Work Text
There weren’t as many Irish families living in the neighborhood where The Lucky Clover stood as there had been in Sean’s grandparents’ day. Throughout the years the area had become more diverse, and now boasted a cornucopia of customers representing many different countries.Sean enjoyed walking into the diner and seeing people of all colors and nationalities sitting at the counter or at tables and booths, enjoying good food and good conversation. He loved getting a hello wave or a “Hi Sean!” from regulars, some of whom began coming in when his parents were in residence, and others who’d only discovered the diner after he had taken over its management.Today being St. Patrick’s Day, the diner was filled with the aroma of corned beef and cabbage. Most of the regulars preferred the more traditional diner food, things that were on the customary menu, but corned beef and cabbage at The Lucky Clover on March 17th was a tradition that Sean enjoyed continuing in honor of his parents and grandparents. Plus he loved the dish, and enjoyed treating himself to it once a year.To Sean’s delight, Elijah, who had never tasted corned beef and cabbage, tried it and loved it. Along with falling in love with Sean, he’d also fallen in love with all things Irish, especially St. Patrick’s Day. He loved decorating the diner with cardboard cutouts of shamrocks, leprechauns, pots of gold and green bows. Sean considered it a lot of trouble for one day, but Elijah enjoyed doing it, so Sean didn’t try to dissuade him. After all, if an establishment named The Lucky Clover couldn’t wear the green on St. Patrick’s Day, it wasn’t worthy of the name.Elijah had even dressed for the occasion., having sent away for a special shirt to wear. As he was bussing a tabletop, Mrs. Flannigan, a regular customer who with her husband was enjoying her own plate of corned beef and cabbage at the next booth, remarked, “I like your shirt, Elijah.”“Thanks. I bought it just to wear to work today.”
“It’s a great shirt,” Mr. Flannigan agreed, “but yours says Kiss me, I’m lucky. Isn’t it supposed to say Kiss me, I’m Irish?”“I’m not Irish,” Elijah replied, “but I am lucky.”Mr. Flannigan looked puzzled. “Then why wear it on St. Patrick’s Day?”Elijah smiled. “Because I’m in love with Sean, the most wonderful Irishman in the world.”“And that makes you lucky?” Mrs. Flannigan asked, charmed by Elijah’s easy declaration.Elijah shook his head. “No, what makes me lucky is that I know Sean loves me just as much as I love him.” He picked up his dirty dishes, offered the couple a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day,” then brought the tub into the kitchen.When the Flannigans went to the register to pay their check, Sean noticed that Mrs. Flannigan, who always had a smile for him, looked uncharacteristically somber, as if she was upset about something. Perhaps she’d had a fight with her husband. He wanted to find out what was wrong, but even though they were regulars, he couldn’t bring himself to ask anything so personal. Instead, feeling the need to say something, he asked, “Was something wrong your dinner? If you didn’t enjoy your corned beef, there won’t be any charge.““Our meal was wonderful, Sean, as always,” Mr. Flannigan assured him.Since it was obvious that Sean had noticed something was bothering her, Mrs. Flannigan said, “It was just something Elijah said while he was bussing the table next to ours.”Sean’s first thought was that Elijah had broken a dish or glass while clearing off a table and uttered some of the profanity he was prone to using. “Elijah’s language can be a bit colorful at times,” he offered, “but if he said something to offend you, I’m sure he’d be happy to apologize.”Mrs. Flannigan managed a wan smile. “He didn’t offend me, Sean, but he did almost make me cry.”Taken aback, Sean said, “I don’t understand.”“We were admiring Elijah’s shirt,” Mr. Flannigan explained.The mention of the shirt made Sean smile. “He’s really embraced St. Patrick’s Day,” he told them.“When we wondered why his shirt said lucky instead of Irish,” Mr. Flannigan went on, “he told us that he wasn’t Irish, but he was in love with you, the most wonderful Irishman in the world, and he was lucky because he knows you love him just as much as he loves you.”Mrs. Flannigan said, “We’ve seen the way you two look at each other. It’s obvious how much you care for each other, but to hear him say he loves you, to see that love illuminating his face while he talked so honestly about you, it was such a romantic moment that it almost brought me to tears.”Upon hearing her words, Sean thought he might shed some tears of his own. “I’m just as lucky to have him in my life,” he told her. “Maybe I’ll get one of those shirts for myself, and next St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll both wear them.” As the Flannigans paid their check, Sean added, “Thank you for sharing that moment with me.”After the Flannigans left, Sean went into the kitchen looking for Elijah, whom he found standing by the sink. Placing his hands on his young lover’s shoulders, Sean turned Elijah around to face him. Then not seeming to care that they were surrounded by kitchen staff, took Elijah’s mouth with his.Surprised by the openness of the gesture, Elijah stepped back and asked, “Fuck, Sean, why did you do that?”“I was just responding to the invitation on your shirt,” Sean teased.“No, really, why?”Sean said gently, “Because today I was reminded just how lucky I am to have you in my life. Maybe I do have the luck of the Irish, or maybe it was just fate that brought us together, but whatever the reason, I want you to know that this Irishman is never going to take what he has with you for granted.”“Especially not on St. Patrick’s Day,” Elijah wisecracked.Sean shook his head. “Not on any day,” he promised.Once he was back behind the counter, Sean realized that The Lucky Clover’s neighborhood may have changed in some ways, but in others, it had remained the same. Caring, accepting people like the Flannigans still lived there. Sean was grateful for them, and to show that gratitude, when the couple came into The Lucky Clover again, he planned to give them their next meal on the house.