THE MACLEOD REUNION

by Donna and Pook

The party after the christening was starting to wind down when Duncan finally got a chance to talk to Connor alone for a minute. He made his way across the garden to where Connor was pouring some punch for himself and Katherine.

"Hello, Connor," he greeted.

Connor turned and smiled at his former student. "Duncan! Long time no see! How is family life treating you nowadays?

"Oh, wonderful, couldn't be better." Duncan reached for a glass as he spoke, helping himself to some punch also.

"Have you and Pook seen the new addition to the family yet?" Connor asked, a proud look on his face. "Katherine is over by the rose bushes with her if you haven't."

"Yes, we have," Duncan responded. "Pookkah said she'd almost forgotten what it's like to hold a newborn, with our boy being such a lump!" He smiled. "Katriona is beautiful, you're a lucky man."

Connor grinned, "I am a lucky man indeed. Life with Katherine is never dull anyway, but there is always something special about raising a child. So, Duncan my lad, when are you two going to get off your buns and come up to Lornadoon for a visit?"

"Whenever you'll have us," he told him.

"Give us a couple of weeks to get settled and then come on up. I have some very nice two and three year olds colts I would like to show you. You might want one of them."

"Great! We'll look forward to it."

* * * * * *

(Two weeks later)

The morning dawned bright and fair the day they were leaving for their trip to Lornadoon to visit Connor and his family. The horses snorted and pranced as they waited the signal to go forward. Pookkah and Baby Duncan climbed up into the carriage and made themselves comfortable. Up in the driver's seat, Duncan turned around and smiled broadly, "Ready, love?"

"Yes, we're set," she responded, making sure the baby was secure on her lap.

Duncan blew her a kiss and then turned around. "Get up!" The

two horses tossed their heads and took off at a smart trot down the road. They had a lovely morning for a trip, the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky. Baby Duncan was thoroughly enjoying himself, excited to be out in the carriage. He squirmed upon Pook's lap as he tried to see everything at once, making her laugh. He was becoming quite an active little boy, forever getting into things. She couldn't imagine what kind of mischief he'd find for himself once he got past his current stage of pulling himself up to stand and actually started walking!

It wasn't long before Katherine and Connor's home came into view. Pookkah thought it was a beautiful sight, the large farm house with a veranda which seemed to have flowers everywhere. Duncan's interest was sparked on seeing the herd of horses in the meadows beyond the barn. He couldn't wait to see the ones Connor had mentioned. Behind it all, the river flowed gently along.

As Duncan drove the team toward the house, a herd of young horses came galloping up to greet them in the field next to the road, necks arched and tails up high in the air like flags behind them. Most of them looked to be purebred Arabians but there were a couple of long legged Thoroughbred types as well. Out in front of the barn, they could see Connor working on the feet of a large bay carriage horse that was being held by a gangly looking boy with unruly dark red hair. He was right in the middle of fitting a red hot shoe onto the horse's foot but he waved at them and shouted that he would be up to the house in a few minutes as they went by him.

When the carriage came to a stop in front of the house, John Clayton, John Brennick and Dani appeared from within to hold the horses and to help get their luggage for them. Duncan jumped down from the driver's seat and moved to the side so he could assist Pookah and the baby out. Baby Duncan had just woken up from a nap was positively bouncing with excitement.

"Welcome to Lornadoon!" Lord Greystoke said cheerfully. "Katherine is inside feeding the baby right now so I'll show you to the room you will be staying in. Maggie has the tea just about ready and after that we thought we could take you on a tour of the grounds."

Once everything was unloaded, Dani took the team to the barn while the others went inside. The large living room was bright and airy, with the breeze blowing the lace curtains gently inward. Katherine was sitting in a comfortable looking rocker with a light blanket tossed over her shoulder as she nursed the baby.

"Almost done here," she said with a bright smile as Pook put Baby Duncan down on the floor. He immediately crawled over to the sofa and pulled himself up, making happy little baby noises as he did so. Duncan rescued a vase filled with flowers from Baby Duncan's questing hands and swung him up in the air, making him laugh and giggle as they followed John Clayton up the stairs.

"Here you are," Lord Greystoke said as he pushed open the door to the guest room. "Take your time and settle in. The tea will be ready when you are." With that, he disappeared back down the hall, leaving Pookkah and Duncan to relax a bit after their journey.

Pookkah steeped into the large room followed by Duncan who carried the squirming Baby Duncan in his arms. "Here," he told the little boy before lightly dropping him down on his back in the middle of the bed. Baby D giggled and then let loose with gales of laughter when Duncan pounced on the bed beside him, causing him to bounce up in the air.

"Geez, Duncan, break the bed, why don't you," Pook chided, worried for what was quite obviously an antique. Duncan simply laughed as he rolled onto his back, being quickly followed by the little boy.

"Sweetheart, these cast-iron beds can withstand a lot," he informed her, catching the baby as he lunged upon him with a happy squeal. He playfully buried his face in Baby D's neck, giving a mock growl as he rocked him against himself. Then looking over the giggling baby's head, he gave Pook a wicked grin. "Shall I prove it to you later?" he asked.

Pookkah smiled and rolled her eyes with a slight shake of the head at his teasing, causing Duncan to laugh outright. She was just too much fun to tease, usually getting shyly embarrassed, although there were times when she gave it right back to him.

She came now to sit on the bottom of the large bed and watched fondly for a moment as Duncan romped with their little boy. Glancing around the room then, she took in the lovely decor done in varying shades of blue. Lacy white curtains framed the bay windows and a beautiful crib sat in one corner of the room, waiting for Baby Duncan to make use of. Beyond that a door was slightly ajar which she could see held a private bathroom. Pook smiled as she listed to the baby's high-pitched giggle mixed in with Duncan's husky chuckles and turned her attention back to them.

"It's so nice here," she stated, absently brushing her hand over the handmade quilt upon the bed. "Duncan, we really need to do something with our guest rooms. As it is now, no one can come visit us."

"What would you like to do with them?" he asked, quieting him play with the baby to look up at her.

"Oh, I don't know," she replied, moving to lay beside him across the bed now. "Just something." Baby D squirmed a bit between them, pushing himself up on hands and knees and Pook lightly patted his diapered bottom.

"You should need changing, my boy," she told him, smiling when the baby tried to crawl over her now. Instead she caught him to her and sat up again. "I'm going to get this guy cleaned up," she told Duncan. "Then we better get downstairs. We don't want to keep Katherine and Connor waiting."

Once they had all been cleaned up, they came down the stairs and found the afternoon tea being set up in the dining room by Katherine and Maggie. Their hostess came over and greeted Pookkah and Duncan with a hug and a tickle for Baby Duncan.

"Connor is getting cleaned up," she said with a grin. Maggie grumbled something about him coming in all covered with muck from the stables. The men standing around and waiting just rolled their eyes, apparently all of them had caught the sharp edge of Maggie's tongue for messing up her clean floors at one time or another. As if right on cue, the older MacLeod showed up, looking freshly scrubbed and everyone sat down at the large dining room table to eat.

The afternoon tea consisted up roast beef sandwiches, raw vegetables and dips and several different types of desserts. The afternoon tea was mostly a healthy snack to tide over the hearty appetites of men working outside until the dinner, which Katherine explained was usually served around eight in the evening.

"You have such a lovely home," Pookkah said to Katherine, setting Baby Duncan's food before him as he sat in the highchair beside her. She had sliced the grilled cheese sandwich into small pieces for him and he was quick to grab up a bit.

"Thank you," she said graciously. "This is one of the few times in my life I've ever had a place of my own, and I'm really enjoying it. This island and the people here on it are very special." As she said that, she turned and smiled at her men who nodded at her in response.

Connor reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "But it is you that gives this place its sparkle, my dear," he said with a chuckle. Lady Katherine ducked her head and blushed slightly.

Pook smiled. "You are so right," she said. "Coming to the island has been one of the best things I've ever done, too."

"After you eat I can keep an eye on the little tyke here," Kat offered. "Connor can take you on the grand tour of the place if you would like. Or you can just curl up and take a nap if you would prefer." She smiled knowingly at Pookkah. When a woman has a baby around, it seems like the few moments where she can just kick back and relax are few and far between.

"Oh, thank you so much!," she replied. "Baby Duncan is getting to be a handful. It would be great to have a first look around without having to try keeping him amused as we did so." She ran a gentle hand over the little boy's dark head and smiled. "He might just nap for you," she stated. "It's getting about that time."

After they had eaten and the tea had been cleared, Maggie took Baby D and sat with him in the rocker. He played for a few moments but was soon sound asleep, snuggled up against her ample bosom. "Missus, I can watch both the bairns fur ye," she offered. "Why don't ye go out and get a little fresh air yerself." Katherine thanked her and told her she would be back in time for Katriona's next feeding.

The two couples quietly left the house and went outside. The first place Connor took them was the stallion paddock, where Jameel was exhibiting some fine airs above the ground for his audience. "Now, that's a fine looking animal," Duncan praised as he rested his arms atop the fence to watch.

Pookkah rolled her eyes. "I hope this isn't all you're going to talk about," she teased him. "You know I don't know much about horses." Duncan simply grinned at her.

Chuckling, Katherine offered to take Pook to see the gardens around the house. After kissing their men goodbye, the two women walked afraid, giggling to each other. "What she really means is they are going to sit on the swing in the garden and talk about us," Connor said with a grin. Duncan laughed and couldn't help agreeing to that comment.

The next stop was the field that the young stock was running free in. Clayton and Dougal had already caught one of the colts, and he stood quietly in between the two of them. He looked to be the spitting image of Jameel, except instead of being pure black he had a perfect star in the middle of his forehead and four high white stockings. He was one of the flashiest looking colts Duncan had seen in a long time.

Duncan reached to stroke a hand over the colt's back and down his flank, admiring his form. "He's a good looking colt," he told Connor, glancing over at the other man.

"He's yours if you want him," Connor said with a grin. "I thought you might want to train him for Pookkah or that little weed that doubles as a kid back in the house. He will be a little on the small size for you and me, but he has the calm temperament that would be perfect for a lady or a growing boy."

Duncan's eyes widened at the offer, then he smiled broadly and reached a hand to his kinsman. "I'm not about to turn that down," he said with a laugh as Connor clasped his hand for a hearty shake. "Thank you." He turned his attention back to the colt. "I think he just might do for the little guy," he stated. "He'll be walking soon...a perfect time to start him riding once I train the colt."

"Aye, of course back in our day, any decent highlander learned to ride before he could walk," Connor said with a wide smile. "Just make sure Pook is busy elsewhere when ye take the bairn out for his first gallop. No sense scaring the wee woman ha' to death!" The two kinsmen laughed together.

It was good that they could be here on VIsland together where they could live in peace and to get a chance to enjoy each others company. After Duncan was shown the rest of the horses and improvements Connor and the others had made to the land, they made their way back to the house to find their women who waited there for them with the next generation of MacLeods in their arms.

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