The kissing kind

[Colm Gallagher III]

"Mummy! Mummy! Look mummy! Look what I made mummy!"

Colm Gallagher III--the Third--ran into the living room waving a drawing back and forth. He skidded to a halt with a scream of fright as a pair of hands grabbed him from behind and hefted him into the air. CoCo struggled and kicked--the way that grandad taught him how--to wiggle free.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GOOOO! GRRR!" Then, a familiar laugh rang out and he found himself enveloped in a big warm bear hug. "Uncle Danny!!" CoCo twisted his head and there was Uncle Danny, grinning away at him. "Where's mummy?"

"JuJu me auld son!" Uncle Danny ruffled his hair fondly and pressed a yucky big kiss to the top of his head, and then set him down. "Yer mother's out in the garden."

A little primly, CoCo smoothed his hair back down.

Uncle Danny was the kissing kind, and the only one in the family, aside from mummy, who was. Mummy gave him soft pecks on the nose when he did something good like put away his toys. Daddy put a warm hand on top of his head but he wasn't the kissing kind. (CoCo only saw him kissing mummy once, and when they noticed him, daddy suddenly had to go and check on the car.) Grandad gave him pats on the back when CoCo did a particularly good job in training. Uncle Paddy... he wasn't very affectionate, but he smiled when CoCo ran to greet him. Uncle Paddy was away a lot, too, so CoCo was extra pleased to see him whenever he came home.

"What's that ye've got, eh?" Uncle Danny took possession of the drawing and scrutinized it. He tilted it, then turned it, then turned it again, then pulled it closer and pushed it further away. "Is it a... plane?"

CoCo pouted. "No! No! It's mummy!"

Uncle Danny's brows lifted. "Ahh... Mummy has propellers for arms, has she now?" He laughed his hearty amused laugh and reached down to ruffle up CoCo's hair again. "It's a grand auld drawing, lad. Just grand. Why, I remember when your Uncle Niall used to draw too."

CoCo's indignation turned into interest. He followed Uncle Danny to the couch and sat beside him, swinging his legs widely. "Uncle Niall? Did he like drawings too?"

"Yes, he was always one for the drawin' and the paintin'. He used to spend hours out in the fields with his silly sketchbooks and pencils." Uncle Danny smiled as he inspected the picture again. "Ye've no idea how hoppin' mad it made yer grandad to see him gallivantin' away with his friend, instead of trainin'."

Uncle Niall's friend was Uncle Ken. CoCo had heard stories about them from Uncle Danny, about how they used to hunt together and how they did everything together. He understood that they were close, and he remembered Uncle Ken as being very tall and very blond. They met only once, at a funeral, and CoCo shyly introduced himself when daddy made him. But of course, Uncle Ken was a stranger then and CoCo had to call him Sir, and shake his hand and be a proper little gentleman. The Gallaghers were always gentlemen, after all.

They were Important People and Important People had to be so polite.

"How come grandad got mad at Uncle Niall? He likes my drawings..." CoCo's drawings were well-received by his grandfather. His grandmother even put one up on her fridge door--the one he drew of a blue sun and purple trees and grandad and grandma and him and mummy and daddy and Uncles Danny and Paddy.

"Ahh." Uncle Danny's smile turned a little funny. "Your grandad likes proper good little lads, and your Uncle Niall... he was an unholy terror." He laughed again, the same genial laugh. "Did I ever tell ye about the time he threw a bucket of cow dung at yer Uncle Paddy...?"