The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride (Unconventional Brides #2)

Epilogue

Suffolk,

About A Year Later

“Pa-pa?” George chanted from where he was positioned on Amelia’s hip.

“Papa is with Uncle Vaughan,” Amelia told him, turning her face up into the sun. Although the sun was shining warmly on their backs, there was a faint coolness to the air as evening began to descend.

“Pa-pa,” he insisted.

Amelia sighed. “Emma, do you have any idea where our husbands might be?”

Emma glanced over, her palm resting on her rounded belly. “Last I saw, they were in the gardens around the front.”

Amelia laughed. “Of course.”

The flowers were in bloom, and the garden at the entrance to Longley Manor was a vibrant blanket of purple, red, and yellow.

Together, the women walked around to the garden, pausing every now and then for Emma to get comfortable. The baby wasn’t due for a while yet, but she’d confided in Amelia that the pregnancy hadn’t been particularly pleasant. Her back often ached, and she was nauseous on and off throughout the day, but she’d insisted on not being left inside on her own while the others enjoyed the sun.

Andrew came into view first. He was crouched in front of a flowerbed, encouraging Lilian to walk to him. The little girl lurched toward him, her gait uneven. When she was about halfway between him and Vaughan, she stumbled and fell to her knees.

Within seconds, Vaughan had scooped her into his arms. He kissed her belly, and Lilian shrieked and giggled. Emma picked up the pace and joined them, cooing and making a fuss over Lilian’s efforts. Their little girl was growing more confident every day.

“Pa-pa!”

Andrew looked up, and a smile lit his handsome face. “Hello, little fellow.”

He straightened, wiped his hands on his thighs, and headed over to Amelia. He greeted her with a kiss. “Want me to take him for a while?”

“That would be wonderful.” She loved holding their son, but it seemed as if he was getting bigger and heavier every day.

She smiled. He was going to be a strong, healthy boy.

In a movement now practiced many dozens of times, they shifted George from her hip to his father’s. Amelia felt a slight pang at the loss, but when Andrew kissed the top of George’s downy head, her heart swelled with love.

“What’s that smile about?” Andrew asked, squinting slightly into the sun.

She shrugged. “Just thinking about how lucky I am.”

His mouth hitched in a lopsided grin. “I’m the lucky one. I have a wife I adore and a little boy to dote on who is still too young to get up to mischief.”

She laughed. “Just wait. It will come. ”

She’d seen that firsthand with Lilian.

“And when it does, we’ll be ready. Just think of the adventures we can have.”

She cuddled closer to him and George. “I already have my perfect adventure.”

In fact, she had it all.

A flourishing career, an adorable son, and a man who gave her a reason to smile every day.

Tears prickled in her eyes. She’d never dared to hope for a future as bright as this, but she would never, ever let it go.

THE END

That’s the end of The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride!