Epilogue
Damian glanced up from his desk when Livia ran in. “You are needed at home.”
“Which home?”
“Yours!”
His pulse rushed.
Was it time?
Yes, it was.
He should not have let Georgie push him from the house this morning.
The signs were there. The way she pressed a hand against her lower back, the way her rounded abdomen was lower…
“Are you going to just stand there?” Livia demanded.
“No. I am off.”
“Your horse should be waiting. I stopped at the mews first.”
Damian rushed from his office and as Livia had promised, the horse was waiting and as soon as he was in the saddle, Damian rode for the home he and Georgie had built not so very far away.
If he weren’t in such a hurry, he’d walk there, but as her time grew near, he had started riding to the docks so that he could arrive home quicker.
At least he knew what to expect this time.
He still recalled pacing outside the same chamber that he had slept in when he had been a child in the Cape Colony.
Nobody would let him inside and he could hear Georgie’s moans of pain as she struggled to bring their first child into this world.
He had wanted to be by her side. He was there when she conceived so he should at least hold her hand at the completion, but the housekeeper claimed that it was unseemly whereas his mother said that he’d just be in the way.
Their first year together had been one to remember from his constant worry about Georgie’s health and refusing to leave Carrera until there was no more sickness and then they waited still another fortnight.
At first, he had demanded that they remain in Carrera until the child was born but Georgie refused and insisted that they travel because she would be sitting on a ship or walking, just as she did at home.
However, they had first gone to Madeira, because it was closer. If Georgie suffered difficulties, then he was determined to remain with Elliot until the babe was born.
Georgie had no troubles and after a fortnight, they set sail for Cape Colony, where his mother was overjoyed to make her acquaintance and see her second son.
There they remained as Georgie grew heavy with child and it was no longer safe for her to travel.
Just as Damian had been born, so was his son at Wyndview Farm.
They remained for another two months and then set sail for home, only stopping in Carrera so that Georgie’s parents could meet their grandchild.
Once they were back in Southampton, Damian purchased land and they built the house they had planned while spending hours on ships.
The very home where their second child would be born.
A footman rushed forward when he arrived and Damian hopped from the horse and rushed inside just as the cries of a baby rang out above.
He ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, then rushed into Georgie’s chambers without bothering to knock or be given permission to enter. He had been kept from the chamber when their son was born nearly three years ago and he would not be kept away this time.
However, all his determination and momentum fled the moment Damian saw Georgie, propped up in bed, a sleepy smile on her face.
One of the maids was adjusting the covers and taking dirty linen from the room while another bathed the infant.
“Are you well?” he asked. Just because she appeared serene and none of the servants were alarmed did not mean all was as it should be.
Georgie smiled. “Yes.”
He drew closer and settled in the chair beside the bed and picked up her hand. “Why did you not send for me sooner?” He hated that she had been alone, without him, when the child came into the world.
“I sent Livia the moment I realized that your daughter would be born. I never expected it to happen so quickly.” She chuckled.
Her labor for the first child had only been four hours, though it seemed to have stretched for days. His mother had assured him that it was unusual for a woman to deliver a child so quickly.
It had been less than an hour since Livia had summoned him.
“If we are blessed with another, I will not leave your side as soon as it is nearing the time.”
Georgie laughed again. “Did you not hear what I said?”
“I hear every word you say, dear.”
“No, you do not,” Georgie argued. “There are times you have been distracted.”
“Yes, well, your beauty does that to me. Everything else fades.”
Georgie snorted.
“What wise words did you impart that I failed to hear?”
“You have a daughter.”
His stomach tightened. “No.”
“Yes.”
“I remember telling you that you will not have a daughter because I will go mad with protecting her because the world is filled with rakes and rogues and therefore, we will need to lock her away.”
“I think you are being overly dramatic.”
“I have brothers, not sisters. I do not know how to take care of a little girl. What if I do something wrong and she is harmed. What if her heart is broken. I am not prepared to be a father of a daughter.”
“As I had only sisters, I know very well what to do with a daughter and it will be no different than when our son was born and I was not certain.”
The nurserymaid came forward, the infant bundled in her arms.
“It is time to hold your daughter,” Georgie said.
Damian took her in his arms and looked down at the angelic face, blue eyes and dark hair.
He had never been so frightened in his life.
He was now responsible for this delicate creature, who yawned and stole his heart.
“I will never let anything happen to you,” he whispered before kissing her forehead. “Just as I will never let anything happen to your mother or brother.”
He held her close and looked over to Georgie to ask if she had thought of a name because he had refused to discuss the possibilities of a girl, but his wife was asleep, a gentle smile on her lips.
A warm wave of contentment filled his body and Damian settled back in his chair, his newly born daughter in his arms.