Her name never seemed like much of a problem, on the contrary. He loved the meaning and the legends behind this, he felt part of something that had distant and secular roots. His mother, originally from Ireland, had only chosen him specially once Maeve was born.
The Irish Queen Maeve was a woman of confident character and fighting for her ideals, she even possessed an extreme intelligence and beauty. It was considered the bridge between the two worlds, the link.
Maeve never hated her name like that. A blonde woman standing on the first step of the house kept her eyes on the girl and had just pronounced her name with a firm tone of reprimand. Maeve had no idea what time it was, but surely dinner time was long past.
"Aunt I'm sorry, I got Charlie ice cream."
May raised an eyebrow and looked at her puzzled.
"Do you think I was born yesterday by any chance, honey?"
Maeve tried to open her mouth but her aunt, ignoring her, went down the last steps keeping her eyes on her.
"No, don't answer, I don't want to put you in some kind of punishment or anything. - said the adult doing a hand gesture - I had your age too you know, I know exactly what it's like to make the first dates with a guy, to invent excuses to come back late and.. Did you get the lemon ice cream?"
The niece nodded with a veil of confusion on her face, which made May smile. The aunt immediately continued to speak as she searched in the messy drawer next to the oven for a spoon suitable for her snack after hours.
"Oh well, we said? Oh yes, I know what it's like to have a boyfriend, sneak out, do things you shouldn't do at his house e-"
Maeve opened her eyes.
"No no no, you've got it all wrong."
The girl continued to gesticulate for several minutes as her cheeks turned scarlet. May, meanwhile, chuckled his spoon into the ice cream.
"Look, it's normal. Don't be a goody-goody now, what do you think? Didn't these things happen in my day? I'm not that old."
And it was true, May wasn't very advanced in years. The well-groomed look could make her look even younger than she really was. The blond hair was always the best hairstyle and the face was not at all marked by the years.
"So when can I meet him?"
Says the grown-up with her mouth full of lemon ice cream.
At that moment, Charlie ran down the stairs screaming and wearing over his pajama pants a colorful skirt belonging to his older sister.
"Who? Who? Who?"
Her aunt took her in her arms, giggling softly, and sat her over the central kitchen counter as she stroked her hair so similar to hers. Charlie had taken most of the physical details from his mother: the fleshy mouth, the light eyes and the hair of a very light brown. May was very similar to their mother and so the youngest of the sisters found herself to be the mini copy of her aunt.
"Maeve's little boy, Charlie." said the adult by feeding the little one with a spoonful of lemon ice cream. Charlie pulled out his tongue and made a disgusting face.
"Auntie's not like that, I'm not seeing anyone," she immediately tried to explain the girl.
May wasn't gonna listen to you. He took out of the oven off the plate that had kept them warm and laid it together with the cutlery in front of his niece. Maeve sighed resigned moving with a fork the cheese pasta that had been in front of her.
It always ended like this, her aunt was not only stubborn but always convinced she understood what her niece was going through and ended the conversation with examples of her youth or adolescence.
Charlie came down from the bar with his portion of strawberry ice cream and ran into the living room and then sat on the carpet.
"Hurry up, it's late and I'll have to put you to bed soon, you little brat," May said to the little girl who had already turned on the television trying to buy time before being taken to bed.
The kitchen had been meticulously decorated by May; the red walls were in contrast to the white furniture and appliances. It was difficult for the grandchildren to convince their aunt to install a small television in the room as it would be the second of the house, despite the aunt's complaints, but they had succeeded and now, that, was in front of Maeve.
Bright white, the blue background of the screen featured the inscription: "Warren Walsh elected the new President of the United States of America."