A Minx for the MacKenzie [Highlanders Love #2]

Epilogue

"Mama, Mama, look what Papa got me!"

"Adair, what did I tell ye aboot dragging yer mither aroond now?" Hammond's booming voice came up the stairwell, where Amhuinn stood laughing as Adair paused in his motion of dragging her down the stairs.

"But Papa, Mama has to come see Raydan!"

"Raydan?" Amhuinn raised a brow at her husband, as her newly-turned 6 year old pleaded with puppy eyes. "Can't ye just bring yer new puppy up here, sweetie!"

"Er, well... Ye see, tisnae exactly a puppy." Hammond responded sheepishly.

Amhuinn's brow furrowed. "Then what did ye-" she paused, and then widened her eyes. "Hammond MacKenzie, ye dinna-"

"Lead the way, lad! I'll bring yer mither doun with me!" Hammond cut her off. Before Amhuinn could protest, he swept her off her feet and into his arms bridal style, whilst Adair happily led the way down the stairs. Amhuinn stifled a laugh, instinctively her palms splayed across her slightly rounded stomach. It wasn't big enough to hinder any form of movement yet, nor heavy enough to cause Amhuinn pain, but Hammond has been fussing since the day he had been told. He had all but forbid Amhuinn from going up or down the stairs alone for fear that she may fall from her limp and the added weight of her unborn baby. He had also posted Tristan as her personal bodyguard the moment she steps out of the Keep.

Amhuinn had protested, but Hammond had been adamant. Eventually, she had just given in to his requests, recognizing just how anxious her husband was of his first child, and of her.

"What did ye get oor son this time, husband of mine?" She asked, as she leaned against his chest. It was beginning to be a spot she cherished, as Hammond carried her down the stairs. They could hear Adair squealing as he exited the main doors, but for just the next few seconds, Amhuinn would steal the secret moment with her husband.

"Yer aboot ter find oot." he replied with a smile, as they reached the ground floor, and he placed her feet on the surface. Letting his palm remain on the small of her back, they walked side by side to the entrance, where Amhuinn's eyes widened, and she turned to Hammond with a look of disbelief.

"Ye got a six year old a horse?" she asked, unable to decide if she wanted to laugh or just stare in horror. "His legs can barely reach the stirrups!"

"Raydan is a stallion, so he'll need to be trained yet. Adair will have plenty of time ter learn and bond with his steed." Hammond replied with a smirk Amhuinn couldn't say no to.

Despite the fact that she knew all of the MacKenzie clan would have a watchful eye over her son until he could ride steadily, she couldn't stop her worry, a fact that Hammond knew very well. Seeing his wife's brows furrow as they were wont to do, he pulled her towards him and hugged her around the waist, pressing a kiss on her blonde head. "Dinna worry yer pretty little head, wife. I have my men on full alert around him. He's enjoying the attention, see?"

Sure enough, Adair's friends ran up to him, each exclaiming in excitement as they reached out to touch the satiny hide of the skittish young stallion. The stablemaster held a steady hand on the reins as Malcolm, Darach and Ewan squealed together with Adair, their eyes sparkling. 

"I thought he would appreciate receiving more attention. He's been deprived of it for long enough." Hammond murmured into her ears. 

Amhuinn suspected that above his dashing looks, his capability as a leader and a laird, and his prowess as a warrior, it was this capability of his to be both caring, nurturing and giving, that made her fall in love with him the most. "Ye spoil him."

"Tis a necessary evil, wife of mine. He is ter be my heir, he shall need ter start early."

"And what of the younger one?" she asked, picking up his hand and splayed it across her mildly rounded stomach. "Would he or she be spoiled as well?"

"I will spoil any children we fruit, wife, simply because they are a part of me and ye." Hammond replied huskily, capturing her lips in a kiss that still managed to sear her soul, despite a year and a half of marriage. Every morning, Amhuinn would wake up to a smiling Hammond. Occasionally, Adair would wake them both at the same time when he jumped on the bed. But no matter which way she woke up, Amhuinn always thanked the day Hammond MacKenzie wandered into the hut she and her brother shared. 

"MacKenzie, I may have agreed ter yer marriage with my sister, but that dinna mean I need ter see ye mauling her." 

Speaking of her brother, the two of them broke apart with a laugh, as they let their eyes settled on Tamhas approaching them with a scowl. "And do ye have something ter report ter me, Tamhas?"

"The men are aboot ready fer training. Are ye joining us today?" he asked. Looking vastly different from the scrawny, bitter man she had been with just a year ago, Tamhas now looked at ease, in his element and happy. Hammond had been alternating between him and Tristan as the acting Commander whenever Connor was in Cavalon Castle, and Tamhas flourished in the position, a sign in which Hammond had taken note of. With the ease in which Tamhas bonded with the MacKenzie, Amhuinn had never seen her brother happier, even from before when he was with the Kincaid's. 

The Kincaid's themselves were still a threat, but then again, every Highland clan had their fair share of enemies, and Hammond now counted the Kincaid's as one of theirs. Amhuinn had managed to talk him out of a direct attack on the Kincaid castle, unwilling to give up even more lives, but Hammond still carried the anger at Kincaid for the way he treated Amhuinn and Adair in him up till today. Luckily for them, Kincaid was beginning to lose more and more people with his dictatorship, and the last he sent a scout to check, there were barely anyone left on his lands.

"Nae today. I have my wife and son ter spend time with." he replied, laughing as Tamhas shook his head and walked away with a rueful smile. Hammond grinned when Amhuinn flashed him a raised brow look. "I asked Mrs. O'Leary ter pack us a picnic basket. May I entice ye ter come with me and Adair? He mentioned he wanted ter learn ter fish, and the brook should be full with fishes by now."

"Yeah Mama, come with us! Papa says we can spend the whole afternoon there! Isna that great, Mama?" Adair ran up with sparkling eyes. "Papa! Can Cal, Darach and Ewan come along with us too?"

"If their father's agree, then I dinna see why not."

With an excited shout, the boys immediately ran off to get their permissions. Hammond laughed, folding Amhuinn into his arms again. "So what do ye say, Lady MacKenzie? Would ye come along with us?"

"I canna say no, after Adair asked me with such eyes, now can I?" she responded.

"Nae because of me?" he replied, feigning a hurt look. She laughed, and prodded his midsection. 

"Ye get me every night, dinna be selfish." 

Hammond gave a wolfish grin, swooping in to capture her lips again. "I willna get ye every night soon, once this little one grows. I intend ter spend as much time as I can get with ye now, Lady MacKenzie."