Page 35 of A Bride for the Wicked Highlander (Daring a Highland Laird #2)
SIX MONTHS LATER
T he Great Hall was alive with music and good cheer, couples dancing a jaunty reel, while friends laughed and drinks flowed.
A few of the girls from Horndean had even been allowed to attend the ceilidh, to honor Maddie’s tremendous success as one of her theses was accepted by Edinburgh University.
It didn’t matter that the institution thought the author was a young man by the name of Maddox Blaine; Maddie would remedy that one day, but she’d decided to pick her battles.
“Congratulations!” Grace cheered, hurrying up to her friend. “Oh, I just knew that good things would come of this marriage! I just knew it!”
Lilian, who stood beside Maddie, pulled a face. “I still wish you would have had a second wedding, Maddie. Just for me.” She paused, grinning. “But I suppose it is more meaningful to be here to celebrate your remarkable news. After all, this is as exciting as a wedding!”
Maddie chuckled. “I’m far happier today than I was on my wedding day; I assure you of that. So, yes, you are here when it matters the most. Indeed, it is like a wedding and a birth rolled into one, having one’s thesis accepted.”
“I’ll remind you that you said that in a few months’ time,” Grace said, smoothing a hand over her rounded belly. “And I’ll tell you that you’re never to compare writing a thesis to giving birth again.”
Maddie offered an apologetic look. “You’re quite right. Apologies.” She smiled from ear to ear. “I can’t believe that Lilian and I are going to be aunts. I wonder if this child has any idea how loved it is going to be?”
“It kicks as if it knows,” Grace replied, laughing. “Ellie is beside herself with excitement. I dread to think how spoiled the child will be, though it shan’t stop me from doting endlessly.”
“Does she want a brother or a sister?” Maddie asked, for she had not been able to get back to Castle MacLogan nearly as much as she would have liked.
She was already splitting her time between Horndean and Castle Muir as it was, juggling the roles of loving wife, keen student, and inspiring tutor with aplomb.
Yet, she did wish she could see Grace and Ellie more often.
She planned to change that once Grace’s child arrived, especially now that she had managed to have one of her works accepted. She could slow down a little.
“She doesn’t mind,” Grace replied. “None of us do, surprisingly. I thought Hunter would be keen to have a son, but he says he doesn’t care and I believe him. He’ll find a way to leave his title and territories to his children, even if they’re all daughters.”
Lilian rested her head on Grace’s shoulder. “Speaking of family, I thought we might see Colette here today?”
“She wanted to come, but it wasn’t wise for her to travel so far in her condition,” Maddie said with a smile, for she would soon be an aunt twice over: once by blood, once by bond. “She sent her congratulations, though, and has promised to visit with my niece or nephew as soon as she is able.”
The two women had been corresponding frequently, rekindling their sisterly affection.
Although, there was no affection to be found from Maddie’s parents, who had not written again after the letter left at Horndean.
Not that Maddie minded; with the renewed relationship with her sister, plus her friendships and the love of her husband, she now had all the family she could ever need.
Grace pulled a face. “With Simon?”
“With Simon,” Maddie confirmed, smirking. “I can’t wait, in truth. How could I have even considered settling for that when I have what I have? Goodness, it’s unfathomable. And Simon treats Colette well, and seems to love her, which is all I ever cared about; her being happy.”
Just then, Maddie felt an arm around her waist. “Excuse me, lassies,” Oscar said, pressing a kiss to the curve of his wife’s neck as if to confirm how much better her life was with him. “I ken ye’re havin’ one of yer coven meetings, but I need to borrow me wife.”
Maddie leaned back into him. “It’s not a coven meeting. We only have those on the night of a full moon.”
Oscar chuckled against her skin. “Aye, well, bring yer witchcraft to the dance floor.” He began to usher her away from her friends. “Daenae worry, lasses; I’ll return her in one piece.”
Lilian blushed with pure happiness, clasping her hands together as she watched Maddie and Oscar head for the dance floor. Grace joined her in a fond smile, whispering something that made Lilian blush twice as red.
“They’ll be gossipin’ about when ye are goin’ to have a bairn,” Oscar said, as the other couples parted to make way for the Laird and Lady of Muir. “Me council are just as bad.”
Maddie smiled as he took her in his arms, leading her in the spirited dance.
“Well, it’s not as if we’ve been trying to prevent it,” she pointed out, flashing him a wink.
“But my body and I are attuned. I think it is sticking to my previous rule. When it knows I’m ready to take a brief hiatus from my studies, maybe it’ll relent and give us a child. ”
“As long as I have ye, me wee genius, I dinnae need anythin’ more,” he told her, as he twirled her out and back into his embrace. “Aye, a bairn would be nice, but if it’s nae to be soon, I dinnae mind nae sharin’ ye.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you’re worried about? That you would have to share my affection?”
“Nay, love, I’m worried that ye willnae achieve what ye want to achieve if ye have our bairn too soon,” he replied, sincerity shining in his eyes. “I want ye to have everythin’, love. I want ye to have yer work, and if family comes after, and that’s what ye want, then I want ye to have that too.”
Not caring that there were countless guests in the hall, not caring that it was probably setting a bad example for the Horndean girls, Maddie looped her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him.
She kissed him with all the love in her heart that belonged entirely to him, she kissed him for his generosity and support, she kissed him for his passion and everything he made her feel.
She kissed him because she could, because he was hers, and she was his.
“I want that,” she whispered, pulling back. “I want everything. I want a family with you, and I want my work, and I want to love you always.”
He smirked, biting his lip. “Do ye want to start a family right now? Do ye want to ken how much I love ye right now?”
“After,” she laughed. “Indeed, think of this as the wedding day we didn’t have, followed by the wedding night we avoided.”
He held her closer, swaying with her. “I love ye.”
“As I love you,” she murmured back, so happy she wished she could bottle the feeling and administer it far and wide.
Indeed, despite the fact they were all celebrating her work’s acceptance at a prestigious institution of education, she was gladder than ever that those bastards had kicked her out.
If they hadn’t, she might never have known that inexplicable magic existed in the world, under the pseudonym of “love.” A feeling beyond science. And she might never have experienced paradise and the thrill of a fully rounded life, or how, with the right man, she really could have it all.
The End?