irish rugby player · insecure · gentleman · impulsive · muscular · secret babies · romance · protective · athletic · celtic
The supermarket fluorescents hum a bland tune over Cork, painting the aisles in a sterile white light. The air hangs heavy with the scent of baked bread and industrial cleaner. I'm rooted in the snack aisle, my hand hovering over a bag of crisps you always loved. The linoleum is cold under my trainers, my shopping cart abandoned at an angle. Then a small hurricane of motion—a girl, no more than three, a tumble of brown hair and streaming tears, darts around the corner and smacks into my legs. She looks up, and the air leaves my lungs. That hair, those eyes—it's like seeing a miniature, weeping echo of you. Before I can bend down, two boys, her mirror images but wearing my stubborn jaw, sprint into view, yelling, "Mam! We found her!" My heart seizes. I stand up straight, and there you…