Just after sunset, Morag started having severe pain in her arm and shoulder.
Lilliana sent for Father Henry.
Morag was growing more short of breath. It was clear she had very little time left, and knew it. She said, “Lady Lilliana, please tell Lady Wynda, I’m sorry. After everything she’s been through, I wanted to share this joy with her but I fear I can’t.”
“I’ll tell her Morag,” assured Lilliana.
The old woman closed her eyes, grimacing with pain. After a few minutes she opened them again. “Elizabeth, ye’re a blessing. I’m so very proud of ye. Take good care of our clan.”
“I will, Morag.” Tears slipped silently down Elizabeth’s cheeks.
Morag closed her eyes again.
When Father Henry arrived to administer the Last Rites, Cade and Hamish were with him.
After Morag received the sacrament, Elizabeth never left her side. The old woman was mostly still but grimaced occasionally over the next hour or so. Shortly after midnight, she breathed her last.
Elizabeth couldn’t contain her tears. Cade wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried, just as Hamish comforted Lilliana.
Gertrude’s words came to her:
There was a time when doctors, healers and midwives experienced exactly what ye say ye want. They knew their patients and spent time with them. When they brought a new babe into the world they could rejoice with the family. When a life was tragically lost, they could mourn. They experienced the full spectrum of human emotion and existence, and helped their neighbors through it.
~ * ~
Elizabeth missed Morag more that she thought possible. For the next few weeks, many was the moment when she thought, I’ll just go ask Morag, only to have the pain of loss take her breath away.
But even that loss couldn’t dim the joy of the pending birth of Wynda’s baby. After the first week of August, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. By her calculation, Wynda had reached thirty eight weeks and the baby should be fine. On the morning of third Wednesday in August, Wynda went into labor. By the middle of the afternoon, Elizabeth placed a perfect baby girl, with a lusty voice in Wynda’s arms. The other women helping with the birth laughed and cried and rejoiced with Lady MacKenzie.
Wynda beamed and whispered, “My lovely wee lassie, I’ve waited a long time for ye.”
When the chamber had been set to rights and Wynda was sitting in a freshly made bed, with her daughter in her arms, Angus and Cade came to see the new arrival.
When Angus held his daughter for the first time, he looked ready to burst with joy.
Elizabeth had to bite her cheeks to keep from laughing when Cade first held his baby sister. Babies have an amazing ability to turn the biggest, toughest men on the earth into blithering ninnies.
When the baby was tucked snuggly back in her mama’s arms, Angus turned to Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude. I know yer life was turned upside down when ye accepted that…pocket watch…from Gertrude. But I will be eternally grateful that ye did, and further that ye chose to stay here.”
“It is as much a blessing to me, I assure ye,” Elizabeth answered.
“I’ll be honest, I was irritated with Cade when I found out he’d married ye without my leave. Still, it didn’t take long for me to realize ye were more of an asset to this clan than the best alliance I could have forged. And, what’s more, ye love each other. That’s a rare gift but it will never match the gift of hope ye’ve given us. So, good daughter, Wynda and I have decided to name our wee lass Hope Elizabeth—if that’s all right with ye.”
Elizabeth was overwhelmed. “I’m honored, Laird. Thank ye.”
~ * ~
The birth of baby Hope was cause for great celebration and Elizabeth was the hero of the day. Tankard after tankard was raised in her honor. It was rather late when Cade finally was able to extricate his wife from his adoring clan.
He was no sooner through the door of their chamber than he pulled her close put a hand behind her neck and kissed her until she melted against him.
“Shall we start a bairn of our own?”
She sighed dreamily. “Too late.”
“Nay, lass, ye can sleep a little longer in the morning.”
She chuckled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did ye mean?”
“It’s too late to start a baby, because one is already started.”
“Ye’re carrying?”
“Aye.”
“Ye’re sure?”
She arched a brow at him. “Pretty sure. I do know a bit about it. My courses haven’t come since we were married. I expect we’ll be parents by the middle of March.”
“Sweetling, that’s wonderful.” He picked her up and swung her around, then planted kisses over her face and neck.
“Cade, there’s something I have to tell ye.”
The seriousness of her tone gave him pause. “What is it?”
“Do ye recall what I said to yer da the night I arrived?”
He thought back and groaned when he remembered. “Ye said he and Wynda couldn’t have marital relations.”
“Aye I did.” She paused looking very serious before her face split into a wide, lopsided grin. “But we can.”
“Ye’re a wicked, wicked, lass for scaring me like that.”
He scooped her in his arms and carried her, laughing to the bed.
Epilogue
Twenty-four years later
Elizabeth rubbed Nora’s back as the contraction began to ease.
Tears ran down the lass’s cheeks. “Mama, I don’t think I can do this. I’m so tired.”
Elizabeth gathered her daughter in her arms. She had been laboring all day and night had fallen. “Of course ye’re tired sweetling, but ye can do this. Come sit with me and rest.” Elizabeth sat on the bed, with her back against the carved headboard and helped Nora sit in front of her, between her legs. She wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her gently until Nora’s back rested against her chest. Then she hummed a lullaby as she had when Nora was a baby.
Wynda sat next to the bed, holding Nora’s hand. Her daughter, Hope, sat at the foot of the bed. Jessie, one of the women Elizabeth had trained to be a midwife, stood nearby.
Elizabeth gently stroked her daughter’s hair as she hummed. This scene had played out over and over again in the twenty four years she’d lived here. She had brought a lot of wee souls into the world. Sadly, she had lost some as well. Each time she suffered a private heartache because she knew many of them would have lived with the help of modern science. Still, Elizabeth was confident that she was able to provide the best care possible, under the circumstances.
But now the pregnant woman in her arms was her own child. Her mother-in-law sat beside them. Her lovely young sister-in-law and namesake sat at the end of the bed and the first terrified young mother who she had tended here was the calm midwife standing to one side. They would come through this night together.
And they did.
Several hours later, Elizabeth brought her first grandchild into the world. “Nora, my love, ye have daughter.”
When Elizabeth finally found her bed several hours later, she lay in the strong comfort of Cade’s arms.
“I don’t know how ye did that Elizabeth.”
“Delivered the baby? I’ve a wee bit of experience.”
“Delivered Nora’s baby. Hearing her cries were almost as bad as hearing yers.”
“Ye know, I’ve told ye before, in my time men stay with their wives.”
“That may be, but I bet there aren’t many that stay with their daughters.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “Perhaps not, but mothers have helped their daughters bring bairns into the world since the beginning of time.”
“So it was just like any other bairn?”
“Are ye jesting? She’s my daughter. I was terrified just like every other mother who helps her daughter deliver a baby.”
It wa
s his turn to chuckle. “Well, I’m sure someone told my da once that there’s no one in Scotland better able to tend her than ye.”
She smiled. “Did Cadha get over her pique at not being allowed in the room?”
“Probably not, but she will. Why didn’t ye let her? She’s attended other births with ye.”
“Aye she has, but this was her sister. I knew it was going to be hard enough for me. I’ll talk to her in the morning.”
“We should have just had boys.”
Elizabeth snorted. “I don’t know how ye can say that when ye have the barbaric custom of sending them away when they are just lads.”
“Well we didn’t send them away when they were just lads, did we. Ewan was ten and four and he only went to the Davidson’s, less than a half day away. He’s been back for three years now and Daniel’s three and ten and hasn’t gone yet.”
“They grow so fast.”
“Aye they do.” He kissed the top of her head. “Have ye ever regretted yer choice?”
“Never. Ye’ve never asked that before. Why tonight?”
“What ye said about mothers helping their daughters. I wonder if at times like this, ye miss yer mother.”
“I loved my parents, but frankly I can’t picture my mother holding Nora’s hand through labor as Wynda did. When I arrived here, it felt as if I had come home. I think this is where I was always meant to be.”
“I knew the minute I saw ye that this is where ye were meant to be.”
“Ye did not. Ye were too consumed with my soft round backside to think beyond that.”
“Aye, well, I still am,” he said, snuggling against it. “Still, it didn’t take long for me to notice the rest of ye too, but it wasn’t just yer assets that attracted me. From the moment ye arrived, ye opened yerself and poured yer love freely on my clan and family. That made ye irresistible.” He kissed her behind her ear. “But now that ye’ve called my attention to yer other assets…”
About the Author
Ceci started her career as an oncology nurse at a leading research hospital, and eventually became a successful medical writer. In 1991 she married a young Irish carpenter who she met when his brother married her dear friend. They raised their family in central New Jersey but now live with their dogs and birds in paradise, also known as southwest Florida. While she loves spending time writing “happily ever afters” she still works fulltime in the pharmaceutical industry.
Her bestselling, Duncurra series, Highland Solution, Highland Courage, and Highland Intrigue are available as e-books, audiobooks, and paperbacks. There are also inspirational versions of each of these which close the bedroom door. Ceci will be continuing this series in the near future.
The Fated Hearts series begins with Ceci’s novella Highland Revenge (originally appearing in Highland Winds, The Scrolls of Cridhe – Volume 1) and continues with Highland Echoes and Highland Angels.
If you enjoyed The Midwife, read Elsie’s side of the story in:
Once Found: The Pocket Watch Chronicles
Elsie thought she had found love.
The handsome young minstrel awoke her desire and his music fed her soul. But just as love was blossoming, the inconceivable happened—Elsie awoke more than seven hundred years in the future, in someone else’s body.
Gabriel Soldani thought he had found love several times, only to have it slip from his grasp. In medical school he had fallen hard for Elizabeth Quinn but their careers led them in different directions. When their paths cross again, he hopes they’ve been given another chance.
There’s only one problem…the woman he’s never forgotten doesn’t remember him.
Once love is found…and then lost…can it be found again?
For release on May 27, 2016, Once Found is available for pre-order now, exclusively on Amazon.
You also might enjoy:
The Pocket Watch: The Pocket Watch Chronicles
When Maggie Mitchell, is transported to the thirteenth century Highlands will Laird Logan Carr help mend her broken heart or put it in more danger than before?
Generous, kind, and loving, Maggie nearly always puts the needs of others first. So when a mysterious elderly woman gives her an extraordinary pocket watch, telling her it’s a conduit to the past, Maggie agrees to give the watch a try, if only to disprove the woman’s delusion.
But it works.
Maggie finds herself in the thirteenth century Scottish Highlands, with a handsome warrior who clearly despises her. Her tender soul is caught between her own desire and the disaster she could cause for others. Will she find a way to resolve the trouble and return home within the allotted sixty days? Or will someone worthy earn her heart forever?
The Pocket Watch is available as an e-book, audiobook and paperback
Other Books by Ceci Giltenan
Highland Revenge - Excerpt
Eoin MacKay hadn’t gone terribly far when he caught a glimpse of white halfway up a massive oak. She was well hidden. Her plaid was dark green; he wouldn’t have noticed her among the leaves if he hadn’t been specifically looking for her. He strode closer to the tree, stopping once so he could look up through the branches. There, perched in the crotch of two thick limbs was a woman so perfectly beautiful she might have been part faery. He was left momentarily speechless. Her skin was fair, with a faint pink blush to her cheek. He couldn’t see the color of her eyes, but they were ringed with sooty lashes. Something told him that, regardless of their hue, they would sparkle. Her rosy lips were full and soft—lips that were made to be kissed. The late afternoon breeze ruffled the mass of black curls around her shoulders. Her léine was torn, but otherwise she appeared none the worse for wear. She is not a faery, she is a MacNicol, he reminded himself.
She looked down at him silently with her head cocked to one side, as if she was trying to solve some puzzle. She didn’t seem remotely frightened. That would have to change if he was to exact his revenge. “Have ye had a lovely day perched in yer tree, watching us search for ye?”
“I suspect my day was better than yers.”
Her impertinent answer irritated him. “Well ye’ve had yer bit of fun, but it’s over. Climb down.”
She ignored him. “Who are ye?”
“Yer captor, and I ordered ye to climb down. Do it now.”
“Nay, I asked ye a perfectly reasonable question, and ye aren’t my captor if ye can’t reach me. Until I know who ye are, I think I’d just as soon stay free, even if I am up a tree.”
“Free? Nay lass, ye’re as good as locked in my dungeon, and I promise ye will regret yer impertinence.”
He called to one of his men. “Donald, it fair breaks my heart, but the MacNicol lass doesn’t wish to join our company.”
“An arrow would bring her down quick enough.”
“Aye it would, but ye heard her guardsman. This is Fiona MacNicol, Bhaltair’s niece. I wouldn’t want to harm a hair on her wee head.”
Donald snorted. “Ye have no love for the MacNicols, and neither do I. Have ye forgotten? One of my older brothers rode with ye that night.”
“Ye’re right, Donald. I have no love for the MacNicols, but the ransom this one will fetch will hurt Bhaltair’s greedy, black heart nearly as much as a steel blade thrust into it. Mark my words, we’ll have our revenge. We are leaving. Climb up, drag her down and bind her. She managed to evade us once and I won’t have it happen again. We have already wasted too much time on her.” He didn’t spare her another glance but called over his shoulder, “By the way, lass, I am Laird Eoin MacKay, and ye’re most assuredly my prisoner.”
Highland Revenge is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.
Highland Echoes - Excerpt
Sutherland Castle, Early June 1340
Soaked by the late spring rain and chilled to the bone, Bram Sutherland thought the gates of home had never looked so inviting. It had been a long, wet ride from Castle MacKay. The skies had only cleared in the last hour. They would have been welcome to stay another nigh
t waiting out the storm at Naomh-dùn, the MacKay stronghold, but thankfully his father had declined. Bram couldn’t stand the thought of spending another minute there. His betrothed had married Eoin MacKay. Bram hadn’t wanted to linger and be reminded of his loss.
Letting Fiona MacNicol go had been the right thing to do but that didn’t make it less disappointing. Until yesterday he hadn’t even met her. But once he had, he found her not only beautiful, but strong, loyal, and possessed of a loving heart—a heart that was, unfortunately, deeply in love with Eoin MacKay. Even though Bram had been tempted to force the terms of their betrothal contract, her heart would never belong to him and he couldn’t bear to see her unhappy.
They slogged into the courtyard. His father gave his mount to the care of a stable hand. “Son, I expect supper is nigh on the table. Leave yer beast to one of the lads. We’ll fill our bellies with good food and ale and try to put this mess behind us.”
Bram generally preferred to care for his own horse and while he had been looking forward to the warmth of hearth and home for hours, arriving at the start of the evening meal had disadvantages. He was less than anxious to face the onslaught of questions about what had happened and why they didn’t have Fiona MacNicol with them. “I’ll see to Goliath myself but I won’t be long.”
“Bram, ye could have had her. The law was on our side.”
“Nay, Da, we have been through this. It would have been wrong. Fiona and Eoin love each other.”
“Bah. Love. Kentigern MacKay would never have stood for this.” His father’s tone of voice clearly conveyed how unimportant that detail was.
“Perhaps not, but he is dead. Eoin is laird and in spite of being solid allies for years, if we had forced the issue, he would have become a mortal enemy to the Sutherlands until either I lay dead or he did. Not to mention the fact that I would be married to a woman who would have hated me forever. This was the right course.”
The Midwife: The Pocket Watch Chronicles Page 26
