Their second night on the road the snow was a little heavier and more sustained. It was so bitterly cold, although the wind was calm. Wrapping her cloak about her, Alix shivered nonetheless. She caressed her belly with her gloved hands more to reassure herself than anything else. Her child was most active and seemed to be dancing a jig within her womb. She slept sporadically, although Bab snored contentedly by her side.
Alix was not unhappy when the morning finally came. Colm had reassured her that they would get home by midday. The great party of Ferguson and Hepburn clansmen were still riding with them. Now Alix began to worry about, how they were to be fed and housed before traveling on the morrow to their own homes. But certainly Fenella would be prepared for them, she finally decided.
And then through the gray she finally saw the shadowed outline of Dunglais Keep. She pointed it out to Bab excitedly. "We're almost home!" Alix declared, smiling.
"It looks a rough place," Bab said softly, nervously.
"The keep is older than Wulfborn, 'tis true, but inside it is warm and cozy," Alix told her serving woman. "But should you be unhappy, I will send you back to England in the spring."
"Nay," Bab said in a resigned voice. "There is no place for me there now."
Alix reached out and patted the older woman's hand comfortingly. She had never known the quick-tongued Bab to be so subdued. She almost felt sorry for her, but then, she decided, as soon as Bab recovered from the shock of what had happened and regained her footing she would be as sharp as ever. "Fenella is the housekeeper, and I will put you in her charge," Alix said. "Respect her and the position she holds within the house and she will help you. I know it cannot be easy starting all over again, Bab, but you are a strong woman. This is not Wulfborn. It is a better, happier place."
The cart trundled up the hill to the keep. The laird had ridden on ahead to identify himself and their party. The little drawbridge was already lowered by the time they reached it. The cart rolled over it and into the courtyard. The laird was there at once to help his wife out of her vehicle. Beinn hoisted Bab from her place, setting her upon her feet, which were numb with the cold. Bab thanked him, and he nodded politely in response. Then she followed Alix into the keep.
When they reached the hall, a little girl dashed forward, half laughing, half crying. She flung herself at Alix, who caught the child in her arms and hugged her hard. "Oh, Mam, I was so afraid I had lost you like I lost the other one," Fiona cried. "I am so glad you are home." Then she stepped back from Alix and her eyes widened. "Oh, you are so fat with my brother, Alix! Will he come soon?" Her gaze swung to Bab. "Who is this?" she asked, curiously eying the older woman.
"This is Bab, who took care of me at Wulfborn when I lived there. When I left the first time I had to leave her behind. I would not leave her this time," Alix explained.
"But Jeannie takes care of you!" Fiona said.
"And she will continue to take care of me. Bab will be nurse to the new baby," Alix told her stepdaughter.
"Oh, then that is all right," Fiona replied. "Has Fenella met her?"
"As we have just this moment arrived, nay, but she will," Alix said.
And at that same moment Fenella hurried into the hall, her face wreathed in smiles as she embraced Alix. "My lady, welcome home! Oh my, the bairn grows, doesn't he?" She looked to the unfamiliar woman with her mistress.
"This is Bab." Alix explained briefly the relationship between them. "She will be nurse to my child."
"Very good, my lady," Fenella said in a neutral voice. "And I will see she has someone to help her. Taking care of an infant is not an easy task at any age." But then Fenella's good nature got the better of her. "You look fair frozen, Bab. Come with me to the kitchens, and I will see you are fed and warmed." And she led Bab off.
Fiona had not left Alix's side. Now she slipped her hand into her stepmother's and walked with her to the hearth so Alix might be seated and get warm. "You missed my birthday," Fiona told Alix. "I am eight now."
"The hall looks beautiful," Alix said. "Did you oversee the decorations, my lass?"
Fiona grinned proudly. "I did!" she crowed. "I wanted it to be perfect when you arrived." She snuggled against Alix. "It's almost Christmas. I know what Da is giving you on the first day of Christmas! Do you want me to tell you?"
"Nay!" Alix said, laughing. "Then it would not be a surprise."
The laird came and knelt before her to draw her boots and wet stockings off. He saw Alix's feet were red with the cold and swollen. "Have Jeannie fetch your mam's slippers," he told his daughter as he began to rub Alix's feet gently to restore the circulation to them. "You should be in bed," he told her.
"Nay, not yet," Alix said. "I want to sit by my own hearth and just revel in my happiness at being home, Colm. Let me remain, and let me eat at my own board. I will go to bed afterward, I promise. Oh, that feels so good!"
"You are a sensuous creature. I have missed you greatly," he told her, as he had at least a dozen times a day since they had been reunited.
Alix reached out to caress his face gently with her soft hand. He caught the hand up and kissed it tenderly. She sighed, and the sound was one of pure happiness. His hand then reached out to touch her belly. He lay his palm flat, and Alix placed her hand over his, pressing down slightly to see if the child would stir. It did, turning itself about, and a look of pure wonder filled the laird's face. "That is our bairn," she told him, and smiled. "He is strong, isn't he? And already determined to have his own way."
"I can feel him stirring strongly within you," Malcolm Scott said, amazed.
Alix laughed again. "Sometimes I cannot sleep for all his dancing."
Jeannie hurried into the hall carrying a pair of Alix's house slippers, which were lined with lamb's wool. "Welcome home, my lady," she said, and then as the laird arose, she knelt and slipped the slippers on Alix's feet, which were now a little warmer due to the fire and her husband's ministrations.
After a short time had passed the meal was served. Alix was helped to the table. Now that her feet were tingling with warmth again it was difficult to walk at first. But her appetite was excellent, especially as the food had come from her own kitchen. There was sliced trout with lemon, a large bowl of lamb stew with chunks of carrot and leek in a rich gravy, a fat roasted duck, bread, butter, and cheese. Alix ate greedily, her hazel eyes widening with delight when Fenella brought a dish of baked apples to table.
"It is all so good," she told the housekeeper. "And I have been starving for baked apples, Fenella. And they've been baked with sugar and cinnamon!" She splashed on some thick yellow cream from the pitcher Fenella handed her. "Ummm!" she approved, spooning some of the apple into her mouth.
"We never had baked apples at all while you were gone," Fiona said. "And they are my favorites too!" She sat as near as she could to her stepmother. "Promise me you will never leave me again, Alix," she begged. "And not just because I love baked apples."
"As long as the choice is mine to make, ma petite, I will not leave you again," Alix told her, putting an arm about the child's thin shoulders and giving her a small hug. "But one day you will leave your da and me to marry."
"Nay," Fiona said. "I love only you and Da. And my new brother."
Alix kissed the top of Fiona's dark head. Poor child, she thought. She has really suffered the lack of her mother, but I am her mother now. I will take care of her.
When the meal was over the laird wanted his wife to retire immediately, but now that her feet were warm she felt better. "Let me sit by the hearth and listen to the piper," she said with a smile, and unable to deny her anything, Malcolm Scott acquiesced. His heart contracted with pleasure to watch Alix seated happily by the fire, Fiona sitting upon a stool, her head in her stepmother's lap while Alix stroked the little girl's long hair soothingly. He had never imagined such contentment existed until now.