Janet plopped down on her couch, and grabbed the phone from the table in front of her. Cassie was spending the night at a friends house, so she'd have the phone for an unspecified un-interrupted amount of time. Now was the best time to call the Old Man.
Janet dialed a number that she knew by heart, and listened to the phone ring. She let it ring until Adam picked it up. Which was almost 3 minutes.
"What?" A surely voice barked into the receiver.
"Took you long enough, Old Man. Had me worried for a minute that I might be interrupting something. But I'd say from the back ground noise that you're sitting down at Joe's, drinking his beer with no intentions of paying for it."
"Napoleon! How ya doin? How's the secret life coming?"
Janet laughed. Adam had been calling her Napoleon since she decided that she wanted to be a doctor, and that he was the only one who'd do to teach her medicine. Of course, it had been the late 1700's then. Ever since his rise to power, and then his downfall, Adam had called her that. To hear it from Jack was a blast from the past each time.
Adam was also the person who'd taught her about being an immortal, and how to use a sword. Despite his vehement protests otherwise, Adam really was a good teacher. Both in medicine and swordplay.
"Probably a lot more quieter than yours is, what with the Highlander as a significant other."
Adam laughed. "Quiet possibly, my dear, but I'll bet your's isn't near a much fun."
"You're probably right. How are things going? Good, I hope?"
Adam sighed dramatically. "He won't let me make an honest man out of him. Says it'd be too dangerous for me to be married to him. Hell, I live with the man, and almost everyone around us knows that we're more than a little "romantically involved" or whatever slang they're using these days. How would being married to him be any different, is what I want to know."
Janet laughed at him. "I understand both arguments, don't ask me to pick a side. I'll just smile and nod at both of you."
Adam snorted. "Figures. So, what's goin on? When are you coming up for a visit? Or should we come down there? Hey, Mac! You wanna go visit Napoleon? Finally get to meet the brat?"
"Umm...Adam? About that...I've kind of picked up a daughter since the last time we talked."
Silence at the other end.
"And all this time you told me that you'd never give me grandchildren. What's her name?"
"Cassandra." Janet winced at the name.
"Whoa. Now that's a name that's loaded with promises. Hopefully not all of them bad."
"Yeah. Um, she also not from ah... around here." Janet hoped he'd get her drift.
"Oh. OH. I see. Where is she from, then?"
Janet smiled, and gave him the 'Government Approved' version. "She was found in the outskirts of ah- Toronto. Had a rare disease that only someone at the base could fix. Me, apparently. And since she had no parents, and nothing to go back to, we kind of adopted her. Well, I adopted her, but the rest of the team are her Aunt and Uncles. And of course, Grampa George. Which causes me to snicker every time I hear it." Janet snickered. Adam laughed as well, she'd told him about each of her friends on the base.
Despite the fact that they didn't speak on the phone much, they kept in contact with email, and she blessed the person or persons who'd invented the internet and email. It made it much easier to keep in contact with your friends, especially when you're an Immortal, without causing a Gathering.
"Well, if you guys do decide to come down for a visit, let me know about a week ahead in advance, would you? If you don't, then I'll talk to the General, and see if I can get some time off anytime soon, and we'll visit you."
"Hang on a minute." Janet heard muffled voices, then Adam was back.
"Duncan's all for the idea of a vacation, and we'll probably be down in two weeks, three at the latest. We'll call and let you know when we've ironed out the details, and with our flight number. Oh, and we might be bringing Duncan's Brat for yours to play with. How old is she, by the way."
"She turned 17 about two months ago. And let me tell you, her 17th birthday was much better than her 16th. All hell almost broke loose on that one."
"I'm expecting more details when we get there, and when we can talk in person."
"Yes, Master. In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm dripping from my voice."
Adam laughed, and they said their goodbyes.
"Keep in touch, Old Man, and let me know if anything comes up."
"Same for you, Napoleon. Tell Cassie that her Uncle Adam says Hi, and that he can't wait to meet her. And just to get on her good side, tell her I'm bringing presents! Bye!" Adam hung up before she could say anything else.
Still chuckling, she hung up the phone. Glancing around, she wondered where she was going to put the two of them when they got here.
Wait a minute, he said that they were probably bring a third person. Oh, boy. This ought to be fun trying to find a place for all of them. I suppose Cassie and I could share a room, and Adam and Duncan could have my room. And the third person could sleep on the couch, I guess. I wonder who this "Brat" is. Probably one of Duncan's students.