13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Laney

“A nd Peg is okay with your mama?” Caleb asks for the fourth time. We’re on our way to go talk to his da, and mama took Peg to bake cookies while we’re gone. It’s been a battle with lawyers and immigration and such, to try and get Peg settled here in the states, but it’s worth it. She misses her mama, but me and Caleb have been so busy keeping her occupied, she only mentions her mama in passing. Things like, ‘that’s not how mama makes it’, or stuff by comparison. I made an appointment for her to see a child psychologist, to help her through this, so that it doesn’t creep up on her in her teens, you know, the fact that she never properly processed her mama’s death.

We decided against a funeral, as per her will, and just opted to have her cremated and buried next to her favorite uncle, which we paid for. So far, Peg seems unscathed, but again, she’s only young and probably doesn’t understand all that is going on. “She’s fine, Caleb. Mama adores her. They have been getting along so well. I don’t think that Gretchen had any family, so this is something that Peg is loving.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.”

“And you’re sure you want to be part of this?” He asks, referring to where we’re going and what the plan is.

“I’m absolutely certain, Caleb. I think this is the best way.”

With a nod, we turn into the office, and immediately head upstairs, where office staff greet us both with widened eyes. Nobody has seen us together before, and I’m guessing with all the talk of me and Caleb being forced to marry, despite the challenges and altercations that the public is aware of, this comes as quite a shock. “Is my da in his office?” Caleb asks, immediately wiping the paled look off the front desk staff’s face.

“Yes, sir.” She says, and then she feverishly looks through an empty file, as if inventing something to do.

We head to Dougall Harris’s office, hand in hand, and once we enter, he lifts his head. “Caleb.” A short pause. “Laney.” Another pause, as he closes up a file on his desk. “This is a surprise.”

“It is.” Caleb says with a soft grunt, as he takes a seat in the chair in front of his da’s desk, and I follow suit.

“To what do I owe this visit?” Dougall asks, dividing his glance between the two of us. Then he rises and sticks his hand out for me to shake. “Forgive me, lass. My manners. We’ve never been formally introduced.”

I shake his proffered hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Harris.”

“Please. Call me Dougall.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Dougall smiles warmly and looks at Caleb. Caleb raises a hand. “Before we start, da, I just want to say that Laney and I are not engaged. That is not the reason why we’re here.”

He taps the tips of his fingers together in front of him. “Very well. What brings you here then.”

Caleb draws in a deep breath, and despite my reservations, I take his hand in mine. “Da, I need to tell you something, that you will not take lightly.”

He nods. “What is it, Caleb.” His mouth is still upturned into a warm smile.

He mentions the conference that they attended in Scotland a few years ago, and while the rest were busy doing other things, Caleb was outside and that’s where he met Gretchen and infant Peg. “She’d been raped and had the attacker’s bairn, da. She needed help, so I put her up in a cottage close to me, and I’ve been helping her ever since. Gretchen had a drug problem, and she got herself clean and such.” He looks at his da to gauge his reaction, but he seems to be sitting patiently, listening to his son. I start to wonder if maybe Dougall isn’t as hard-handed as he’s been made out to be.

When I hear Caleb’s voice crack, I squeeze his hand, feeling my chin quiver. “Gretchen died, da. She left the bairn to me. She's a sweet lass, not yet four years old. I love her to death, da. Laney, too. She’s with Laney’s mama right now, and that’s why we’re here. I needed to tell you. I need to apologize for keeping such a thing from you, da, but I knew that you wouldn’t take well to it. I’m sorry for lying to you. From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry.” Tears are flowing down his cheeks. My hand is in his, and my thumb is stroking his hand. Tears are rolling down my cheeks, too. We’re both softly sobbing.

Dougall nods once and smiles and says something that takes me by surprise. “I’m proud of you, son.”

Caleb swallows, wiping the tears from his face. “Are you just saying that because Laney’s here, da?”

He rises and takes Caleb into his arms. “Not at all, Caleb. Not at all. I’m very proud of you. Never been prouder.”

Dougall looks at me, over Caleb’s shoulder. “Come here, lass.”

I rise and Dougall embraces us both. “The two of you have come together for good. Of your own accord. I could not be prouder of the two of you.” He pulls me to him, and I feel an instant bond with the man.

“Thank you, sir.” I tell him, through my tears.

“I would love to meet the little bairn, son.” He says, pulling back from Caleb and me.

“Well, Laney’s mama is minding her while we’re here, da.”

I intervene. “Mama would love for you to come and meet her.”

“I would love that, too.” Dougall says, warmth in his eyes.

Then he addresses Caleb. “I think you’ve underestimated yourself, son. And to be frank, I think I've underestimated you, too.”

“What do you mean, da?”

“I told you to find love, and you did, threefold.” He says with a satisfied smirk. “I can see the love that you and Laney have for each other, and I'm so happy for you.”

Caleb’s words are measured. “Even though we’re not getting married?”

He pats Caleb on the back and says something that makes me lift a brow. “You’ve done one better, Caleb. You’ve been brought together for life with the bairns.”

“Why did your da say ‘bairns’?” I ask Caleb, as we drive to mama and da’s house, to make sure that Peg is okay.

“Bairns? He said ‘bairns’, plural?” Caleb checks.

I nod. “I’m sure of it.”

He frowns and shakes his head. “Maybe it was a slip of the tongue.”

“Maybe. But you thought that he was going to skin you alive, and instead, he hugged you. Has your da ever hugged you before, Caleb?”

“He has. But, yes, I was just as shocked as you, Laney. That’s why I was glad that you came with me to tell him. I figured I'd be written out of the will and kicked out of the business.”

“But instead he hugged us both and praised you.”

“Yes.” He looks at me, confused, too. “I hear it now. It is weird, isn’t it.”

When we arrive at my childhood home, mama is in the kitchen with Peg, and little Peg’s face is covered in chocolate. Her face lights up when she sees both of us. “Did you save me a cookie?” Caleb asks, walking to her, as she sits in the chair, giving her a hug.

“I saved you one.” She says, holding one up, with her gooey hands. Caleb doesn’t care. He takes the cookie from her and helps himself to a big bite. He points to Dougall. “This is my da, Peg. You can call him Dougall.”

Dougall kneels down, as mama raises a brow to him. “Do you have a granddad, Peg?”

Peg shakes her head no.

“Well, then, you can call me granddad if you want to, lass.” He sticks his hand out for her to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Peg smiles shyly.

“And this is my mama, Elspeth.” I say, addressing Dougall.

Dougall immediately rises. “Oh, yes my manners.” He sticks his hand out for her to shake. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Mama, skeptical as always, keeps her brow lifted. “Yes, a pleasure, I'm sure.”

All the years of wondering how quickly our families would scratch each other’s eyes out, and here they are, meeting finally, and Dougall acts like he’s meeting Santa Claus for the first time. Surely this is a side of his da that Caleb has never seen before.

“Aren’t you all hungry?” Peg asks, likely sensing the trepidation.

“Oh, they’re lovely cookies, da. Have one.” Caleb encourages, breaking the tension.

“I would love to.” Dougall states tentatively, eyes still on my mama, as if she’s just chided him. And I suppose she has. The Harris family has not treated my family too kindly over the years, at least in the media, anyway. “If that’s okay, lass.”

Mama, ever the forgiver, sighs. “Call me Elspeth. And, aye, you can have a cookie. You can all have one. We made enough for an army. I’ll have to freeze most of them as it is.”

“Why don’t you bring some to the office?” Dougall suggests. “And if you want us to take some off your hands, we can take some to the office, too.”

And that’s when we engage in conversation fit for a four-year-old. And I realize that’s maybe all we needed. I also realize how the lord works in strange ways; bringing us all together like this. It’s strange but it’s nice to see. For years, my family has felt like the chided underdog, for not being top drawer, even though the way that the Harris family has made it to the top, hasn’t been accomplished in the most noble ways. However, with the presence of a preschooler, it seems like everyone is on a level playing field.

It’s decided that Peg will stay with mama and daddy tonight, since she falls asleep on the couch, and nobody has the heart to wake her. She also fell in love with my old room, well, room one of two. Mama kept all my old dolls and things in my childhood room, but the room that I used in university and as an adult, before I got my own place, that’s been turned into a workout room. Not that it’s ever used as that. It was my brother’s idea, but then he got a gym membership and that all fell to the wayside, and we were all too busy to make a change. But I digress.

Caleb carries Peg upstairs to my old room, while mama follows behind us. Da is still working, and Dougall is on a business call downstairs. I hear my phone ringing in my pocket, and I grab it, before it wakes Peg. It’s Brandy, and I take it into the hallway, leaving Caleb and mama alone in the room. “Brandy? This isn’t a good time.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“Someone’s asleep?”

“Caleb?”

Oh, God. While I was in Scotland, I barely spoke with Brandy, trying to keep things simple and as discreet as possible, until we got things calm. Now that Peg is here in the states, and I see myself spending a lot of time with her, I have to tell Brandy everything. “No. Meet me at my place in thirty minutes.”

“Is this another covert operation going on, Laney?” She teases.

“Just meet me there. I promise this will all make sense.”

“Okay.”

I tell Caleb that I'll see him later, that I need to get back to reality for a couple of hours. He kisses me goodbye and heads back to the office with his da, going our separate ways, after what seems like weeks that we’ve spent today, settling Peg and Gretchen’s affairs.

But as I arrive at home, welcoming Brandy, my night is about to get even more surprising...

Caleb

“She’s a fine lass, Caleb. Better than I thought.” Da comments as we drive back home.

I look at him as I drive. “Who, the bairn or Laney?”

He does a double-take. “Laney, of course. Well, the bairn is a sweet angel, too, but Laney, I had no idea that she was so lovely.”

“She is, da.”

He smiles at me. “You two look very happy together, Caleb.”

“We love each other, da.”

“That’s evident, son.” He pauses. “Laney’s mama is lovely, too. I never thought.”

“That’s because you’ve only ever known of them on a business level, da. People are different outside of work. You should try socializing more, and not for conferences and things.”

He nods, looking down at his hands, as if I just chided him. “I know, son. Your mama’s been asking me to do that for years, but we’ve been so busy.”

We’re silent. I look at him after a beat. “Da, how come you said, ‘bairns’, when you were talking about Peg. You used it in plural.”

He looks over at me and smiles. “What, she hasn’t told you yet?”

“Told me what?”

He pats me on the leg as I drive. “Oh, Caleb. The lasses. They don’t like to say anything until it’s the right time.”

“Until what’s the right time, da?”

He chuckles. “Your mama, she didn’t tell me until your grandma blurted it out at a family function. Of course, I’d already known for a while, I was just being respectful.”

I’m confused. “Da, what are you talking about?”

He smiles at me again. It’s a new smile. A smile I’ve never seen on him before. It’s warm and kind, not that satisfied smile when I got a job done as I was told. “Caleb, Laney’s with child.”

My brows crinkle. “What? I don’t think so, da.” I look at him like he just told me that he’s secretly married to a goat. “Laney doesn’t even want bairns, da. She’s told me herself.”

“She adores Peg, Caleb. You’d have to be blind not to see that.”

I shrug. “Well, how can you not adore Peg? She’s…perfect.”

Da frowns. “Laney will feel the same with your bairn, Caleb. You’ll see.”

“But she’s not with child, da. Laney’s not old-fashioned. She would be freaking out and telling me so, or acting strange, or pushing me away, or something. But she’s acting perfectly normal. She’s not with child.” I look at him. “Besides, how do you know?”

There’s that smile again. “Oh, Caleb. I knew every time your mama was with child, son. I knew right away. The lasses, they have a different smell when there’s a bairn growing inside them. They smell like they just came back from the bakery. I could walk through a mall and be able to tell you each and every lass that’s with child.”

My neck cranes. “Seriously?”

His nods are wide. “Yes, son. I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on it. It’s a very distinct smell. I love being in the company of the lasses when they’re with child. It’s like the most comforting scent in the world. I wish there was a way to bottle it.”

“That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.”

He chuckles again. Okay, who is this man and what did he do with the old Dougall Harris? “Lots of people can sense when a woman is expecting, Caleb. It’s not odd. Some people say that their skin looks different, or that they have a different laugh. There are lots of ways to tell.”

“Well, I really don’t think she is, da. And I’m not sure if me mentioning it is such a grand idea. It might freak her out. And she may think that you’re crazy.”

He smiles and laughs again. “Oh, Caleb. Trust me. I’ve never been wrong. There have been a lot of bairns come into this family, and I knew every time.”

“And did you always act so… Gidget …when you found out? Seriously, da, I don’t even know who you are right now.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a man being proud of his family, Caleb. And nothing makes me prouder than my family growing, son. I’ve waited a long time to have grandbabies, and now I get to have two.”

“I think you’re counting your chickens before they’re hatched, da, if you want my honest opinion.”

He looks at me like he wants to level with me. “Caleb, I knew you were growing in your mama’s belly from the moment you were conceived. I knew when your mama was going to go into labor, too. The very hour. I also knew each of your siblings and cousins’ genders and when they would come. It’s not unheard of. Some people have certain gifts.”

I guffaw. “I thought your gift was how to turn a dollar into a million dollars.”

“I get that from my da, son. But I get other gifts from your grandma. God rest her soul.”

We pull up to the house. “Da, do me a favor, and let’s keep this a secret for now, okay? At least the part about you thinking that Laney is with child?”

He purses his lips into a smile. “You got it, son. Your secret is safe with me.”

I can’t help the guilty feeling I get as I drop da off at my childhood home and head back to my own. He really thinks that Laney is pregnant. But Laney has said nothing to me. She’s mentioned before that she doesn’t want bairns; what if she found out about it and already took care of it? What if she knows and she’s keeping it from me, because she wants to get rid of it? My stomach lurches at the thought.

…and in the next few hours I’ll find out the truth…but not in the way that I would expect.