Page 116 of A Scottish Bride for the Duke
“Good. As it should be.” He rolled off her and rose to find a cloth and some water.
Isobel sat up, uncaring that she had nothing with which to shield her nakedness. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen her before. She had nothing to be ashamed about.
“Adrian.”
“Mm?”
“What happens if I get with child?”
He turned then, looking at her as though he had never seen her before, although of course he must have considered such things. She didn’t know much about creating children, but she did know it happened in beds such as theirs, and he likely knew far more about it than she.
“If you do,” he said, with surprising fervor, “then we will count ourselves heartily blessed.”
“Even if I were to become pregnantnow?”
“Even then.” His gaze searched her face. “Do you not want children?”
“No, of course I do. I was just thinking, we…” She gestured helplessly around them. “We have only just started papering the cracks that came between us. I hardly know how we would approach?—”
“Isobel.” Damp cloth in hand, he came back to her, and kneeled by her legs. “I will be the first to confess I made a mistake. And I know I still have some time to go before making it up to you fully, though I intend to do it. But if we were to have a child—even now, my love—then I would consider it the greatest of blessings.”
He kissed her stomach, tenderly, and something in her belly turned over. “We are not going to suffer the same separation we endured once. Never again. We are going to love each other, and that is true with or without the addition of a baby.” He held her gaze. “Do you understand?”
The last of her fears melted away. Adrian was not going anywhere. Adrian loved her. Together, they would have a family—the kind of family she had always dreamed of having, one just like the one she’d experienced with her mother.
“Aye,” she whispered, smiling tremulously up at him. “I understand. Thank ye, Adrian.”
“Don’t thank me for that.” He cleaned her gently, giving her far more attention than he gave himself, each brush of the cloth soft against her skin. “Thank me for the large nursery I will build at the first possible moment.”
She laughed and when he put the cloth and water to one side again, joining her back in the bed, she said, “Then when ye build it, I’ll be sure to thank ye.”
“Good.” He stroked up and down her arm. “Are you all right?”
“The world deserves to not have him around any longer,” she mumbled. “Today was difficult, but having ye here at the end of it makes it all worthwhile.”
“What did I do to deserve you?” He held her a little closer and nuzzled her hair. “Now to go sleep. In my arms, where you belong. I’m sure I’ll wake you up again before too long.”
“Don’t make promises ye can’t keep.” Isobel yawned, the stresses of the day, and the relief of being in Adrian’s arms once more, making her more tired than she could have thought. “Goodnight, Adrian.”
“Goodnight, my love. My wife.” There was a smile in his voice. “See you in my dreams.”
Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Mama!” Isobel burst from the carriage and ran toward her mother, her arms outstretched.
Her mother caught her, and then her father joined in, picking both women up. He was a burly man, a man who looked as though he’d been born from the salt of the earth.
Adrian instantly thought he liked the look of him. A man who knew what it was to protect his family in all the ways that mattered—first and foremost by loving them.
That was a lesson Adrian was still learning, but thanks to Isobel, he had a chance to learn it. Rather, she was teaching him.
Isobel detached herself from her parents, smiling so widely he feared her cheeks would split.
“I missed you both so much!” she said, dabbing away a tear.
She’d been particularly emotional over the past few days, but Adrian had assumed she’d merely been overcome with excitement at the prospect of seeing her parents again.
