Page 50 of The Icy Highlander’s Virgin (Highlanders’ Feisty Brides #4)
T he 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."
When he set her down this time, his hands immediately went to frame her face, his thumbs brushing away the tears of joy on her cheeks.
"I love ye," he said fiercely. "I love ye so much, and now we're goin' to have a bairn together. Our own little one to love and protect and watch grow up in these gardens ye're goin' to plant."
"I love ye too," she whispered, standing on her toes to kiss him again. "More than I ever thought possible."
This kiss was different from the others - deeper, more reverent somehow, as if they were both truly realizing the magnitude of what they'd found together. When they finally broke apart, Lachlan rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing hard.
"Come," he said suddenly, his voice rough with desire and joy. "I want to celebrate properly."
"Here? In the garden?" she asked with a breathless laugh.
"In our chamber," he replied, lifting her into his arms despite her protests. "Where I can show ye exactly how happy ye've made me."
"Lachlan, put me down! What if someone sees?"
"Let them see," he said, carrying her toward the castle with determined strides. "Let the whole clan ken how much I love me wife and how proud I am that she's carryin' me child."
She laughed and gave up protesting, instead wrapping her arms around his neck and enjoying the feeling of being cherished so completely. As they passed through the corridors, several servants smiled and nodded respectfully, clearly delighted by their laird's obvious happiness.
In their chamber, Lachlan set her down gently, his hands immediately going to her waist as he pulled her close.
"I still cannae quite believe it," he murmured against her hair. "A bairn. Our bairn."
"Believe it," she said, her own hands resting on his chest where she could feel his heart racing. "In about seven months, we're goin' to have a screamin', demandin' little person who'll turn our lives upside down."
"I can hardly wait," he said, and she could hear the truth of it in his voice.
"Even for the screamin' and demandin' parts?"
"Especially for those parts. As long as the bairn gets yer stubbornness and determination."
"And yer protectiveness and strength," she added, reaching up to trace the line of his jaw with her finger.
"Our child is goin' to be the luckiest bairn in all of Scotland," he said seriously. "Growin' up surrounded by love, with two clans to call home, and parents who'd move mountains to keep them safe."
"And gardens full of flowers to play in," she added with a smile.
"Aye, gardens full of flowers." He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks, then finally her lips in a series of soft, reverent touches. "Thank ye, love. For the garden surprise, for the bairn, for choosin' to love me despite everythin'."
"Thank ye for bein' the kind of man worth lovin'," she replied. "For showin' me what marriage could be when both people choose it freely."
"Even though it started as an arrangement?"
"Especially because it started as an arrangement. It proves that real love can grow anywhere, even in the most unlikely soil."
"Like flowers in Highland gardens," he said with a smile.
"Exactly like flowers in Highland gardens."
As the afternoon sun streamed through their chamber windows, Lachlan and Erica held each other close, surrounded by the warmth of their love and the promise of the future growing within her.
Outside, the empty garden patch waited to be planted with new life, just as their marriage had been planted with hope and nurtured into something beautiful and strong.
In seven months, there would be a new voice added to Castle Kinnaird - a child born of love who would grow up knowing nothing but safety and devotion.
And in the gardens that Erica would plant, flowers would bloom year after year, a living reminder of how the most beautiful things in life often come from the most unexpected beginnings.
The Highland winds whispered around the castle walls, carrying with them the promise of spring and new growth.
And inside their chamber, the Laird and Lady of Kinnaird began their own quiet celebration of the new life they'd created together - not just the child growing within Erica, but the love that had blossomed between two people who'd found their home in each other's arms.
Their story had begun with duty and necessity, but it would continue with love, laughter, and the kind of happiness that comes from finding exactly where you belong.
And they belonged together, now and always, in the place they both called home.
The End ?