Page 17 of One Fateful May Day
“A bunny!” Sable exclaimed with glee.
Lilly nudged Margret with her elbow. “Show them.”
Margret unfolded her smock to reveal a tiny fur-covered head with long ears and round eyes. “We found it all alone by the creek, and we couldn’t just leave it there.” She turned longing grey eyes, the shade of Archer’s on the tiny creature. “She’d die with no one to care for her.”
Emma reached out and stroked a finger down the bunny’s silken nose. “Surely she has a mother.”
Lilly shook her head adamantly. “We looked all around. Nanny even helped us.”
“We found nothing, no sign of a mother or even siblings,” Lilly said.
“Can we keep her?” Sable asked, wrapping her arm around her father’s neck. “Please, papa?”
Archer met Emma’s gaze and gave a slight nod. He waited for her answering nod, then said, “You may keep her, but she has to live outdoors. The gamekeeper can care for her, and three of you may help him.”
A chorus of “Yay” and “Thank you” and “we will” rang out as the girls hugged Emma and Archer. Then, in a flash, they were running back toward their nanny as they discussed what to name the bunny.
Emma laughed as she watched them go, her heart bubbling over with love. “Will you be disappointed if I give you another girl?” She asked.
Archer nuzzled his face against her stomach. “Never even consider it. I adore my girls and would welcome as many as you see fit to give me.”
“But don’t you want a son?” Emma asked, more than a little worried that she would never give him one.
“Love,” Archer cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes, “It does not matter to me what gender our children are. I love them all, just as I love you, and I always will.”
“Forever?” It was more than a word to Emma. It was the benediction that beat in her heat.
“Forever,” he replied, bringing her hand to rest on his chest, “you are my heart, and I will love you forever.”
