Epilogue

N ine months to the day, O'Malley stared down at his newborn son tucked against Caroline's side. He could not believe his wife would ever agree to go through another birthing. He wasn't certain he could! It unmanned him to admit, but he'd had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep the tears at bay, watching his wife battle the pain while she labored to bring his son into the world.

At the tiny snuffling sound, he shifted his gaze to his newborn daughter cradled against his chest. The little bit of thing surprised the shite of him when she'd arrived right after her brother. "She has a halo of red-gold hair." He frowned, but only for a moment. "So does our son, which wasn't the plan."

"You're the one who mentioned six sets of twins, Thomas, and a daughter with red hair and gray eyes."

"But not twins first off, lass. That was supposed to be next year."

Caroline narrowed her eyes and stared at her husband. "Do not even suggest such a thing while I have yet to fully catch my breath after delivering our twins!"

He pressed his lips to his daughter's forehead and whispered, "Yer ma is partial to me. She cannot keep her hands off me." At the sound of Caroline's laugher, he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "It won't be all me doing if ye find yerself in this same position a year from now."

"I will have no trouble at all keeping my hands and my lips to myself, O'Malley. Just you wait and see."

Twelve months later, Caroline delivered their second daughter, who had a halo of blonde hair. This time, she did not tempt fate by declaring that she could keep her hands to herself. They both knew it was a lie and would only add to the number of children they'd finally agreed upon…six.

O'Malley bragged to Garahan that whatever number of children his cousin had, he and Caroline would have one more.

At last count, Garahan had three daughters and two sons…

O'Malley had five daughters and one son.