Three years later...
SYDNEY CRADLED HER one-year-old son, Coinneach, to her chest as he tried to fight sleep. “You’re just like your Mama, huh?”
She rocked him as she walked down the hall to the nursery and settled him in his crib. He tried to fuss, but she laid her hand on his chest and smiled. “No, baby. It’s time for you to sleep. Sleep now, little man.”
Sydney had perfected Thane’s ability to “suggest,” and she giggled quietly as Coinneach’s hands fell to the side and his eyes closed.
I’ve created a monster.
Oh my word, honey, this is the best power ever.
Not the telekinesis?
Sydney slid the blanket over her son using said power and bit her lip. Okay, maybe it’s the telekinesis.
Thane’s chuckle sounded in her mind. I’m almost home. You best have my supper on the table, wench.
She sneaked out of Coinneach’s room and pulled the door closed. You’re hilarious, mister movie star.
She arrived downstairs just as Thane walked through the front door, pulling her into his arms and lifting her off her feet before she’d even stepped off the last stair.
“Och, love, I’ve missed you.”
Sydney giggled, sliding her fingers through his hair. “It’s been two hours.”
“Aye, lass. Two long hours.”
He lowered her to her feet and laid his hand on her belly. “How’s our wee girl?”
“Right now she’s doing cartwheels because she knows her daddy’s close.”
“Are you tired?” He frowned. “You should rest, love. I wish you’d let me hire someone to help.”
“Thane,” she admonished. “I’m two months away from delivery. I’m fine. Beth arrives in six weeks and with Elspie and your mom here every day, I’m flush with help.”
Samantha had informed Sydney that because she shared a blood bond with Beth, she’d have the ability to heal her now that she was Cauld Ane. Sydney had met with Beth once more before she left for the States and Beth had let her know a few weeks later that the cancer had disappeared. It had been a medical mystery as far as the doctors were concerned.
Beth and Sydney had forged a tentative bond at first, one that had gradually grown into a sweet friendship that the sisters found to be greatly satisfying. They didn’t talk about their moms or the sadness they had both suffered because of their father.
Zach had been sentenced to life without parole for the murder, plus twenty years for the kidnapping of Lucy. He’d been extradited to the United States, which meant his mother could visit. No one could rejoice in it, but it was at least some form of closure.
The man who’d killed Sydney’s mother had never woken up from his coma, dying a few weeks after Zach’s trial. Another sad end to a sad situation.
Thane wrapped his arm around Sydney’s waist. “Well, come and put yer feet up now and I’ll make supper.”
“And fill me in on the council meeting?”
He smiled. “Aye, love. I’ll fill you in on the council meeting.”
Sydney folded herself onto the large suede sectional in the great room and watched Thane move around their kitchen as though he was born in it. “Why aren’t you a celebrity chef?”
He laughed, setting steaks on the counter. “We’re supposed to be lowering our profile, love, not starting new careers that will add to the fame.”
“Oh, right. Stupid immortality, it screws everything up.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he countered. “I quite like the fact I’m going to see you every morning for the next several hundred years.”
“Or thousand.”
“Aye, lass. That would be better.” He pulled open the fridge and brought a bottled water to Sydney. “Hydrate, please.”
“Aye, bossy,” she retorted.
He leaned down and kissed her gently. “More and more practice as the years go on, baby, remember that.”
She grinned. “You never let me forget it.”
“Well, that’s true.” He headed back to the kitchen and started his masterpiece.
“So, what was the final decision?” she prompted as she checked to make sure the baby monitor was on, setting it back on the table next to the sofa.
“We’re all going underground for a bit. Everyone in Fallen Crown was ready to anyway, now that Ollie’s found his mate, so we’re all settled. I don’t think we’re going to make a big deal about it to the media. My people have told the press I’m focused on my family right now, but if I want to do another movie in the future I can. It’s not unprecedented that someone who’s in their “fifties” can’t still be an action hero.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Well, provided you age like Jason Statham, not John Travolta.”
Thane laughed. “Sure, we’ll go with that.”
“What will we tell my family? Lucy’s going to notice if I don’t age.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, eh?”
“Okay,” Sydney said. “So, what are we going to do with ourselves?”
“We’re going to raise our children, run our charities, travel. Anything we want to.”
She sighed. “It all sounds too good to be true.”
“Does it?”
“Yep. Little bit.”
“Don’t fret, my wee worrier, our children will keep us plenty busy, especially considering you’re going to give me six more.”
She choked on her water. “You want me to have eight?”
“Over time, lass. Not all at once.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Thanks, honey.”
He grinned, walking out onto the patio and throwing the steaks on the grill. Leaving the door open, he walked back in and set the plate in the sink.
“So if the Cauld Ane are officially going underground a bit, what does that mean for us in general?”
Thane settled himself on the sofa next to her. “Not a whole lot, to be honest. We’ll still have our parties and our celebrations; we’ll just do it away from the public eye. Samantha’s thrilled, let me tell you.”
“I bet.” Sydney giggled. “What about you? Will you miss the lights of the marquee with your name big enough for everyone to see?”
“I’ve never cared much about that, baby.”
She smiled just as the timer sounded and Thane stood and headed back out to the patio to flip the steaks. “Are you worried about the decision?” he asked, sitting beside her again.
“Not unless it’s going to rob you of your joy not to do movies for a while.”
He squeezed her knee. “You’re my joy, love. Coinneach’s my joy. And when she comes, Gertrude will be my joy.”
Sydney choked on her water again. “Stop doing that to me,” she demanded. “We’re not naming her Gertrude.”
“Well, we need to come up with something if you’re not going to name her after your mother.”
“Linda, honey. We can’t name her Linda. It’s an old person’s name.”
“I happen to know several people named Linda who aren’t old,” he countered.
“Well, maybe old’s not the right word. But it was my mother’s name, and it just doesn’t fit with us, you know?” Sydney sighed. “I’m fine with it being a middle name, but I want something awesome for our daughter. Something as cool as Coinneach.”
“All right, lass. We’ve got time.”
“Yep.” She smiled. “We have two months.”
“Aye, love, two months.” He rose to his feet again. “Salad?”
“Yes, but can I make it?”
“You don’t like my salad?”
She slid off the sofa. “Thane, your idea of a salad is lettuce and croutons.”
“That’s a salad.”
“That’s a lazy person’s salad,” she corrected.
He grinned. “I’ll give you that.”
“I know you will, because you love avocado and everything else I put in there just as much, you just don’t want to cut it up.”
“No, I’m better with meat.”
She shivered, biting her lip. “Oh, yeah, baby, you are so much better with meat.”
He kissed her quickly and gently smacked her bottom. “I’ll show you what I can really do with meat later.”
“Can’t wait.”
Sydney giggled as she made a non-lazy person’s salad and Thane tended to the grill. She watched him doing something so incredibly manly and, dare she say, American, and she felt her mother smiling down on her. Thane was right. Her mother would be happy for her. Sydney had been blessed with a life far more wonderful than she deserved and she once again found herself sending up another prayer. Carrying the plates onto the patio, she kissed her mate and they sat down to enjoy a perfectly wonderful evening while their perfectly wonderful baby slept upstairs.
Life really was perfect.