Thy Kingdom Come

“Best listen to Amber then. She helped dress me too.”

Amber smiles, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Yer turn!” Ethan yells to Ha

“I wa

“Naw, I wa

Amber swoops forward and saves it from becoming a tangled mess as Ethan drops the spool and comes ru

The twins are small, so I’m able to hold them both at the same time. It won’t be much longer however until that changes. I wonder who they’ll grow into. I can only hope someone not like me.

“Is yer face all right?” Ethan asks, examining the fading bruises. I heal quickly, but it’s been a tough week.

“I’m all right. Don’tcha trouble yerself.”

“We heard Mum tellin’ Da yer a dirty wee hallion,” says Ha

Amber averts her gaze, hinting she heard this too.

The twins are too small to realize what that means, and I want to keep it that way. The longer they hold onto their i

“I’m not going anywhere, rascals,” I promise, kissing their cheeks. “And it’s my job to protect youse. Okay?”

They both nod, but I can see the fear in their eyes. Fiona has always been jealous of my relationship with the twins. I have no doubt I’m in her prayers; prayers that I leave and never return.

“She said yer a Catholic lover. What’s that mean?” Ha

When I see Fiona headed our way, I narrow my eyes but try to act calm. “Don’t ya be troublin’ yerself with that.”

“Ha

Ha

When I make no attempts at putting them down, Fiona arches an unimpressed brow. “Something troublin’ ya?”

“Aye, ya could say that. Cover yer ears and sing yer favorite nursery rhyme,” I instruct the twins, who immediately do as they’re told.

I would say Fiona looks scared, but thanks to all the Botox she’s had, I can’t distinguish what her facial features are anymore.

“Don’tcha ever talk about me in front of the twins again,” I calmly order, holding onto them tightly. “What I do is my business. Stay outta it ’cause y’ve no idea whatcher talkin’ about.”

She pulls back her shoulders. “I was only consolin’ yer father. He was troubled about the rosary—”

“Imagine that, a world where I give a fuck what you and Co

Fiona’s lips pull into a thin line. “Yer father will be hearin’ about this.”

Laughing, I state coolly, “There ya go again, thinkin’ I give a fuck.”

“Ack, y’ve got no respect.”

“For ye? No, I do not.”

Fiona’s nostrils flare as she’s realized this is a losing battle. We’ve never gotten along, and that’ll never change.

“Come,” she orders the wains, gesturing they’re to get down. “I want ya to say hello to Pastor Diffin.”

They look at me, their singing growing quiet as I lower them to the ground. “Go with yer ma.”

Both of them screw up their faces but do what they’re told.

Fiona roughly snatches their hands. “We’re payin’ ya to work, not talk,” she snaps at Amber, who pulls in her lips, embarrassed.

Fiona storms off, kids in hand, leaving Amber and me alone.

When she’s gone, Amber exhales loudly. “She’s insufferable.”

“I’d have said she’s a fucking bitch, but that’ll do.”

Amber turns to me, a smile breaking out across her cheeks. “The twins shouldn’t have told you that. I’m sorry.”

“What are ya apologizin’ for? You didn’t say what was overheard.”

“I know, but I don’t like seeing you upset,” she says softly.

“It’s go

She wrings her hands in front of herself, appearing to want to say something. I don’t know what’s going on. “Punky, I wanted to ask you…um, this is really awkward.”

“What is it?” I ask, suddenly worried. “Has the aul’ lad done somethin’ to ya?”

“What?” she questions, before shaking her head quickly when she realizes what I mean. “No, nothing like that. I just…I was wondering if you’d like to get a drink sometime?”

My worry soon turns to surprise. This is the first time Amber has openly asked me to do something with her. And I know she doesn’t mean as friends.

I like Amber, I would be an eejit not to. But we just don’t…click that way.

“I’m flattered, I really am, but I can’t,” I say, not wanting to lead her on. “I’ve got a lot on, and it’s not fair—”

But she doesn’t buy it.

“Is it because of that girl? Poppy?”

I want to deny it, but I don’t want to lie to Amber. She’s wild craic, and I don’t want to insult her that way. But she catches me off guard.

“You don’t think her accent is…off?”

“Off?” I question, unsure what she means by that.

She nods, chewing her bottom lip. “She doesn’t sound like she’s from London. I was in London for six months before I came here, and trust me, I know what a Londoner sounds like.”

I haven’t noticed anything strange, but I suppose that could be because I’ve been trying to work out what her motives are.

“Where d’ya think she’s from then?”

Amber weighs over my question. “I don’t know, but what Londoner says y’all?”

And the mystery just continues to grow…

“I better go inside. I’m sure Fiona has met her quota for doting mother of the year already.” She leans forward and kisses my cheek. “Be careful, Punky. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

She leaves me standing in the middle of the yard, pondering over what she just said.

I don’t want to believe Amber, but she wouldn’t lie to me just to spite Babydoll. If she believes something is weird, then it’s worth investigating. But how do I do that? I know nothing about Babydoll. It’s like she just appeared from nowhere.

“What’s the craic?”

Turning, I see Rory and Cian walking toward me. They’re also in suits and looking as uncomfortable as me.

“Was that Amber?” Cian asks, looking in the direction of where she’s walking.

“Aye, it was.”

“Somethin’ troublin’ ya?” Rory questions, sensing my mood.

“Still no luck finding anythin’ out about Babydoll?”

“Naw,” he replies, shaking his head. “It’s weird. I can’t find much under that name.”

“Maybe that’s not her name then,” Cian says with no real thought as he’s still looking at Amber. But Rory and I turn to one another, thinking the same thing.

I never thought this was a possibility because the Clerys confirmed she worked for them. And what little information was online all pointed that she was who she said she is. But with what Amber just shared, I’m begi

“I tell a lie, yer not a complete eejit,” Rory teases, while Cian gives him the middle finger.

We decide to get this over with as we have some investigating to do. Some of our “colleagues” are coming, and there is nothing like a wee bit of alcohol to loosen the lips. We have to be on our A game, so no going on the piss for us, which is a shame because dealing with this sober is going to be brutal.