Page 13 of Long Live the King

He said without reading, “We hae convened here, a light tae illuminate the words, a deck built from hearty trees, here in the present, with our gathered guests from so many different ages, one, our Sophie, carrying a bairn, bringing a future tae our family?—”

Sophie smiled, “I am due with the next moon.”

“Aye, twill be a blessing. And we hae spent the day with bairns, celebrating the honor of them, and now we hae a toast from the past that I read upon the computer?—”

Fraoch said, “M’arm is growin’ tired.”

Magnus said, “Och, ye are soft.”

Fraoch shrugged. “I am not the one who has written out a blessin’ tae read afore dinner.”

Magnus ignored him and began to read: “Chef Zach and Madame Emma, may the blessin’ of light be upon ye – light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine upon ye like a great peat fire so stranger and friend may warm himself in the flame. And may light shine from yer eyes, like a candle set in the window, biddin’ wanderers tae come in from the storm tae bless them with yer fine meals and yer warmth. And may the blessing of the rain be upon ye, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue Heaven shines reflected...”

Fraoch lowered his glass.

Magnus grinned, and continued, “...andmay the blessing of the earth be on ye, soft under yer feet as ye pass along the roads, soft under ye as you lie upon it, tired at the end of day.” He raised his glass even higher. “And may yer love grow strengthened in the arms of our family. Slàinte!”

We all said, “Slàinte!”

Fraoch said, “I grew impatient but twas lovely.”

We sipped from our whisky and then dug into the food, a loud cacophony of conversation and laughter as we ate. At one point Noah woke up, crying in his bed. Beaty said, “Pardon me, I must go see tae the bairn. He is all turned upside down from the party today.”

Quentin closed the box covering her food. “...to keep it warm.” She left the deck with Mookie following along behind her, never leaving her side.

Hayley said, “Man, I really like the ease these days, nothing happening, no worries, history is settled?—”

James said, “Uh oh,” and added, “Could we maybe wheesht and not tempt fate, because Sophie’s due date is this week?”

We all raised our glasses to him and Sophie.

I tossed back a little more whisky. “Sophie, I cannot wait to meet your new baby, Jack and Noah are so old we need new babies around here!”

Everyone laughed, because the boys weren’t even one yet.

James raised his glass, “Here’s to the Irish triplets we’re about to have in the house!”

I said, “One of the things I’ve liked is that the pregnancies take almost ten months, they’re fairly constant, we can judge time by them. Even if you time jump, even if time shifts, your body is still growing a baby and it takes the amount of time that it takes.”

Sophie said, “Och, I am ready for it tae be done though, the bairn has been kickin’ up a storm, but aye, with time changin’ around us, tis nice tae hae somethin’ that follows the moon. The physician told me the bairn was due on the twenty-second day of the month, but I am inclined tae think he will be delivered tae our arms on the night of the new moon.”

“That’s lovely, we ought to drink to that.” I raised my glass. “To the coming bairn on the night of the new moon and Sophie and James’s waiting arms.”

Everyone raised their glasses and we toasted with a bit more whisky.

Then Zach stood. “No one stop me. I know I’m not supposed to do anything, I must be waited on, but if we don’t have a round of beers we’re going to be drunk off my arse.” He hiccuped, laughed, and went into the house.

Magnus shook his head. “How long did we keep him from the kitchen?”

Emma said, “It was a valiant effort, but lasted about an hour.”

Fraoch said, “Tis where he is lord, he must rule over it.”

We all raised our glasses again, but then Zach returned with a case of beer and a pitcher of what he called Party Punch, a nonalcoholic juice.

Hayley said, “Hey, how come you don’t serve us Party Punch after a jump? Why go-go juice? Party Punch tastes much better.”

“It’s much better because it has mounds of sugar in it, go-go juice is specially made to be vitamin heavy and... gah!” He waved his hand. “Just drink your juice. Just accept that I have concoctions that are specially made and I know best. When I pass everyone a juice...” He popped a cap off a beer bottle and tipped it up taking a swig. “What do you say?”

---