She looked to the day when Crispen would lead his brother or sister to the loch to throw stones. The two would laugh and plaogether. Like a family.
Smiling, she started forward, looking on the ground for appropriate stones as she went. She gathered half a dozen before arriving to where Crispen stood.
“Mama!”
There was no description for the sheer joy that gripped her whenever he called her
He ran into her arms and she hugged him close, spilling her rocks in the process.
Laughing, he bent down to help her retrieve them, exclaiming over the perfection of one or two stones as he examined them.
“I want to throw this one,” he said, holding up a particularly flat rock.
“Go on then. I wager you can’t make it skip more than eight times.”
His eyes lit up as she knew they would at the challenge she’d set forth. “I can do nine,” he boasted.
“Oh ho! How you boast. Deeds are much stronger than words. Let me see your prowess firsthand.”
His chin set and concentration knitting his eyebrows, he lined up his shot and then set the rock flying. It struck the water and skipped in rapid succession toward the other bank.
“One! Two! Three!” He paused for breath but his gaze never left the progression of the rock. “Six! Seven … eight … nine!” He turned. “Mama, I did it! Nine times!”
“Surely a record,” she said, acknowledging his feat.
“You try now,” he urged.
“Oh, I can’t hope to best someone as skilled as you.”
He stuck his chest out and he smiled smugly. Then he brightened and took her hand. “I bet you do well … for a woman.”
In response she tussled his hair. “You must stop listening to the ideas of your Uncle Caelen, Crispen. It will not endear you to the ladies in the future.”
He wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue, making a gagging noise. “Girls are awful. Except you, Mama.”
She laughed and hugged him to her again. “I’m ever so happy that I’m not considered an awful girl.”
He tucked a perfectly flat, smooth rock into her hand. “Try it.”
“Very well. After all, the honor of all women rests in my hands.”
Crispen giggled at her dramatics as she elaborately lined up her shot. After a few test swings of her arm, she let fly and watched as the rock sailed far, hitting the surface and kicking up water as it bounced.
Beside her Crispen counted under his eath. “Eight! Mama, you did eight! That’s brilliant!”
“Wow, I did it!”
They hugged and she whirled him around until they were both dizzy. They collapsed onto the ground in a fit of giggles, and Mairin tickled Crispen until he begged for mercy.
On the hillside that overlooked the loch, Ewan walked up behind Gannon and Cormac, who stood watch over Mairin and Crispen. He watched as they wrestled on the ground, hearing the joyous sound of their laughter ring out over the land. He smiled and pondered how fortunate he was. He had gained so much in such a short time. No matter that multiple threats shadowed their existence. He took moments like these and held them close.
Love was very precious indeed.
Ewan trudged wearily up the stairs and let himself quietly into his chamber. Some of the fatigue dissipated and the strain he’d been under lifted away as he gazed upon his sleeping wife.
She was sprawled indelicately, facedown, her arms spread out over the bed. She slept just like she did everything else. Full out. No reservations.
He stripped out of his clothing and climbed into bed with her. She snuggled into his arms without ever opening her eyes. She was exhausted often these days, a fact that hadn’t gone unnoticed by him. Neither had all the retching the poor lass had done over the last few weeks.
She had yet to tell him of her pregnancy, and he didn’t know if it was because she didn’t want to burden him with how ill she was feeling, or if she truly hadn’t yet realized it herself.
He rubbed a hand down her side and over her hip before sliding it between their bodies to rest over her still slim abdomen where their child rested. A child that represented so much hope for the future of his clan.
He kissed Mairin’s brow, smiling as he remembered her and Crispen skipping stones on the loch. She stirred against him and sleepily opened her eyes.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming to bed tonight, Laird.”
He smiled. “ ’Tis actually quite early. You just went to sleep much earlier than usual.”
She yawned and burrowed closer, twining her legs with his. “Has an agreement been made regarding Alaric’s marriage?”
Ewan stroked a hand through her hair. “Aye. Alaric has agreed to the match.”
“You’ll miss him.”
“Aye, I’ll miss having him here as my right hand. But this is a great opportunity for him to rule his own lands
