Adventures of Bree & Alex: Part 10
“So, umm, should we get a room for the evening?” Claire stuttered. He was her husband, her soulmate, but for some reason, she was nervous.
“I have a place, but, I reckon yer not going to want to leave the bairns here alone,” Jamie said shyly, giving that half-grin that made Claire weak at the knees.
“You’re right,” Claire smiled back. She could feel the blush on her cheeks radiating with her pounding heart.
“Aye. I’ll take care of it,” Jamie took a step to away to make the arrangements, but quickly turned back around. “Would ye come with me? I ken it’s ridiculous, but I’m afraid if I turn around, ye’ll disappear on me.”
“Of course,” she said, following him to the innkeeper.
They got the last room left at the inn to Claire’s relief, but the walk to the room quickly washed away any ease she was feeling and replaced it with anxiousness.
Why on earth should she be nervous? He was her husband for Christ’s sake. They’d seen each other naked dozens, even hundreds of times. But here she was, feeling more nervous than she did before her first time. And just because they were heading to their room didn’t mean anything was going to happen. It had been 20 years since they’d seen each other. Maybe, maybe he didn’t want her like that anymore.
When they reached the doorway, she gave a brief glance over her shoulder to make sure he was still there. Sure enough, he was, and the paleness of his face and twitch of his eyebrow showed that he too was nervous.
Claire turned the key in the lock, and upon feeling the hinge pop, pushed the door open.
The room was small, but not the smallest room they had ever stayed in. There would be no escaping each other in here though. Claire walked over to the small table and took a seat on one of the chairs. She hadn’t slept in two days, and the exhaustion was catching up to her.
“Aye Sassenach, ye look like yer about to pass out,” Jamie said worriedly.
“It’s been a long few days, is all. So...I don’t really know what to say actually,” she said embarrassingly.
Jamie sat down on the end of the bed, leaning on his knees. “Aye. I’ve waited what feels like a hundred lifetimes to see ye again, and now that yer here, I don’t ken what to say.”
“I suppose we could start with a normal conversation, as if we were two old friends catching up,” Claire suggested.
“Alright. How have ye been Claire?”
Claire couldn’t help but laugh slightly, and Jamie joined in at the ridiculousness of it all.
“I’ve been well. Obviously, you’ve met our children. They are the best things that have ever happened to me. We live in Boston, it’s a city in the states. I’m a surgeon there.”
“A surgeon? I thought ye already were one,” he said with shrug of his shoulders.
“I didn’t have the title before, but I went back to school, and now I’m one of the best in the area. It’s been a ray of sunlight in what has felt like a very long, cloudy few years. With the children gone at school, I spend most of my time at the hospital.”
“And, Frank. He doesn’t mind ye not being home?” Jamie asked rather tensely. He was trying to stay calm about it, but he didn’t look at Claire when he asked the question.
“Frank and I live separate lives. We have for a very long time,” was all Claire could manage. She was still utterly furious with Frank, and could barely stand to speak his name. But she knew that this wasn’t the time to talk about Frank. Jamie was and always would be at the center of her mind. “Tell me about you. What is your life like?”
“Well, I reckon ye ken that I own the printing shop here. That’s where the bairns found me. I spent a fair amount of time in prison after Culloden. And, well it’s been one heck of a journey to get to here,” he said, not sure on how much to share.
“And Jenny and Ian? How are they?”
“Aye they’re well. Still at Lallybroch with more children and grandchildren than when ye last saw them,” he said happily.
“It has been quite a while since I’ve seen them, hasn’t it?” Claire said with a smile, but hints of sadness seeped into her voice. “When I found out you survived Culloden, I, all I felt was heartbreak. All that time we could have been together, the four of us” Claire managed before the tears started to spill from her eyelids.
Jamie stood up and strode over to Claire, kneeling down so he could look her directly in the eyes. He grasped her face in his hands, bringing her eyes to his.
“Ye’ve nothing to cry over. Yer here now. Ye’ve given me something I never thought I’d have, and that’s the chance to meet the children, to look in your eyes again. To touch you,” his voice trailed off as his eyes glanced down at her lips.
Claire’s heart began to race again, but this time it was with anticipation. But she couldn’t wait. She had waited long enough. She threw herself out of the chair, wrapping her arms around his neck, tackling them to the ground.
Jamie hit the ground hard taking the majority of the fall, but it didn’t matter to him. Their lips came together with a passion that Claire was sure she could have felt in the 20th Century. Their tongues moved in harmony, and their hands grabbed at each other, never getting enough of what they so needed and desired.
