It all started with one of Arthur's 'hypocritical' questions. "Douglas, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Unless it has anything to do with playing charades, that is."

"Suppose I have a girlfriend, and she accidentally gets pregnant. Do you think her parents would be mad at me because of that?"

Douglas paused, staring at his friend. "Arthur, how hypothetical is your question?"

The steward hastened to shake his head. "I'm not saying it has happened! I don't even have a girlfriend right now, if you must know."

Douglas quirked a skeptical eyebrow. "Then whose girlfriend are we talking about?"

"Nobody's! And I promised I wouldn't tell you, sorry."

That caught Douglas' attention. Arthur hadn't promised not to tell anybody, he'd explicitly mentioned him of all people; there was just one person who would ask him to do that, and he was suddenly thankful that he was sitting.

Dash it all, he wasn't ready to be a grandfather just yet.

xxx

Verity was positively glowing when she came to visit him, and yet he couldn't help but think she was too young for this.

"Don't tell me you know already," she quipped after one look at his face. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Your boyfriend should know better than to trust Arthur Shappey with a secret, then. You definitely surprised me anyway."

His daughter chuckled merrily. "You'll make for a terrific granddad, I promise."

"Of course I will," he replied, feigning a confidence he didn't quite possess; all in all he'd been mostly a failure as a father, there was no reason he would do better this time around.

"I'll tell Martin to lend you the baby manual he's just bought, if you need a refresher," she added with a pert smile, and it was his turn to chuckle.

At least he could tease his friend about it, and for some reason that made him feel less nervous about the whole situation. Either way, Martin would be panicky enough for the two of them, so he supposed he could leave it to him.

He was going to have a Crieff for a grandchild. Who would have believed that just a few months ago?

xxx

When he held Beatrice for the first time he decided that being a grandfather was the most wonderful feeling of all.

And if someone dared to ask, he would tell them he wasn't crying; something had got in his eyes, that was all.