He chuckled lightly and turned to Starla, who was stuffing another berry into her mouth.
Blake appeared from around the side of the house, slightly out of breath. ‘It’s happening.’
Eda got to her feet. ‘Now?’
‘Now.’ Blake dashed off again.
Eda ran into the house to dress while Roul found clothes for their daughter. A few minutes later, they were making their way through the trees and stepping out onto the green lawn of Wright House.
‘I hope Astin’s here,’ Eda said, chewing her lip. ‘She may need help.’
Roul rolled his eyes. ‘She’ll be fine. Stop fretting.’
Ignoring his reassurances, Eda ran ahead.
‘Here we go,’ he whispered to Starla as they entered the stable. Everyone was gathered around Rosemary’s stall. The donkey was lying on the ground, labouring hard. They had put Basil in the stall at the other end. The pair were rarely apart, so he looked suitably lost.
A smile lit up Candace’s face the moment she spotted Starla, but then it faded when she noticed her wet hair. ‘Eda, did you take my granddaughter into the creek again?’
‘Busy, Mother,’ Eda called from inside the stall.
Candace tutted and walked over to take Starla from Roul. ‘Let us go see what the other children are doing.’ Then off they went inside.
While Candace had spent a majority of Eda’s pregnancy pointing out that her latest grandchild was conceived out of wedlock, she had also held Eda’s hand through the entire birth. And six months later, when Eda announced she wanted to resume training at the barracks a few hours a week, her mother had been the first to put her hand up to care for Starla.
No one asked Eda why she was returning to training. It was Eda. She needed to feel ready for whatever life threw at her next, and Roul needed her happy. If that meant letting Blackmane, Tatum, Alveye, and Hadewaye beat her up a few times a week, then so be it.
Astin arrived at the stables just in time, clapping Roul on the back as he passed by, then making his way into the stall where Eda and Blake were now crouched down, making soothing noises in an attempt to keep Rosemary calm. The women stepped outside so Astin had room to work.
Roul wrapped an arm around Eda, pulling her to his chest and kissing the top of her head. ‘She’s doing great.’
Twenty minutes later, the foal was born, a spitting image of Basil but much cuter.
‘I guess there’s no question as to who the father is,’ Blake said.
Eda slipped quietly back into the stall to meet the foal. ‘It’s a boy.’
‘A colt,’ Astin corrected. ‘What horrendous name are we giving this one?’
‘Pepper,’ Blake and Eda said at the same time.
Astin and Roul exchanged a look but said nothing.
Lyndal appeared at the stable door, the duck at her feet. ‘Roul, your family’s here. How’s she doing?’
‘It’s a boy.’
‘A colt,’ Astin called.
Lyndal clapped her hands together and wandered inside to see.
Roul tapped on the stall door to get Eda’s attention. ‘Congratulations, soldier.’
She beamed up at him. ‘I’ll be in soon.’
* * *
Eda nursed Starla upstairs where there were fewer distractions, then made her way down to dinner. Their family gatherings were so enormous nowadays that Harlan and Astin had built two trestle tables to accommodate everyone.
