Page 84 of The Irish Arrangement

And with me. Forever.

30

CARA

One year later…

Donal smiled as soon as my mother picked him up. I rolled my eyes, smirking at his biggest source of being spoiled.

“Mom.”

“Oh, hush,” she chided. “He’s just too darned cute to let suffer.”

“He wasn’t suffering. He needs to get more used to being on his tummy.” I couldn’t be mad. Seeing my mother healthy and happy, holding my son, would always make my heart swell with love and joy.

She’d put on some weight, and every day that she lived here, she seemed less like that shell of disease and weakness from before.

“Aren’t you?” she cooed at him, carrying him away and swaying as she hummed an old lullaby I recalled her using on me when I was younger.

“Again?” Riley laughed as she came into the room. She shook her head, smiling at my mother. “That boy’s never going to want to do tummy time if she saves him from it nonstop.”

I laughed at the cook. She’d become more of a friend than a member of the staff. Over the last year, I’d welcomed my role in the household. As the wife of a Mob lord. The mother of an heir. And the woman at the head of the castle the guards would do well to listen to.

Running wasn’t an option. It never had been. But right now, as I realized my mother could keep my three-month-old preoccupied, I wanted to run into my husband’s arms.

He’d come home just moments ago, and I was eager for a chance to talk with him.

And explore his rugged body.

Having my mother here was a blessing, but I still wished Donal could have met his namesake.

Declan and Ian’s father passed away three months before his grandson was born, but I was glad he’d had a chance to know he was coming soon.

After Declan and I confessed our love for each other, he took me up to the blocked-off floor and introduced me to his father. He was weak and gruff, but as soon as I learned that he was the one who spent so much time building up the impressive stables out back, I quickly bonded with him. Then when my mother moved in, she’d kept him company talking about horses too.

Oscar took over the farm I’d worked so hard to keep going. At first, I worried that Mom would struggle to give it up. Her love for me, and the excitement about having a grandchild, was plenty to persuade her to sell the farm to Oscar.

Declan practically gave it away, selling it for next to nothing because he felt that it was a repayment to the stable hand for always being there for me when my own father hadn’t been. With new equipment, rebuilt barns, and actual staff, Oscar was set to be very successful. He often visited, glad to check out the lands here and ride out with me, Mom, or Declan.

He’d become a family friend, not an employee, and I was glad it had worked out so well.

After Donal passed away, Mom split her time between helping me prepare for the baby and at the stables. That was how I cut my time too. Although I was a new mother, I was young, and there was so much to enjoy and do with the stables here. Breeding plans were in place, and I was eager to see how the stables would grow with my influence.

Unfortunately, after Donal passed away, Ian grew distant. Declan worried about him. My gruff husband seemed to always be worried or concerned about something or the other.

Being the head of the head of the Sullivan Family was no small role to fulfill. But he was just the man for it, always quick to act and level headed enough to rule.

I knew he noticed how Ian had pulled away. I was curious about it too. I’d gotten slightly closer to my brother-in-law, and I was happy to see him enjoy being an uncle, but what if it wasn’t just grief? What if he was bothered about something other than losing his father?

Motherhood was a blessing, even though it was hard. And fitting into my role in this family and household was a constant challenge too. Now, it was one I welcomed.

Yet, when I spotted Declan heading upstairs, on his phone, I hustled after him. I was determined for him to take me to bed, to spend time with me, not all the issues of the week.

I caught up to him just outside our room, but I didn’t surprise him. It was almost impossible to ever actually catch him unaware. Trained and skilled as a fighter, he had to be quick like that.

As I reached up to pull his phone down from whatever he was texting, he caught me in his arms and heaved me up over his shoulder. It wasn’t often that he loosened up to be this playful, but I loved it when he was.

“Trying to sneak up on me?” he teased.

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