Page 19 of Kilty By Association
“Da dadadadaDA dada.”
Panicked hazel eyes shot toward Elspeth, and then he was addressing the bairn again. “Nay, lassie, I’m no’ yer da, I’m just—”
“Da?”
“I’mCraig. Can ye sayCraig?”
As Elspeth hid her snicker, her daughter’s face lit up happily. “Da! Da da!”
“Sweet, nay, I’m no’da, I’m—”
“She calls everythingda,” Robbie interrupted blandly from Craig’s other side. “Yesterday she called my horseda. And her nappy. And a spoon.”
Craig gaped. “A spoon?”
Robbie nodded. “She used to callme‘da’.”
“Bee!” Mary blurted, her name for her big brother.
“See?” Elspeth grinned at Craig’s expression, slowly fading from terror to humor. “Ye’re in good company. Aspoon.”
“Bee!”
Elspeth nodded. “That’s her word forRobbie. Katharine isKaka,Brigit isJit. I’mMama.”
“And everything else isda,” Robbie finished.
But Craig was still looking a little speculative as he readjusted his hold on her daughter. He tucked Mary against one large shoulder so he could grab the reins once more, but Mary twisted.
She reached for his beard, grabbing the red hairs in both hands and tugging happily. “Dadada.”
“Aye,” he murmured, trying to detangle her fingers. “Mayhap only one hand, sweet?”
“Da?”
Elspeth could see the grin beneath his bush of a beard.
“Aye, wee one. Da, if ye’d like. Go back to sleep, hmm?”
And to their surprise—at least, Robbie was surprised, judging from the expression on his face—Mary did. With one hand in her mouth and the fingers of the other curled through his beard, Elspeth’s youngest daughter laid her head against Craig’s shoulder, her eyelids heavy.
It was…
Well, presumably there were some people in the world who didn’t care for children, who thought them noisy and annoying.Theymight look at the sweet scene andnotthink “Oh how precious.”
But everyone else would be impressed.
And Elspeth…? Something inside her chest flared to life in that moment.
This large, dangerous man was cradling her bairn so softly, so gently. His hand—which had once spread acrossherback, holding her steady as his lips awakened magic in her—now held wee Mary safe. He hadn’t minded the beard tugging or the drool, and, in fact, was still smiling faintly.
Oh, be still, my heart.
“Mother?” Robbie’s call jerked her from her besotted staring, and she swung around to him.
“What? I’m no’ dream— I wasnae— What?”
Her son was grinning at her blathering. “I was just going to ask, if we’re stopping at Oliphant Castle, do we still have time to stop to stretch our legs? Craig promised we might when we reached the valley.”
