Authors Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write and I love writing Merida and Ian's relationship. Now onto medival notes! A pregnancy announcement would normally be full of fan fair with an announcement and a banquet. However, since this is Merida I'd imagine that while she'd be excited she wouldn't want to make a big deal out of it. The term "a bun in the oven" is actually from the 1950s but it sounded funny for the announcement.

As always a big special thank you to MaidenoftheSummer on reddit for reading and giving me advice on the chapter.

Culture note: Christmas is not a celebration yet in the time period (but has spread elsewhere) I'm picturing so instead the Yule is just around the corner!

Happy reading! Please leave a review on the way out!

Merida could keep a secret just as well as she could hold a grudge. For the past three months, she had been concealing her very real pregnancy, a task made easier by the fact that she wasn't showing yet. She continued her usual duties, spent time with her new siblings, and stole away with Ian for those intimate moments. When she wasn't with him, she practiced her archery or rode Angus, enjoying the freedom of the outdoors while keeping her secret close.

More recently she focused on the Yuletide prep for the end of the month.

It was raining outside as everyone was confined to the castle. It wasn't like she could go out and ride on Angus anyway. She sat down at the dining room table trying to write a letter. Ian sat next to her, writing letters of his own as played footsie under the table.

She did think about writing to her mother. Actually a few times but everytime she picked up the quill, she'd put it down just as quickly. Her mum would be excited, sure, but Merida wasn't going to be happy to receive letters on how to tell what the gender is (it had to be a girl) and ways to tell. Then again she could use some of her advice. Vevina was great and all but her advice would be more applicable to Annabel since she wasn't exactly her daughter. Then her grandmother was there too ready to share even more advice.

Aggravated, she just started a letter to someone who would be excited and not ask questions. Her brothers would be the first to know and she knew they could keep a secret. Then she stopped herself. That seemed wrong as she wanted her dad to know too.

Sighing she just decided to write a letter to everyone. She addressed it to her family and trusted her dad to read it out loud. Maybe in some dramatic fashion in a high falsetto voice trying to sound like her. Laughing to herself she wrote everything she knew and then sealed it. Ian smiled over at her as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

On the first Monday of the four month mark, Merida sent the letter out. Now she just had to tell Ian and his family. Which she was going to do today. Sometime today. After dinner at least since she had to tell Ian first. Since the letter went out as soon as enough time had passed, she had to tell them.

Yawning, she finished the account books and tried to decide what to do. The Yule prep work team was going to meet after lunch. Annabel was giving Una her lessons today. The boys were being taught by Ian today.

She felt along her belly where she was starting to look swollen. Her baby bump was just starting to show. Vevina told her she'd start feeling kicks at the beginning of January.

To the well trained eye her pregnancy was quite obvious. To anyone else, she might have gained a little weight if she looked bigger at all.

"Vevina, do you care if I take a nap?" asked Merida after most of her morning work was done. She had packed away the medicines that she finished making with the early winter ingredients.

"Go ahead my dear," she said, "you deserve a break. I can send someone up with lunch."

She nodded and groggily went up to her room. Shedding her over dress and under dress and threw herself under the covers.

There was a knock on the door two hours later. Merida snored lightly as the door cracked open. Ian peered in and went to check on her. Her head lolled from one side to another as he sat on the edge of the bed watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful, one arm protectively draped over her stomach, and her fiery curls half covering her face.

"Hmmm, Ian," she groaned in her sleep as he felt his heart lighten a little. She dreamt about him?

Forgetting about the food he brought, he went to lay next to her. His shirt tossed aside and joined her in the bed. A mid day romp sounded like fun.

Ian reached out and brushed her curls away, the back of his hand stroked against her cheek. She let out a sweet sigh at his touch. She smiled in her sleep and muttered something

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips as her eyes fluttered awake and kissed back.

"Hi," he said softly, as they laid on their side facing each other. He pulled the bedspread to cover them over their heads. It was like bedtime even though the castle was bustling with cleaning up after lunch.

"Hi," she said sleepily, moving away from him a little.

"I have lunch."

"I have a surprise."

Her voice was light but had a slight nervousness to it. Oh, a surprise. He did like those as Merida shifted, staying warm and burrowed into the blanket.

"What's for lunch?"

"I have stovies, duck, and some vegetables, just how you like it. What's the surprise?"

There was a pause as Merida grinned at him happily about something before blurting out.

"I'm having a baby."

She didn't want to tell him like that but it was too late to take it back. Ian froze, thousands of thoughts entered his mind. A baby. Merida was going to have his baby. They were going to be parents. Merida was having a baby. A smile stretched across his face as he wiped away the happy tears pooling in his eyes.

"Really? We're going to be parents," he asked as she flushed, nodding. She went to lift her smock and her hand gestured to the small bump already forming.

Then a grin blossomed on his face as he reached out and kissed her forehead, then her cheek, and finally her lips. Her hair tickled his face as he gently put his hand on her hip flipping her from her side to her back and kissed her long and hard. His hand rested on her baby bump excited.

"I was going to tell you after dessert," she said, gasping for breath. "Maybe in the stables. Not like this though." She closed her eyes and buried her face in the pillow and groaned.

"No, I like it that you told me here," he said, pulling the blankets back and reaching for the food at the end of the bed. "It's cozy. Here I have lunch."

She peeked up over to him and grinned.

"Can I have the stovies," asked Merida as he pushed the food on the tray for her to have. She gobbled that up as he just laughed and split the duck with her.

It was silent as Merida drew her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on them. Ian ate the remaining vegetables and he could only watch her breath. They were going to be parents as he reached out to touch her hair and pulled her into a hug. Surprised but receptive, she hugged him back.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. "If you're scared you can tell me."

"I'm not scared," she said with a grin. "Maybe a little nervous, but the good kind of nervous. Have I ever told you when I was younger I wanted like nine or ten kids? That way they would always have a friend and the castle would be filled with laughter and screams of joy. I didn't know at the time it meant moving away from home."

"I could give you that," said Ian so earnestly that she believed that he'd do anything and everything he could for her. "At least try."

"We'd be having one right after another," said Merida, burying herself next to him as they laid back. "Not that I mind, I like it so far. You know we have to tell your family. Only your mother knows but the letter to mine went out this morning."

She paused and studied him taking his hand.

"How do you feel about it? Being a dad I mean."

She tugged at his arm to face him as Ian closed his eyes.

"Nervous, but in a good way," he admitted while playing with her hair. "I'd want a big family too. Maybe not ten but 3 or 4 of each."

It was silent as they heard maids and servants bustle outside the door. Outside the snow was falling and temperature dropping as they lay in each other's arms.

"What's your grandparents name?" asked Merida looking up at him with a thoughtful look on her face.

Ian grinned and thought of his grandparents. "My paternal grandparents are named Keith and Isla. My maternal grandparents are Iona and Lorcan."

Merida thought about those and found herself rubbing her bump.

"I like the sound of Lorcan, does it have any special meaning?"

"Lorcan means 'little fierce one'," said Ian as he thought about it.

Merida grinned, putting a mental checkmark next to that name in particular. Little fierce one definitely described what she hoped a future child of hers would be like. She had to reach to the corners of her mind to think of her father's parents.

"My paternal grandparents are Donnel and Shona. My mum's parents are Moira and Alec. I'm going to be honest I really don't want to name this baby after my side of the family. At least not right away. I like Shona though and it means God is gracious."

"That's the same meaning as my name," said Ian with a grin. "Are we going to name all the kids that we haven't had yet?"

"I don't see why not," she said, "We can think back to today and remember everything we've ever planned."

Merida laughed as she tried to think of what her life would be like. Would she be a queen and take her mother's place? Part of her wondered if she'd be ready in ten years as her smile turned down a little.

Ian laughed at something as she snapped back to him.

"How do you want to tell your family?" asked Merida trying to not think too far into the future, "At dinner, dessert, make a special announcement?"

"I think just before dessert would be good. Just a simple announcement, that you're expecting."

Her gaze went to the door wondering if anyone was missing them. Probably not since they've been in here for about an hour already. She'd have a meeting to plan the Yuletide celebrations here soon. Part of her groaned that she had to plan this today. Lost in her thoughts she didn't even hear Ian trying to get her attention.

"Merida?" asked Ian. "Love?"

"Love?"

"I thought to try it out," he said blushing, "I can think of a better one."

"No, it's fine," she said, feeling the tingling sensation she'd get from a compliment, a grin stretched across her face. "I just got lost in thought."

"I just asked if you think we should get up," he said softly.

"No one is looking for us yet," she said, pulling herself closer to him, pressing her body against his.

He felt like home and pressed a kiss to his lips. Merida ran a hand down his chest and gripped his shirt, the kiss deeper as she wrapped her arm around his neck. She sighed and tightened her grip on him, his kiss trailing down her neck. She bit her bottom lip as she tugged at his shirt. Her hips twitched excited as she tried to shed her smock in this position ready to surrender herself to her pregnancy hormones.

Before they could get any farther, there was a knock at the door.

"Go away," called Merida as Ian paused and felt his hot breath on her breast. He had already left a few love marks.

The knocks came again before he rolled off her.

"Oh come on," she groaned.

"We can later," he said, sounding apologetic and frustrated.

Annoyed, she scrambled to find her dress layers, brooches, boots, and belt. Part of her wanted to yell at the person interrupting them.

Ian had tied her bodice before she opened the door to see Una looking up at her.

"Hi! It's time to plan the Yule party! I was told I could help," she said, her voice bright as Merida completely forgot about the meeting with the planning committee. "I can help right?"

She blinked down at her and sighed.

"Yea, you can help," she said with a grin. "Come on."

She gave Ian a "later look" before heading down to the grand hall. This would be her first event that she'd be planning as the coordinator (they planned Samhain together). Vevina had stepped aside to let her handle it herself. Part of her wished that she didn't have to be saddled with that responsibility. The other part of her was excited since she had no rules except to include traditions like burning the Yule log. She was the only person putting limitations on herself.

Only slightly intimidated, she tried to think of a good way for everyone to celebrate.

Allowing everyone to sleep until nine sounded like a good way to start. No work would be done except for the people working in the castle and they'd be having half days off with the last two days of Yule off all day.

Una was helpful telling them what they typically did and when she missed anything.

They planned that in the weeks leading up to Yule, the castle would become adorned with decorations: candles, mistletoe, and greenery. Fires would roar in each room with Yule logs as the temperature dropped from cold to colder. The local orphanage also put on a play about the Yule that she had to include and decided the last day would be perfect for it.

Firelight casted dancing shadows along the grand room as the plans were getting finalized. Una had been a bigger help then she initially thought and decided that she would give her an extra dessert tonight for dinner.

Finally, two (or was it three?) hours later all of the plans were made and doing what they could. Decorations from the previous years were pulled out and Merida ordered new candles and agreed to hire on three extra people to help with the prep work.

"Merida," said Vevina, who had listened to her ideas and planning. Nobody really told her no to anything except for ones that they honestly couldn't pull off. "You did a good job, I really like the idea of a snowball fight tournament. I just wanted to double check did you plan on participating with-" Vevina paused and looked around before gesturing to her barely noticeable bump.

"I, well," she said thinking about it. She would have participated but maybe it wasn't a good idea with the baby. Everyone was going to know tonight and keep an eye on her to keep her from potentially losing the baby. "I can present the winners with a prize."

"Good idea," she said with a wink. "How did Ian react?"

"I think he cried, happy tears that is," said Merida with a small chuckle. She did like that he wasn't afraid to show his emotions to her. "We're going to tell everyone tonight before dessert. I sent the letter out to my parents this morning, they should know in about two days."

"They'll be so excited," said Vevina, taking her hand, her eyes twinkling. "I know everyone here will be. You have no reason to be nervous about telling everyone."

Merida was touched with the sentiment and kind of surprised herself. She wasn't really nervous to tell everyone. She was pretty sure of herself even with all the changes going on in her life.

They'd be having dinner in another hour or two as she wanted to go out and tell Angus and Agnes. Maybe the dogs too before excusing herself.

Once that was done (both of her horses were very excited) and she double checked dinner, she found herself sitting at the head of the table. She had heard Vevina telling Kevin that they should forfeit their seats tonight for something special. He just looked bewildered as Merida gave him a coy smile.

Now Merida sat on her parents throne before, usually to an empty room and would wave around a stick demanding attention from her toys. Maybe she'd sit on her mum's lap as a child just for the view.

This time, while it was only the dinner table, she had people watching her and private information for them. It was like she was practicing for her future queenly duties. She would have felt annoyed if it wasn't to announce the baby. Her queen lessons weren't supposed to start until January.

The staff looked a little surprised as they brought out the food but said nothing.

"What's going on?" asked Ewan as he saw them sitting there.

"There's a surprise," said Ian before Merida could say anything.

"There's extra dessert tonight too," said Merida feeling a little silly announcing that, but it seemed to get Una and Owen to sit up straight. Ewan grinned and took the place next to his dad.

Annabel eyed her suspiciously as Merida sat up a little straighter.

Vevina leaned over to her and put a hand up to make sure nobody else could hear. "I'm sorry to spring this on you at the last minute, I called the staff to be here for the announcement."

"What?! Why?" asked Merida her voice in a whisper.

"Well everyone is going to know eventually and I'd rather they hear it from you."

Oh great, she thought, her public speaking skills had to be up to par. She bit her bottom lip before stabbing the extra serving of lamb chops. Annabel was still watching her and then glanced at Ian. He had possibly the biggest smile on his face as he took her hand. A little flushed she squeezed his hand and then looked out at everyone.

Annabel's eyes went from her to Ian to their hands to him and then back to her. She gasped and then covered her mouth.

"Is everything ok Annabel?" asked Una to her sister.

"Just great, I can't wait for the surprise."

She gulped down her potatoes and looked to Vevina who looked a little dismayed. Apparently Annabel had some semblance of what she was going to say. No matter. She still had Kevin (maybe) and the rest of the kids. Then the staff who might not know.

Merida found herself talking to Ian and Kevin about something her dad did once and she forgot about the announcement. It wasn't until she spotted the staff file into the room and stood off to the side, that she remembered. It was everyone from stable hands to the scullery maids. She spotted Peigi standing among the ladies waiting off to the side of them.

"Ian, how are we planning on doing this?" she asked, whispering to him. "I didn't practice anything, are we just going to wing it? It's not like I can just stand up and announce, "I'm bearing a child."

The sound that came out of his mouth was a cross between a sputter and a laugh and his face grew red. Vevina watched them amused. Merida was beginning to see why her dad was no help to her mother sometimes.

"We should just do it like we originally planned," said Ian, getting his bearings. "Just say you're having a baby."

"Right," she said, remembering them talking about it in bed earlier.

Kitchen boys came to gather empty plates and brought out plates of tarts, cakes, and dessert puddings. It was three times as much as they normally made; probably for the staff to celebrate with them. She had to laugh as she saw Owen and Una's eyes grow as wide as a saucer plate seeing the sweets.

"Can we have surprises everyday?" asked Una which caused everyone at the table to laugh. "Can we know what it is? Can you tell us?"

Merida found herself standing up as Ian followed suit. She shouldn't need to practice this as everyone's eyes were on them.

"Well this'll be exciting for everyone," she said, picking up her glass and dumping the whiskey from her glass into his. Merida took a deep breath, her heart pounding like the drums at a Highland festival.

"The whiskey is off limits for the next several months for me," she said with a smile and a shrug, "this surprise is a happy one. I've been harboring a fugitive here."

She said that putting her hand over belly.

"There's a bun in her oven," said Ian in a rush as she just laughed.

"That's the kind of thing I told you not to say but it is funny hearing it out loud," said Merida cracking up. Her curls bounced around her shoulders. Then turned to whisper to him. "We can say this together."

"There's a wee bairn on the way," said both at the same time, still laughing.

"Everyone gets some dessert tonight to celebrate!" said Ian, joining her.

The room was filled with laughter and someone started a clap for her to her right and it filled the room briefly. One of the stewards guided a line to get a dessert as she looked expectantly at everyone at the table.

"A baby? Yay!" said Una excitedly and bounced in her seat.

"I'm going to be an uncle," said Ewan.

"Let's get dessert," said Owen, grabbing some cakes for everyone.

"Congratulations," said Annabel as she got up to hug her. Taken a little by surprise she hugged back.

Merida turned to Kevin since he was the last to not say anything. A stunned look on his face before going to put an arm around his son and then leaned into her.

"Congratulations, Merida," he said, "you two have made me the proudest grandfather."

She smiled and filled her tray up with desserts of her own. Nobody told her she couldn't have extra, after all she was eating for two.