’ll explain everything. Can I sit with you?”
Darragh and I toss glances at each other.
Sophie nods and marches to the kitchen table and sits. I imagine she’s gotten this from Ana, who listens to people explain their fuck-ups while she decides if they are leaving the house with their head still attached to their body.
“Your uncle and I met a couple of months ago and had a really great date.” Scarlett glances at me with a wink.
I love how she’s sanitizing our sex hookup story for a kid.
“I’m a medical school student. I’m going to be a doctor like your daddy and uncle.”
Sophie’s jaw drops. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Scarlett sits up straighter. “Your uncle and I just started dating. You know boyfriend-girlfriend. We really liked each other a lot, but then I got into trouble, Sophie.”
“What kind of trouble?” she asks, hanging on every word.
Scarlett reaches for an explanation and settles on, “Grownup trouble. But the nice thing is, your uncle said I could live with him. Only, we didn’t want to live together if we weren’t married.”
“Oh,” Sophie processes that. “Okay.”
“We just went to someone who quickly married us. We’ll have a big party soon. Will you be a flower girl for me?”
Hmm, we didn’t discuss this because I intended this marriage to be a short-lived situation.