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"Forget?" Emily echoed hoarsely.

Maeve gave a sigh of annoyance. "I'll have to answer that, Emily," Maeve said, referring to the doorbell. "They're not going away."

The next couple of minutes were a total blur for Emily, who stood there wondering if it was her or Maeve who had gone mad. How could Finn not be Adam's father?

"Maeve said you were here." Finn's eyes were fixed warily on his wife's face. "Why are you here?"

Like someone punch-drunk, Emily focused her eyes on the tall figure that had entered the room. "You were taking Adam out for the morning."

"Adam fell and grazed his knees," he explained tersely. "Maeve's doing the necessary."

"Are you Adam's father, Finn?"

Finn took a deep breath before meeting her bewildered eyes. "I'm glad you know. I feel as if it's always been there between us."

"Then it's true! I always knew you were holding something back." But not this, never this! "I thought that you and Maeve were still?" She shook her head. "I don't understand... How?"

"Liam, my younger brother?"

"The one who died in the climbing accident?"

Finn nodded. "Maeve's family only lived a couple of streets away from ours in Dublin. But it wasn't until they both came over here to university that she and Liam got together. Nobody back home knew about it, and neither did I until Maeve came to me after she discovered she was pregnant."

"So?" She shook her head. Her brain seemed to be functioning very slowly. "You married Maeve, she came to work with you, and you let everyone think that Adam was yours."

Finn nodded. "It seemed the obvious thing to do. The baby was a Lynch, he needed a father, and Maeve had no money, no job, and a family that would very likely disown her."

"Surely not!" Emily gasped horrified.

"Maeve's family have very strong views about sex outside marriage."

"Poor Maeve," Emily said, and meant it. "In a really good romance I suppose you'd have fallen in love.?" Not if I had any influence with the author, Emily added silently.

"Me and Maeve!" Finn looked amused and shook his head. "We agreed early on that for Adam's sake, absolutely nobody should ever know the truth," he continued gravely. "How would Adam feel if he discovered one day that his loving parents had never even shared a bed?"

"You were never even lovers!"

"Never, but discreet liaisons were permitted in our rules," he revealed dryly. "I was no monk."

"And love?" she whispered vulnerably.

"That was discussed, though when it happened, I wasn't really prepared." He couldn't recall those months of raw frustration without an inner shudder.

"When did it happen, Finn?"

I've told you, the moment I saw you."

"I didn't think you meant it literally! It was the same for me," she revealed shyly. "And I felt terribly guilty because you were married. I don't think I stopped being guilty until just now. It's such a relief!" She sighed.

"Then you forgive me, Emily?" he asked warily.

"What's to forgive?" She stepped into his open arms. "Promise me one thing, Finn ? no more secrets?"

"How," he began, "do you feel about sealing the deal with a kiss?"

"Don't stop on my account," Maeve said dryly as the entwined couple drew apart. "I just wanted to say that you were right. I'll be telling James that I'm staying here. I know he loves me, and I know he'll stay. We're happy together ? and Adam will be happy, too. We'll all make sure of it." As Finn aimed a smile at Maeve, she continued, "No, Finn, don't thank me, thank Emily."

Finn turned to Emily, his eyes blazing with love. "I can't wait to start," he admitted. "My first, last, and only love," he whispered. - The End



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