hands pause, then move to another spot. Fiona was still wearing her chemise, so ‘twas impossible for him to know exactly what Merewyn was feeling, but he could tell something wasn’t right.
There was still too much stomach under her hands.
“Merewyn?” he began hesitantly, dimly aware of Moira behind him, cooing softly to the infant as she bathed the lassie.
The midwife didn’t turn. “I ken,” she hissed quietly.
Graham hated not knowing what was wrong, but he had to trust she did, and trust she didn’t want to worry Fiona or the others.
So when she placed her palms on either side of Fiona’s still-rounded stomach and tilted her head back, her smile looked a little strained. “Ye remember what I said about the afterbirth?”
“Aye,” Fiona groaned, her head tilted to one side, propped on Skye’s shoulder as her twin began to look worried.
Merewyn blew out a breath. “I was wrong. Let me ken when ye have to push.”
“Wrong? How could ye be— Ooh.”
Nodding, the midwife bent again, her hands reaching under the stool. “That’s it, Fiona, same as before. Just allow it to happen.”
“Oh God in Heaven!” Fiona moaned; her right knuckles white where they gripped the chair. Davina scrambled to take her hand, but Fiona ended up clutching her forearm. “It hurts!”
“I ken it, I ken it,” Merewyn murmured soothingly. “Are ye ready?”
With another keening groan, Fiona bore down.
Merewyn cried out, “Aye!”
Then Fiona was leaning to one side, her energy spent, as a tearful Skye took her weight. Merewyn straightened, clutching another bairn, and beamed.
“Another lass, Fiona,” she declared happily. “Twins!”
“Twins?” Fiona repeated in a whisper, her head on her sister’s shoulder. “Twin lassies.”
“Aye, and near identical! We’ll have to tie a string around the eldest’s ankle in order to tell them apart.”
“Twins,” Skye repeated, holding her twin sister. “Two wee lassies.” And then they were both crying, and Graham stepped forward to take the new bairn from Merewyn as well.
As he straightened, holding the crying bairn, he met Davina’s eyes. “Get her into the bed so Merewyn can see to her without having to climb up and down.”
When she nodded, he swore he saw pride in her gaze. As he turned away to take the first bairn from Moira and pass her the second, he tried not to wonder what that look might have meant.
While he and the older woman saw to the bairns—and he was thankful they had four arms between them to handle the squalling, squirming infants—Davina helped first Fiona, then Merewyn, to the bed.
It seemed an eternity had passed—although the moon still hadn’t risen outside—before he could tuck the bairns into their mother’s arms. Straightening, he sent a glare Merewyn’s way, then caught Davina’s gaze.
“Please dinnae allow Merewyn to exert herself.”
“I’ll fetch and carry whatever she needs,” assured the woman he’d once thought would bear his bairns.
‘Twas that reminder—and the reminder of how well they understood one another—which had him nodding curtly. “I’ll go inform Finn of his new blessings. Congratulations, my lady.”
Fiona grinned weakly as he offered her a small bow. Before he turned to leave, Vina smiled again at him.
‘Twas a warm smile, a loving one. Likely because of the miracle she’d just witnessed, he reminded himself.
As he turned to stalk out the door, the reminder didn’t help, and his traitorous, glutton-for-punishment heart leapt.
Davina didn’t think she’d ever seen anything as utterly amazing as the birth of Fiona’s bairns. Skye was a blubbering mess—who would’ve thought the tough woman would go all gooey over bairns?—so Davina was the one to help Moira with the infants and Merewyn’s demands. It took both of them, but soon, they had Fiona cleaned and ready to present her husband with the new lassies.
Moira bustled off to arrange for a bed to be moved into Fiona’s room because Merewyn was insisting on staying longer, and everyone could tell she was as exhausted as the new mother. So ‘twas left up to Davina to be the one to open the door for Finn, to smile brightly at his wary expression, before gesturing him toward the bed.
And when she saw his tears as Fiona introduced him to his daughters, Davina’s started again.
Knowing she wasn’t needed at this family gathering, she slipped out of the room. Intending to go back to the chambers she’d been given, she was surprised to find herself in front of Katlyn and Kiergan’s room. ‘Twas still early enough they might not be asleep, but she didn’t want to risk bothering them.
Still, she placed her palm against the door