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(I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that reads and comments. I've been writing stories like this one for years and this is the first one I've thrown out there for people to read, and I'm having fun with it. Oh if only the story was a true story ... sigh!)

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The city was beautiful with rows of white houses with black roofs, narrow streets and kegs stacked everywhere. This is my heaven. The day after arriving in Ireland, Sidney and I walked through the town, hand in hand in silence. There really was nothing you could say about how beautiful Kilkenny was. We turned the corner and my eyes lit up when I saw the St. Francis Abbey Brewery, home to Ireland's oldest ale, Smithwicks. "Oh wow, look at all those kegs," Sidney laughed dragging me toward the brewery. Just behind a chain link fence there were probably thousands of kegs stacked five high. He started to drag me inside but I planted my feet firmly on the ground, not moving. "What's wrong?" Sidney asked looking at me. "Nothing, this is amazing. They've been brewing here since 1710, did you know that? 300 years of beer. This is like the mecca to me," I laughed still staring up at the high tower in front of me. Sidney didn't say anything and just looked up at the building with me. "'Ello, you here for the tour?" a gentleman with a very, very thick Irish accent asked walking out to greet us. "Yes, we are, I'm Sidney and this is my girlfriend Avery," he introduced us. "Ah yes, we've been waitin' for ya! I'm Shea, come on inside!" he smiled and we followed him into the brewery. He took us straight into the tasting room and sat us at the bar. "Well we start with the beer and then work backwards here, so here we go," he smiled pouring two pints. "So you two American?" he asked setting the beers down in front of us. "I am, he's Canadian," I smiled before sipping on my beer. Oh, delicious! "Babe I'm sorry, but this might be better than your beer. You can hit me for that," Sidney laughed. "Your beer?" Shea asked raising an eyebrow. "My father founded Red Hook back in the states, and I just opened a brewery in Pittsburgh," I smiled before drinking some more Smithwicks. "Well congratulations, it's a great business to be in," Shea smiled. "Yes it is!" Sidney laughed.

Shea walked us through the whole brewery and it was a thing of beauty. We ended up back in the tasting room for one more beer. "Thank you Shea, I know Avery already knows everything about beer, but she never really explained it to me," Sidney laughed clinking his glass to Shea's. "You never asked," I smiled. "We better get going babe, we have a two hour drive ahead of us," Sidney smiled as he stood up. "Two hour drive? Where are we going?" I asked as I stood up. "Limerick," he smiled and Shea perked up. "Limerick you say? You should go to The Bank, it's a pub downtown, ask for Jimmy tell him I sent you. He'll set you up," Shea smiled before shaking our hands. "Will do, thanks for everything Shea." We walked back to our hotel, checked out and headed to the car. I climbed in and Sidney looked at me and started laughing. "You driving?" he asked. I looked down and realized the steering wheel was in front of me. "Sorry, I forgot," I started as I climbed out, "having you drive though makes me nervous. I know how you drive, but now we're driving on the other side of the road." I started laughing. "I'm a good driver," he snapped. "Yeah sure Crosby. Anyways, why are we going to Limerick? I thought we were spending the whole week in Kilkenny?" Sidney started the car and started tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. "You're not going to tell me are you?" A big grin came over his face and he shook his head.

Our two hour drive quickly turned into a four hour drive as we stopped almost everywhere on the way to take pictures and pick up souvenirs, and had a few minor arguments when it came to directions. The sun was starting to set and Sidney pulled down a long road with very large hedges on either side of the road. We turned a corner and a beautiful castle came into view, half of the establishment was covered in vines, and the landscaping was beautiful. "Wow Sid, what is this place?" "This is where we're staying, I forgot what it's called," he laughed. We parked the car and before we could even get out, the staff had water for us, our luggage out of the trunk and a valet waiting for the keys. Impressive. We walked inside the castle and it took my breath away. I looked up and around and everything was so beautiful. I'm falling in love with Ireland. "Welcome to Adare Manor, do you have reservations?" The beautiful woman behind the desk asked us. Would I look good with red hair like that? Sidney handed her his ID and she began typing into the computer. "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Crosby, I hope you enjoy your stay," she smiled and handed us a key. Mrs. Crosby? We followed the bell hop and Sidney leaned down and whispered in my ear with a chuckle, "hello Mrs. Crosby." "Yeah what was that about?" "When I made the reservations I kind of told them it was our honeymoon, they threw in some extra perks," he continued to laugh. The bell hop stopped in front of large double doors and stepped aside to allow Sidney to open the door. We walked in and it was probably the same size as my house. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to call," the bell hop said before leaving. Sidney picked me up in his arms and started walking around our suite, trying to find the bedroom. "Oh try those doors," I laughed pointing to the closed double doors. He opened the door with his foot and we were greeted to a huge canopy bed covered in rose petals with a bottle of champagne resting in some ice. Sidney let me down and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Well Mr. Crosby, what are we to do on our honeymoon?" He placed his hands on my hips pulling me into him. "Anything you want Mrs. Crosby," he smiled before he began to kiss my neck. "You better stop calling me that, I might get use to it." He picked me up and laid me down on the bed, slowly taking my shirt off. "What if I want you to get use to it?" Before I could even open my mouth he was on top of me kissing me.

I rolled over in the bed and wrapped my arm around Sidney's waist. "Good morning," he mumbled and I could only smile, resting my chin on his shoulder. "What are we doing today?" I asked as he turned onto his back to look at me. "I thought we could head out early and go see the cliffs that are about a hour north of here, then come back and drink," he smiled before kissing me on the lips. "Cliffs of Moher?" I asked. "Yeah that sounds familiar. Anything you want to do?" I turned my body so my head was now resting on his chest, looking up at him. "I think I want to get a tattoo," I smiled tracing my finger over his collar bone. "A tattoo? Really? I never knew you wanted one." "I've been wanting to get one for a really long time, and I know what I want, this might be the right time and right place to get one." "What do you want, and where?" He asked running his fingers through my hair. "A claddagh, and I want it somewhere where I can see it, like my wrist," I smiled taking his hand and kissing it. "What does the claddagh stand for, I never did know. All I knew was that you wore one on your ring finger," he chuckled. "Loyalty, friendship and love. It use to be my grandmother's. She was 100% Irish, so that's probably where I get my fight from," I smiled before climbing out of bed to get ready.

The cliffs of Moher were overwhelming, the highest point standing seven hundred feet over the Atlantic ocean. I began to chuckle and Sidney gave me a confused look. "It feels funny just knowing two weeks ago we were on the other side of this ocean looking this way," I smiled grabbing hold of his hand. "That's kind of cool," he smiled turning me around so we could take yet another self-portrait of ourselves. We hung out at the cliffs for two hours, having lunch there before heading back to Limerick. "Hey look there's that pub, The Bank," Sidney pointed out to me. "Jimmy right? That's who we're suppose to ask for?" I asked laughing. "Yeah, and oh hey look at what I just found," he smiled parking the car across the street from a tattoo shop, just a few shops down from the bar. I jumped out and became very excited. I dragged Sidney inside and there were three men sitting at a counter looking through magazines. "'Ello, what can I do for ya?" the first guy asked getting up from behind the counter. "I want to get a claddagh tattooed on my wrist," I said a little worried about what he might say. "Oh, I would love to do that for you, come on now," he smiled taking me to the back. Half way through the tattoo I could see Sidney looking around the shop. "You want a tattoo now don't you babe?" I asked laughing. "I don't know if I do or not," he smiled walking over to see the progress on mine. "Wow that looks awesome," he smiled. Twenty minutes later my tattoo was all done and we left heading down the street to The Bank.

The bar was definitely a very cool one, and it was explained to us that the building was an actual bank from the late 1700's up until 1999. We sat down at the bar and I could tell Sidney was really enjoying himself on this trip, he wasn't Sidney Crosby the hockey phenom, he was Sidney Crosby the tourist. "Hi, we were told to find Jimmy," Sidney shouted to the bartender. "I'm Jimmy, who sent ya?" he asked with a goofy smile on his face. Everyone is so damn friendly here. "Shea down at Smithwicks," Sidney replied. "Ah yes, the lady brewmaster! He told me to expect you two, everything is on me tonight, anything you want," he stated shaking our hands. "Well then, we'll take two Guinness' to start and the starter platter appetizer," Sidney order. "Hey," I said to Sidney and he turned and looked at me. "What?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "Everytime I look at this tattoo now I will think of Ireland and of you," I smiled before giving him a big kiss.

We spent the rest of our time in Ireland just slowly getting back to Dublin for our flight home. I didn't want to leave, and this was the first time in a long time that I was truly happy. I knew Ireland was somewhere I would come back to over and over again. I held onto Sidney's hands with my sweaty palms as we sat at the airport. "Have your Valium ready to go?" he asked laughing and I nodded my head. "Sid, do you have to go to New York? This week has been amazing and I just want to sleep in bed with you for the next week catching up on the sleep we didn't get here," I smiled laying my head on his shoulder. "I wish I could do that too, but it's only a week, look at how fast this week went by. Just promise me you won't let Max trash our house," he laughed. "Oh I'll kick his ass, you don't have to worry about that." On the plane I thought I would try and not take my Valium but as soon as we took off I sprung into my purse trying to find my bottle, I pulled it out and quickly took a pill. "Hey babe, try not to molest me this time, okay?" Sidney said laughing. I shoved him with my elbow a bit and just waited for the craziness to begin. Thirty minutes later I tossed my head onto Sidney's shoulder. "Ready to talk eh?" he asked laughing. "Do you know what I love the most about your physical appearance?" Sidney began to laugh a little harder and set his magazine down. "What?" "Your belly button, it's an outie, I always wished I had an outie," I smiled placing my hand on his stomach. "Do you know what I love the most about your physical appearance?" Sidney asked laying his head on top of mine. "Hmm . . . " "Your nose," he answered and then kissed the top of my head. My head rolled back onto my chair and I closed my eyes. "Hey Sid, will you marry me?" I felt him grab my hand, tangling his fingers with mine. What did I ask Sid again? How come he's not answering me? "Nuckin' halium," Sidney mumbled. Nuckin' halium? What the hell? Nuckin', luckin', suckin', truckin' . . . what? Halium? What's halium? I began to giggle, "nuckin' halium," then quickly fell asleep.

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(just a little side note, that's my newest tattoo, i'm very proud of it. =) )