“Ignoring the rest of us Joey strode through the open plan kitchen/living room area, not stopping until he reached his girlfriend, who was sitting cross-legged on the rug, neatly folding stacks of their son’s tiny clothes.”
new joeyaoife scene via Chloe Walsh Facebook
“I love you.” He reached a hand between us and stroked AJ’s soft curls. “I’ve spent a third of my life loving you, Aoife Molloy, and I don’t plan on stopping.”
“I’m the girl who wholeheartedly wants you. I’m the girl who wholeheartedly loves you. The hurler. The mechanic. The boy. The protector. The asshole. The lover. The addict.” Sniffling, I added, “All of your versions. All of your shapes and colors. I accept them all.”
“Someone broke my halo, Joe,” I wailed, waving a broken piece around aimlessly in front of his face. “I’m a fallen angel now”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied with a shrug. “No one likes a saint, Molloy.”
“Stay out of trouble out there, okay?” I nodded slowly. “I’ll try my best.” “Make sure you do,” she laughed. “Because I’ve put an awful lot of effort into saving you, six.”
For the second time in my life, I was a father. For the first time in my life, I had a child of my own. It felt different now than it had with Ollie, Sean, and Tadhg. It felt deeper.
“So, I had a really good time this weekend, boyfriend.”
“I’m not your boyfriend, Molloy.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot,” she shot back with a grin. “You’re my bitch.”
“Don’t hate me, Molloy,” Joey mumbled, falling into the passenger seat the minute I let him go to open the car door. “You’re all I have to wake up for in the morning.”
“You’re so strange.” He threw his head back and laughed. “I love it.”
“You mean you love me,” I teased, grinning up at him.
“Yeah, Molloy.” His eyes burned with sincerity when he said, “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Aoife Molloy had a heart of gold and was hellbent on handing it over to a piece of shit like me. She was my momentary escape from all of the fucking dark. She was the only bit of brightness I had in my life, and it scared me to think of how little else I had going for me.
“Now, let’s go, baby.”
I laughed, because, in all honesty, what else could I do? I had a distinct feeling that I would be doing a lot of following after this girl. Still, my feet moved after her.
“But I’m your favorite, right?” With a teasing lilt to her voice, she said, “Your favorite friend?”
“Yes, fine! Whatever. Christ,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. “You’re my favorite friend, with my favorite legs.”
“I want you to know something,” he said quietly, clenching my hip with his hand. “I want you to know that you’ve been the best part of my day every day since I was twelve years old.”
“Give me a hug.” “Molloy.” “Hug me, Joe.” Exhaling heavily, I hooked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to my chest, knowing that there wasn’t any point in fighting this girl when she set her mind to something. What she wanted, she got.