Stacey was listening to the conversation of two of the young women next to her. These so-called court ladies were vicious. Stacey didn’t know whose husband was shagging whose wife, but she had heard about enough. How did they know so much about everybody’s bedroom business in the first place? The chatty Cathy from across the table with the red wig asked, “Countess Dun-Raven, what would ye do to correct the situation, say ye husband was a philanderer?”
Stacey took a swallow of wine, set her goblet down and said, “I would cut his dick off, that ought to keep him home.”
The room went quiet. Eric smiled, reached over and took Stacey’s wine goblet and said, “Oops, no more wine for ye my love.”
Miss red said, “I do not understand what ye mean, Countess.”
“Then let me make it quite clear,” Stacey said. “I would remove his offending member with a sharp implement, be that clear enough? Then I might find the young women with vicious tongues and remove those also.”
The older duchess said, “Good for ye, countess. Now, shall we retire to the other room and leave the gentlemen to themselves?”
When the ladies stood up, so did the men. Eric put his arm around Stacey, kissed her temple and said, “I will be in shortly and we can leave.”
After the ladies departed, the men had a good laugh and asked, “Be that how the countess keeps ye home, Dun-Raven?”
The Earl of Dun-Raven smiled his devilish smile and said, “Gentlemen, all ye need do, be to look at my wife and ye can see what keeps me home.”
Prince Edward said, “I for one think ye a lucky man. I like a woman who speaks her mind.”
Eric finished his wine, excused himself and said, “I must collect my lovely wife and go home to our young son.”
“Congratulations, Eric. I did not know ye had a son,” the prince said.
“Yes, we do, I am pleased to say. He be four years younger than young Richard.”
“Ye lovely wife has invited us to Dun-Raven. Should I find the time we will avail ourselves of ye hospitality.”
Eric clasped Edward’s hand, slapped him on his shoulder and said, “Edward, ye know ye always be welcome at Dun-Raven, anytime.”
Eric found Stacey and asked, “Be ye ready to go home or would ye care to stay longer?”
“Don’t toy with me; I’ve had just enough wine to make me nasty. Where are Rodric and Callie anyway?”
Eric smiled at her surly attitude and said, “I believe they left earlier.”
Outside, three of the earl’s knights were waiting. The trip up the river on a warm summer night was intoxicating. Stacey was half-asleep when they arrived at Hampton hall. She went immediately to check on Shane before she could go to sleep. This was the longest time she had been away from him.
In their room, Eric helped her out of her dress, laid her back on the bed and asked, “Do ye remember
our first night here?”
“Yes, of course, I do. That was when I conceived our son.” She smiled at Eric and said, “I think it’s about time I conceive another.”
Eric said as he held her in his arms, “I will be most happy to comply, my lady.”
The ride home was long and tedious. Callie was quieter than usual because Rodric was staying with his parents until the wedding in November. The trip seemed longer this time. Shane jabbered until he fell asleep. They were all relieved when they finally arrived home at Dun-Raven. Everyone was ready to rest except Shane. He was ready to rock and roll. That started Stacey remembering her other life in the future. She wished her mom and dad; Mr. Chen and her grandparents could meet Eric and Shane. Stacey loved them both so much. She wished there was someway to share her happiness with them. It bothered her for them to think she was dead.
Chapter 20
The Marauders
They had been home a few weeks when a rider came at full gallop. Some Irish and Scottish raiders had attacked Rogan’s farm just inside Dun-Raven domain. Eric, with some of his knights and soldiers left within the hour. They were gone for two weeks. Stacey was worried sick. This was the first time Eric had ridden into danger since they were married.
Stacey knew Eric was dauntless and would never send his men where he would not go himself. Shane kept asking for his Dada.
Stacey held her son and said, “Oh baby, darling, I wanna’ see him too.”
It was late in the afternoon on the fourteenth day when a lookout on the front tower yelled, “His lordship is coming.”
Stacey grabbed Shane and said, “Dada’s coming.”
They were waiting as the troop rode into the bailey. As soon as Stacey saw Eric, she knew something was amiss. They were all bloody and some of his men were wounded. Stacey yelled for Nancy and Franklin to get the baths ready. “Tell Alice and Alfred to keep hot water coming,” Stacey called. The groomsmen were there to take the horses. When Eric was close, Stacey handed Shane to Callie. She threw her arms around Eric, but he set her back from him and reached for Shane. He grabbed his son and held on to him. He was holding him too tight and Shane started squirming to get down.
Stacey knew Eric wasn’t himself. She said in a forceful voice, “Let him go, Eric, you’re hurting him.”
Stacey took Shane from Eric and handed him back to Callie, “Watch Shane, please Callie while I take care of Eric.”
Stacey took Eric upstairs; where he sat but said not a word to her. Stacey sensed his mind was in a dark place. She knew when he was fighting in France he had seen much death and destruction. Stacey didn’t know what to do other than take him to their solar where she knew Franklin would bring Eric’s bath as soon as he could. She was hurriedly taking Eric’s bloody clothes off and searching for a wound. She found nothing, thank god.
“Eric, is any of this blood yours?” Stacey asked frantically. All of a sudden, Eric grabbed her, flipped her shirts up and entered her. Stacey didn’t fight him, she just held him tight until he was himself again. Eric sat up on the side of the bed with his head in his hands and said, “God forgive me love that was a monstrous thing to do.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that you needed me and I was here. Was it better with your boots on?” Stacey asked.
Eric looked at Stacey as if she had gone mad, then he looked down at himself. He was sitting on the bed with his bloody trousers down around his knees and his boots on.
Stacey was smiling at him. He laid back on the bed laughing. He had never felt more primitive or ridiculous in his life. Stacey started kissing him. He said, “My love, I have unmanned myself. Give me time to wash these devils’s blood off me and I will love ye as ye deserve.”
“My love, I am here to love you anyway you need me. You needed me that way right then, so no regrets.”
Franklin came with a big wooden tub and buckets of hot water. Stacey thanked him and said, “I’ll take care of his lordship.”
After Eric was clean, fed and had held his son, he was ready to tell Stacey what had happened. “It was a sight I hope never to see again,” he said. “Those marauding devils had killed the entire family, along with the servants and even the dogs. One of the bairns was no bigger than our Shane. All I could think about was that this could have been my son.
We followed those devils to their lair and there we killed them, all except one, a lad of twelve. I told him, “Go tell ye elders, should they ever come on my domain again, I will track them down and kill every mother’s son of them just as they did, women and children alike.”
“Did he believe you?” Stacey asked.
“Aye, love, I put the fear of the devil in him. We left the bodies lying where they fell. I told the lad, “Ye people can bury ye own dead this time, but should ye ever come back, ye and ye kin will be meat for the vultures.”
We brought all the animals back. Now I need find some brave couple to go live there.”
Stacey put her arms around him and said, “I don’t see that as much of a problem.”
“Aye, lass,” he said with a grin. “I was sure ye would have someone in mind.”
<
br /> Life went back to normal and in no time, Lady Margaret and Lord Hampton arrived. They were there to help with the wedding. Callie’s family would be arriving soon also. When Stacey got up the next morning she was so dizzy she couldn’t stand. By the time she got downstairs, she felt better. Everyone was at the table and the food was being served. As soon as Stacey smelled the food, she was up and on her way to the door. This time she knew where the door was. Scooby was right beside her and so was Eric.
“What be the matter, my love?” Before Stacey could answer, she was heaving again. Eric looked worried and asked, “Did ye eat something foul, my love?”
“No,” Stacey said. “We’re going to have another baby, that’s all.” A smile came over Eric’s face as if he had accomplished some great feat. “I wanna’ see that same smile when it’s time to deliver this child,” Stacey reminded him.
Of course, the news was most welcome to Lady Margaret and Lord Thomas. Later when they were alone Lady Margaret said, “Thank ye Stacey for coming into our lives and loving my son. I told him; back when he was wet from one of ye battles that he had met his match. I have never seen my son so happy. “Thank you lady Margaret,” Stacey said. “Your son has made me very happy too and I feel the hand of providence in all that has happened to me.”
Rodric and Callie were married and returned to Hampton keep. The ceremony was a happy celebration. The only damper for Stacey was her constant morning sickness. She learned not to come downstairs to break the fast, but to stay above stairs until the smell of food had diminished. She would have a piece of dry toasted bread and a small glass of buttermilk to sustain her until her nausea passed.
Chapter 21
A Litter of Babies
Stacey was in her sixth month of pregnancy and very large. A storm had rolled in around bedtime.
Eric and Stacey had just settled in when Shane appeared at the solar door. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Stacey asked.
“I wanna’ sleep with ye and Dada,” Shane said as he climbed into bed between them. “Don’t ye want me with ye, a storm is coming?”
“I always want you with me, you and Dada both,” his mommy said.
Shane snuggled under the covers and said, “Mommy ye be getting fat.”
While Eric was laughing, Stacey said, “Yes, I believe I am.”
“Why?” Shane asked.
Eric propped himself on his elbow and said, “I do not want to miss this.”
“Well, why don’t you tell him then?”
“No thank ye,” Eric said. “This be ye domain.”
“We’re gonna’ have a baby, won’t that be nice?”
“Like Trixie?” Shane asked. “Be the baby in your tummy, Mommy?”
“Yes,” Stacey said. “How did you know that?”
“Mister Will told me. Trixie’s puppies were inside her too. Trixie had five puppies, Mommy. How many we be having?”
“Just one, darling,” his mommy said.
With a child’s innocence, Shane asked, “Be ye a bitch, Mommy?”
Eric choked on laughter and said, “I want to hear the answer to this one too.”
“In that case, why don’t I just let you answer it?”
“No, I believe not,” Eric, said. “I do not want to lose my happy home.”
Shane got their attention again when he said, “Mommy, Mister Will said that a mommy doggie is a bitch.”
“Yes, that’s true, darling, but that’s a word I’d rather you didn’t say.”
“Why not Mommy?”
Eric took his son in his arms and said, “There is a big difference between mommies and doggies. Female dogs are called bitches and they have puppies, but mommies are ladies and they have babies.”
“Mister Will said that I may have one of Trixie’s puppies,” Shane said. “May I have one of ye babies too, Mommy?”
“No, Shane,” Stacey said. “Well, yes, I’m only having one baby but it will belong to Mommy, Dada and you too. You’ll be the big brother.”
“Can we give it back if we don’t like it?” Shane asked.
“No,” Stacey declared. “Oh, for goodness sake go to sleep Shane. We’ll talk about this on the morrow.”
Eric held his son in his arms and chuckled as he said, “Go to sleep little man; Mommy’s tired.”
The next few days were spent with Shane telling everyone who would listen that his mommy was having a litter of babies, just like Trixie. Stacey was having so much trouble getting up and down, that sometimes she felt like she was having a litter. In her eighth month Stacey was sure she could feel two heads.
When Stacey mentioned this to Eric, he said, “I have no knowledge of twins in my family.”
“Well, I do in mine,” she said.
Stacey knew if she was right, she was going to need help. Alice had a niece who Stacey much admired. She was not interested in marriage, but was wonderful with children. Stacey had taught her how to read and do sums. She was a quiet girl, very studious and Stacey liked her very much. She asked Alice if she thought Janet would like to come help her.
“I am sure she would, m’lady,” Alice said. “I will send someone to the village to fetch her.”
Stacey was delighted when Janet said, yes. Stacey knew Janet wanted to teach younger children. She was so right for teaching and this would give them a chance to work on that. The monks were very jealous of sharing what they felt was their god given right to be the only teachers of knowledge. Stacey was so big and so uncomfortable it was difficult to get around. She calculated she should give birth between the first and fifteenth of June. Finally, on June nineteenth, she went into labor and to top it all off it was in the middle of the night.
Stacey told Eric, “Go sleep in another solar. I don’t wanna’ keep you awake.”
“No, my love, I will not leave ye. As I recall, ye forbade me before to leave our bed.”
Casually, Stacey said, “That was then, this is now.”
Stacey’s pains were still far apart, therefore, she was able to rest a little. By morning, the pains were deeper and closer together. Stacey asked Janet, “Is everything ready?” As she once again paced the floor.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Shane walked in and asked, “Are ye having our baby now?”
“Soon, darling, soon,” Stacey said.
“May I stay and watch?” Shane asked.
“No, you may not,” Stacey told him.
“But Mommy,” Shane pleaded. “I watched Trixie have hers.”
His exasperated mother said, “Well, darling, I’m not Trixie.”
Stacey asked Nancy to please take this nosey child and keep him busy for the next few hours. For the next few hours, Stacey was in agony. Eric was with her, but sometimes she was in so much pain she could hardly breathe. “This be our last child. Ye not be going through this again,” Eric said as he held Stacey’s hand and wished he could relieve her of this terrible pain.
In the eventide of June twenty, thirteen-seventy-four, a baby girl was born with a great set of lungs. Eric tied and cut the cord. Stacey knew something was wrong when she was still in pain. Eric was worried because the placenta had not expelled yet. Neither of them knew what to do. Then a deep pain engulfed Stacey. This time she screamed and scared the hell out of Eric. He came to her and saw she had passed out. He heard crying. One baby was on the bed beside Stacey crying and god’s teeth, there was another between her legs crying. Eric knew help was just outside the door. He yelled for Franklin and Janet. Eric tied and cut the cord and set the second baby girl free.
Franklin and Janet took over care of the twins while Eric took care of Stacey. He was putting cool water on her face and telling her, “Wherever ye be, get on back here. Ye not be leaving me with three bairns to care for.” Eric held Stacey in his arms and kept saying, “Wake up, sweetheart ye cannot leave me. Do ye hear me? Ye cannot leave me.”
Stacey opened her eyes and asked, “What happened?”
Eric was so relieved he would not stop holding and kis
sing her and said, “We now have two little baby daughters.”
“Where are they?” Stacey asked, frantically.
“They be fine, sweetheart. Let me get ye cleaned up, then Franklin and Janet will bring them in.”
When Janet brought the babies in, Stacey was propped up on pillows and both babies were crying. Stacey took one at a time and gave them her breast. Finally, they were both fed and asleep in the cradle, which was barely big enough for two. About that time, Shane came in with Nancy. she said, “Sorry, m’lady, but I could not keep him out.”
“That’s fine Nancy, you did very well.” Stacey commended her. “I know what a hand full this little man of mine can be.”
Eric picked Shane up to show him his sisters. Shane said, “Oh Mommy, ye have two, now ye can give me one.” Shane’s antics had the room laughing.
Eric didn’t remember which was born first. One had a small red birthmark on her ankle that was how they would know them apart. They named the twins Jacquelyn Suzanne and Jessica Leighanne. They had talked about names for the twins often after Stacey realized she might be carrying twins. If they were girls, she wanted to name them after her mother and grandmother. Her mother’s name is Jessica Leighanne and her grandmother’s name is Jacquelyn Suzanne. Stacey couldn’t think of a more fitting way to remember the two women she dearly loved in her other life.
Stacey was content as she listened to Eric, telling of birthing the twins, that you would think he brought the twins into the world with little or no help from Stacey. When the girls were six months old, Eric was telling everyone at a dinner party what all he had to go through. Stacey said, “Yes and in his eighth month we had to help him up and down the stairs.” Everyone laughed and put it in the right perspective of what a difference a wife and family made in this man. Eric still tried to be at the feedings as often as possible. Shane liked being there too. He asked his mother, “Did I do that too when I be a baby?”
A Fall Through Time (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #1) Page 11
