Page 128 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
Finn wanted to pound the table and yell,Aye!But Moray would not feel he got a good bargain if Finn seemed too happy, so he just nodded and said, “That will do.”
“Now that we have that settled,” Janet said, rising to her feet, “we should bid Finn farewell and be on our way.”
Moray looked as surprised as Finn was that they were not staying the night after such a long journey.
“So soon?” Finn asked to be polite.
“Your wife is about to give birth,” Janet said.
“Aye, ’tis close to her time,” Finn said.
“Thisisher time,” Janet said. “Just as I was leaving her to join you, her water broke, and she had me send for that woman, Una.”
Finn’s hands shook. As the months passed, Finn’s concern that Margaret would die from a miscarriage had gradually subsided. But now, a torrent of fear exploded inside him. Women died in childbirth all the time.
“God’s bones,” Finn said, leaping to his feet. “Why didn’t ye tell me sooner?”
“The first child is usually slow to come, and your wife wanted these matters settled.” Janet smiled at him. “Ye made a better choice than a wealthy widow.Is fheàrr bean ghlic na crann is fearann.”A wise wife is better than a plough and land.
Ploughs? Finn did not know what in the hell Janet was talking about. He left them without another word and raced upstairs to their bedchamber.
“I’m here,” Finn told Margaret as he sat beside her and took her hand.
Una told him his presence was neither customary nor useful, but he refused to leave his wife’s side. All her life, Margaret had been abandoned by the men when she needed them, and he was not going to do that to her. Not now, not ever.
For a lass who could hide her feelings with remarkable skill, Margaret screamed and cursed a great deal over the next few hours. Finn was encouraged by the strength of her voice—and her grip on his hand.
“Won’t be long now,” Una said with her head beneath the sheet.
“I’m glad you’re here with me,” Margaret said as Finn wiped her brow between contractions.
Una’s calm demeanor, born of midwifing a hundred other births, helped them both as she guided Margaret through the hard contractions and pushing until, at long last, their child came into the world wailing his lungs out.
“Ye can be of some use after all,” Una told Finn. “Hold your son while I wipe him off, but be careful—he’s slippery.”
When she handed him his child, Finn’s heart swelled in his chest, and he was speechless with wonder. How had such a perfect babe come from his loins? He was certain it was all thanks to his amazing wife. Una wrapped the babe in a swaddling cloth and put him in Margaret’s outstretched arms to suckle.
“A fine, healthy babe and mother,” Una pronounced after she’d finished taking care of Margaret, then she wiped a tear from her eye. “Ach, your son looks just like you, Finn, when you were born.”
Since Finn’s mother had died giving birth to him, he was grateful he did not remember Una was his mother’s midwife until now.
“I’ll go tell Ella she has a new brother,” Una said, and slipped out.
“Ye did well,mo shíorghrá,”my eternal love, Finn said, and kissed his wife’s forehead.
“I’m so happy, and I love ye so much,” Margaret said. “Lie down with us.”
Carefully, Finn eased onto the bed and put his arms around her and their son. Margaret was asleep a short time later when Ella tiptoed into the room. Ella crawled onto the bed on the other side and snuggled next to her mother with her hand on her new brother’s blanket.
For the first time in his life, Finn felt whole and at peace. He belonged here with Margaret and their children.
He was home.
EPILOGUE
On the North Coast of Sutherland
Two years later (1528)
