Love, Rosie (111 page)

Kevin
and
Dad

Cecelia
Ahern

Something
must
be
in
the
water
over
there
in
Ireland
because
I
just

received
an
e-mail
from
your
son,
my
little
brother
Kevin—yes
Kevin,
the

guy
who
never
keeps
in
touch
with
family
unless
he
needs
to
borrow
money.

He
was
writing
to
tell
me
that
Dad
had
written
to
him
and
he
was
worried!

Did
you
even
know
that
dad
could
lick
a
stamp?

Anyway,
Kevin
must
be
having
some
sort
of
quarterly
life
crisis
or
he’s

just
going
soft
because
he
sent
a
present
for
Jean-Louis,
the
most
adorable

little
booties!
But
don’t
tell
Kevin
that
he
threw
up
on
them.
It
was
a
nice

gesture
anyway.
The
buying
of
the
boots,
not
the
vomiting
over
them.

Kevin
also
mentioned
that
Dad
was
talking
about
Billy
Rogers
again.
He

told
me
about
him
too.
Is
he
OK?
I’m
assuming
he
is
just
feeling
very
con-

templative
now
that
he
has
entered
a
new
era
in
his
life.
Now
at
least
he
has

time
to
think.
The
both
of
you
have
worked
so
hard
all
your
lives.
Now

Kevin
your
baby
is
gone,
Rosie
and
Katie
are
gone,
I’m
gone,
and
the
house

is
finally
all
yours.
I
suppose
I
can
understand
how
it’s
difficult
for
Dad
to

get
his
head
around
it.
You
were
both
used
to
a
house
full
of
screaming
kids

and
bickering
teenagers.
When
we
finally
grew
up,
along
came
a
crying
baby

and
you
were
so
good
to
help
Rosie
out.
I
know
it
was
hard
for
you
finan-

cially
too.

Kevin
mentioned
something
about
Rosie’s
job;
I
don’t
want
to
call
her

until
I’ve
heard
from
you
about
it.
Let
me
know.

from
:

to
:

subject
:

Mum

Stephanie

Re:
Kevin
and
Dad

You’re
absolutely
right.
I
think
your
father
has
a
lot
of
thinking
to
do

and
enough
time
in
the
day
to
do
it
now.
I
love
having
him
home!
He’s
not

rushing
off
all
the
time
or
thinking
about
a
problem
at
work
that
needs
to
be

solved
while
I’m
trying
to
have
a
conversation
with
him.
It’s
like
he’s
all
here

love,
rosie

171

with
me
now—body
and
mind.
I
felt
that
way
too
when
I
left
my
job
but
I

suppose
it
was
slightly
different
for
me.
I
already
went
part-time
at
work

when
Katie
was
born
to
help
Rosie
cope.
It
didn’t
seem
like
such
a
drastic

change
for
me
when
I
eventually
left
the
job
completely.
But
your
father
is