Page 92 of Seduced By the Reckless Highlanders

She laughed. “Twins have been in my family for as long as I can remember. There is one set in every generation.”

Bernard looked adoringly into the little faces for a full minute, studying every nook and cranny of their tiny features. Then he said, “I almost forgot to ask… Are they boys or girls?”

Janice giggled. “Both.” She nodded at the baby on her left side. “This is your son.” Then she indicated the baby on the right. “And this is your daughter. She was born ten minutes before he was.”

“May I hold her?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the little face.

Janice nodded, and Bernard leaned down to lift the baby gently into his arms. She squirmed and gave a tiny moan, and her little fists punched the air before she settled into his arms and became quiet.

Bernard’s eyes examined every inch of the tiny face, and he was overwhelmed with a tenderness he had never felt before. She was so small, so completely helpless. She depended on her parents for her very survival, and they would not let her down.

Bernard kissed the little forehead and ran his thumb over her soft cheek, then he surrendered her to Janice again and received his son into his arms. The infant squirmed and gave a lusty yell as Bernard held him in the crook of his arm. Then he caught hold of one of his father’s fingers and held on to it with a surprisingly tight grip, and when Bernard tried to withdraw it, he held on fiercely, screwing his little face up in obvious annoyance.

Janice giggled as she looked at the large man and the tiny baby. In spite of the difference in their sizes, it was obvious who had enslaved whom. She had never before seen such love on Bernard’s face. Of course, she knew he loved her as a wife, but if what he felt was the same aching tenderness that she was experiencing, then she knew it was an altogether different kind of love. It was all-consuming.

“I still cannot believe it,” he whispered, then suddenly his face broke into a wide, beaming smile.

He took his daughter from Janice and began to pace around the room with the twins, murmuring and crooning a nonsensical song of his own composition to them.

He looks so proud,Janice thought indulgently as he stopped before the window and looked out, rocking the babies in his arms. Presently, he stopped and gave a gasp of amazement.

“What is it?” asked Janice, alarmed.

She was throwing aside the coverlet to climb out of bed when Bernard turned back to her.

“She has opened her eyes!” he replied excitedly.

Janice put her hand to her chest, relieved. “Come over here, you silly man!” she laughed.

When he brought the babies over to her, the little girl’s dark, blue-grey eyes were wide open, but as soon as she saw her mother’s face, she was fixated on it.

“You lovely girl,” Janice murmured. “What shall we call you?”

Bernard asked tentatively, “May we call her Moira? It would make my mother so happy.”

Janice smiled. “I have always loved the name,” she agreed. She looked at her son, then at Bernard. “William?” she suggested.

“William called his son Bernard,” he said, smiling. “So it seems only fair to return the favor.”

Janice nodded happily. “William and Moira Taggart.” She kissed each one of her babies’ foreheads, then smiled lovingly at her husband.

“There will be more,” she promised. “I want at least four more.”

He laughed. “I will see to it!”

And there were.