Page 53 of The Duke's Concealed Vow
“Very good, Miss Tennison,” he said, no longer looking at the woman now that he was once again holding his son. Young Roger was looking up at his father as though he did not understand quite what he was seeing. Rowan laughed, gently touching his son’s nose with his index finger.
“That is precisely the look your mother is going to give me when she sees you with me and not Miss Tennison,” he said. Then, he leaned in conspiratorially, as though preparing to tell the boy a big secret. “And then, she will steal you from me and look at you in this exact same way.”
The baby cooed, and although Rowan knew he could not understand what his father was saying, he also knew the child felt safe and secure in his arms. Just the way a father should make his children feel, he thought as a mixture of pride and nostalgia washed over him. Just the way that Father always made Louisa and I feel.
Quietly, he made his way downstairs. It would be another hour before they had to depart, so he decided that he and Roger would wait for Serena at the bottom of the grand staircase. He held his infant son against his chest, humming the lullabies thathis mother used to sing to him when he was young. He was so lost in his role as a doting father that he did not notice Serena descend the stairs a short time later.
“You are incorrigible,” she said with a giggle, reaching toward Rowan and Roger.
Rowan gave her an impish grin, turning his body so that she grabbed only his arms as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You look beautiful, darling,” he said. “Dare I say more ravishing than I have ever seen you?”
Serena laughed again, shaking her head.
“You flatter me, my love,” she said. “And yet, it shall get you nowhere. May I please see our little boy?”
Rowan chuckled, handing Roger to his mother. Serena’s eyes lit up like a thousand brilliant stars as she smiled down at their son.
“You are such a beautiful boy,” she said, kissing a soft tuft of hair that peeked out from under his christening bonnet.
Rowan put one hand on the small of his wife’s back and the other on their son.
“He looks just like me,” he teased with a prideful smile. “Of course, he is beautiful.”
Serena laughed, the sound affecting him as it always had.
“I had no idea His Grace was so arrogant,” she said, pushing him playfully.
Rowan lifted his head and scoffed with humor.
“It is hardly arrogance when it is factual, darling,” he said.
Serena giggled again.
“Are we ready to depart for the chapel?” she asked. “Or do you need a few minutes with your reflection?”
Rowan laughed. He loved the way they teased one another. It was the most comfortable relationship he had ever had with anyone, apart from his father. The constraints of proper conduct and etiquette did not exist inside the walls of Dalenwood Manorwith his wife. They could truly enjoy each other’s company and share many non-conventional laughs without fear of judgment.
“I am ready, love,” he said.
Together, they boarded the carriage. Rowan insisted on holding Roger as they traveled to the chapel, and Serena only playfully protested. They sat side by side, each of them enthralled with the tiny little life they had brought into the world.
Rowan thought back to what his mother had said to him before he had confessed everything to Serena. She had been right. Opening up to Serena and allowing her into his heart had been the best decision he could have ever made. Now, he had not only a wife, but also an heir, a son whom he loved more dearly than anything in the entire world. Fortunate seemed too tame a word for the way Rowan felt. And he allowed the bliss to fill his heart more every day.
When they arrived at the chapel, Rowan was frozen in his tracks. Every single one of their friends and family members sat waiting to witness the christening of little Roger Davenport, heir to the Dalenwood dukedom. As they made their way down the aisle, Rowan and Serena smiled, silently greeting their loved ones as they joined the vicar at the altar. They reached the bowl with which Roger would be baptized, gently handing off their son to the vicar, who smiled warmly at them.
“Welcome,” he said. “Are you ready to begin the ceremony?”
Rowan looked at Serena, who was in awe over their son. She was surveying his perfect features, and Rowan’s heart swelled with pride and adoration for his family, the two most precious people in his entire world. The guild he had felt over his father’s death had finally passed. He had no doubt that his father would be proud of him, and of Serena and Roger, as well. When her eyes met his, they gave each other a simultaneous nod.
“We are ready,” Rowan said to the vicar.
The holy man gave a sage nod, lifting his head to greet the smiling faces of all Serena’s and Rowan’s loved ones. Rowan glanced out to see his father-in-law, Imogen, and Julian beaming with joy. Olivia, who had become like another sister to him in the year that he had been married to Serena, wiped away tears of joy from her cheeks.
The dowager, who had been more of a mother to him in the year since the day in the study when he had confessed everything to her, sat regally, looking happier and prouder than he had seen her in years. Rowan gave her a fond smile and a nod, and she blew him a kiss, something she had not done since he was a young boy.
He had never believed that he and his mother could ever repair their relationship, just as much as he had believed that he would never find a woman with whom he truly wished to share his life and in the joys he and Serena had experienced during their marriage. But happily, he had been just as mistaken. A single year had taught Rowan that anything was possible. And he could not have been more thrilled.
