Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 31

*Disclaimer: The song(s) in this chapter is Come By The Hills by Celtic Thunder.

Chapter 31

The next afternoon turned out to be just as beautiful as the day before, what with the temperature being in the upper sixties and the sun shining brightly. The Dawson’s took advantage of the warm day to spend time outside; Gabriel and Seamus were busy cleaning tack and chatting happily about Seamus’s life in Dublin while Mae and Kate sat in lawn chairs, sipping on homemade lemonade as they watch Shannon nap on a blanket out in front of them. Rob was in the middle of repairing a broken fence railing along the driveway when the sound of tires crunching on the gravel drive caught his attention, and he recognized the slate blue Toyota Tundra as belonging to his younger brother, Riley. After the truck parked beside his truck, Rob went over to greet Riley and his wife, Moira, who stepped out of the truck wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat and cat-eye sunglasses. Her long, pale blue wavy hair was pulled to the side in a low ponytail. As for her husband, he kept his medium green hair cropped, resembling that of Rob’s.

 “Who’s that?” Kate asked curiously, lifting her aviators to get a better look at the new arrivals.

“That’s Rob’s brother, Riley and his wife, Moira,” Mae pulled Kate to her feet so that they could meet the others, “Come on, you’ll like them.”

Kate picked Shannon up and carried her as the women joined Rob, Gabriel and Seamus by Riley’s truck. As they approached, Moira caught sight of the newborn in Kate’s arms, and squealed excitedly.

“Oh! There they are! I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you and little Shannon,” Moira shook Kate’s hand enthusiastically before looking down at Shannon with a huge grin on her face, “Well, isn’t she just a  spitting image of Gabriel, but she’s much prettier.”

“Hey, I heard that, Moira,” Gabriel called over his shoulder from where he stood talking with the other men.

Moira waved him off and turned her attention back to Mae and Kate, “When Mae texted me yesterday to tell me that the baby had been born, I told Riley we had to come by today to see all of you, and so I could meet you, Kate.”

“Well, I’m very delighted to meet you, as well,” Kate shifted Shannon in her arms to a more comfortable position.

Mae looked around at the group before asking, “Now, where is that boy of yours? I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“He’ll be along. I’m surprised he’s not here yet; he left right after us.”

The sound of a horse’s whinny in the distance caught their attention, and all of them turned to see a brown and white paint galloping up the driveway with a light green male around Gabriel’s age on his back. As he neared, Kate could see muscles bulging underneath his shirt, and every time his arms flexed, she thought she was going to have a stroke. Like her husband and Seamus, he had long hair, but instead of all of it pulled back into a ponytail, he just had the front sections pulled back. Kate’s eyes drifted over his body, inspecting it closely. The way his jeans hugged his hips struck her fancy and caused her to blush.

What is it with all of the Dawson men looking like hunk-cicles? She leaned over to Mae and whispered, “Why do all of you women have to pop out men that look like strippers?”

“You’re married, dear,” the older woman giggled.

“I know, but it still doesn’t mean I can’t look.”

The strikingly handsome male pulled his horse to stop near the oak tree. That was when Kate noticed the baby girl sitting in front of him in the saddle. She looked to be around a year old. After he dismounted and lifted the baby into his strong arms, he turned around to join the others, a broad smile on his face.

“Well, what took you so long, Casey? You were right behind us,” Riley questioned his son.

Casey rolled his eyes, “Dionysus decided to take his sweet-a*s time and didn’t feel like running, today.”

“He looked like he was just now.”

“Only because I spurred him that last mile.”

Kate walked over to where he stood, just waiting to introduce herself. When he looked her direction, she noticed that his eyes were just like Gabriel’s, only a shade darker. Overall, he looked like every woman’s dream guy, “Hi! I’m Kate!”

A smile crept from the corners of his mouth as he gave her a quick look up and down, but his eyes seemed to linger on her chest for moment, “It’s great to finally meet me cousin’s wife. You’re even prettier than he was saying,” again, the Irish accent sent shivers throughout her; she’d never get tired of hearing it.

 “Who’s this little cutie?” Kate gently pinched the baby’s cheek and giggled when the infant smiled at her.

He looked down at the little girl in his arms and replied, “This lil’ tyke is me offspring, Tate.”

“I thought so. Will your wife be joining us later?”

“Me wife? Nah. This piece of sexy awesomeness is divorced,” he gave Kate a wink, “It’s just me raising Tate… Well, Mom and Dad babysit her during the day while I’m busy working me ranch.”

“Hey, Casey… when are we going to get some fresh eggs from you?” Mae questioned with her hands on her hips, “The store-bought ones don’t taste as good.”

“When me girlies go off strike; they’re refusing to lay right now.”

“Well, you know I’ll be waiting.”

During the afternoon, the family sat around outside talking and laughing with each other while the babies rested on the blanket. Talk of reenacting was brought up, which excited Gabriel since he thoroughly enjoyed doing it. What surprised him was when Casey said he wanted to join in, along with Seamus and Riley, who nodded in agreement. It was a splendid idea, considering his unit was always looking for new recruits, and what better way to get some than from your own family. What really shocked the men was when Kate voiced her thoughts.

“You know, I’m ready for a wardrobe change. Sign me up, too!” She said excitedly; she didn’t want to give up wearing her dresses, but she wanted to try something new.

All of them watched her with expressions of amusement plastered on their faces, especially Gabriel. He was warming up to the idea, because he had been hoping Kate would want to try riding in his unit alongside him.

“Oh, what the hell… We need a woman in our cavalry to keep all of these men in line,” Gabriel laughed, “but have fun trying to flatten your rather voluptuous bosoms.”

Casey pinched the bridge of his nose, and squeezed his eyes closed, “Oh, for Pete’s sake! Just say ‘b***s’, Gabe! Stop being such a dandy,” he shook his head in exasperation.

Gabriel rolled his eyes at his cousin’s uncouth comment, “Fine. Kate, you need to get a bandage to flatten your ginormous b***s so you don’t resemble a woman. Is that better, Casey?” He looked back to his cousin, who nodded in approval.

Feeling the need to play along with their little game, Kate cocked her head to the side, staring right at Gabriel, “Okay, and while I’m at it, I’ll shove a rolled up wash cloth down my trousers to help me with my manly impression.”

“Hey, now,” Casey interjected, “We don’t always walk around with boners. Some of those pants are just really tight on us and make certain things stand out.”

“Really, now…Seems you might need the wash cloth more than I do, now that I get a good look at you,” she said in a snarky manner, keeping her gaze on Gabriel’s cousin.

Casey put his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest to make him appear bigger, “What are you getting at, Kate?”

She smirked, “I think the reason you ride such a big horse is to make up for what you lack in the manhood department, if you get what I mean.”

His mouth fell open as her words sank in, leaving him standing there unable to speak. Back behind him, Gabriel was on the ground in a fit of laughter.

“Ooh, feel the burn!” Gabriel called.

“Oh, now I know you didn’t just go there,” Casey said.

Kate snapped her fingers at him and replied cockily, “Yes, I just went there. How does your ego feel, now?”

Unable to think of any good comebacks, Casey sat down in his lawn chair, keeping his mouth shut so that he wouldn’t make the situation any worse. He had to admit it, Kate had an attitude, and she just used it on him. Being shown up by a woman was like pouring salt in the wound.

“Kate, one… Glitter Britches, zero,” Rob added to keep the fun going.

 

That evening, the family moved into the house since the weather had turned chilly, and they sat around in the living room discussing the training each of the new cavalry members would have to go through before they would be ready to take to the battlefield. It would involve long days of tactics and weaponry to start off. Eventually all of their hard work would pay off in the end, because Gabriel had an exciting announcement to make.

“Listen up,” he held up a piece of paper with the Union and Confederate flags at the top of it, “I am so happy to have new members in my cavalry. Why? Because I am going to try to get us into the mother of all reenactments…”

Everyone in the room sat on the edges of their seats, eager to hear the news. It must have been a good one from the way he held his smile. Finally, he gave them the answer.

“The 150^th anniversary of Gettysburg.”

The room erupted in pandemonium at his news. Rob was on his feet practically delirious with excitement. Even Kate was ready to run around screaming. After a few minutes, all of them settled down enough to let Gabriel explain what he would have to do to make the trip of a lifetime possible. Most of them were ready to head out then and there, but the end of June was still several months off. That would give Kate enough time to lose her baby belly and visit Beth to get a uniform made. The thing that worried her was how she would get a gun. Most likely Gabriel had his sources, and could get her a pistol or two; the Lord only knew she was handy with them.

 

While the others popped the movie Gettysburg into the DVD player for a movie night, Kate carried her daughter into the nursery to change her very ripe diaper. As Kate held her breath to keep from smelling the fumes, she wiped the baby’s bottom, and Shannon smiled up at her as if she was laughing at her mother. The expression on Shannon’s face reminded Kate of her husband’s face when he was up to no good.

“You look so much like your daddy, Shannon,” Kate fastened the new diaper on her before wrapping her little body in her yellow blanket. Afterwards, she sat down in the rocking chair, lifting up the bottom of her shirt to let her baby nurse. Once she had latched on, Kate started to rock while thinking about Shannon going to the reenactments with them. I’ll have to get Beth to make you a little outfit so you’ll fit in with everyone else. You’d look so cute with a baby bonnet on, Kate softly planted a kiss on the baby’s head, savoring the softness of her skin against her lips. The little pink bow in her hair stood out against her green hair. At least Daddy lets me put bows in your hair. Maybe I can convince him to let me get your ears pierced in a few months.

After laying Shannon down in her bassinet so that she could sleep, Kate returned to the living room to find the others enthralled with the movie, for they kept their eyes fixed on the screen. A big bowl of buttery popcorn sat between Gabriel and Seamus, in which everyone dug into. The smell of the popcorn beckoned Kate closer, and she made her way over to the couch and picked up the bowl before sitting down in its spot. On the screen, a cannon fired, taking out an entire regiment. The brutality of the scene caused the men to shout about how awesome the effects were.

“Boys! Keep your voices down; I just put Shannon to bed. If she wakes up, you guys will be the ones to get her back to sleep, which is going to be rather difficult for you since you don’t have big ta-tas full of milk,” Kate was not happy that they were making so much noise while her baby was trying to sleep.

A few minutes later, the fighting had turned more intense when General Reynolds and his men took to the field, but tragedy struck as the Union general fell off his horse with a bullet in the back of his head. That made Gabriel jump to his feet in excitement.

“That was epic! Down with you, Billy Yank!”

Immediately following, the sound of the newborn crying in their bedroom made him cringe. When he glanced over at Kate, she was glaring at him from underneath her long eyelashes, her eyes smoldering. Seamus scooted as far away from her as he possibly could to avoid getting hurt.

“Gabriel Irial Dawson!”

Her husband tried to back away slowly, but she was already standing in front of him with her arms folded over her chest, “Oops. I swear it was an accident.”

“My foot up your a*s is going to be an accident, too. Now… go get your daughter back to sleep since you woke her up.”

“But, honey-.”

“Go!” Kate pointed toward the bedroom and kept her eyes fixed on him. Once he had disappeared down the hallway, she turned her piercing gaze on the rest of them, who sat rigid in their places, afraid she would pounce on them, next, “And if any of you other hooligans wake my baby, I’ll make you change the next dirty diaper… and at the moment they are nice and ripe.”

 

Meanwhile having carried the baby into their bedroom, Gabriel found himself walking around the room while holding Shannon against his shoulder and rubbing her back in an effort to dry her tears. She continued to cry no matter how long he walked around the room. Thinking she might calm down if she was on her belly, Gabriel laid her down on the bed, and then sat down beside her, stretching his legs across the bed. Laying her down just made her angry.

Dear God, Kate’s gonna kill me if I don’t get her back to sleep, Gabriel gently patted the baby’s bottom as he thought of ways to calm her down, “Shannon, please stop crying for Daddy. Mommy’s already mad at me for waking you up,” while lying on his back an idea popped into his head, and he began to sing, “Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free. And stand where the peaks meet the sky and the loughs meet the seas. Where the rivers run clear and the bracken is gold in the sun. And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done,” Gabriel glanced down at his daughter, who had stopped crying, but she still had tears in her eyes; it seemed as if the song made her relax.

The new father began the next verse; however, he was joined by another voice. When he looked toward the doorway, Casey was leaning against the doorframe, a smile shining as they sang, “Come by the hills to the land where life is a song. And stand where the birds fill the air with their joy all day long. Where the trees sway in time and even the wind sings in tune. And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done.”

Casey had, also, sat down on the bed beside his cousin and carefully stroked Shannon’s cheek as he looked down at her thoughtfully. Seeing her small form reminded him of when his own daughter had been a newborn. A quiet knock on the doorframe made the men look up to see Seamus stride in. He stood next to the window, and together, the three men sang the last verse, “Come by the hills to the land where legend remains. The stories of old fill our hearts and may yet come again. Where the past has been lost and the future is still to be won. And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done.”

Standing just outside the bedroom door was Kate, who had heard the men singing to her daughter. A small smile peeked out from the corners of her mouth; she would have to let Gabriel put Shannon to bed more often, knowing that his singing was a way to relax her. Not wanting to disturb them, she made her way back to the living room, and resumed the movie. As she watched the battle unfold, she hoped that the 1^st Texas Cavalry got into the reenactment, but first they would have to survive the training.

This is going to be very interesting, Kate thought, stuffing popcorn into her mouth as the men returned to the room. None of them said a word, afraid they would wake Shannon, again.

It was past midnight by the time the movie credits rolled up the screen, and everyone in the living room had since passed out. Gabriel was stretched out across the couch with Kate resting on top of him, her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her. Seamus was reclined in Rob’s chair, and snoring rather loudly while Casey was sprawled out on the floor with Tate nestled against his side. The only light in the room was from the TV screen. As the night crept by, the Dawson family slept peacefully.