An Unconventional Lady’s Choice – Extended Epilogue

Three Years Later

“Ouch!”

Harry flinched as something hit him in the back of the knee. He turned and saw the little dark-haired girl by another tree, holding an apple and giving him a grin. Groaning, Harry looked down and saw the apple at his feet.

“What have I told you about throwing apples, Juliana? And certainly not at people.”

Juliana giggled again and threw the other apple, which hit Harry’s shin. Harry gritted his teeth at the pain. For a two-year-old, she had incredible aim.

“Come here, you!”

He chased after her, Juliana squealing as she ran away, going around the tree a couple of times before hurrying away. Harry caught her and swung her up, twirling her around.

“You are a little pest, do you know that?” he laughed as he propped her on his hip. “I thought you were helping Mama, anyway.”

“Wanted to see Papa.” Juliana rubbed at her eye and yawned. “I’m hungry.”

“I can tell. And you’re tired.”

“Not tired!”

Harry smiled. His daughter was just as strong with her decisions as her mother. She was like a smaller version of Lavinia. He carried her towards the house.

“Let’s get you something to eat, and then you are going down for a nap.”

“Not tired, Papa!”

“You know what happens when you get tired, don’t you? You get grumpy, and then you get told off. You don’t want to do that at Grandma’s house, do you?”

Juliana pouted, but she shook her head.

“No.”

At least that would pacify her for now. Mrs Davenport absolutely adored her great-grandchildren, and she got to see Juliana pretty much every day. Harry was surprised at how gentle his daughter was with the old lady, but it just made him more proud. He and Lavinia must have done something right if they had Juliana being such a sweetheart when she was so young.

Even if she was boisterous and had a very good aim, that was making Harry’s leg throb.

As they were coming onto the terrace, Silas stepped out into the sunshine. He brightened when he saw his brother.

“Harry!”

“Silas?” Harry couldn’t stop the beaming smile as he grasped his older brother’s arm. “It’s good to see you sooner than we expected! I thought you weren’t going to be here until next week.”

“We thought we would be here a little earlier than planned. After all, Augusta is going to have our second child soon, so we don’t want to push it too much so close to when she’s going to go into labour.” Silas’ expression softened as he tickled Juliana’s cheek. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you behaving yourself?”

“I always behave myself,” Juliana said with a pout.

Silas laughed.

“Of course you do, darling.”

“You wait until she starts throwing apples at you,” Harry grunted. “I’m going to have bruises on my shins for weeks.”

“At least it’s your shins. Wait until it’s a bit higher.”

“Don’t give her any ideas. Where’s Augusta now? Is she resting?”

“She’s talking with Grandma. Isaac is playing with the toys, so he’ll be occupied for a while.”

“Can I go see Isaac, Papa?” Juliana asked.

Harry didn’t see why not, although he was concerned that Juliana was going to get even more tired and lash out. She and Isaac were only a couple of months apart, but Juliana was certainly tougher. Making up his mind, he kissed her cheek and put her down.

“All right. But don’t cause any hassle for Aunt Augusta and Grandma, alright?”

“I won’t.”

Juliana headed into the house. Silas turned towards the orchard, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked across the flourishing trees.

“How’s the orchard coming along? It looks great right now.”

“It’s been very prosperous. We’ve been able to sell so many apples, and we’ve actually brought in a lot of profit this year.”

“You’re really into all this, aren’t you?” Silas chuckled. “I know you were keen on it when we did business at the docks, but I didn’t expect you to take to this so well.”

Harry beamed.

“I’ve just found something I love doing, that’s all.”

“How are Uncle William and Aunt Jessica, anyway? Are they enjoying their holiday in Cornwall?”

“They’re one step away from living there permanently. Lavinia and I took Juliana down there a couple of months ago. It’s beautiful where they are.”

“Speaking of your lovely wife, where is she? Bandaging another squirrel’s leg again?”

“If that was meant to be amusing, don’t.” Harry turned when he heard Lavinia’s voice. “That’s not so easy, especially when they’re in a lot of pain.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile as he saw his wife walking towards them, holding a basket full of flowers. She looked more radiant than when he first met her, and that was saying something. Lavinia just seemed to look better as she got older. Her figure was certainly looking incredible, fuller after having one child and preparing for another.

When she said that she was having a second child, Harry had been in a state of shock. After the birth of their daughter, Lavinia had declared that she didn’t want to do it again, and Harry took that as meaning she didn’t want to have another child. He was fine with that; he loved Juliana wholeheartedly, and he would be happy with just her in his life. So to hear that Lavinia was going to have another child was both a shock and a delight.

And, while Lavinia probably wouldn’t agree with him, pregnancy looked really good on her. It just suited her and seemed to make her look even more beautiful. Harry fell in love with her more each time he laid eyes on her.

“So, you’re actually still bandaging wild animals?” Silas laughed. “At least you’re not bringing them home, and they’re running around the house.”

“Are you sure about that?” Harry grunted.

Lavinia rolled her eyes as she stepped onto the terrace.

“That was nothing to do with me. That bird got into the house through an open window.”

“Knowing you, I’m not so sure about that.”

Lavinia swatted his arm. Then she kissed Silas’ cheek.

“Silas. It’s lovely to see you early. I know Juliana’s been looking forward to seeing Isaac.”

“Isaac’s been talking about his cousin on the way up.” Silas sighed. “I hope they’re going to behave themselves.”

“If you’re worried about that, why did you leave them with Augusta and Grandma?” Harry asked with a smile. “That’s just asking for trouble, isn’t it?”

“Our nanny, Patricia, is with them. She’s very good with Isaac, and I know she’s going to be a godsend once our baby is born.”

Harry made a mental note to discuss getting a nanny for Juliana before Lavinia gave birth. He didn’t want his daughter to feel left out, but they were going to need an extra person. While Felicity was a brilliant grandmother, it wasn’t fair to put it all on her to look after Juliana, especially when the two-year-old was very lively, and Felicity wasn’t as spritely.

“Well, let’s go in and make sure they’re not running rings around Grandma.” Harry nudged his brother into motion. “You go on ahead. I want a word with my wife first.”

“A word?” Silas laughed. “Don’t you talk to her every day anyway?”

Harry ignored him, putting an arm around Lavinia and steering her to the end of the terrace. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Silas had gone back inside. Lavinia looked bewildered as she allowed him to walk away from the door.

“What are you doing? I thought we were going to rescue your grandmother.”

“I wanted to do this first.”

Harry kissed her, savouring the moment as Lavinia sank into his embrace. She gave him a sly smile as he drew back.

“You just wanted to sneak me away like we’re newlyweds again, didn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t say sneak away, seeing as we’re still on the terrace.” Harry put a hand on her belly. “And I want to make the most of cuddling you before you get too big, and I can’t hold you as close as I want.”

“That’s all you care about?” Lavinia teased.

“Always.” Harry kissed her forehead. “I love doing it.”

Lavinia laughed. She had relaxed a lot since they had married. Before, she had been steadfast in her opinions and thoughts, showing a strong, fiery side that Harry found enticing. She still had that part of her, but it was softer now. Lavinia was more open-minded, and she allowed herself to be swayed whenever Harry had an idea for something. She was still very sharp, and she used that intelligence to help Harry with the business. The orchard thrived, and Lavinia did what she could to help out, even going to market with the servants to sell the apples and deliver them to breweries. She was a duke’s daughter and married into a marquess’ family, and yet Lavinia wanted to do this. Harry wasn’t about to argue.

There was one thing that she was adamant about carrying on, and that was looking after injured animals. She would spend hours going through the woods to make sure everything was fine, and then Harry would be getting home to find a couple of hedgehogs being fed or a squirrel nibbling on a hazelnut. One time, he had returned to find that his wife had helped a rabbit give birth, and there were seven tiny kittens curled up beside the mother. Harry had never seen baby rabbits that small before. He had to admit that it was fascinating.

Life with Lavinia as his wife was certainly never boring.

“I also have a feeling we won’t get much of a chance to spend time together once the baby is born,” Harry went on. “I remember when Juliana was a newborn. It was hard work.”

“You mean it was hard work for me.”

“I helped out!”

Lavinia gave him a pointed look, to which Harry sighed.

“Alright, I’ll concede that you did all the hard work. But I was there.”

“Yes, you were there, but I was the one who gave birth, who stayed up at night when she was crying, who had to hold her when she had her teeth coming through….”

“Lavinia, stop. I know what you’re trying to say.”

Lavinia smiled and kissed his cheek.

“But you were there for me. You rubbed my back when I was struggling, you held me until I fell asleep, and you let me sleep as much as I wanted once Juliana was taken care of. I do appreciate it.”

“Anything for you.” Harry hugged her closer. “Although I still think we should have gotten a nursemaid for you. We can afford it, and it’s what everyone is doing nowadays.”

Lavinia laughed.

“You do realise that I’m not exactly like everyone else? Whatever I can do for my children, I’m going to do it myself. You know my parents are on my side.”

Harry knew that much. Burkdale had told him to just let Lavinia do what she wanted as she liked to know things were going as she wanted, and his wife barely batted an eyelid when her stepdaughter did something the nursemaid should have been doing. Harry wasn’t about to argue if his in-laws had no problem with it.

“But can you at least think about a nanny for Juliana when you’re about to give birth? I know you would like to look after both of them, but I don’t want one or the other to miss out because you’re trying too much.”

“You think I can’t do it.”

“I never said that…”

Lavinia sighed.

“I’ll think about it. I’m just not good at delegating when I know I can do it myself.”

“I know. You’ve been like this through our entire marriage.” Harry kissed her. “It’s why I love you, though.”

Lavinia smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Do you wonder what could have happened if you and I hadn’t met when we did?” she asked. “That if Mrs Davenport had travelled to your family home that Christmas, we might have never met?”

“I do think it was fate that had us in the same place that day.” Harry chuckled. “I wasn’t expecting the woman I would fall in love with to be combative and prepared to hate me because she believed I liked to harm animals.”

“And I wasn’t expecting to find someone I was sure loved hunting to be attractive.”

“I’m glad I could get you to change your mind.”

Lavinia stuck her tongue out at him, which made Harry laugh more. He kissed her, Lavinia turning to put her arms around him. He could have happily stayed here for longer, savouring this moment of quiet with his wife, when he heard someone calling his name.

“Harry! You’d better stop pawing your wife and get inside.”

Harry broke the kiss and scowled at his brother, who was back in the doorway of the house.

“Why?”

“Because our sisters have just arrived. Mother and Father are on their way as well.” Silas grinned. “Apparently, Grandma has arranged for a house party with our families.”

“I never heard about that,” Harry said, but Lavinia groaned.

“Oh, no, I forgot about that. I thought it was later this week.”

“Well, they’re here now, and it’s about to get louder for a while.” Silas winked at Harry before turning away. “Take your time if you want, but you’ll be found soon.”

He disappeared, and Harry turned back to Lavinia, who bit her lip.

“Forgive me, I forgot about this….”

“It’s fine. With my family, there are far too many dates to remember.” Harry kissed her forehead. “Juliana will be fine inside. Do you want to go and join her?”

“In a moment.” Lavinia nuzzled his jaw. “I’m enjoying this for now.”

Harry smiled. She took the words right out of his mouth.

THE END

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