Suggestions ... William visiting the Ridge; Brianna, Roger and their kids having returned not long before. My first "asks," so I beg your indulgence. Imagine ... 1) Bree, Roger, and Ian telling/explaining to W about the "major misunderstanding" that led to Roger's captivity and release (esp Jamie & Claire's role). 2) Mandy lets slip something about "the stones" to William and J & C hustle to explain; 3) Bree tries to explain to W re: J & C's great love w/o referring to time travel. Thanx much!
@timeisonthetable asked: Hi there! Imagine the conversation Jamie and Claire have with William telling him about where she came from. Does William believe it? Or does he refuse ? :))
anonymous asked: Any plans to continue “Tell Me About Your Family ”? There’s a chance I’m alone in this but I like William. Jamie’s revelations about wee Mandy being a tiny Claire are adorable.
@escayna asked: Imagine William visiting the Ridge post-MOBY and getting to be an uncle to Jem and Mandy.
Reuniting at Fraser’s Ridge AU
They’d waited to tell him until after the supper plates were cleared and the Fraser/MacKenzie/Murray clan began tucking in to their lovely – if simple – dessert of baked apples. Mandy quickly hoisted herself up on the bench, standing on her tiptoes to reach the pot of honey at the middle of the table, carefully sliding it across the smooth planks with Ian’s assistance. Rachel helped the girl spoon honey onto her apple before turning to her left and serving Roger. Jamie reached under the table to squeeze Claire’s knee – drawing her attention and silent agreement that now was the moment to move forward.
The lad looked up, startled, from the opposite end of the table – chewing thoughtfully. “Pardon?”
Jamie sighed – belatedly remembering that the lad had no Gaidhlig. Something that he and Brianna would quickly remedy.
“There’s something we all wish to tell ye. It’s best for ye to hear it in the company of yer family – so ye can ask all of us questions, if need be.”
William carefully lay down his spoon and sat up just a bit straighter – readying himself. He raised his chin – meeting Jamie’s blue gaze – the tilt of his face and the way he rested his palms flat on the table mirroring his father. The resemblance was so striking that Claire blinked in shock – and was momentarily transported back nearly forty years, to that fateful night at Leoch where Jamie had defied his uncles at the final MacKenzie Gathering with the exact same look on his face.
“Ye’ll know that Claire and Brianna and Roger Mac and the bairns are different, aye?”
William’s gaze narrowed. “Yes.”
Jamie threaded the fingers of his right hand through Claire’s, squeezing tight. “And ye’ll also know that I take counsel from them in which side I’ve taken in this war, and in the decisions I make in running the farms.”
William nodded, dark brows furrowed, clearly struggling to follow Jamie’s logic.
Jamie licked his lips. “So. I trust them implicitly. It’s my duty – and Ian’s – and Roger’s – to protect all of them from harm. Because they know things. They know what will happen to the Colonies. They know that the English will not prevail in this war. They know that the Indians will be run off their lands. They know that there will be great growth in this country, and that thousands and thousands of ships will come across the ocean, full of people wanting to settle here.”
Clearly bored with this sudden turn in the conversation, Mandy helped herself to Rachel’s half-eaten apple – delighting in how neither her mother nor her father stopped her.
William darted his eyes to look at Ian – and Roger – and Brianna – and Jem. “But how? How do they know such things? And I know they’re your - our - family, but why do you trust them?”
“Because they’re from the future,” Jamie said baldly.
William blinked. “Excuse me?” He turned to face his sister – politely diverting his eyes from Rachel, who had hoisted a fussy Oggy from his basket to feed him his own supper – face full of questions.
“Mama, Roger, and I – we were born and grew up in the twentieth century,” Brianna said softly, laying a soothing, gentle hand atop a fist William hadn’t even realized he’d formed.
He frowned, mind racing. “I – I – that’s impossible.”
“It’s not.” Roger’s voice was quiet, but strong. “We’ve all done it, more than once. Travelled through time, I mean. Even Mandy.”
Finally happy that the grown-ups had decided to bring her into the conversation, Mandy nodded at her uncle. “Aye. We went thwoo the magic wocks in Scotland!”
“Stone circles – surely you’ve seen them in your travels? They mark…passages, of sorts. Places where those who are able to can travel.” Brianna gently rubbed the back of William’s hand – only slightly larger than her own. “I know it sounds impossible, I didn’t believe it either, at first. But it’s real.”
“Aye, it’s real all right,” Jem added, eyes trained on his empty plate, one finger idly tracing back and forth over a chip in the fire-hardened clay.
“But – but why? Surely things are – are different where you come from. Why live here, in the middle of a war, when surely things are safer in that other time?” William raised his elbows to the table and cradled his head in his hands, scrubbing his fingers back and forth through his thick, dark hair.
“Because this is where our family is,” Claire finally said. “Because when I fell through the stones the first time, nearly forty years ago, I met Jamie. I married him. I wanted to build a life with him. And that was more important to me than anything else.”
William looked up at her – the short ends of his hair sticking straight up – and watched his father gather her close against him and kiss her temple.
“But I don’t understand – you married him here? And yet Brianna and Roger were raised - then?”
“They were separated for nearly twenty years, cousin.” Ian hoisted a drowsy Oggy from Rachel’s lap up to his shoulder, gently patting the baby’s back. “She came back only when Cousin Brianna was old enough to live on her own.”
“Twenty years?” William gaped. Claire watched as he made some mental calculations. “That means - that means when you were at Helwater, that was when you were separated from Mother Claire. When you and my mother -”
His manners prevented him from going further - but the way that Jamie pressed his lips together tightly was all the answer that William needed.
Then for a long moment, William looked at each person – each member of his family – very carefully. From Jamie – whispering something into Mother Claire’s ear – to Mother Claire, her face nearly ashen – to Ian and Rachel, patiently watching him – to Brianna, sharing a small smile of encouragement – to Roger, gently rubbing Mandy’s sticky hands with a linen napkin – to young Jem, trying desperately to show he was an equal in this conversation among the adults.
“Does my stepfather know?”
“I know he suspects something - but I’m fairly certain it’s not that.” Claire pushed away her empty plate, one hand still linked with Jamie’s atop the table.
“Now do ye understand why I must protect my wife and daughter so, William?” Jamie asked softly. “Why they and the bairns are so precious to me? Why I trust them, and Roger Mac, as much as I do?”
William could only shake his head in amazement. “I still don’t understand it a bit – not yet. But I trust you. All of you. You have good hearts – you’ve no reason to deceive. I trust that you’re telling me the truth.”
“I am. We are. And I must ask ye to no’ tell anyone else.”
He sat up straight with indignation. “I’d never – ”
“He knows,” Roger said gently. “But he still has to ask, aye?”
“Yes, of course,” William breathed. “But still – I – stones? And time travel? I don’t quite understand it all.”
The room fell silent as William took his time to process everything. Mandy, suddenly bored with the quiet, folded her tiny arms on the tabletop, rested her head in the crook of one elbow, and fell promptly asleep.
“Do you – do you think that I could travel?” William asked after a long while. “That would be so – so *fantastic* to see the future!”
Brianna and Claire exchanged meaningful glances. “Oh, little brother,” she shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
