"Nothing worth repeating," he assured her, and then placed the ends of the fur in her hands and moved to follow the men to the door.
"Fetch their maids to them once ye have them in their rooms so they do no' wake up alone and scared," Cam ordered, as they filed out, and then he closed the door behind them.
"That was very thoughtful," Joan murmured as he turned and walked back to her. "I should have thought of it."
Cam just shook his head, scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He then settled in it with her in his lap and simply held her in his arms.
"Joan," he said after a moment.
"Aye?" she asked, tipping her head back to peer at him.
His head was tipped back and his eyes closed. "I love ye."
"I love you," she responded at once.
He nodded, and then lowered his head, opened his eyes and said, "Nay, I mean I really love ye. Everything about ye. Ye've no need to learn anything. I love ye just the way ye are."
"But ladies are supposed to know how to sing and dance and shoot arrows and--"
"Aye, I ken that's what is expected," he admitted, and then asked, "But what good are those things?"
She blinked at the question in confusion. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"What if ye'd kenned those things when I'd met ye?" he asked. "What could ye have done? Sing me sweet songs while I lay dying, and then dance on me grave?" He gave her a slight shake. "Ye do no' ken yer own value. Ye saved me with yer healing skills. Ye kenned enough to get us somewhere safe and out o' the way to heal. Ye've got courage, and while ye may no' be able to shoot an arrow straight yet, yer a damned fine shot with that slingshot o' yers." He paused briefly, and then added, "By the by, we should have made sure ye had that fer this little soiree. Ye could have defended yerself better." He peered at her seriously. "I'd like ye to carry it at all times from now on."
"Aye, husband," she said quietly.
Cam released a deep sigh and then promised, "I'll teach ye anything ye want to learn--to ride, to shoot an arrow, to fight with a sword e'en--but I'll no' have ye thinking ye have to learn anything fer me. I think ye're perfect just the way ye are."
"Oh," Joan said shakily, tears pooling in her eyes. "And I think you're perfect too."
He bent to kiss her gently, then lifted his head again, and asked, "So no more talk o' annulling the marriage?"
"Nay," she agreed solemnly.
"Good," Cam said just as solemnly, and then grinned and added, "No' that me mother would have allowed it anyway. She's decided ye're the perfect woman fer me too."
"She has, has she?" Joan asked with amusement.
"Aye," he assured her. "I think me picking ye to wife has raised me in her esteem. She thinks I'm ever so clever now."
"So do I," Joan said with a laugh, and then her expression turned serious and she caressed his face. "I do so love you, Campbell Sinclair."
"And I, you, Joan Sinclair." He lowered his head then to kiss her and Joan smiled, sure that everything would be all right.
Epilogue
"KENNA AND ANNELLA WERE VERY UPSET that we did not bring them with us."
That comment from her aunt made Joan glance up from the shirt she was mending and smile at the woman. "I don't know why you didn't bring them. They would have been welcome here. We have the room."
"Payton will bring them once we send word that the babe has arrived. I just did not want them to . . . get in the way," Lady Annabel said.
"You mean, you didn't want them seeing the horrors of childbirth and fear having babes themselves," Joan said dryly, and then quickly pushed thoughts of childbirth from her mind. She'd been doing that for months now, ever since discovering that the wild carrot had failed her and she was with child.
To be fair, Joan supposed the wild carrot hadn't really failed her. It tended to become less effective with constant use and she had been using it pretty constantly, mostly because Cam's attentions had been pretty constant. Not that she'd minded . . . until she'd realized she was with child.
Of course, on the bright side, they hadn't had to use it since then. There was no need to protect against getting with child when you were already with child, and she and Cam had been even more constant since finding out she was with child. Both of them were worried about what was coming, they'd been acting like she was dying, living every moment together as if it might be one of their last, which, of course, was what they feared. That she would not survive labor and their time was limited.
Joan shifted uncomfortably as her stomach cramped, and forced herself to breathe through it. Once it eased, she slid her gaze over the women seated with her in the solar. Her aunt, her mother-in-law, Murine, and Saidh. Aileen had wanted to come as well but Lady Sinclair had left her with her father at Inverderry castle where they had settled when the man had passed on the main castle and title of laird to Cam. Joan was quite sure they'd left the girl behind for the same reason her aunt had left her cousins home. None of them wanted the girls to know what they were in for and be so afraid of it that they tried to avoid getting with child. As for Murine and Saidh, they had become good friends in the last months. They didn't see each other often, but wrote back and forth quite a bit.
Fortunately, Cam liked them too, and he was the one who had written to invite them to come stay and lend their support when they judged her time was near. He'd done it as a surprise and Joan loved the man for it. Or, at least, loved him more. He was forever doing thoughtful little things like that, and every incident just increased her feelings for him, she thought as her stomach cramped again.
"Are you all right, dear?" Lady Annabel asked suddenly. "You look uncomfortable. Do you need something soft to sit on or--?"
"Nay, I am fine." Joan breathed with relief as the cramp ended. Forcing a smile she added, "Besides, no position is comfortable now, I am too big."
Annabel nodded, but her eyes were narrowed slightly as she peered over her and Joan knew the woman would soon realize she was in labor. She was a trained healer too, after all. Still, she'd managed to keep it to herself for some time. Joan had been in labor all morning, the first cramps waking her ere dawn, but they had been mild then and a goodly time apart. They had grown increasingly frequent and uncomfortable ever since. Now they were becoming downright painful. They were also coming so close together, one barely ended when the next began. She wouldn't be able to hide her situation for much longer, Joan thought and ground her teeth together, breathing slowly through her nose as the next pain hit . . . and it was a doozy.
"Would you like to lie down?" Annabel asked, suddenly beside her.
Joan glanced up with a start, her mouth opening on a gasp of surprise that ended in a groan before she could stop it.
"What's wrong?" Lady Sinclair was immediately beside her aunt, concern on her face. "Has it started?"
"Has what started?" Murine asked with confusion and received a swat to the arm
from Saidh for the question.
"What the de'il do ye think?" Saidh asked with disgust as she stood to join the others around Joan's chair.
"Please, sit," Joan panted as the cramping ended. "I'm fine."
"They are coming much closer together now, dear," Annabel said gently. "Perhaps we should move to your bedchamber while you can still walk."
Joan glanced to her with surprise. "How long have you known?"
"Since coming down to break my fast this morning," Annabel admitted. "You were rubbing your stomach when I arrived, and then just before we got up to come up here, you went very still and bowed your head for a moment."
"Well why didn't ye say something?" Lady Sinclair asked, wide-eyed.
"Joan obviously did not want anyone to know, so I respected her wishes," Annabel said apologetically.
"Well, why wouldn't ye want us to ken?" Lady Sinclair asked, looking wounded. "We're here to help ye through it. 'Tis why we came."
"Aye, 'tis, ye daft woman," Saidh said with a shake of the head and then moved up to take her arm. "Come on, up with ye. We'll get ye all settled in bed nice and cozy and ye can squeeze our hands 'til we scream with ye when the pains hit."
Lady Sinclair frowned slightly and said, "Perhaps Lady Saidh and Murine should wait here. They're unwed maids. 'Tis no' proper to--"
"Oh, bullocks to that," Saidh said at once. "I did no' travel all this way to sit in the solar while Joan travails in another room."
Joan chuckled at her friend's asperity and allowed her to help her up. "Come on then," she said with a sigh. "I guess Aunt Annabel is right. We should move to the bedchamber while I still can." Getting to her feet had got more and more difficult the larger her stomach had grown, but standing this time would have been impossible if Saidh hadn't taken one arm and her aunt the other to help pull her up. Breathless and panting once she got to her feet, Joan glanced around and paused as she noted Murine lying on the floor.
"That lass needs to eat more," Saidh muttered on a sigh when she followed Joan's gaze to the prone woman.
"I'll send one o' the maids back to help her once we get ye situated in bed," Lady Sinclair said with a shake of the head. "Come along."
"Aye," Joan murmured, eager to get to the other room before another contraction hit. She had barely kept from crying out this last time, and feared once she let loose, she wouldn't be able to stop. Joan did not want to be screaming her head off on the landing. Cam would hear and know it had started. The longer she could keep him from worrying, the better. If she were lucky, he wouldn't have to know until it was over and she was, hopefully, presenting him with his new baby. On the other hand, if she didn't survive . . . well, she didn't want him having to go through watching that. She loved the man too much.