Epilogue
“He looks just like me.”
River stared at Aidan incredulously, entirely unimpressed by his statement.
“I carried him for nine months through all the nausea, all the fatigue, for ye to tell me he looks like ye?” she asked, her words coming out in a hiss so as to not disturb the baby in her arms. “He looks like me, Adian.”
Aidan leaned closer as if trying to take a better look at the baby. “Aye, I suppose he does a wee bit.”
“I’m his maither!” River shouted, and then promptly lowered her voice again. She looked down at her son to find him still sleeping, thankfully. The boy was a deep sleeper, it seemed. “I’m his maither. Of course he looks like me. And yer me brother, ye bampot, we look alike.”
“I didnae ken ye fight with yer brother like ye’re twelve,” Archer said as he slid next to her on the couch.
The drawing room was filled with people that morning, ever since Aidan’s arrival, and River was already beginning to crave the quiet she could have in her chambers—which were also usually full of people, but at least those people were the ones closest to her.
She supposed it wasn’t the maids that bothered her so, but rather the fact that Aidan seemed intent on bringing out the most childish side of her, like he always did.
Aidan gave Archer a small shrug. “This is what brothers are for. If I daenae bother her, who will?”
“Hopefully nae one,” River grumbled.
“If it’s important to ye, Aidan, I may have to take up the task meself,” said Archer, much to River’s chagrin.
“Then ye can go and live with me brother,” River said. “Ye can annoy each other.”
“Och, I daenae ken…I daenae find him so annoyin’,” Archer teased.
“Aye, I think we’d get along very well,” Aidan added.
Why was I cursed with these men in me life?
For all she complained, though, River didn’t know how she could ever possibly live without them.
The door to the drawing room opened then, and Layla walked in, followed by Arya and Colby, who rushed to greet Aidan. The children didn’t know him that well, but they knew him enough to already adore him—which seemed to be the case with many people who met Aidan.
“Ach, ye wee rascals!” Aidan said, standing up to greet the children. “Look at ye, ye’ve gotten so big! Ye must stop growin’ before ye become taller than me.”
Colby stared up at Aidan with a big grin, and never before had River noticed just how tall he had truly gotten. Soon, he would be taller than her, and that was a day for which she was not prepared.
Tears welled up in her eyes before she could stop them at the thought of Colby and Arya growing up—and then at the thought of her son growing up and becoming a man. She was still emotional from the pregnancy and the birth, and she quickly dabbed at her eyes to hide the fact that she was crying.
Still, Archer quickly noticed.
“What is it?” he asked, concern coloring his voice.
“Naethin’,” said River with a sniffle. “Naethin’, I…I’m only thinkin’ that they’re growin’ so fast.”
“That they do,” said Layla, giving River one of her warm, bright smiles, before she turned to Aidan with a curtsy. “Me Laird…it is good to meet ye. I have read much about ye.”
Aidan looked at her with a puzzled frown. “Ye have?”
“Och aye,” said Layla. “River is teachin’ me to read.”
“And ye’re readin’ about me?”
“Well…yer letters.”
“Ye’re readin’ me letters?” asked Aidan, his frown deepening, and for a moment, River feared he would hate the fact that she hadn’t kept them private, but then he said, “How do ye like them?”
“Excuse me?” asked Layla.
“Me letters…how do ye like them?” Aidan asked. “I’ve always been terrible at it, I never ken what to say.”
“Och…they are very nice,” said Layla dutifully, and that seemed to please Aidan greatly. Now it was her turn to frown in confusion, but thankfully she didn’t continue the subject. Instead, she turned to River and said, “How’s our wee laddie today?”
“He’s well,” said River with a small smile, looking down at the baby in her arms. He was still only a few days old, and the wet-nurses wanted to take him away from her and keep him in his own chambers, but River couldn’t bear to part with him.
She wanted to be the one to hold him, to nurse him, to put him to sleep, even if the wet-nurses and the governesses thought that was not her job to do. “He’s been a wee bit fussy today.”
“Well, he’s sleepin’ now, so maybe ye should put him down and get some rest yerself,” said Archer. “Or I can hold him.”
River hesitated. She never wanted to part from the boy, but Archer was right when he said she had to rest. Her pregnancy had been a terrible ordeal, and it had left her weakened.
The nausea that had bothered her in the first months of her pregnancy had continued through it all, and she could hardly keep anything down through the whole thing.
On top of that, she couldn’t sleep, so any energy she had was spent growing the baby, and she was often left in bed, exhausted but unable to get any real rest.
Now that she had finally given birth to her son, she thought she could rest, but her body and her mind wanted to be near him at all times, watching him, making sure he was alright.
“The Laird is right,” said Layla gently as she made to take the boy from her arms. River gave him up half-heartedly, and Layla handed him over to Archer, who held him securely in his arms. “Ye should rest. Ye’ve only just given birth, ye shouldnae even be here.”
“It does me a lot of good, walkin’ and bein’ out of me chambers,” said River. “I was there me whole pregnancy, now that I can, I’ll be out of that room as much as I can.”
She didn’t want to be confined in her chambers, not when she was feeling well enough to walk on her own and have enough energy to be out and about. She was feeling better now than she had her entire pregnancy, and she was determined to make the most out of it.
For a moment, River’s gaze fell on Archer, where he sat in a chair near the windows, the morning sun bathing him in a pale light. He was looking at their son, his face softened from the smile he wore, and River couldn’t help but smile, too, finally at peace.
“What will ye name him?” Aidan asked, and that was something she and Archer had discussed at length, only to come to no decision. Neither of them had any reason to name the boy after his grandparents. Neither of them could think of anyone they wanted to honor like this.
“What do ye think?” River asked Aidan instead. “Do ye have any ideas?”
“Aye, call him Aidan,” he said. “Strong name.”
River couldn’t help but laugh, but in the end, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. If there was anyone in the world she loved as much as Archer, as much as her children—as she considered Arya and Colby like her own—as much as Layla, it was Aidan.
“Alright,” she said. “Aidan it is.”
The look on Aidan’s face was reward enough. He stared at her, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open.
“Are ye serious?”
“Och aye,” said River. “Very much so. What do ye think, Archer?”
Archer looked up at them with a small shrug. “I think it’s a fine name.”
River couldn’t be certain—it could have just been a trick of the light—but she thought she saw a tear roll down Aidan’s face. Her brother cleared his throat and nodded once, his gaze falling on the baby in Archer’s arms.
“Aidan, then,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “Ach, wee tumshie…we’re makin’ me emotional.”
“Daenae call me that,” River snapped, and suddenly, she was twelve years old again. Then, she laughed despite herself, shaking her head.
She was a grown woman, married with a child, and her brother was still calling her the same, annoying nickname he used to when they were children.
But that’s brothers for ye.
The rest of the day passed peacefully—more or less. River was surrounded by the people she loved, and that was enough for her. She didn’t mind the chaos, everything that came with having a newborn, everything that came with the entire castle wanting to see him and to offer their well wishes.
She was simply glad to know she and her son were loved so much, to know that they had the entire clan on their side.
After dinner, Aidan retired to his chambers first, too tired from his travels to do much else. Soon, Layla took the children to bed, too, and River slowed Archer to do the same for her.
He had become fretful, it seemed to her, always hovering over her now, always making sure she was alright. It had all begun at the start of her pregnancy, and the sicker she got, the more he worried and wanted to be by her side.
It hadn’t faded yet, it seemed.
The three of them made their way to the chambers they now shared—Archer’s old chambers, which had become her own too after the fire. River carried Aidan as they were walking up the stairs, while Archer had his hand on her back and the other on her arm, holding her steady.
She didn’t really need his help. She was doing well, but it seemed to be something he needed, letting him help her like this, and so River allowed it. When they made it to their chambers, Archer helped her undress and change into her nightgown, before tucking her into bed and bringing her the baby.
Only then did he change his clothes and join her in bed, wrapping one arm around her shoulders to keep him close.
River lowered the neckline of her dress just enough for the baby to latch, cradling his head carefully.
She was certain the wet-nurses would soon come and they would demand to take Aidan away for the night, chastising her for feeding him herself, but she didn’t care.
They wanted her to rest, to recover, but she insisted she was perfectly fine.
Only Jenson was on her side. The old man told her she could do as she pleased. After all, he said, mothers all over the villages nursed their own children. Why shouldn’t she?
“He’s so calm, isnae he?” Archer said, his voice filled with awe and wonder.
River laughed. “Daenae push yer luck,” she said. “I daenae want him screamin’ all night.”
“He’s been quite easy for a bairn that gave ye so much trouble while ye were carryin’ him,” said Archer as he leaned closer to press a soft kiss to her temple. “Are ye feelin’ alright?”
“Archer…I’m fine,” said River, not for the first time that day. “Truly. Ye daenae have to fash. I feel so much better now, I barely feel the effects of the birth.”
Compared to her pregnancy, the birth had been incredibly easy on her body.
Aidan had come out in only a few pushes, and the pain of it was already forgotten.
The moment she gazed upon him, she had known it was all worth it, and any lingering soreness was not enough to stop her from enjoying this period in her life.
She was glad for it. Throughout her entire pregnancy, she was hearing horror stories of women having terrible births, and she was too frightened that it would happen to her, too.
After all, her pregnancy had been an ordeal, so why not the birth, as well?
But Aidan had proven her wrong, much to her relief.
It seemed to River that he simply wanted to be out there, in the world, and that was why he had given her such a hard time until the very last moment.
“A chuilein…sometimes I think we’re just like yer faither,” she told the boy in her arms.
“How so?” asked Archer.
“Well, ye both gave me plenty of trouble.”
Archer gave her a mock gasp, followed by a scandalized look. “I gave ye trouble?”
“So much trouble,” said River with a teasing grin.
“Well, so did ye,” Archer countered, but River was quick to scoff.
“I did nae such thing! I’m perfectly sweet to ye.”
“Aye,” said Archer. “Now.”
“When ye deserve it,” River pointed out.
That ended their mock argument quite fast, and Archer leaned in to capture her lips in a sweet kiss.
“Then I better make sure I keep deservin’ it,” he said. “I wouldnae want to see ye angry.”
River laughed, leaning against him and settling here, in his arms. She watched as Aidan looked up at her with those wide, blue eyes, his little face scrunching up when she tapped his nose gently.
Archer’s arm was strong and warm around her, his chest a solid wall.
River always felt safe in his arms, no matter what, and now she began to drift into a light sleep, too content to keep her eyes open.
She basked in the warmth of him, in the joy she felt every time she looked at him and at their son, the feeling so intense it was unlike anything she had experienced before.
She couldn’t believe they had gotten this far.
She couldn’t believe they had gotten this far.
She couldn’t believe they had fought against all odds and had won.
For a moment, her mind began to drift back to her mother, back to Finlay, but she was quick to stop herself.
She didn’t want to think about them, not now, not when she was meant to be surrounded by happiness and light.
There would be time to think about them again, just as she had thought about them in the past. But for now, all she wanted to do was lay there, in Archer’s arms, with their son in hers, without a care in the world.
The last thing she heard before sleep truly claimed her was, “I love ye, me heart.”