*
Six Months Later…
Galkirk
Lowlands of Scotland
Merry lay inthe bed, stroking her enormous belly, unable to believe how large she had already become, when, according to her and Jenny’s calculations, the baby shouldn’t come until close to the end of December. “I am bigger than your horse.”
“Nay, love. Ye are perfect. Perfect in every way.” Duncan kissed the mound of their child, then rested his cheek against it, smiling as the little one moved, making her middle roll and shift like a mountain housing a sleeping dragon. “What a fine, braw lad he is. Look how strong!”
“Or a lassie,” she gently corrected him, even though she felt certain that she carried the next Marquess of Kirkston. “What will you doif we have a little girl?”
“Love her as much as I love her beautiful mother.”
Proud of him for tamping down his fears—or, at the very least, not voicing them—she combed her fingers through his dark hair as he rested his head on her middle. “I love you,” she whispered. “So very much.”
“I love ye more, my own, more than ye will ever understand.” He lifted his head and gave her a tender kiss. “Ye healed my heart and soul and gave me a happiness I never thought I would know.”
“You are going to make me cry.” She blinked faster, batting away the tears.
“Nay, dinna cry,” he said softly in that deep Scottish brogue of his that still made her heart beat faster. He kissed her again, then gently brushed her wild, disheveled hair back from her face. “We only allow happiness in this house, ye ken?”
“They would be happy tears.” She trailed a finger along his jawline, tickling her way through the dark stubble. Something had been troubling her for a few weeks now, and her heart nudged her that it was time to help Duncan prepare. “You remember Remy and Gwynnie? Grace and Wolfe’s twins?”
“Aye.”
“Well…before they were born…Grace became quite large with them.”
“Aye, she would. What with carrying the two bairns rather than the one.” He went still, staring at her for the span of several heartbeats before shifting to stare at her belly. “No.”
“I am not certain, mind you, but it is a possibility. After all, you were a twin—and just look how enormous I am, and it just being September.”
He rose from the bed and started pacing; the lamplight set his glorious nakedness aglow. “Two,” he kept muttering while raking his hands through his hair. And then he halted and turned to her. Evenfrom across the room, she saw the terror in his eyes. “There canna be two. Two doubles the danger.”
Well, there wasn’t much they could do about that now, but she couldn’t very well say so. He had handled his fears brilliantly thus far. She prayed he would find the strength to hold fast. “Two also doubles the love.” She pushed herself upright and sat back against the headboard. “Grace was fine, and just look at your mother. She brought forth you and your sister.”
“There canna be two,” he repeated.
“As I said, I am not certain.”
“I shall order the midwife from the village fetched.” He wildly flung his hands in the air. “Or that man from Edinburgh. Mother mentioned him at dinner. That accoucheur fellow. Surely a man educated at Edinburgh could tell us.”
Dear heavens, her champion was panicking. She could hear it in his voice. She patted the spot beside her. “We have plenty of time. This is just September. Come back to bed. Please?”
“There canna be two,” he said for a third time. “’Tis but one. A braw, healthy son who’ll come forth ready to ride his first horse.”
Perhaps she shouldn’t have shared her suspicions and left him in ignorant bliss until time for the babes to be born. Ah well, she couldn’t exactly un-ring that bell. With a heavy sigh, she patted the bed again. “Come to bed.”
He finally relented and returned, but didn’t lie down. Instead, he sat back against the headboard beside her. “We’ve naught but the one cradle.”
“We have time.” She snuggled against him, smiling as the babe orbabeswithin her rolled and stretched. She took his hand and rested it on her belly. “See? We need you close.”
“I wish I could protect ye,” he whispered, “all of ye.”
“You do. Just by being here, you protect me more than you know.”
“I will always be here for ye.”
