Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series (39 page)

Elise wrinkled up her nose. “But the stables smell funny,” she told him.

“Aye, and if ye do no’ want to be smellin’ funny yerself, ye’ll do as yer told. Now go, with John to the keep.”

Elise let out a heavy sigh. “Will I be able to help when I’m older?”

“If ye do as yer told and mind yer manners, aye.” Wee William said as he stood up from the table. “Now
go.
”

John nodded and stood, staring questionably at Duncan. “Are you sure he’ll be well?”

“Aye,” Wee William nodded.

“Come Elise,” John said as he held his hand out. “Mayhap Mary has some sweet cakes for us.”

Wee William knew he had to get Duncan’s mind off his wife. The poor man looked positively lost at the moment.

“John!” Wee William called out, as an idea to keep Duncan busy had quickly formed in his mind.

John stopped in the doorway and waited patiently.

Wee William studied the lad closely for a moment. The boy had gained weight over the past weeks and he was growing taller. His attitude had improved as well and Wee William knew that with the right guidance, John could grow to be a fine man and warrior.

“After ye take Elise to the keep, meet Duncan and me on the training fields.”

John’s brow twisted into a knot of confusion. Children were not allowed any where near the training fields, at least not while the men occupied it. Not only was it dangerous for the children but it caused too much of a distraction for the men training.

“The training fields?” John asked.

“Aye,” Wee William smiled. “I believe it be time fer you to learn how to use a sword. And I think Duncan be just the man to teach ye.”

John looked even more confused. “Him? I doubt he could tell you his own name at the moment.”

Wee William chuckled as he patted Duncan on the arm. “Aye, but we need to keep his mind off his wife at the moment. And there be no better way to keep a Highlander occupied than either by fightin’ or drinkin’. And ye be too young to help with the latter!” Wee William knew there was yet a third way to keep a Highlander occupied, but John was a bit young yet to share that with him.

“So is it just for today that you want me to learn?” John asked.

“Nay, I think its time ye started trainin’ to be a warrior. Ye’ll be three and ten soon, won’t ye?”

John swallowed hard. “Aye, I will.”

“Then it be time.”

John was not sure at the moment if he even
wanted
to learn how to fight. He had no desire to go into battle or to fight in wars. Wee William sensed the boy’s reluctance.

“Lad, ye want to ken how to defend yer family, don’ ye?”

John’s shoulders relaxed a bit at that thought. He supposed it would be useful to learn how to protect his family, if such an event was ever necessary. “Aye, I do.”

“Good,” Wee William smiled thoughtfully. “Now off with ye!”

Once John had closed the door behind them, Wee William turned his attention back to Duncan. Wee William had never seen a more terrified looking warrior in his life. Wee William shook his head in disbelief thinking it was a poor sight indeed to see his friend so bewildered that he could not move or speak.

“Duncan!” Wee William said gruffly as he slapped Duncan on the back. “Ye need to snap out of it, lad!”

Duncan blinked twice before looking at Wee William. “Women die in childbed, Wee William,” Duncan said quietly. “I canna stand the thought of losin’ Aishlinn, or me babe.”

Wee William gave him a nod of understanding, believing he too would have that same worry were their roles reversed. “I’ve met yer wife, Duncan. She be a feisty, determined young lass,” he offered consolingly. “Why, if it were a battle between Aishlinn and the devil himself, I’d place me wagers on Aishlinn every time.”

Duncan chuckled slightly. Aye, his wife
was
a determined woman. But things sometimes happened that were beyond anyone’s control. His wife, at that very moment, was lying in their bed attempting to bring forth the life the two of them had created. She was going up against nature, not the devil.

Wee William sighed, shook his head and slapped Duncan’s back again. “What say we walk by yer cottage and ye can see how yer wife fairs? Then we’ll keep ourselves busy with training me brother-in-law on proper sword fightin’.”

Duncan nodded and stood, the wood bench creaking as he scooted it away. “But if she needs me, Wee William, I’ll stay by her side. She’s such a tiny thing, ye ken that as well as I.”

“Again,” Wee William said as he led Duncan out of doors. “She’s a determined lass.”

“Aye, that may well be true. But she’s such a wee thing! And she never asks fer much. And she never complains when she’s in pain or no’ feelin’ well.”

The air was warm this fine spring morning, but neither man paid much attention to the beautiful surroundings as they walked down the path that led to Duncan and Aishlinn’s home.

“I remember the journey here,” Duncan said moments later. “Aishlinn had taken such a beatin’ from that bastard earl. There were times when I thought she’d no’ survive beyond another hour, let alone another day. And not once did she complain. Not once did she say that she hurt, when I knew in fact she did.”

Wee William remained quiet as they walked along, allowing his friend to reminisce.

“I think I began to fall in love with her then, on our journey here to Gregor. I think ’twas her quiet and reserved manner and her inner strength that drew me to her.” Duncan said as his lips began to form a slight smile.

Highlanders seldom, if ever, shared their inner most feelings with another Highlander. He supposed, however, that Wee William could very well understand how it might feel to love someone more than you loved your next breath.

Wee William remained quiet. He imagined that Duncan felt very much the same way about Aishlinn, as he did about Nora.
 

“I worry that if something
is
wrong, she’ll no’ say anything to Isobel. She’ll keep her pain to herself, as she so often does, Wee William.”

’Twas then, as they were just steps away from Duncan’s home, that they heard to most awful of screams. Wee William thought it sounded like a selkie screeching from the sea! Both men paused, looked at each other with wide eyes, and then ran for the cottage.

Duncan pushed the door open causing it to slam against the wall. His heart was pounding in his chest, as he was quite certain the scream had come from his wife. He rushed to the doorway to their bedchamber and came to an abrupt halt. As he stood in the doorway, with Wee William peering in over his shoulder, Duncan felt the air rush from his lungs and his legs turn to jelly.

There was his sweet, beautiful, kind wife, naked, covered in sweat, and squatting over the birthing chair. Isobel and Nora were crouched on either side of her, giving her words of encouragement. Nora was wiping Aishlinn’s brow with a wet cloth and Isobel was rubbing her lower back.

“I swear, if that whoreson even thinks about doin’ this to me again, I’ll cut his ballocks off with a dull knife!” Aishlinn said through gritted teeth and gulps for air.

Isobel had promised Duncan it would be hours before Aishlinn delivered her babe.
First babes always take the longest,
Isobel had assured him.
Go about yer day and we’ll send fer ye when ’tis all over and done.
That was little more than an hour ago. Now she was sitting on the birthing chair!

“What the bloody hell,” Duncan whispered.

Isobel and Nora finally took notice of his and Wee William’s presence. Isobel looked more perturbed at seeing the two of them standing in the doorway than she looked concerned over Aishlinn. Isobel shot Duncan a look that warned him to be quiet else his wife would direct her wrath directly at him.

“Yer doin’ fine, Aishlinn,” Nora soothed as she ran the cloth across Aishlinn’s forehead.

“This is all
his
fault!” Aishlinn spat between waves of pain. “Damned Highlanders and their want of pleasing their women and having a hundred bairns! I’d like to see
him
try to squeeze a babe out of his damned manhood!”

Duncan had forgotten about Wee William until he heard the man chuckling behind him. Duncan spun and began pushing Wee William out of the room. “Ye canna see me wife in such a state!” Duncan whispered harshly as they walked toward the table. Duncan’s face was red with anger. “Ye will do well to ferget what ye just saw and heard, William!”

Wee William smiled down at his friend. “Do no’ worrit, lad. I could no’ see a thing from where I was standin’.”

It was a full out lie, for he had been peeking into the room over Duncan’s shoulder. He had also heard every word Aishlinn had said. Now was not the appropriate time to needle his friend. Duncan looked mad enough to draw his sword and chop Wee William’s head off.

“Isobel said we had hours before Aishlinn had her babe!” Duncan said as he ran a hand through his hair. “This canna be good!” He began pacing around the room, worry etched into his brow.

Wee William had as much experience with the birthing process as Duncan, therefore he had no words of consolation to offer his friend. Mayhap silence was best.

“Mayhap we should step outside,” Wee William offered after another deep, blood-curdling scream came from Duncan’s bedchamber. The sound of Aishlinn’s screams set Wee William’s nerves on edge. He had never witnessed a birth before. The thought of Aishlinn in so much pain made his stomach tighten. Mayhap Duncan was right to worry. If it were Nora in that chair, Wee William knew he’d have the same anxiety.

Duncan shot an angry glare Wee William’s way. “I think we could hear her screamin’ all the way to England!” he whispered angrily. Guilt washed over Duncan and it was all he could do to remain standing. Aishlinn was right; it was his fault that she was in such agony and pain.

“That may well be true,” Wee William said in a low voice. “But mayhap bein’ a bit further away from it will help ye.”
And it certainly would no’ hurt me!

“Help me?” Duncan stopped pacing and looked at Wee William. “God, man! ’Tisn’t me that needs the help! ’Tis me wife! Can ye no’ hear how much this hurts her?”

Wee William reckoned all of Scotland could hear, but did not voice his opinion. “I ken she be in pain, Duncan. Mayhap if ye went in with her, that would help soothe the lass.” He thought it an excellent idea. But from the look of abject fear that filled Duncan’s eyes said he did not agree.

“Are ye mad?” Duncan asked as he resumed his pacing. “
You
heard her! She’s ready to cut me manhood off with a dull knife!”

Just as Wee William was about to suggest that they leave again, another blood curdling scream and a slew of curses came crashing out of the bedchamber. Wee William blushed. He did not know that women even
knew
such words, let alone had the audacity to speak them! He supposed it wasn’t audacity so much as sheer, unadulterated pain that made the lass speak so.

He then heard Nora’s laughter filter out of the bedchamber. Wee William and Duncan looked at one another, each of them confused, but Wee William was blushing to his toes. Did his wife find the dirty language Aishlinn spoke, amusing? His wife was every bit the lady that Aishlinn was. How could she have found humor in such words? Embarrassed over his wife’s apparent amusement with Aishlinn’s harsh language, Wee William made a mental note to speak to her later, about the appropriateness of laughing at such a time.

In the next instant, the beautiful, precious, and loud cry of Duncan’s first babe, along with more laughter from the women, came filtering in to the kitchen. Wee William and Duncan stared blankly at one another for a moment before wide, braw smiles came to their faces.

Both men began pacing back and forth, amazed, excited, and eagerly anticipating word from the next room. It seemed as though an hour had passed before Nora stepped into the kitchen with Duncan’s babe in swaddling clothes. Wee William’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her sweet smile and the tears of joy in her eyes.

Nora stepped toward Duncan and placed the babe into his trembling arms. He could not find the wherewithal to speak at the moment. He wanted to ask after his wife, how she fared, but he was too caught up in the blissful moment of holding his tiny babe for the first time.

“He is a beautiful, strong boy,” Nora whispered softly as she placed a gentle kiss on the babe’s bald little head.

Duncan’s smile increased as he looked at Nora. “A boy?” He was momentarily stunned by the news. He had convinced himself that ’twas a girl child his wife carried, for Aishlinn had gone nearly a fortnight past the time the babe had been expected. Only a girl child would make a man wait longer than necessary.

“Aye, a son.” Nora said. “And Aishlinn is doing very well. Isobel is helping her to settle into the bed. You can see her soon.”

Duncan turned toward Wee William, his eyes filled with joyful tears, the smile never leaving his face. “Wee William!” Duncan whispered in awe. “I have a
son!
”

Nora went to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist. Wee William pressed a kiss onto the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. They stood together, watching Duncan as he gently rocked his son in his arms. The babe was sucking on his little fist, his eyes closed as he slept peacefully in his father’s arms.