Page 109 of The Empire and the Wolf King

Hayley grinned. “Let me check first.” She opened the clamshell and poked her finger in. “Yep, seems like short ribs!”

Zach groaned, put his arms around Emma’s shoulders, and buried his face in her hair. “Don’t make me watch! We should have gone out.”

We got the boxes of food in front of all the places. I said, “I’m sorry we didn’t open it in the kitchen and put it prettily on the plates.”

Zach said, “I couldn’t bear letting you do it out of my sight, or in my sight, I might have a problem — but kidding aside, this is perfect.”

Magnus pushed his chair out and raised a glass of whisky. We all raised our glasses.

He opened a piece of paper and I could see his handwriting on it. He squinted at his notes in the darkness, “Och nae, tis difficult tae read, I have a good toast I wanted tae make...”

I turned on my phone’s flashlight and held it over the page.

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 joy and blessin’ 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.

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