“Can I unburden half your load?” Cam offered, and Lach passed over one of the lads. “Roddy?”
Lach nodded. “You’re getting better at telling them apart.”
“It’s more difficult when they’re asleep.”
“Aye. When they’re awake, their personalities tell you which is which. But in sleep their features even out, and I canna see how they think about things.”
Cam nodded in agreement and studied the sleeping boy on his lap. “Roddy is a bit thinner for he runs around more than his brother, who is more cautious.”
Lach smiled. “Aye.”
“Thank you for the honor of naming the new child after me.”
Lachlan placed a kiss on Douglas’s head. “I hope he grows to be a strong man like you, with a good heart.” He let out a sigh and rested his head back on the chair. “A man who can help me puzzle out how to salvage an alliance with the McCurdy now that I have no chief able to marry his daughter.”
“You haven’t given up on the alliance?”
“Nay. Having another son makes me even more determined. Our clan is growing. I need to find ways to provide for them. Access to the sea opens up a variety of ways to earn a better living.”
“I hate to earn your ire again, but I’ll remind you, you had no chief willing to marry the McCurdy lass in the first place, so as I see it, you’re no worse off today than you were before.”
“And you think I would have allowed ye to shirk your duty had you shown up that day with your cart full of rocks? Penance paid, all forgotten and forgiven? Nay.”
“Can we not find another warrior to marry the lass?” Cam suggested.
Lach looked at him and tilted his head. “You know who would be next in line. Do you think he’d be more willing than you were?”
Lachlan spoke of their other cousin, Bryce. They both knew he would do far more than dig up rocks to get out of marrying again. Years ago he’d been wed, then he and his Maggie had a daughter. But both lasses had died of illness when Bryce was away on a raid. Bryce had lost his heart and since then had refused to wed again. He rarely spoke of bedding another lass, and Cam had never seen him with anyone. It was something he didn’t speak of. Ever.
Once again, Cam was reminded of what he had to lose.
“I’ll make sure the men are ready. Whenever you give the word, we’ll take their clan by force and you’ll have your access to the sea.”
“We have time,” Lach said, resisting the need for war as always.
Cam knew well enough the laird wasn’t a coward. He’d gone off to fight for the French for years. Lach’s blade had certainly drawn more blood than Cam’s. But he didn’t want to take the clan from the McCurdy laird, despite the man running it into the dirt with lack of food and funds.
“Why do you not consider it?” Cam asked.
Lach looked up and blinked. “I have considered it. Many times. It’s simply too great a risk.” He brushed a lock of hair from his son’s forehead and smiled sadly.
Cam frowned. It wasn’t an issue of respect, but of caution.
“You may be war chief,” Lach said, seeing his reaction, “but you’re not the only one in danger of not returning if an attempt to bring down the McCurdy fails. When I was in France, I didn’t think too often of my death, but I find that now I want to be here to see these boys grow into good men. I want to love my wife until her hair turns white. I want those things more than fulfilling my father’s legacy. And I have to think if my da was here, he would want them more as well.”
Cam nodded. It was easy to understand, even if he didn’t agree. “As ye said, we have time.”
Though he wasn’t sure if his words were true. Not for Mari, at any rate. Even now, Ridley could be heading for Dunardry.
Cam had never wanted to take a wife or have a family for fear he’d leave them early if he was struck down in battle. In all that time, he’d not considered the opposite could be the case—that his wife could be taken from him.
He’d be alone again, but with a broken heart…just like Bryce.
He couldn’t ever let that happen.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mari came down to the hall in the morning to find four men asleep in chairs by the hearth. Well, two of them were not men yet, but they were on their way. Cam and Lachlan dozed, each with a twin sleeping in his arms.
Seeing Cam with Lachlan’s boy brought back the concerns and wishes she’d been feeling the night before. How she longed to see Cameron holding their own child while they slept peacefully.
But Mari didn’t think it could ever happen. She could be carrying his child this very moment, so that part of the dream was possible. What she doubted was her ability to give her family any kind of peace.
Safety and tranquility were the things she’d longed for over the years. But in securing her safety, she’d sentenced herself to being hunted down and put to death. Which in turn put her entire family in danger.
It seemed the worst kind of irony.
Cam’s eyes opened, and he smiled, scattering her worries for the time being. When he looked at her like that, she couldn’t think. Could barely breathe.
“Good morning, wife,” he said quietly, holding out a hand toward her. The other hand held the sleeping twin.
He pulled her closer, and she sat on his free knee.
“One can almost think them angels while they sleep,” he teased.
“They are angels.” She picked up the boy’s hand as Cam made a sound of disagreement. She laughed and relented. “Which means they are normal, active little boys.”
“Demons, in other words.”
