Page 85 of Highland Troth
Aye, he wanted this as much as she. She did not need her talent to discern that.
They signed the marriage declaration and the MacGregor record-book. Jamie hesitated a moment, but then signed with a great flourish. Men and their territory-marking, Caitrin thought with a grin she shared with her new husband as he handed her the ceremonial quill. Then it was her turn, and she took great pleasure in signingCaitrin Olivia Fletcher Lathan,wife of Jamie Lathan. Her fondest dream come true.
Epilogue
Jamie and Toran sat in front of the MacKyrie hearth, whisky in hand against the early autumn chill. Donal had run upstairs to be with Ellie as the first lusty cry of their son had echoed down the stairs into the great hall.
“It seems we’ve been here before,” Jamie remarked with a grin at Toran, who scowled in his direction. “Two years past, Aileana came to ye. Now ye have fifteen-month-old triplets and four-month-old twins. And Donal just got his son and heir to MacKyrie.”
“I dinna think I’ve ever seen him so nervous,” Toran replied, ignoring Jamie’s barb. Toran had done plenty of pacing of his own as Aileana delivered their bairns. Aileana remained upstairs with Ellie, and Caitrin kept a watchful eye on Toran and Aileana’s brood so their mother would not be distracted. “He’s as steady as they come in battle, but around Ellie, he’s a different man.”
“Aye, our women do have that effect on us,” Jamie agreed. Caitrin had given Jamie more to care about and to live for than he’d ever dreamed possible.
“Ah, here comes yer lady wife, now.”
Jamie glanced around at the stairs. Caitrin descended the last few steps and joined them at the hearth, perching on the arm of his chair. “Aileana’s with the bairns. I dinna ken how she does it,” she told Toran. “Five at a time are a lot of work, even with the servants’ help.”
“It will be different with yer own,” Toran replied with an absent smile, his gaze on the stairs Caitrin had just descended. “I think I’ll go check on them.”
“He wants to check on his wife,” Jamie told her quietly, but loudly enough Toran would be sure to hear as he started up the steps.
Toran ignored the comment and kept going.
Jamie turned back to her. “So they wore ye out, did they?”
“Aye, but I did get a peek at Ellie’s new bairn, though Donal chased me out quickly enough. They’re exhausted but blissful, at the moment. I’m just tired.”
“I can fix that,” Jamie said, rising and pulling her up with him. “Bliss is my specialty, if ye’ll recall. Will ye walk or are ye too worn out? I’ll gladly carry ye, but I ken ye are a stubborn lass.”
Caitrin stretched, wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck and taking a deep breath, she said, “I love the way ye smell. Whisky and yer own scent.” She rested her head his shoulder. “Aye, that sounds wonderful. Take me.”
With a grin, Jamie lifted her into his arms and carried her up to their chamber.
“So after today, are ye ready for a bairn of yer own?” he asked, his expression as innocent as he could make it.
“After I spent the day with five of them, and after listening to Ellie’s birthing cries, how can ye ask me that?”
“Because I intend to have ye,” he promised as he latched the door behind them and carried her to their bed. “I’m to give ye bliss, remember?”
“Aye. Ye did mention that. But one does no’ always lead to the other,” she told him as he wrapped strong arms around her.
“Nay, but eventually, it will.”
“After this day, there had better be a lot of bliss between now and then.”
Jamie gave her the grin she’d come to love, the one that told her he could not live without her. “Never fear, milady. Ye ken I speak the truth when I say it will be my pleasure—and yers.”
