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Three Years Later…
Gabriel sat calmly with a glass of brandy in hand as his brother paced up and down the study. It was once more Christmas Eve, and they eagerly awaited a most precious gift.
“How can you be so calm?” Jonathan hissed at him, pausing only long enough in his pacing to speak before he went right to it again. It had been going similarly for several hours now, and Gabriel thought that Jonathan was using quite enough energy for the both of them.
“Women give birth every single day, Jonathan,” Gabriel pointed out with a roll of his eyes. “And almost every single woman in there with your wife has been through it herself.”
He gritted his teeth at the thought that his wife was the only one with her best friend who had not yet had the experience herself. It will happen one day, he assured himself, just as he had been doing every month since their wedding over two years earlier, reminded every day by his now very present grandmother that these things took time for some couples and it was nothing to be concerned over.
“Yes, but many women also…” Jonathan began, but suddenly the dead silence in the house was suddenly disturbed by the raucous cry of a baby. Gabriel jumped up at that, no longer calm as he and his brother looked at each other with excitement in both of their green gazes.
They were already well on their way up the stairs by the time Julia came hurrying out of the master bedroom of the house on Grovsner Square that Chelsea’s parents had gifted them for their wedding. “It’s a boy!” she cried with elation and threw herself into Gabriel’s arms with happy tears rolling down her eyes even as Jonathan slipped past her and into the room.
Gabriel held his wife for several moments before she finally regained control of herself and gripped hold of his hand to guide him into the bedroom. Instead, it was sweltering with a fire roaring in the hearth and candles placed strategically all around. Sitting in the master bed, looking as though she had already been cleaned up, was a very tired and sweaty looking Chelsea. But in her arms was the smallest bundle of joy that Gabriel had ever seen. On one side of the bed sat Jonathan, gazing lovingly at the both of them, while his mother was sitting opposite, dabbing at Chelsea’s brow with a damp cloth.
The scene was one filled with love and affection and again Gabriel found himself praying that one day soon he would experience the very same thing.
It was only the sound of creaking that drew his gaze away, and when he looked around, he found Grandmother Tatford sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, calmly knitting away at what looked like a blanket. It was the most ordinary of sights to see a grandmother knitting a blanket, and yet when Gabriel saw the colour of the wool and just how far she had knitted, he blurted, “How did you know?”
Grandmother Tatford stopped knitting the blue blanket for only a moment to smirk at him and say, “A grandmother always knows.”
And it was with those words that she turned her gaze to Julia, offering the much younger woman a very pointed look. Concern gripped Gabriel at the sight of it, and he quickly turned to his wife to ask, “Is something the matter?”
Julia glanced between Grandmother Tatford and the scene upon the bed before she turned back to him and drew him back out into the hallway.
“I was going to wait until tomorrow. I do not wish to spoil Chelsea’s big day,” Julia said, her cheeks blushing red as she gripped hold of both of his hands and looked down. When she met his gaze once more, he found so much love there that all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and kiss her.
“I can wait until tomorrow if that is what you wish,” Gabriel assured her, but deep down he couldn’t help but feel that it would be impossible now that he knew there was something she was keeping from him.
He was relieved when his wife quickly shook her head. “I don’t think I can hold my tongue any longer if I tried.”
When she glanced down again, Gabriel noticed she was not looking at their entwined hands, but at her stomach. And when he followed her gaze, he couldn’t help but notice the small swell beneath her dress. How have I missed that? Gabriel thought suddenly, though it was likely easy to have done with all the Christmas preparations and Chelsea’s own impending child.
“My love, I am with child,” Julia announced.
Even as excitement and joy overwhelmed him, he heard Chelsea call from inside the bedroom, “It is about damned time you told him!”
Had he not been so happy, he might have been angry that Chelsea had known before him, but as things stood, all he could do was whip Julia up into his arms, spinning her with sheer joy.
It was only when he laid her back down on her feet that he thought to ask, “I didn’t hurt you, did I? Is the baby okay?”
Instinctively, he placed a hand upon her swelling stomach, half expecting to feel something within. She smirked back at him and shook her head. “He is fine and so am I. Though I think it will be a month or two before you can feel him, he is there.”
Tears swelled in Gabriel’s eyes and they rolled down his cheeks before he could stop them. He had believed that Christmas three years earlier had been the best Christmas he could ever have hoped for, and yet already, this one was beating it by a mile.
“We must celebrate!” he declared, and Julia laughed with elation.
“I must rest.” Chelsea yawned, and Jonathan finally got the chance to hold his newborn son for the first time. “But before I do, I wish to name him.”
At that Gabriel and Julia stepped back into the room, both intrigued to know what they would name their brand new nephew.
Jonathan and Chelsea both looked at each other, smiled and nodded before Jonathan announced, “He is to be Samuel George Tatford.”
Gabriel’s heart swelled to know that they would name his nephew after his father, though a part of him wished he had been able to beat his brother to it.
In that moment, it felt as though they had gone full circle, finally returning to the love and affection where their lives had begun in the arms of their own parents. Gabriel couldn’t help but think that this Christmas would be unlike any other before it.
Though his father was gone, his nephew had taken his name, and their entire family would surround them for Christmas, just as it was always meant to be.
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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!
Grab my new series, "Lust and Longing of the Ton", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!
Hello there, my dear readers. I hope you enjoyed the book and this Extended Epilogue! I will be waiting for your comments. Thank you! 🙂
What a marvelous Christmas read. I cried when their grandmother came to London and felt the joy they were feeling. I so enjoyed the story. Thank you
Thank you so much for saying this! I am so happy it touched you in this way!
His cousin was a scoundrel through out the book and was glad when he was caught. This book kept me on my toes. I look forward to your other books.
Thank you so much foe your review and support!
A very good read
Thanks, dear!
This was a great story of insecurity and treachery, and true love that held on to the end. It was difficult to set it down. The story was all tied together beautifully with love and reconciliation. A wonderful Christmas story and a must read any time of year. The extended epilogue was a great way to tie everything together with a wonderful ending. Thank you for such a wonderful reading experience, Meghan Sloan.
Thank you for all the lovely words! Really make me happy, especially around these days!
Enjoyed everything about this book. All the drama throughout the story was enhanced by the closeness of the brothers. It’s always a good story when love wins out against all obstacles.
Thank you so much dear!!
A perfect love story for Christmas ,I highly recommend this wonderful story.
Thank you, I hope it filled your holidays with hope!!
I enjoyed the story. However, in the beginning Julia is a brunette and later in the book her hair has changed to blond, like Chelsea’s.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, dear Pamela!
I love all of your stories and each one is as good as the others only different. AMAZING!! True to life too! AI changes words so they must be using it somehow to convert to digital. If I do not recheck my text messages I sometimes s. Amazed at the text and how it had changed some of my words!! looking forward to the next book. I have not read a y other author for months!
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, dear Karen!