Epilogue
Brodie met Gavin, Dani, Torr, Cat, Lunn, and their guards in the bailey. The sun was setting, and the air was still.
"Welcome. Glad you made it before gloaming."
Lunn dismounted, handed his reins to a stable lad, and rushed forward. He shook Brodie's hand. "Good to see you, lad. How's the wee wifey?"
"Splendid. My mother is inside."
"I must see the bonnie lass." Lunn trotted up the steps. Brodie chuckled at the gray-haired man acting like a green lad.
Gavin and Torr dismounted and helped their wives down, each of them with a three-month-old bairn cradled in a plaid sash or sling across their front. One of the bairns was screaming and crying.
Brodie grinned. Though they exchanged missives every month or two, this was the first time he'd gotten to see the wee ones.
Gavin's daughter was the one crying. He pulled her from Dani's plaid carrier and lifted her up to cradle her close and talked to her softly. She instantly grew quiet and happy, grabbing a handful of his hair.
"Is Elsea alright?" Cat came forward.
"Aye, she's upstairs and cannot wait to see you. Let me see my nephew."
Cat uncovered the squirming bundle, and Brodie reached for him. "Och. Look at that red hair. Just like yours."
Caleb whimpered and squirmed in his arms.
"Aye." Cat beamed and glanced at Torr as he approached, grinning.
"I can see you are the proud da."
"Indeed," Torr said. "He may be small, but he's mighty."
"At least his screams are when he's hungry," Cat said.
"Go inside and refresh yourselves. I'm certain you're thirsty." Brodie handed Caleb back to her.
Cat hastened up the steps toward the great hall, Torr behind her.
Gavin came forward, carrying Hannah in the crook of his muscular arm, Dani beside him.
"Would you look at that wee beauty?" Brodie reached for the darkhaired bairn. She screamed and snuggled into her da's chest. Brodie chuckled.
"He has her spoiled," Dani complained.
"I like to spoil the lasses." Gavin grinned and kissed Dani's temple.
"Where's your little one?" she asked.
"In the upstairs sitting room with Elsea. He was hungry." Brodie grinned. "Come on."
They proceeded up the steps and into the great hall. Finnian stood talking to the two couples and patting the bairns' heads. Although he wasn't a midwife, Finnian had wanted to be close by at each of the births in case his expertise as a physician was needed.
A few minutes later, Brodie and the two couples headed up the narrow turnpike stairs.
Brodie entered the sitting room first, finding that Elsea had finished nursing. His heart filled to overflowing as he observed Elsea cradling their one-month-old son, Declan.
"We have company." Brodie kissed her and reached for their son.
After he invited the others in, she rose and hugged Cat and Dani. All three ladies talked at once, laughing and squealing, while the men cradled the bairns.
Brodie introduced Declan to Torr and Gavin.
A moment later, Cat rushed to his side.
"Want to hold him?" Brodie asked.
"Of course." She reached for Declan, then cradled him close. "Oh, look at those sweet dark eyes and the thick black hair. A miniature version of you."
"Aye," Brodie said proudly. "A handsome lad."
Cat snorted. "Are you talking about him or yourself?"
"Both."
They all laughed.
***
THE NEXT EVENING, EVERYONE gathered in the great hall for the wedding. Candlelight and a hearth fire brightened the warm room.
All three bairns had been fed by their mothers and put to bed. They were being watched over by the nannies. Tilly had volunteered to care for Declan. She had been the one to care for Elsea when she'd been a bairn and treated Declan like a grandchild.
Elsea was thrilled that her mother had arrived at the beginning of the summer for the birth of her grandchild and still remained. Elsea sat beside her at the high table with Dani on her other side. Torr sat on the other side of Brodie's chair.
The music rang out, a lone violin playing a lovely, romantic ballad that made Elsea's eyes mist. Everyone stood and grew quiet.
Brodie escorted his mother toward Lunn and Father Helms near the fireplace.
Cat and Gavin stood at either side of them.
Everyone reclaimed their seats. When the ceremony was underway, Brodie returned to his chair beside hers at the high table.
Watching this wedding was almost like reliving hers and Brodie's.
Brodie kissed her cheek. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.
She smiled up at the love sparkling in his dark eyes. "And I love you."