Finding a priest to marry Finn and Jenny was the easy part. It was when Roisin travelled to Belfast to try and stop the the marriage that things got hairy. But the priest had been appraised of a possible interruption, and once he got it in writing that Jenny was marrying Finn of her own free will, there was nothing Roisin could do. To make things easier for his friends, Calum arranged to have the marriage take place at their house, and with help from Mrs Doyle, Roisin never got a chance to try and interrupt the simple ceremony. It was all over and done in a half an hour, and Calum thanked his lucky stars that at least one niggling thing had been taken care of.
But Roisin was not to be stopped that easily; the next day she hired lawyers to try and prove the marriage had been performed under duress. Mrs Doyle produced a lawyer friend of her own to counter Roisin's claims, but even so, it was a tense few weeks, and Calum cursed Roisin every day for her continued mistreatment of her daughter, while praying it wouldn't go to court. Mercifully, it didn't; after having her claims shot down, Roisin withdrew her suit, but promised the matter wasn't over; once the baby was born, she'd be back to claim her grandson or granddaughter. Finn put paid to that by naming Calum to raise his unborn child in the event of things going pear-shaped for him. Calum, though touched by the offer, was confused as to why Finn was doing this.
"I'm dying," Finn said that afternoon, his voice as bleak as his face. "It's lung cancer brought on by livin' in a house full of smokers."
Calum sucked in a shocked breath. "Does Jenny know?" he demanded. 92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIqiaRS5p3
"Aye," Finn said. "Me heart's near to breakin' over the pain it's causin' her, but she's a strong girl,and she's ready for the worst. I was given about three years to live if I could stay the feck away from smokers, but no more could the doctors give me."
Calum shook his head, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut again. "That's why Roisin's so determined to get her hands on your unborn child," he surmised. "You know full well we lived in a town full of feckin' gossips."
"Feck yes, we did," Finn agreed. "But Roisin doesn't know Jenny and I agreed to have you take the raisin' of the wee one in the event I kicked the bucket sooner or later." He swore. "Feck me, I was only feckin' diagnosed in November, and it's taken them this feckin' long to get to the bottom of what was wrong with me! And it's too far gone for any treatments to make a real difference."
"You're goin' to try, right?" Calum begged.
"Like you could get rid of me that feckin' easily," Finn teased, giving his best friend a gentle punch on the arm. "I'm going to me grave kickin' and feckin' screamin'. This bastard's not getting me without a feckin' fight, I promise you."
Calum gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Just hold on," he pleaded. "I've already lost one person who means everythin' to me; don't you give out on me, you bastard."
"Aye, I'll try," Finn promised. "I'll feckin' try."
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