The Blessed Blend (22 page)

Euan spoke up. “I’m certain yer grandmathair and mathair and female kin might hae it planned tae make ye a fine gown,” he opined. “Perhaps ye should consult wi’ ‘em so as not tae cause offense.” He kissed Callie’s brow. “But I’ll buy ye a gown fit for a queen if ye wish.”

Callie smiled and said, “Maybe I’ll make my own dress, Mr. Wallace.” She grinned wickedly and added, “Or maybe we should book the ceremony at a nudist colony so we don’t have to worry about what to wear!”

“Are ye oot o’ yer bloody mind?” he growled playfully. “I’m the only mon who gets t’ see ye naked!”

“And here I was hoping to make all of the other girls jealous when they got a good look at you!” she teased.

“An’ start a bloody war, will ye?” he laughed. “Och, ye’re a wicked lass!”

“You knew that the first time around, Euan Wallace,” she cooed. “Did you expect me to change?”

“Nae, lass, I like ye joos’ the way ye arre.”
   

Callie smiled before a shadow fell across her face. “I wish your parents did, too,” she said softly. “I don’t want them to cause you grief.”

Euan cupped her cheek and caressed it with his thumb. “They’ll cause us nae any grief,” he said, “If they canna accept this love we share it’ll be their ain choice an’ their ain problem. I’ll nae let it bother me or ye.”

Mountain Rose asked, “Daddy, why don’t our other grandparents like Mama? Won’t they like us, either?”

Hoisting her up, he replied, “Lass, m’ parents divide the world intae those who hae wealth an’ power, an’ those who doona. Those who hae it, they see as worthy of respect. Those who doona, they dismiss as worthless. Your mathair’s family doona hae wealth an’ power, sae they see her as bein’ beneath m’ social station. D’ ye ken tha’?”

Mountain Rose knit her brows and frowned before shaking her head. “No, Daddy,” she answered. “I don’t get that at all. What’s a social station? I know what a train station is.”

Euan kissed his daughter’s brow and said, “Lassie, social stations are things people make up to separate themselves from other people so as tae appear better than everyone else.”

“That’s stupid,” observed Red Wolf. “We’re all just people.”

“Exactly!” Euan exclaimed as he lifted his son up with his other arm. “Och, but oot o’ the mouths o’ bairns comes such wisdom as the world should heed.”

Callie nodded and said, “Nobody’s better or worse than anyone else. But I won’t put up with anyone on either side of the family trying to stick their noses in where they don’t belong.”

Euan agreed and bent to kiss the crown of Callie’s head. “Aye, lass. It’s us for
ootthrou siccar
!”

For Euan and Callie the days were filled with work and family. Repairs and renovations were implemented, livestock tended to, larders stocked, and hams and sausages smoked. Craft items were made to be sold over the internet or to boutiques in Sneedville, Morristown, Gatlinburg, and Knoxville. Matters relating to business or family were discussed over meals, and evenings were spent reading, singing, or playing games.

Nights were spent in each other’s arms. After the children were put to bed, Euan and Callie
tended
to each other with gusto. Euan found it difficult to keep his hands off Callie during the day, and even the thought of her was enough to give him an arousal of nearly painful urgency. Aware of this fact, Callie often teased him shamelessly, giving him knowing looks or brushing against him intimately in ways that were obviously no accident. They played little games of seduction with each other that kept the sparks flying until they fell into bed at night with their fires burning out of control.

There were monthly community socials where folks gathered to eat, dance, and play music. It only took attending the first one for Euan to find that mountain music and dancing, with its strong Celtic roots, were much to his liking. He also discovered that while Callie excelled at singing it, she couldn’t dance to it any better than she had the Scottish music at that first ceilidh.

She wasn’t much of a sport the next morning when he teasingly asked, “Hoo is it tha’ ye hae suich gude rhythm in bed an’ still canna dance?”

Callie shot him a withering glare and offered a suggestion as to where he could go and what he could do with himself before stalking off like an angry cat. A short time later, Jim asked who had pissed her off.

“Why do you ask?” Caleb replied.

“She’s out there splitting firewood,” Jim stated.

“What’s so unusual aboot tha’?” Euan asked.

“Come take a look,” Jim answered.

The men all came around the house and looked towards the wood pile. Callie was swinging the maul like a lumberjack, splitting foot-thick logs with one stroke. Mike D whistled and observed, “That ain’t splittin’ wood. That’s splittin’ somebody’s head.”

Euan’s face blanched and Jim advised, “You’d better hope she’s over it by sundown, son. That or you may want to bunk somewhere safer than your bed will be.”

True to his word, John sent most of Euan’s personal effects upon his return to Scotland. Euan really didn’t have much in material possessions except for his books. Since he had brought most of his clothing with him, the shipped items mostly amounted to his work coveralls and rubber boots, two pairs of business casual pants and coordinating shirts, a few summer items and a rain cape.

With great pride he showed his children his kilts and other regalia, both formal and daily-wear, explaining each item and its origin. There were three formal jackets, a Prince Charlie in both black and ancient green, each with a five-button waist coat, and the other an Argyll in lovat green, their coordinating shirts and ties, and four tartan kilts in Wallace Dress Red, Wallace Dress Green, Wallace Blue, and Wallace Ancient Hunting. Four sporrans, one dress, one semi-dress, and two leather, as well as kilt hose and tapes, and sgan dubhs and dirks, completed the regalia.

 
Then there were the utilikilts, five sturdy kilts made of earth-toned cotton Duck cloth for rugged use, with cargo, scraper, and pencil pockets and an adjustable loop for hanging tools off of. Euan pointed out that these were what he usually wore unless the weather was too wet or cold.

Mountain Rose asked why he would wear a skirt.

“Tha’s nae a skirt, lassie!” he corrected. “’Tis a kilt. ‘Tis wha’
real
men wear!”

“Well, I don’t think Grandpa or Papa would ever wear that, and they’uns is men,” she responded.

Callie reminded the children that they had seen people in kilts at the Highland Festival in Ashville. “Everyone and their mother were wearing them,” she chuckled. “Even the folks who weren’t Scottish or Irish.”

With a crooked smile, Euan added, “An’ I’ll hae one sent for yer brother, too!”

Red Wolf asked, “Is she gonna wear one too, Daddy?”

“Nae, the lassies wear a tartan skirt wi’ matchin’ sash,” he replied. “I’ll hae Wallace sashes for ye twa bairns.”

“But our name’s Hawken,” Mountain Rose pointed out. “Is there a Clan Hawken?”

“’Tis an English name, lass, an’ they’ve nae clans as we hae,” Euan stated.

“We’re Clan Robertson,” Red Wolf said. “That’s Mama’s clan.”

Euan squatted down to look his son in the eyes. “Aye, lad, tha’
is
yer mathair’s clan an’ part o’ who ye arre. But my clan is part o’ who ye arre as well. In Scotland, ye’re born t’ yer da’s clan an’ I’m Clan Wallace. Ye’ll soon hae my family name as yer ain.”

“I hope you okayed that with Mama, Daddy,” Mountain Rose warned. “She might not like it if you take her name away from us.”

Callie
didn’t
like it and voiced her displeasure quite plainly.

After a rather spirited debate it was decided that the names of both parents would be hyphenated for the twins. When this compromise was presented to the children, they sounded it out. “Wallace-Hawken,” they intoned two or three times before beginning to repeat it in a sing-song manner as they skipped around. They decided they liked the sound of it and Callie and Euan agreed that’s how it would be done.

Before leaving Scotland, Euan had arranged through his solicitor to sublease the croft to Donald MacKinnon, who had been working for Euan, after telling his parents that he was going to do a bit of traveling before settling down. While that
was
the truth, he had purposely omitted how little traveling he had planned on doing or where and with whom he had planned on settling down. It didn’t take long for them to figure it out, and John called Euan the second week of December. “Laddie,” he warned, “ye’re found oot and yer parents arre fit tae be tied!”

Euan asked, “Hoo d’ ye ken?”

“Yer fathair’s solicitor come tae see me a’ work, threatened tae sue me for somethin’ o’ the oother on account o’
I
knew what ye were aboot but dinna tell yer parents sae they could keep ye from ruin. I told him tae stuff it up his arse an’ tha’ yer parents could follow suit!” John swore soundly before adding, “The nerve o’ ‘em! Yer a grown man an’ they think tae roon yer life for ye!”

“Any idea as tae wha’ they’re up tae?” Euan asked. “If they’re oon their way here, I want tae be prepared.”

“Are ye married yet?” John asked in return. “I doona think they ken aboot the bairns yet but ye can guess they’ve already got an investigator on it.”

“We’re set for the ceremony next week,” Euan replied. “We’ve already seen the Justice o’ the Peace an’ made it legal. But we’ve nae gotten the DNA testing or e’en the paperwork done yet tae get the bairns’ birth certificates corrected.”

“Well, thank God ye’ve gotten married,” John said. “
Richt nou
ye need tae stand yer ground, lad.”

“For aye, lad,” Euan replied. “I ken m’ parents willna find m’ in-laws easy tae roon o’er a’tall, an’ m’ wife will kick their arses soundly if they decide tae make problems for us.”

John laughed. “Och, t’ be a fly oon the wall if they show up!” he chuckled. “Keep me in the loop, mind ye lad. The lads an’ I will be takin’ wagers on this one.”

Euan turned around to find Callie standing there. “Your folks?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Aye, lass. It seems the cat’s oot o’ the bag. They’ve found oot I’m here wi’ ye an’ most likely will send an investigator tae find oot what we’re doin’,” Euan replied.

“I’d be surprised if they haven’t had you tailed all along,” she said grimly. “Well, it won’t take much poking around to find out we’re married. That’s a matter of public record.” She shifted her weight and added, “If they think to screw up the wedding ceremony my family’s planning for us, they’ll rue the day they ever decided to set foot up here. And depending on who they piss off, they might just disappear somewhere.”

“I’m more worried aboot oother things they could do,
mo leannan
,” Euan stated. “There’s the bairns an’ yer family’s land they could go after, and m’ fathair’s bastard enough to try it.”

“Well, he can’t use eminent domain as this land produces jobs and tax revenues for the county and state. We own the mineral and water rights, and we have a very tightly constructed conservation easement based upon unique natural attributes and species not found anywhere else,” Callie pointed out. “Plus, Dad already had a talk with the county commission about certain outsiders trying to screw us over. Folks around here don’t like outsiders meddling in local business, especially when said outsiders look down upon the locals.”

“Then there’s the women o’ your family tae contend wi’,” Euan joked. Remembering that jolt she had directed at him the morning she had found the twins in his room, he sobered a bit. “If yer
gift
be small, Callie, an’ ye hae only a wee bit o’ control o’er it, I hate tae think wha’ yer elders can do in defense o’ the family.”

“I hope you don’t ever have to find out,” she said softly as a shudder ran through her.

Deciding to get it out in the open, Euan called his parents. As expected, they were not at all pleased with his decision to, as they put it, waste his life with
that yank lass
. “How could you do this to your family!” his mother asked angrily. “You have an obligation to us!”

Euan decided to educate his mother on a few things. “I hae an obligation tae m’ wife an’ bairns,” he replied calmly.

There was dead silence on the line. “Bairns?” his father asked.
“Bairns?”

“Aye, Da. Bairns,” Euan said. “Callie an’ I hae twin bairns an’ before ye say anoother word let me tell ye tha’ they most definitely
arre
mine an’ I’ll brook nae interference from anyone o’er there! Another thin’ I’ll tell ye is that we’re expectin’ another set o’ twins, an’ if ye want tae see any o’ them, ye’ll treat m’ wife with the utmost respect.”

“Now you listen to me -” his father began.

“I listened to ye four years ago an’ ruined m’ life!” Euan countered harshly. “I broke the heart o’ m’ ain true love, I missed out on the first three an’ a half years o’ m’ bairns’ lives, an’ was droonin’ in misery on account o’ listenin’ tae ye! From nou oon, I’m listenin’ tae m’ ain heart an’ doin’ what’s right for m’self and m’ family.”

“You’ve lost your mind!” his mother accused. “Euan, come back home. You need help!”

“M’ haid’s on m’ shoulders an’ set straight,” Euan said. “I hae all the help I need right here.”

“We’ll disown you!” his father said icily. “You’ll get nothing from us!”

Euan laughed. “If you kenned what I hae here, ye’d realize joost hoo empty a threat tha’ is!” he retorted. “I can do wi’oot the family fortune an’ whate’er goes wi’ it. It doesna e’en compare.”

“Everything has a price, Euan,” his father warned. “We’ll see what yours is.”

“Tell it tae m’ solicitor, Da,” Euan directed. “He’ll be contactin’ yers shortly.” With that he hung up on his parents and immediately contacted his solicitor, gave the man instructions on contacting his parents’ solicitor, and inquired as to the chances of his parents suing for custody of his children.

“Not bloody likely!” James Kilkirk replied. “If your name isn’t on their birth certificates, their paternity will have to be proven through DNA testing and their documents corrected before any court here would even touch such a case. Your parents would have to prove that you and the mother are both unfit parents for custody to be awarded to anyone other than yourselves. The process, however, can be rather protracted and a bloody mess.”

“Och, joos’ lovely, tha’!” Euan sighed. “I want a’ this straightened oot an’ settled as soon as possible, Mr. Kilkirk. Not only do I ken them interferin’ w’ m’ bairns, I hae a sneakin’ suspicion tha’ m’ parents will try t’ get any spousal resident permit for m’ wife denied if they can.”

“I hate to tell you this, lad, but they could if they pull the right strings,” Kilkirk stated. “And they certainly do have the connections for it.”

“Sae do ye, Kilkirk, an’ tha’s wha’ I’m payin’ ye for,” Euan replied in return. “I’ll be bringin’ m’ wife an’ bairns home for a visit early in the year an’ I want everything resolved.”

There was a deep chuckle on the other end of the line. “So, I’ll get to see the reason you’re going to such great lengths to piss off your parents?” asked Kilkirk.

“Aye, sir,” Euan answered. “An’ ye’ll see why it’s worth s’ much t’ me.”

The Robertson clan gathered again upon the news that Euan’s parents knew where he was and might cause problems. As he explained just exactly how wealthy and powerful his family and their allies were and his concerns as to what tactics they might employ against Callie and the family, he realized that somehow they already
knew
. Between all of them, they held title to over four thousand acres of land in two counties with the mineral and water rights and had fought the coal and timber companies for decades. They were used to fighting the wealthy and powerful, and the fact that they were still here was proof that they had won every round so far.