Page 117 of Bride of Fire
Reaching the top of the stairs, he pushed the door open.
“Morgan,” Alicia sighed from the bed, wiping stray locks of hair from her brow with the back of her hand. She wasted no breath. “Did you get rid of her?”
Morgan couldn’t admit the truth. He turned around to close the door so he wouldn’t have to meet her eyes. “She won’t trouble ye anymore.”
“Thank God. A woman like that with a longbow. I was afraid she might harm you, Morgan. Or our son.” She shuddered. “She was too wild and unpredictable.”
Wild and unpredictable were two of the things Morgan loved about Jenefer. But that was in the past. Now he had to make peace with his wife.
“Ye know, ’twould make things easier,” he gently ventured, “if ye took your place as Allison’s ma.”
The smile she gave him was brittle. He knew it was a difficult step for her to take. She’d virtually never been the bairn’s mother. Snatched from him at birth, she hadn’t had a chance to bond with the lad.
But he was certain, once she saw how beautiful he was with his creamy skin and bright eyes, his bow of a mouth and his sweet, gurgling voice, she’d fall instantly in love.
“All right,” she agreed. “I’ll try.” Then she muttered, “You know I can’t feed him.”
“O’ course.”
Her lips pursed nervously. “And I haven’t held an infant before.”
“Neither had I,” he said with a smile of encouragement. “Shall I fetch him then?”
“Not if he’s squalling. I won’t be able to quiet him.”
He grinned. “If he were squallin’, ye’d hear him.”
“What if he’s asleep?”
“’Twill be worth wakin’ him to meet his ma,” he assured her.
He could see she was fretful. But the longer she waited, the harder it would be. And considering Alicia’s feelings toward Jenefer, it would be best if she took over the bairn’s care as soon as possible.
When he rapped softly on the nursery door, Bethac and Feiyan greeted him with cheeky smiles.
“I warned you my cousin was a master archer,” Feiyan gloated.
He shook his head. “Ye know very well I wouldn’t have missed that last shot.”
Bethac shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Is my son awake?”
Bethac opened the door wider and glanced over her shoulder. “He is now.”
From his cradle, the wee lad waved his fists wildly. Morgan approached, and the bairn looked up at him. He cooed at once, then sighed, and his open mouth formed the most charming smile.
Morgan smiled back. Alicia was going to love Allison. He just needed to unite them and let maternal instincts do their magic.
“I want to take him to his mother,” he said.
To his surprise, Bethac’s brow wrinkled. “Are ye sure ’tis wise?”
“She’s his ma, Bethac.”
“Aye. But Lady Alicia is still sufferin’ from her ordeal.”
Feiyan scoffed.
