Iain paced through the corridors outside of their chambers as he tried not to listen to the cries of his wife as she pushed through the process of giving birth. He was willing it to be a son, as much as he had tried to conceal that throughout the pregnancy. Iain was still set on the baby being a boy so that they would have a proper heir to the clan.

“She’s going to be all right, lad,” Bruce reassured him as he waited in the corridor with him. Bruce was leaning against the wall and trying his best to appear calm in an attempt to stop Iain from pacing so much.

“Ye dinnae ken that,” Iain quickly fired back, “I have heard many stories about this going wrong, I dinnae what I’ll do if…”

“It will all be fine,” Bruce nodded to him.

“What if it’s nae a boy?” Iain winced as he asked the question. He felt as though the stakes were so much higher than just simply what gender the baby would be. May was crying out and screaming as though she were being stabbed in the other room, and Iain felt ashamed of himself for wondering whether he would have an heir or not.

“It will be all right, lad,” Bruce tried again, “I’m sure that this will nae be the only child that the two of ye will have.”

Iain would have blushed at the comment, but there were too many thoughts whirling around in his mind for him to properly process what was being said to him.

“I should be in there,” he muttered.

“It’s nae the tradition of the clan,” Bruce warned him.

“I dinnae care, that’s my wife, that will be my child. I should be able to see how things are coming along.”

Bruce pursed his lips together and shrugged. It was clear that he had given up on trying to give the young laird any kind of advice.

Just as Iain was about to knock on the door and demand to be able to come into the room, May’s screams died down rather quickly. Iain looked to his guardian in a moment of panic as his mind started reeling to think of what could have happened to her in there. But before Iain could ask any questions, the door was opening and the healer stood in the doorway.

“Ye have a son, my laird,” he announced, causing both Iain and Bruce to exhale heavily.

However, Iain was too aware of the people that were now around him to be able to properly show the relief that he felt.

His feet weren’t properly working, and he felt Bruce’s hand on his back as he pushed him gently into the room. Iain followed the healer inside and finally saw his wife for the first time.

“May,” he breathed out, and smiled at the small bundle of cloth that she was holding to her breast.

“He’s beautiful, Iain,” May managed to say before her voice cracked and gave way to the heady emotion of the room. Iain himself felt as though he had been struck by something that he had never felt before, it was a way of thinking that he just couldn’t even put into words.

He knelt down at her bedside and looked over at the baby, who was now sleeping against her bare skin. The room was incredibly hot and stuffy, and a thin layer of sweat was clinging to May’s skin as she stroked the tiny cheeks of the baby in her arms.

“I cannae believe that he’s ours,” Iain said eventually.

“Aye, but he has yer face already. I can see ye in him,” May said.

Iain wasn’t completely convinced by her remark, but at the moment, he wasn’t completely interested in whether or not the child would grow up to look like him a lot.

“What should we call him?” May asked as Iain thought about this for a while.

This had been a question that had existed in his mind for a while. He thought about the names of great kings or lairds of their land who had done well for the Scottish people.

“What about Robert?” Iain asked, as he thought back to the man from centuries ago who had freed the Scots from the English.

“Aye, I feel as though he would suit being a Robert,” May agreed without any kind of protest to the name. “Robert Alistair MacIver,” May said his full name.

“I think it sounds great,” Iain nodded to her with a small smile.

“I love ye so much,” May said. “Both of ye,” she then glanced down at the sleeping child. “Would ye like to hold him?”

Iain’s eyes widened as he thought about this. He didn’t think that he had ever held a child before in his own two hands, and he was suddenly terrified of getting it wrong. The last thing that he wanted to do was to drop or harm the baby in any way.

“Are ye sure?”

“Aye, I will show ye what to do.”

Gingerly, Iain held his arms out and cringed slightly as May lifted up Robert to be placed into his waiting hands.

“Is this all right?” Iain questioned through gritted teeth as he made sure that Robert was supported in every way that he could.

“Aye, just put yer hand slightly lower… there ye go,” May said while sitting back and clearly admiring the view of the two of them.

Iain looked down at the small, sleeping child in his arms. He just couldn’t quite comprehend how such a small human had been made by the two of them, that the child in his arms was to grow up and be a part of their family was just so exciting.

“Ye must be exhausted,” Iain remarked as he looked back at May. However, she was already closing her eyes and dosing off to rest.

“Congratulations, my laird,” the healer said from behind him, “Yer boy is looking very healthy indeed.”

“And how is May?” Iain asked as he turned to look up at the old healer. He was being incredibly careful with how he handled Robert.

“She will be all right. As ye can see, I’m sure that she is very tired from all of that effort. I would advise to just let her rest for the next day or so, but she will be fine.”

Iain forgot that they were going to have to announce the birth to the court and the people in the nearby town.

It was going to be an announcement that was heard right through the hills and to even the smallest of villages. Iain swallowed thickly at all of the attention that this one child would gather, he was still incredibly stressed when thinking about the dangerous world that Robert was entering into. He had made many enemies during his life, and the idea of any of them coming for his child was too much to bear.

*

May awoke in the healer’s chambers the next day feeling slightly better than she had the day before, but she was still exhausted. Her body felt as though it was going to need a long time to properly readjust to what had happened to it and what she had pushed out into the world.

But she felt at ease in knowing that it was over and that there was no longer the threat of danger from the prisoners that had once been in the castle. Athol Cummings’ men had been transferred to the dungeons in Bruce’s keep. May didn’t like to give it much thought, but she did feel relieved to know that the evil was gone from the place.

They had been moved during the final stages of her pregnancy; May had become hysterical at the thought of the men breaking free while she was going into labor and had to have Iain do something about it. She felt indebted to Bruce for taking on the challenge of moving so many prisoners, it wasn’t an easy task by any means.

The king’s advisors had written back to herself and Iain, stating that they were to remain in one of the clan’s dungeons until there was a better time to begin the many trials of Athol’s men.

She smiled and turned to her right to see that baby Robert was sleeping soundly in the small cot that had been assembled for him. On her other side was her husband, who was sleeping in a chair. His neck was in a position that looked as if it was going to be incredibly stiff when he woke up.

She lay there for what felt like hours but must have really only been an hour or two. The morning light was seeping through the nearby window, giving the impression that the clan was in for another warm day during the harvest season.

“Good morning,” Iain finally grumbled, as he winced when he woke up. May smiled lightly up at him, but she could tell that he was trying to mask the pain that he felt due to the position that he had slept in.

“Good morning,” she said back to him.

“How is he?” Iain asked as he gestured with his hand over to Robert.

“He’s sleeping still. I didn’t hear him in the night, did he cry at all?”

“Aye,” Iain said with a slight grunt. It was clear that his night of sleep hadn’t been the best, but May was thankful that he had at least taken on that burden and let her sleep. She felt as though she had rested, despite the lack of energy she felt in her body.

“He wasnae too bad,” Iain tried to brush it off.

“How’s yer neck?”

“It’s going to be stiff for a while,” Iain said. “But that’s nothing compared to what ye have been through,” he remarked while trying to deflect the attention away from him.

“I’m nae sure if I’m going to be able to get up much today,” May admitted, as she thought about all of the normal meetings and appearances she was supposed to go to if it was just a normal day.

“Aye, I figured that. I’m going to go and talk with the councilmen, but it will be fine. Everyone will ken the kind of toll that this puts on yer body, nobody will expect ye to be doing anything in relation to the clan for the next few days.”

It was the reassurance that May had been craving without even realizing it. She breathed out a sigh of relief at the idea of being able to properly rest and not have to worry about the clan responsibilities.

“Thank ye,” she eventually breathed out. “I received news that my cousin will also be joining us later in the week,” May added, remembering the news that had come to her just before she went into labor.

“Aye, that will be nice to have a bit more family in the castle for a while,” Iain nodded.

Before Iain could say another word, the sound of Robert stirring in his cot caused them both to look over at him. May was still finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that this child was the product of the two of them. This was a force of nature that she had never experienced so closely before, and May found it completely beautiful. She thought of when her parents had had her and how her father had spoken about that day.

He’d said that her mother had been so overwhelmed that she had wept even after the birth was over. She was just so pleased to have a child that she could call her own. Her father had always reinforced to her that it was never a disappointment that she had been a girl and was born first.

“Good morning, my little laird,” May whispered, as she managed to sit up and scoop Robert out of his cot. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the swaddled baby as she held him close to her. May wanted to shield him from the world outside of the castle walls, but she knew already that she wouldn’t be able to protect him from danger forever.

“I think that he actually looks a lot like ye,” Iain remarked from her side as he rubbed his neck.

“Do ye think?” May frowned as she tried to see it but failed. She was certain that the way Robert’s eyes were positioned and already the shape of his small nose were so similar to Iain’s features. “I just dinnae want him to be affected by this world,” May sighed as she turned to look at her husband.

“I ken, but he will have to go out into the world one day, be brave, and stand up for himself.”

“Is there nay way that we could protect that from ever happening?” May asked. She was desperate to guarantee the safety of her boy, even though she knew that it wasn’t likely to happen.

“I’m afraid nae. Robert will grow up to be a laird himself; he will fight in battles, he will make enemies and mistakes. There will be times when I’m sure he won’t be in the right, but we are just going to have to be there for him whenever he needs us.”

May admired how easily Iain could accept that truth, but she was different. She wanted to smother him in love and show him that she would never let the world harm him.

“We’ll do what we can,” she finally conceded. “But I will hold onto my small boy for as long as I can.”

Iain chuckled at her comment and shook his head.

“I ken that I will nae be able to get in the way of a mother’s will once it has been set, but just promise me that ye will nae let yer affection hinder him one day?”

“I promise,” May nodded. She didn’t want to shield him so that he was incapable of looking after himself, she wanted to just make sure that he was safe.

“Ye are treating him like I treat ye,” Iain remarked, with a slight smirk working its way across his lips.

“How do ye mean?”

“Well, ye are treating him as though he’s made of glass and could break at any moment. The same way that I do with ye,” Iain explained.

“I think I finally understand why ye do treat me like that though,” May remarked as she looked back down at Robert. “I could never imagine something happening to him, it would ruin me. I think it would ruin us both, Iain.”

“Aye, ye are right. But I dinnae how many more times I’m going to be able to tell ye this May; ye are going to be a great mother, and I can confidently say that with all of my heart.”

May smiled at him and leaned forward to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

“Thank ye for reassuring me,” she muttered against his lips after slightly pulling away.

“I only said it because I really do mean it,” Iain nodded to her, with a smile playing on his lips.

May pressed a kiss to Iain’s cheek, catching him off guard as he wasn’t expecting it. He turned to her with wide eyes, but a playful smile was on his lips. It was moments like that which May adored; Iain was looking at her with the kind of admiration that one might bestow upon their idol, not their wife. He had a way of making her feel so special, even when she didn’t feel it herself. May couldn’t help the way that her heart leaped and melted at the same time when she looked at him, and for the longest time, she couldn’t quite define what that sensation was. Yet it had just come to her during that moment in the great hall; it was utter happiness.

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