She answered by opening her eyes.
‘Twould have taken Devine intervention to keep her tears at bay. “My God! Ye are beautiful!” she cried. Leaning over, she ran her fingers over his face, touching and examining every square inch. “Ye are so beautiful!”
He chuckled with a good measure of disbelief. “Lass, men are nae beautiful.”
“Mine is,” she replied, swiping away a tear. She couldn’t pull her gaze away. She examined him closely, turning his face this way and that, all the while smiling and crying tears of sheer joy. “Where is yer scar?”
Taken aback by her question, he pointed to it. “Lass, are the spectacles nae workin’ proper? My scar is right here.”
“That? Ye call that a scar?” She shook her head. “That is what ye were so worried about? That tiny thing?”
He laughed then, full and hearty. “Ye are daft.”
Ignoring him, she kissed him sweetly. “’Tis true, Richard. Ye are beautiful.”
He still didn’t believe her, but he was quite thankful she hadn’t shied away in horror.
“My babe,” she said. “Please, I want to see our son.”
Marisse stepped forward carrying wee Brody MacCullough in her arms. He was swaddled in a pretty yellow blanket, and for the first time, Aeschene could see little tuffs of dark hair.
“Marisse, ye are stunning!” Aeschene said, swiping away more tears.
Marisse thanked her and put the babe in her arms.
When she saw her bairn for the first time, with his perfect cherubic face, all his dark hair, his wee nose and sweet little lips, she came undone. She sobbed until she shook and could scarce breathe. Richard wrapped his arms around her, “Wheest, lass, wheest.”
She couldn’t help it. He heart was filled with so much joy, so much happiness, ’twas uncontainable.
People quit the room in silence, allowing Richard and Aeschene this moment alone.
“He is so beautiful!” Aeschene wept.
“Just like his mother,” Richard said as he handed her a piece of linen to dry her eyes.
“Nay,” she argued. “Just like his father.”
They stayed alone in the room for quite some time. Aeschene didn’t care to look at anything else in their chamber. All she had ever wanted to see was her husband and her bairn.
For the rest of the day Aeschene got used to her spectacles and finally being able to put faces to the names and voices she had come to love. Raibeart most resembled Richard in both looks and mannerisms. Colyne was just as adorable as she had pictured in her mind.
After an hour, her eyes and head began to ache. Brother Abatangelo assured her that was perfectly normal. “Only wear them an hour or so a day for the next week,” he instructed her over the evening meal. “After that, increase it by a few hours until you have grown accustomed to them.”
’Twas awfully difficult to remove them, but she acquiesced.
Later that night, after her babe was safely tucked into his cradle, Aeschene climbed into bed next to her husband. She reached over and grabbed her spectacles from the table by the bed and put them back on.
“What are ye doin’?” Richard asked. “Brother Abatangelo said-”
“I know full well what he said, husband,” she replied before kissing him most soundly. “But I do believe I want to see what I have been lovin’ for the past year.”
Who was he to deny her such a request?
She spent the rest of the night examining him from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Committing every bit of his magnificent body to memory.
Spent, sated, and feeling quite pleased, she removed the spectacles and returned them to the table. Richard pulled her to his side, covering her with thick furs.
“I love ye, Richard. Never forget that.”
He patted the hand she had resting on his chest. “And I love ye, Aeschene.”