For The Love Of My Scotsman (Complete!)

Epilogue

27th July 1814, Lampton Castle

Lottie grinned at the bright green eyes of the tiny baby girl that stared up at her. "Oh, she's perfection," she whispered, nudging Thomas.

"Och, watch it," Thomas yelped. "Ye'll make me drop him," he pulled away, frantically patting the back of the blue-eyed baby boy in his arms.

Lottie giggled and nudged him again. "You don't have to pat him so much. Just bounce him gently, like this," she demonstrated, carefully bouncing her swaddled bundle.

The newlyweds of five months had traveled to Lampton Castle just in time for Fidelia's labor, which lasted nearly fifteen hours. To their great surprise and delight, they finally learned the reason for her severe pregnancy symptoms: twins.

William opened the door to their bedroom and smiled in spite of the dark circles beneath his eyes. "She's awake," he said, holding a finger to his lips and gesturing for them to come in.

Fidelia lay in the bed, her coppery curls plastered to her forehead and neck with sweat. She held her arms out and Lottie placed the bundle into the new mother's hands.

"Oh," Fidelia's eyes brimmed with tears. "My sweet Aurelia," she pressed her lips to the baby's nose and was rewarded with a screech of annoyance from the tiny girl. Fidelia smiled and snuggled her cheek against the baby's dark brown hair.

"She has your temper," William teased. He took the baby boy from Thomas and placed him beside his sister. "Now, our handsome Philip has my good disposition," he said proudly, brushing the boy's red hair back from his forehead.

William kissed his wife tenderly and sat beside her on the bed so she could lean against him for support. The labor had left her quite exhausted, it seemed.

The earl and countess joined them and together, they admired the new additions to the family, trying to pinpoint which features resembled which relative amid much laughter.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Lottie's waist, one hand resting against her stomach lightly. "We shall have to work hard to catch up," he whispered in her ear teasingly.

Lottie giggled and flicked his nose lightly, "Oh, hush."

She leaned her head back against her husband's chest, relishing the warmth of his embrace as she gazed at her beloved family. They had all fought through so much for so long to be here.

She was no longer haunted by the memories of Le Coquin and Edmund, having finally accepted that she was not responsible for their selfish actions, nor had she sinned against God for protecting herself.

Although she could still feel phantom pain in her stomach, the wound had healed to a dark scare, and she jumped a little less each time a loud noise startled her. With Thomas's gentle, constant love, her heart was healing.

A servant knocked on the door and delivered a letter to William, whose face darkened when he saw the handwriting.

He kissed Fidelia on the forehead and stepped away to read the letter in the light of the window. He gawked, blinking rapidly. "How is this possible?"

"What is it?" Lottie asked, unease causing the hairs along her arms to raise.

William shook his head and held up the letter. "I received a message from one of my spies in America."

"Is it news of Charles?" Fidelia asked eagerly, sitting upright.  Aurelia cooed and Philip stretched his tiny arms above his head.

William hesitated. Finally, he grimaced. "My spy says he saw Miss Octavia Palmer near new Orleans. She has been taken captive by pirates and the captain has claimed her as his woman..." Wiliam cleared his throat and read the final words from the letter. "The pirate captain Charles Atwell."

The End

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Dear readers,

We've come to the end of our story.  From the very bottom of my heart, I thank you for taking this journey with me!  This story would not exist without your comments, votes, and suggestions, which kept me writing each week and pushed me to tell Lottie's story!  Did you like the ending?  Was everything wrapped up the way you hoped?  Would you like to see any bonus chapters or short stories featuring any of the characters?

I hope you enjoyed the romance and mystery, and I hope you look forward to the next book!  

Keep your eyes out for "In The Arms Of My Pirate", which centers on Charles Atwell and Octavia Palmer as they fight to survive deadly pirates, raging seas, and the fiery end to the War of 1812.

The next book after that is "Bad In The Blood", which centers on Catriona Campbell and Arthur de Lacy as they are forced to marry due to Catriona's scheming gone wrong.