Without anything to say to her father, she began to take the steps to the keep only to come to a halt when Gabriel escaped McCloud’s clutches and ran off screaming. Vesper and Margaretha watched McCloud as the man tried to corral the squirrely little boy, but Gabriel had no intention of being captured by his grandfather. He began to run around the wagon that was being repaired in the bailey, much to the amusement of the soldiers.
Because he was being so fussy, Margaretha set Gavin to his feet as well, holding tight to his little hand so she wouldn’t bein the same position that McCloud was, but Gavin had learned a trick with his grandmother– if he bit her fingers, she would release him, so he clamped down with his baby teeth, forcing a yelp from his grandmother but she most definitely released him. He was off like a shot, running into the bailey and screaming with glee.
“That little beast!” Margaretha said, rubbing the spot where he’d nipped her. “He bit me! Again!”
Vesper couldn’t help but grin at her naughty boys. “They are very clever, both of them,” she said. “Would you not say so?”
Margaretha shook her head. “Naughty little beasts.”
Vesper began to laugh. “I am sure Val will be very proud of their resourcefulness.”
“If I do not beat it out of them before he knows what devil spawns he has fathered.”
Vesper continued to laugh, turning to put her hand on Margaretha in a gesture of pity only to see that Margaretha was smiling, too.
“You are the one who wanted grandchildren,” she reminded her.
“I must have been mad.”
Still chuckling, Vesper headed off after Gavin, who tended to be the faster of the two. Margaretha didn’t run these days as McCloud did, so chasing down the twins fell to Vesper and her father. As they tried to run down the two little boys, over by the main entrance, the men threw the big iron bolt across the gate and began pulling the gates open.
The old gates creaked and groaned on their hinges as they were opened. Seeing daylight beyond the gate, Gavin switched course and began to run for the opening. Vesper picked up her pace after him, reaching him just about the time the gates opened enough to admit men on horseback.
Vesper wasn’t paying any attention to the men who had entered Holystone; she was more concerned about her sons who very much needed to eat and sleep. Gavin was screaming in her ear as she walked away from the gates, so much so that she barely heard someone shout her name. In fact, the shout came twice before she turned around to see who was calling her.
A very big knight had entered at the head of a large contingent of men, all of them looking seasoned and, quite frankly, weary and beaten. Mail was damaged, tunics were dirty, and horses were shaggy from a brutal winter. As Vesper peered at the men curiously, because some of them were still coming in through the gate, the big knight ripped his helm off.
“Vesper!”
It was Val.
Realization hit Vesper so hard that her knees nearly buckled. In fact, she almost stumbled with the baby in her arms but she caught herself, astonished to the bone as Val vaulted from his horse and began running in her direction. Vesper could hardly believe it; all she could do was stand there and gasp.He was here!God, how many times had she dreamed of this moment? It seemed like a million, at the very least. But when the moment finally came, it came so subtly that she found she was hardly prepared.
Was it a dream?
Was he truly here?
He called her name again, snapping her out of her shock. With a cry, Vesper forced her legs to work, running towards Val only to be intercepted by Gabriel, who had escaped McCloud and was running for parts unknown. She managed to reach out and grab her other son, who threw himself onto the ground and began to scream.
Now, she had two screaming boys in her arms as she tried to run to Val but she simply couldn’t do it. Too much struggle,perhaps too much shock, had her stumbling to her knees. It didn’t matter, however. Val was on her so quickly that she could hardly draw a breath before he was kissing her furiously, his arms going around both her and their screaming sons. After the first few eager kisses, Val began to roar with laughter at the first sights and sounds of his children.
His sons.
“God’s Bones,” he said, his white teeth gleaming beneath his dark and heavy beard. “I have dreamt of this moment. My God, I cannot tell you how much I have dreamt of this moment and when it finally comes, it is pure chaos.”
Vesper was weeping with joy, laughing with Val in spite of herself. “My sweet darling,” she murmured, kissing him as he kissed her in return. “This is not how I dreamt it, either. I cannot even put my arms around you because if I let go of them, they will run off and we will lose them both.”
Val had tears in his eyes as he pulled Gabriel from his mother, holding the boy in front of him and looking into a handsome little face that looked very much like his own. Gabriel, however, had no idea who the strange man was and didn’t take kindly to him, so he tried to kick and push him away.
But it made no difference to Val. He was instantly, and completely, in love with his child. Seeing that little face satisfied something deep within his soul.
“Which one is he?” he asked Vesper. “Gabriel or Gavin?”
“Gabriel,” Vesper said, wiping the tears from her face as she watched Val gaze upon his son for the first time. “He is your second born. Gavin was first. You can tell Gabriel from Gavin because he has a big dimple in his left cheek. See it when he opens his mouth?”
Val could, indeed, see it. “Gabriel,” he repeated reverently. “See how strong he is! And big! I did not imagine them to be so big!”
He said it with awe as the child tried to pull away. But Vesper forced Gavin to his feet and she took hold of Gabriel’s arm, forcing the boy to stand as well even though Val still had his hands on him. She spoke firmly but softly to her sons.
