“Happy?” he asked as he reached out a finger and the baby gripped it in his tiny fist with a surprising strength.
She nodded. “Happier than I could have ever dreamed not that long ago.” She glanced up at him. “I love you, Kit. With all my heart, for all my life.”
He brushed his nose against hers gently and then kissed her. “And I love you.”
“You’d best go take your boy and show him off to all your friends,” she said, shifting the baby into his arms. “And I’m fairly certain that Phoebe is convincing Bibi to run away to the circus, so I should check on that situation.”
She squeezed his arm and slipped off in one direction, leaving him to head in the other. He found James, Simon and Graham standing together. Graham had baby Maddie on his shoulders and she was tugging at his hair, though it didn’t seem to bother him much.
“A fine son, my friend,” James said, chucking the baby beneath the chin with one fingertip. “You look happy.”
“I am,” Kit said, and looked down into the eyes of his son. The eyes of his father. “I will never not miss my father, but this past year has been happy in so many ways. He helped steer us this way from the beyond.”
Simon nodded. “I like the idea that the few decent fathers amongst our friendship circle would be proud of all of us now.”
“How could they not be?” Graham asked. “God, I used to think of having children and it terrified me that I would turn into a man I loathed and feared. But…” He glanced up at the little girl who was laughing riotously as she played a magnificent drum solo on her father’s skull. “…I could not be more different.”
Kit shifted the baby to his shoulder and patted his back as he nudged Graham with his free elbow. “You never would have been like your father.”
Graham nodded. “So Adelaide convinced me. Where is that woman anyway?”
His friends roamed away and Kit continued to make his way through the crowd. Matthew and Ewan were standing with their children, as well. Though Jonathon was only two, he was a great talker and could also use the finger language his mother and father had developed as children. Ewan held his daughter, Abigail, sleeping in his arms. When Kit stepped up, the little boy signed to his father, who nodded and motioned toward Kit.
“See the baby?” Jonathon asked, huge blue eyes wide and far too adorable to be denied any request.
“Of course,” Kit said. Ewan passed his baby to Matthew, then swung the boy into his arms and tilted him down toward Adam. Jonathon examined the boy a moment and then sighed with contentment. “Best friends,” Jonathon declared.
He squirmed in Ewan’s arms and Ewan set him down with one of those bright, silent laughs. Jonathon tore off, leaving the men and the babies alone.
“It seems all these children are destined to be friends,” Matthew said. “God help us all when they’re old enough to get into trouble like we did as boys.”
“God help us when their mothers blame us for their impetuousness,” Ewan wrote on the notebook he always carried.
Matthew grinned. “And rightly so.”
Kit chuckled as he strode away toward Baldwin and Helena, Lucas and Diana, and Hugh and Amelia. Diana’s stomach extended into the circle of the group as she awaited the imminent arrival of her own child, her first with Lucas. When Kit stepped up, her expression softened. “Oh, he is precious. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help to you during the birth. I think I could have knocked over half the things in your chamber with this thing.” She motioned to her stomach with a playful shake of her head.
“Amelia and Helena were wonderful stand-ins, along with the midwife you suggested, and used your guidance well,” Kit said. “Though I recognize how rare it is to have a future duke brought into the world by the hands of two duchesses.”
Amelia smiled up at Hugh. “We never stand on circumstance in this little troupe, do we, my love?”
“Never have. Cannot imagine we ever will.” Hugh put his arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “What fun would that be? Make sure my sister gets to hold the baby, will you? Lizzie is around somewhere here.”
“But where are Robert and Katherine? I don’t see them in the crowd.”
“I think they went out on the terrace,” Helena said. “They were talking rather seriously and he said he needed some air.”
Kit nodded and waved them off as he moved toward Sarah. She greeted him with a kiss and then took the baby from his arms. “Everyone doing well?”
“Yes. Lizzie wants to hold the baby. Would you mind?” he asked.
She lifted on her tiptoes. “There she is by the punch. Oh, she looks lovely in that yellow dress. Like a spring bloom. I think this may be her Season, Kit.”
“I leave that to you matchmakers. I’m going out to the terrace a moment. Robert is out there and I want to speak to him.”
“May I join you shortly?” she asked, her blue eyes lighting up with a little mischievous light.
“I will be very disappointed if you don’t.” He kissed her cheek and then made his way through the French doors and onto the dim terrace.
