Chapter Eleven:
A week has gone by, one whole week of complete bliss.
Claire has been working, but every night she was able to come home to her husband and children, just as it always should have been.
John came over for dinner a few nights, Claire feeling guilty that he was stuck in the safe house alone, but he assured her he was busy working.
He was great company on those nights, sharing stories with the girls of Sophia's latest antics he'd witnessed on FaceTime, making the whole table laugh. John was always sensitive of her and Jamie's time together, always spending time with them after the girls were asleep, having a whisky and playing chess with Jamie while bonding with Claire, teaching her his best moves on the board. But he'd always make his leave soon after their game ended, giving Claire and Jamie their nights together.
The week has ended now, though, and Jamie and John must return back to North Carolina to wrap things up and prepare for the trial.
"I'll miss ye lasses sae much," he says, kissing Faith and Brianna's heads. His eyes swell with tears, and Claire can tell he's fighting hard not to let them fall.
It's unavoidable, however, when Brianna sniffles, wiping fiercely at her damp cheeks. "I don't want you to go, Daddy."
"Me neither," Faith adds, her own little set of tears falling.
Claire's cheeks puff out, using all her might not to weep right then and there for her children.
Jamie walks over to her, wrapping her in his arms. "And I'll miss ye too, mo chridhe, sae much." He leans in, pressing his lips to hers, and she returns the favor, burying her face in his neck when they pull apart and letting her tears fall.
"I'm so sorry," John interrupts, patting Claire on the back and pulling her from the embrace. "I really don't want to break your family apart again," he sighs, saying he doesn't want them to leave but they have to.
The trial is almost ready to start so he'll be back, but that could be anywhere from a few weeks to months from now—she knows the trial will be this summer, but that could mean anytime in the next three months and the uncertainty makes her uneasy—and she doesn't know if she can go that long without Jamie anymore.
She has plenty to do, has work to keep her distracted, has the research she's been doing trying to figure out if she and Jamie are legally still married since he was pronounced dead. The girls have school and ballet and horseback riding and… plenty to keep her mind occupied, but she knows she'll constantly be wondering about Jamie and if he's safe.
It's ironic, really, seeing as North Carolina has kept him safe all these years and this is the state he was harmed in, but not having him with her stirs up those fears all over again.
Claire stands back, watching Jamie embrace their girls one more time, whispering into their ears and making them giggle.
It's as if everything is moving in slow motion as she watches him. He steps over to the kitchen counter, sipping on his last mug of coffee before they hit the road, talking with John and laughing.
Over the last week, she's noticed things on his body, or things about him. Things she always knew, but never really valued. But knowing he'd be leaving for a few weeks, she's tried to memorize each and every little detail. Attributes that had once slipped her mind, like the way his cheeks puff out when he tries to hold in a laugh, or the little hmph noise he makes while studying something like the crossword in the newspaper. They were small things, but they were quirks of his she wanted to treasure forever.
"Weel," he breathes, coming to stand in front of her and pulling her from her adoration of him. "We best be on our way."
She nods, trying to hold back a new wave of tears as she puts on a brave face for their children.
This is real, he's not just leaving for a few days like he did before; he's leaving for weeks, and suddenly uprooting their entire lives to come join him in Wilmington doesn't seem so bad, no matter how much she knows, realistically, they can't do that.
Jamie kisses her and the girls again, telling them how much he loves them all, and she hugs John once more, telling him to give Hector and Sophia a big kiss from them, and then they're gone.
Claire sighs, looking down at the girls.
She grins sadly, thinking that the girls look as if someone just took their puppy away.
Deciding right then and there that they need something to distract themselves with, she claps her hands together, asking the girls what they want to do today. It's Saturday, and she wants them to enjoy the weekend no matter how sad they may be.
"Can we get pedicures?" Faith asks with excited eyes, wiggling her toes for good effect.
"I want to go to the park!" Bree chimes in, skipping around her sister like the ball of energy that she is.
So they do just that.
Claire loads the girls up, all three going to the nail salon to get their toenails painted, giving them some time to relax. After that, they stop into a small bistro, ordering sandwiches and pasta salad that they take to the park.
She'd packed a blanket in the car earlier, while the girls each brought two Barbie's with them, and they spend the afternoon looking up at the clouds, talking, and playing with their dolls.
It's nice, being able to get out of the house. They've been cooped up inside since Jamie returned, knowing he couldn't be seen in public.
She wouldn't trade their time together for anything, but letting the girls run around somewhere other than their backyard is nice.
"Mama?" Bree asks, sounding hesitant.
Claire's brows furrow, running her hand through Brianna's long hair. "What is it, darling?"
She's leaned against a large tree where they'd set up shop for the day, their blanket splayed out beneath them. Faith sits beside Claire, munching quietly on her sandwich, while Bree leans against Claire's legs. The little girl looks down, picking at a piece of fuzz on Claire's leg, then glances back to her mother. "Is… is Frank coming today now that Daddy is gone?"
Claire isn't sure if her daughter's sad expression is for Jamie being gone or not having Frank there or what… "Why do you ask, baby?"
Shrugging, Bree sits up, looking over to Faith. "He just hasn't been around much since Daddy came back. I miss him."
With a sigh, Claire looks between both girls, deciding there's no time like the present to tell them the truth. She takes a deep breath, smiling at the girls and saying, "I actually broke up with Frank."
The girls' eyes widen, Bree's mouth falling agape slightly, but she quickly closes it again, giving Claire a sad nod.
It hurts Claire's heart; she knows Faith and Brianna both loved Frank, too, and this is hard for them as well.
"I'm sorry, girls." She bops them both on the nose, trying to lighten the mood. "It just wasn't right to still date him with Daddy being back in our lives."
"Yeah, I get that," Faith says with a shrug, nodding as she looks from Claire to Brianna. "I'm a little sad, though, because I wanted him to come to my next recital. He was really excited about it."
Claire closes her eyes, trying to collect herself before she loses it in front of her girls. "I know, sweetheart, I'm sorry."
Faith scoots closer to Claire, laying her head on her shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist. "It's okay, Mama. You deserve to be happy with Daddy."
The tears she's done so well to not let slip come flooding to her eyes at those words, and she kisses Faith on the top of her head. Looking at Brianna still down by her legs, she smiles, opening her free arm to let the youngest girl join them.
With a giant smile, Brianna clambers up to Claire, laying against her chest and snuggling into her other side.
Claire kisses the top of her head, breathing in the floral shampoo scent wafting off of them and enjoying this moment of peace with her babies.
"I love you, girls," she whispers, pulling them both closer into her embrace and giving them each a little tickle.
Faith and Brianna's hands are linked together on top of Claire's belly, but they let go at the tickles, each squirming away and laughing.
Chuckling, Claire encourages them to go play now that they've eaten, and they run off, their giggles as they chase each other around floating back to Claire under the shaded tree.
Now that she's alone, the girls occupied, she can focus on what is truly happening in her life. And she's conflicted, filled with so many compounding emotions at this whole situation that it makes her head ache.
She tries to keep a smile on her face, so as to not alarm the girls if they were to look over, but Claire's thoughts are spinning.
She's angry. Completely pissed off at this whole thing. She can't tell Joe or Geillis what is truly happening, can't get their advice on what to do or even just have a shoulder to cry on. She has to hide all of these feelings away from everyone, and it sucks. Her head feels like it's going to explode and all she wants to do is scream.
This is all so unfair. She wants to be with Jamie, no matter where that may be. She doesn't want to have to hide away and not mention him like he's a ghost.
She sits and stews, thinking over all of her options. She takes calming breaths, trying to get her heart to stop beating so rapidly. Sipping on her water, she closes her eyes and leans her head against the tree, willing the frustrated tears to dissipate before her daughters see them.
She has so much going on, but there seems to only be one solution that would bring her the most peace...
"Mama! Come play!" Faith yells, waving her mother over.
Smiling, Claire closes the book she'd been pretending to read and places it down on the blanket, joining her girls for a few rounds of tag before everyone is worn out.
They fling themselves onto the large, blue and brown plaid blanket, drinking water and finishing off the grapes they'd brought with them.
After another half an hour, the girls are exhausted and they all head home.
{************************}
That night, once the girls are bathed and asleep, Claire finds herself in her bedroom drinking her third glass of wine.
She takes a long sip, savoring the feel of it on her tongue when her phone goes off.
Alexander Malcolm.
She smiles, seeing it's an incoming FaceTime call.
"Hey, you," she says, smiling through her buzz at the screen.
Jamie chuckles, greeting her as well. "Just wanted ye to ken we made it safely."
"Good," she nods, taking another sip.
"The flight was really short, and I'm home now. John dropped me off after I ate dinner over at his place," he says, eyeing her suspiciously, "I'm unpacking now."
He holds up a shirt from his suitcase, saying she always ingrained in him that it was better to unpack from a trip right away lest you want to deal with your suitcase for another month.
"Well, issgood advice," she says, her words slurring just a bit.
She watches as he smirks, propping his phone against something so that she can still see him but he has both hands free to unpack. "How much have ye had to drink, Sassenach?" He smirks into the phone, squinting his eyes like he's trying to see the drinks.
She giggles, knowing she's not drunk but definitely feeling the buzz of all the wine. "I made a big decision today," she hiccups, patting her chest and laughing at herself.
"Oh yeah?"
Nodding haughtily, she informs him, "I'm going to take a sabbatical from the hospital." She takes another sip of her wine, mulling over the conclusion she'd come to in the park earlier. A sabbatical makes the most sense; it will give her time to sort her life out without having to worry about shifts or surgeries, and she and the girls can be with Jamie. "I can put in for it Monday when I get to work."
Jamie stops mid-movement, the shirt in his hands falling back into the suitcase as he picks up the phone again, sitting on the edge of his bed. "That's a big decision, mo ghraidh. Are ye sure?"
"I don't care," she huffs, finishing off her glass of wine and setting it on the bedside table. "I just want to be with you."
"What about the girls and school?"
Sighing, Claire reaches up to rub at her temples, all of these decisions weighing heavily on her. "I can transfer them to a school up there…" She trails off, knowing her plan doesn't seem too sound now that Jamie is asking the realistic questions that she should've thought about.
"What if the trial begins next month?" he asks, "We'd have to go right back."
God, this is so fucking confusing. Damn it. She just wants to be with him, but she can't just leave the girls here while she runs off to North Carolina. But is it right to remove them from their friends and school and all their activities they love so much?
"I don't know, Jamie," she confesses, wiping the lone tear from her eye. "This is so hard."
"I ken, mo nighean donn," he murmurs, his voice washing over her like a balm. "There's only what, three weeks left of school, aye?"
She nods slowly, knowing exactly where he's going with this.
"That gives us all summer to figure things out." He smiles reassuringly, and she wishes more than anything he could be right there with her to hold her in his arms. "We just need to hold on for a few more weeks."
That's true… and if she didn't have so much wine coursing through her, she might have realized that on her own.
She smiles, saying she's glad she has him back to help her make clear headed decisions.
"Weel, ye were always a light weight," he laughs, shaking his head. He lifts up his glass of whisky, moving it in front of the camera to show her he's drinking as well.
"Am not!"
He guffaws at her admonishment. "Are too… ye canna even stand up straight, I bet."
"Can too!" she claims indignantly, hiccuping as she slinks off the bed. "See?" she says, standing on wobbly legs. "Remember what you always said—"
"—Aye," he snorts, "ye arena drunk so long as ye're standin' up." He smirks into the phone, trying his best to wink. "Somethin' tells me that ye wouldna be able to walk in a straight line right now, Sassenach."
Snickering, she flops back onto the bed. "Perhaps not," she admits, dissolving into another fit of giggles.
He joins in on the laughter, taking a sip of his amber liquid. "I wish I was there wi' ye, watchin' ye prance around, pretendin' not tae be three sheets to the wind."
"I am not!" she protests again. "A bit buzzed, I'll admit, but I wouldn't get drunk with the girls in the house."
Jamie smiles, whispering an, Aye, alright, before grinning at her. "But I bet ye're adorable with that round arse of yours hanging out of those little cotton shorts ye like to sleep in."
She wiggles her eyebrows, looking down at herself as if examining her rear.
"Besides," she purrs, "If I was drunk, I wouldn't be able to do this." She pulls at her shirt, lifting it off her head and tossing it to the foot of the bed. "Or this," she shimmies her shoulder, slowly letting one sheer bra strap fall down.
She looks to her shoulder, over to Jamie, smirking as she watches him bite his lip.
He's on his bed now, unpacking clearly forgotten, as his breathing becomes more labored. "Christ, ye're so beautiful." He grins, leaning against his headboard. "Sittin' there wi' yer hair loose and yer nipples starin' me in the eye, the size of cherries," he groans, eyes narrowing in on her chest.
She looks down at her chest, moving her shoulders in so her chest presses together, giving her a bit of cleavage and she pouts down at herself, pretending to be confused as to what he's talking about. "Nothing you haven't seen before," she giggles, moving the phone to give him a better view. "Lock the door," she drawls, motioning her head toward his bedroom door that she knows is to the left of him.
"Lock the door, eh?" he asks, grinning like a mad mad, "Why would I do that? Do I look like the type of man that would watch his wife touch herself over the phone while drunk as well?"
"I'm not drunk," she giggles, "and you can touch yourself, too, you know."
She winks, pulling the bra strap back up, realizing through her haze that removing the bra while trying to hold the camera at a flattering angle was next to impossible, and that last glass of wine is getting to her more than she anticipated.
"I want you, Jamie."
He mumbles a fuck under his breath and says he wants her too. "I want ye more than life itself, ye've no idea," he says, and she wonders if he's touching himself. She goes to ask him if he is when he adds, "but no' like this, not when ye're drunk off yer arse."
She chuckles, but sighs, "You're no fun."
He pretends to look offended, his chest puffing out as he says, "Aye, alright then, two can play that game," as he removes his shirt. He has to put the phone down on his leg to do so, so she pouts, missing the chance to see his muscle ripple with the movement.
They both know she falls asleep quickly when she's had too much to drink, and she'll probably fall asleep mid-striptease if she's not careful, which would just be embarrassing, even for them. So she focuses her mind back on her husband, biting her lip to keep from moaning when he appears back on camera with his shirt off.
God, he's a beautiful man.
"Why thank you, Sassenach," he chuckles, and she blushes, realizing she had let the thought slip past her tongue.
With a hazy minded shrug, she begs him to take his pants off as well.
"Who says I didn't already?" he asks in that husky voice of his, moving the camera down to show her he's sitting on his bed in nothing but his boxers.
She quickly makes work of her cotton shorts, tossing them to the other side of her bed.
Moving her phone down, she gives him a nice, tantalizing view that makes him hiss, "Christ, Sassenach."
She puckers her lips into a kiss, making a mwah sound and giving him a wink, teasing him, and riling them both up.
"What would you do if you were here, Jamie?" she inquires hotly, hand starting to roam already.
He sighs, eyes closing as he clearly starts to imagine it. "I'd start by pressing kisses all over yer velvety thighs. Touch yerself there, Claire."
Her breath catches in her throat as she does as he commands, tilting her phone to let him see. He moans into the phone, and she watches as he begins to rub slowly at his erection.
"Then I'd dip my finger inside," he smirks, eyes glued to the phone as she reaches inside her thong, running a finger up her slit.
"I'm so wet, Jamie," she tells him, biting her lip at the sensation.
He tells her to touch her clit, and she does so, circling around it and building herself up. She can hear Jamie moaning softly, and she cracks her eyes open to watch him touch himself as well. God, he's so big, and the thought of his cock inside of her alone makes her core ache with need.
She rubs at her clit, writhing on the bed as she inches closer to her release, Jamie's voice a sexy complement to her own stimulation.
"Ahh, I'm close, Sassenach," he hisses, his eyes squeezing shut before he peels them back open to catch her gaze.
"Go faster, Jamie," she demands, and he grins, telling her to do the same.
Their hands work themselves up higher and higher, and she wishes she had something to prop the phone on so her other hand could play with her nipples. She bites her lip, moving against her hand, watching as her husband draws closer to his own orgasm.
Her hand leaves herself for a split second to flick at her nipples, and Jamie groans at the image, telling her to do that again.
She smirks, awkwardly twisting so her phone can prop against the pillow next to her, hoping he can still see everything.
While she's repositioning herself and the phone, she reaches into her nightstand. Pulling out her latest toy—a long, black rabbit. It's the newest thrusting model with a clit stimulator, and Jamie had more than enjoyed himself the other night pleasuring her with it.
She holds it up to the screen, wiggling her eyebrows and listening as her husband moans into the phone as she rubs the silicone toy up and down for good measure.
"Is this okay?" she asks, and the second growl that leaves his lips is answer enough.
She slips her thong completely off, turning the vibrator on to the medium speed. She's already close, and she knows the highest setting would send her over the edge far sooner than either of them want.
Placing the toy at her core, she lets it do its job, thrusting in and out of her while the bunny ears tease her clit. While the toy works her up, up, up, and she reaches up to her breast, moaning. "God, Jamie," she breathes, "I'm cl-close."
"Let go for me, mo nighean donn," he rasps, "don't hold back. Oh, god, look down, look as you touch yerself thinkin' of me."
At his direction, she presses the toy harder on her clit, squirming as she clicks the clit stimulator to the next setting. She bites her lip, trying to contain the cry wanting to escape. She moves the bunny to just the right angle, and yeah, that's it. "Oh, fuck," she cries, wriggling against her toy. "God, I wish you were here, Jamie, wish it was you touching me right now."
"Mm, me too, Sassenach, sae badly."
Within moments, they've both found their releases, crying out to the other through the phone.
She removes her toy and plops it onto the nightstand, picking the phone back up. She looks at Jamie through the screen with a hazy, hooded look in her eye, and she knows she's halfway to slumber already.
Jamie snickers, shaking his head. "Weel, at least ye got off before ye fell asleep."
Chuckling, she tilts her chin up in the air like a proud peacock. "Couldn't have done that if I was drunk. You think I would have had the coordination otherwise?"
He chortles and rolls his eyes playfully. "Aye, alright, alright, ye're not drunk. Happy?"
She nods once, grinning.
Jamie laughs, shaking his head at her once more. "I love ye, Claire," he tells her, his voice lowering. "Get some sleep, and I'll talk to ye in the morning."
She tells him she loves him too, and hangs up, her hand wandering into her thong once more as she thinks of Jamie, then drifts off fully, dreaming of the day that they can live together again.
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Please review!
(In case anyone is wondering: School where Claire lives in Georgia goes from the beginning of August to the end of May. I know it's different in other parts of the country. So, they found Jamie over Spring Break, which is the first week of April. This chapter is the beginning of May, which is why Jamie said there were only about three weeks left of school. Trial is set for the summer so Claire doesn't know if that means the end of May, June or July. Hope that helps clear up some confusion for people who don't have school schedules like GA does! haha)