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‘He had a point.’ Her voice was still flat, and the sparkle had gone from her eyes.
‘No, he didn’t. He didn’t have a clue. You’ll be a fantastic wife—just as I intend to be a fantastic husband to you. And you’ll be brilliant mother.’ The kind that his own mother hadn’t been. Katrina was warm and loving, she listened—and she noticed.
She shook her head. ‘Rhys, I sleep through thunderstorms. I’m bound to sleep through our baby crying in the night—and I’d never be able to forgive myself if I was needed and I didn’t hear and our baby…’ She dragged in a breath.
‘Died?’ He said the word she clearly couldn’t bring herself to say.
She nodded.
He kissed her, very gently, then pulled back to make sure she could see his face. ‘Katrina, that’s not going to happen. I know you can’t wear a hearing aid overnight, but that doesn’t matter because I’m always going to be there. I’ll hear.’ He smiled. ‘I might moan and groan a bit, and prod you and tell you it’s your turn to get up and see to the baby, but I’ll hear so you don’t have to worry. And in the daytime we’ll have one of those baby listeners with lights, the sort you can carry round with you and you can even turn the sound off but the flashing lights will tell you that the baby’s crying. We’ll work it out.’ He stroked her hair. ‘Remember what you said to me about teamwork? It goes both ways. I’m on your team, just as you’re on mine. And if you’re worrying about what Pete said, I can assure you that he was talking a load of rubbish.’
‘Was he?’
She didn’t sound so sure. ‘Yes,’ he said quietly. ‘Because to me you’re perfect, Katrina. You’ve shown me that anything is possible, with you by my side. You’re warm and sweet and you’re—oh, this sounds horribly corny, but I mean it—you’re like sunshine. I love you just as you are. You’ll be a fabulous mother, and we’ll work perfectly as a team—we fill each other’s gaps. You’ll tell better stories than I will, and I’ll hear crying more easily than you will. Simple.’
‘Oh, Rhys.’
‘It’s all going to be fine. If you want children…’
She nodded. ‘I do. Half the reason I’m so pleased that Maddie and Theo had Helen is because I never thought I’d have the chance to have children of my own—being an aunt to Maddie’s baby is the next best thing.’
‘I think,’ he said, ‘we need to work on this. Helen is definitely going to need a cousin—one who loves her just as much as you and Maddie love each other.’
Katrina’s voice was slightly wobbly. ‘Sounds good to me.’
‘And now we’ve got that sorted…’ He kissed her hand. ‘I have to apologise to you. I misled you at lunchtime.’
She blinked. ‘How?’
‘I let you think I was working. I wasn’t. But I did have something important to do.’ He took the small box from his pocket. ‘Something I wanted to give you.’
She opened it to find a narrow band of gold containing six stones.
‘It’s a cariad ring—the first letters of the names of the gemstones spell out the word “cariad”. Which is Welsh for “dearest”.’ He smiled. ‘Citrine, aquamarine, ruby, iolite—’ a stone of such a deep blue that it was almost black ‘—amethyst and diamond. Though if you’d rather have a diamond solitaire then of course I’ll buy you one.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I’d like a cariad ring. Because you call me that. And every time I see the ring I’ll think of what you just said. Cariad.’
‘It’s what you are, Katrina. My heart’s dearest.’
‘Rhys, that’s so romantic.’ Tears shimmered in her eyes.
‘Don’t cry, cariad.’ He brushed his mouth against hers. ‘And it’s Welsh gold.’
‘But…don’t you have to be royalty to buy Welsh gold?’
‘No.’ He grinned. ‘Though, of course, to me you’re a princess.’
She snorted. ‘Wrong Gregory girl. Maddie does pink and girly.’ Just like the tiny dress she’d given Maddie for her daughter, that morning. ‘I don’t.’
‘I know. I was teasing you.’ He brought her hand up to his mouth, kissed her ring finger and slid the ring on top of his kiss. ‘This is a promise, Katrina. A promise that I’ll always love you.’
‘And you always keep your promises.’ She reached up and kissed him. ‘So do I. I’ll always love you, Rhys.’
