When the Campbells arrived two days later, Braden and Katerina were waiting in front of the keep to greet the laird and his family. He rode with several of his men, but the men all stayed back as the laird walked up to Braden with his wife holding onto his arm. “Laird McClain.”

“I am happy to meet you, Laird Campbell, though I wish it was under better circumstances.” Braden held his hand out to shake the other laird’s, and he was instead crushed in a one-armed hug.

“May we speak privately? I would like to tell you the story of my children.”

Braden nodded. “May my wife be present?”

“Aye, your wife and you, but no one else.” He glanced over his shoulder to where his children, who ranged in age from a toddler to a girl around ten, were playing in front of the keep.

“My mother will watch over your children,” Braden said loudly, nodding to Matilda, who smiled.

“You are very accommodating of the father of the people who almost killed you.”

“It was not almost,” Braden said softly. “They were overheard plotting, and we laid a trap for them. I could not let them live and still be seen a strong leader though, so they were drowned the next morning, and we immediately sent word to you.”

“I thank you for telling me so quickly.”

Braden led the laird and his wife to the great hall, pleased that Mary saw them and hurried away, saying, “I will return with a small meal for you. The feast will be in a few hours.”

“Thank you for preparing a feast for my family, though I doubt that we deserved it,” Laird Campbell said softly, taking a seat at the table, his wife beside him. “I would like to tell you the entire story, and I would like to hear yours. You are obviously an Englishman striding around in a kilt, calling himself a laird.”

Braden laughed softly. “I am at that. I will gladly tell you our story once I have heard yours.”

“My father made an agreement with another clan that I would marry a young girl as soon as she was old enough, but I was seventeen years her senior. I told him I would not marry her until she was eighteen, which seemed very old to many, but I thought she should have a chance to grow up first. That lady was the woman beside me, Lorna, the mother of my children.” He sighed. “During the time I waited for Lorna to grow up enough to be my bride, I had a mistress, and she gave birth to Andrina and Mungo. They were born when I was only a lad of nineteen myself, so it was many years after their birth that I married Lorna. And many years after we married before my first son was born.”

Lorna reached over and covered the laird’s hand with hers. “Do not worry, Ian. They are not judging you.”

Ian nodded, resuming his story. “Mungo was twenty-one when Little Ian was born. He had already decided that he would one day rule my clan because he was the only son. Ian was only five days old when we found Mungo and Andrina in the babe’s room, holding a pillow over his face.” He shook his head. “I should have had them both executed, but they were my children! How could a father kill his own flesh and blood? Instead, I ordered them to leave Campbell territory and never return.”

Braden shook his head. “I would not have done any differently. I almost could not order their execution.”

Ian sighed heavily. “They were always strange children. Instead of playing with the other children in the clan, they would find small animals and kill them for the joy of it. I would hear stories of the things they had done, and it would make my skin crawl, and I tried to stop them. I would tell them how wrong they were, and I would punish them, but it did not seem to matter. They enjoyed killing.”

Katerina shuddered, thinking of all the hours she had spent alone with Andrina. “We respect you for telling us all this. You did not have to, Laird.”

“I know I did not. I felt like you had the right to know that you made the right decision—the decision I should have made a few years ago. I apologize for making you clean up my mess.”

Braden smiled. “Thank you for the information, Laird. It does make me feel better about the decision I made, and I thank you for telling me.”

Mary came into the room then with a tray of food she set down on the table, and then she hurried away again.

Katerina gestured to the food. “Please eat with us. There is a feast scheduled for later to welcome you to our home. We would be pleased if you chose to spend a night or two here with us. We have had chambers readied.”

“We thank you for the offer, but our land is close, and we will be more comfortable there. Lorna is expecting again, and she feels safer sleeping in her own bed.”

Katerina smiled. “Congratulations! How many children do you have?”

Lorna smiled, obviously thrilled to talk about her children. “I have four daughters and one son. Three daughters are older than Little Ian and one is younger. I do pray for another son.”

“Boys tend to be born in my husband’s family, so I believe I will have the opposite problem. I would love to have a daughter, but I fear I will have many sons instead.”

“All children are a blessing from God,” Lorna said with a smile.

“Aye, they are.”

Katerina was surprised by how well she and Lorna got along, and before they left at the end of the long day of feasting, she made certain she invited her to come back for a visit. “We would love to see more of you. I have yet to make many friends here in Scotland, and I would be pleased if I could count you as one.”

Lorna hugged Katerina, a smile on her face. “You are truly an understanding and good lady. I am sure Ian and I will return to see you often.”

“This pleases me. Mayhap one of my sons will marry one of your daughters.”

Lorna laughed. “You had better hurry and start having babies if that is what you want. I hope I will not have a great many more.” She patted her belly. “I love them all, but their births are hard on me.”

Katerina blushed, and it told Lorna all she needed to know. When Lorna said goodbye to Braden, she smiled at him. “Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your son, Braden. I hope our children will play together and mayhap even marry someday.”

Braden looked stunned for a moment, and then he smiled. “I would enjoy that as well.”

Laird Campbell shook hands with Braden. “I hope you will come to see us in a few days. I would like for you to see if there is something that can be done for my crops.”

“We will be there,” Braden said, smiling. “I will bring my parents and grandparents as well.” His mind was spinning. Why had his wife not told him she was expecting? She told a stranger before him? That was not the way things should have happened.

After they were gone, and he was standing alone with his wife, his arm around her shoulders, he asked softly, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Katerina frowned. He could not possibly know she was expecting, could he? “What do you mean?”

“Lady Campbell congratulated me on the child we are expecting,” he said softly. “Surely if you were carrying a child, you would have told the father of that child before you told anyone else.”

“That would make sense, would it not?” Katerina sighed. “I meant to tell you, but I wanted to know how you felt about me first. I know you want children, and I did not want your feelings for me to be colored by the fact that we are expecting.”

He took her hand. “Walk with me.” They walked down toward the lake, and he had a frown on his face. “In my family, we marry the woman we are destined to marry. I knew from the day I met you that you were meant to be my bride.”

“Being meant to be your bride is very different than you loving me. Mayhap you felt like you could eventually love me. Or mayhap you just felt as if you could have handsome sons with me. Either way, it is not love. Love is what I want from you, Braden.”

“I see. And how do you feel about me?” he asked softly.

She sighed. “I knew I loved you when I saw how you were with the clansmen here. You are a gentle, good man, and you are always so good to me. Of course, I love you. I would have to be crazed not to.”

“Yes, you would.” He said with a wink. “Katerina, I have loved you from the moment I asked you to marry me. I did not quite know you yet, but I knew you were the woman I needed in my life. The woman I could not imagine living another day without. You have grown so much during our time together. Now you are a strong, feisty woman who is willing to do anything for the people she loves. I am so proud of who you have become.”

“Really? You are not just saying that because I carry the first of your sons?”

“I am not. I do not know why I thought you knew I loved you, but I did. I did not think it was something I needed to tell you. I thought I showed it every time I stroked your cheek. Every time I kissed you. Every time we made love.”

She stopped walking, looking up at him. “Every woman needs to hear she is loved. But mayhap I should tell you first. I love you, Braden. I love you in a way I never thought I could love a man. You found a devastated girl at your castle in England, and you made her one of the happiest women alive. I thank you for that.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “Our people will be pleased to hear you are expecting a son.”

“Your wife would be pleased to hear a declaration of love.” Katerina wanted to kick him. She had poured out her heart to him, and he had talked of the baby and what it would mean to their people.

He laughed. “I love you, Katerina McClain. I love you with everything inside me. I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much love a man can have for his wife.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “That is better. Now you can tell me every day for the rest of our lives.”

As they walked back toward the keep, he asked, “How long have you known about the baby?”

“Only a few days. I planned to tell you the night word came that the Campbells were visiting. Then their visit took precedence, so I decided I would tell you as soon as they left, but while I was talking with Lorna, she guessed from my reaction that I was expecting…and…she told you. I am very sorry you did not hear it from me as you should have. I will do better next time.”

“Aye, you will.” He grinned at her. “I want to shout it from the rooftops. I am going to be a father, and you are going to be a mother. We are going to have a baby!”

She laughed. “It is almost like you did not know that what we do together could make one.”

“I knew. And I tried hard to make a son, but confirmation that a man has achieved his goals is always good.”

He saw his father and mother walking toward the lake. “We are having a baby!”

Robert laughed and shook hands with him. “It seems as if you are surprised. Did you not expect to have sons?”

Matilda folded Katerina in her embrace. “The day you came to us, I knew you were meant to be my daughter. I did not yet know if you would be a daughter of the heart, or one who would marry my son, but I knew you were mine. I am so happy to hear of the babe!”

Katerina sighed happily. “I am happy that I can finally talk about it.”

“I wonder if he will have a power…” Matilda said with a smile.