"Neil! It'z been so lon' since ye cam' 'ere." An elderly woman came to the counter with a grin on her face.

"Sorry, Nana, hae been busy widh work." Neil gave her a lazy smile.

"Ah, nonsense! Enjoy yer life while ye er youn'. Ye can work when ye get old." They both laugh and Neil joked she was young and blah blah blah while I was internally screaming.

Fergus!

I didn't know why, but the thought of meeting Finlay's father scared the sh*t out of me.

"Nana, thiz iz Amber." I traced out of my thoughts into reality and saw the woman looking at me.

"Tha i brèagha." I blankly stared at her when she said it. "A bheil i Ameireaganach?"

That's not English.

"Tha i," Neil replied with a grin.

My brows dipped in confusion, and I glanced at Finlay, who was trying to understand what they said.

"An i do leannan?" Nana asked, wiggling her brows at Neil.

"She's asking him if you're his girlfriend," Finlay said, interpreting her words. Neil was about to open his mouth, but I beat him to it.

"No. I'm not." My lips curled into a grin as they looked at me, stunned. "I'm his sister-in-law."

"Ye can speak Gaelic?" Neil blinked his wide eyes at me.

"No," I smirked and glimpsed at Finlay. "But I can understand it... A little."

I had no idea Finlay could speak Scottish Gaelic but I'm glad I wasn't in oblivion.

"Nighean Ameireaganach a thuigeas Gàidhlig!" The woman clasped her hands with a proud grin. "Finlay iz so lowky to hae ye!"

Now that was my turn to be surprised. Neil told me he and Finlay used to come here a lot when they were kids and that's how she knew him. He told Nana to make the special, and she winked and left us.

"What was that?" I asked skeptically.

"Prepared to be amazed." Neil beamed.

• • • • •

"This is beyond delicious!" I screamed with my mouth full.

At first, I thought Neil was exaggerating, but after taking my first bite, I was floating to heaven.

"Told ye." Neil chuckled at my reaction. "It'z Cranachan. Finlay an' mah favorite. We used to eat only thiz whenever we cam' 'ere."

I licked the spoon and watched a ghost smile appear on Neil's face as he stared at his ice cream.

"You were really close," I asked, more like a statement.

"We were." He grinned. "So Gaelic? Ah was surprised ye ken it."

"Uh yeah... Not much though." I stuffed my face with ice cream, avoiding answering him. "Where did you learn from?"

"Majority of the ancient people 'ere only speak Gaelic. It'z nawt common in the new generation." He circled his spoon in the ice cream cup. "Ah wasn't interested in it either, but Finlay waz. Finlay iz a total geek, an' he iz into mythology so much that he learned Gaelic because of itz ancient history. He asked Granny to teach him an' seeing him so engrossed in it, ah learned it with him."

"You like to copy your brother?" I teased him.

"More like ah admired him." He gave a sweet smile that made my heart ping with... Guilt? The way he talked about his brother made me think again about my suspicion of him.

"Considering you are half brothers-"

"There waz ne'er 'half' between us." He cut me off him with a grin that looked so much like Finlay.

Neil and Finlay were so alike, even the way they talked and sat was exactly the same. The only difference between them was their eyes and beard. Finlay had his mother's blue ocean eyes and a clean shave while Neil got their family's brown ones and a short box beard.

"The only half between us is the size," Finlay said out of the blue, making me choke on the ice cream.

"Woah easy." Neil patted my back. "Awright?"

"Fine." I shot Finlay, who sat next to me with a smirk on his face, a glare. "I just thought what Finlay would have said over that."

"Naw," Finlay said in a warning tone, but I ignored it and flickered my eyes to Neil.

"Whit?" He frowned.

"The only half between us is the size." Neil blinked at me in silence, then burst out laughing.

"You didn't have to tell him that," Finlay grumbled, and I shrugged, eating my ice cream.

"That waz the exact thin' he said to meh when we were kids." Neil cleaned his watery eye with his finger. "Bloody hell, those were the days."

"So Neil, are you tiny?" I darted my eyes down and then back at him.

"Obviously naw." He grumbled. "Ah'm the same size as him."

"And what that is?" I asked in flow, not realizing it was inappropriate to talk about the sizes with my brother-in-law.

"Ah'm sure ye already ken that Amber..." His voice became teasing as he glanced at the ring on my finger. "Since ye er hiz fiancée."

"Right..." Finlay tilted his head at that. I avoided eye contact with both of the brothers and ducked my flushed face.

Neil doesn't need to know that I have done nothing with his brother and I will not give Finlay the satisfaction of seeing me blushing at that.

"Ah can't believe ah doubted ye to be hiz fiancée," Neil said, and I thanked god for switching the topic but got confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He haz alwayz been into redheads, so it shouldn't be a surprise."

"Angus also said that." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"He just got the idea be'cause they were in the same year in high school, but he doesn't ken the story behind it."

"Story?"

"It'z a secret between brithers." He winked.

"Seriously?" I threw my hands in frustration. "You're going to leave it like that?"

"If ye dinnae ken, then ah think he should tell ye this himself."

"I would have gladly asked him, but you know... he's not in the condition to talk."

"Awright." He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Ah guess it'z fair."

"Now go on."

"It waz a long time ago, but a cute story." He smiled. "Finlay told meh he once saved a little girl's life. She waz drownin' in the lake..."

Wait... That's...

"He told meh it waz a miracle she waz alive because she wasn't breathin', but then... Ah'll quote his words 'She rose like a Phoenix'."

"Uh..." I dropped my head to my side.

That's why he called me Phoenix!

"Ah ken. His obsession widh mythology." He chuckled lightly. "Ah still remember how animated he looked when he talked about that girl." Neil paused, then looked at me. "Ah mean, it was a long time ago."

"If you think I'm going to be jealous because of his childhood love, then please don't think that and continue."

"He fell in luv eidh her and they became friends. But he had to com' 'ere after hiz mither died. He waz hell-bent on going back an' marryin' her one day."

"If he loved her then why he dated redheads here?" I felt a little ping in my heart but ignored it.

"After a while, maybe he gae up on the girl because... It waz yearz later an' who kens whit the girl waz doin'? So he dated a few redheads but it ne'er worked for him."

"The last I know of Finlay was with a blonde." My teeth gritted when I thought of that bit*h.

"He never dated blondes." Neil frowned and then shrugged. "Must be a quickie."

Bingo.

"Of course." I finished my ice cream. "You don't know the girl's name?"

"He told meh, but ah forgot." He wiped his mouth with the napkin.

"I'm impressed he was looking for his Phoenix in New York," I said, eyeing Finlay.

I remembered him calling me that. Maybe he used it on every redhead to see if she was the one or not.

"One ne'er forgets hiz first love." Neil beamed, then panicked. "But obviously he forgot since he met you-"

"Oh, he did not," I smirked. "But I appreciate you sharing that story with me."

"Ah hope he will nawt kill meh when he wakes up." Neil shook his head as we got up.

"Don't worry brother I won't," Finlay answered with a smile on his face. He looked delighted to know the story.

So was I.

• • • • •

A/N

Hi!

It's me!

I'm the problem it's me!

A little filler chapter but we needed to spend some time with our brother-in-law 😉

Do you think Neil is behind everything?👀

And I wish I could speak Gaelic 😭 but since I don't here are the google translation of the above phrases.

Tha i brèagha.
She is beautiful.

A bheil i Ameireaganach?
Is she American?

Tha i.
she is.

An i do leannan?
Is she your girlfriend?

Nighean Ameireaganach a thuigeas Gàidhlig!
An American girl who can understand Gaelic!