Ann Carr (22 page)

Epilogue

“Where’s Ewan?” Elizabeth shuffled towards Duncan who was sitting hunched over in a chair near the large fireplace.

“Outside showing off his new sword skills to Richard!” he said laughing over his shoulder in her direction.

“Oh! Richard’s here!” She spun around as quickly as her nine months pregnant body would allow her to move.

“No ye don’t!” Duncan reached out a long arm to stop her tearing off outside, “come sit with me!” he pulled her onto his waiting lap.

“But I haven’t seen Richard for so long now!” she moaned, wriggling a little in protest.

“
Dinnae tease me so sweetheart” and Duncan let out a moan of his own now, which elicited a laugh from his wife. Wrapping her arms around his neck she planted a loud kiss on his lips. Duncan’s arms wrapped automatically around his wife’s round waist and he rested his cheek against hers, both content to just sit and hold each other, savouring the peace of being together.

“Mama!” both parents cast adoring glances down at their eighteen month old daughter, “I knew it wouldnae last!” Duncan whispered good naturedly as he bent down to lift little Margret Grace onto his lap. At first Duncan had been more than a little shocked by the appearance of his daughter, having been firmly convinced that the baby would be a boy. His wife on the other hand had lain back against the pillows with a tired smile and a teasing “I told you so!” on her lips. He would never forget that day.

Elizabeth watched Duncan tenderly cradle their daughter on his lap, she would always remember the look on his face when he had first been handed his daughter to hold, one of utter disbelief. He had almost been too afraid to touch her in case she broke in his large hands; it had taken weeks and weeks before he had felt comfortable even being around her. Now, they were inseparable, everywhere Duncan went little Margaret wanted to follow and heaven forbid anyone who stood in her way, which was usually Elizabeth herself.

“Mama!” the little girl threw herself over Elizabeth, wrapping her short, chubby arms around her mother’s neck before giving her a very sticky kiss. Duncan bent across to tickle the girl before lifting her to relieve the pressure from her mother’s extended tummy. All three were laughing when they were joined by Ewan and Richard.

“Richard!” Elizabeth exclaimed and jumped out of Duncan’s lap straight into her brother’s arms. “Let me look at you?” she fussed over him. Richard hadn’t returned to England, he had spent the past two years since that incident with Henry, training to be a warrior under the hands of Malcolm. He now lived and fought alongside the men who he had once called his enemy but who now were his friends and family.

“Let the man breath Elizabeth!” Duncan chided, slapping the younger man on the back in greeting. “Just ignore her; she gets fussier when she’s pregnant!” Duncan joked, stepping back to avoid the swinging arm his wife sent in his direction.

“I see she’s still trying to get the better of you old man!” Richard joked back, sending a grin towards his sister.

“And most of the time succeeding!” he threw his arm over his wife’s shoulder and they exchanged silent looks of communication with each other.

“Do they do this often?” Richard said in a loud aside to Ewan.

“Too much!” Ewan declared conspiratorially, but secretly he didn’t mind it when his father and mother hugged each other or whispered gently to one another. He loved seeing his father so happy and he thought the adoring glances they shared with each other were sweet, though he’d never admit that to anyone!

“Hey Maggie!
Want to come to Uncle Richard?” he held out his arms to his little niece, taking her out of the protective hold of Ewan. “Well Elizabeth!” he declared studying the girl, “she looks more and more like you every day!”

“Mm, she’s going to be a little heart breaker when she’s older!” Duncan chucked her under the chin.

“She’s definitely going to keep her father busy chasing away all of the suitors that come calling!” he teased.

“Don’t Richard!” Elizabeth chided, “He already has nightmares about that as it is!” They all burst out laughing, even Ewan, who at ten didn’t really understand what they were talking about. Still, causing trouble for his father was always an idea that he liked the sound of!

“Are you staying for long Richard?” Elizabeth waited eagerly for his reply.

“No. I must leave tomorrow!” he didn’t like disappointing his sister but couldn’t help it this time.

“Anything I need to know about?” Duncan questioned astutely. Usually when Richard came to visit he would spend a number of weeks here at one time. The fact that he wasn’t this time, especially when he would have another little niece or nephew any day now made him suspicious.

“Henry’s once more on Scottish soil. Apparently he’s up to his usual tricks, he’s holding a castle under attack this side of the border” Richard tried to make light of the situation, he didn’t want to upset his sister, knew Duncan was likely to kill him if he did!

“No! No Duncan!” Panic was entering her voice.

“Who’s going down?” he ignored his wife’s outcry for the moment.

“Malcolm’s taking most of his men; we’ll be joining forces with three other clans before we reach the border country.”

“So I’ll not be missed if I sit this one out?”

“Duncan! Do you really mean that?” Elizabeth threw herself into his arms, tears forming in her eyes.

“I wouldnae leave ye to bring our next daughter into the world alone!”

“Son!” she automatically corrected. “Thank you! I know how much you want to meet him on the battle field!”

“Not as much as I want to be here with my family” he reassured. “If Malcolm needs extra men then he can take some from here. I’m sure Colin and John will be eager to go with ye!” he offered. Richard accepted, and watched the other man closely for any signs of regret, when he saw none he breathed a big sigh of relief. He’d been worried that his news today might have caused trouble between his sister and her husband, but evidently Duncan was more than content to stay behind with his family.

On a yawn Elizabeth decided to leave the men to their discussion. "I'll see you all later. Right now I'm going for a nap before I fall asleep right here standing up!" she turned, "I trust that the three of you can somehow manage to look after the baby for a little while" With very firm assurance ringing in her ears from all three men Elizabeth left the room in search of her bed.

“Where’s Elizabeth?” it was Richard who raised the question as they sat eating their evening meal. Little Margaret was already sleeping safely in her bed.

“Probably sleeping!” Duncan said unconcerned, used to his wife disappearing to her bed at odd times of the day. Still he called over one of the serving girls and asked her if she knew anything of his wife’s whereabouts. It was her reaction which sent the adrenalin shooting through his body.

“Oh Master!” she exclaimed, “I thought ye would have heard! Lady Elizabeth’s having the baby! The midwife is up with her now!” The last of her sentence was shouted towards his retreating back as he raced blindly to Elizabeth’s side.

Richard and Ewan shared smiling glances with one another, both remembering how Duncan had almost fallen apart at the birth of little Margaret. Richard didn't really fear for his sister, she was tough and he was sure would pull through, his brother-in-law, however, was a different matter altogether. Unable to contain it any longer their loud bellows of laughter followed Duncan up the stairs and to Elizabeth's side.

Duncan burst through the bedroom door only to be thrown out of it just as quickly, though not before he had given Elizabeth a hasty kiss and a quick squeeze. She looked beautiful he thought, working hard to bring his child into this world. Even now after more than two years of married life he still couldn’t believe his good luck in having found her. Before Elizabeth, he had never believed this degree of happiness existed, but his wife had a knack for changing his opinion of things.

Stuck outside of the room, away from the action and feeling pretty useless, Duncan resorted to pacing. He lost count of the number of times he walked up and down the long hallway, too lost in his own thoughts and prayers for him to care. But already the morning sun was peeking through the windows when eventually the
door opened. He searched the midwife’s face for any sign of what she was about to say, but he couldn’t read it. “Tell me!” he blurted out when he could stand it no longer.

“Your wife and son are both going to be fine. But she needs her rest!” she admonished to an empty hallway, but couldn’t help the chuckle on her lips.

“Elizabeth!” Duncan raced to her side, her tired eyes glowing at him filled with her love.

“We have another son Duncan!” she grinned up at him as he sat down on the bed beside her.

Looking down at his son, Duncan could only shake his head in wonder, lost for words. When he looked back up at his wife his breath caught in his throat as he saw the tears fall from her eyes, all he could do was reach out and catch them in his hand.

“I love you so much!” she managed to get the words past her own constricted throat.

“I love you too!” and he took her into his arms as if he’d never let her go.

When they could manage to speak again he murmured huskily, “I really thought the baby would be another girl!”

“Maybe the next one will be”.

“No!” he all but shouted, “no more! I
cannae go through this again!”

Elizabeth only smiled in reply; she knew she could convince him to change his mind when the time was right. Now all she
wanted was to sleep. Sensing this Duncan took the baby out of her arms, "sleep sweetheart, I'll be here when ye wake up" and on that whispered promise she fell into a deep, rejuvenating sleep. And when she eventually woke up hours later he was right there beside her.

             
--The End--