Don't Let Me Fall Again

Chapter Three - Good Morning

After James eventually downed the pint of Guinness, which he enjoyed, we all gathered around the makeshift dance floor that was pulled out in the middle of the living room. My nanny was in the corner of the room with her old friends, clapping their hands together in line with the music, and my Auntie Nora was talking to our little band about the dances we were going to be doing, so they knew which tempo to go along with. When they had everything sorted, Nora turned around and spotted the Americans.

‘Right, let’s get you lot paired up,’ she said, walking over to us, ‘Laura, you go with Ryan. Sinead, you can go with James. Scott with Gráinne, Sam with Máire, Drake with Hannah, and Kyle with … Hmm … Well, Kyle, you can just pair with me, because Ciara’ll be going with Shane. Now, girls, we’re going to teach the boys how to do their one-two-three. Lads, stop playing the music for a minute while I teach them,’ she told the band, grabbing Kyle’s hand and bringing him to the centre of the dance floor. ‘Okay, so we do it like this. Everyone watching carefully?’

A few of the boys mumbled a ‘yeah’, looking embarrassed to be the centre of attention. Nora took this as her queue to continue. ‘So, to start off, you need to learn how to stand properly. Turn your feet out as much as possible, putting all of your weight on your left foot. Put the heel of your right foot in front of the big toe on your left foot. If any of you did ballet when you were younger, I think this is the fifth position. Pull your shoulders back and down. Make your neck long, chin parallel to the floor. Keep your arms by your side and make fists with your hands. No, no, no, Scott, you never bend your knees, and always point your toes. Right, girls, you do the starting position and then, lads, you copy off them. I’ll just walk around and see how you’re getting on.’

When she had inspected everyone’s starting stance, she told us girls to do our basic ‘one-two-three’ step. Making sure that Ryan was watching me, I pointed my right toe in front of my left foot, stepped on it for a moment, and then I stepped on my left foot as I lifted my right foot and placed it behind my left foot. Although it was extremely simple to me, Ryan looked like he was lost.

I laughed. ‘Okay, step one is just pointing your right toe and stepping on that foot. Good, now for two, step on your left foot, and then for three I want you to bring back your right foot and put it behind your left foot. That’s it. But you have to do it quickly,’ I told him, demonstrating again. ‘Look, one – two – three. When you’re stepping on your left foot, that’s when you bring the other one back. Oh, and your right foot has to go up to knee level when you’re bringing it back … You’ll get it over time, but it’s pretty easy … Just copy off me.’

When he had perfected his basic ‘one-two-three’, I began to teach him how to do it properly. ‘Right, so you do what I’ve just taught you, and then you do it again, but you switch feet. So, after you’ve put your right foot behind your left foot in the first one-two-three, the next step is to step on your left foot, then on your right foot and while you’re doing that bring your left foot back behind your right, and then step on your left foot again. That’s your second one-two-three, and then the third one-two-three is the same as the first one-two-three …’ I said, doing it for him. ‘Oh, this is so hard to explain …’

Ryan grinned. ‘I actually think I’m getting it …’ he said, and then he did it – perfectly.

‘Ryan! Well done! Oh, I’m so proud of you!’ I said, giving him a big hug. It was crazy how happy I felt just because he learned his first Irish dancing step … Must’ve been the hormones …

‘I think I deserve a special treat tonight for doing so well,’ he smirked, whispering in my ear.

I blushed. ‘We can’t. Remember?’

He looked around, checking no one was watching us, and patted my tummy gently. ‘Ah, yes, how could I forget? Oh well, I’ll suppose I’ll have to just get used to cuddling for the next few months,’ he laughed. ‘It’s all worth it, though.’