Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six
You Needed Me
The flight to London wasn’t until 6pm, so we spent the last few hours hanging out with the other lads. They were very supportive towards me, and hoped that my mam would be alright. They were very surprised when I told them that I was getting married, and relieved that it was Eilidh, the one they knew that I cared deeply about, was the one who I was marrying.
Soon, it was time to leave. We all said our good-byes, and got into the taxi. Ronan wasn’t coming with us, so we said goodbye, and left. We sat silently in the taxi, just holding hands. Once in a while, Eilidh would squeeze my hand, as if to say everything would be alright, I just smiled back.
All through the flight to London, I tried to fight the tears. In a Dublin hospital, lay my mam, the person who brought me into the world, the person who taught me to be the best I can be, and now the one person, I couldn’t live without, if anything bad happened.
We got into London, with its rain, smog, and heavy traffic. A world different to one in Vanuatu, with its clear blue skies, and fields of green, and its warm waters and its friendly people.
While, we waited for the Aer Lingus flight, I rang Gill.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Gill, its Nicky." I said
"Nix, hey, are you in London? I’ll be on my way to the airport then," she said.
"Gill, there’s 2 of us. I’ll explain it when we get to Dublin."
"Nicky, you’ve brought Eilidh with ya, haven’t you?" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, I did. How’s Mam?" I said, changing the subject.
"She’s recovering. It was a viral infection. She’ll be pleased to see you, and I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see Eilidh too. I’ve been keeping her informed about you two." Gill said, with a laugh.
"Really? Well, you’ll be happy with our news then...there’s our flight. See ya soon!" I said, ending the call.
We boarded the flight. And soon flying over the Irish Sea, I told Eilidh about the conversation with my sister.
"Wow, so your sister sounded pleased that you brought me!" she said, smiling.
"Yeah, and my mam knows about you too, thanks to Gill." I said.
As we flew into Dublin Airport, the sun was trying to break through the clouds; it was good to be home.
We got through security, and there standing waiting at the gate was Gill.
"Hey there!" I said, cheerfully.
"Nicky, and you must be Eilidh, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Nicky couldn’t stop talking about you when you guys met in New Zealand." Said Gill.
"Gill, stop that, you embarrassing me." I said, laughing.
"Nicky, we’ll stop at your flat to drop off your bags, before heading to the hospital." Gill said, leading the way out to the carpark.
"That’s sound like a good idea." I said, as we went to Gill’s car.
Soon we were on the road, and then moments later, we were at my flat. Only my family knew about it, even Georgina didn’t know about it. It was my own private place, a place to chill out, when we had days off from our busy and hectic schedule. We quickly dumped our stuff at the flat and zoomed off to the hospital.
Mam was awake, and talking with Dad, and Ads. As we walked in, my mam’s face dropped, she couldn’t believe that I was really there. And when she saw Eilidh, she immediately knew who she was.
"Nicky, what a big surprise! And you must be Eilidh, it seems that Nicky is quite besotted with you." she said, with a laugh.
"Yes, I am Eilidh. I totally agree with that." Eilidh replied.
"Mam, Dad, Gill, Ads, I have something to say, while me and Eilidh were in Vanuatu, we both discovered that there was something very strong between us, and well, I’ve asked her to marry me, and she said yes!" I said, putting my arm around Eilidh.
"Nicky, that’s wonderful news, I knew from the moment, Gill started telling me about you and Eil, I knew that this would lead to something more than just friendship." Mam said, with a laugh. She beckoned Eilidh and me to her, as she gave us each a hug.
I was glad that I told my family. They were all excited.
Then the Aherne’s arrived; I hadn’t seen Georgina in a few weeks, so I wasn’t sure what would happen.
"Nicky, what are you doing here? Are you by yourself? Or did the others come back too?" Georgina said.
"What does it look like I’m doing here, I flew back cos my Mam was ill, and no I’m not by myself, the other lads are still in Sydney, but I’m here with my fiancée Eilidh." I said, smugly.
"WHAT?" Georgina screamed.
"Yes, my fiancée Eilidh, we got engaged while on holiday in Vanuatu." I said, still standing next to Eilidh.
"Well, good luck to both of ya. Dad, I’m gonna go and wait outside for ya." Georgina said, before leaving.
I followed her out.
"Georgina, what was with that?"
"What was what? Nicky, I
didn’t expect you to be back, let alone engaged to someone
who you only met in NZ a few weeks ago."
"You thought that I’d be in Sydney, while my mam lay in
a hospital bed, not knowing what’s wrong with her. Be
realistic, my mam is the most important thing to me, I
couldn’t be on the other side of the world, while she was in
hospital."
"You’ve obviously got your priorities. Seems I wasn’t as important as your family."
"Yep, my family comes before everything, even the band. Georgina, I’m glad I’ve met Eilidh. She taught me so many new things that I’ve never knew before."
"Are you finished? I’d rather not know about your sex life or whatever she’s been telling you." Georgina said, walking away.
Soon, Bertie Aherne came and they left without a word. I walked back to the room.
"Nicky, are you alright?" Mam asked.
"I don’t know, I thought a talk with Georgina would settle the dust between us, but it hasn’t."
"Nicky, Georgina isn’t the easiest person to get along with. Why don’t you just forget about her, and concentrate on the fact that you’re getting married to a wonderful person." Mam replied.
"Mam, you are so right, I don’t need Georgina, when I’ve got Eilidh." I said.
Soon, we both left with Gill, who offered to drop us home.
Days later, Mam came home, and there was a welcoming dinner. Eilidh and I went, and for the first time in weeks, we felt happy about being seen together in public. The Irish press keep their distance on us, we didn’t mind the press taking pictures of us.
I didn’t keep the fact that I was engaged a secret. I felt that I needed to be honest with the fans, though most fans thought that I was marrying Georgina. I explained that me and Georgina weren’t exactly in love with each other and that we had split about a month ago.
The fans made Eilidh feel welcome, and when the fans saw us together, they didn’t come up to us, they left us alone. But they did come up to us, if we were with the other lads. They respected our private lives, and we were grateful for that.