Page 116 of The Icy Highlander's Virgin
The May sunshine filtered through the castle windows as Lachlan found Erica in their chamber, carefully folding away some of her winter gowns. Two months had passed since Duncan's death, two months of peace and growing love that still made his heart race every time he looked at his wife.
"Come with me," he said, appearing in the doorway with barely contained excitement. "I have somethin' to show ye."
"What kind of somethin'?" she asked, setting down the gown she'd been holding and turning to face him. The suspicious smile on her lips made her even more beautiful, if such a thing were possible.
"The kind ye'll have to come and see for yerself," he replied, extending his hand to her. "Trust me?"
"Always," she said without hesitation, placing her hand in his.
He led her through the corridors and out into the castle gardens, past the spot where Duncan had made his final, fatal mistake. The area had been cleared and replanted, with no sign remaining of the violence that had taken place there. Instead, spring flowers bloomed in cheerful profusion, painting the landscape in shades of yellow, purple, and white.
But it wasn't toward the main garden that Lachlan led her. Instead, he guided her to a section she'd never paid much attention to before - a large, empty patch of ground on the south side of the castle where the morning sun would shine brightest.
"Here," he said, stopping in the center of the cleared area. "This is for ye."
Erica looked around the empty space, then back at his expectant face. "I dinnae understand. What's for me?"
"Yer garden," he said, his voice warm with satisfaction at her confusion. "The one ye've been talkin' about plantin'. The one where ye can grow all the flowers from McLaren that ye miss so much."
Her breath caught as understanding dawned. "Ye... ye cleared this whole area for me?"
"Aye. Had the men turn the soil, add proper drainage, even built raised beds along that wall there for yer herbs." He gestured to where she could now see carefully constructed stone planters waiting to be filled. "The soil's ready for plantin' whenever ye are."
"But how did ye ken?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion. "I never told ye about wantin' a garden here."
Lachlan's smile grew tender. "Mairi mentioned it before she left for her trip with Hayden and Frederick. Said ye'd been askin' about where might be the best place to plant heather and wild roses. Figured this spot would get the right amount of sun and be sheltered from the worst winds."
Tears gathered in Erica's eyes as she looked around the prepared ground, seeing not empty earth but the future garden that would bloom here. She could already imagine the purple heather mingling with white roses, primroses brightening the edges, and maybe even some of the hardy Highland bluebells she'd loved as a child.
"Lachlan," she whispered, turning to face him fully. "This is... this is the most thoughtful thin' anyone's ever done for me."
"Ye deserve to have a piece of home here," he said simply. "And I want ye to feel like Kinnaird truly belongs to ye, nae just because ye married me, but because ye've made it yers."
She threw her arms around his neck and then kissed him with all the love and gratitude flowing through her heart. His arms came around her immediately, lifting her off her feet as he spun her around in the middle of their future garden.
When he set her down, both of them breathing hard and laughing, she kept her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his beloved face.
"I have a surprise for ye too," she said, her voice soft with wonder.
"Oh? What's that?"
"Actually," she said, glancing around the garden space and then back at him, "this is the perfect place to tell ye. Surrounded by where new life will grow."
Something in her tone made him go very still, his blue eyes searching her face with growing intensity. "Erica?"
"I'm carryin' yer child," she said simply, watching as joy and shock and overwhelming love chased each other across his features. "I'm with bairn, Lachlan. Our bairn."
For a moment, he simply stared at her, as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd heard. Then his face broke into a grin so wide and radiant it could have lit up the entire Highlands.
"A bairn?" he breathed. "Truly?"
"Truly." She placed his hand on her still-flat belly, covering it with her own. "The healer confirmed it yesterday. I wanted to wait until I was certain before tellin' ye."
"A bairn," he repeated, his voice filled with such wonder and happiness that it brought fresh tears to her eyes. "We're goin' to have a bairn."
"Are ye happy?" she asked, though his expression made the question unnecessary.
"Happy?" He lifted her clear off the ground again, spinning her around until she was dizzy with laughter. "Erica, love, I'm beyond happy. I'm... I dinnae even have words for what I am."
