Epilogue
“You look wonderful, Mary!”
“I look like a whale. I am convinced I was never so large with the twins.”
“A whale? My dear woman, have you seen me?”
“Kate, you know very well you are tiny.”
“Annalise is tiny.”
“I am not. This one is far bigger than either of the boys.”
“When that one grows up a little, she just might be half the size of mine.”
Marianne scoffed and gave Moira a look. “Moira, you are barely showing.”
Moira turned to her and raised a brow. “It is my fifth child, dear. I know how big they are by now.”
“And I am on my seventh,” Kate crowed, rubbing her swollen midsection.
“So yours should be well under control by now,” chimed in Mary, by far the largest of them all, though no one was going to say anything about it. It was a miracle they had conceived again after the twins two years before.
“Ha!” Susannah barked, thrusting out her own expanded girth. “Control? Her children mind as well as the Gerrards.”
“Which explains why you and Marianne are bringing more into the world,” Moira muttered dryly, waving over a well liveried servant.
Kit shook his head as he watched the women debate over their size and forthcoming children. Somehow, impossibly, every couple here was expecting a child in the coming year. There had been several overlapping pregnancies as the years had progressed, but never had they all done so. All of the men had safely retreated to another corner of the room, observing their women warily.
“Geoff, I can’t tell you how happy we are for you,” Duncan said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
Derek snorted softly. “Duncan, it’s been several months, and now you’re telling him this?”
That earned him a glower of massive proportions, though Kit noticed there was a glint of amusement in his brother-in-law’s eyes.
“Yes, Derek,” Duncan replied in a dry tone, “and it bears repeating for the unique blessing it is. If you took a moment’s respite from overpopulating the world with hellions, perhaps you would see that.”
Geoff grinned broadly, betraying the true joy he felt. “I don’t mind receiving congratulations. I thought we were beyond fortunate with Will and Julianna, but to have another?” He shook his head and laughed. “This should be easier, yes? One instead of two?”
“Unless they’re Colin’s children,” Kit muttered, surveying the screaming children racing around the room.
That drew a round of laughter, even from his twin. “I admit it, they’re wild. Freddie and Livvy lead them, but Amelia and Matthew keep things interesting.”
Nathan smirked as he watch his children try to herd the others. “Yes, I’m sure they do. And Ginny doesn’t help matters.”
Now Kit laughed loudly, as did Colin. Ginny had turned out to be more headstrong and willful than Rosie ever had been, and up to mischief more than not. But she was growing more sensible by the day, merely hiding her wildness better. Bitty was everything a girl of nearly thirteen could wish for, and loved being at school with Rosie, who had become a stunning beauty of remarkable wit and poise, and at sixteen would soon be finished with school herself and beginning her foray into Society.
Which terrified both brothers to the bone.
Thankfully, Freddie could still put Rosie in her place when they were both home from school, though he had yet to grow as tall as her, which she reminded him of at every opportunity. He was fourteen and growing finer and more impressive than any of them had dared to hope. And only his family could draw out his childish side.
“No, Charlotte, put John down,” Nathan scolded as his only redheaded daughter tried to heave her husky toddler brother away from her playacting with the other girls.
She gave him a distinctly Moira-like look. “Papa, Tillie and I want to dress up in costumes with Grace and Emma. John is in the way!”
Little Grace folded her arms and looked at him with all the superiority of her marchioness mother shining through. “Yes, Uncle Nathan, John is in the way.”
Nathan looked at Derek for help, but he only shrugged. “See if he will go play with David. He’s got Simon and Will over there, or the little Bray boys seem to be creating a tower in the corner.”
Emma wrinkled up her nose. “John won’t want to play with David or Simon, Uncle Nathan. They’re my brothers.”
Derek grinned down at his daughter. “Ah, spoken like your aunt Diana. Fine, sweetling, send him over to Graham and Andrew, then. He’d love the block tower.”
Emma, Grace, and Charlotte nodded and urged John away. Tillie, ever the miniature Annalise, looked concerned for the toddler, and turned to let her brothers know to be careful with him.
“Who would have thought that we’d have such a brood?” Nathan sighed as he leaned against the wall and shook his head.
Colin snorted and handed the box of celebratory cigars around. “Not I, certainly. I didn’t think any of you would ever manage wives.”
Geoff looked at him in disbelief. “What, but you would?”
Colin sniffed and raised his nose. “Of course, I would. Everyone knows I am the charming one.”
“And modest,” Kit added as he shook his head at the proffered cigars.
“Certainly the most handsome,” Colin informed him with a nod.
That earned his brother a significant brow raise as the others laughed.
“You obviously have been listening to the wrong sort of gossip,” Kit informed his sadly delusional brother.
“Tibby always said I was the most handsome man on earth,” Colin protested.
Duncan roared with sudden laughter and cuffed the back of Colin’s head. “You duff, she says that to everyone.”
“And how is Lady Raeburn? Or should I say Lady Tinsdale?” Derek asked with a wry grin.
Kit and Duncan rolled their eyes and heaved nearly identical sighs. “Mad. Poor Tinsdale, two years of marriage and he still thinks he manages things.”
“I think he’s mad, too,” Kit pointed out with a grin. “Mad for Tibby, mad for their travels, and mad for his new and exciting life.”
“They are in Germany now?”
“Prague. But they are coming in for the Season.”
“Anyone seen Harry or Robbie?” Derek asked, looking suddenly suspicious.
“Lost the heirs to Ashcombe and Beverton, have you?” Geoff asked with a laugh as he sank into a chair.
Duncan smirked and waved a dismissive hand. “I saw them with Freddie a few minutes ago, wandering around somewhere.”
“At least they’re assured of a good influence,” Nathan sighed, shaking his head. “They need it.” He settled more comfortably in his place, looking over at his wife with fondness.
All of the men turned to survey their wives, all of whom were engaged in an apparently serious conversation.
Kit marveled at Marianne, who had only just begun showing her own pregnancy, to his delight. Their marriage had been a perfect dream, far beyond anything he had ever imagined he could have. Not that it was all bliss, for she was a stubborn, headstrong woman, and he was a prideful man, and they fought often. The difference now was they made up fairly quickly, and they laughed far more than they argued. She was more beautiful and beguiling than she had ever been, and with the passing years he had seen her thrive and blossom in new and astonishing ways.
And somehow, she loved him with a fierceness that stole his breath.
They’d done everything they had talked about, visited every estate and seen them thrive more than they ever had in his father’s care. Loughton was ill in France, apparently near to death, but letters had been saying that for years now and he was still here. Kit would inherit the title soon, but he could not have been more of a lord and master than he felt now. Title would not change anything, except their number of invitations would increase.
If that were even possible.
Marianne caught his eye and for a moment she looked mildly amused by whatever she saw. Then her smile deepened, her chin dipped, and she slowly stepped away from the other women.
Kit was moving before he recollected that he wanted to and was to her side in an instant. She had that effect on him.
Just as she always had.
She reached up a hand to his face and raised a brow. “You called?”
He smirked a little. “Did I?”
She tilted her head, her smile turning into a knowing one. “Didn’t you?”
He grinned and kissed her brow. “Perhaps I did,” he murmured against her skin, noting the warmth of it. She’d been under the weather before their journey here, and in her condition, he’d been rather concerned, despite her repeated assurances that she was well.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, knowing too well why he lingered. “I think being here in Derbyshire is good for me.”
“It was rather nice of the Whitlocks to invite us,” he agreed as he pulled back to look at her. “Though I really think they are mad to have the lot of us here for the holidays.”
She considered that with a smile. “True. Kate says the duke and duchess were more of a mind to stay with the Beckhams this year, as they only have four children, and David’s family is in Scotland. We are the next best thing.”
Kit looked beyond his wife to the other women, all of whom were giggling about something, and each had put their hand on their expanded stomachs.
He shook his head. “We have got to find ourselves some new friends, darling. Things are getting scary.”
Marianne scoffed and tugged him a little closer. “You don’t know the half of it,” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. “The women all just agreed to name our currently unborn children after the adults present.”
Kit stilled and looked down at her in horror. “Marianne, my love, if you have any tender feelings for me at all, please do not name our son Colin. Or Derek. Or our daughter Moira. Or Kate.”
His wife frowned and put one hand on her hip. “Christopher Gerrard. We have three children together and I have listened to your views on naming them all. Now it is my turn. I will name our child this time. And you will like it.”
He swallowed harshly, feeling more than a little fearful. “So… I should tell the other gents that we have sold our souls and there is no escape?”
She nodded firmly. “Quite so.”
Kit looked around the room, seeking out his children, and sighing. Rafe was playing animatedly with his cousin and best friend Matthew, as they were so close in age, while his younger sisters played with the adorable and sweet Julianna Harris. Cat and Daphne could not have been more different in temperament, no matter how eerily similar they were in looks. They would be Kit’s torment, having learned far too many tricks from their aunts already, but they were surprisingly compatible and rarely fought.
“I suppose,” Kit murmured with a good deal of faux reluctance, “that would be all right. Considering our other children seem to be doing well enough. And I suppose you may have earned it.”
“May have?” Marianne sputtered with a jerk. “May I remind you what I suffered with Daphne?”
He winced and gave her an apologetic look. “I did apologize. Profusely. And Daphne is so sweet now, much sweeter than Cat, surely that softens it.”
His wife gave him a derisive look. “Ask me in three months if it’s softened.”
He blanched and raised her hand to his lips, lingering as much as he dared.
Across the room, the other men watched them with interest.
“Did you ever think those two would have a marriage like that?” Nathan asked quietly of no one in particular.
Geoff snorted and shook his head. “Not at all. Nor that Kit’s firstborn son would be more like Colin than Colin’s sons.”
That made Colin laugh and he looked at his nephew fondly. “Rafe is a boy after my own heart. Kit needs him.”
“With those beautiful girls?” Duncan scoffed, smiling as Cat waved at him. “He certainly needs something.”
“How is it that they manage such a match?” Derek mused, still watching the couple in question. “I wouldn’t have paired them together for the world, but they are one of the most enviable couples in England.”
“He’s always loved her,” Colin said with a soft smile. “He just decided to let it show.”
“But Marianne…” Geoff broke off with a wince and looked at Duncan apologetically.
Duncan shrugged, knowing full well what his sister had once been. “All it took was her marriage to Kit and suddenly her true self came to light.”
They all fell silent as Kit and Marianne suddenly moved over to the pianoforte in the grandly windowed nook on one side of the room, gently ushering Helena and Lizzie from their gleeful plunking on the instrument.
“What are they doing?” Derek demanded, his brow furrowing.
Geoff rolled his eyes and gave him a look. “Music, Derek. You know, the pleasant sounds that your wife and daughter are so skilled at creating from that rather large instrument over there?”
Derek glared as the others chuckled, but all laughter stopped when Kit and Marianne were conferring together over the pieces.
“Wait, they’re going to sing? Together?” Nathan asked, looking at the rest in shock.
Geoff shrugged, still smiling, but looking stunned himself. “So it appears.”
“Can Kit sing?” Duncan asked faintly.
Colin grinned. “Actually, yes. He just doesn’t.”
Derek shook his head, his glower returning. “How much has he had to drink?”
Nathan laughed shortly and gave him an incredulous look. “It’s Christmas, Derek. And it’s your house, and your punch…”
The marquess paled and his eyes widened. “Oh dear.”
Colin chuckled fondly and shook his head. “It’s not the drink,” he told his friends. “It’s Marianne.”
That got their attention and they stared at him in awe.
“Explain,” Geoff said with a brief wave of his hand.
Colin watched his brother and his wife together, feeling the odd swelling of pride and contentment within him that was becoming rather common for him the more his family grew. His brother was his best friend, and he had a wife that was somehow, impossibly, perfect for him and made him more than what he was.
There wasn’t anything else to wish for in life.
He cleared his throat a little. “He steadies her,” he explained to the others. “He supports her, keeps her grounded…”
Derek huffed a bit. “All very well and good, but what does she do for him?”
Colin felt himself smiling like a fool. “She gives him wings.” He set his drink and cigar aside and went to the pianoforte to join them in singing carols, and one by one, the others followed, until they were all together uniting their voices in the music.
Outside the grand and sprawling estate, the snow softly and steadily fell, ensuring some grand adventures for the days ahead and the chance to draw ever closer to those one loved, wrapping all within in the warmth of the Season, and the joy of such a family.