Chapter 48

Tristan stood at the window of the nursery. He was holding Nicholas and he smiled a little when the boy reached up and pulled on his lip, babbling excitedly. The child was not his, but over the last few moons he had grown very fond of the baby. In time, he suspected he would feel as deeply for Nicholas as he did for Sophia.

He rested the baby against his shoulder and patted his back as he continued to stare out the window. In the yard below him, Maya and Marshall were playing some type of game with Sophia that required much shouting and running and hopping.

Sophia had woken this morning feeling as well as she had yesterday, and after much cajoling she had convinced Tristan and Maya to allow her outside to play. She was bundled up carefully against the cold and although her nose was running and her cheeks were red, she looked deliriously happy.

Faintly, he could hear her shouting commands to Marshall who knelt obligingly on the cold ground so she could climb onto hi