Blood of the Clans Ch. 41

Therese sat up and hugged her closely, resting her head on her shoulder. Arabella hugged her back, feeling her large mounds press against her friend's and engulf them.

"I can never find a way to thank you for this, Bella. You have done for me something no other can do. I owe my happiness with Garreth to you." she told her, her lips beside her ear.

"I love ye,Therese. I want tae see ye happy. Now and fer always." she softly told her.

They faced each other and shared a loving kiss. Garreth could see how they felt and understood how two women could relate in such a way. He thought briefly of Grayson and had to laugh. The women broke apart and looked at him laughing.

"It was something I was thinking of. Not about ye's." he confessed.

"What was it, my heart?" Therese asked him.

"Grayson." was all he said and the women knew what he was thinking of.

They all laughed at the thought and then Arabella looked at Garreth. He looked in her eyes and could see the love for him there staring back. He reached for her and hugged her to him, feeling her breasts press into him. She hugged him in return and stroked his long, dark hair. She moved to face him and brushed a few stray locks back from his face.

"Look after her well, Garreth. Make her happy. She's yer heart's content and ye are hers. Treat her well and she'll be a wife tae ye, like no other could be." she told him smiling, but hints of tears crept into the corners of her eyes.

"I will, Bella. I promise. I hope yer life wi' Braedon is filled wi' just as much joy and happiness." he told her and moved to kiss her.

Arabella hesitated at first, but saw Therese smiling and leaned forward. She moaned

when their lips touched and she hugged him tight. Garreth expressed more of his feelings for her and they kissed with as much passion as they dared. Arabella broke away first and quickly rose then turned back to them.

"Ye just get that big thing between yer legs going and show Therese what pleases ye. Ha'e fun ye two. Good eve and good morrow tae ye both." she said smiling and pulled her robe around her, before opening the door and peeking out, then exiting into the dark hallway.

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Argus looked at Stuart with a hint of suspicion and Stuart caught it.

"What Argus? Is there something I just said that ye don'ne agree wi'?" he asked him.

"I don'ne know fer sure. Did Bella join wi' Garreth that night,or just Therese?" he asked.

Stuart knew what Argus was wanting to know and his face showed his knowledge of what had been unspoken of.

"They didn't do anything that night, other than what I told ye. It's in her diary and Therese's as well." Stuart said and saw Argus wasn't buying it.

"When did they do it then? Ye both know they did, so ye can both tell me when ye think it happened?" Argus blurted out and the room went silent, all eyes now turning to Stuart.

Stuart looked at Tavish, who lowered his eyes and nodded forlornly.

"Aye,Tavish, I feel it's time we come clean and let them know what we think happened two days later." Stuart reluctantly spoke out, bringing audible gasps from the two couples and even Gordon cleared his throat. "There was an entry in Arabella's diary that we weren't sure of what it meant, but had oor suspicions. All it said was that fer one night, she was gi'en her heart's desire and would carry it wi' her e'ermore. As I said, it's ambiguous and clear at the same time, what she's talking about. She does'ne mention Garreth by name, but knowing about her love fer him, it's clear he could be taken as her desire. Maybe she was gi'en something as a gift, we weren't sure." he finished.

"But yer sure now, aren't ye? Ye know they were t'gether and had sex. I ha'e proof they did." Argus announced, making everyone look at him in awe of what he said.

"What proof could ye ha'e that would confirm Garreth and Arabella slept t'gether?" Tavish challenged.

Argus reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a folded piece of paper.

"Ye know what this is, but I'll tell ye's just the same. Stuart, and ye tae Tav, remember I went tae Glasgow tae gi' them a sample of my blood fer the World Genome Project?" he asked them and both agreed they remembered. "I got the results back a month ago and I've been trying tae make sense of how the results could be what they were. It did'ne make any sense, until I went tae Armadale House myself and read Arabella's diary. I read that same entry and it all made sense once I did." he told them and unfolded the paper and placed it on the table for everyone to see. "It's my results. See down here where it says who I'm related tae. MacLeod's and MacDonald's. How can I be a MacLeod, if I'm a descendant of Braedon and Arabella's joining. I had them run it again at another lab and the results were the same." and he took out another piece of paper and unfolded it, tossing it atop the other one. "That made me wonder a bit, don't ye think? How could I be a MacLeod, if my ancestors were Stewart's and MacDonald's and not MacLeod and MacDonald? That entry in her diary coincides wi' the birth of Arabella's child, better than it does, about when her and Braedon joined. If ye add it up, she would have delivered at seven and a half months, not nine, like she did wi' Garreth's. Her and Therese's babies were only a week apart at birth, so it looks like Garreth was quite busy in his chambers, before he left fer battle. Anyone want tae add anything?" he ended with and looked back and forth between them for agreement, or opposition.

"I ha'e no idea what tae say, Argus? Ye ha'e two reputable labs doing tests and the results are the same, saying yer a MacLeod. Yer theory on dates holds more weight that it was Garreth's child and not Braedon's and it makes more sense out of the entry, that she knew she was carrying his child too and that was the gift she would keep fere'er. I can only imagine it happened sometime after everyone left fer their destinations and Arabella stayed behind wi' Garreth. After the ceremony, there was ne'er a time when they could be t'gether. In his defence though, do ye blame him fer gi'ing in tae her? All that she's done fer him, how she's loved him endlessly all these years, their lifelong love as friends, she nursed him back from Death's door. In many ways, Garreth and Arabella should ha'e joined t'gether and not Therese. She would ha'e made him very happy and bore him many children. As it is, it seems Argus is a descendant of a 'love child'." Stuart said to Argus, then looked at Tavish.

The large, proud man looked downtrodden at the thought of his ancestor doing such a thing, when she had given herself to Braedon.

"Cheer up, Tavish, it's not that bad. I thought it was something worse myself." he joked, feeling relieved.

Little did Stuart realize what the implications were, of what Argus had just told them.