Welcome Ciaran Novel – Chapter 4
Hours have passed since the last exchange between Yuu and Ciarán. Yuu ran away from the so-called child, locking himself in his room, frightened by his own hallucinations. Meanwhile, Ciarán fought to find an escape out of jail. Despite his height working against him, Ciarán managed to climb up the cot bars and reach the closest sofa. Although the task had been burdensome, Ciarán’s will made the impossible possible.
Unfortunately, a child’s body isn’t designed to undertake intensive physical activities, meaning that Ciarán is out of breath after fighting like hell to leave his cot. Catching his breath, Ciarán is grateful that the windows have been open the whole time. Otherwise, he would have suffocated.
From now on, Ciarán’s only option is to wait for Yuu to return: they have important matters to discuss. But remembering how quickly Yuu disappeared, Ciarán would be better relying on Killian to bring him to their host rather than the Yuu coming back any time soon. Yuu is far too disturbed by what he witnessed to face the harsh reality.
As if his godmother sent Ciarán a sign, he hears the sound of a door opening. A couple of minutes later, a familiar face shows up in the living room, holding a nicely wrapped box.
“Hi!” Killian greets in a loud voice. “How was your day guys? I was supposed to come back earlier, but Kayla called me. She was excited to talk to me! As always, she’s in a good mood, enjoying her time with Alfie’s girlfriend. I’ll check in later as we all know those two have a complicated relationship.”
Ciarán would like to himself having to listen to Killian’s stories, but hours of struggle has sapped almost all his energy. As a result, he can’t ask the young man to shut his mouth and bring him to their host.
“I brought you some sweets from Barara Café, Yuu!” Killian adds. “I know they’re your favourite. Also, I wanted to thank you for letting us stay at your place and taking good care of Ciarán while I was away. But please, pace yourself or you’ll be sick—”
After minutes of talk, Killian finally realises Yuu is missing and nowhere to be found. He finds this odd as he tasked Yuu with looking after Ciarán while he was away. He was sure that their host would keep his word and so is sceptical. But quickly, he comes up with an excuse justifying Yuu’s behaviour and why Ciarán has been left alone.
“Did Yuu take good care of you?” Killian asks. He grabs the teddy bear lying on the floor. “Did he sing nice nursery songs? I bet he did! He’s such a shy boy in front of grown men!”
Based on the fact that Ciarán is on the sofa, Killian gets his answers. Yuu took care of the child while he was away and he’s grateful for the adult’s hard work. However, he forgot to dress Ciarán in more clothes. The kid is just wearing a hat and nappy, which aren’t enough to protect him from the cold.
“Yuu isn’t as good as I thought he’d be – he forgot to cover up this little athlete’s body!” Killian closes the windows to prevent Ciarán catching a chill. “Don’t worry, champ, you’ll meet your new mummy soon. I dropped a hint and she looked super excited! When she’s back in Beneath she’ll cook delicious meals to make you stronger and taller, just like daddy!”
Killian is so caught up in his little bubble that he doesn’t notice how bored Ciarán is. He’s too excited, daydreaming about Kayla meeting his champion to focus on pointless details. Still in this mindset, Killian happily walks to Yuu’s room, but Ciarán forces him to stop, grabbing his shirt.
“Huh?”
Eyebrows raised, Killian wonders what’s on Ciarán’s mind, but quickly gets an answer. With the little boy’s hands up, Killian understands Ciarán needs help to reach Yuu’s room, his tiny body isn’t strong enough to walk such a long distance.
“I know someone is craving for attention!”
Ciarán doesn’t bother to answer Killian’s terrible jokes, which only hardcore fanboys can relate to. As long as that doesn’t stop him from leading to Yuu’s room, Ciarán won’t complain.
“Yuu is probably taking a nap. He must be exhausted because of his rehearsals, interviews and meetings – he has to recover his strength. An adult’s life isn’t always restful, Yuu Junior. Trust me when I say I barely sleep at night, studying straight after uni until two or three in the morning. Then, I wake up around five and repeat every day, including on the weekends. When I have free time, I play basketball with my teammates or spend time with finance experts to better understand their work.”
Ciarán couldn’t care less about Killian and Yuu’s daily struggles. After all, he’s well aware of suffering, being the person who has had the worst day. But even without that bad experience, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that Ciarán doesn’t care about the two young men’s problems.
“How was daddy Yuu? Which one of your daddies is your favourite?”
Killian takes competition very seriously, which explains why he does more than he’d usually do for a child, no matter how much he adores them. Changing dirty clothes? He’d have called a nanny if it wasn’t to rank first. Why would he bother to do such a tough job when experts get paid for that? Killian plays fairly because it makes the competition more exciting.
In the meantime, Ciarán regrets relying on Killian. He’s heard enough from him and wishes he could get rid of him immediately. However, the current situation is forcing him to suffer until they reach Yuu’s room, and then the nightmare will end. Eager to see the happy ending, Ciarán’s lips stretch into a mischievous smile.
“Your smile says that no man can beat daddy Killian! You’re right, I’m a better dad than Yuu. Don’t tell him I said that or he’ll get mad. He isn’t really scary, he just jokes around, but we better be careful.”
The two guests’ journey comes to an end when they arrive right in front of Yuu’s door, which has a warning note hanging on it, written in italics.
Strictly forbidden to the public!!!
Killian is banned from entering.
Enter at your own risk.
Thank you!’
As ever, Killian takes the note as a joke and immediately reassures Ciarán not to be scared of their host’s sense of humour.
“Don’t take it seriously, champ!” reassures Killian. He knocks on the door before opening it. “Yuu likes joking, and the fake warning is a way for him to express his love. What about waking him up with a kiss? I promise he won’t let go of you after that.”
When he enters the room, Killian can barely make out where he’s walking because of how dark it is. Luckily, a slight sliver of light illuminates the room, offering Killian a better view of the inside. That’s when Killian and Ciarán finally see their host, curled up in the foetal position.
“Yuu?” Killian asks. “Did you finish your nap?”
Yuu’s eyes widen when they see Ciarán, his body shivering at the memory of what happened in the living room. He opens his dry mouth, but no sound comes out. There’s a sound, but it isn’t loud enough to be heard by Killian and Ciarán. Besides, the dark-skinned man is too focused on guessing why Yuu’s wrapped in a blanket to care about his mumbling.
“Are you also into yoga?” Killian asks. He remembers Kayla doing a similar pose when she started yoga classes. “Kayla swears by yoga! She said it’s been a game changer when it comes to managing her anger, but I doubt it really works because she’s still the same. I should probably ask Cherry and Hope—”
“UNCLE JONATHAN!” Yuu screams.
“Uncle Jonathan…” Killian repeats. He looks in Yuu’s direction. “Why did you say that when you looked at Ciarán? Is it one of your jokes?”
“Fuck you!” Yuu curses. “You brought me into this shit, arsehole! How can it be that Ciarán is my uncle? Say something!”
Killian waits for Yuu to tell another joke because he can’t take him seriously with all the nonsense he just said about an abandoned child supposedly being an adult. How could that happen? Magic only exists in fairy tales and Killian is no longer young enough to believe in stories. He’s so sure that Yuu thinks like him and so he knows his friend is teasing them.
“When Yuu keeps joking, it’s a sign of the end of the world!” Killian jokes.
“Shut up” Yuu grumbles. “This shit is happening because of you! I let you stay at my place and in exchange for my gratitude, you cursed me! Damn you for causing me to have these hallucinations!”
“I mentioned in the letter I left you not to drink whilst I was away,” Killian scolds. “You know about your alcohol intolerance.”
“Shut the—”
“ENOUGH!” Ciarán shouts.
Killian is so surprised that Ciarán is talking that he ignores the child’s criticism, who has enough of the two men’s quarrelling. On an average day, Jonathan can barely breathe because of Yuu and Killian, but it’s been worse since spending the last twelve hours around them.
Unfortunately, Jonathan won’t get peace for a while as someone has a lot of questions for a talkative baby.
“Ciarán? You can talk?!” Killian asks. He’s stunned by his boy’s ability to talk like an adult. “When did you learn how to speak? Did Yuu teach you? Unless you could always talk but kept quiet as you’re a shy–”
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, KILLIAN! Why are you so talkative? No!” Ciarán says as soon as he sees Killian ready to reply. “Don’t talk, or I’ll send you to see your ancestors!”
Killian doesn’t say another word, which makes the other two wonder if it’s because it’s coming from a child talking or his authoritative tone. The truth is that neither of them want to hear the answer, savouring every minute Killian stays quiet. Ciarán orders him to sit on the bed, which he does silently.
The room settles into a long and uneasy silence, and the two men can barely almost hear their own hearts beating. They exchange confused glances. Killian considers speaking again, but Yuu makes it clear he should keep quiet. Surrendering, Killian mutely looks back and forth between Ciarán and Yuu.
Eyes closed, the little boy frowns, worrying Yuu, who doesn’t like what is about to happen. When his uncle is lost in thought, what comes next is never pleasant.
“It may sound crazy, but I promise you it’s the truth,” Ciarán says. He pauses before continuing. “Listen carefully to what I have to say, boys. What happened to me came straight out of a fairy tale. And like any fairy tale, there needs to be a happy ending.”
I’m dreaming. This can’t be real! What was the last thing I did before falling asleep? I’m sure something happened before Killian came to my place with the orphan Uncle Jonathan. Fuck it! Why can’t I remember anything?
“Let me tell you the story of Jonathan Hartglove, a merciful man unfairly cursed by a witch!”
