Her Baby Out of the Blue/A Doctor, A Nurse: A Christmas Baby by Various

Author:Various [Her Baby Out of the Blue; A Doctor, A Nurse-A Christmas Baby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

EPILOGUE

CHRISTMAS Eve at the bottom of the world was a summer’s day as perfect as the ceremony that had just taken place in the tiny church on the top of a hill.

The new Mrs Jane McKenzie stood on the steps of the church, hand in hand with her husband. She wore a simple dress of white silk with a cross-over bodice that seemed to gather the full-length skirt so that it fell from one hip to ripple down to her feet, the small train pooling on the step above.

A single strand of her grandmother’s pearls were around her neck and she carried a bunch of fragrant white Christmas lilies. Her hair was loose, the way Dylan loved it most, but a section had been pulled back into a high clasp and woven into the twisted tresses were the small, crimson flowers of the pohutukawa.

Dylan wore a single red bloom of the New Zealand Christmas tree in the lapel of his black jacket and the colour was a match for the line in the McKenzie tartan of the kilt he wore.

‘It’s the old McKenzie tartan,’ he’d explained. ‘The green is for the forests and fields. The blue for the sky and the sea. White is for purity and the red for blood and bold fighters.’

It was perfect.

The green was all around them in the trees and hills. Her dress was white because this was her first wedding and it would be the only one because she was with the man she loved enough to spend the rest of her life with. The blue of the sea below was a reflection of the cloudless summer sky. Beautiful, but not nearly as dark or compelling as the blue of Dylan’s eyes.

The final, haunting notes of ‘Highland Wedding’ came from where Dylan’s father, Angus, was playing his bagpipes, at the point where the velvet lawn created the edge of the hilltop.

Dylan bent to kiss his bride and provide the photograph that Angus would put in pride of place on the mantelpiece of the new home he already loved. Angus was a real McKenzie. A bold fighter whose fierce love for his son and his granddaughter made him more than ready to embark on a new life in a new country. A love that already included his new daughter-in-law.

Still hand in hand, the bride and groom moved down the steps to join Angus as the select group of wellwishers emerged from the church. They both looked down at the village below for a moment and Jane smiled. Down there, hidden in the village, was the tiny patch of this earth that had become—more than it had ever been—her touchstone. Inside the cottage there were white vases filled with flowers from the pohutukawa tree, and in front of the fireplace was a slightly lopsided branch of spruce tree that had a gold star on the top.

Their honeymoon would be celebrating Christmas in the cottage. A time for family and gifts and contentment. A perfect way to start a new life together.

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