The Fourth Life of Sean Donoghue by Trish Hanan (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

do you tie them up like that?” she asked; a hint of disapproval in her voice. Sean grinned.
“Ah, lass, the wee ones tend to wander away at night and camped near the water like we are; I’m afraid of them falling in and drowning. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and find one of them floating dead in the water,” he explained and she shivered.
“That’s a good idea,” she decided. They all went to sleep and she wondered what on earth her rash behavior had gotten her into this time. Oh, well, she decided she would stay a couple of days, a week maybe, enough time for William to realize how much he loved her and then he would rush to find her and take her home.
The next day on the water the scenery was so beautiful she forgot all about William and her great plan. And when they reached Donoghue Valley and she saw the waterfall, Claire gasped with awe.
“Oh, my God, its so beautiful here, why on earth would anyone leave?” she asked as he helped her from the boat. Sean smiled down at her.
“I wonder that myself, lass,” he said. He walked her to his house and she was amazed at the size of it.
“My God, you must be rich,” she exclaimed and then blushed because that was rude of her to mention. He grinned again.
“I do alright,” he informed her and they went in and he introduced her to Sally, Carrie and Bill. The two women welcomed her warmly and fetched coffee and took the babies from Sean. Bill followed him out to help unload the boat. Then everyone was busy taking baths and putting stuff away and she was shown to a nice room on the second floor and all of her new clothes and things were brought up.
“What a lovely view,” Claire looked out her window at the waterfall and the houses below. Their house was up high and she had a marvelous view. Then she remembered that the grandfather had called Sean, General Donoghue and she grinned thinking she was living with a real live hero. William was going to be shocked and amazed to find out his wife had run off with the hero of the Revolution. Claire changed her dress and went down to dinner.
Dinner was a happy event with both children in chairs and seated around the table and the help sitting with them, which Claire had never heard of but she thought it was nice. She had never heard of putting the food on serving platters and bowls and putting them in the center of the table and then passing them around but it worked fine so she just smiled and passed the food like everyone else did.
“What is a library anyway, Granddad?” Sally asked when the serving was finished and they were eating. Everyone looked at Sean which confused Claire, she thought the woman was talking to one of the old men. Sean smiled at her confusion.
“All the people call me Granddad, Claire, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, it’s a family thing,” he explained and she nodded. Then he looked at Sally.
“A library is a building that has a lot of books in it like a bookshop,” he informed everyone. “Only instead of buying the books, you borrow them; check them out by filling out a little card and giving to the person in charge of the library. Then when you finish reading the book you take it back and the librarian takes the card with the book’s title and your name on it and crosses your name off. And then you can find another book and check that one out.” They all nodded. Then Ryan frowned.
“Well, what happens when a person doesn’t return the book and they keep it?” he asked. Sean nodded.
“When you don’t return a book, say in two months, then the librarian knows who checked that book out and when. They just come to your door, it’s a small town and they ask you for the book back,” he told them. “And of course you have to pay a fine for the book being late. If you can’t find the book, if you’ve lost it or if the book’s been damaged, then you have to pay for it, because then the library has to buy another copy of the book to replace it.” They all nodded, it sounded reasonable to them.
“What a marvelous idea, did you think of that yourself?” Claire asked him. Sean shrugged.
“I read about it in a book and thought we should have one here, everyone’s been donating all of their old books and I’ve bought a hundred more, now all we need is a librarian,” he said. She clapped her hands.
“Oh, I want that job, can I be your librarian?” she begged, forgetting in the excitement that she would be leaving shortly. He shrugged.
“Ah, lass, if you want the job, it’s yours,” Sean told her and she smiled. He grinned.
“We’ll start building the shelves tomorrow and you can start categorizing the books as soon as we get them all in here,” he informed her and she grinned back.
“I love books,” Claire spoke with enthusiasm. Sean nodded.
“That’s two of us, darling, I love a good book myself,” he said and the two brothers beamed.
After dinner it was time to get the boys washed up and ready for bed. Sean did that, he loved the bath; both boys loved to splash around and get him wet. Then it was diapers and a story and off to dream land. Sometimes he would just sit in the rocker and hold them in his arms breathing the scent that only wee little ones had. They were only this small once and he knew just how fast the years raced away.

Chapter Four - A New Wife and A New Start

When he returned to the front room everyone had retired to their rooms so he turned off the lights, leaving one night light so no one would trip in the dark going to the bathroom and went to his room. He had taken a bath earlier so he didn’t need another so Sean settled in with a good book and was lying on the bed enjoying it when he heard a little tap on his door and it opened a bit. Thinking it one of the brothers coming in to talk he didn’t look up but merely called out.
“Come on in, lad, I’ll be with you in a second, let me finish the page,” he said and kept on reading. A woman’s voice replied.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you, maybe I should come back another time,” Claire said and started to close the door. Sean was off the bed in a shot and opened his door wider.
“Ah, lass, don’t leave, I didn’t know it was you, please come on in,” he said and she walked in, bold as she could be. He admired her spunk.
“Mr. Donoghue,” she began. He held up his hand.
“I thought you were going to call me Sean, darling,” he said charmingly and she blushed. Then she began again, pacing a bit.
“Sean, I think we have a misunderstanding here,” she informed him. He raised his eyebrow.
“We do?” he asked calmly. She nodded.
“I like my room, it’s a very lovely room,” Claire said but then added in a firm tone, “But I was under the impression that we were going to be living in sin. How much sin can go on with me sleeping upstairs and you sleeping down here?” Her green eyes sparkled with a challenge Sean couldn’t resist. He held out his hand and when she took it tentatively with her own, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. She gave a little whimper. Sean smiled down at her.
“You’re absolutely right, lass, I’ve neglected you shamelessly, please forgive me,” he said softly and he bent down and lightly brushed his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and groaned. Her arms came up and wrapped around his strong neck and he kissed her again and again until she began to swoon. Then he lifted her up into his arms and carried her to his bed. Claire didn’t even feel her clothes being removed, or his, just the hot touch when their naked flesh touched and then she gasped with the wonder of it.
“Oh, my, I never felt like this with William,” she sighed. Sean laughed.
“Whose William?” he teased. She shook her head.
“Who cares, do that again,” Claire implored and he did. When his head moved down to the soft red curls at the top of her milky white thighs she gasped with shock. Surely he didn’t mean to kiss her there. Her body arched with pleasure when Sean’s tongue found the spot that no man had ever touched before. She thought she would surely die from the thrill of it and the old men in the room next door heard her cries.
“Sounds like the two young people are getting better acquainted,” Ryan remarked as he rolled over in the dark. Danny snorted from his bed.
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” he said and giggled. Ryan giggled too.
“You do notice that they’re in his room so she must have slipped down the stairs and knocked on his door,” Ryan said in a pleased tone. Danny nodded.
“I noticed that too. I like that in a woman, its boring when you have to be the one who’s always asking for sex, makes you feel like you’re begging sometimes,” he commented. His brother nodded.
“Chris and I made love every single night we were together,” Ryan bragged. Danny snorted.
“Of course you did, you both were men, men are always horny,” he stated. “It’s the women who are the ones who are always too tired or it’s that time of the month.” They both shuddered at that thought.
“I’m so thankful God made me a man,” Ryan declared. Danny agreed.
“Me too, Ryan, me too,” he said and then he asked, “I’m cold tonight, why don’t you come over here and snuggle with me?” Ryan nodded and he climbed out of bed and climbed in with his brother. It was something they’d been doing lately, whenever one of them was cold, they would snuggle up together like they used to when they were wee boys. They liked the feel of another body in bed. After being married for so many years sometimes it was hard being alone, especially in bed.
“Goodnight, Ryan.”
“Goodnight, Danny.”
In the other room, Claire