This wasn’t the first time Aiden had hinted at plans that extended past their holiday bubble. Despite the cold air, Antonia warmed to the idea of meeting the people who were important to him. “She’s twelve, you say?”

“Yep, and smart as a whip. She’s at the top of her class and reading Hawthorne for fun,” he said with a proud laugh. “She’s going through the change though.”

“The change?”

He snuck her a glance. “The curse, as my mom calls it.”

Antonia laughed at his wording. “Oh no, you don’t call it either of those things,” she said, gasping for breath. “The curse is too old-fashioned and the change is reserved for women who are going through menopause. Soircha is starting her period, Aiden.”

“I don’t know what women are calling it these days.”

She shook her head. “So your sweet, angel niece is going to become a rage-filled monster?”

“That’s what my mother imagines. She’s still a little girl to me.”

“Of course she is,” Antonia said, touched by his sentiment. “But I remember when I first got my period. I was a hell-raising asshole.”

“I’ll be prepared for that,” he laughed. “For now, she’s a good kid and the best out of all of them until Ryan has a baby. He and Catherine live in Dingle where they run a B&B.”

“That’s charming,” Antonia said. “Your mother did an excellent job raising you boys. And she got a professor out of one of them.”

“She did her best,” he said before falling quiet. His emotions hid behind a closed expression.

Antonia watched his face and decided that might be enough pressing him about his family. He loved them, but the issues with his father were still very close to the surface. She did her best to change the subject yet again. “Alright, sailor Aiden,” she said, clapping her hands. “If we’re sailing the high-seas, you have to sing me a chanty.”

His eyes flickered. “You know about chanties, but don’t know where port-side is?”

“I’ve learned the romantic parts of the sea.”

“We’re technically not on the sea, my dear,” he corrected, cracking a smile. “But yeah, I can sing you a chanty, my dad knew a few good ones.”

“Well give me your best one.”

“I’ve had one stuck in my head for a while, it was Liam’s favorite. It’s called ‘Roll the Old Chariot Along’?”

Antonia cocked her head slightly, that one actually sounded familiar. “How does it go?”

Aiden made a show of clearing his throat before belting out: “Oh we’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails—”

“I know that one!” she cried.

His look of surprise made her laugh. “And how do you know that one, little lady?”

“My Zora Neale Hurston research. I did some side work in Negro spirituals and work songs. That’s a black song.”

“It is,” he said with a nod. “God, it’s funny you mention that. I’ve been obsessed with it lately and I was thinking about incorporating it in my conference paper.”