The months ran by and before too long it was time for Sarah to give birth. Having never given birth before, she did not know quite what to expect but had plenty of help from her foster mother and her mother-in-law, each of whom had given birth before and were there to provide support. For quite some time Lady Lipton found herself bedridden, wondering why she was having such a difficult pregnancy. Eventually, though, the day came for her to give birth and she was in bed giving labor while the family’s physician and some nurse-midwives helped out the suffering mother.

After some hours of labor, finally a little child came out of Sarah, a little boy who was soon washed and lovingly dried. Lady Lipton expected her troubles to be over at this point, but she was still in labor, so with a mighty effort she pushed again and another little child came out of her, a little girl who was also washed and lovingly towel-dried. Lord Lipton got in bed with his wife so that he could hold his son while his wife held his daughter and the four of them could all have some time to bond closely with each other.

The other guests were quite happy to see all of this, and the two babies soon found themselves enjoying the love and affection of the family assembled as well as the comfortable places to sleep on the chest of their parents and were properly fed and beginning their lives on the right foot. The parents were admittedly surprised to have two children, one boy and one girl, and the two of them spent some time figuring out what names the two of them would have.

The happiness of others could be guessed. Clarissa, being a gentle soul, was pleased to have two little siblings to care for and be loving and affectionate to. Miss Wood knew that there would be job security if she wished for it. Both Lady Martin and Lady Sydney appreciated having grandchildren and were glad to see it happened so quickly and in such a loving way, and both of them looked forward to the thought of being able to drop in to be loving grandparents, which is something that older people are always looking forward to anyway.

The house servants were pleased to know that with the births of the little children, it seemed as if the family estate was secure for another generation. They had the good sense, it must be appreciated, to know that children being raised in such a household as this were going to have a lot of advantages and see the example of loyal service to others as well as kind treatment. This was no assurance that they would end up well, it must be admitted, but it did provide at least good odds that things would in fact go well.

In the coming days ahead the little ones were able to get used to their new cribs and being a little less fragile looking than they had at the start. Sarah found herself with a complex set of emotions, but she found the love of her husband, her foster mother and mother-in-law, as well as her little children, who were both very loving and sweet-tempered babies, and the others around to be very much appreciated and it was not long before she overcame the welter of emotions that pregnancy and birth had inspired and returned to her good cheer.

Having seen the mysteries of marriage and childbirth, Lady Sarah found her bloom of youth quickly transformed into something that was equally beautiful but something that would be far more lasting, the glow of a woman who loves being the mother of loving children and has a loving and appreciative husband who is happy with her. And though he had not expected to find much of a change in his life and thinking, Lord Lipton himself became a great deal less fatalist as a result of the birth of his children, which reminded him that his house was not in a state of irrevocable destruction and that he had something to live for, namely his adorable little children, in the hope that he would be able to help them grow and be able to shoulder the burden of the lives that they would be called upon to bear. He hoped that they would be able to grow into that burden with an attitude of both cheer and realism, a stiff upper lip but not a hard heart. And it is with such thoughts and hopes those glorious days that he rested with the sun alongside his beloved wife.