“I love ye, too.”
~~~
They rode into the bailey just as Liam Sinclair came out of the Great Hall. He waved to the group and came down to greet them. He stopped short when he saw Thormud MacLeod amongst the riders dismounting.
“Thor! What are ye doing here? And what are ye all doing back so soon? I thought ye would have stayed for a longer visit.”
“Da, there is much to fill ye in on. Much. First, I would get Siùsan inside for a warm bath and something to eat. She’s almost asleep in the saddle again.”
Liam Sinclair raised an eyebrow at the word ‘again’. He took one look at Siùsan and then gave his son a knowing look. He nodded and turned to the MacLeod. The two older warriors greated each other with loud and sturdy claps to the back and a bear hug. They had not seen each other since before Rose MacLeod’s death. Liam knew there was a great deal that he needed to explain to Thormud and the rest of his family. He ushered his old friend into the Great Hall, and they sat before the fire while they waited for Callum and Siùsan to rejoin them.
Siùsan and Callum returned after they had shared a bath, only getting distracted long enough for one round of love making, which Siùsan promptly fell asleep after. As they came into the Great Hall, they saw that the Sinclair and the MacLeod were still seated in front of the fireplace. Tavish and Magnus were seated near them playing a game of knucklebones. Callum was surprised to see Alex standing near a window with a young woman he had never seen before. They were not touching, but Alex was clearly positioned protectively, and she did not seem to mind as she leaned slightly towards him as they talked. Now that this young woman was up and about, Callum hoped it meant he would have time to talk to Alex. He missed his brother fiercely and was not used to being this disconnected from him. He understood that it had started months ago when he brough Elizabeth home with him and that he had much to repair, but he longed for the companionship that they shared. He would seek Alex out later.
Callum and Siùsan made their way to the fireplace. Callum pulled over an extra chair to sit next to his father and then pulled Siùsan into his lap. Magus and Tavish looked up and then moved closer. Tavish called to Alex and he, along with the mystery young woman, followed Tavish and Magnus over to the fireplace.
Once everyone was seated, with only Alex standing behind the chair of his companion, Laird Sinclair looked around at his family. He had an immense surge of pride at seeing his sons before him. He missed Mairghread and wished she and Tristan would visit soon. He also keenly missed his wife who had not been given the opportunity to see their children grow into adults. He knew she watched over them all from heaven.
“I’ve been filling Thormud in on many of the goings on of this clan over the past score of years. I have shared with him a few things that I would now like to tell the rest of you, especially you, Callum, and Siùsan.
“When Rose died, yer Mama and I travelled as quickly as we could to Mackenzie land for the burial. Ma Kyla and Rose had been close friends since they were weans. The Sutherlands and MacLeods have been intertwined for generations in one way or another. We were two days too late and had just missed Thormud leaving. When we arrived, we spent the night at the keep, but it was uncomfortable with the death pall that hung over everyone and the bitterness that radiated off Lady Elizabeth. We chose to leave the next morning, even though we had ridden long and hard to try to get there in time. As we were leaving, we saw a woman in the bailey carrying a vera wee bairn with a thatch of deep, fiery red hair. It was the exact color of Rose’s and Thormud’s. When we approached the woman, she tried to rush away, but Kyla called out to her. The woman didna dare ignore a noblewoman. As we approached, we saw that she had another bairn tied to her back with a bedsheet that was not much older than the redheaded one. This bairn was a wee lad who was clearly a few months older than the redhead but not old enough that they could be siblings.
“Kyla asked the woman whose child the lass was. The woman wouldnae come out and say it, but it was obvious that the bairn was the laird’s and Rose’s, and she was caring for her. This woman was Moira Mackenzie.” Liam Sinclair nodded to Siùsan. “Aye, the woman who raised ye and was Robert’s mother. We couldnae understand why ye were living outside the keep. We pressed Moira for more information. She was extremely nervous but finally admitted that she was to raise ye as her own because yer father and new stepmother didna want ye in the keep. They wouldnae acknowledge ye.
“While ye were living with Moira, Kyla and I sent money and supplies secretly to her. When ye were moved into the keep, I wrote to yer father asking him to foster ye with us since ye and Mairghread are close in age. But ye father wouldnae even answer any of ma missives.”
“I found out during ma chat with yer father that he hadnae received any of the missives that Liam sent. I believe Elizabeth was the reason for that, the spiteful bitch.” Thormud could not help but add the epithet. He sat back with a hurrumph.
“That is what we came to believe too. Since we couldnae get any response and we didna think coming to visit would help ye any, perhaps only making it worse, I sent a young couple to live and work among ye. Mayhap ye remember Mary and Alec. She worked in the kitchens and he was a guardsman. They would send me missives as regularly as they could to let me ken how ye faired. The news was never good but never dire enough to warrant me intervening. I didna want to make matters worse and lose ma only means of keeping an eye on ye.”
“I do remember them. They were kind to me even when they kept their distance just as everyone else did,” Siùsan broke in.
“Aye well, it was best for everyone is they were seen and not heard. It was in one of those missives that I learned that Lady Elizabeth was growing impatient with ye still being in the Mackenzie keep or even on Mackenzie land. She had started to needle yer father into allowing James to marry ye. I couldnae wait any longer at that point, so I sent Lewis, ma second, to meet personally with ye father to negotiate a marriage with Callum. It took several moons and several trips back and forth for Lewis before yer father agreed. I was finally able to convince him when I stated that I wouldnae ask for a bride price, I wouldnae require a dowry, but I would take ye with just the clothes on yer back if that would hurry things along.
“I didna explain any of this to Callum because I wanted him to meet ye and form his own opinion of ye. I wanted ye to get to ken each other and hoped that a love would grow between ye just as it did with me and ma Kyla. I admit that Callum gave me several sleepless nights there in the beginning. As I told ye, nighean, I had faith in Callum and needed ye to too, even if he was making a right cockup of it from the start. Blessed Jesu, Mary, and Joseph. I thought ye were going to turn and walk right back out of the keep when ye first met, or rather smelled, him. But I kenned I’d done right when ye put him squarely in his place. Time after time. Ye’ve yer mother’s pluck, ye ken. Not a wilting flower, to be sure.”
Siùsan’s felt like her head was spinning with all the information that her father by marriage had just shared. She could hardly follow him after he called her his nighean, his daughter. She had to swallow back tears when she realized that she really did think of Laird Liam Sinclair as her father now. All of it was almost too much to take in at once.
“Are ye well, leannan?” Callum whispered to her. She could only nod her head. He gently pressed her head against his shoulder and she relaxed. Callum was also struggling to make sense of all that he had just learned. He never had a clue that his father had spies among the Mackenzies. He never knew the reason why his father had chosen Siùsan or how he could be so sure they would be well suited. He assumed that it was a favor in memory of his mother. He thought back to how bitterly angry he had been to learn that he was to be betrothed. He had railed against his father and sulked then escaped from thinking about it by over indulging in Elizabeth. Thinking of her soured his stomach. He owed his father and brothers a tremendous apology and his father a debt of gratitude.
“Da.”
“Aye, lad.”
“I am so vera sorry. For it all. I owe ye all such a tremendous apology. I am ashamed of how I behaved from when I returned from court until I wedded Siùsan. I dinna ken how ye put up with me,” he laughed ruefully, “but I am ever so grateful that ye did. Alex, I should have listened to ye from the start. I shouldnae been so self-centered to ever believe ye dinna have ma best interests or those of the clan at heart.” He stood and placed Siùsan in his chair. He walked over to Alexander and extended his arm. Alex looked down at it and shook his head. Callum was stunned and was about to pull his arm back when Alex grabbed it and pulled him into a hug.
“Ye may be the older brother, but I am the cleverer, stronger, faster and better-looking brother.” Alex teased.
“Mayhap ye are.” Callum answered for all to hear but between the two of them, he murmured, “prove that ye are and dinna let the lass get away if ye love her like I love Siùsan.” He pulled back from Alex and returned to his seat. He lifted Siùsan back into his lap.
“Tavish, Magnus, thank ye for always being at ma side and for coming to ma aide time and again. Thank ye for all ye did for Siùsan. I am blessed with the best of brothers.” He nodded to his brothers and kissed Siùsan’s temples.
“Da?”
“Aye, lass.”
“Thank ye for it all. I dinna even ken how to begin to thank ye for all ye have done apparently ma entire life. Thank ye for picking me.” She smiled and looked up at Callum. The double meaning was clear to everyone.
“Excuse me, ma laird. Supper will be served shortly.” Hagatha announced.
Elspeth stepped out of the kitchen to monitor the serving of the meal. The Sinclairs and their guests stood and began to make their way to the dais. Siùsan caught a whiff of hagus and bolted out of the Great Hall. Callum dashed after her.
“She’s been doing a lot of that of late,” Tavish mused.
“Aye. Every time she smells food. Is it wrong of me to say that it leaves more for me to eat?” Magnus joked.
Thormud and Liam just watched knowingly as the couple disappeared down a passageway.
“Uncle Alex.”
Alex, Tavish, and Magnus froze. They all turned as a one and looked dazedly at the previously silent young woman. Alex was stunned at her announcement, just as Tavish and Magnus were, but the latter two were doubly surprised to hear her speak. She was a bluidy Sassanach! They looked at Alex, and he shrugged before escorting her to the dais.
“Come, lads. Ye’re catching flies with yer gobs hanging open. Ye’ll ken it all soon enough.”
Epilogue
Six and a half months later
Liam Sinclair leaned back in his chair and sipped his dram of whisky. He looked around his Great Hall and chuckled to himself. Not far from him, his sons were making wagers on whether the wee beastie that was causing all the fuss above stairs was going to be a lad or a lass. Alex and Tavish were betting on a lad while Magnus was stilling holding out that it would be a lass. Brighde, the woman who had arrived during a fierce storm and stayed on, becoming close friends with Siùsan during her confinement, was sure that it was both a lass and a lad. The Sinclair was not sure that she truly believed that, but it allowed her to give a noncommittal answer that did not bind her to either side of the bets.
Liam took another sip as a loud scream came from the chambers above. He had been through this five times with his own dearly departed Kyla and once already with Mairghread. He chuckled again as he remembered when Kyla was delivering Callum and years later when Tristan waited for Mairghread to deliver wee Liam. Tristan had proven to be much like he was as an expectant father. Liam had ended up punching the man, his own brother, who stood in his path to his wife and charged into their chamber after pacing for hours. Callum, Tavish, and Magnus had been on the receiving end of Tristan’s ire, impatience, and fists.
Callum had taken note more closely than Liam Sinclair thought. The first sign that Siùsan’s labor was beginning came that morning when her waters broke on the way to the kitchens. Callum had raced over, knocking several people to the ground in his hurry. He’d scooped her up and yelled for the midwife and the priest. He took the stairs two at a time and would have done three if he had not been so scared for his wife. Siùsan had tried to reassure him that there was plenty of time and that she was perfectly fine to walk up the stairs herself, however, she began the labor pains on the way to their chamber. Her first gasp solidified Callum’s intention to remain with her through the entirety of it. No amount of coaxing from anyone could pry Callum away.
It had been five hours since Siùsan’s labor began and there was no sign of things progressing any faster. His other sons kept glancing up the stairs each time Siùsan screamed. They looked anxious and out of place, but Liam knew that these things could take time or could be done in a matter of moments. Each babe came when he or she was ready and not a moment before.
“Da, would ye join us over her for a game of knucklebones or nine men’s morris?” Magnus called to him.
He was just considering it when a high-pitched wail came from above stairs. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the family chambers. A round of applause broke out among the clan members in the Great Hall.
“I wonder who won,” Tavish said to no one and everyone.
Moments later, another but slightly different high-pitched wail sounded.
“Twins! Brighde, how’d ye ken?” Alex asked quietly.
“I didna really. I just said as much to keep me out of yer squabbles with yer brothers. I wonder though, now, if it’s a lad and a lass, or two lads, or two lasses.”
“Good question,” Laird Sinclair said as he finally joined his sons and Brighde.
They were not left in suspense for long. Callum came running along the landing and leaned over the railing.
“It’s a lass and a lad. The lass is older by just a hair. Speaking of hair, the lad has ma brown and the lass has her mama’s red. She looks to have a fine temper just like her mama! He’s a braw one. Bigger than wee Liam was if ye can believe it!”
With that he ran back to Siùsan and his newly expanded family.
Callum walked into his chamber quietly so as not to disturb Siùsan or the babes. He could not stop smiling like a fool. He had been terrified for hours by the pain that that grabbed hold and seemed to never let go. He had felt utterly helpless through it all though Siùsan would not let go of his hand. She claimed that his presence was the only thing keeping her going. He had nearly panicked when he realized that a bairn was almost there and he saw the blood. He was convinced that Siùsan was dying. He’d yelled at the midwife and hugged Siùsan to the point that she had to beat on his shoulder to get him to let her breathe. He’d very nearly passed out when they all realized that a second babe was on the way.
Now he walked over to the bedside where Siùsan was nursing both babes. She was exhausted and sweaty, but he had never seen a more mesmorizing sight than his wife holding their two infant children. The women in the chamber silently bustled about changing Siùsan and the bed linens, careful not to disturb the young family.
“Ye did it, mo ghaisgeach beag. Ye are a warrior. Ye fought through it, and we’ve both come out the victors. What would ye have us name them?”
“Rose, for ma mama. Her red hair fits too. What would ye name yer heir?”
Callum paused. His nephew was already named for his father. Three Liams would be too confusing for everyone. There were also two Magnuses running around the keep between his brother and Siùsan’s. He did not want to hurt the younger Magnus’s feelings by naming the bairn after Seamus. He shook his head. He really did not have an answer until he looked up at Siùsan.
“Thormud. Thormud Seamus Magnus Sinclair.”
“That’s quite a mouthful, but I thank ye for honoring ma kin.”
“Ah, well this will also give Mangus mòr something to gloat about to Tavish.” The family had taken to calling Magnus Sinclair by mòr, or big, and Magnus Mackenzie went by òg, or young. It was the only way to distinguish the
two as they had formed a close bond and were usually found together while the sun was up. Mangus mòr oversaw Siùsan’s brothers’ training. He claimed it was because everyone else was busy, but it was no great secret that Magnus mòr relished in not being the youngest male in the family anymore.
“Then I would like it be Rose Kyla Sinclair. I ken it might sound better if it was Kyla Rose. I hope ye dinna mind placing ma mama’s name first.”
“If it hadnae been for yer mother, I wouldnae have ye or our bairns. I love the name and count all of ma blessings to have the three of ye here, hearty and hail.”
Callum kicked off his boots and stockings. He unfastened his sporran and the broach on his shoulder. He climbed into bed and wrapped the plaid around his shoulders and Siùsan’s. He helped position her so that she comfortably leaned against him. He lifted Rose into his arms and cooed at his daughter. She grabbed his thumb and squeezed.
“Ei! She’s got a tight hold on ma thumb.”
“Imagine that strength but when she nurses. She will be a challenge, mark ma words.”
In comparison, Thormud gurgled and kicked his legs as he laid in his mother’s arms.
“I canna believe how big he was considering they were both crammed in ma belly. I wasnae sure I had it in me to get him out. If ye hadnae been beside me, I would have given up.” She leaned over to kiss her husband. It was a soft and gentle kiss because they were both exhausted but none of the heat and passion was missing. They had a lifetime ahead of them filled with passion and love.
A soft knock came at the door and Laird Sinclair slowly peeked around the door.
“Come in, Da. Meet Rose and Thormud.”
Laird Sinclair beamed as he ran a hand over the tops of each of the babies’s heads.
“Ye’ve both done well for yerselves. Congratulations, and I’m proud of ye both.” He kissed Siùsan’s cheek and ruffled Callum’s hair, just as he had ever since Callum was a lad. He quietly backed out of the room and shut the door behind him. He could hear the soft murmuring of the new parents. He rubbed his hands together gleefully.
His Bonnie Highland Temptation (The Clan Sinclair Book 2) Page 27