Aisling Epilogue-One Year Later

It was crazy to think what my family had dealt with since this time last year. My issues with Danvers Kelly and his hired goons were the least of it we found. There were worse things out there, and we’d been up close and personal with those. You’d think it meant Alistair and I were the ones in the deep end of it since it involved the Brynes, and we had our issue with Chris. Boy, we had no idea what it would end up involving or who. That whole story was a long one.

It had impacted Tiernan even more than us. Some of it was wonderful since it led to him finding his anamchara, and he was happily married with a baby on the way. His joy was so obvious to anyone seeing him with his wife. Their beginning wasn’t one any of us had ever imagined in my family, but it was perfect for them. They’d fought hard to make it happen. Who knew his knee-jerk reaction could’ve lost him his chance at his anamchara or the danger that almost took her from him after he did find her?

Thankfully, the family had worked hard to support the Hounds in their work to clean up the sex trafficking ring and to bring home as many children, women, and even some men from that awful existence. We hadn’t been able to find them all, and it broke our hearts. They’d worked to make Tiernan’s wife safe, too. The Hounds were now on alert for any chatter about this kind of activity, and if they found proof, I knew they’d go after them, too. I wholeheartedly approved of it.

The elimination of members of the Brynes family had hit not only their family and mine hard but also the other Irish families. I wasn’t sure if that trust would ever be rebuilt. We were leaving the Bragans and Brynes to heal and the Brynes to rebuild themselves. All families were now alert to signs of this happening in their areas and what to do about it, which was to call the Hounds. They still had no clue the Hounds were connected to us or that my husband was their leader.

Yes, I said husband. After the way our engagement announcement was done and then slightly ruined by Danvers, we’d talked. In the end, we settled for a family-only wedding. We had a blowout reception, but Alistair wasn’t one for an over-the-top wedding, and all I wanted was to be his wife. I got the perfect, intimate wedding, and I wore the gown of my dreams. We didn’t skimp on the decorations or the food. We had music and the whole nine yards at our reception and danced for hours before he whisked me away for our honeymoon in Ireland.

Of course, I had to agree to spend only half our honeymoon there and the other half in Scotland. It was only fair. I loved seeing his home country. I’d never been there all the times we went to Ireland. I would be back often. And we’d had a more than wonderful honeymoon. By the time we returned, I was pregnant. Our first baby was due any day now. We were thrilled to welcome her. Alistair was overjoyed yet terrified that we were having a daughter. The overprotective primitive had gone over the top with preparations to protect her. Dia help her as she grew. He’d better be prepared for her to revolt.

Thinking of our baby made me think of the other newest additions to the clan. Cian and Miranda were still stunned every day by their sweet daughter, Caitlin. We loved to tease them to wait until she got older and see if she stayed that sweet. The bets were she’d be a wild one, so we were already calling her Cat. She wasn’t alone. Just two months after her birth, Aidan and Karizma welcomed their son Brannon. Khloe was more in love with him than his parents, and that was saying something since they were crazy about him. He looked so much like my brother, and I had no doubt he’d be as ornery and aggravating as him. Karizma agreed.

Along with the babies and our wedding, things with Maeve’s Cellars were better than ever. The winery had been repaired and was back up and running in no time. The new wines were out and a bigger hit than we’d hoped. The buzz about them, the requests to sell our wines, and the awards were rolling in. I’d hired more help to keep up, which would be needed when I had the baby. I’d never give up the winery, but my family with Stair would take priority.

I watched as my loud, obnoxious, opinionated family argued with my husband. They were trying to convince him to go with an Irish name for our daughter, and he kept telling them it was an ancient Scottish one, which wasn’t in style, but it would be her name. He loved winding them up. Her name would be Scottish, but it was beautiful and not anything like what he was pretending it was.

I began laughing as all four of my brothers jumped him, and they were wrestling on the floor. They should know he was more than capable of holding his own after the time they got him in the ring. The memory of it still brought a proud smile to my face. He’d stood strong even at the end. They didn’t go easy on him, and he took it without a peep. Afterward, when Mamó said it was over and he was free to have fun, he’d been happy to beat on most of them except the older men. He stayed respectful of them. Even Darragh wasn’t safe. When Alistair was done, there was more than him feeling sore and sporting some bruises the next day.

An unexpected pain shooting from my back to my stomach had me crying out unintentionally. I’d had odd, faint pains all day, but nothing like this. When you were pregnant, you got used to odd pains here and there. Braxton Hicks was the worst, and I’d had a lot of them lately. This one was nothing like those. My loud moan stopped the arguments. Alistair tossed my brothers off him and was over to me in seconds. He kneeled by my chair.

“What is it, mo ghràdh ? Are you alright?” he asked urgently. His hand went to my stomach, and he rubbed soothingly.

I placed my hand on top of his. I smiled as I told him, “Everything is fine. In fact, it’s more than fine. How would you like to meet our daughter today?” Something told me this was the real thing.

If his facial expressions were anything to go by, astonishment swiftly followed anxiety. The next thing I knew, I was airborne in his arms, and he was yelling. I swear, carrying me around was one of his favorite things to do.

“Get the damn car,” he yelled.

Pandemonium took over as more than one person ran for the door. Others were up on their feet in excitement. Alistair was standing there frozen as if he had no clue what to do next.

“I’ll go grab your bag from the house and bring it to the hospital. It’s still in the front hall closet, right?” Siobhan asked calmly.

“Yes and thank you. Stair, look at me,” I ordered. His panicked eyes landed on mine. “Everything is fine. I’m not having her this second. I just think we need to get to the hospital to see if this pain is labor or not. Just think, hopefully, we’ll have our daughter in our arms by this time tomorrow.”

A slow smile spread across his face. He gave me a tender kiss. When he lifted his head, he growled so the others could hear him. “Let’s go welcome Sheena Graeme.”

Exclamations of joy over her name were bubbling around us as he whispered to me, “I love you, Aisling Graeme, forever and ever.”

“I love you, Alistair Graeme, forever and ever, plus one day.”

He laughed and shook his head at my one-upmanship. I’d turned my hidden craving into a lifelong one. Nothing could satisfy me like my Stair.

The End Until Tiernan’s Striving Book 5 of the O’Sheerans