“No, you’re completely wrong,” snapped Alice. “And if you don’t mind me saying so, that’s a very ignorant thing to say.”
“I don’t mind at all, Alice,” said Peter. “Speak as you find and I’ll do the same. That way we’ll stay friends.”
“It’s attitudes like that that cause so much trouble in the world,” she said.
“We could always eat in the hospital canteen, I suppose,” said Ruth, interrupting her.
“What?”
“If we get hungry, I mean. We could eat in the canteen.”
“Sure the food there is even worse than the rubbish they serve the patients,” said Peter. “Would we not be better going over to Joseph’s and having our dinner with him there and coming back when we get the call? We should eat his roast potatoes while they’re fresh. And you know he wanted us all to watch The Sound of Music in the afternoon. It’s Steven’s favorite film.”
“Who’s Steven?” I asked.
“His flatmate,” said Peter. “They’re great pals. They’ve been sharing for years.”
“Right,” I said.
“No, we would not,” said Ruth. “You won’t be able to drive for one thing.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I know what you’re like, Peter Richmond. You’ll get started on the red wine and that’ll be the end of it. I won’t get a word of sense out of you and there’ll be no taxi drivers on the street later. They’ll all be at home with their families.” She paused for a moment and put a finger to her lip. “It must be terrible to be murdered,” she said, turning back to me. “I’d hate it.”
The door opened again and now Liam appeared, wearing similar blue scrubs to those that the nurse had worn earlier. Turning and seeing us all waiting, we stood up and he grinned, holding his arms out wide.
“I’m a dad,” he said. “Again!”
We all cheered and embraced him. I was touched that when he threw his arms around me he seemed to squeeze me extra-tight and when he pulled away he looked directly into my eyes and smiled.
“And how’s Laura?” asked Ruth anxiously. “Is she all right?”
“Not a bother on her. They’ll be bringing her up to her room in about half an hour and you can see her then.”
“And the baby?” asked Alice.
“A little boy,” he replied.
“You’ll have to try for a girl next time,” said Ruth.
“Steady on,” said Liam. “Give us a chance.”
“Can I see him?” I asked finally. “I’d love to hold my grandson.”
Liam looked up and his face broke into a smile of pure happiness as he nodded. “Of course you can, Dad,” he said. “Of course you can.”
Julian II
Laura’s parents left first, looking forward to Joseph’s roast potatoes and Steven’s rapturous appreciation of The Sound of Music. Alice left shortly afterward, but I told her that I was going to stay with Liam for a little while longer and that I’d take a taxi to Dartmouth Square and be there before Cyril II was ready to carve the turkey.
“You’re not going to not show up, are you?” she asked, looking me directly in the eye with all the coolness of a trained assassin.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.
“You do have form in this area, Cyril.”
“Not fair. I always show up. I just don’t always stay until the end.”
“Cyril—”
“Alice, I’ll be there. I promise.”
“You better. Because if you don’t, Ignac, Rebecca and the children will be very disappointed. And so will I. It’s Christmas Day, after all. I don’t want you hiding out in Ballsbridge on your own. The whole family should be together. And I’ve bought a massive box of Quality Street.”
“Well, that seals the deal.”
“And every flavor of Pringles.”
“I hate Pringles.”
“And I’m planning a game of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? later. I even bought a book.”
“Even so. I’ll still come. As long as I can be the question master.”
“No, Cyril II wants to be the question master.”
“Don’t call him that.”
“Oh shut up, Cyril.”
“I just feel like spending a little more time with Liam, that’s all. And it would be nice for you and your young man to have an hour together before I arrive. You can kiss and do all sorts of man and woman dirty things with each other.”
“Oh for God’s sake.”
“You can wax his strings.”
“Cyril!”
“Tighten his bow.”
“I’ll swing for you in a minute.”
“By the way, I was planning on getting completely sloshed tonight and staying over. I assume that’s all right.”
“If you don’t mind sleeping in your childhood bedroom and hearing your ex-wife have sex with a man five years younger than you while five infants scream their heads off, then it’s fine with me.”
“Sounds delightful. I’ll be there by four. Promise.”
And so I spent another half hour with my son and his wife, and before I left I brought Liam down to the hospital café, where we bought two bottles of beer and toasted the latest addition to our unconventional family.
“It was very kind of you,” I told him, feeling a little emotional now, partly because I was a grandfather again, partly because it was Christmas Day and partly because I was looking forward to the evening ahead. “To invite me in to meet the baby first, I mean. I’m not sure that I’ve earned that right. I would have thought your mother or Laura’s parents—”
“I don’t care about all that stuff anymore,” he said quickly. “I’ve put all that behind me.”
“That’s good to hear. But still.”
“Look,” he said, putting his bottle down. “Cyril. Dad. It doesn’t matter, OK? I know I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with when we first found each other but things are different now. You’ve done nothing since we first met but make me like you. Despite my best efforts. And it’s quite annoying, actually, because I was determined to hate you.”
“And I was equally determined to love you,” I said.
“You know I had to do it, don’t you?” he said eventually.
“Do what?”
“His name. My son’s name.”
“I guessed that you might,” I said. “I hoped that you would.”
“It’s not a slight against you.”
“I never thought for a moment that it was. You and your uncle had a close bond and you loved each other. I respect that. And my relationship with him was just as deep as yours, only different. I loved him very much. Our relationship was a complicated one and I didn’t come out of it covered with glory, but then again neither did he. Still, we were together from the start, we went through a lot together, and we were by each other’s side at the end.”
To my surprise, Liam buried his face in his hands and started crying.
“What is it?” I asked, reaching out and taking his hand. “What’s wrong?”
“I still miss him so much,” he said. “I wish he was here.”
I nodded. And the lesser part of my character allowed myself to feel envious, knowing that my son would never love me as much as he had loved Julian.