Extended Epilogue
The first sun over the horizon spilled through the window and over Lachlan’s naked body.
He was slumped over on his stomach with the furs twisted about his torso and legs.
Slowly propping up on the pillows, Sloane shifted in hopes of not waking her husband.
These first few moments of the day were one of her favorites.
Life had been hectic during the last six months, but here in the early hours of dawn, his face was calm and peaceful.
“Ye are staring,” he said huskily as he opened his eyes.
“I am allowed to stare.” Not at all embarrassed, she smiled at him. “Ye are just jealous because ye didna wake up first to stare.”
Rolling on his side, he placed a hand on her belly and snuggled in close to her side. “Actually, wife, I always wake up before ye, but ye get moody sometimes when I doona give ye a chance to stare.”
“Moody! I will show ye moody!”
Pushing him away, she tried to swing her legs over the bed, but he locked his arms around her and pulled her flush up against him. His warmth wrapped around her and she sighed in pleasure.
“I am not moody.”
“’Tis all right, my love. Women are moody when they are carrying.”
As he curved the palm of his hand over her protruding belly, she covered his hand with hers.
She knew that the clan and their family were relieved that she had finally conceived, but Lachlan had never shown any signs of frustration or impatience.
She’d gotten so nervous that she would never give Lachlan a child and he’d told her that he loved her and he was happy to be her husband and if their family grew, he would be happy and if it did not, he was still happy.
It had eased her and maybe that had made all the difference. They’d discovered that she was carrying a month ago.
“Do ye really think today is going to be the day?” Lachlan asked.
“I do. Freya and Gair are here.”
“Freya and Gair were here last time.”
“Last time, we found out that we were carrying,” she reminded him.
“Freya and Gair were here the time before that as well.”
He was getting frustrated. It was cute. “The time before that, we were worried that it might rain.”
“It could have happened inside.”
Slowly, she smoothed her fingers over his chest and raised her eyebrows. “’Tis not the same inside.”
“We both know that yer pregnancy announcement and the threat of rain were not the reason.” Although he looked annoyed, he raised her fingers to his lips and kissed them one-by-one. “This is getting ridiculous. Ye were not this difficult.”
“I wasna given the choice.”
Growling, Lachlan leaned over and kissed her until her toes curled. “Are ye saying that if ye were given the choice…”
“I am saying that their situation is different than ours.”
Sloane laughed as she pushed him away. She needed to get going if she wanted to get everything done before the afternoon. There was still so much to plan.
Lachlan easily pulled her back down in the bed and nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck. “Freya wasna this difficult either.”
His fingers started to pull at the laces of her nightdress and she knew where this was going. Lachlan had the ability to distract her and if she wasn’t careful, they’d be there for hours and nothing productive would get done. She pushed those fingers away.
“Freya’s circumstances were also different.”
“Not really.” Those tempting hands were now lifting the hem of her shift, but at her argument, he stopped and frowned.
“What do ye mean? Freya and Gair were in love. Are ye saying that they werena in love?”
Now was her chance. While he stared at her with that flummoxed look in his eyes, she quickly slipped out of the bed and danced away to the other side of the room. Soon, she would not nearly be so dexterous, but it was rare that she wanted to escape her husband’s bed.
“This is not about love.”
“Not about love?” He shot up in the bed and gaped at her. “Ye are turning the keep upside down. The clan has ceased work. This is the third time and ye are telling me that it is not about love! Their wedding is more lavish than ours was and I was the Laird!”
“Our ceremony was not about love,” she said simply as she opened the wardrobe and pulled out a simple blue dress. It would do for the work leading up to the wedding and then she would change for the ceremony.
“Ye just said that neither is this one!” Snarling a little, he slipped out of bed and started to pace. “None of ye lasses make any sense. I am putting my foot down. If Isla and Jamie doona marry today then I willna let them wed at all.”
“Not to worry darling. It is definitely happening today.” With a smile, she watched him pull up his trousers in frustration and storm toward the door. “Doona keep Jamie in training all day. I want everyone bathed and fresh at least an hour before the ceremony.”
“Unbelievable,” Lachlan muttered. “Now I cannae even train my men.”
He stormed out of the room and Sloane couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. Lachlan wasn’t upset because this was the third wedding they were planning for Jamie and Isla. He was upset because he couldn’t control everything.
This was the third time that he’d given Jamie and Isla his blessing, but Sloane knew that they weren’t ready before and it had nothing to do with their love. Lachlan would see that before the ceremony was over.
He couldn’t even get through the halls of the keep without tripping over someone doing something for the wedding. Twice before he’d lost control of his keep and twice before, something had halted the ceremony. He didn’t think he could take much more of this.
“Oh! Sorry, Laird!” a young girl said as she tripped over him when she took a corner too quickly. Flowers spilled out on the floor, and she gasped, far more concerned about the fate of the flowers than his reaction.
“Absolutely ridiculous.”
Shaking his head, he turned the corner and headed downstairs. What he needed was a good and sweaty session on the training field. It was hours before the ceremony, so Sloane couldn’t be mad at him.
Gair. Gair would be on his side.
Hoping to find the man at the breakfast table, Lachlan picked up the pace and jogged down the stairs. Someone walked by with a tray of fruit and he snagged an apple and endured a dirty look. “What? That cannae possibly be food for the ceremony!”
“’Tis for the bride and her ladies!” Huffing, the woman picked up her skirts and danced up the stairs.
“Unbelievable. I cannae even eat.”
Sighing, he walked into the breakfast room and stopped short when he saw Freya and Gair dining together. She had that annoyed look on her face that he knew so well, but there was something else. That glimmer in her eye when she looked at Gair.
It was the same glimmer that Sloane had when she looked at him.
“Of course, ’tis going to be a girl and of course, they are going to name it Freya,” his sister argued. “What other name would they choose? They wouldna be together if it were not for me.”
Gair snorted. “Ye would have never let her leave our lands if I had not lifted her sanctuary status.”
“That is it. I am not having this conversation with ye. There is too much for me to look forward to today and I willna let ye ruin it. So, go do whatever ye men do, but doona go far. I still need someone to help us carry the arch out.”
An arch? This was getting out of hand. Why couldn’t she just get married at the church door like everyone else? “Gair?” he interrupted when he stepped into the room. “Want to head out to the training field with me?”
“Absolutely,” he said with relief.
“Absolutely not!” Freya countered as she stood. “Have ye lost yer mind? Ye will not go to this ceremony sweaty and dirty!”
Wonderful. Now, there were two women against him. “I promise that I will return him clean and ready for the ceremony and we willna be late.”
“Did I hear someone say something about training? Please,” Adair said as he popped his head around the corner.
He was clutching several bottles of what looked like perfume in his hands.
“My wife has me searching all over the keep for a certain kind of scent and I am about to go out of my head. I need a sword. I need to sweat.”
Lachlan looked at his sister. “The man needs to sweat.”
Throwing her napkin on the table in frustration, she rolled her eyes and stood. “Unbelievable. Why do ye not go drag the groom out there with ye?!”
Clearly disgusted, she stalked over to Adair and grabbed the perfume bottle.
He looked over to Lachlan. “That isna a bad idea.”
“What?” Freya squeaked. “That is a terrible idea!”
“Ye were the one who brought it up,” Lachlan pointed out.
“What is wrong with the men of this keep?” Shaking her head, she walked away with the perfume bottle and Lachlan grinned at Adair and Gair.
“Let us go find the groom.”
Pushing back his chair, Gair stood. “Ye think it is actually going to happen today?”
“I doona know. Sloane thinks it is. She must see something that I do not.”
It didn’t take long for them to find Jamie. Although he and Isla didn’t officially marry, he moved into the keep to be close to her and when he wasn’t with the other men, he was with her and Cora, her beautiful daughter.
Even now, as the toddler’s laughter trickled out from her room, Lachlan couldn’t help but smile. The child had the most cherubic round face with blonde ringlet curls and a laugh that would melt any man’s heart.
She also had a mischievous glint in her eyes and the devil horns to match.
“Cora, if ye chew a hole in that dress, yer mother is going to call off yet another wedding and honestly, I doona think that I can survive that. Please give me the dress,” Jamie pleaded.
“Nay!”
It was the child’s favorite word.
Crowding in the doorway, they watched as Jamie tried to free the small dress from the child he was raising as his own daughter.
The child was adored in the keep and even Lachlan went out of his way to spend time with the girl, especially when he found out that Sloane was pregnant.
He had the most amazing father and he wanted to be the most amazing father.
Cora was trying.