610: The Stranger

by Keiran O'Sullivan
81025.0500
Hours After Her Worst Nightmare: Two

-=The O'Sullivan Residence; Earth=-

Liis was up before the sun.

She crept down the stairs and into her brand new kitchen.

She was perfectly at home in command on the bridge of a starship or at the helm of anything you could fly; but in this room filled with appliances meant for creating non-replicated food, she was completely out of her element.

She was determined, however, not to drink replicated coffee on her first morning in their home. So she searched the cupboards and found that indeed, Keiran's sisters had taken care of stocking them with essentials; coffee included.

She knew it was the sisters because there was a note affixed to the canister of whole coffee beans which read;

Good morning, Liis...Himself said you'd be wantin' this straight away. Hope you like the blend. ~Eilish

"Bless you, Eilish..."Liis whispered with deep gratitude, as she pulled the little slip of paper and the piece of tape holding it from the canister and stuck it to the side of the refrigeration unit so Keiran would see it later. "Now, if I can only remember what to do with these."

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on a dim, faded memory. Another kitchen, another time. Same equipment, and the same desired result.

Seconds later her hands flew forward, instinctively searching out the coffee grinder. She filled it and hit the switch. It whirred to life, and she began to boil water on the stove. She finally added the beans and the water to the press pot that was sitting close by, polished clean and ready for use.

Within minutes the house began to smell of coffee, and Liis was in heaven.

She set the pot and two cups along with a small pitcher of cream onto a serving tray and headed for the front porch to watch the sun come up.

She was taken again by how much thought he had put into every aspect of this place. He'd even thought to put a swing out front for her, with a small table on either side knowing she'd want to drink her coffee here.

Liis realized that the short sleeves of the shirt she was wearing wouldn't be enough in the early chill, so after setting the tray down she ducked back into the living room, pulled a handmade blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over her shoulders.

A short time later Keiran appeared, just in time to see the first glimmer of light appear on the horizon.

She gave him a cup of coffee and the two sat side by side, deep in silent thought until the last of the darkness had been chased away.

He turned to her at last, leaning in for a kiss.

"Good morning."

She smiled at him, her heart too full to speak.

"Only one more day to get through, then tomorrow..." he said, wishing for the hours to fly past.

"Tomorrow." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "What do you have on your agenda today?" She knew there was so much still to be done, and she was sure he'd laid out a precise plan already for accomplishing it all.

"Well, suit to be fitted, set up on the tent to be seen to, and other things to tend to that are absolutely none of your business. Then I get to sit beside you at dinner at Eilish's, oh, say, seventeen hundred."

"I see. Well then. I have my own none of your business agenda, thank you very much." She teased. She watched as his smile slowly faded and he sipped his coffee, staring distantly out across the land.

"Are you going to go see him today?"

"Aye," Keiran looked down at the porch as the swing rocked them gently to and fro. "Was plannin' upon it."

"I should go with you," Liis insisted. "I don't want you to go alone."

"Cleary's going to go along. It'll be fine, Liis. Fine."

She knew that it would be anything but fine.

"Keiran, please let me go with you?"

He took her hand and kissed it, holding it fast. "I love you for offerin', but this is something I have to do on my own." She looked a little disappointed, and his brow furrowed. "Are ya angry?"

"Angry?" She couldn't have thought of a less accurate description of how she was feeling. "Not at all, I'm just worried about you. Promise me that if you change your mind, you'll let me know? I'll have my communicator on me, I can be there like that," she snapped her fingers.

"I promise." He watched as the dawning light of day illuminated her face, and then closed his eyes a moment, committing the image to memory. "Wish I could sit here with you all day and never move."

"Me too." She finished her last sip of coffee and set the cup on the tray. "Want me to leave the rest, so you can finish it?"

"Please," he said, stifling a yawn. He was, after all, a man who had not had much sleep the past few days. He brought the swing to a stop, and she rose.

"Keiran, I'm so sorry," she said softly, touching his face. "That you have to see him this way."

Keiran nodded, saying nothing as she kissed him softly and then retreated into the house.

-=Hours later=-

The O'Sullivan brothers walked on slowly, talking steadily to keep their spirits up before they reached their unhappy destination.

"I still haven't even met this grand woman of yours, Keiran. I should very much like to see the divine creature that you built this palace for before the weddin', you know."

"I know, Cleary. All in good time."

"You tossed me out so fast last night I almost stepped outta my shoes!" Cleary complained. He'd been talking with Keiran on the porch of the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of this Zanh Liis when finally Keiran had insisted he go and sent him home. For some reason, the man wanted to be alone with her when he showed her the house.

Cleary couldn't understand what sparing five minutes for a proper introduction to her future brother-in-law could've hurt.

Of course, knowing Cleary, Keiran knew that five minutes would have turned into two hours and he still wouldn't have wanted to stop talking.

"Sorry about that, but she and I were separated a long time, and three would've been one too many, brother. Besides, you'll get to meet her tonight at dinner. Eilish is cookin' enough to feed an army, bless her soul."

"We ought to head down to the local before then, no? One or two pints of the black stuff to celebrate before your big day?"

"Thank you, no. I'm off the drink."

"Stop the lights!" Cleary froze in his tracks and stared at his brother in shock. "I don't believe it. I suppose she's banned you from your smokes as well?"

"She had nothin' to do with decision to swear off, and I outgrew the smokes long ago." Keiran looked up ahead at the number on the building in front of him and realized they had arrived.

"Well your boy hasn't. Wife caught him out back'a the house last night lightin' up. She gave him down the banks."

"Long as he's stayin' under your roof, Cleary, you keep on him, the both of yis. He needs all the guidance he can get right now, and he's not so sure I'm the man to give it." He looked away, "Can't say as I blame him."

"Well things can't be so bad? He's standin' up for you in the wedding?"

"Yeah, though he's still too young to witness the papers. We've asked the First Officer of our ship to do that, while Carrick stands up formally in the ceremony."

"The Vulcan?"

"He's a good man." Keiran answered quickly. "A very good man."

He paced back and forth before the door of the assisted care facility.

Suddenly, he wished very much that he had a pack of smokes, after all.

"I have to warn you, K," Cleary's expression changed as he stared through the glass door and into the home. He suddenly looked, to Keiran, so much older than he had just a minute before.

In reality they were only eighteen months apart in age. Yet with the knowledge of what awaited his younger brother weighing heavily on his mind, Cleary felt as old as the man they were there to visit.

"Are you sure you want to do this before the weddin'? 'Tis...not an easy sight to see, Keiran."

Keiran answered the question by grasping the handle of the door, exhaling sharply and pulling forcefully.

"Keiran..." Cleary called, hurrying to catch up to him as he bounded through the foyer and looked around for some sort of directory.

"Sign in sheet is over there, will take care of it." Cleary put a thumbprint on the PADD and turned back to find Keiran leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

He knew his brother well enough to know that he was praying.

Keiran was, in fact, praying for strength. The instant he breathed in the antiseptic smell of the place, mixed as it was with an indefinable measure of suffering, the reality of why he was here threatened to knock him off his feet.

He quickly reached into his pocket and fingered his badge, having second thoughts about Liis' offer. He was just about to hail her, but at the last moment, he resisted.

She was to be his bride tomorrow, he didn't want her to carry the memory of this place through that day along with her.

He opened his eyes again and nodded to his brother.

"Right. Just this way, " Cleary indicated, patting him on the shoulder. "Round the corner. You goin' to make it?"

"Aye," Keiran steeled himself and stepped forward. "I will."

-=/\=-

He poked his head into the room and found that his father was sitting with legs dangling over the side of his bed.

He was wearing thin pajamas but nothing on his feet, and he was trying to get up on his own.

"Wait a second, you, are ye supposed to be up alone?" Keiran rushed forward without thinking, afraid his father would fall. "Wait, Da, tell me where you want to go, I'll help you there."

"Don't be ridiculous." The old man grumbled. His pale, spindly limbs trembled as he tried to move arms and legs together to put on his slippers. "I can manage just fine. Always have done. So." The man teetered to the side and Keiran instinctively put his hand on his shoulder to steady him. Cleary took up on the opposite side and did the same.

"'Tis me. I'm home, Da. How've you been?" Keiran waited for any sign that his father recognized who he was.

Moments passed, and the man said nothing.

At some point he ceased trying to put on his slippers and dropped the one he was holding to the floor as he looked up at Keiran fully. He gazed upon him as though seeing him for the very first time.

"It's time for dinner," Teirney O'Sullivan declared, though in fact it was just about time for the first meal of the day. "I don't know where Maire's gotten to. She said she was going to market but she's been gone all day. Seven kids hungry and waitin' to be fed and she's out wanderin' around. Foolishness."

Keiran's eyes stung with tears, and he blinked hard. He glanced at his brother, who was staring intently at the floor.

His mother Maire had left this life and gone home years ago.

"Come on, Da." Cleary said softly. "Let's get you dressed for daytime, no? We'll get you something to eat."

As Keiran held their father gently in place, Cleary fetched clothing from the dresser, all the while averting his eyes from his brother.

The most important lessons the O'Sullivan boys had learned from their father were these: that a real man worked hard, a real man didn't complain, and a real man did not cry.

"Oh, hello boy," Teirney suddenly turned back to Keiran, reaching up to touch his face. "'Tis so good to see ya. Your mother will be pleased you're here. She's just in the kitchen," he pointed, staring intently into the distance and seeing something entirely different from anyone else in the room. "She's makin' tea. I'm sure she probably has some of those cakes that you love so well."

""Tis...good to see you, Da," Keiran's voice broke as he tried to keep his composure. "Been a long while."

"Long while?" Teirney laughed softly. "Cleary, I just saw yis this mornin' before you left for work. You stopped in to bring your Ma's medicine, remember? Such a good boy. So helpful."

Cleary and Keiran shot each other a glance across the room. Surely, they were close in age and of all his brothers, Keiran did resemble Cleary most. Still, it was plain to everyone who knew them that one was not the other.

"Not Cleary, Da, Keiran. Cleary's over there, right?" he cleared his throat, repeating his name again. ""Tis Keiran."

"Keiran?" The old man's eyes clouded, and he looked down, wringing his hands. "I have a son named Keiran, they," he began to breathe in shallow, empty breaths and emotion Keiran had never heard in his life came through in his voice.

"They don't know where to find him. Told us, is missing in action with one of those starships. Don't think," the man's tears turned his faded blue eyes red. "Don't think I'll ever be see'n him again."

"Father, listen to me," Keiran placed his hands gently on his father's shoulders, "I am Keiran. I'm home, I've come back to you."

"Oh, Keiran." Teirney O'Sullivan touched his son's face and for an instant, a trace of recognition flashed in his eyes. He reached out and took Keiran's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Your mother will be so happy to see you. I can't wait to tell her you've come home from the war at last. We prayed for ya, day and night."

*The war...* Keiran's heart sank. He felt frail fingers release his hand as he stood, unmoving, before the stranger that was his father.

"Aye," Cleary interjected, finally unable to prevent tears from showing themselves in his eyes as he moved closer to his father and began to help him dress. "Ma will be very happy to hear that Keiran's come home from the war."

"Keiran's home?" This information seemed news to the man all over again, and he smiled at Cleary. "Praise God! When can we see him? Does Maggie know?"

Keiran had now gone stark white, and Cleary was worried. "Go on with ye, then." he whispered to his younger brother softly. "Get some air. I'll be out soon."

Keiran resisted the idea, but he was fighting a losing battle with himself. He just didn't know how much more of this he could stand.

Before he would go, though, he moved forward and looked at his father once more. "Da,"

"Hmm?"

"I love you, Da."

"That's a good boy, Tadgh." Teirney replied, talking to Keiran as if he was merely a boy. "You and Padraig go and play an hour outside before supper. I'll call you in when the time comes."

The devastation on Keiran's face broke his brother's heart. "Go on, Keiran." he urged again. "It's all right, he won't even know."

Keiran retreated. suffocating as he pushed through the door and burst into the mid-morning air.

Outside the birds were singing, the sun was shining.

The day was fine, and the fragrances in the air a world apart from those just on the other side of that thin, glass door.

*How can these two worlds exist side by side in the very same place?*

He slumped down onto a bench outside the entryway, held his head in his hands and wept.

"I'm sorry, Keiran," Cleary approached and sat down beside him. He ran his hand over his beard and sighed. "I had so hoped that seein' you would set a memory alight in him," He put his arm over Keiran's shoulder. "He talks, all the time, about you. About little Carrick," Cleary shook his head. "The only one of us he ever seems to remember a'tall consistently is Mary Clare."

Keiran wiped at his eyes with his sleeve and somehow managed to laugh at the thought. "I'm so shocked, yeah? I mean, Mary always was her father's darlin'."

There was no more than two years in age between any of the O'Sullivan children...until they youngest. Mary Clare had been born seven years after Eilish, and had clearly been her father's favorite from the day she entered into the world.

Cleary laughed softly himself. "Well, might be so, but you were Ma's."

Keiran blinked and drew back, incredulous. "You've lost your mind!"

"Oh, no. I remember it very well," Cleary insisted. "Why is it that you got to leave and go to Starfleet? While the rest of us stayed behind and learned the trades? Da would have none of that 'nonsense, dreamin' of the stars'."

Keiran winced as he remembered the phrase that his father used to say so often- in fact the one he often shouted at Keiran as they argued about him joining up.

"Ma insisted that he had to let you go. And as dead set as he was against it, he couldn't hurt her by holdin' you back. She never would'a forgiven him."

Keiran was shocked by this. He had never in his life imagined that he, of all seven, had been his mother's favorite. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her rosary. He stared at it, seeing it as never before as the realization hit him that though he may have been oblivious to her favoritism, his siblings had not.

"Was there..." he asked softly, putting the rosary away, "I mean, I thought," he wondered how many of the others had given up their dreams to follow the life their father wanted for them instead. "Did you want to get out? Were there things you wanted to do, away from here?"

"I had thoughts, for a time, when I was very young." Cleary admitted, shifting uncomfortably. "But 'tis really no point in thinkin' back on it, right? I've a lovely family, a good life. Am blessed."

The answer did not satisfy Keiran's question, and Cleary knew it.

"Look, Keiran, don't beat yourself up, right? If any of us stayed because we were too weak to stand up to him, 'tis our own fault not yours. Just so hard to believe, lookin' at him now," Cleary did not have to finish his sentence, Keiran knew exactly what he was thinking.

It was hard to fathom that the fragile, confused old man in the home had ever been the towering, intimidating figure that had raised them with a quick, sharp tongue and an even quicker backhand.

"Myself, I believe that even if not for Ma's talkin' to him, you'd have gone to Starfleet and become the man you are now. A good man." Cleary concluded. "I'm proud of you, little brother."

Keiran held his hand out, and his brother grasped it. "You're a good man too, Cleary. Truly I cannot thank ye enough for all you've done for Liis and I. The house, ev'ra'thin',"

"Ah," Cleary waved him off. "'Tis what family is for, no?"

Keiran nodded.

"So," Cleary clapped his hands once, forcing a smile back onto his face. "You're gettin' married tomorrow. What'cha wanna do today?"

"Want to get the day over with," Keiran answered honestly, "So tomorrow'll get here quicker."

He rose from the bench and drew a deep breath. "Before I do an'a'thin' else," Keiran whispered, "I'm goin' to church to pray."

"After that?"

"I've far too much to do. But I'll tell you this much. Before the day is out, I'm goin' to go an' have a talk with Ma."

-------------------------
Keiran O'Sullivan
Currently on Earth