Orla and Maggie are sitting at the kitchen table of Fitzgerald's, sipping from mugs of steaming tea. No customers are out front, it is mid-afternoon, and the rain is pouring down outside, making any arrivals unlikely.

"I sure hope it doesn't rain like this next week, or Peter and Assumpta are going to have the speediest handfasting on record!" Maggie is looking at the pouring rain outside her kitchen windows.

"Well, ya can pretty much plan on rain in December, Maggie!" Orla answers the older woman, also looking out the window. "But we can hope, an' if that fails, well, I'll be puttin' a plastic slicker under my cloak, 'approved ceremonial garb' or no!" Orla chuckles, while Maggie smiles.

"You won't be alone in slicker-wearing, although I was thinking of cutting a hole for my head and arms, and wearing a big plastic garbage bag under my gown, myself!" Maggie smiles wider as Orla hoots with laughter.

"So, Orla, is Connor okay with you and he running the pub for a couple of weeks, after the ceremony?" Maggie's face becomes serious again.

"Yeah, we can keep enough feed in the shed to keep the geese fed for a couple of days at a time, an' there'll be plenty of room here at the pub, with no tourists comin' in. I still don't think you should be runnin' away, Maggie, I don't think ya have anything to fear now. Surely he'd a been here by now if he was comin'!" Orla reaches across the table and puts her hand over Maggie's. "An Assumpta an' me'll back ya up, if ya need it, ya know that!"

"I know, Orla, but I won't endanger either of you, either, and Assumpta has a baby besides herself to think of as well. Besides, I'm not running, I'm just going to stay with some of my husband's kin in Scotland. They invited me to stay with them for Hogmanay when I first moved to Ireland, but until now I just didn't take them up on it, there was always something needing done around here, or with my jewelry work, and I put them off. This year I have everything caught up, and I just can't say 'no' again. Once Peter and Assumpta take off on their honeymoon, after the reception, I'll be off to the airport. When I get back, after New Year's, I'll be ready for James O'Connor if he comes, I'll get a chance to really rest up in Scotland, and recharge my batteries there. I think Iblis and I are tuned up, so we'll be able to handle about anything without having to call for help. But if I need backup, Orla, I'll call on you, never fear. You and Connor between you are stronger than you think!" Maggie sips the last of her cooling tea.

Saturday sees a guest checking into the pub, a tall, white-haired man, slightly stooped, but with a happy face. Maggie smiles broadly to see him, gets him registered, and carries his bags upstairs to his room.

"So, Dermot, are you ready to see what you asked me to make for you on your last visit?" Maggie asks, setting the bags at the foot of the bed.

"Yes, Maggie, is it ready, then?" The older man answers. He removes his hat and coat and hangs them on the coat tree in the corner of the room.

"Just a minute, then!" Maggie nearly trots out of the room and down the hall, returning a moment later with two small boxes in her hand. "Here it is!" she opens one of the two boxes, setting the other on the top of the small dresser. Inside the open box a gold ring is seen, set with a sparkling stone which catches and refracts the light from the ceiling fixture.

"Oh, it's lovely, Maggie, you're brilliant!" Dermot Malone takes the ring out of the box, turning it to admire the design of two trinity knots flanking a circle of Celtic braidwork, with a modest diamond, prong-set with six prongs in the center. "Now we'll see if this works some magic on Kathleen!" Dermot is smiling. "But what's that other box, Maggie, is it a wedding ring to match?"

"No, I thought that I'd let you and Kathleen pick out a design for that together. This is something you can give as a Christmas present, since the ring isn't really supposed to be for Christmas, after all." Maggie takes the other box and opens it, and a necklace is revealed, also in gold, a Celtic cross with trinity knots at the end of all four arms, hanging from a gold chain.

"Oh, Maggie, this is lovely, too, but, well, I didn't budget for it, I have to tell you, and I'm not sure I can afford it as well." Dermot has concern on his face.

"No, no, Dermot, don't worry about it, it's my gift to the both of you!" Maggie hands the second box to the older man as well. "I have to get back downstairs, now, and start some soup for lunch, Dermot, will you bring Kathleen over and join me?"

"I will, Maggie, I will, just as soon as I get unpacked, and get over to get her." Dermot Malone is smiling. "Well, that is if she'll close the shop long enough to have lunch!" Both he and Maggie laugh, and Maggie leaves, closing the room's door behind her.

A silver-haired man sits in an airplane seat, leaning against the window, looking out. He is slightly built, and his face is somewhat weathered. He is dressed in a heavy sweater and blue jeans, both items of clothing looking new. He thinks back to his farewells at the airport, his sister and her husband waving goodbye, and further back, to a family gathering at Thanksgiving, something he had been unable to attend for too many years.

Sitting at the kitchen table, his nieces and nieces-in-law bustling about, his sister is holding his hands in hers. She is grey-haired as well, her face lined, but her blue eyes still sparkle with life and wit.

"Well, Jimmy, I can't say as Mom and Dad would approve, but I'm thrilled, I just want my baby brother to be happy!"

"It's a big step, I know, but, well, I just finally realized that one vital, integral piece of my life had been missing for so long, I was going to shrivel up and die without it. And look at how long I've waited. Waited so long I've missed out on almost every chance. I could have been a dad, given Mom and Dad grandchildren, like you did, and then eventually become a grandparent myself, but all that's out of the question now. Still, at least I can spend my last years feeling whole, complete, not as if part of me has been ripped away, like there's a gaping hole in my heart." James O'Connor grips his sister's hands tightly. "Will you come over to Ireland if she says 'yes', Annie, and be there for my wedding?"

"Of course I will, Jimmy, Ted and me both'll come over, if you can wait until the weather gets warmer. I don't get around so easily now, you know!" James looks down at the joined hands across the table, and notes how twisted his sister's fingers are, the arthritis now markedly causing each joint to swell and turn sideways, until the little fingers are nearly perpendicular to the palms.

"I never should have waited so long to visit, Annie, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you when you needed me!"

"Oh, foo, Jimmy, you had your duties, and I'm getting along just fine, never you mind about this old arthritis! Ted and I get by, we do what we can, and what we can't do, the kids help with, and the grandkids. I'm going to have that new joint replacement surgery in the spring, and the doc says my hands'll be nearly as good as new, once I've healed up from it! So you better plan a wedding in July, I guess, or else in April, one way or the other." Annie Morgenstern smiles at her brother, then laughs. "From the look on your face, I guess you better shoot for April, huh?"

"I've waited more than thirty years, Annie, and while some might say I ought to be able to wait a few months longer, I don't want to wait at all!"

"Well, Jimmy, just move in together, after all, it's not like you need to worry about a baby! Besides, everybody does it that way, now, anyway!" Annie's eyes crinkle, knowing what to expect, and prepared
to laugh, anyway.

"Annie, shame on you, wait until I talk to your pastor!" James O'Connor has a genuinely shocked look on his face.

"Oh, Jimmy, you silly goose, you know better than to rat me out, I still have all the family photos from when we were kids, including the one of you on the bearskin rug! Now *surely* you don't want me to blow that up to poster size and put them up all over the house!" Mischief is glowing from Annie's face.

"You WOULDN'T!" James O'Connor is aghast.

"Then don't you go carrying tales to my pastor, who is young enough to be my grandson, or yours! Besides, he'd probably just tell you the same thing as I have. Besides, IF your Maggie agrees to marry you, what makes you think she is going to wait months and months? She knows what you both have been missing, after all, she was married for some time, right?"

"ANNIE!" A very red-faced James drops his sister's hands and sits back in his chair. Around the kitchen several young woman are hiding smiles, knowing their mother or mother-in-law's forthrightness and candor well.

"Jimmy, you are gonna HAVE to get over this prudishness, even if it's been your stock in trade for thirty-some years! Don't tell me that it's just company and somebody to do your cooking and laundry for you
that you are flying halfway around the world to propose marriage to!" Annie Morgenstern stands with difficulty, and draws up all of her five foot and two inches of height, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yes, uh, er, well, no, I mean, not really, but, well, I'm just not used to, um, talking about this in reference to me, only as a counselor, and even then, um, well, not in detail or anything." A still blushing James is hanging his head a little, his elder sister still knows how to make him feel about five years old.

"Well, then, Jimmy, grow up a little, and be practical, will you? I don't think God is going to send you straight to Hell for consumating a marriage you and Maggie agree to between yourselves, instead of waiting for some piece of paper signed by a clerk at some courthouse to make it official! After all, it's not like you have fifty years ahead of the pair of you, don't waste what you have got! You're grabbing for the brass ring at last, don't put it in a box on a back shelf once you have ahold of it!" Annie turns to her eldest daughter, moving towards the stove to check the condition of the turkey in the oven, and Maureen lets her mother lean on her arm as the older woman slides her feet slowly across the floor.

Smiling to himself, sitting in the cabin of a jet as it flies across the Atlantic Ocean, James O'Connor realizes that his sister Annie and Maggie are very alike, and anticipates happily being able to introduce them to each other. He looks at his watch, and leans back in the seat as best he can, closing his eyes and imagining himself alone with Maggie in reality, not just in his dreams. His smile suddenly disappears from his face as he remembers her rejection of him at Halloween, the fact that the paperwork he sent to her received no reply. "What if she says 'no'," he thinks to himself, "Oh, Lord, what if she says 'no'? Am I a fool, have I thrown away a whole life of work and purpose for a woman who doesn't want anything to do with me?" He leans forward in the seat suddenly, resting his head in his hands.

"Are you okay, feeling a little airsick?" An airsteward leans across and puts a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"No, no, just worrying a little about what's gonna happen when I get there." he replies.

"Well, let me know if you need some Pepto Bismol or anything." The young woman straightens, and walks back up the aisle.

"Thank you." James O'Connor says softly, resting his head in his hands again. "What am I gonna do if she says 'no'?" he whispers.