“Do they do this often?” Richard said in a loud aside to Ewan.
“Too much!” Ewan declared conspiratorially, but secretly he didn’t mind it when his father and mother hugged each other or whispered gently to one another. He loved seeing his father so happy and he thought the adoring glances they shared with each other were sweet, though he’d never admit that to anyone!
“Hey Maggie! Want to come to Uncle Richard?” he held out his arms to his little niece, taking her out of the protective hold of Ewan. “Well Elizabeth!” he declared studying the girl, “she looks more and more like you every day!”
“Mm, she’s going to be a little heart breaker when she’s older!” Duncan chucked her under the chin.
“She’s definitely going to keep her father busy chasing away all of the suitors that come calling!” he teased.
“Don’t Richard!” Elizabeth chided, “He already has nightmares about that as it is!” They all burst out laughing, even Ewan, who at ten didn’t really understand what they were talking about. Still, causing trouble for his father was always an idea that he liked the sound of!
“Are you staying for long Richard?” Elizabeth waited eagerly for his reply.
“No. I must leave tomorrow!” he didn’t like disappointing his sister but couldn’t help it this time.
“Anything I need to know about?” Duncan questioned astutely. Usually when Richard came to visit he would spend a number of weeks here at one time. The fact that he wasn’t this time, especially when he would have another little niece or nephew any day now made him suspicious.
“Henry’s once more on Scottish soil. Apparently he’s up to his usual tricks, he’s holding a castle under attack this side of the border” Richard tried to make light of the situation, he didn’t want to upset his sister, knew Duncan was likely to kill him if he did!
“No! No Duncan!” Panic was entering her voice.
“Who’s going down?” he ignored his wife’s outcry for the moment.
“Malcolm’s taking most of his men; we’ll be joining forces with three other clans before we reach the border country.”
“So I’ll not be missed if I sit this one out?”
“Duncan! Do you really mean that?” Elizabeth threw herself into his arms, tears forming in her eyes.
“I wouldnae leave ye to bring our next daughter into the world alone!”
“Son!” she automatically corrected. “Thank you! I know how much you want to meet him on the battle field!”
“Not as much as I want to be here with my family” he reassured. “If Malcolm needs extra men then he can take some from here. I’m sure Colin and John will be eager to go with ye!” he offered. Richard accepted, and watched the other man closely for any signs of regret, when he saw none he breathed a big sigh of relief. He’d been worried that his news today might have caused trouble between his sister and her husband, but evidently Duncan was more than content to stay behind with his family.
On a yawn Elizabeth decided to leave the men to their discussion. "I'll see you all later. Right now I'm going for a nap before I fall asleep right here standing up!" she turned, "I trust that the three of you can somehow manage to look after the baby for a little while" With very firm assurance ringing in her ears from all three men Elizabeth left the room in search of her bed.
“Where’s Elizabeth?” it was Richard who raised the question as they sat eating their evening meal. Little Margaret was already sleeping safely in her bed.
“Probably sleeping!” Duncan said unconcerned, used to his wife disappearing to her bed at odd times of the day. Still he called over one of the serving girls and asked her if she knew anything of his wife’s whereabouts. It was her reaction which sent the adrenalin shooting through his body.
“Oh Master!” she exclaimed, “I thought ye would have heard! Lady Elizabeth’s having the baby! The midwife is up with her now!” The last of her sentence was shouted towards his retreating back as he raced blindly to Elizabeth’s side.
Richard and Ewan shared smiling glances with one another, both remembering how Duncan had almost fallen apart at the birth of little Margaret. Richard didn't really fear for his sister, she was tough and he was sure would pull through, his brother-in-law, however, was a different matter altogether. Unable to contain it any longer their loud bellows of laughter followed Duncan up the stairs and to Elizabeth's side.
Duncan burst through the bedroom door only to be thrown out of it just as quickly, though not before he had given Elizabeth a hasty kiss and a quick squeeze. She looked beautiful he thought, working hard to bring his child into this world. Even now after more than two years of married life he still couldn’t believe his good luck in having found her. Before Elizabeth, he had never believed this degree of happiness existed, but his wife had a knack for changing his opinion of things.
Stuck outside of the room, away from the action and feeling pretty useless, Duncan resorted to pacing. He lost count of the number of times he walked up and down the long hallway, too lost in his own thoughts and prayers for him to care. But already the morning sun was peeking through the windows when eventually the door opened. He searched the midwife’s face for any sign of what she was about to say, but he couldn’t read it. “Tell me!” he blurted out when he could stand it no longer.
“Your wife and son are both going to be fine. But she needs her rest!” she admonished to an empty hallway, but couldn’t help the chuckle on her lips.
“Elizabeth!” Duncan raced to her side, her tired eyes glowing at him filled with her love.
“We have another son Duncan!” she grinned up at him as he sat down on the bed beside her.
Looking down at his son, Duncan could only shake his head in wonder, lost for words. When he looked back up at his wife his breath caught in his throat as he saw the tears fall from her eyes, all he could do was reach out and catch them in his hand.
“I love you so much!” she managed to get the words past her own constricted throat.
“I love you too!” and he took her into his arms as if he’d never let her go.
When they could manage to speak again he murmured huskily, “I really thought the baby would be another girl!”
“Maybe the next one will be”.
“No!” he all but shouted, “no more! I cannae go through this again!”
Elizabeth only smiled in reply; she knew she could convince him to change his mind when the time was right. Now all she wanted was to sleep. Sensing this Duncan took the baby out of her arms, "sleep sweetheart, I'll be here when ye wake up" and on that whispered promise she fell into a deep, rejuvenating sleep. And when she eventually woke up hours later he was right there beside her.
--The End--
Ann Carr Page 22
