Chapter 22
Eight Months Later
Aleck groaned as he heard Fennella’s scream fill the air, bringing up his hands to his hair to grab ahold of something instead of the men that were gathered in his study. “How much longer can she survive that?”
Uncle Fergus laughed as he clapped him on the back. “Dinnae worry lad. Birthing can take days even.”
“She’s already been at it for hours,” he countered, looking up at the ceiling.
“I cannae take much more of this.” That wasn’t just any woman in that bed chamber giving birth, it was his heart, and if something happened to her, he could not go on living.
The moment she had told him that she was with child, Aleck had started to dread this day, a day that could both bring happiness and grief if either the bairn or the mother struggled.
Until he saw them both, he would worry.
“Yer wearing a hole in the carpet,” his brother drawled, draped over one of the chairs near the fire. Outside the snow was heavy in the air, another blanket threatening to fall over the land so the keep was full of villagers and family alike, all awaiting word for the new heir of Clan Campbell.
And listening to his wife scream the walls down.
Aleck sighed, feeling helpless as to what he could do. He didn’t care if it was a boy or girl that Fennella produced on this day. A woman could very well run this clan in the future as easily as a man could and if she was anything like her mother, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
If only he or she would make an appearance so Aleck would not have to listen to his wife be tortured with their birth and breathe a bit easier.
“Here,” his uncle stated, thrusting a glass of whisky in Aleck’s hand. “Drink this.”
Aleck took the glass, surprised to see his hand trembling as he did. “I dinnae want to be soused in meeting mah bairn for the first time.”
“Ye are gonna walk yourself into an early grave if ye don’t calm down,” Uncle Fergus countered, nodding toward the glass. “Drink up lad. Ye will thank me later.”
Aleck did as he was told, the liquid burning a path to his nervous stomach. “When is the last we checked?”
“Twenty minutes past,” Duncan replied, shaking his head. “And those sisters of hers promptly set me on mah arse and told me tae leave it be.”
Aleck quirked a grin at the mention of his new family.
Under McPherson’s thumb, the girls had cowered at every sound but now that he could no longer frighten them, Fennella’s sisters were starting to show the same fiery strength that his wife had.
They had arrived a month ago under the protection of Fennella’s bandits, who had been specifically given the task to protect their former keep until a successor could be named.
Fennella’s other two wayward brothers had disappeared the moment word was received that McPherson had been captured, and the two girls had been left to Aleck’s protection.
Not that he had to do much. Fennella’s former clan had taken the girls under their wing and provided for them and though she had wanted to travel to see for herself, Aleck had talked her out of the journey until after their child was born.
He couldn’t risk her health, and in the midst of a Scottish winter at that.
Surprisingly she had relented, though it was a rarity for her to do so.
They fought more than once on everything it seemed.
The needs of the keep, the servants he had, Aileene’s kitchen, Duncan’s belching at the table.
The farther she got along in her confinement, the harder it had been to please her.
He didn’t mind. When Fennella would get too far, Aleck would take her to the cavern and soothe her aching body with his own hands, allowing her to cry on his shoulder if need be.
His wife. She was both fire and ice, tender and headstrong.
He wouldn’t trade her for all the gold in Scotland, but it sounded to him that he would be bargaining with the angels to keep her soul on this earth if she didn’t push their child out soon.
A cold chill spread over him and he walked closer to the fire, shaking off his thoughts. Fennella was strong. She could do anything she set her mind to and he had all the faith in her that she could best this child birthing.
“I heard from Clan Dougall,” his uncle was saying. “That witch is still there.”
Aleck frowned as he thought of the woman who had tried to come between him and Fennella and besmirch his brother’s name. He wanted to see her hang from the keep walls, her babe the only thing that kept him from sentencing her to death.
Instead he had handed her to a neighboring clan whose laird was in the market for a young wife to bore him more sons.
Isla had begged and pleaded, but Aleck had wordlessly handed her over without any remorse.
She had tried to take every bit of happiness he had found away from him and for that, he could never forgive her.
“Good,” he finally said, staring into the flames.
“Perhaps she will find some measure of happiness.”
“Ye are far too generous Brother,” Duncan replied, standing. “A lesser laird would have severed her head from her body for her treachery.”
“I’m no lesser laird then,” Aleck stated, straightening his shoulders. It had taken him some time to learn that he was the laird this clan needed, and much of that realization was due to Fennella’s unwavering support of him. She made him a better man, a better laird, a better husband.
He would lay down his life for her.
The door opened and all three men jumped at the same time, seeing a smiling Moira standing in the doorway. Aleck’s legs weakened as he stared at her, unable to find the words.
She found them for him. “She’s ready to see you Brother.”
He swallowed a few times, emotion clogging his throat. “Is she? Is the babe?”
Moira stepped aside. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”
He didn’t have to be told twice. Aleck bounded out of the study and up the stairs, taking them two at a time, his heart thundering in his ears. She had to be okay. Her sister wouldn’t have smiled at him like that if she wasn’t.
Pushing open the door to their bedchamber, his breath left his lungs as he saw Fennella propped up on the pillows in their bed, with Aileene and Sorcha at her side. The room was warm, and he pulled at his shirt as he walked to her side. “Wife.”
“Husband,” she said tiredly, a small smile on her lips. “You look horrid.”
He groaned and kneeled next to her, taking one of her hands in his. “Are ye alright Wife?”
She nodded. “I’m fine Aleck, truly. Tired, but I feel fine.”
Aleck pressed his lips to her hand. “And the babe?”
“Babes.”
His head shot up, knowing he didn’t hear her right. “Babes?”
Fennella’s smile grew as she pointed behind him. “You have two bairns, Aleck. Two sons.”
Aleck spun around and got to his feet, seeing two bundles nestled in Aileene’s arms. “Congratulations my lord,” she said softly, handing him both the bundles.
Aleck’s eyes blurred with tears as he peered down into the red faces of his sons, both with shocking red hair. “Fennella, lass,” he breathed as he turned back toward his wife with their sons in his arms. “Two?”
She giggled then, motioning for him to join her on the bed. “I could scarcely believe it as well, but now we know why I could not stop eating.”
Aleck allowed Fennella to take one of their sons in her arms, touching his downy cheek. “This is the heir. I thought we could call him Callum, after his grandfather.”
Callum. Aleck’s chest grew tight with emotion as he thought of his own da, that would never meet his grandsons. He would be proud to know what his son had done, the family he now had.
“Oh Aleck,” Fennella said. “I dinnae mean to make you cry.”
Surprised himself, Aleck wiped away the tears. “I would like tae name this one, if I can.”
Her expression was tender as she gave him a nod. Aleck looked down at his other son, touching his tiny face carefully. “Ewan,” he finally decided, testing the name out on his tongue. As if on cue, his son started to move about in the blanket.
“He likes it,” Fennella murmured.
Aleck met his wife’s gaze and chuckled, unable to believe that he had just held his two sons in his arms. “I cannae believe this.”
“Me either,” she admitted. “I’m so happy at this moment Aleck. I never thought I would be this happy.”
“I as well lass,” he replied, peering at his son, his heir in her arms. “But I would like tae have ye not go through this any time soon. Ye nearly killed me with yer screaming.”
Fennella pursed her lips. “So, you are saying we cannae go to the cavern?”
“Oh no,” Aleck grinned. “That’s not what I am saying at all, but it will be quite some time before we will be alone again.”
She glanced at the babe in his arms, her face softening. “You are right Husband. It will be some time.”
The door opened and Duncan stepped through, his eyes widening at the sight. “So, the rumors are true. We have two.”
Fennella held Callum to Duncan. “This is Callum. That is Ewan. Congratulations, ye are an uncle.”
Duncan’s face softened as he heard his father’s name, taking the wee babe in his arms. “Callum,” he whispered, peering down at his nephew’s face. “Welcome tae Scotland.”
Aleck handed off Ewan to the waiting Sorcha before leaning over and pressing his forehead to Fennella’s. “I’m so proud of ye Wife. I was so frightened.”
She arched a brow. “Frightened? Not mah strapping Scottish warrior.”
“Dinnae make his head swell lass,” Duncan groaned. “He was a mess. We could scarcely keep him still.”
Fennella wrapped her arms around Aleck, pulling him close. “Well I am fine, and our sons are fine as well. There is no need to worry.”
Och, there was plenty to worry about. Now he had two young sons to protect, his growing family now depending on him to keep them safe.
And he would.
Callum started to cry and Duncan quickly handed him back to his mother, who got him quieted down immediately. Aleck could only stare at her as she did so, his heart swelling at the sight. When Ewan joined his brother in his mother’s arms, the very sight knocked the breath out of him.
It was a sight that he had never pictured in his lifetime, a sight that had not been a part of his plans. Yet now that it was, it felt right.
“Och what are you all doing in here!” Aileene questioned. “The lady needs her rest. Shoo now!”
Aleck rose from the bed, pressing a kiss to Fennella’s forehead. “I will be back lass.”
She leaned into him. “You better. I cannae do this by myself.”
Grinning as he exited, Aleck grabbed his brother by the shoulder as they started down the stairs, ready to make the announcement to the rest of the clan. “Da would be proud of ye,” Duncan said quietly, giving his brother a nod. “You’ve done good Aleck.”
Aleck drew in a breath, his brother’s words and the day’s events washing over him. He hoped that his da and Lachlan would be proud of what he had done, proud of his wife and what they would do for their clan in the future.
For his future now meant the world to him.