Page 27 of Loving an Earl (Widows of Mayfair #1)

Nine months later

“H ow are you feeling, my love?” Edmund asked as he brushed his lips against hers and their son’s forehead who suckled on Lilly’s breast. “He is perfect. Thank you for giving me a son.” He joined her on the bed, pulling both his wife and their son, George Henry Weston, the future Seventh Earl of Langford, close to his overflowing heart. “I’ve never been so frightened in all my life. If anything...” His voice faltered as tears clogged his throat and trickled down his cheeks. Filled to the brim both with fear for the life of his beloved Lilly and their son and the joy that they were both well and here with him, his emotions could no longer be contained.

He suspected his sailing days were behind him, though he would continue with the company he shared with his two best friends. But traveling was out of the question unless Lilly and George accompanied him. He didn’t think he would survive a day without them in his heart and in his life.

*

She squeezed his hand. “I’m fine. The babe is fine. I won’t lie and say it was easy, but look at our little miracle. He has your features. He will break ladies’ hearts throughout England.”

While she’d labored for two days with George, she honestly hadn’t known if she would live through the pain, which felt as though it would tear her body in two. She had been present during several healthy births, but Annabelle was the one that kept flashing into her mind. The midwife kept reassuring her the baby was in the correct position, however, and that he would come on his own time, which he did to sobs of relief and joy from her. Sitting with her husband, whom she loved beyond reason, and their newborn baby boy, who already owned her heart, she looked up and closed her eyes, silently wishing that her parents and Henry could see their beautiful family.

THE END