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Cillian

I wish I could say I wasn’t anxious to see if Bia wrote me back but that would be a lie. Every day, exactly at one o’clock when the mail comes in, I would find Molly to see if I got a letter from Bia.

Of course, my brothers thought it was hysterical and had a list of jokes, but I couldn’t care less. This was my only contact with my little lamb, and I couldn’t wait.

Finally, after ten days, Molly walked in with the mail, waving a letter in her hand.

“Cillian, you have mail.”

“Is it from Bia?”

“It says it’s from the De Lucas,”

she says as she hands me the letter.

“Thank you, Molly,”

I say as I jog up the stairs to my office.

“Ooh, Cillian has a letter,”

Keenan teases.

“Fuck off prick,”

I tell him before I close and lock the door in his face.

“Come on, open the door. I want to watch your face as she tells you she is going to divorce you for me.”

“Go away asshole,”

I yell at him; I honestly feel bad for whoever marries his ass. They will need the patience of a saint; he is a playboy. I hope the woman will bring him to his knees as it will be nice to see him on his knees trying to earn her love.

I sit back in my chair after I hear the dickhead walk away from my door. I smile as I read about how she wants to set expectations for our relationship. I’m proud of her for standing up for herself, I know that must not have been easy for her, as she has always let people walk all over her.

I quickly finish my work so I can write my letter to Bia in the privacy of my own room without nosey younger siblings. Kayleigh even came to my office asking about Bia’s letter.

I’m really considering taking that vacation after Bia comes home. They are going to want to spend time with her but can’t a husband have time have time with his wife without his pain in the ass siblings interrupting?

My Sweet Bia,

I’m so proud of you for telling me you want to set expectations for our marriage.

I know that wasn’t easy for you, and I agree we need to know what we both want from our marriage.

What I want out of our marriage is simple, I want to get to know my sweet little lamb and fall in love with you.

I can’t wait to rule Ireland with the sweetest woman at my side, who will remind me when I’m being an asshole because we both know I can be one.

And maybe one day, if you want to try again, we can start our own family, and if that’s not something you want then that’s okay too.

I just want to love you for the rest of our lives and grow old with you.

Don’t ever worry about babbling.

I love your babble; I want to hear everything you have to say whether it is you telling me something or asking me something, I want to hear it all.

As to your question about sports.

I played hurling as a teenager, and Daidí took all of us to professional games when we were children.

Kayleigh has told me how you love going out for rides with her.

When you return, we will have to go together.

I will bring us a picnic and we can spend a couple of hours away from the mansion together, and I would love to take you to the racetrack.

I can already see you looking adorable in one of those big hats and in those cute dresses that I love to see you in.

My family has already told me I’m not allowed to hog you when you return, but I’m not going to listen to them.

I’m going have to take you away from them just to get time alone with you.

Yes, I’m jealous and don’t want to share you with my family.

Mam told me I have to share your time with everyone else.

I never learned how to share.

I told them to get their own spouses, then I thought about my sisters finding husbands and I changed my mind really quickly; they are never allowed to get married; they will stay virgins until the day they die.

I also decided I need to find a way to keep all men away from them.

No men out there are worthy my sisters.

Mam laughed and said I can’t keep them locked up forever and how am I going to react if we have a daughter? I started imagining having a daughter as beautiful as you, one who will probably drive me insane when she becomes a teenager.

I will really want to lock her up when she gets older.

Anyway, I’m getting off subject.

You wanted a childhood memory.

My favorite memory would probably be when I was about eight, it was Christmas time.

Mam took me, Oscar, and Kayleigh Christmas shopping, even though she was pregnant with the twins.

I remember riding into town when it had snowed the day before, and Mam had made us get up early so we could beat the crowds.

I was mesmerized by the sparkling snow, it was so beautiful, so pure.

I remember the way the Christmas lights sparkled off it.

Granted, I’ve always loved the whole magic of Christmas, which probably has a lot to do with the fact I have siblings ranging from five to twelve years younger than me.

Mam always wanted us older kids to not spoil the magic of Christmas for them.

Not that we would risk it, because if we upset Mam, we all knew if Daidí got wind of it, we would get punished.

He would find the most tedious chore possible for us to do.

I remember I was being a smart mouth preteen, giving Mam attitude about going out with my friends, and Daidí walked into the house, heard me argue with her.

He decided if I had enough time to be disrespectful to my Mam, then I had enough time to scrub the kitchen with a toothbrush.

And he brought his work to the kitchen and worked while he supervised me.

Then he had me cook dinner for the family and apologize to Mam.

I never was disrespectful to her again.

It was not the first time I had to scrub the kitchen, and my other siblings all had a turn in scrubbing the kitchen at some point or another.

I swear, Keenan has spent the most time doing these punishments.

Daidí has even made him wash down the barn for skipping class, and yet he still did it until Daidí went to school with him.

But the best part is, every time he started to act out, Daidí would be on his ass.

Let’s just say after one day of Daidí shadowing him in school, he kept his ass in class.

Now tell me a few things about you.

What is your favorite flower? Your favorite food? I need to start practicing cooking it before I cook it for you.

Do you want to travel? Do you know where you want to travel, or do you want to travel all around the world?

I can’t wait until your next letter.

Your husband,

Cillian