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I chuckle, nodding to the two babies playing on the floor. Even though Gracie is five now and walking around just fine, and usually loves to run, walk, and jump outside, she seems to have regressed a little in the four months since Fergus was born. “They’re learning things together.”
“Like this, see!” Gracie says, even as we watched.
She’s holding little Fergus’s legs in the air, moving them to the side to show him how to roll over.
“Careful with him,” Finlay says, hurrying closer.
“I won’t hurt him, Daddy,” Gracie says, her big blue eyes wide as she takes in the state of her father’s clothes. “Mummy’s going to tell you off.”
“She already has,” Finlay grins. “Come on, then. Give me a big kiss and a cuddle!”
He moves toward the children as if to scoop her up and hold her against his mud-stained front, and Gracie screams, getting up and dashing away to the far side of the kitchen. Baby Fergus is wide-eyed and unsure, but he opens his chubby hands and chuckles when Finlay laughs.
“Alright, you!” I say, making a shooing motion and smoothing down my apron. “Out of my kitchen. You’ve got thirty minutes until dinner is ready, so don’t dawdle.”
“I’ll be back down in fifteen,” Finlay says, carefully leaning over to kiss me on the forehead. “Hamish is taking the tour over to the village for dinner. I don’t think we need to worry about them returning to the guest rooms until after eleven.”
“Alright,” I nod. I’m glad we decided to start doing more tours to show people how the land can be if we start to remove human influence – or, at least, its negative side.
Interest in conservation has increased in the area, and we are also making a good income from our eco-tours. We have already paid off the small amount of remodeling that had to be done to ensure our family’s rooms could be kept private from those being used by our guests.
That’s a step I’m honestly surprised didn’t happen during Finlay’s father’s days when hunts were common. “Go on, then.”
Finlay stands and stares at the kids, watching Gracie come back to her brother and continue gently playing with him.
“Sorry,” he says, giving himself a shake. “Sometimes, I just can’t take my eyes off them. Oh – is everything set for your parents next week?”
“Yes,” I say, ticking things off with my hand. “Their plane tickets are confirmed, they’ve got their passports updated, and I’ve cleared the week in our diary. It’s lucky that dad’s retirement coincides so well with this gap in our books.
“I’ve also got all the project work up a week in advance, so we don’t have to think about that while they’re here, or else we’d have to leave them to babysit every day and not actually see them.”
“What about food?” Finlay asks. “Do you want to hire Vince for the week?”
“No, mom and I will take care of it,” I say, waving a hand. “And I thought we could go to Tom’s restaurant one night. To celebrate in style.”
“That’s a great idea,” Finlay grins. “I’ll call Tom and see if he can book us in. I’m sure he’ll do it, even if he’s fully booked.”
“Well, not right now,” I say, shooing him out of the kitchen again. “Shower! Change! You’ve only got twenty-five minutes now!”
Finlay grins, kisses me again, and makes one last dash at Gracie to make her squeal before he disappears.
I look at our children for one long moment when he’s gone, just like he did.
He’s right.
It is hard to look away from them, sometimes.
I had the same feeling after Gracie was born.
Even when I was exhausted and Finlay would take over to watch her so I could sleep, I always lingered for one moment longer to admire our baby’s beautiful, angelic face.
Even though I’ve been here before, with Fergus, it’s just the same.
It was hard to believe we produced such beautiful, well-behaved babies. So calm and playful, Gracie is always looking after her brother.
A sudden sharp cry from Fergus alerts me to the fact that Gracie dropped his legs too fast.
“Sorry,” Gracie exclaims as I rush over, dropping the spoon on the counter as I rush over to pick up Fergus.
