What was really bothering me though, was that Mary and Bridget talked constantly about the changes to her body, and that Mary seemed to be comfortable sharing intimate details with Bridget. I know that Mary was only trying to make sure that she looked after herself and the babe, but that did not stop me blushing furiously when Bridget pulled me aside one day, and asked to ‘have a word’ with me in private.
“Now Liam, I know ye are concerned about Mary’s health, and the health of the babe, so understand what I am about to say to ye is said with just that in mind. Now, I just want to reassure ye that there is no reason why a woman can’t enjoy her marriage bed just because she is with child, but Mary is approaching a time in her pregnancy where things have to change for a short time”.
“What things, Bridget?” I asked, worrying that something was wrong with Mary, “What can I do for her?”
Bridget eyed me for a moment, and I was sure that she was trying to hold back a smile as she continued.
“Well, it’s not actually what ye can do, but what ye should not do. I’ve spoken to Mary about this, and she wasn’t comfortable about what I had to say, and didn’t want to say much to me herself, but I think I should tell ye too, in case she ‘forgets’ to tell ye”.
At my urging, Bridget took a deep breath, stared me in the eye and said:
“Ye have to stop bringing her to climax. At least until it is time for the babe to be born. Climax has sometimes – rarely – but we all know how worried ye are – been known to bring about an early labour. Ye can still lie together as man and wife, but not like ye have been doing, from what Mary has told me”.
I stared at Bridget for a few moments, unable to string together any words to respond to her. Chuckling, Bridget patted my hand and walked away. I scrubbed my hands over my face, mortified that Mary had obviously told Bridget enough about our lovemaking for Bridget to be concerned enough to speak to me.
At dinner that night, I was very quiet. Quiet enough for Mary to notice and to try to speak to me. I shook my head, telling her quietly that we would talk that night.
Shortly after dinner, we entered our bedroom, and I had barely closed the door when Mary rounded on me.
“What’s the matter Liam? You’ve been quiet all day, is something wrong?”
“Bridget spoke to me. What did ye say to her?”
“Ah, I was hoping to speak to you myself before Bridget said anything. She says we have to be careful in our lovemaking now, that I am not supposed to…”
“I know what she said, Mary, she told me”.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything Mary. I was too embarrassed to respond to what Bridget had to say. How much did ye tell her?”
Mary moved towards me, a wicked little smile on her face.
“I didn’t give her any details, Liam, but I told her you were a very thorough and considerate lover. She told me that we had to be careful for the next couple of months, and that you could still take your pleasure, but I would have to enjoy myself a little less. How are we going to do that Liam? Even just looking at you, thinking about what we will do shortly, I am already halfway there, how am I supposed to make love to you and pull back before I go over the edge? The only way I can think of, is if you are more selfish than you usually are. Just take what you want from me, and don’t try to make it as wonderful as it usually is. Maybe if you keep your hands and your mouth to yourself we can make this work”.
I stared at Mary, aghast. I could not even contemplate what she was proposing. I knew that even if I tried, I would not succeed. I enjoyed touching her, tasting her, too much to reduce our lovemaking to what would be me simply taking relief from her body.
“No, Mary. Ye know that isn’t going to work. I’m not going to use ye for relief, I will not do that to ye. We will wait”.
“But what if I have a difficult labour? It could be a while until I’m ready again!”
“Then we will wait. I love ye Mary, and I love making love to ye. I don’t want to risk ye, so we will do what Bridget says, but please, don’t tell anyone else!”
So began what was a very long couple of months. Each night, I pulled my beautiful Mary close to me, needing to hear her breathing and feel her heart beating in order to sleep properly. Each morning, I woke up with an erection that was as hard as a rock, and could not do anything about it. One morning, I woke up to Mary’s luscious mouth wrapped around my shaft, and although I should have pushed her away, I did not. Instead, I selfishly watched as her head bobbed up and down, pleasuring me until I spilled myself, and just as I began to nudge Mary over to her back to return the favour, she slipped out of bed.
“Can’t, remember?” Mary said as she pulled her shift over her head. “I just didn’t think that both of us should suffer needlessly each night”.
After that, I spent a lot of time swimming in the cold waters of the nearby loch, although as Mary’s confinement approached, I worried more and more about her, and thought less and less of myself. A little embarrassment at Bridget’s knowing smiles was a smaller price to pay than the one that Mary would shortly be paying. Even if she had a relatively easy labour, it would still be incredibly painful, I had heard enough women screaming in childbirth to know that it was never easy.
One night, as we retired to our chamber after dinner, I helped Mary with her hair. As she turned to me afterwards, I looked at her body critically.
“Ye look different tonight, Mary. The babe seems to be riding a bit lower than usual”.
I smiled to hear Mary’s laugh. As she had become less and less comfortable due to her growing belly, she had been less ready to laugh than usual.
“Oh Liam, only you could phrase it like that. Yes, I noticed things had changed. Bridget noticed too, and told Patrice. They say that the baby is getting ready to be born, and that it won’t be long now. Bridget has moved into the keep to be on hand if it starts during the night”.
She paused and looked at me wickedly, a look I had not seen on her face for a while.
“Bridget also said, when your mother wasn’t around you will be happy to know, that since the baby is ready now, it would be alright to make love again. In fact, she said it might help”.
I rolled my eyes to think of the discussion that Mary had with Bridget, and although I felt embarrassed at the thought of what they had discussed, that was not the first thing I thought of.
“But how could it be safe? I mean, look at ye, Mary. Ye seem to be all baby now, how could we possibly…?”
Mary’s face fell, then she started to cry.
“Do you think me ugly, Liam? Is that why you roll away from me during the night?”
I pulled Mary to me, desperate for her to stop crying, and horrified that she could think I thought her unattractive.
“No, Mary, I have never stopped thinking of ye as beautiful, but I worry about yer health, and since the last time we made love, ye have grown so big, that I don’t even know how we could. I would worry about hurting ye, what if I thrust too hard or something?”
Mary stopped sniffling and looked up at me.
“You big idiot. Why didn’t you say so?”
As she talked, she pushed at me, making me back up until the backs of my legs hit the bed, and then I toppled down onto the mattress, Mary following me down.
“Why don’t you let me take charge? That way you won’t have to worry about hurting me, I will know what I can and can’t do”.
Smiling at the sight of my hose rising at my groin, Mary grasped hold of them and pulled them from me. As my shaft sprung free, Mary’s mouth formed a little O and she started to climb on top of the bed, hiking up her skirts, obviously not intending to remove her clothing before impaling herself on me. I smiled and held out my hands to help her climb on top of me, stilling in horror as she gasped in pain and doubled over. Her next words made my shaft go instantly limp.
“Liam, I think the baby’s coming now”.
Mary.
Everything seemed unreal. I
didn’t know whether I had been in labour for minutes, hours or days. At my first gasp, Liam had leapt up from the bed, pulled on his hose, and run from the room seeking Bridget. It hadn’t seemed that painful at first, and had passed quickly, and I had thought that maybe I had been wrong, but before Bridget and Patrice arrived, the second pain hit and made me double over, panting for breath. After that I was vaguely aware of women’s voices, and of Liam’s voice raised in fear as he was pushed from the room. Everything I had been told, and the few labours I had assisted with, had led me to believe that it would go slowly at first, and that there would be a space of time between the pains, but that did not seem to be what was happening to me. One pain seemed to be barely over before another began, and after a while I hurt so much that it never seemed to stop. I must have been asking for Liam over and over, because after a while I became aware of Patrice speaking to me.
“Mary, this is no place for men. It’s not proper, and besides they just get in the way”.
I panted as I spoke, I don’t know how much sense I made, but suddenly I felt very sick and I didn’t understand why Liam couldn’t be with me when I needed his strength so much.
“How can’t it be proper Patrice? What is he going to see that he didn’t see when we made the baby in the first place? I need him Patrice! I need him to help me be strong”.
Patrice shook her head, but was interrupted by Bridget.
“Let the boy in, Patrice. She needs him, and the maids tell me he hasn’t left the hallway anyway. He’s worried about her”.
Just then I started to retch and a bowl was pushed under my face. Bridget continued.
“Maybe when she’s finished being sick then. That usually means the first part of labour is done. She will want to start pushing soon, and it wouldn’t hurt to have him here for that. He can encourage her”.
With a sigh and a mumble, Patrice got up and went to the door, yanking it open.
“Get in here Liam. I don’t think it’s right, but your wife wants ye in here, and Bridget is on her side. I can’t argue with the both of them, and ye are keeping everyone awake with yer noisy stomping up and down”.
I cracked my eyes open a little wider to see Liam hesitate in the doorway before he rushed to my side, sitting on the bed and taking my hand.
“Is it very bad Mary, are ye coping with the pain?” He turned to Bridget.
“Is she doing alright Bridget? Is everything going well?”
“Yes Liam, it’s fine. It’s a little faster than most, which is probably hurting the poor thing more than it should, but there’s nothing to worry about. Soon Mary will need to be pushing, so you can help her with that. Just encourage her, and tell her how well she is doing, and let Mary do the rest”.
Liam clasped my hand tighter and looked down at me, brushing the hair from my damp forehead.
“Is that right Mary? You don’t mind me being here?”
I shook my head as a fresh pain gripped me. This one was different from the others. I had never had a baby before but I knew what I had to do. I gathered up whatever strength I had in my stomach and pushed. I heard a gasp from beside me and after the pain passed I turned my head to see Liam wriggling his fingers where I was grasping his hand. He grimaced at me.
“I didn’t think ye were so strong”.
At my pained look, he leaned down and kissed me on the forehead.
“If it makes it easier for ye, squeeze my hand as hard as ye can, I can take it”.
During the next few pains, I think Liam regretted that statement, but it did help to hold tight to him as I pushed. I gasped out some questions to Bridget when I was able, pleading with her to tell me how much longer it would be until it was all over. Bridget smiled at me.
“I don’t know how it escaped yer notice before, Mary, but yer husband is a very big man. Clearly this is going to be a big baby, I could tell that from seeing the size of ye while ye were growing it. It’s not going to be easy for ye to push out this child, but I have faith ye can do it. A few more pushes, and ye will have yer babe in yer arms”.
Although at that point I believed Bridget was lying to me to try to make me feel better, it turned out that she was right. Although I thought I was going to be feeling this pain forever, after only a few more pushes, both Bridget and Patrice were exclaiming while looking at what had formerly been a private area between my legs. Although I was sure that later I would be embarrassed to think of my mother by law looking at my private parts, at that point I was beyond caring.
“Oh Mary, I can see it’s little head, and it’s got red hair! Your baby will soon be here, just a bit longer!” exclaimed Patrice.
I felt Liam stir, and turned my head to look at him, to see him straining forward, trying to see the baby.
“Go!” I gasped. “Have a look, but come back here as soon as the next pain starts”.
With a nod, Liam moved around to the bottom of the bed, going pale before coming back to my side.
“What?” I asked worriedly, “Is anything wrong?”
At this, Bridget threw her head back and laughed.
“That, my girl, is why men are usually banished from birthing! Until they see it for themselves, they forget just how big a baby is, in comparison to the place it is coming out of!”
Annoyingly, Bridget chuckled through my next couple of pains. Liam didn’t move again, even when Patrice was commenting that now she could see the baby’s shoulders, and then with a rush, I felt the pressure ease, and saw Bridget holding the baby, which didn’t appear to be breathing. I felt Liam tense and reached up my hand to pull his face towards me.
“It’s normal, Liam. They don’t breathe straight away, don’t worry, Bridget knows what she is doing”.
Just as I finished speaking, we heard a baby cry, and I held out my arms as Bridget approached us with a cloth wrapped bundle.
“Mary, meet your son. You and Liam can look at him while we finish up here”.
I tried to pull the cloth aside to see the baby, but couldn’t manage with one hand. Liam let go of my hand and as I worked to expose our child, he leaned down to kiss me again. As I felt his lips on my forehead, I felt a drop of moisture fall to my face, and looked up to his eyes which were suspiciously bright.
“You were amazing, Mary”, he said, “Who would have thought that a year ago I didn’t know you, but now I can’t imagine a life without you in it”.
Feeling tears begin to well in my own eyes, I reached up to pull Liam down for a hug, feeling his strong arms wrap around me and hold me tight, only letting me go with a laugh when our son squalled because his parents were crushing him. His little hands were flailing around and Liam reached out to capture them securely within his own big hands. A tear rolled down my cheek as the baby’s tiny fingers wrapped around one of Liam’s. Right then I remembered that big scary warrior who woke me up from my nap under the tree that fateful day.
I smiled as I thought about the rest of the days we could have together, my Highland Raider and I.
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Taken by a Highland Raider Page 19