A Widow Plagued by Allie Borne

hear ye refer to me in such a way, they will question my authority here.”
    “Very well, Gavin. If my child is a son, this title and land will rightfully be his. I will not concede to any plan that will undermine his right. I fear that ye will question the legitimacy of my son, upon our meeting with the court. I do not know thy true intention.”
    “Challenging thy child’s birth right would not help my current position. Being married to and father of the legitimate heir will insure my authority here, even if it does mean that I am not the Lord and my sons will not inherit... I must admit; I would prefer thy child be a female. Being the father of a child that out ranks me would prove a challenge.”
    “Ye consider thyself my child’s father?”
    “I am not the bairn’s sire, but I am the father. I committed to be when I married thee, did I not?”
    “This is true. I am no less a mother because I did not bear Hannah. I have cared for her since the day she was born. I have cared for her as if she were my own...”
    “I will do the same, Sara. Hannah and this new child will be treated as well as any other children we might have. On that ye have my word. I have known the harsh hand of an apathetic stepfather...”
    “I can only hope that thy good intentions are not too sorely tested, S-er ...Gavin. Tis well and good to intend to give Hannah and my child equal treatment. Once we have other children, ye might feel more attached to them. They might look or act like thee-they will be thy blood and bone. Thou will want them to have all that thou can offer. Thou might resent their having to give up thy title, lands, and wealth to another.”
    “Thy children are now my children. They are more closely related to the title than I. I will hope for the title so that I might have the authority to care for these lands and discipline my children. I will not resent sharing the bounty with those who deserve it. Every child deserves two parents who will care for them and treat them kindly. I wish ye to trust that I will treat any child of mine well and show no preference amongst them.”
    “Very well, I shall take thee at thy word. Might I reserve the right to advise thee, if I see that thy treatment of one child displaces the importance of another?”
    “As my wife and the mother of our children, I would expect nothing less.”
    Nodding, Sara smiled softly and rested her head upon her goose down pillow. Shear exhaustion weighed upon her eyelids and chest, causing her to fall into a dreamless sleep.
    Gavin was not so easily lulled into rest. The events of the day had served to fill him with excess adrenaline. Instead, he used the opportunity to examine his new wife, unobserved. Her fair eyelashes rested against smooth pink cheeks. Her nearly translucent skin pulsed with life. She was a dragon turned angel in slumber. Twas strange that he could feel such a connection to a woman he had met only hours before. Yet, looking at her long, elegant limbs and thick, wavy blonde hair, Gavin felt as if he were the luckiest man alive.
    The fact that she was heavy with child was not as off-putting as he might have imagined. Gavin was intrigued with the round bulge beneath her full breasts. In a few short weeks, he would be a father. The thought thrilled him and terrified him. Thou art already a fathe r , he reminded himself, as he thought of thirteen-year-old Hannah. He would now be responsible for a wife, a home, an infant, and a marriageable daughter, in addition to his troops. The privilege of such responsibility, one he had long sought, seemed to have coalesced in the blink of an eye.
    Reaching out tentatively, Gavin placed his hand on the abdomen of his sleeping wife. He felt a flutter, and then a rolling sensation, as if the child had moved towards his hand. Gavin’s heart constricted. He had been ten the year his father died. Twenty years without a warm embrace or encouraging word from family was a long time-too long. It was unsettling,