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Ella
“Good morning, dearie. How are you feeling?” Beatrice asks. It’s the same question she’s asked me each morning for as long as I can remember.
“I feel wonderful, Beatrice! How could I not? Alasdair is home, and he is well. Can you believe it? I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming!” I reply with giddy excitement.
“I knew he would come back to you, love. Now, tell me what he said when you told him he’s going to be a father.”
My stomach swirls with butterflies when I remember him discovering the truth before I could tell him. I truly did not know I was showing enough for him to notice, but clearly, I was wrong.
“Well, he sort of…found out without me telling him.” I laugh at Beatrice’s confused expression. “Apparently, I’m showing more than I thought I was.”
“Ah, I see.”
“But, to answer your question, he is beside himself with excitement. He doesn’t care if it’s a girl or a boy; he is simply thrilled beyond words that we will soon have a baby. Though I must say, it certainly brought out the…how do I say this… manly side of him.” I laugh at the thought. “If you can imagine a more manly side to Alasdair Stewart! He was very pleased with himself, havingplanted his seed,” I boast with an exaggerated brogue.
Beatrice and I fall into a fit of giggles, not only from my sarcasm but because there is so much to be happy about, it is easy to laugh freely and soak up the joy of the moment.
Just then, an abrupt knock sounds at the door, and in walks the subject of our humor.
“Good morning, ladies.” Alasdair pauses and lifts one brow. “Why do the two of you look like ye’ve been conjuring up mischief all morning?”
Beatrice almost chokes on her embarrassment as she turns away from Alasdair’s inquisitive glare, mumbling and coughing as she makes her escape through the opposite door.
“That was a blatant admission of guilt if I ever saw one,” he says through a glorious smile that tickles my insides.
“Yes…well, you may have just caught the cat with the canary.”
“Aye. And something tells me you fed it to her,” he retorts with another raised brow.
Laughing aloud, I agree. “You’d be right, again, dear husband. But, not to worry, we were only discussing how manly you are.”
“Is that so? And do I need to blush the next time I see Beatrice?”
I give him a small peck on his lips. “Maybe a little.”
“So ye’ve been tellin’ yer lady’s maid how I please ye in the sheets, have ye?” he asks, then teases me with a deeper kiss.
“Perhaps. But it had more to do with how pleased you are that I am pregnant. I don’t know if you are aware, but it seems to bring out a different side of you—” I pause to kiss him again. “a side I must admit, I like very much.”
“’Tis good to hear, faerie maiden. You seem to bring out my baser instincts, turnin’ me into a feral beast wi’ yer wicked spells.” His accent thickens, and he nips at my neck playfully, making me laugh harder.
“Stop! That tickles!” I say through the giggles. “Is this why you came in here, to torment me?”
“As much as I’d like to say yes, simply because I love to hear the sound of yer laughter, I actually came here to say thank you.” His tone becomes serious with his admission.
“Oh? What are you thanking me for?”
“Come, let us sit,” he says, guiding me to the sofa in our sitting area. Once we are comfortable, he begins again. “I just had a meeting wi’ Douglas. He told me what ye did fer my father.”
“About taking him to the forest?” I ask.
“Aye. He said it was a beautiful gift ye gave him. He believes my mother was there to guide him home.” He stops then as the emotion thickens his voice and glosses his eyes.
“She was. I could feel her presence. I think your father could see her, Alasdair. It truly was quite beautiful.” I stop as my own emotions overwhelm me.
Alasdair leans forward and pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly. I can tell he’s crying, so I squeeze onto him to let him know that it’s alright to let go. We stay that way for several long minutes until his arms loosen and he pulls away.
“I can’na thank ye enough for that, Ella. It does my heart good to know that is how he left this world. She was everything to him. He loved her since he was only a lad, and he was never quite the same after she died. Not only did my heart break because I had lost my mother, but it broke for my father, as well.” He stops to wipe the tears from his eyes. “They are together now, with my brother. That is what matters.”
