Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
“Everyone out of the room,” the Duchess of Hampford said in a commanding voice that brooked no argument, even from the strong-willed Stringham women.
Sunny watched as his wife’s sisters and sisters-in-law left the mistress’s room of Sunderland House.
His mother-in-law handed a baby girl to his wife in a newly wrapped blanket.
Then she took the second baby from the midwife and gave her to him.
Sunny’s arms tightened around the most precious bundle that he had ever held in his entire life.
Without another word, Lady Hampford ushered the midwife to the door and closed it behind them.
He was finally alone with his wife and twin daughters in a bright and beautiful room.
His children would not grow up in darkness like he did.
Carefully cradling his baby girl, Sunny moved closer to the large four-poster bed where his wife—his life—lay.
Mantheria’s glorious golden hair was rather a mess, and her lovely face was quite pale and a little sweaty.
Sunny was certain that he’d never loved her more than in this moment.
He sat gently on the edge of the bed and held the precious daughter in his arms next to her sister.
They were both wrinkly and red-faced with a fuzz of downy almost-white hair on their odd-shaped heads.
Mantheria smiled at him, and it still made his blood sing. “I am so happy. I must have been very good.”
His core warmed, and his lips twitched. She’d remembered his advice that to be good meant to be happy. He glanced down at his daughters. “They’re so beautiful. Do you think that they are identical twins like you and Elizabeth?”
His wife shook her head against the pillow. “I suppose we won’t truly know for a few months yet, but they certainly look very alike now. We’ll have to tie a ribbon on one of their ankles so that we can tell them apart. That’s what Mama did.”
Sunny and Mantheria had already discussed names as they eagerly waited for the births.
The Duke of Hampford had informed them when Mantheria was only three months along that she was carrying twins.
He had a gift for knowing such things. The midwife hadn’t been able to confirm the second child until almost seven months.
As a couple, they decided to let Andrew pick one of the names, and they picked the other.
For a boy, Andrew wanted Jason of the Argonauts.
And for a girl, Camilla, Queen of the Amazons.
He was still very interested in the classics, and it wouldn’t surprise Sunny if his stepson majored in them at university one day.
“Which one is Camilla, and which one is Elizabeth?”
Mantheria’s late twin sister would always be remembered in their family. His wife bent over and kissed the forehead of the babe she was holding, and then to the daughter that he was. “Oh, I don’t know.”
Opening his mouth, Sunny was about to give his opinion when the fifth member of the family burst through the door. “I want to see my sisters!”
His wife grinned as her son ran to the large bed where the rest of his family sat. “Darling, we were just deciding what name to give each twin.”
Andrew plopped down on the bed next to Sunny and pointed to the baby he was holding. “This one is clearly Camilla, and the one you’re holding, Mama, is Elizabeth.”
Sunny glanced at his wife for her confirmation.
Mantheria nodded. “Perfect.”
The twelve-year-old boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue ribbon. “I am going to need her foot.”
Sunny wasn’t sure if he unwrapped the blanket that he could put it back in the same way, but his stepson was waiting, so he carefully opened the blanket.
His baby girl was already wearing a nappy, but he hadn’t realized how tiny she was.
Camilla had such little hands and feet. Not shy, Andrew loosely tied the blue ribbon into a bow on his sister’s left foot. Sunny attempted to wrap her back up.
“Can I hold one of them?” Andrew asked.
Mantheria pressed one more kiss to Elizabeth’s forehead and smiled as she handed the little girl to Andrew. “Support her head and hold her carefully, darling. Why don’t you two go and show the girls to the rest of the family? I am sure everyone is eager to see them, and I could use a little rest.”
Standing, Sunny kissed his wife’s brow and led his stepson to the door.
He carefully opened it and allowed Andrew to go first, holding little Elizabeth.
Mantheria’s eyes were already closed when he shut the door.
She’d had a long and hard day delivering their beautiful daughters.
His heart was so full that it almost hurt.
Sunny and Andrew did not have to walk very far to find all the Stringham clan waiting in the freshly refurbished parlor for news and sight of his twin daughters. Sunderland House was full to the brink with guests, and Sunny couldn’t have been prouder.
Andrew turned to his side to show Elizabeth’s face. “Aren’t my sisters perfect?”
The Duke of Hampford was the first to reach Andrew, and Sunny was surprised to see tears in the older man’s eyes. “They look just like their mother.”
Andrew handed the baby to his grandfather, and his aunts circled them, cooing over their newest niece.
Frederica ruffled Andrew’s hair. “You shouldn’t have given her to your grandfather. Now the rest of us won’t get a turn.”
“Papa is not a very good baby sharer,” Becca said, smiling at her nephew.
Helen put an arm around Andrew’s shoulders and pretended to whisper something in his ear, but she spoke loud enough for her other sisters to hear: “Don’t tell anyone. But you’ll always be my favorite.”
Sunny continued into the room since Elizabeth was already in many capable hands. Wick met both Sunny and the baby with a warm hug. “I am so happy for you, my friend.”
Matthew came forward and caressed Camilla’s forehead. “She’s perfect.”
Sunny’s three other brothers-in-law did not stand up and meet him, for they were all sitting on a couch holding an infant.
The eldest of the bunch was Lady Philippa, the daughter of the Duke of Pelford.
She was currently trying to force her hand into her father’s mouth.
He must not have realized her great consequence, for her papa was resisting.
The next babe was a chubby, black-haired boy, who was attempting to suck both of his plump little fists at the same time and finding it to be very difficult.
Lord James was being held by his father, the Earl of Inverness, who no longer brooded.
The last babe was the youngest at only three months.
Lord Biddestone, called Charles, was a blond-haired cherub.
He was cradled by his father, the Earl of Norwich, who was dressed in an olive-green coat from Weston with diamond-encrusted buttons that probably cost a small fortune.
Each of his brothers-in-law congratulated him and complimented his beautiful daughters. He was then accosted by a great many nephews and nieces. “You may look, but please don’t touch.”
His niece Susan was always sticky.
Over the heads of his nephews, he saw his mother sitting in the corner of the room.
As usual, she was dressed in all black. While the children and adults were playing spellings and having lively conversations, his mother kept to herself.
Cradling Camilla closer, Sunny walked over to his mother and held the baby out for her to see.
For several moments, she did not say anything, and Sunny worried that his mother was disappointed that his two beautiful girls were not boys who could have inherited his title of duke.
Finally, his mother outstretched her hand and gently touched Camilla’s forehead.
“I always wanted a daughter. How lucky I am to have two granddaughters.”
Sunny released a breath that he didn’t realize that he’d been holding. “Would you like to hold her?”
“Of course.”
He gently transferred his baby to his mother’s arms, not knowing what to expect.
He certainly didn’t think that she would unwrap Camilla’s blanket and count her ten fingers and ten toes.
Then his mother kissed both hands and then both feet before tightly wrapping the baby back in the blanket, which was better than Sunny’s efforts.
His mother looked up at him and smiled. Sunny couldn’t remember her smiling like that ever before, and certainly not in his direction. “Your father would have loved them. I love them, and I love you, Sunny.”
It was the first time his mother had ever called him by his nickname, and the first time that she’d ever spoken the words I love you out loud.
He’d waited his entire life to hear them.
His chest felt as if it had expanded, and his skin tingled.
Sunny intended to shower his wife, stepson, and daughters with those three words every single day.
And his mother, too. “I love you, Mama.”