A/N: I'm on a roll right now so I've been trying to get as much done as I possibly can before I run out of inspiration. Hopefully, I can finish this story! Finally lol xx Mariah
The main gates were flanked by two towers with an archway above and were heavily manned, but they looked relieved to see their lord and lady returning home as they passed through the gates together and entered the courtyard.
Jim saw his sister Ava along with Ned and Roger, plus his nieces and nephews, but among them all, he was searching for his wee little girl. His darling daughter. She wasn't in his immediate sight because it seemed that the entire manor had come out to see their arrival. He had taken it upon himself to lead the group on the way in as accustomed and Melinda had joined him.
Daniel and the rest of his men had taken care of the wagons, and he noticed they pulled in just as he quickly jumped off his horse and onto the soft snow beneath them. He immediately went over to help his wife down, and he met her nervous look when he too realized she'd looked for Ella and hadn't found her in the crowd along with her sister Katherine. They walked together, hand-in-hand, to greet everyone and were met with warmth and joy.
"It is so good to see you all again," he said happily as he hugged Ava.
"I've missed you too," his sister replied as she hugged him back. "I wish you would've written more. But I'm sure you're tired and starved and want to see your little girl. She's inside, as is Katherine. The baby was born a few days ago and Ella is with her."
Jim held her in his embrace for another moment before slowly letting go. "Well, let's get inside then. It's far too cold out here anyway." He said as they followed her inside.
Melinda stood in the doorway of the bedroom with Jim watching Ella playing quietly in the corner with Eddie before she turned to see Katherine holding her new babe in her arms. She was so sad to have missed it, but not as much as she was to have missed how much her daughter had grown in the months since she'd last seen her.
Ella was closer to two now than one and was taller and sturdier even as her hair was longer and curlier. She knew it was unlikely that she would remember him instantly but there had to be something there, right? Her sister wouldn't have let her forget them.
She tip-toed into the room quietly so she could see Katherine first and tears sprung to her eyes to see her new niece. "It's so good to see you," she whispered, hugging her sister and kissing her cheek. "I missed you so much. I wish I could've been here for the birth."
"I missed you too, but don't worry about any of that. I'm just so happy that you're both home safe," Katherine said, smiling even wider when she saw Jim come in next. "She talks about you both every day. Go see her. The baby and I won't be moving anytime soon."
Jim went to her first and she engulfed him in a tight hug, giggling in such a way that brought tears to her eyes as he kissed her cheek. "Where's mama?" Ella asked and it was but half a second later that her little eyes found hers.
Melinda grabbed her daughter once she was close enough and held her tightly in her arms, pressing kisses over her face as she ran her hand gently down her back and over the curve of her head. "My sweet girl.. mama and daddy are home." She whispered to her and felt tears spring from her eyes at the sheer relief of holding their child in her arms once again. "We are never going to leave you ever again."
The next few days were spent in bliss as they reconnected with their daughter and family, and got back into the routine of things at home.
It was the greatest gift Jim had ever received since the day Ella was born, besides a good night's sleep, until the weight on his chest began to shift in unexpected ways, rousing him. He opened his eyes to see his little girl looking up at him.
Her arms were crossed on his chest and her chin was resting on the backs of her hands. "Da you're awake," she whispered.
He blinked and cleared his throat as he woke up. "Aye and so are you my wee miracle," he said, smiling at her.
"Mama's still sleeping," she warned him before her gaze darted to where Melinda was sound asleep next to him.
There wasn't much light in the room but the rest of the house was beginning to stir as dawn approached and the business of the day demanded attention. So far no servants had ventured into their room yet thankfully.
He didn't want to raise himself enough to sit up—not with her on his chest—but he was able to raise his hand to rest it on her back. She was so much bigger than when he'd seen her last and yet still so fragile. He ran his hand up her back as she yawned, and pulled her to lie down on his chest.
She looked like she might fall asleep again and Jim hoped that he would too. "Get some more rest then, ceann beag, it's late," he whispered and held tightly to Ella, running one hand through her dark curls and brushing them out of her face as the little girl laid down with her cheek pressed to his chest and her thumb in her mouth.
When he woke again it was finally morning, Jim could feel the bare expanse of Melinda's warm back against his chest, the firm roundness of her arse wedged against his hips and groin. A thin blanket covered them as they lay next to each other both in that hazy state between sleeping and waking—some parts of them more awake than others.
He sighed as he trailed his fingers down her arm to rest on her hip. She stirred beneath his feather-light touch and arched her back—no doubt still sore from the traveling—and in so doing, created a delicious bit of friction that did more to rouse him. He kissed her shoulder as she reached for his hand and brought it to her breast.
His fingers kneaded the sore tissue for her and he was rewarded with a groan of appreciation and additional grinding of her backside against his cock. Her nipple rose in invitation against his palm but he resisted the urge to bend his head and take it in his mouth, but he wanted to take it slow.
"You know…" She whispered, turning her head to look at him, "if we were to have another baby soon, I would be quite happy with that."
They had spoken about it twice now and his heart grew with the idea. "You know that I will always want more children with you," he confessed with a beaming smile.
"Yes, I know. After everything that's happened, I realized I want to keep growing our family, and frankly as soon as possible." She smiled nervously at him. "It's not like I have an easy way to stop myself from getting pregnant in any case, but I thought I would let you know exactly how I feel."
He bent his head down to her, kissing her deeply, letting one hand slide down to rest on her belly. "God, give us another child," he said quietly as if they were the only two people in the world. "Let this child be loved by us and made whole in your image." He felt tears sting in his eyes as he then moved down, lifted her nightgown, and placed a tender kiss on her belly.
"Oh, Jim. You are the most wonderful man," she placed her hand on his again and guided his hand downward. "Now come here.."
He obliged, pulling her into a searing kiss that stole her breath. Her legs hooked around him, trying to get him where she wanted him. Jim chuckled at her eagerness. "Not just yet. I intend to take my time with you." His lips found a pulse point on her neck and left a kiss there that would surely leave a mark.
"Christ," she whined as his lips traveled down from her neck.
He paused in his trek when he reached her stomach. Melinda squirmed and grasped at his shoulders, trying to move him farther up or down her body, it didn't matter which. But he held her fast and bent his head to kiss her softly padded belly where the skin was crisscrossed with stretch marks. And he kissed and kissed and kissed, touching each mark lightly, ignoring her obvious attempts to move him.
"Jim." There was an odd hitch in her voice that caused him to look up at her. Her gaze pleaded with him, but she wouldn't voice it out loud.
"What?" His brows furrowed in confusion and then his expression flooded with guilt. "Does it hurt? Am I hurting you?"
"No‒ God, no. You could never hurt me." She broke off on a sigh and her fingers that had been tugging at his curls now tenderly raked through them. "But it doesn't… I'm not…"
"You're not what?" He prodded, dropping another kiss to her belly while he waited her out.
"Well, I'm still a little thick around the middle," she said briskly. "And the marks will fade with time, but they won't go away. Especially if we have another baby." He dropped his forehead suddenly and so forcefully onto her stomach, muttering something she couldn't catch and his shoulders shook to the point that she realized he was stifling laughter. "I don't see how this is funny."
"Christ, Melinda." He lifted his head now that his cover was blown. "I'm not meaning to laugh at you. It's just, you're the only woman I want." His eyes danced with merriment but she was still shooting daggers at him with hers. "I love you. God, do I need to show you all of the scars on my body that I have?"
"That's different!" She groaned. Her voice had dropped to a murmur and he knew she didn't have an argument, just wanted him to stop fighting her on this. "I don't want to talk about this."
He let out a sigh but didn't move from his spot. "Aye. I know. My scars are the result of wicked things, but you've never looked at them with pity. And for that, I've always loved you." His palm moved to rest heavily on her stomach. "You carried our child here until she could be born and for that, I owe you everything, including my soul. You will always be beautiful to me, including these reminders on your body of the child you gave us."
Melinda's lower lip quivered only slightly and she looked away from him, blinking fast. He exhaled a smile and turned his face to rest his cheek against her warm skin. The sense of urgency between them had quelled but he waited for her bidding to continue. After a moment, he felt her fingers gently toying with his hair again. He lifted his head to find her gaze again. "Will you let me continue cherishing you now? Every part of you?"
Her hand framed his face and he leaned into it, turning slightly to kiss her palm. "Yes, go on," she whispered, smiling at him. "Do as you wish."
"Good." He grinned. "Because so long as we agree how beautiful I find this particular part of you," He pressed another kiss to her belly, just below the navel. "I don't feel the need to spend much more time here when there's another part of you that I've been neglecting for far too long." He dipped his head lower still, spurred on by the sounds of encouragement coming from his wife, and with his hands and mouth, he brought her to the peak of her pleasure.
She was boneless when he finally crawled back up her body and kissed her. She could feel him, hot and heavy against her thigh. "I need you," she whined, her hands digging into the flesh of his back. "I just need you."
Jim took her slowly at first, setting a gentle pace with assurances of his love whispered in her ear, but as their mutual pleasure built he unleashed what he'd thus far kept in check now that they were finally home in their bed. But she met him with each sharp thrust, bucking wildly and trying somehow to bring him impossibly closer.
"You are mine," he gritted out, nearing his finish and sending her tumbling towards her own. She shuddered and clasped her thighs around him as she sought to contain the sensation of her release and triggered his own. "My wife, my heart, my soul."
The rhythm of life at Avalon felt all too soothing after everything that happened with Rick Payne, in Jim's ancestral estate, a wall came down in both of them, knowing there wasn't anyone here they needed to guard themselves against. They were safe and so was their family.
"The next Quarter Day is in a few weeks. It'll be good to have Jim back to oversee the books for that instead of it being on Ned and Roger's shoulders." Ava shook out a sheet before hanging it on the clothesline. Melinda and Jim had fallen right into step with the daily goings-on and his sister wasted no time expecting them to keep up with Katherine on bedrest with the new baby. "It will also help to have him with the harvest coming up."
She eyed the crop fields apprehensively. "Yes, I'm sure it will." Hopefully, the harvest would go smoothly because if it didn't yield a good bounty for them, they may have set themselves up to fare even worse in the coming winter.
"You ken Mrs. Fitz could help wi' wee Ella, she usually did while you were gone as she does with mine and your sister's older bairn," Ava said. "You dinna always need to do it all yourself."
At her sister-in-law's words, Melinda's hands fell instinctively to her daughter's little form bundled up next to her and playing with her stuffed rabbit. "I know, it's just been so long since I've been around her," she said softly. "I don't mind having her with me." She reached for the next piece of clothing to hang on the line. "Did you ever feel that way?"
Ava nodded as she tugged a large sark of Roger's into place on the clothesline and arranged it neatly. "Oh, aye. I did worry over both my bairns after they were born. You always do, I think. No matter if they're healthy or not. I don't know what it's like to worry as much as you or what you went through with Payne," her sister-in-law caught her gaze and smiled warmly. "You're doing just fine, Mel. I've never seen my brother so happy. To have a bairn of his own… well, it does him good to be a father and it does my heart good to see it."
"Thank you. Truly. About‒ about Quarter Day and the harvest and… all of it really, I don't‒ that is‒" Melinda took a deep breath, tried to smile as she fumbled through this. Ava watched her expectantly, pausing in her work. "The first time Jim brought me here, we thought it would be for good, but then Rick messed all of that up…" She gave a small shrug. "I can admit I don't know anything still about running a house as large as this, but I want to learn. And I don't want to step on your toes, either, when you've run this place so flawlessly. I mean, this is your home and you've taken my sister in as well as help with Ella‒"
"Of course I did, you are my family," Ava interrupted, though not unkindly and stating this so matter-of-factly. She hesitated, always caught a little off-guard by Jim's sister. "I didn't know what to make of you when my brother first brought you home," she added with a tinge of reluctance in her voice and Melinda knew that was about as close as she might get to an apology for how their relationship started. "But you're a good person and so are Katherine and Ned, despite being English. You love my brother, that's plain as day. I'm happy to show you the ropes."
Melinda chuckled and felt her roots burrow a little deeper into the soil.
They called for a feast with the tenants of Avalon to celebrate their return. In no time at all, Jim had orchestrated a wonderful meal made by Mrs. Fitz of roasted hams and pork that covered the tables from end to end, joining that was fresh-baked barley bread and roasted potatoes and carrots that were being passed between the guests in the great hall.
Serving girls darted about the arrow walkways, carrying large flagons of ale and wine for the eager revelers. Occasionally, one would be shamelessly, drunkenly groped. If the women were willing, they'd smile and giggle. If not, a red handprint would grace the male that started it, jeers ringing out from his compatriots.
From his perch at the head table in the seat that had once been so familiar to him now felt odd. He watched as Melinda sat beside him in one of the new dresses that had been fitted for her. It was a soft blue and one he'd remembered picking out, and it looked wonderful on her.
"Would you like some more wine, milord?" A tiny wisp of a thing smiled in front of him, holding a flagon.
Suddenly feeling as if eyes were watching him, he politely declined. "Some ale, please."
The girl beamed as she bowed, returning with the frothy liquid. "Of course, milord. Enjoy."
Taking a sip, he forced himself not to grimace at the bitter taste - Jim had inherited his tastes from his mother but had to act the part at the high table. It would be looked down upon for a man to drink a woman's drink with dinner.
"Is something wrong, my love?" Melinda asked, squeezing his leg lightly under the table.
Looking up from his plate and smiling at her, he shook his head. "Nothing is wrong. It is just still an odd feeling being back home," he replied. "A happy one, but also strange."
"Yes, I suppose it must feel different for you now." She said, glancing back at her food and picking at it with her fork slowly.
"Much different," he said, reaching out to take hold of her hand. "But it is in a good way. Trust me. I am glad you are here with me along with our wee girl, and that we are all safe now." Jim caught her gaze suddenly and his heart soared.
The sun was setting low in the sky well after dinner was finished, burning deep orange at the horizon with streaks of pink and purple fading up to the blue. Jim had gone searching for his wife and found Melinda in the garden and laced their fingers together before walking out toward the nearest field behind the manor house. He didn't say a word, but she thought she knew he was leading her out on a sunset walk.
The evening was too beautiful to waste and the desire simply to be in each other's company hadn't dimmed in their year and a half of marriage. Ella was sleeping inside the house and under the care of her auntie for the time being. They ambled along through the heather, their strides fairly matched, and Melinda tucked herself a little closer to him when the breeze picked up.
He dropped her hand in favor then of tucking her under one arm and her own went around his waist and squeezed him. It wasn't a position that lent itself well to walking side-by-side, but they'd reached the small crest of a hill and paused against the fencing to stare out at the setting sun casting golden light on the whole estate of Avalon.
"So beautiful, it should be a painting." Melinda finally broke the spell of silence. Jim made a sound of agreement. She looked up at him but his gaze was on the scene before them. He looked content, too, not just today, but every day since they'd come back to Scotland. To his home and their daughter. That was no small thing to him, she knew. He carried his responsibility without question or hesitation and it wasn't any wonder why so many people trusted him and relied on him.
Jim cast a glance down suddenly and she felt her cheeks grow warm at being caught. She ducked and kissed his shoulder softly but found him still waiting her out when she glanced back up at him. His fingers were at her temple suddenly, tucking a few wayward wisps of hair behind her ear before tilting her chin up further. "You do look so beautiful this evening," he said with a smile before he stole a kiss from her. "But what's troubling you?"
She let out a mirthless chuckle. "How do you always do that?"
"You cannot hide anything from me with your face," he teased her.
"I was just thinking..." Melinda sighed and tucked herself against him, feeling an odd swirl of relief and dread at the same time. They did what they could to rid themselves of Payne, would that have any consequences? "You seem happy here… are you?" She asked suddenly, pulling back to look up at him.
"Happy to stay here, you mean?" Jim clarified and did a sweep of the land with his eyes. "Well, it's home, Mel. And I'm the laird so I should be here, but…" He cocked an eyebrow at her curiously. "It's not an exciting life. It can't offer you the dramatic social life of London, but I will do my utmost to keep you and our family happy and safe."
"I can do just fine without the society of London," she said dryly. "And it's… it's different than what I've known before when I was a child, but there is work and happiness for me here. God knows you will soon get me pregnant again so I'm sure I'll have my hands full." She reached up on tiptoes to kiss him along his jaw, feeling the scratch of stubble on her lips. "And I am your Lady, after all. This is my place, too."
"Aye, it is." She caught his all-too-pleased look before his kiss was pushing every other thought out of her mind and there was only him in her arms and on her lips.
She was startled when he held her by the waist and lifted her onto the fence post as though she weighed nothing. "Jim!" Unperturbed by her outcry, he stepped between her thighs and cupped her face in his hands. She had to hold fast to him to keep herself steady. "My love. We're on a hill. Any one of our tenants could step out of their home and see us up here."
"Don't worry your head off," he teased with a smile. "I don't intend to let anyone see you in any matter of indecency except me. Least of all our tenants, my lovely lady of Avalon." He kissed her then, a dizzying distraction to any argument she might've made. "It's only that you look so beautiful out here with the sun in your hair." He paused and then smiled softly. "Aye, ye look like you belong here. Like you've always been a part of this place, somehow. And I just needed to kiss you for it."
Melinda felt a sudden lump in her throat at his words and, forgetting her previous self-consciousness, pulled him back in, needing to kiss him for it too.