Set after “Written In My Own Heart’s Blood”, it’s Claire’s 63rd birthday.
Happy Birthday Sassenach read below.
“Happy Birthday Sassenach”, Jamie kissed me thoroughly, hands fondling my arse, his warm flesh pressed against mine, legs spreading my own open. This was a wake up I could get used to.
Jamie turned me over onto my back, his hands now pulling up my shift to my stomach. His mouth wasted no time in finding my breasts, sucking on my nipples through the thin cotton fabric. “Jamie”, I sighed, running my hands from the base of his skull to cup his cheeks and pull his face up to mine.
“It’s my birthday…” I smirked and with a lot of effort on my end, I rolled us over so that I was now on top of Jamie, legs straddling him, “and I get to be on top.” Jamie’s hands lifted me up slightly so he could slide into me, “You wee vixen”, Jamie groaned as I began moving my hips in a figure eight movement. “Mmmm you must do as I say today”, I bent to kiss him, his hands now exploring the space of my bare back; the shift had come off in the roll to climb atop Jamie.
He thrust his hips up to meet mine, “And when do I not do as ye say Sassenach? I follow ye’re lead as much as ye do mine.” My nipples grazed his mouth as I slowly arched my back, placing my hand on his chest, rolling my hips to take him in deeper. “I suppose you’re right. But still…” Jamie sat up, his tongue licking from my collarbone to chin, “do as I say… and fuck me.”
That earned me a hip thrust so deep I couldn’t help but call out, “Christ Jamie!”, and sighed as he held my body and laid me back, my head now at the end of the bed.
So much for being on top.
“Ye ken what it makes me want to do to ye when ye speak to me like that Sassenach.” I wrapped my legs around Jamie’s waist, begging for him to take me. “I do.” I moaned against his mouth, every movement from above me sending me over the edge and my head spinning. “Ahh Claire,” Jamie’s full weight settled on me, unable to hold himself up as he spilled his seed into me.
I kissed the spot just behind his ear, his curls tickling my forehead. I grunted and he rose up so I could shimmy out from under him and into his arms facing his chest.
“Thank you for my birthday present”, my nose pressed against the hollow crevice between his collarbones. “Although I don’t know how I’m going to face everyone downstairs now…” I blushed at the thought of Jenny downstairs making breakfast with Jem and Mandy running around her feet in and out of the newly finished Big House.
Jamie lifted his chin from the top of my head and peered down at me, “Mo nighean donn, that wasna yer present, just a wee gift but not yer present.” He gave my arse he was holding a firm squeeze and rolled me on top of him, “I dinna care about you facing everyone downstairs, I only want ye facing me at this moment.” I laughed and then in quick succession Jamie slid into me for the second time that morning… what a very good birthday this was turning out to be.
I check my hair in the mirror one last time before heading downstairs to join the others. I didn’t exactly want it to look like I had just been having sex with a big burly Scot before 7 o’clock in the morning but the walls were thin and so there was no doubt they had heard everything. “Ye look beautiful Sassenach, dinna fash yerself”, Jamie wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to him and breathed in deeply, “ye dinna look a day over 70.”
I gasp and swat his arm, “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, you better be joking!” I turned to face him and give him a stern look, “I’m turning 63 today, and I’m having a hard enough time with that, I don’t want to even think about turning 70 thank you very much. My hair has more grey, my body is starting to sag in places…” Jamie gave my body an up and down look with an approving gleam in his eye, “Oh stop it. I’m sure you’ve noticed my breasts aren’t exactly where they used to be.” I grabbed said breasts in both hands and gave them a little jiggle for emphasis.
“I dinna care where they are Sassenach, only that ye’ve got them.” He pulled me to him, his hands intertwined and resting on my hips. “Ye are as beautiful to me now as ye were the first time I laid eyes on ye. Even more so,” he kissed me then slowly and without urgency, “because watching the grey appear in yer hair and the wee lines form by yer eyes…” he twisted a stray grey curl around his finger, “it brings me great joy, just knowing I am here to see ye grow old, to be with ye everyday and not even notice the small changes.”
“When we were apart I wasna there to see the grey strands first appear in yer beautiful hair. I wasna there to see this line,” his thumb smoothed against the line in my forehead, “I only saw ye after some twenty years of no’ bein’ with ye and while I thought ye beautiful and was so grateful to have ye in my arms again… I was also verra sad because I could see ye had aged but I wasna there to see it ye ken?” I simply nodded and leaned into him, my cheek pressed against his chest.
“Let’s join the others before they come barging in Sassenach, I think Jenny and the bairns were tryin’ to make ye a cake.” I kissed him and opened the door out into the hallway but before I reached the steps I spun around to him, “I love you Jamie, more than I have the words to express just how much.”
“And I love you mo cridhe. Always.” He placed his hands on my waist and followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen where our family was gathered and waiting.
“There’s the lovebirds, it’s about time. Ye dinna think about all of us down here waiting, the food gettin’ cold now did ye?” Jenny said with a disapproving tone, setting a loaf of bread down in the middle of the table.
Jamie chuckled and sat at the head of the table, I sat down on his left side, Mandy and Jem just next to me with Bree on the other side of Jem. Roger was seated at the other end of the table, Ian and Rachel were across from me, Rachel’s cheeks as red as roses.
“To be honest Jenny, I wasna thinking of any of ye at all, only my wife.” He tried to wink at me but failed, closing both eyes.
“We heard Grandma yelling and Mummy said not t-“, Bree clasped her hand over Mandy’s mouth before she could finish that thought. “Sorry… she heard you… um and thought you were in trouble.” Bree blushed and looked down at Mandy and slowly took her hand from her mouth, still hovering just in case she decided to finish her sentence.
“Well, now that we’ve got the awkward conversations out of the way… let’s eat.” I smiled at everyone around the table and picked up a slice of bread. “Thank you to everyone who helped make this delicious looking breakfast.”
“I helped!” Jem squeaked out beside me, “I helped mash the berries to make the jam.” He said proudly, scooping out the jam onto his bread and then to Mandy’s. I swiped a bit of jam from the top of the jar and licked it off my finger. “Mmm, that is delicious Jem, well done!” I squeezed my arm around him and he laid his little head against me.
We sat around the table, eating the food everyone had helped make, well except me and Jamie, we had been busy doing something else entirely.
At the end of breakfast, Mandy gave me a shiny rock she had found by the river in the woods. “It will make you breathe under water, that’s what the river fairies told me Grandma.” She said, curled up in my lap. Mandy had quite the imagination, always talking about fairies and make believe creatures, a true Scot.
Rachel and Ian cleaned up the remnants of the morning and headed outside to feed the animals and begin the work for the day. Jem who was now 9 and growing taller everyday, climbed onto Jamie’s lap and asked him to sing a song.
“Ah, I dinna think ye will want to hear me sing wee Jem, it willna sound sah pleasant I’m afraid.” He grimaced and turned to me, “but yer Grandma has a lovely voice and I’m sure she will sing to ye.” I settled Mandy on my lap, “Yes Grandma, sing the spider song!”, Mandy chirped.
“The spider song? Oh! The “Itsy Bitsy Spider?” I asked. It had been some time since I had sang a children’s nursery rhyme. Bree and Roger had left to go to their old cabin and grab a few things to bring back up to the Big House.
“A song about a spider? Are ye sure Mandy?” Jamie asked, “I’ve heard of songs of many a thing but not a spider.” He motioned with his hand for me to start.
I took a deep breath and cleared my throat, “The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout, down came the rain and washed the spider out…”.
I ended up singing three more nursery rhymes that I could remember and when begged for another I blamed my throat for being so old that I couldn’t sing any more. Jem took Mandy down to see the new foal born just last week in the small stable.
Jamie stood and pulled me from my seat at the table and embraced me, kissing me gently. “Come wi’ me Sassenach, I want to show ye yer present.”
He led me out of the house and around the side where all summer I had been planting and trying to establish order in my new garden. I couldn’t bear to recover what was left of my old one, ever since Malva…
I paused when I saw the new fence surrounding my garden, Jamie had somehow fashioned a working gate, I’m sure with the help of Bree, to lead into the garden. “Oh Jamie… it’s… it’s”, I was at a loss for words. “Do ye like it? I know it’s only simply and nothin’ grand but I thought it was about time I made ye a new fence to keep out the damn sow.”
I looked at Jamie, standing by the garden, one hand atop his fence, proudly staring at his handy work. “I love it Jamie. I never knew I could be so happy about a fence before today.” I laughed and walked over to him. “It feels so right. To have Bree, Roger and the kids back. You built our house,” I swayed us to face the back of the house, “again and now I have my garden back.”
“I would give ye the world if I had it to offer ye Sassenach, but I shall first give ye what I do have.” Jamie walked me over to the gate of the garden and unlatched it, strolling us forward to stand amongst the growing life underneath our feet. “Happy Birthday Sassenach”, Jamie said once more, kissing me fully, arms around me. He said he didn’t have the world to offer me but as far as I knew, I was holding it in my arms.
This is a collection of tales about characters that live on Fraser’s Ridge in North Carolina. Most stories are set after or during the book ‘Drums of Autumn’ by Diana Gabaldon. Missing moments I thought would fit in nicely, mostly a look into the domestic simple days of our favorite characters, it’s the little things isn’t it?
Part 1: Tell Me About the Bicycle | Claire & Jamie
Part 2: A Song From the Past | Roger & Bree
Part 3: Let Me Wash You | Claire & Jamie feat. Bree (briefly)
Part 4: Reminiscing | Claire & Bree
Part 5: Happy Birthday Sassenach | Claire & Jamie feat. Jenny, Ian, Rachel, Roger, Bree, Jem & Mandy
Part 6: By the Fireside | Jenny & Bree
Part 7: Saturation | Claire & Jamie (wee bit of Roger & Bree)
Part 8: That’s Amore | Claire, Jamie, Roger, Bree, Jem, The Bug’s
PART 8: THAT’S AMORE
I sank down on my knees, careful not to get too much dirt on the hem of my newly washed dress as I started plucking tomatoes off the vine. Bree wanted to make pizza, she said her and Roger had missed it and that she thinks she could make a good version of it in this century. With only a few modifications to the ingredients like sheep’s milk for the cheese, as it would melt easier than the cheese we usually kept. I put five large tomatoes in my basket and found the fresh basil that would help enrich the flavours. She asked for garlic too, I had plenty of that already somewhere in my surgery as it was helpful for dressing wounds.
Jamie was up at the makeshift distillery where we brewed our own whiskey, gathering a barrel of cider he had made a few weeks ago to pair with our pizza. I let Bree be in charge of the crust, she had already started kneading the dough when I came out to collect the rest of the ingredients.
I stood up, grabbing my basket and checking to make sure I had what I needed. It was Jamie, Bree, Roger, Jem and I, along with the Bugs who would be eating pizza tonight. I calculated that between Jamie, Roger and Arch Bug we would most likely need three large pizzas to feed us all.
“Sassenach!” Jamie called, meeting me on my way up to the Big House, his arms wrapped around the barrel of cider. “What exactly is Bree cookin’ tonight… this ‘pizza’?” The way that ‘pizza’ sounded coming out of Jamie’s mouth made me laugh, his thick Scottish accent making it sound more like ‘peesa’.
“It’s basically a bread base, covered with a tomato sauce and then topped with cheese that melts when you cook it. You can put almost anything on pizza like different meats, vegetables and some people even put pineapple on it! Although I find that rather disgusting… who puts pineapple on pizza?” I stuck my tongue out and pretended to gag, making Jamie look at me with a worried expression. “I dinna know what pineapple taste like Sassenach but from the look on ye’re face, I may never want to taste it.” Jamie said as I opened the door, smelling the wood that had begun to burn in the small oven.
I walked into the kitchen, Jamie following closely behind, “Oh pineapple by itself is very good, sweet and juicy. Just not with pizza.” I said, setting down my basket and letting Bree take a look. Jamie set down the cider on the table and walked back over to me.
He patted my bum and leaned in, whispering “I do know what else is sweet and juicy Sassenach and I think I shall be wantin’ that for dessert.” I pursed my lips at him and hit him playfully on the arm, “We’ll see about that.”
“Mama, these tomatoes look great! Can you start crushing them to make the sauce? And then Da would you mind checking that Roger found the cheese alright? I asked him to get it about ten minutes ago.” Bree ordered us to our stations, Jamie departed with a quick kiss to each of our foreheads and I crushed the tomatoes, mixing in a few spices like salt, pepper and oregano I had got while trading for medicine the last time we where in Cross Creek.
“This was a very good idea Bree, the pizza. It will be a treat to eat something that hasn’t been simmering in a pot all day.” I grimaced, the amount of stew and soups I had consumed this past winter was astonishing and I would be glad to never eat it again.
Bree turned to me, hands dusted in flour, “It was Roger’s idea really, we were thinking of things we missed like coke and beer and what goes better with those than pizza?” She smiled and started forming the dough into a large round circle. I was so grateful to have Bree here but often when she spoke of our own time it brought sadness to my heart. If only there was a way to bring all the good things from our century to this one, mixing the best of our times together.
I brought the bowl of crushed tomatoes over to Bree, hoping it would work for the sauce. Just then Roger and Jamie walked through the door, Jamie holding the sheep’s cheese and Roger with guitar in hand.
“Singing tonight are we?” I glanced at the guitar as Roger placed it leaning against the wall. “Oh I have a song in mind.” He grinned a devilish grin and walked over to Bree, placing one arm around her waist and pulling her close to him.
“Jem is with the Bug’s down in the cabin, they said they’ll bring him up in time for pizza. Although they weren’t quite sure what to make of what I told them pizza was.” He clicked his tongue, grabbing the remaining dough and helping Bree form another circle shape.
“I hope this cider will be alright, it was brewed only a few weeks ago so it may not be ready yet.” Jamie said, resting his arm on top of said cider. I walked over to him and stood in between his legs, placing my arms on his shoulders. “I’m sure it will be fine Jamie, it always is.” I gave him a quick kiss and went over to help Bree finish up the pizzas.
It took us some clever thinking but eventually we got the pizza into the oven. Without something flat like a spatula to transfer the pizza in the oven, we ended up all putting our hands under the dough and carrying it. The smell began to waft through the house, making my stomach growl.
“Did that sound come from ye mo nighean donn?” Jamie asked, placing his large hand across my belly. “Yes, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” I laughed.
“Dinna eat my horse Sassenach, but take a shot at Clarence if ye must.” He joked and began to rub small circles against my stomach. “Hey, I like Clarence, even if he greets everyone a bit too loudly, he’s the best mule there ever was.” Jamie kissed me, licking my bottom lip. I pulled away just as the Bug’s came in with Jem running to jump in Roger’s arms.
“Ooh ye’re getting heavy Jemmy” Roger huffed, swinging Jem back and forth by the arms, his legs dangling and threatening to hit anyone in close proximity. Bree gave Roger a side eyed glance and Roger promptly stopped swinging Jem and placed him on the bench in front of the table.
“We must behave Jem,” Roger grinned, his back ramrod straight and he crossed his eyes, making Jem burst into a fit of giggles.
“The pizza is almost ready everyone! I’m just waiting on the last one to finish cooking and then we can eat.” Bree said, looking into the oven one more time to check the progress. “Da, do you mind filling everyone’s cups with cider?”
Jamie nodded and walked over to the barrel, I followed behind him and handed him glass after glass until everyone had a drink in front of him. Jem of course had milk, he was a bit young to drink the cider obviously although I had caught Jamie giving him a sip or two out of his cup a few too many times in the past.
Mrs. Bug helped us carry the pizza over to the table and Bree pulled out her Swiss Army knife, “This should do the job, since we don’t have a pizza cutter.” She said proudly and started slicing the pizza into eight even slices. I had to hold back my laugh as I watched the curious gazes and “oohs and aahs” from the Bugs and Jamie as they watched Bree slice up the pizza. Who knew pizza would be such an interesting thing?
I picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite, instantly regretting it as it was still piping hot from the oven and scalded my mouth. “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!” I shouted and stuck my tongue out. Everyone at the table gave me odd looks and then eyed the pizza with sudden disgust.
“Oh no! The pizza is delicious, nothing wrong with it except the temperature. Eat up everyone.” I said reassuring the table, “It’s really alright” I said to Jamie as he picked up the slice and bit off the smallest bite ever known to man.
“It is good Sassenach, well done Brianna.” He smiled and then took a normal sized bite, finishing another two slices in quick succession. We drank and ate until there was nothing left but crumbs on the table, pizza had now become a Ridge favourite and I suspected we would be making it more often.
Roger stood up from the table and picked up his guitar, adjusting his hands on the strings he began to play a familiar tune.
“What’s that song Mackenzie?” Jamie asked, pouring more cider into everyone’s cups.
Roger grinned at me and Bree and began singing, “When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore, when the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore…”
Crucea de foc (volumul 5, partea 1) - Diana Gabaldon (editura Nemira)
Crucea de foc (volumul 5, partea 1) – Diana Gabaldon (editura Nemira)
Seria semnată de Diana Gabaldon este o aventură pe cinste! Nu știi niciodată la ce să te aștepți, nu poți anticipa întâmplările pe care autoarea le va expune și nimic nu este previzibil. Este seria de la care îmi voi lua „la revedere” cel mai greu. Totul pare atât de natural, de real. Personajele au ajuns să îmi fie prieteni dragi sau dușmani redutabili.
