Chapter Text
Irish Rugby Star Announces Engagement to High School Sweetheart – A Nation In Heartbreak
The ladies all over Ireland have awoken in tears today to the news that the irish star centre, Johnny Kavanagh has proposed to his long-term girlfriend and childhood sweetheart Shannon Lynch. The happy couple announced their engagement with a stunning photo shoot on their high school rugby pitch where Kavanagh said that they first met.
Shannon Lynch has been dating Ireland’s hot-shot rugby player since she was sixteen. After a long history of family trouble, Shannon Lynch along with her three younger brothers were fostered by Johnny Kavanagh’s parents and she has lived with the Kavanagh’s since they were both still in school.
This news has been announced in the wake of Kavanagh’s promotion to captain of the Irish rugby team, both a shock and a well deserved delight for the 25-year-old player, who has captured the heart of this island.
No further details have been released about the wedding but sources close to the couple say that they are hoping for a quiet, intimate ceremony. One thing I do know is that women will be sobbing in the streets on the day that Ireland’s darling finally ties the knot.
Shannon
I bounced my knee as we drove through the familiar streets, an old habit of mine that I couldn’t bring myself to break. I turned to look at my boyfriend – no, my fiance – as I twisted the engagement ring on my finger, a new nervous fixation I had picked up.
The ring was beautiful, stunning and I knew I would treasure it for the rest of my life. But it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the boy that went with it.
Today was our first time returning to Cork since our engagement. Johnny had wanted to get engaged on that rugby pitch where we’d first met even though I had reminded him afterwards that that day had resulted in a trip to the hospital for me. He’d laughed and shushed me, running a hand through my hair and telling me that it had been the best day of his life when he’d met me.
It still made me weak in the knees to think about. We’d gone to Tommen to pick up Tadhg and Ollie but I’d immediately known something was up when Johnny dragged me out of the car and led me to the rugby pitch. But nothing could have prepared me for the sight of him on one knee before me.
While Johnny’s favourite day might be the day we met, mine would always be the day that he asked me to be his wife.
We’d started a bit of wedding planning but hadn’t gotten very far. We were travelling back to Cork to discuss that very thing. The wedding. I also happened to know that Edel wanted a heavy hand in planning this thing, due to her frequent phone calls since the engagement.
“Relax.” Johnny said, a smirk on his face as he looked over at her. “He’ll say yes.”
I gave Johnny a look and he returned one of his own. A don’t-bullshit-me-I-know-you’re-freaking-out look.
“But… what if he…”
“Nope, not hearing it.” Johnny raised an eyebrow, cutting me off.
“But–”
“No, Shannon.” Johnny said firmly, his voice gruff and instantly soothing me. “Stop over-thinking things. Of course, he’ll say yes.”
I bit my lip and stayed quiet then, but the thought was still lingering in the back of my mind.
What if he says no?
Another look from Johnny had my brain quietening and instead I watched him drive. I felt quite creepy for honing in on the way his muscles flexed against his shirt as he gripped the steering wheel but I was his girlfriend, no, his fiancee, so if anyone had the right to look, it was me.
I knew that Johnny was attractive. The whole world knew it. Photos were always circling about him and at fan meet and greets, teenage girls always swarmed around him, telling him that they had photos of him on their bedroom walls. I knew it freaked Johnny out but I didn’t mind. He was good looking and it wasn’t his fault that the rest of the world noticed it.
Rugby had really taken off for him too. After signing the contract at 19, Johnny’s career had sky-rocketed and I had been taken along for the ride. I went to uni in Dublin and studied to be a vet and while it was hard to juggle everything at first, we made it work. We found our balance.
When Johnny pulled the car up in front of his childhood home, we sat there for a few minutes.
“Hi Johnny.” I said quietly.
“Hi Shannon.” He turned to look at me, the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smirk. “You ready, Shannon like the river?”
I took a deep breath and unfastened my seatbelt. “I’m ready.”
We walked up the familiar path to his front door, though it wasn’t really his front door anymore. We had our own house now, in Dublin. With Johnny being as famous as he was, our house was more like a mansion. To this day, I still walked through the large, open kitchen, thinking that I’m living in a dream and that I’ll wake up any second.
Any moment now, I would wake up to the feeling of flames burning through my skin, as my brothers screamed from the other room and I was pounding on the door, trying to get to them. I would be dead in that house and my life with Johnny would just be the last conjurings of the imagination of a desperate girl.
I blinked away the thoughts. This was real. I was alive and so were my brothers. We were all okay.
We got out of the car and were immediately ambushed by two dogs.
“Oi, you eejits.” Johnny grumbled, dragging me away from the dogs and to the front door. Ever since Sookie passed away, he has hated the sight of his mam’s dogs. I gave them a smile before returning to his side and ringing the doorbell.
But before the door swung open, we heard a small voice behind us. “Auntie Shannon! Uncle Johnny!”
We spun round, synchronised. Standing there, a hurley and ball clutched in his hand, was AJ Lynch, my nephew. He had a huge grin plastered on his face as he ran towards us, the hurley left forgotten on the ground.
“You’re here, you’re here.”
I immediately pulled AJ into my arms while Johnny ruffled his blonde hair.
“Alright, lad.” he remarked.
I was a lot less composed.
“AJ, look at you. You’re so big. I missed you so much.” I pulled back to look at his face. At seven years old, he already looked so much like Joey. He acted like it too. But it was a happier version of Joey, without his demons.
He certainly had Joey’s attitude because he pulled a face and pulled away from me. “Um… Auntie Shan, I saw you last month, remember?”
I ruffled his hair and leant into Johnny. “Yes, I remember. Am I not allowed to be happy to see my favourite nephew? Oh, shite.” I swore under my breath when Cupcake sprayed mud all over my legs. Luckily it didn’t touch my clothes.
“Ew, you swear like a Dub now, Aunt Shan.” AJ pulled another face and I bit my lip. I had noticed a Dublin accent creeping in and I did my best to stop it. God knows that Joey would give me shit for it if I started talking like them.
AJ turned to Johnny then and gave him a grin. “Saw you on TV the other day.”
“Oh yeah?” Johnny grinned. “What did you think?”
“It was alright.” AJ shrugged but his grin told a different story. “All my friends were so jealous that you're my Uncle. They keep trying to get tickets to the next game.”
Johnny laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
At that moment the door swung open and Edel appeared in the doorway. She was still stunningly beautiful, even after raising all my brothers. She didn’t look tired or worn down the way my mother used to. Instead, she looked freshly energised, as if looking after all of these kids had given her a new sense of fulfillment.
“Oh, Johnny, Shannon, my loves, come in, come in.” After hugging us tightly, she ushered us into her house. “It’s so good to see you two again. Now, let me tell you, I’ve got lots of ideas for your wedding dress, Shannon. Lots and lots of ideas. Let’s talk through them later, yes?”
“Thank you, Edel.” I smiled warmly at the woman who was as much a mother to me as she was to Johnny.
“AJ, get in here.” Edel ushered the young boy inside. “Sean has a new playstation game he wants to show you.”
“Ah, really?” AJ’s whole face lit up and he raced for the stairs. “Sick. Thanks, Dellie.”
Edel called up the stairs. “Tell that boy to get down here and greet his sister properly.”
Sean and AJ were three years apart in age and though Sean was technically AJ’s uncle, the two of them grew up like brothers and acted like it too.
Edel tutted under her breath as she kept walking. “Mahem in this house, I tell you. How have you two been?”
“We’ve been grand, Mam.” Johnny said with a smile, tucking me under his arm as we strolled into the kitchen together.
Before we even made it into the kitchen, footsteps and shouting sounded from the stairs.
My baby brother Sean was racing down the stairs with AJ at his heels. He wasn’t really my baby brother anymore. No, years had passed and the little toddler had turned into a ten year old boy, loud, boisterous and happy. Sean was the happiest of all of us and he’d admitted to me that his life before coming to live with the Kavanagh’s was just a blurry haze.
I was happy for him, happy that at least one brother of mine knows nothing but love and happiness. Even if a part of me did feel slightly jealous.
“Johnny!” He was screaming and crashed full force into my fiance. Johnny, with his rugby build, didn’t move an inch and absorbed the impact, pulling Sean up against his chest and wrapping his large arms around him. The little blur of blond hair hugged Johnny tight.
Sean and Johnny had always had this… special connection. While Tadhg and Ollie had always had each other to play with, Sean was always too little to play with so Johnny had taken on all brotherly duties in his stride.
In fact, the two were inseparable ever since we’d come to live here. Sean was Johnny’s biggest fan and always asked John to take him to every single game. He’d started playing rugby himself, much to Tadhg and Joey’s disgust, and little Sean was actually really good at it.
“Johnny, you’re here.” Sean was jumping on the balls of his feet. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I’m here, lad.” Johnny chuckled ruffling his blonde curls.
“Can you take me down the rugby pitch later? Or we could play videogames if you want?” Sean grinned up at him like my fiance hung the moon itself.
“I thought you wanted to play that new game with me?” AJ asked, pouting slightly.
“No, I want to play with Johnny.” Sean declared, grasping onto my boyfriend's arm, while AJ grumbled, clearly upset about being upstaged.
“I’ll play with you in a bit, lad, okay?” Johnny tucked Sean under one arm and me under the other. “Just got to greet everyone and do wedding talk.”
I looked at Johnny and with his smile of encouragement, I walked into the room.
Immediately, I was greeted by all of my favourite people. My older brother Joey was sitting at the table, bouncing a two-year-old girl on his lap and trying to coax her into eating whatever he had on his spoon. Leaning her head against his shoulder was a very pregnant Aoife.
Joey and Aoife got married a few years ago and shortly after the wedding, they announced their new pregnancy. That pregnancy turned into my favourite niece, Saorise. She was a sweet girl with curly hair and a wide grin.
I would have to stop calling her my favourite niece if their new baby was a girl, just as I would have to stop calling AJ my favourite nephew if it was a boy. So in the meantime, I was milking it as much as possible.
Claire was chatting to Gibsie, her eyes bright and happy as they both laughed about something. Gibsie had become a school PE teacher and a mental health counselor and had just got a new position. He was grinning and explaining a story with enthusiasm, messing around as if he was still a child himself.
Lizzie came over and joined in, poking Gibsie in the biceps, her dirty blonde hair tucked back. Lizzie and Hugh had both moved to Dublin, as Hugh became a doctor and Lizzie started writing her books, so they were some of the only people we still saw frequently. But it was nice that they’d come to Cork again, so everyone could be reunited.
Katie and Feely were also here, chatting with the rest of them, Katie tucked into Feely’s side. I nearly never saw those two anymore as after uni they’d been spending some time in the states, chasing their music careers. I still smiled when I heard their songs on the radio.
“Johnny! Shannon!” Gibsie was the first one to notice us standing there and he broke out into that smile he is so known for. “Make way for the newlyweds!”
“We’re not married yet, you eejit.” Johnny grumbled, even though a large grin spread across his face, as he was reunited with his other half.
We spent the morning sitting out in the garden, all ten of us. It was strangely reminiscent of our days in the Tommen cafeteria before life tore us apart. Edel brought out food and tried to drag me away for wedding planning.
It was only interrupted when Tadhg came home from his girlfriend Leah's house. “Oi, fatty, what are you doing in my garden?”
“Tadhg.” Edel sighed, resigned. “You knew that Gibsie was coming over today. Be nice, okay?”
Gibsie folded his arms over his chest. “I told you I’m not fat. I’m just big boned.”
“Really? I can see your belly rolls from here.”
“It’s all muscle lad. I’ll show you.” Gibs rose from his chair, giving into Tadhg’s taunts. We all groaned simultaneously.
“Gibs, he’s eighteen.” Hugh groaned. “Don’t go picking fights with kids. You’re far too old for this now.”
But it’s too late Tadhg and Gibs were already engaged in one of their many fights, Gibsie already running to the old treehouse to ‘get a higher ground’. Even at twenty-five he was just a kid, really.
But Tadhg had grown up fast. He was eighteen now, in his final year of Tommen and spent most of his time either with his girlfriend Leah or working down at the garage with Joey and Aoife’s dad. He didn’t know if that was what he wanted to do with his life but he enjoyed it for now and wanted to work with Joey.
It was sweet really, their bond, though both brushed it off.
After that our group dispersed. Aoife was feeling ill from the baby and needed to lie down for a little bit. According to Joey, this had been her worst pregnancy, health wise. Ollie appeared briefly to say hi and take Saorise off Joey’s hands. Claire and Hugh were immediately chasing after Gibsie, trying to stop any bodily harm occurring. Katie and Lizzie, one of the most unlikely friendships to emerge after everything that went down when we were in fifth year, started chatting away, Patrick hovering by, an easy smile on his face.
Johnny gave my arm a squeeze. “I’m going to go talk to Mam, okay? You’ve got this.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and disappeared, leaving me to my task.
It’s okay Shannon. I chanted to myself. You’ve got this.
Sucking in a breath, I put a hand on Joey’s arm before he went out to join the others. He looked back at me for a minute, his brow furrowed as he took in my worried face. “Shan, is everything okay?”
I nodded, biting my lip. “I just… I need to talk to you about something.”
Joey’s eyes turned murderous as he let me drag him back into the house and through the hallways to some place quiet. “Are you having second thoughts, Shan? Is that bastard hurting you? Cause if he is, I’m going to pummel his fucking rugby head until–”
“No, no, Joey.” I let out a small laugh. “Me and Johnny are grand. It’s not about that.”
“Then what is it about?” Joey asked, leaning back against the wall, studying me.
“It’s about… my wedding. Traditionally, you’re supposed to have your father walk you down the aisle and give you away.”
“Screw tradition. You can do your wedding however you like it.” Joey scowled indignantly. Just the mere mention of our father was still enough to set him off.
“Joey, stop.” I put out a hand. “Let me talk. I want you to know that I love you and that I’ll love you whatever you say. But I’ve been thinking it through and I would like… I mean, it would be grand if you would… you know, walk me down the aisle.”
He paused, momentarily stunned. “You want me to give you away, Shan?” He asked, his voice thick with emotions.
“You don’t have to.” I was quick to add. “I understand completely if you say no. I won’t be offended or anything. But I just thought… you’ve looked after me so much and you deserve to have a bigger part in this than just my brother.” I wrung my hands out, anxiety thrumming through my veins. Maybe this was a bad idea. Of course he wouldn’t want to give me away and take the spot of a father. Joey never wanted to be a father to anyone but his own children.
But Joey put a gentle hand on my chin, tilting my head up to look at me. “Shan… you really want me to give you away?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Joe…. I really do.”
Joey nodded and quickly pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight. “Of course I’ll walk you down the aisle.” His voice is thick and overcome with emotion. I fear the tears in my own eyes. “I’m so proud of you Shannon. I’m so fucking proud of the woman that you have become.”
“I’m proud of you too, Joey,” I whispered back, hugging him just as hard.
I used to hug him like this when we were little. When I was three and we’d just found out that we wouldn’t get to stay with our foster family any longer. When I was thirteen and I told him that I wanted to kill myself. When I was sixteen and he told me about how he had tried to kill himself.
All the moments, all the pain, that had led us here.