A Year and a Day (28 page)

The house was unexpectedly peaceful when they got back- a condition explained when Cook announced that Lady MacRae and the wee bairns had walked into the village to call upon their aunt. Ewan couldn't help but smile in silent thanks to his sister for ridding him of all possible meddling relatives that day- assuming that James had returned to the front.

"What do you want to do this afternoon?" Ewan asked when the Cook had been dismissed to prepare a luncheon. He half expected Cait to announce that she wanted to go directly to bed, but she was looking much better than she had at the Frasure cottage.. Her skin had regained its color, and her eyes were bright again.

"I thought I might finish a bit of work in the garden," Cait announced, to Ewan's dissappointment. Nevertheless, he nodded his head. 

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Cait shrugged, a gesture which he took as acquiescence, and so he followed her back outside.

Cait glanced at Ewan strangely, but didn't comment as he followed her outside into the courtyard.

Ewan blinked when he first stepped into the light, barely able to believe the transformation before his eyes. He hadn't noticed earlier all of the changed that Cait had made in her short residence.

During Mrs. Fitzpatrick's reign, a sketchy sort of kitchen garden had filled the place, and he remembered it as a patch of dirt mostly overrun by parsely and errant mint. Now, however, it was perfectly ordered. Neat rows of plans stretched out in even lines, each of which was labled with the type of plant that it contained.

"You did all this?" Ewan asked, nodding appreciatively as he read the various lables.

Cait nodded proudly.  "Aye. I thought that I might as well be useful," she said. "I'm not exactly used to being a lady of leisure after all."

Ewan let the self depreciating comment pass. He began walking around the garden, studying the short green shoots of the vegetables that were pushing through.

It didn't make sense. He couldn't help but feel a twisting in his heart when he thought about how good she obviously was at making things grow and thrive. She would have been such a wonderful mother...

"I could use you out in the fields," he teased, "You seem to have a way with plants."

Cait shrugged. Ewan remembered that, as a girl, Cait had spent a great deal of time in the castle gardens. It was probably a welcome escape from her other chores. He chose not to mention it.

"You should see the roses," Cait said, clearly pleased that Ewan had taken an interest in her work.

"Roses?" he asked.

"Yes!' Forgetting the tension that had been between them earlier, Cait led him through a gate to the back of the house. There, growing along the sunny south wall were six newly transplanted roses bushes. "You don't mind, do you?" Cait asked anxiously.

"Mind?" Ewan asked. "Why would I?"

Cait blushed, and Ewan decided that the effect was charming, even when he wasn't the cause, "Because they...they were rather expensive," she said reluctantly. "I'll pay you back for them as soon as we are at the castle though!"

"Pay me back?" Ewan said, shaking his head, "It won't be necessary," he finally couldn't resist temptation. He bent over and kissed her cheek. "As long as they make you happy," he said, "and as long as I have enough money left over to buy the cottage down the way!"

"Oh!" Cait said, "Oh they definitely weren't
that
expensive!"

"Well, my sister's bad habits must not have rubbed off on you yet," he said, reluctant to release her now that he had drawn her close to his side. "I'll have to keep you
two
apart."

"Uncle Ewan! Uncle Ewan!" Maisie's small voice called through the hallway. "Nanny fell down!"

"Nanny twisted her ankle!" a second voice- either Thomas or Duncan- chimed in, before a third added "It wasn't our fault!"

Ewan and his wife
stepped out
into the hall.

“Uncle Ewan!" Maisie
said, running forward and tugging her uncle's hand impatiently. "Nanny got hurt!"

Ewan looked toward her sister, who confirmed the children's story. "She took a tumble over a branch in the orchard."

Ewan frowned, "Nothing serious, I hope?"

His sister shook her auburn curls, "No- only a twisted ankle, but-" her voice trailed off as someone knocked on the door. Muira opened it to admit the nanny- held in the very cabable arms of horse groom.

Cait could barely stifle a giggle when she took in the girl's flushed appearance, r
ecognizing the look immediately
. The horse master of the farm had never appealed to her personally, but she had seen the ladies blush and giggle at him in town. The poor nanny was starstruck.

"Shall I take her upstairs, Mrs. MacRae?" the man a
sked, and the thought of being carried off to bed
by the man sent the nanny an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"Yes, thank you Liam," Muira replied, much to the mortified ecstasy of the younger girl. "I'll get the children ready for supper myself."

"I'll
help you," Cait offered, but Mu
ira shook her head.

Lady MacRae took her time feeding the children and tucking them into their bed. Cait wondered if she would make an appearance downstairs at all, but she appeared just before they gave up hope.

"Good evening, Muira," Ewan said. "Full day?"

Muira nodded, "Aye. The children can be a handful to look after, as you'll know when you finally have some of your own," she said, with a curious edge in her voice.

Ewan's face shadowed. "Aye- well, that's likely to be a while."

"Pity," Muira muttered sarcastically, but finally seemed to force herself to smile. "Actually, I came down to ask the pair of you a favor."

"Oh?" Ewan answered for them both.

"Yes," Muira said. "I meant to do some shopping tomorrow at market- only now that Eliza is crippled, there's no one to watch the children- and it will be a trial to keep them all in check. Could you mind them for me?" she asked sweetly. "It will only be for a few hours."

"No!" Ewan said firmly, at the same time Cait answered:

"Yes!"

Ewan shot his spouse a questioning look, and then spoke caerfully, "Cait hasn't been feeling well. I'm afraid I don't think she's up to babysitting. You can give your shopping list to cook."

"Oh, Ewan! Honestly!" Cait interrupted. "I'm feeling fine. It was nothing- and I'd love to keep them. I've barely met your little namesake at all!"
she said, referring to the new baby whom Muira had named Ewan
Graem
.

"Thank you!" Muira
said,
siezing instantly on Cait's acceptance. "I was going to see about sending a letter to Eilean Donan as well," she said, finally admitting her true purpose. "I'll have them dressed and fed before I go."

"Oh, don'
t bother!" Cait insisted, "I can manage.”

Muira thanked her brother and sister-in-law and then retired to her own chambers.

Ewan watched his sister leave, and then turned toward his wife.

“
I didn't think that you cared too much for children," he blurted.

Cait's eyes bulged. "What? Of course I like children!" she insisted, assuming that Ewan was teasing.  She dotted a kiss on the tip of his nose. "I've had a bit of experience with children too," she told him, "and if my experience tells me anything, it's that we're going to need our sleep."

"I don't want jam! I want honey!"  Thomas whined.

"His toast is bigger than my toast!"

"I don't want my egg
!”

“
Duncan
shoved me!”

“Did not!”

"DID TOO!"

Ewan typically loved the boisterous nature of his growing pack of nieces and nephews, but this particular morning, they were giving him a headache. Muira was gone befo
r
e any of the children
,
save the baby
,
were awake, so that the first sound to greet his ears in the morning was
Duncan
's piercing wail for his mother.

Ewan had
remained
in bed, automatically expecting the nanny to assume control- only, of course, she couldn't. When that failed, he rolled over, held Cait closer and willed the sound to go away. That didn't work either.

"Poor little fellow," Cait said blearily when she finally came awake. She reached for her dressing gown, but Ewan held her firmly in place against his chest. "We really ought to go to him."

"Give him a moment," Ewan urged in a drowsy whisper. He felt a surge of relief when, a minute later, the crying ceased- but relief gave way to horror when he heard a knocking at the door- and then the handle turned.

"I want my MAMA!!!!"
Duncan
wailed, barging into the room. Face streaked with tears, he made a bee-line for the bed. "MAMA!!!!" he sobbed.

Ewan had faced terrifying warriors on the battlefield, and been pushed to his limits as chieftain and now tanist of the clan- but he had never faced anything that left him paralyzed like staring into the teary green eyes of his nephew. "Go back to bed,
Duncan
!" he barked, employing the tone that he often used with his men. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the little boy only cried harder.

"Come along now, darling."

Ewan blinked when he realized that Cait had gotten out of bed. She wasn't fully dressed yet, but had managed to wriggle into a nightgown and her robe. He
opened his
mouth to tell her to go back to sleep- that he would handle it (he didn't want her even MORE annoyed), but was left speechless when she tenderly scooped the little boy into her arms and patted his head.

"I know you want your mamma, darling," she soothed quietly, rubbing a circle on his back, "But you remember that your mamma had to go to town. You get to spend your day with Uncle Ewan and Auntie Cait- won't that be fun?"

Ewan watched in quiet amazement as his wife comforted the child and led him back to the nursery.Unfortunately, as soon as
Duncan
was put down again, Thomas and Maisie were up. The baby awoke soon after, and from then out, it was pandamonium at the house.

Maisie and Thomas were testing Ewan's last nerve. They'd been fighting nearly since they awoke- the egg incident being the latest example.

"He did NOT look at your eggs," Ewan growled tensely. "
And
even if he did- it wouldn't matter at all."

"It DOES matter!" Maisie sniffled, turning to Cait for support.

"No, it doesn't," Ewan grumbled under his breath, even as he admitted defeat and traded eggs with his niece. "Why can't he and his sister just get along?"

"Oh, like you did with yours?" Cait asked sweetly- and then shot him a wicked grin.

Cait watched Ewan's reaction, silently begging him to smile. Instead, he merely muttered under his breath and turned away.

"So, Maisie," Cait said in a determined voice. "What do you and your brothers want to do today?"

"I want to go to the lake!" the fair-haired girl answered. Cait held her breath, expecting Duncan or Thomas to call out a contrtadiction. To her relief, they did not.

In fairness, the children weren't actually misbehaving. One could hardly expect children of their ages- especially children as
thoroughly indulged as the MacR
ae children had been, to sit quietly and get along better than they did. Still, it didn't keep Cait from wishing that they would. She
needed
them to be perfect. If she was ever going to convince Ewan that he wanted a child, today would be her best shot. He already enjoyed his niece and nephews, if she could only make him appreciate how much better it would be with a child of their own, Cait thought that she might be able to change his mind about the topic.