Not everyone's Saint Patrick's Day was as noisy and "big" as Bazooka and Sabine's. Many simply more quiet nights, which included Richard and Bennie. They didn't go through the same lines from Project Phoenix, but the fact that they were both Iraq War vets had ultimately lead to some meetings here and there that the two had found interesting and lead to some sense of friendship. Some of their stories had shared experiences and issues that they'd endured, Richard's being his addiction to pain killers and Bennie being the loss of his legs. Both had also agreed that Project Phoenix had been a great thing. It even allowed for their respective mates to meet.
"And you say there are four in there?" Mariana asked to Clara as she looked to the Mountain Lion Animalian's rounded middle with a small but curious smile.
"That's what the doctors have found," Clara answered, "It has Richard and I very happy."
The two nodded and looked over toward the living room where Bennie was setting something up on the television with Richard standing nearby and with a fair number of Project Phoenix volunteers from various turns sitting on couches and chairs. Clara thought she could see some trays sitting on folding tables to allow them to snack on some things. Bennie had said something earlier of enjoying a movie that his family had always watched on Saint Patrick's Day.
"So what about you and Bennie?" Clara asked, "Have you thought of children?"
"A bit," Mariana smiled, "but it won't be as many as four. Orca generally only give birth to one calf at a time. But when the time comes, we will be a happy pod."
"Okay guys, it's ready!" came Bennie's voice from the living room.
Clara and Mariana then moved an entered the living room. Both moved to stand by their respective mates as they entered. Mike and Mary were seated on one couch and casually feeding each other bits of corned beef from the servings on the tray in front of them. Eugene and Melanie were seated on the couch with a couple of plates of smoked salmon. They had their wings cloaked in a way that they rested on their backs and it was only their feathers that might bend slightly against either the couch back or the seat of the couch. Karen and Micheal were seated in other chairs nearby. Both noticed the television screen showed the image of John Wayne standing beside a reddish haired woman standing together with the words: "the Quiet Man" written on the screen beneath them.
"So... what is this?" Clara asked.
"It's an old John Wayne movie," Bennie answered, "something my family has always watched for the holiday. John Wayne plays a boxer who's come home... to Ireland... in a act to find peace after the end of his boxing career."
"Finding peace sounds good," Richard commented, to which Bennie nodded.
"Didn't John Wayne do westerns, though?" Mike asked.
"Primarily," Eugene commented, "along with war movies... they are what John Wayne is best known for. But, "the Quiet Man" isn't a bad movie and does fit some of the common parts of John Wayne movies... in that he made the movie with a guy who was a heavy weight boxer in real life."
"And seeks peace in this movie?" Clara asked.
"Pretty much," Bennie answered.
"And you watch this every Saint Patrick's Day?" Karen wondered.
"Pretty much," Bennie nodded, "It beats just getting hammered in some bar or obsessing over pinching people because they aren't wearing green. It's something that let has let our family enjoy all things Irish and enjoy in peace and quiet..."
"Then let's watch," Mariana said to her mate before giving a few clicks, "we're all friends and surely it'll be enjoyable."
Bennie smiled, and with that, he hit the play button on the remote.