Our Shared Horizon (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 10)

by Diana Knightley

  And then we sprawled back in our chairs, totally satiated.

  Magnus said, “Now we need a nap.”

  I shook my head. “I have one more plan.” I checked my phone, no messages from Emma, no worries from Archie. “To the car.”

  Seventeen - Kaitlyn

  I drove a couple of miles, with the air-conditioner blasting, to the next stop and pulled into a space in the parking lot. I left the car running because it was so hot outside.

  “We have an appointment in here for an ultrasound. Remember when we did it for our first...?”

  “I remember, but I daena... are ye okay? Hae ye a trouble?”

  “I’m okay, I know the idea is alarming, but I promise, I’m completely healthy. And this isn’t a doctors office, it’s a place to go get an ultrasound — just images of the baby. They would be able to tell us if anything is wrong. We should prepare for that possibility, but so far there are no problems. Also, I love you, I know it worries you, but this will be easy. Compared to war, this will be no problem.”

  “I ken how tae fight a war. I daena ken how tae take care of ye and our bairn.”

  I humphed dramatically. “Oh please, you know plenty. You rocked my world just last night.”

  “Tis nae funny, I am serious.”

  “I know. I mean it, the baby is good, this will be easy. I will hold your hand through it. And best thing, we might learn the baby’s sex. Would you want to know?”

  “I already ken, tis a boy.”

  I squinted my eyes. “Because you saw it hundreds of years ago, or centuries on, that’s what you’re basing that information on?”

  “Aye, ye will have a son.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not convinced that you know. I’m not sure that’s how time travel works. Would you want to know or do you want to be surprised?”

  “I want tae ken.”

  “You do?”

  “Aye, tis a marvel tae ken, and we should make use of it.”

  We went into the building.

  Ten minutes later I was on an examination table, Magnus was on a chair beside me, holding my hand, praying under his breath. The examiner bustled into the room, introduced herself as Lesley, and explained the whole process. Magnus listened, but had a paleness to his face that only I could see — I worried he was about to pass out.

  I kept his hand tightly clasped in mine and asked questions to set his mind at ease: Is this going to hurt me? How long will this take? What will we learn? When she answered I translated for Magnus, not because he couldn’t understand her words but because he seemed so worried he couldn’t even hear. I tried to be sunny and soothing and keep him calm.

  The oozy lubricant gel was squeezed onto my skin and then the ultrasound wand was rubbed around in circles on my rounded stomach. I thought to tell Magnus to watch the screen but his eyes were already there.

  Lesley said, “There’s the head, the fingers, and the toes, everything looks great, nothing to be concerned about.”

  The baby lurched to the other side of my pelvis. I looked at Magnus. “It’s our baby.”

  “Aye,” with a shaking hand he kissed my fingertips.

  Lesley asked, “Do you want to know the baby’s sex?”

  Magnus and I looked at each other. I said, “Yes, we would.”

  She moved the wand around for another moment and then pointed at the screen. “There, see? You’re having a girl.”

  “A little girl?”

  Magnus folded over my hand and pressed his face to it. “We changed our story.”

  I said, “We did. We’re having a little girl. Archie is going to have a baby sister.”

  Magnus wrapped his arms around my head and nuzzled against my cheek. Lesley wiped the gel from my belly and quietly left the room while Magnus and I stayed hugging, whispering — I love ye, mo reul-iuil and I love you too and repeating to each other, “A little girl?”

  Eighteen - Kaitlyn

  Soon enough we were back at the house. I texted Zach that we were on our way up and halfway up the stairs asked Magnus to run to the car for my purse, which I had left there accidentally on purpose.

  I walked into the dark house and hid just inside the door.

  Magnus strolled in, completely unaware, and everyone, meaning: me, Zach, Emma and Ben, Archie, James, Michael, Quentin and Beaty, and a few of James and Michael’s friends who were into a party of any kind, all yelled, “Surprise!”

  Magnus stood stock still totally confused. “Och, ye hae given me a fright, for what purpose?”

  I clapped my hands, “It’s your birthday! We have never had the chance to celebrate your birthday before! I’m so freaking excited, I kept you away from home all day, and you didn’t even suspect!”

  “This day is my birthday?”

  “Yes!” I grinned. “In hindsight it’s easy to surprise someone when they don’t have a firm grasp on their own birthdate, but yes, I assure you, today is that day.”

  Magnus smiled widely, “What dost we do on a birthday?”

  Archie rushed up to be lifted in Magnus’s arms and put a wee hand on Magnus’s face. “Eat cake.”

  I laughed. “We eat so much cake.”

  I let Zach explain by introducing Magnus to the table full of food. “We have ribs, mashed tatties, ice cream, and yes, cake!”

  Magnus rubbed his hands together with delight looking at the sheet cake with a mountain scene painted on it. “Ye did this all for me, Chef Zach?”

  “Aye. Happy birthday, Magnus.”

  “Then we should get started.”

  There was a lot of drinking among everyone else. We played Magnus’s Spotify list, a weird assortment of country music, Beatles, and Mumford and Sons, while the toddlers ran about, strewing toys underfoot. James, Michael, and Quentin retold high school stories about their exploits and they got wound up, drunk, and hilarious. I wished Hayley was there.

  Magnus caught me looking wistful at one point. “What are ye thinkin’ on?”

  “I’m wondering what Hayley is doing right now...”

  Michael sidled up to me at the food table and asked, “Where is Hayley, by the way? You said she’s doing business for you in Scotland?”

  “Yep, she’s at Magnus’s castle, she should be back soon.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “You know, real estate, staff, the kind of stuff she’s really good at...”

  He nodded. “Yeah, she is good at that.”

  I made a mental note to tell Hayley that Michael was thinking good things about her, wondering what she was up to, she would freaking love that.

  The food was delicious. Then Magnus and I performed our amazing yoga position, me planked on top of his back. And then Beaty did it on Quentin and Emma on Zach and then Archie on Magnus and Ben on Zach, and then Ben and Archie on Magnus while James and Michael and everyone laughed at us. It was silly and fun.

  Then we sang happy birthday and Magnus blew out the candles. He held up his beer to make a toast.

  Zach said, “Uh oh, a long one, Boss? Should I put the ice cream away?”

  “Aye, I might meander a bit and we need the ice cream tae remain frozen.”

  When Zach returned from the freezer, Magnus began, “I was away for a long time from m’family and friends and I wanted tae say once more, thank ye for keepin’ my home warm, m’stomach full, and m’tongue speakin’ tae friendly ears. We hae a sayin’ in Scotland, m’uncle Baldie liked tae lead it, it went somethin’ like this: Here’s tae the smiles of the lassies we love. Here’s tae our friends ever faithful. Drink tae the hearts so faithful and true…” He gestured for everyone to drink.

  Mid-drink he glanced at James who was chugging, so Magnus raced him while we chanted, “Chug, chug, chug!”

  They finished and in unison slammed their bottles down on the table, laughed and fist-bumped each other.

  Chef Zach slid another beer into Magnus’s hand and he held it up, “Tae continue!”

  We all held our drinks up again.

  Ma
gnus said, “...and ne’er may we be ungrateful.” He chuckled, “That was the end of the speech, but rare does it ever get that far because we must drink afore it and tis easy tae get lost by the end. But it is important tae remind ourselves tae be grateful. I am ever grateful for the lot of ye, family and friends, old and new, and gratitude afore God is an important thing. Tae be humbled in the face of his divine creations, the warmth of our homes, the harmony in our lives. So I would like tae say one more thing, tae m’wife. She spent the day introducin’ me tae somethin’ called couples yoga, and another tradition of the New World, a birthday party, and also she introduced me tae m’daughter and—”

  Emma said, “A girl? A girl! There’s going to be a girl!”

  The entire gathering erupted into excitement.

  Zach and James and Quentin were congratulating us. And then cake happened and ice cream. And it was a perfect night.

  Later, while getting ready for bed, Magnus pulling his tartan pajama pants on, I asked him, “I know you’re expected to have a son, an heir, are you really happy to be having a daughter?”

  We had Archie in our bed tonight. He had grown clingy and sad as the evening drew on: overwhelmed by the whole day without us, overtired by playing all day and the birthday party, and confused by all the talk of a baby girl. He was now in the middle of the bed, blowing most of our plans for the night. The birthday present that I had planned to give my husband.

  Magnus said, “Och aye. I am very happy.”

  “Good, I thought you would want a boy to be an heir.”

  “I hae an heir. I am glad I winna ever have tae watch a wee version of Kaitlyn strap a sword tae her back. Our daughter winna hae tae fight in an arena. I can protect her. I daena ken how tae protect Archie from what will come.”

  “Ugh, I hate thinking of that. He’s too wee to be a warrior king.”

  “Aye. But ye have seen him grown, ye ken he will be big strapping man someday. He will grow intae a man, I just hae tae make the world a safer place for him.”

  “And her.” I added, “And what I want to do, for the next months, is learn to fight, to horseback ride, to swordfight.” I sighed. “But I think I’m stuck with yoga and cardio fitness.”

  “Ye are buildin’ a baby. Ye need tae do the exercise that is like a nap time, with ice cream after.”

  I giggled. “Pregnancy advice from my eighteenth century husband. Did you learn that in yoga class today?”

  “Aye, ye are supposed tae go for walks and I am supposed tae talk tae the baby, all the things.”

  I said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get you any presents.”

  “Och,” he looked incredulous. “Why would I need presents?”

  “For your birthday.”

  “Tis a silly thing tae suggest, givin’ me presents because I was born and hae remained alive...” He shrugged, “I guess tae continue livin’ is a good thing tae celebrate. There hae been many times we wondered if we would survive, but I think I like a celebration tae be food and friends — nae presents. This night was exactly right.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” I shifted Archie over and climbed into the middle of our bed and Magnus climbed in after me. He shifted down level with my stomach and kissed my bellybutton, now stretched flat. He whispered, “Hello bairn, tis me, Da.”

  I ran my fingers through his hair.

  “Ye might hae heard me upside down tae day, twas a thing called yoga, I am doin’ it so ye daena have tae.”

  He looked up at me with a grin.

  I whispered, “You mean sword-fighting, you don’t want her to have to sword fight.”

  He chuckled, warm and big and deep, and whispered to my stomach, “Shhhhh, daena tell yer mammy, I daena want ye tae have tae do swords or yoga.”

  I said, “Just for that, next week you have to take a barre—”

  Archie sat up in bed. “Mammy?”

  I said, “Shhhh, sweetie, it’s okay, your Da and I are here.”

  He mumbled, “Kay-be here,” and folded forward, on top of me, his face in my hair, his chest on my forehead, a little fist on my cheek, and immediately returned to sleep.

  I joked, “This is going to be uncomfortable.”

  “Dost ye want me tae move him?”

  “No, it’s good, I like his sweet little baby breaths in my ear especially after an afternoon of crying like he did.”

  I cuddled beside Archie and Magnus cuddled beside me and we began to fall asleep, but then I said, “Who am I kidding?” I slid Archie away to give me room and pulled up the extra long pillow to wrap under my belly, and between my thighs. Because pregnancy sleeping was not easy.

  Next morning I was draped across Magnus’s chest. Archie woke us up by folding over my shoulder and somersaulting on top of us, squealing, “Upside down!”

  “Good morning,” I said.

  He put his nose to mine. “Kay-be wake up?”

  “Yes, did Archie wake up?”

  “Go beach?”

  “Yep, it’s beach morning. Go tell Chef Zach we want our donuts and coffee so we can go say good morning to the birds.”

  He scrambled off Magnus’s chest to race into the kitchen.

  Magnus said, “Good morn, mo reul-iuil.”

  I kissed his lips.

  He hugged me, “I’m sorry he calls ye Kay-be and nae mammy, as he did in the other time.”

  “It’s fine.” I sat up and climbed off the bed. “He knew his mother until just a few months ago. You tried to do your best by him, it seemed like his own mother was a good thing, and you tried — you were wrong of course, very very wrong, but I forgive you.”

  I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It’s further proof that you’re human. I think pregnancy has made me feel all motherly and forgiverly, but also very very protective and I just want to go on the record as saying, if I ever lay eyes on her bitch-face, I’m going to fucking kill her.” I left for the bathroom, padding down the hallway wearing my short T-shirt with my exposed belly over the waistband of my sweatpants.

  I came back a second later. “Did I sound like a terrible arse?”

  He grinned, “Och aye, ye sounded like a warrior, I am glad ye winna hae tae see her.”

  Nineteen - Kaitlyn

  This was how we whiled away our days: Magnus re-connected with his trainer and went to the gym. He rode Sunny and Osna and spent long hours at the stables.

  I hung out with Archie and the family and took my daily yoga classes and long walks on the beach.

  Magnus and I went out often just before sunset and looked for shark teeth. Our days were peaceful and quiet. Our family, strong.

  I read all the books on parenting and childbirth and tried very hard to imagine being that person. Visualization was key. I visualized myself a zen-master during the birth, a freaking goddess, nothing but strength and wisdom. Then breastfeeding, I visualized myself someone without a worry. A mother who could take care of a baby with pure instinct. When my visualizations turned to me passing a watermelon through my vajayjay while holding a baby who was screaming in hunger — somehow those two fears were tied into the same moment, perhaps a sign that my time continuum was seriously fucked — in those moments I tried to take a deep breath and go off to do something else.

  Sometimes I would seek out Emma and she would tell me, matter of fact, that my fears were a bunch of horseshit. This isn’t something most people want to hear, but for me, my imagination going double time because I had seen a lot of horseshit in my day, and knew there was lots to be afraid of — I needed to hear that this was going to be fine.

  Emma said, “What have I been telling you?”

  “That I just need to get out of my head and let my body birth the baby.”

  “Yep, so what are you going to do?”

  I sighed over-dramatically. “See cannonballs busting down walls every time I close my eyes.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I assure you, my walls are fine. Ben was a wee bit like a cannonball of course, but seriously, fine. No complaints. My h
usband likes me just as much.”

  “What’s that?” Chef Zach called from the kitchen.

  “I’m telling Kaitlyn that you are still into my body though you’ve seen a baby push through it.”

  I groaned. “This is too much visual. They showed us a video of a birth in our childbirth education class last week, and I thought Magnus was going to pass out.”

  Zach came around the kitchen island with his eyes wide. “He’s not supposed to actually watch those. It’s totally freaky to watch some random lady give birth. I’ll talk to him, explain to him that he can’t let that scare him. He’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure? He’s not big on the idea of being at my bedside for it, he’s so nervous. Don’t forget in his century women die all the time.”

  Emma said, “While not having solved most or many of the issues, you have to make sure he’s there for the birth. He needs to see what you’re capable of.”

  “He’s seen me do a lot of amazing things, that’s not enough? He also needs to see me push a cannonball through my hooha?”

  Zach and Emma both said, “Yep.”

  Magnus entered the room. “What are ye talking on?”

  I said, “You don’t want to know.”

  He pulled the jug of milk from the refrigerator, unscrewed the lid and raised it to his lips before Chef Zach wordlessly pulled it from his hands, grabbed a glass, poured, and placed the glass into Magnus’s hand. Zach returned the milk to the refrigerator.

  Magnus grinned, gulped from the glass, and asked, “Tis about the bairn comin’?”

  I said, “Aye.”

  He scowled. “If tis like the images that played a few nights ago, I daena want tae see it.”

  Chef Zach said, “I’m with you on that boss.”

  Now I was incredulous. “What? You just told me that Magnus needed to be there for the birth!”

  He shrugged, “Both those things are totally true. You don’t want to see it, but you have to, because guess what, Magnus? That will be the moment your kid takes her first breath, if you can be there you have to be there.”