A Christmas Knight (16 page)

‘Are you going to have a baby?'

Dominic coughed. ‘No.' But the idea of Louisa's belly all rounded with his child sent a shaft of pure longing through him.

Tyler looked thoughtful. ‘I'd like a little brother. Or a sister. And a puppy.'

Dominic laughed. ‘I'll see what I can do. Not a wolfhound,' he was quick to add, ‘but I think we could talk your mum round on the puppy front.' He paused. ‘So was that a yes?'

‘My mum smiles a lot more when you're around. And I think I'd like you to be my dad—as long as I can still be your page.' His brow furrowed. ‘Because knights used to send their son to be someone else's page, didn't they?'

‘Not in this case. You'll be my son
and
my page,' Dominic promised. ‘And, in case you were wondering, I don't approve of the old knightly custom of sending your son to grow up in someone else's castle. You'll be with your mum and me.' He smiled. ‘Though my parents live in
a castle, so you might get to stay there from time to time. Probably in my old bedroom, in the turret.'

‘That's way cool,' Tyler breathed, his eyes wide.

‘So do I have your permission to ask your mum to marry me?'

Tyler nodded. ‘When are you going to ask her?'

‘I was waiting to see how you felt about it first.' He smiled. ‘If you've got any ideas about the best time, I'm all ears.'

‘Christmas,' Tyler said. ‘Because she'll say yes. And I'll have a dad for Christmas—the best present ever.'

Dominic hugged him. ‘You,' he said, ‘are going to grow up to be my joint-best friend with Ric. As well as a son I'm going to be very, very proud of.'

‘And I get to call you Dad instead of Dominic?'

‘Absolutely.' His heart felt as if it was full to overflowing.

‘Good. Because I love you. Dad.' He tested the word and smiled. ‘Dad.'

‘I love you, too.' Dominic held him close. ‘Son.'

And when he went into the kitchen on the pretext of fetching drinks while Tyler dealt the cards, he saw that Louisa's lashes were wet.

‘OK, honey?' he asked, concerned.

She cuddled in to him. ‘I was eavesdropping. At the end. And…' Tears choked off the rest of her sentence, but he knew they were happy tears.

‘I know,' he said softly. ‘Me, too. And I can't wait until Christmas.'

 

The rest of the week flew by. Dominic was working on Christmas Day, but he'd taken Tyler to help him choose a very special present during the week and had sworn his new son to utter secrecy.

His shift was busy, with the expected patients who'd scratched their eyes on Christmas tree branches while retrieving presents, people who'd cut themselves carving the turkey—and one whose knife had slipped off an avocado and into his hand—and children with bits of toys stuck up their noses. But obviously his joy shone through because his patients ended up relaxing and smiling back at him, losing their misery and stress as he treated them.

And at last it was the end of his shift. He drove over to Gillian and Matt Austin's house, where Louisa and Tyler had spent the day, along with her brother Stewart, his wife, Marie, and their twin daughters.

‘Merry Christmas.' Louisa met him at the door and kissed him soundly. ‘How was your day?'

‘Better now I'm with you.' He lifted her up and spun her round.

‘Put the girl down,' Gillian teased. She kissed him warmly on the cheek. ‘Happy Christmas, love. And thank you for those beautiful lace bobbins. They're perfect.'

‘I'm glad you like them. Though I have to admit, I did have a bit of help choosing them,' he admitted. ‘From your wonderful daughter.'

He had a mug of coffee and a turkey salad sandwich with the Austins, wished everyone a merry Christmas, and then put Louisa and Tyler's overnight bags into the back of his car before driving them to Amberhurst.

Fairy-lights were threaded through the trees on the approach to the castle.

‘It's magical,' Tyler breathed.

‘It certainly is.' Dominic exchanged a smile with Louisa.

Milly met them at the door, surrounded by bouncing dogs, and Tyler was utterly delighted by them. He was even
more thrilled when he discovered that his bedroom was indeed going to be in one of the turrets.

‘We've left your presents under the tree. But I'm afraid we've been terribly rude and already opened ours,' Milly said. ‘Thank you so much for the photograph.'

As they went into the drawing room, Louisa could see the silver photo frame she'd bought for Milly, containing the picture of Dominic, Tyler, herself and Pegasus, in pride of place on the mantelpiece.

Milly sorted out a glass of orange juice for Tyler—one with no bits, on Dominic's advice—and Buck's Fizz for Dominic and Louisa, and made sure they were comfortably seated.

‘Dominic, can you do the presents, darling?' she asked.

Tyler was thrilled to discover that Milly and Roderick had bought him a deep velvet cloak like Dominic's, and was almost beside himself with joy when he opened Dominic's present. ‘It's a real knight's helmet! Thank you so much.'

Oliver and Mina had bought Tyler some more art supplies; and Louisa adored the cashmere sweater that Milly and Roderick had bought her and the silver bracelet from Oliver and Mina.

Dominic handed over a box to Louisa with a slight smile. She opened it, then kissed him soundly. ‘Thanks. My camera was on its last legs.' And the one he'd bought her was state of the art.

‘What about the other present?' Tyler asked. ‘Aren't you going to give her that now?'

Dominic had intended to ask Louisa to marry him, later, under the stars in the garden. But when he saw the expectant look in Tyler's eyes—reflected on the rest of his family's faces—he realised that right here, right now, would be the perfect place and time.

‘That isn't actually a Christmas present,' Dominic said. ‘But, since you mention it…' He dropped onto one knee in front of Louisa, and fished the velvet-covered box out of his pocket to reveal the perfect solitaire he and Tyler had chosen together, in a simple but pretty platinum setting. ‘Tyler's given me his blessing to ask you, and now feels the right moment. I love you very, very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make a family with you. So please will you do me the honour of becoming my wife and making Tyler my son?'

She stared at him, a sheen of tears in her eyes, then wrapped her arms round him. ‘I love you, too. Yes. Yes.' She kissed him. ‘Most definitely, yes.'

Six months later

O
N A
hot, sunny day in June, Louisa walked down the aisle of the church at Amberhurst Castle on her father's arm, with Mina, Bea and Mel as her bridesmaids, Tyler as her pageboy and her twin nieces as her flower girls.

Dominic turned round to watch his bride walking towards him. She could see the joy on his face—a joy that was mirrored through the whole congregation. Dominic's mother and her own were both brushing away a tear, her father and Dominic's were both looking proud, Oliver was looking adoringly at his wife, Ric was looking equally adoringly at his own wife, and her brother Stewart was holding hands with Marie, giving Tyler and the twins encouraging smiles.

Life didn't get more perfect than this. Making her wedding vows to Dominic in the place where his family had exchanged those same vows for hundreds of years, and knowing that they had enough love between them to get through anything.

As they signed the register, the tenor who had sung at Oliver and Mina's wedding sang ‘You Raise Me Up'. Dominic's hands tightened on his new wife's. ‘You make me more than I am,' he said softly.

‘Just as you do me,' she said, smiling at him. ‘Al ways.'

‘I love you, Mrs Hurst.' And, not caring that it wasn't quite the traditional place to do so in the wedding ceremony, he kissed her.