Epilogue #3
Gabriel took that moment to yank himself away from his father, attempting to run off but being grabbed by his grandmother, who was standing nearby. Val looked up to see Margaretha standing a few feet away, tears pooling in her eyes as she gazed upon her son. He stood up, smiling wearily at her.
“So, you finally have your grandchildren,” he said as if quite pleased with himself. “Happy?”
Margaretha wasn’t one to show emotion and was embarrassed when she did but, in this case, she made an exception. She accepted Val’s embrace, relishing the feel of her only child. He was safe and whole, and that was all she cared about. God had answered her prayers.
“Your children scream, bite, and run about like wild animals,” she said, sounding as if she was scolding him. But she quickly softened. “They are also brilliant, loving, and quite devilish. They were well worth the wait, Valor. I adore them. And you. Welcome home, my son.”
Val chuckled, kissing his mother on the cheek. As he did so, he noticed that Gavin had followed him and was still looking up at him quite curiously. Gabriel didn’t seem to be interested at all, but Gavin was clearly interested in him. Val smiled down at the lad.
“It has been a long time since I have been here, Gavin,” he said. “Will you show me to the keep?”
Vesper was standing next to Gavin, her gaze moving between Val and Gavin. “Dada must be shown to the hall, Gavin,” she said to the child. “Will you take him? There is food there. Are you hungry?”
Gavin looked as if he was considering both questions. While Margaretha began to head towards the keep with Gabriel howling in her arms, Gavin was seriously mulling over his mother’s request. After a moment, he reached up and took one of Val’s enormous hands.
“Come,” he said simply.
With that, Gavin began to walk towards the keep, leading his father alongside him.
Vesper watched them walk away, her heart melting by the sweetness of it as Val turned to look at her, winking with the sheer delight of it.
He was thrilled to pieces that he was finally in the company of his sons, or at least one of them, and it showed in every curve and contour of his face.
He was finally home.
Vesper simply wanted to observe for the moment, a sight she had been praying for since the children were born. Val was here and all was right in the world again. There were no words to describe the contentment and pride that was in her heart.
“Val looks as if he has not suffered in Ireland,” McCloud said softly, coming up to stand behind her. He, too, had been watching the reunion, but from a distance as he had not wanted to interfere. “I am glad he has come home, Vesper. Glad for you and the boys.”
He turned to walk away but Vesper stopped him. “Where are you going?” she asked. “Come inside and eat. I am sure Val has many stories to tell.”
McCloud shook his head. “You and I have made our peace, but Val and I have not. Let him have this time with his family. I will be here when he is ready.”
Vesper wouldn’t let him go. “Papa, you are family. It is true that you and Val did not part under the best of circumstances before he went to Ireland, but time changes men. I am sure he will be forgiving of your past sins. As he has been given a new start in life, a new chance to redeem himself, you must be given the same. You must at least give him the opportunity to do so.”
McCloud could see the wisdom in her words. Although he was reluctant, he very much wanted to reconcile with his old friend. He was, after all, family and McCloud had come to realize that family was the most important thing of all.
“Very well,” he said, forcing a smile as Vesper began to pull him along towards the keep.
“Val is my son now, through you. I should like it if we can become friends once again. Do you remember, long ago, on the first night you met Val at Selborne Castle? I told you that food and wealth were the only things of importance when considering marriage. I believe I was rather cruel about it.”
Vesper thought back to that night, so long ago. It was the first night she realized that she felt something for Val. “I remember,” she said. “You told me that Val was trying to woo me and I did not believe you.”
He looked at her. “Do you believe me now?”
Vesper laughed softly. “I do.”
McCloud could see how very happy she was, happier than he’d ever seen her.
Before them, the keep of Holystone loomed like a great big box against the sky.
So much had brought them to this point in their lives and not all of it terrible.
There had been some good mixed in with the bad.
But the bad was a faded memory, like a terrible dream from long ago.
McCloud patted her hands, looped through his elbow.
“I am glad you let him woo you,” he said. “But not for wealth and food. I am glad because there is no finer man on this earth than Val de Nerra and he is the only man, in my opinion, worthy of you. I thought you should know that.”
Vesper paused at the base of the stairs that led into the keep as she faced her father. A man she had once distanced herself from but a man now who had redeemed himself much as her husband had. Men who had once been in pieces, now made whole again by the power of love.
At least, that was how Vesper looked at it.
“Why don’t you tell him that?” she asked.
McCloud did.
No finer man on this earth….
* THE END *