Epilogue

"Iknew it!" Cameron said happily as he held his new son in his arms for the first time and looked down into the tiny face. "I knew he would look like you, Ava. Thank God." He rolled his eyes heavenwards and laughed. The baby blew a few bubbles and began to wriggle and grizzle a little.

"Time for the wee man's first feed." The capable midwife whisked him out of his father's arms and Cameron gave a moan of disappointment. He felt quite bereft suddenly.

Ava, who was flushed and utterly exhausted, took the baby into her arms and the midwife helped her to latch him onto a nipple. Soon he was suckling happily, making comical gulping, sucking sounds that made them both laugh.

"I think he looks exactly like himself," Ava observed.

"He has your wee nose," Cameron protested, laughing.

"Pfft!" Ava scoffed. "All babies have wee noses! They have wee everythin'." She looked down at her son lovingly. His hair was a shade somewhere between red and blond, and still coated with some of the waxy birth fluids, and his eyes were the usual dark blue-grey of a newborn. He looked as if he was going to be big like his father, since his hands were already oversized for a baby.

"He has your hands!" Ava observed, laughing.

"Ah well." Cameron was philosophical, looking at his own hands. "They will not be beautiful, but they will be strong!"

Cameron gazed at his wife and baby, and his heart ached with a love of a kind he had never felt before. It was fierce, strong and protective, and he knew with utter certainty that if anyone laid a hand on either of the people he loved most in the world, he would kill them. How was it possible, he thought, that a father could fall in love with his son so completely the first time he laid eyes on him? ‘This is fatherhood,' he thought, feeling so overwhelmed that he was blinking tears from his eyes.

He climbed up on the bed beside them and ran his hand over his son's bright hair. It looked ridiculously huge compared to the tiny face, and Cameron laughed as he compared the sizes.

"Thank you, Ava," he murmured. "Thank you for givin' me the most wonderful gift I have ever received in my life." He kissed her forehead tenderly.

"He is yours too, Cam," Ava reminded him.

"But I did no' carry him an' give birth to him," he countered. "You did a' the hard work."

"I am so glad it's over," Ava said thankfully. "Now it is time to give him a name."

"Colin," Cameron said firmly. "After your father, a very good man."

"Colin Cameron Dalziel-Lewis." Ava sighed with happiness. "Three very good men."

Three years later…

Colin's eyes were exactly the same color as his father's, and his hair had darkened into the same deep copper as Ava's, so he had taken after both parents. However, it was clear that someday he would be as completely masculine as his father. Even at the tender age of three years he had already begun to show unusual strength, and he was tall for his age and much bigger than all his playmates.

"He is goin' to be built like you," Ava observed one day as she watched her boisterous son kicking a ball around the courtyard while being chased by a noisy crowd of his fellows.

Cameron laughed. "Aye, I think so," he said lazily, yawning. It had been a long day of both physical and mental toil, but days like this always made him feel satisfied and fulfilled. He was here with his family, and had everything in the world that he had ever wished for. Life was good, and he had no reason to believe it would not stay that way.

Ava was mending a few shirts for Cameron, not because she had to, since they employed half a dozen seamstresses, but because she was good at it and she enjoyed it. It was almost the end of summer, and they made the most of the warm weather by sitting outside in the gardens and enjoying the sunshine while it lasted, since the long dark days of winter were not very far away. Indeed, the days were shortening already.

Ava had a secret to tell Cameron, but she would not share it with him until the time was right. She wanted to wait until after they had made love and he was drifting off to sleep, then she would break the news that another child was on the way, and this time she was sure it was the little girl they both longed for.

At that moment, Colin, with a happy scream, jumped onto his father's lap. Cameron gave a grunt of surprise as the wind was partially knocked out of him. Colin was not a lightweight!

"Da," he said, frowning. "I want to have a wee baby brother. Hector's mammy just gave him one and I want one too." He pointed to his friend, who was now kicking the ball and being chased by half a dozen other screaming children who were all trying to get it away from him.

"Well, ye can't just ask for a baby brother an' have one sent to ye," Cameron answered him. He felt as though he was on very shaky ground. He had never had to explain the facts of life to anyone before, especially not a three year old child, and he knew that their logic was flawless. They thought in black and white, and their questions either made sense or did not. An answer to a question was usually ‘why?' or ‘why not?' as it was now.

"Why not?" Colin asked solemnly. His face was only inches from Cameron's, and he stared at his father with eyes that were identical to his own.

"Because they have to grow," Cameron replied.

"Where do they grow? Do you put seeds in a garden and they grow like turnips?" Colin put his finger into the dimple in his father's chin, and his face was so earnest that Cameron almost burst out laughing.

"No," Cameron answered, quite at a loss as to what to say next.

Fortunately, Ava intervened and picked Colin up from his seat on his father's lap, then kept him in her arms while she walked over to one of the stables to see his father's horse. "Jimmy!" he cried excitedly, clapping his hands. He had always been fond of the big horse, and the feeling seemed to be mutual as Jimmy whickered softly and messed Colin's hair up with his nose. Jimmy was very old now, but he was still a much-loved member of the family.

Colin giggled, then resumed the topic of conversation from a few moments before. " I want a baby brother," he stated firmly.

"I will see if I can find one," she promised.

Cameron felt an even greater urgency for his wife that night. Ever since their marriage, except for the few days of Ava's monthly courses and during the last few weeks of her pregnancy, they had made love every day. They had deliberately stopped another pregnancy by means of Cameron withdrawing from her before climax, so that Ava would not conceive until they were ready to welcome another child. Lately, however, by unspoken agreement, they had let the practice lapse.

Cameron thrust inside Ava with uncharacteristic force that night, and she cried out, not with pain, but with delight as she felt the whole weight of his passion bearing down on her. He had imprisoned both of her hands in one of his and was kissing her with a fervor she had not felt since their wedding night. After subjecting her to what seemed like an eternity of sweet totrure, he spilled his seed inside her with one last frantic thrust. He cried out her name, even as Ava's climax hit her and waves and waves of bliss rolled over her.

"What was that?" she asked, breathless, as she lay in his arms. This was the moment she enjoyed most, when she felt loved and secure in her husband's arms, safe from the troubles of the world.

"You are different tonight," he whispered. "Somethin' has changed."

"What is it?" she asked, smiling mischievously.

"Are ye hidin' somethin' from me?" His voice was suspicious, but there was an undertone of amusement in it.

"I have a secret to tell you," she whispered, then stopped speaking.

Cameron could not wait a moment longer. "Out wi' it!" he cried, laughing.

Ava took a deep breath. "I am with child," she said quietly, watching Cameron's face as he took in the news.

"I knew it," he murmured, as a broad grin spread across his face.

Ava could see tears glinting in his eyes. "We will have a daughter this time," she whispered. "I am sure of it."

And six months later, they did. They called her Emilia Dalziel-Lewis, but Cameron called her his princess.