Ron, Liam, Lucas, and Father Jacob all paced the floor of the corridor outside of Amelia’s bedchamber. Screams of pain tore through the wooden door panel, wrenching Ron’s heart from his chest. Maggie and the village midwife were in the room with her and had not allowed any of the men in her life to enter. The smell of blood and water filled the air. Ron wanted to beat his fists upon the door and demand to be allowed in, but he restrained himself for the sake of his wife and their unborn child. He could hear the priest murmuring prayers under his breath and sent one of his own up to the heavens.

God keep them safe.

Another scream rent the air, turning Ron’s palms clammy and his mouth dry. His head swirled with thoughts of what was going on behind the closed door and his stomach turned over in fear that they might perish, and he would not be there to help them or to say goodbye. The thought of having to live life without them made his knees go out from beneath him and he sank to the floor, sliding down the stone wall with a thud. He closed his eyes and gripped his hands into fists, his nails biting into the flesh of his palms.

“She will get through this,” a voice reassured him, standing above him. “She is much stronger than her maither e’er was.” Ron looked up in surprise to see the eldest among the clan elders leaning on his cane. He had climbed the stairs with the aid of Angus the blacksmith. “Neither God nor the devil will take our lady this day.”

Ron was shocked speechless.

“It is true.” Lucas nodded in response, overcoming his surprise faster than Ron or Father Jacob could manage. “Our Lady has more strength than any o’ us.”

Tears came to Ron’s eyes at the show of support from his fellow clansmen. He looked up to find Laim’s eyes filled with tearful anguish over the very same thoughts that Ron had been obsessing over. Liam had been visiting from the Rossell stronghold where he looked after their people’s affairs on Ron’s behalf when Amelia had gone into labor. It had terrified them both to see her in so much pain. He reached out a hand to his brother-in-law and stood. “They are right, ye ken,” he spoke to calm both of their tortured hearts.

“Aye, she is stronger than any man among us,” Liam agreed, attempting to get his emotions under control.

“May yer child possesses her same strength,” Father Jacob voiced as if by way of a blessing. If words could make a difference, Ron prayed that he was right.

Another scream tore through the door and echoed down the corridor, causing every man present to tense as if ready for a fight, but there was no enemy to be defeated that could be assaulted by sword or bow. “Battle is less terrifying than this,” Liam exhaled in frustration. “How do women do this?”

“God only kens, my son,” Father Jacob intoned, clutching his rosary so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

In the stillness that followed the scream, Ron’s hairs stood up, every part of his body attuned to the tiniest noise. He held his breath, one, two, three… A different cry filled the air as his child took its first breaths and let the world know of its displeasure. A few moments more and the bedchamber door opened to reveal Maggie’s smiling face. She stepped back and allowed Ron to enter. He found Amelia laying back against the pillows exhausted, but beautiful, her face wreathed in adoring smiles as she stared down at the bundle in her arms.

“Ye have a bonnie wee daughter, my laird,” the midwife announced.

Ron broke out in a grin and came to stand over his wife and child. “She is beautiful,” he breathed. “Just like her maither.”

Amelia looked up at him and smiled. Ron leaned down and kissed her, then kissed the feathery soft whisp of hair at the peak of her tiny head. He heard a shuffling noise at the door and motioned for his brother-in-law to join them. Liam entered and came around to the other side of the bed. Amelia smiled at them both. They had discussed names but had kept their choice a secret until they knew for certain what their child would be. “Uncle Liam meet yer niece,” Amelia murmured in joyous introduction, “Anna Maria Sarah Ysenda Kyall Rossell McAlpine. In honor o’ all o’ our maithers.”

Liam’s eyes widened in surprise and filled with tears once more. “Welcome tae the world, little Anna,” he whispered, as he reached out a hesitant finger to caress her cheek.

Ron looked up at the other men still standing in the corridor. He would have no doubt as to the position his daughter held in his heart and in their lives. “Gentlemen, I present tae ye the Lady Anna, heir to the Clan McAlpine and Rossell.”

In a gesture that defied the past and its pain, all five men bent a knee and bowed their heads in reverence. “Long live the Lady Anna,” the midwife murmured in awe, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “May all lassies be so loved.”

Amelia smiled and reached out to take the older woman’s hand, the hand that had brought her into the world. “Amen.”

“For a time, I was afeared that ye would be as yer maither and lose the bairn,” the midwife admitted. “I am happy indeed that ye did nae.”

Ron stepped forward and placed a grateful arm around the older diminutive woman’s shoulders. “As am I. I cannae thank ye enough for yer aid in bringing our wee lassie in tae the world.”

The midwife looked up into his face. “Ye are a better man than both o’ yer faithers afore ye. I am proud tae serve a laird o’ yer heart.” Bowing in respect to his position as laird, the midwife excused herself to give the new parents a moment of privacy, ushering the Lady Anna’s admirers out of the room, and closing the door behind her.

Ron gently slid into bed beside his wife, their baby daughter in his arms. “Ye did well, my bonnie,” he whispered in awe staring down at the tiny pink sleeping face. He turned his gaze to his beautiful wife and held her eyes in wonder. “Ye have blessed me with far more than any man deserves. When ye came tae me in that prison, I thought my life tae be over. The thought that I might someday hold a child o’ my blood, was lost tae me. Ye have given me my life back and as if that was nae enough ye have also given me a beautiful future tae look forward tae.”

Amelia smiled up at him, her eyes glowing with love. “I thought I had tae do everything myself, without the aid o’ a man, tae prove my faither wrong. I was wrong. True victory lay in loving ye and our people enough tae do what was best for them. A better life is found in sharing one’s love and light with others. That is where my faither failed.”

“And where ye succeeded,” Ron murmured, kissing the top of her head.

Amelia laid her head down on his shoulder, snuggling against his warmth. “It took finding ye tae learn the true meaning of love. I shudder tae think what my life would have been had I ne’er met ye.”

“’Twas a miracle that ye did. Had ye come but a brief time later, I would have been nae more. It is as if our love was touched by heaven itself.”

Amelia reached out a finger and caressed the tiny fist cradled upon their baby’s chest. “May our wee angel be so blessed.”

“She will face a difficult road as so many lassies do, but she has yer strength, my bonnie. She will do well.” Ron spoke with confidence in his voice as if he could see the future spread out before them. His heart was filled with more hope than he had ever felt before. His heart was so full it felt as if it might burst.

“I cannae stop staring at her,” Amelia confessed, smiling wistfully. “I believe that I could remain happily in this moment forever. I was nae certain that I would live through the birthing tae see it.”

Ron nodded and brushed her forehead with his lips. “I was afeared for ye, but somehow I kenned that God would nae take ye from me, nae this day. We have come through tae much for it tae end now.”

“Had I perished, it would have been enough tae ken that ye loved me.”

Ron’s heart thudded hard in his chest, a residual effect of the fear he had felt while waiting for his daughter’s arrival.  A line from one of Shakespeare’s sonnets floated through his mind and he voiced it aloud as if by a promise to his beloved. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” He breathed in the scent of her hair, memorizing the way the firelight played across her features. “Ye are my love, my light, my life, and forever shall be. I could nae more live without ye than I could live without breath. That kind o’ love does nae fade away but glows as an eternal ember long after the mortal body is nae more. Ye are and shall always be my forever love.” Lowering his head, he kissed her lips as if to seal the vow between them.

“May our daughter be so loved,” Amelia murmured the prayer, bending her head to kiss the fluffy little had in the crook of his arm.

“If she is anything like her maither, she will be.”

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