It’s National Irish Coffee Day!
Recipe:
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 jigger Irish Whiskey (1 1/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons)
Heavy Cream, Slightly whipped
And with it comes a Sylum Snippet for Sinead … Ernesto/Andrew (I actually had this pairing requested twice – so another will pop up)
Believe it or not I’m only 9 behind after this one! Go me!
It was late in the evening, and the weather was still cold for mid January. The Vatican was hosting an International Committee of Catholic Bishops to discuss social issues that the Catholic Church had been dealing with the past few years. These conferences usually happened in summer, around with the responsibilities of Advent and Lent. This year Lent was later than normal, Ash Wednesday landing in March so a conference was scheduled for late January.
His Holiness looked exhausted, most of the staff was exhausted, but he knew it was bad when his Mate stalked across the Basilica with a rare show of irritation. Kiernan was always calm, he rarely let his anger get the better of him. It was part of his job as an Exorcist. He had to keep control, calm and rational when dealing with what most feel is nonsense and horror stories. A few times Andrew would let the mask drop and let Ernesto see the pissed off Irishman, but most of the time it was him calming the irate Italian down.
Ernesto wasn’t shocked that Andrew was annoyed, one of the main topics of discussion was the ‘abortion’ issue in Ireland. There was a lot of ranting and raving about saving the ‘babies’ and would the Irish Catholic Church for once stop doing its own thing and listen to what the Vatican was telling them.
Andrew slammed his hand down on the table, then stood giving each and every member a hard stare. ‘First off I would like to point out, that no one in this room is qualified to have this discussion. Every single one of you are men, over the age of sixty and don’t have sex. You have no idea what it’s like being pregnant, how to raise a child or how to even feed your family when there is no jobs. You live in rectories, fed by the communities, and any of your expenses is paid by the Church. And I’ll pretty much bet at least one of you hypocritical arseholes as gotten some nice girl pregnant and didn’t do a thing but judge her for dealing with the situation.’
Ernesto’s eyebrows had gone somewhere near his hair line, and he could see at least a few of the Swiss Guards eyes widen slightly. A quick side glance to His Holiness, to see his reaction. Pius was leaning in his chair, not hiding the smirk or his small nods of agreement. Well he’s going to have to bring back the damn food taster.
Monseigneur Kiernan finished off his speech with a few choice Gaelics word, ending with one he was familiar with póg mo thóin.
‘I think it would be wise if we concluded for the day, and pray on what our true intentions are.’ Ernesto escorted Pius out of the meeting, back to his rooms. Though he wanted to make sure his Mate was okay, his job was to make sure His Holiness was taken care of. They had a small late meal, a discussion about the conference, Pius not surprised he had a least a dozen messages and emails, wanting to know why the Monseigneur was even in the meeting he wasn’t a Bishop! ‘What was next just bring in any common or garden old Irish Priest.’
‘Have they met anyone from Ireland, I’ve never met a common old Irish Priest. Maybe they should remember the last Pope was Irish.’ Ernesto pointed out as he shuffled the Pope off to bed like a child or at least that was what Pius was complaining about when he actually crawled into bed.
Ernesto had gone downstairs to the Vatican Police Headquarters, slumping down into his own chair to take a few deep breathes. There were moments he really wanted to just throttle some of the Bishops, but it wasn’t his place well at least not at this particular time. He woke up his computer, blinking at the information that suddenly appeared about a few of the Bishops, hell Kiernan was right about at least one hypocritical asshole. He saved the information, looked up quickly how to make an Irish Coffee for his Mate, not surprised a recipe popped up on his phone.
The men didn’t say anything as he fixed the coffee, adding a few extra tablespoons of Whiskey into it. “Going for a patrol?” Paolo asked pointing towards the to go cup of coffee.
“The Monseigneur had a rough day.”
“I heard he laid in to the old guys.” Chartrand grinned as he leaned against one of the walls. “Not that they didn’t deserve it.”
Ernesto slipped on his heavy coat, grabbed his gloves and scarf. “Not our place to say, though if we want to get our point across we can let loose Isabella.”
Pierre snickered. “Our job is to protect them, not send in the assassin.”
“We can do both.” Ernesto patted him on the shoulder. “Speaking of, she’s working to hard take the night off and make sure you both get some rest.”
Chartrand gave a quick nod, then went back into his office to shut down his computer and grab a coat. Ernesto waited for him, as they walked up the stairs and out of the offices, then parted ways to find their wayward Mates. Ten minutes later, Ernesto was stalking back across the square towards the Basilica, since his Mate wasn’t in his hovel or secret Archive. The last place he would be, was releasing his anger in the form of prayer, usually at the feet of St. Michael.
When he stepped inside, he was not surprised to see Pius in his pajamas and robe, holding a rosary while he walked the empty building. Ernesto stood there until the Pope was on top of him. “Didn’t I tuck you into bed an hour ago?”
“I’m not a child.” Pius countered, though couldn’t quite hide the guilty expression. “I need some time to pray, and it’s always quiet here. Andrew is with St. Michael, I’ve been keeping an eye on the two.”
“Well let’s hope he hasn’t called the wrath down from heaven to smite the assholes. They like him, and likely would come.” Ernesto sighed, gave His Holiness a pointed look, who ignored it and wandered back off, falling back into his prayers. Ernesto could see at least two sets of Swiss Guards nearby, so at least he had protection.
He found Andrew where he expected on his knees in front of St. Michael deep in prayer. He didn’t miss the fact he had his Irish rosary in his hands.
“They don’t allow food or drinks in the Basilica.”
Ernesto grinned, “I have an in with the boss.”
Andrew stood, giving a small smile to his Mate. “I apologize if I have caused any problems for Pius in the essence for you.”
“The Pope is fine. I’ll deal with idiots my way. I brought you an Irish Coffee. Not the one with that sweat cream stuff, but good coffee with whiskey.” He held out the cup, smiling softly.
Andrew slipped his rosary into his pocket and grabbed the coffee, he popped the lid took a smell, laughed at the strong whiff of whiskey then took a few sips. “Thank you.” He reached out squeezing Ernesto’s hand. “I normally would’ve called St. Patrick.”
“Actual call or sit in prayer?” Ironically, it was a legit question.
Kiernan laughed lightly, then took a few more sips. “Prayer. But the Vatican doesn’t have a statue for St. Patrick, and believe me I’ve tried for centuries to get one. They also don’t have one for the latest St. Patrick. The Vatican has always had problem with the Irish Catholic Church.”
“Well maybe I should bring it up with my boss.” Ernesto glanced over to see Pius still wandering.
“It’s not worth the budget for a Food Taster.” Andrew wasn’t really joking, which was the sad part of it. “But thank you. Not just for the coffee it’s perfect, but for being here.”
“There is no where else I would want to be. Except maybe in bed with a few dozen blankets, exploring Ireland.”
Andrew rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the smirk. “Well how about inviting me up for coffee.”
“I got to get the kid in bed, then we can do just that.”
I love these two when they are just being together or when they are on the warpath together.
Great snippet! I love Ernesto and Andrew — those two are an absolute hoot together!
Ernesto saying “I’ve got to get the kid(Pius) to bed…) almost had me spewing my coffee across the living room.
Pinkie was NOT amused!
Loved it!
—Naj 😀 😀
Loved it. It’s such a good glimpse into their lives again.
Thank you!
Great snippet! Don’t drink coffee myself. Hate the stuff. I do put whiskey in my hot tea though! Great for a cold!