Over the busy June bank holiday weekend Matt and Kerrie decided that they would visit both families. On Saturday they would go to Kerrie’s parents’ house to meet some of her family, and on the Sunday she would go down to Moyle House with him.
From the corner of her eye Kerrie watched Matt’s expression as they drove to Tallaght and turned off the main road and into Riverfield Estate. Passing row after row of white and grey houses almost identical to each other, it was very different from his world, she knew, but this was her place, where she grew up, and he needed to understand that.
It was really hot, and they were both in cut-off jeans and T-shirts, Matt bringing along wine, beer and sweets for her family, while Kerrie had made a strawberry tart for dessert and bought a large tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Everyone was in the back garden, and her dad had the barbecue lit. Her mum and Mike and Niamh, Martina and Darren were all sitting under the green parasol at the big wooden garden table and chairs. Johnny was helping her dad, and a smaller table was set up for the kids, who were all racing around and playing, the toddlers down at the old sand pit with buckets and spades.
‘Welcome,’ said her mam, hugging them and getting up to get everyone drinks.
Matt was polite, getting to know everyone and shaking their hands, and playing football with little Jamie, Emma and Rory.
Her dad was busy cooking hamburgers and sausages, his face red from the heat of the charcoal as he flipped and turned them, and there were buns and salad and a big bowl of her mother’s potato salad. Kerrie and Johnny’s wife Fidelma passed around the plates of hot food to everyone.
‘This is great,’ said Matt, slathering tomato ketchup and raw onions on to his burger as little Jamie sat on his lap munching a massive ketchup-covered sausage, and destroyed his clean T-shirt.
‘He’s gorgeous,’ whispered Martina, when Matt went off upstairs to try to wash some of it off. ‘No wonder you kept him so well hidden,’ she teased. ‘When is the wedding? France in September, isn’t it? With Darren only just back working you know we won’t be able to go. You’ll just have to count us out.’
‘And I’ll be the size of a house by then!’ added the pregnant Nicola.
Embarrassed, Kerrie suddenly felt less certain about going away to get married. Why shouldn’t her brothers and sisters and little nieces and nephews be there? They were her flesh and blood. But the chances of rearranging things and finding a venue for a wedding in Ireland would probably be pretty impossible at this late stage.
‘Hey,’ said Matt, reappearing in a tight-fitting clean grey Harvard T-shirt.
‘Shannon gave me this to change into.’ He laughed as Kerrie’s younger sister appeared behind him.
‘Sit here,’ insisted Kerrie, making sure Shannon had a big burger and all the trimmings. ‘It’s brain food.’
‘I’ll take a little break for an hour and then I’ll go back to study,’ Shannon promised.
‘What a girl!’ said her dad. ‘Shannon is up in that attic room of hers studying so hard. She’s just like Kerrie was, stuck to the books!’
‘My exams are in a few days, Da,’ protested Shannon. ‘I’d want to be stuck to the books!’
Afterwards Kerrie’s brother Mike got down her dad’s guitar and began a sing-song with everyone joining in. Mike sang some Radiohead and Thin Lizzy songs. Then Martina sang some Mary Black before her dad took over and did some Dylan and Elvis.
‘I told you my dad was great,’ said Kerrie proudly. Matt sang along, too, Jamie back up on his lap again. She looked round at the garden, filled with her mother’s plants and flowers and the big old mountain ash tree. Everyone had a drink and was relaxing in the deckchairs as the light began to fade and the sun went down. It was getting time to pack up and head home. The kids were getting tired, little Emma sucking her thumb as she curled up in her mammy’s lap.
‘Sit down, Ma, and I’ll make you and Dad some coffee,’ Kerrie offered, disappearing into the kitchen.
‘This is always the time of evening I like best during the summer,’ said her dad. ‘The older ones are out playing in the road, and the smaller ones are ready for bed, and your mother and I can just sit out here in the garden and take our ease. Watch the sun go down!’
Matt reached for Kerrie’s hand as she brought in the coffee and they sat in the garden chatting for a long while before saying their goodbyes.
‘I like them,’ said Matt as they drove home. ‘The more I get to know your mum and dad, the more I appreciate them. Your family are great, and Shannon seems a lot like you. Jamie is a bit of a handful, but just the kind of kid I hope we have some day.’
‘Hey, we have to get married first!’ she said, suddenly turning serious. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Matt, getting married. I’m not sure about having the wedding in France any more … it’s just so far away.’
‘I thought that’s what you wanted: to have this small exclusive wedding with only our parents and a few family members and close friends present.’
‘I did … but now I’ve changed my mind.’
He laughed aloud. ‘I hoped that maybe you might.’
‘I want all my family there,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve been so absolutely stupid, Matt. So caught up in this fabrication of mine … My brothers and sisters can’t afford to pay for expensive flights to the South of France and hotels in high season! Who’d mind their kids?’
‘Finances are a bit tight on my side of the family too, at present,’ Matt teased.
‘I’ve been such a fecking wagon!’
‘Mmm,’ he said, agreeing with her.
‘If it’s not too late, Matt, do you think we could have the wedding in Ireland? There must be somewhere that could take the crowd!’