6 Years Later

“I do not care what agricultural experiences you think you have. You alone cannot solve the Irish famine!”

“I have more sense of the matter than you, you pompous buffoon. You would rather just pretend that the issue did not exist.”

Allan released a sigh of exasperation, though he was somewhat amused by the bickering taking place between the Duke and Lord Ramsbury. The two were sitting together in the library, drinking scotch, and arguing the latest reports on the state of agriculture in Ireland and the rest of Europe. Of course, they would manage to turn such a humdrum topic into one of great debate.

“Were it not Christmas, I would show you who exactly between the two of us is the buffoon!” the Duke exclaimed.

Allan stepped a foot over the threshold of the open door and shot them both a scolding look.

“Is this any way to behave? What kind of example are you both setting for your grandchildren?”

The Duke and Lord Ramsbury each looked at him sheepishly.

“The children are not about, are they?” the Duke finally ventured. “We were just having a conversation, son. No harm done.”

As if they had been summoned, Allan’s two oldest children chose that moment to run past the room.

“Come back, you pompous buffoon!” he heard his oldest son yell as he chased after his little brother.

As their little footsteps faded down the hall, Allan turned a censorious glare onto his father and father-in-law. Both men looked appropriately ashamed.

“Yes, well, let us try to keep a civil tongue in our head, the lot of us, yes?” Allan had to fight not to laugh at their stricken expressions. They looked like two small boys who had just been caught being naught and were receiving a stern talking to.

“We will,” Lord Ramsbury assured him. “We swear it.”

“Good,” Allan nodded before stepping fully back out into the hall. He could not maintain his strict demeanor a moment longer and started snickering under his breath as he walked away. Before he even reached the end of the hallway, he heard their voices rise again as they started in on each other once more.

Just like an old-married couple. Those two are hopeless.

Yet, he could not truly be upset with them. Despite their frequent arguments, the Duke and Lord Ramsbury had become rather close friends in the years since Hope and Allan had married.

They had been very resistant to each other in the beginning, but over time, they had come to realize they had much more in common than not. It was also no small thing that they had cleared the air the first Christmas they had all spent together.

Indeed, the two of them had come far in the six years since. In fact, they had all come rather far since then.

Allan made his way to the family room, where he knew he would find the women and children. They were usually preferable company to his squabbling father and father-in-law, especially when the two really had their teeth sunk into a disagreement.

Sure enough, almost the moment he stepped through the doorway into the room, a small, solid body slammed into his legs. Tiny arms wrapped around his knees, trapping him.

“Papa! Come see what Nana and Gammy got me for Christmas presents!” His five-year-old son Billy gazed up at him with wide brown eyes that looked exactly like his mothers.

“In order for me to see what they gave you, you have to let me go, son,” he gently instructed. “I cannot walk with you clinging to me so.”

Billy giggled and released him before scampering to the circle of matronly affection that had formed in the middle of the room.

As he neared the sofa, his wife glanced up and gave him the same smile that still managed to make his heart race even after all their time together. She was sitting, holding the tiny bundle that was their newborn daughter. Their middle child, three-year-old Adam, was sitting at Lady Ramsbury’s feet, playing with a toy soldier.

He glanced up with a toothy grin. “Papa!”

“We are going to show him our toys, Adam!” Billy declared as he settled on the floor next to his brother.

Lady Ramsbury and the Duchess fused over the boys, helping them arrange their presents to show off as Allan settled onto the cushion next to his wife.

“The boys have been so excited for you to join us,” Hope said with a grin. “Billy is particularly pleased to have been given a little wooden train by Mother. I am sure he will want to demonstrate how that one works first.”

Allan chuckled. “Whatever makes him happy, I am more than content to oblige. How is my daughter?”

He glanced down at the baby’s sleeping pink face and felt his heart tug with adoration and a fierce need to protect.

“If only she would sleep so soundly at night,” Hope sighed, though her face glowed with unconditional love as she stared down at the child. “Still, she is such a precious thing, is she not?”

“She will be as beautiful as her mother, no doubt,” Allan rumbled. “A fact that fills me with equal parts of pride and dread.”

Hope giggled. “Why? Afraid some young rake will come along and sweep her off her feet? Perhaps a cynical Lord with a love for romance novels?”

He smirked. “If only she could be so lucky.”

Hope let out a laugh. “You think very highly of yourself, don’t you?”

He shrugged and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You appear to like me, so there must be something admirable to my character.”

“Of that there is no doubt,” she softly affirmed. She gazed at him for a long moment before saying, “Have I told you lately how blissfully happy you make me?”

He stroked a finger down her cheek, his chest swelling with pride and devotion for this woman.

“Not since last night, I believe,” he teased.

She grinned. “Well, you do you know. You have given me so much. Love. A home. Beautiful children, and a family I never dreamed would be possible.”

“You gave me those things as much as I gave them to you,” he insisted. “None of this would be here without you. None of us would be here, and that is a certainty.”

“I want to always have this,” she said, turning her gaze to their sons and mothers. “I want our home to always be filled with this much love and laughter.”

“It will be,” he promised her. “We managed to bring two old men who hated each other together, and now they’re best friends. There is nothing we cannot do, my darling wife.”

Turning her head, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I believe you are right, dear husband.”

Allan pressed his lips to hers before she could turn away and soaked in the taste and warmth of her that he had become so familiar with. Never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed he would find someone like her. Never would he have guessed she could love him as she did.

His view of the world had changed with Hope. His view of people had changed. Now, he looked at things with a lens of optimism and opportunity.

His whole life, he had felt as though something had been missing, but he had never been able to put his finger on exactly what it was. In the end, it had been simple really. All he had needed to make his world a better place was a lot of love…and a little bit of hope.

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