April 2165

Princeton, New Jersey, USA

MAEVIS POV

So 5-chloro-3-ethylbenzoic acid is treated with excess Lithium- "So check this out. I had these scanned and emailed te me by Emmie from the Scottish National Archives," said Rory, surprising Maevis as she sat in the library.

"Jesus Christ, Rory!" she exclaimed with surprise, and then she huffed. "I'm trying to study, I have four exams next week."

"Ye've been studying nonstop, you could use a break," Rory told her, sitting down beside her and putting the documents in question in front of her, and Maevis let out a sigh.

"Fine, I'll look through them," she said, pulling out her headphones and picking up the first document, titled 'Ascension of the Eighth Laird of Cìosamul ', and she sighed. "Rory, we saw this already, remember? When we were trying to find information about Cailean Fowlis?"

"But this isn't aboot Cailean Fowlis. Look at the last paragraph," Rory told her, and Maevis sighed again and looked at the last paragraph:

On this day, the 16th day of June in the year seventeen hundred and forty-six, it has been declared that upon the death of Eairdsidh Hamish Raibeart MacNeil Fowlis, his great grandson, Archie Brian James Fowlis Fraser, son of Catrìona Fowlis Fraser, daughter of Archie Fowlis, son of Eairdsidh Fowlis, will ascend to the title of the Eighth Laird of Cìosamul.

"Holy shit," Maevis exclaimed, covering her mouth when she remembered she was in the library, and then she lowered her voice. "Is this real?"

"Aye, it is," Rory told her quietly. "Well, this is just a copy. They said they found it in a trunk full of all sorts of auld documents in a hidden chamber in the Laird's bedroom at the castle."

"That's incredible," said Maevis as she looked at the document. "But he didn't become Laird. Does that mean he…"

"Died? I doubt it, considering there's the other document from 1747 stating that Cailean would become Laird," Rory replied. "In that same trunk was a deed of sasine for the house ye used to live in on Barra - signed in 1747 by Eairdsidh Ruadh, Catrìona Fowlis and a James Fowlis." At this, Maevis raised an eyebrow.

"But… my father's name was James Fraser ," she told him.

"Legally, yes, but I think this confirms that he went by a different name," Rory told her, pulling another document out of the pile and laying it on top. "This is what I find fascinatin', though." Maevis glanced down at this document:

This document states that Cailean Fowlis, also known as the Black Fowlis, will be sent to Cìosamul Castle on house arrest with his sentence to be executed by Captain Joshua Reynolds of the 5th Royal Dragoons. He will be commuted from Ardsmuir Prison.

"Ardsmuir Prison," Maevis said as she read through the document.

"Aye, I googled it and found that it was used te imprison Jacobite prisoners specifically, following the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Cailean's name was listed under 'notable inmates' as havin' been there from October 1751 to February 1752," Rory told her.

"Do you think maybe Jamie was there, too?" Maevis asked him, but Rory shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but perhaps when we go fer your introduction to the Queen of England in June, we can look, aye?" Rory asked, lightly teasing her.

"I'm not being introduced to the Queen, I'm accepting an award on behalf of my mother in a very staged televised manner," Maevis replied, still looking at the document, and then she flipped to the next one, freezing when she saw it. "What is this?" Rory leaned over to look at it.

"A copy of a page from a very disgruntled family bible," Rory told her, pulling the document a little closer. "It's very faded, I know, but if ye look closely, ye can make out some of the names, like this one specifically." Maevis squinted her eyes to look at it a little closer, but when she did, she saw that the names became a little clearer:

FAMILY RECORD

BIRTHS.

Sorcha Fowlis born 6 April 1686

Allan Fowlis born 5 May 1687

Hamish Fowlis born 8 September 1687

Eairdsidh Fowlis born 13 December 1688

Calum Fowlis born 18 August 1690

Here, the names became muddy, but then they cleared up a little bit a few more lines down.

Seàrlas MacBean born (?) December 1726

Liùsaidh MacBean born (?) (?)ber 1728

Arc(?) (?)wlis born (?) Sept(?) (?30)

More faded words, and then towards the bottom, she found what looked like two out-of-place dates and then one right where it belonged:

(?)na (?)lis (?) (?) Febr(?) 1721

Arch(?) Fr(?) bor(?) 2(?) Decemb(?) 1743

Brèagha Fraser (?) (?) November 1746

"That has to be them! How could it not be? Look, it makes sense. Mama went back to 1743 when she was 22 - subtract 22 from that and you get 1721. And we thought Archie was born in 1744 but it looks like it was actually 1743, and that right there is Brèagha's name, clear as day, born in November of 1746. That was about seven months after Culloden," Maevis said rather excitedly. "I'm so glad you found this, it's incredible!"

"Here's a continuation," said Rory, pulling out another list and pointing specifically to another name:

Faith Fraser born 7 July 1748 d. 1748

"And this one looked familiar, too," said Rory, pointing to another name slightly higher than that:

Cillian (?)is bo(?) 8 Aug(?) 174(?)

"I think it's Cillian Fowlis, the 9th Laird of Cìosamul and Cailean Fowlis's son. I looked him up as well and it said he was born on the 8th of August, 1747. There's a name above his that I can't read very clearly, but they have the same birthdate and their name starts with 'Ca'," Rory explained.

"I don't think it's a boy," Maevis said, looking at the blurred name in question. "I feel like… she was a girl. She must have been Cillian's twin sister."

"Let me see if Cailean's Wikipedia page says anythin' about other children," said Rory, pulling out his phone and quickly googling it. "Or Ancestry, that might be better…" He clicked on that and scrolled through, pausing when he came to the name he was looking for. "Oh, aye, here it is. Caoimhe, Cillian and Catriona Fowlis, the three children of Cailean Fowlis."

"They all probably lived at the castle, I wonder if Brèagha ever painted them. If she painted Archie, I imagine she would have painted her cousins, too," said Maevis.

"Maybe. There's a museum in Stornoway with an exhibit that displays paintings done by B. Fraser specifically," said Rory, pulling the last document from the file and looking over it. "This is a copy of the names of people that are buried in the cemetery at Barra. Lots of prominent Fowlises of Barra over the years - the Lairds, their wives and children… Huh… I don't see a 'Caoimhe' anywhere on this list."

"No Caoimhe? But she was a girl, she would have stayed at the castle back then, wouldn't she?" Maevis asked, looking at the list.

"I would have thought so," Rory replied curiously. "I don't see Brèagha's name, either… They must not have lived on Barra."

"Maybe Caoimhe married someone else and lived and died elsewhere," Maevis said curiously, and Rory shrugged.

"I dunno. I suppose we'll find out more in June," he told her. "Have ye heard from Elton lately?"

"We haven't talked much," Maevis told him. "We're both pretty busy."

"Maybe tell him ye'll be in Scotland in June. I'm sure he'd come to see ye," Rory replied, but Maevis shrugged.

"I'll mention it, but I don't want to force him if he doesn't want to," she replied. "Thanks for showing me these. I really need to get back to studying, though."

"Sure, I'll see ye around," Rory told her, lightly tapping her shoulder before getting up to leave.


16 June, 2165

Edinburgh, Scotland

ELTON POV

'I'll be in Edinburgh starting on June 15th, the Queen invited me for some event honouring Mama. It'd be great if we could meet up while I'm there! I'll be staying at the Thistle Street Condominiums.'

Elton glanced up from reading the message Maevis had sent him a few weeks before at the building in question - the Thistle Street Condominiums. There was a small courtyard outside the front of it, which was where he was waiting for Maevis to come down. It made him a little nervous, actually - he hadn't spoken to her much since he declined to video call with her, save for the occasional message here and there. He saw her before she saw him - she was difficult to miss with the bohemian style of clothes she wore and her bright red hair. "Maevis!" Elton called, and she looked up, smiling when she saw him.

"Hey, Elton!" Maevis said cheerfully, approaching him. She had an awkward look on her face, so Elton went in for a hug, which she gladly returned. "It's so great to see you again! How've you been?"

"All right. Been hard at work comin' up wi' ways te improve all our machinery," Elton told her.

"You like engineering?" Maevis asked him.

"Aye, a bit. Took some classes at a technical school, but… most of what I do I learn from YouTube or books or… on my own," Elton replied, and Maevis smiled.

"I think that's fascinating that you can do that," she told him proudly, and Elton's cheeks flushed a little.

"Yer a student, aye? What do ye go te school fer?" Elton asked her, sitting down on the base of a fountain along with Maevis.

"I'm premedical, and in a few years, I'll go off to medical school and be a doctor, like Mama was," Maevis told him.

"Wow, that must be hard," Elton replied, and Maevis playfully scoffed.

"So is reinventing machines to work better without an engineering degree," she said with amusement, and Elton chuckled a little.

"Er, I… wanted te apologise fer… disappearin' on ye… All of this is still just a bit… difficult te wrap my head around," Elton told her.

"I understand," Maevis told him. "Did you… want to know about Mama?"

"I've read up on her extensively, but I imagine there's a lot more te her than Wikipedia says," Elton replied, though he was a bit nervous.

"I wish I knew her more than I did. I was only seven when I was sent away, so my physical memories of her are a bit faded. I have some memories, like how one of her favourite things was to go to the beach, stick her feet in the water and just enjoy the sea breeze," Maevis told him. "She was very sassy, very funny, she loved life and she loved being a doctor. That's from what I know about her. I was told she risked her life many times to save the lives of others, she was in charge of the Army Medical Division of the Scottish army, she trained medics… She was incredible."

"She really sounds it," Elton said, smiling a little at the thought that Catrìona Fowlis, this incredible war hero, was his mother - his birth mother. She was the reason for his red hair, and probably the reason for his desire to fix and improve things as well. "Do you… know anythin' aboot our… our father?" Maevis's face changed and expressed a bit of discomfort.

"Well… See, that's where it gets a little strange," said Maevis. "Have you… have you ever heard stories about the stone circles? That they're sort of like… gateways?"

"The stone circles?" Elton asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, there's nursery rhymes aboot them…" He cleared his throat.

"Ring of stone, ring of stone;

The faery king was overthrown.

Through the stone to the other side,

To stay or go you must decide.

Dance wi' the fae beneath the moon,

There on the hill of Craigh Na Dun."

"Craigh Na Dun," said Maevis uncomfortably.

"Aye, I… ken it's the place she disappeared in 2138," Elton told her. "It's just a story, though. There's no truth in it."

"But those stories aren't based on nothing," Maevis told him, and then she took a deep breath and let it out. "Mama was found wandering around North Uist. A friend of hers, Maidie, said Mama said she had come from Pobull Fhinn. It was another stone circle."

"That… Tha's… strange," Elton said to her. "But… when she disappeared again, she… wasnae near one. Wait, hold on a moment. What are ye sayin'?"

"I… I'm saying that she… She's been through the stones," Maevis told her, and Elton's eyes widened. "She went back to the eighteenth century and she fell in love with a man who… who is our father."

"That… No, that-tha's ridiculous, Maevis. Did she say this? Did she tell this mate of hers this?" Elton said, and then he laughed. "She was missin' fer eight years, she was probably delirious!"

"Maidie told me that she said this even years later, Elton," Maevis replied, but Elton only shook his head.

"This is ridiculous. First, ye tell me yer my sister and our mother's disappeared, and now yer tellin' me she disappeared te the eighteenth century and our father is some… some bloke from the eighteenth century," he said, and then he laughed again. "Do ye no' see how barmy that sounds, Maevis?"

"I thought so, too, but there's so much evidence pointing to it being the truth, and I've dug up even more," Maevis replied. "Elton, she was in Barra in 1746, she signed a document that declared her son would be the Laird of Cìosamul after Eairdsidh Ruadh Fowlis died."

"It could have just been a lass wi' the same name!" Elton exclaimed.

"Her father looks just like the son of Eairdsidh Ruadh, and even more evidence, that man - Archie Fowlis, who has the same name as Mama's father, our grandfather - disappeared when he was eighteen, and there is no evidence of our grandfather existing before he was eighteen."

"Tha's weird, I'll give ye tha', but tha's not evidence that she went te the eighteenth century," Elton replied, thinking this was absolutely ridiculous.

"Fine, you want concrete evidence? There's a baby buried in the cemetery on Barra. She died in 1748. Well, Tom Randall apparently had her remains dug up and tested against Mama's DNA, and they matched , Elton. They matched. A child, who was born and died four hundred years ago, is the biological daughter of a woman from this century. How is that possible, Elton?" Maevis asked him, and this made Elton's smile fade.

"How… How do I ken yer not… makin' this up?" Elton asked her, meeting her eyes.

"You can ask Tom Randall yourself. He has the test. He also had the child's DNA tested against mine and she's my full sibling. That means that the father of that child, who lived in 1748, is the same father that I have, and the same father that you have," Maevis told him.

"I've heard of him, he's some high-rankin' official. He… He really has tha'?" Elton asked her, and she nodded.

"Yes," Maevis replied. "I have the results upstairs if you really want to see them, but… I wouldn't lie to you about this. This is who we are, and where we come from… and I want you to help me find her." She paused for a moment, as if trying to read Elton's thoughts. "Will you? Please?"

"Find her… when she may verra well have been dead fer… four hundred years?" Elton asked her quietly. "If… if tha's where she's gone…"

"I want to go through the stones, too," Maevis told him, and Elton's eyes widened.

"What? Maevis, no. How do ye even ken if ye can? What if it's… somethin' only she could do?" Elton asked her incredulously.

"Maybe it's genetic. It's soundin' like her father travelled through the stones as well, and so did she, and her brother," said Maevis. "He was the Laird of Cìosamul after Eairdsidh Ruadh Fowlis. He was born in this century, and he disappeared in 2136. What if she gave that gene to me? Or both of us?"

"Fine, say we may be able te inherit… stone travellin' abilities… How would we even ken we had it?" Elton asked her.

"Maidie said Mama mentioned being able to hear them," Maevis told him. "If we can travel, I'll bet we could hear them, too." Elton let out a soft sigh. This was mad, all of it. Time travel, faery hills, a mother he didn't know he had, a father from the eighteenth century… Real or not, this meant a lot to Maevis, and her determination frightened him a little. What if she ended up doing something dangerous that resulted in her getting hurt? And… if all this was true… What if she does go to the eighteenth century? It was a terrible time to be a woman in those days, especially a woman all on her own.

"All right," he said after a moment. "All right. I'll help ye. Ye can show me all of these documents if ye'd like. Just please, dinnae do anythin' rash without tellin' someone."

"I wouldn't. Of course I wouldn't," Maevis told him. She sighed, then glanced away for a moment before looking back up at him. "You should come to the ceremony. You're Mama's son, you should be accepting the Queen's honours with me."

"Oh, I dinnae ken if I should. I'm sure there's a guest list and I'll no' be on it," Elton told her.

"But I get a plus one! I was going to bring a friend of mine but he'd understand if I wanted to bring you instead," Maevis told him with a smile, and Elton let out a sigh.

"Aye, all right. It'll be this weekend, aye?" Elton asked her, and she smiled and nodded.

"Friday - our birthday," she said to him.

"Aye… All right, then," Elton replied. Their first shared birthday together. It felt strange, sharing his birthday with… with his sister. Though he had only known about Maevis's existence for the last six months, he still felt a strong connection to her, and realised that she was the thing that he had been missing - and the fact that he was adopted in the first place. It did make him a bit nervous now that he was basically publicly acknowledging the fact that he was adopted and that Catrìona Fowlis was his mother, and Maevis Fowlis was his sister. He couldn't help but wonder if Tom Randall would be there.


21 June, 2165

MAEVIS POV

"Maevis!" Tom Randall exclaimed when he saw her in the lobby of the Scottish capitol building. She started a little, having forgotten that Tom would be there, but gave him a meek smile when he approached and embraced her. "I'm so glad you could make it! I was hoping you would, in honour of your mother. I would have been glad to accept on her behalf, but it's better if you do it. You're basically your mother, save for those lovely blue eyes. Speaking of, you look positively gorgeous in this dress. Was this your mother's?" As a matter of fact, it was. It was in a box of clothes that Maidie had given her, evidently having held onto, and the dress in question was a lovely v-necked royal blue dress - actually, it looked like the base of the dress was silver, as it had royal blue tulle cascading down from the waist. Her mother had worn it when she had accepted an award for her actions in the first rebellion when Maevis was a baby.

"Thanks, Tom," she replied.

"You look just like your mother, you really do," Tom told her with a kindly, nostalgic look on his face. "She'd be very proud of you."

"I haven't even achieved anything yet," Maevis told him.

"No, but you will, and I know this because you're your mother's daughter. Happy birthday, by the way. Nineteen now, my goodness," Tom told her with pride. "Oh, who's your friend? This doesn't look like Rory."

"He's not," Maevis told him, giving him an awkward smile and gesturing towards Elton, who stood behind her dressed in a Cameron clan kilt - his mother was a Cameron, while his father, who carried the McGinty name, was the grandson of an Irishman who moved to Scotland. "Er… Tom… This is…"

"Elton McGinty," Elton said, holding out a hand to Tom with a rather confident look on his face. "Tom Randall, aye?"

"Elton? My… goodness… Wow, I… I've seen your picture, but it certainly doesn't compare to seeing you in person," Tom said to him. "You… You've grown…"

"This is the first time you've ever seen him in person, Tom," Maevis said to Tom, trying not to be bitchy, but it was hard not to be.

"I… assume Maevis has told you about me," Tom asked him, and Elton made a face and nodded.

"Aye, a bit," Elton replied.

"Well… it… most certainly is nice to meet you," Tom said rather awkwardly. "I believe we should… go and take our seats. The ceremony will start soon." Exchanging a glance, Elton and Maevis went to take their seats to watch the ceremony in which Queen Charlotte of England would give honours to those who fought in the Scottish-English War, fought from 2154 to 2162. Queen Charlotte was actually one of the most beautiful women that Maevis had ever seen. She had a kindly face, beautiful brown hair done up in an elegant style, very striking hazel eyes, and a regal manner that commanded respect from the moment she walked into the room. With her also were her two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eleanor, and her husband, Prince James, Duke of Edinburgh, and they stood off quietly and respectfully to the side.

"And now," said Queen Charlotte after a lengthy ceremony in which she gave a speech and honoured each of the branches of the Scottish military, "I wish to honour the branch of the Scottish army that I personally feel has worked the hardest to preserve the peace between our nations, and that was the Army Medical Division, headed by Dr. Catrìona Fowlis, who unfortunately is not with us here today. Dr. Fowlis was lost during the final days of the Battle of Edinburgh. She has earned my respect, as the English monarch, for her diligent care of not only her own people, but mine as well. I understand that Dr. Fowlis had lost her family at a young age at the hands of an English captain and had every right and reason in the world to hold resentment and bias against my subjects, but when it came to matters of life or death, Dr. Fowlis set aside those biases and saved the lives of many of my people as well as her own. For that, I am eternally grateful to her. I wish to present to her the Victoria Cross for her actions both in the Second Scottish War for Independence and the Scottish-English War. Accepting this honourable medal on her behalf will be her daughter, Miss Maevis Fowlis." The audience began to clap, and Maevis stood to acknowledge this award. Elton remained seated, so Maevis urged him to stand and join her on the stage. He trailed behind her as they stopped and bowed and curtsied to the Queen.

"I wish to introduce my brother as well, Your Highness. This is Elton McGinty, he is the son of my mother and my twin brother," Maevis told him.

"Oh, what a pleasure!" said Queen Charlotte, returning to the microphone. "I stand corrected. Accepting this award on behalf of Dr. Fowlis will be her children , Miss Maevis Fowlis and Mr. Elton McGinty." The applause continued as Queen Charlotte handed the open box containing the crimson ribbon and the bronze cross, which featured a crown and a lion and the words 'For Valour', to Maevis. The Queen stepped aside as Maevis and Elton went up to the microphone, but Elton stood off slightly to the side.

"I want to thank all of you, and especially Her Royal Highness, the Queen, for presenting this award to my mother," Maevis said as the applause died down. "As I'm sure you can tell, I was raised in America. My mother sent me there when Glasgow was bombed now nearly eleven years ago. I remember that day very clearly - I was seven years old, and I had just left school to go to the hospital on the Isle of Barra to see my mother when we received the alert. The cloud from the explosion was so big, we could even see it from Barra. Fearing for my future, my mother sent me away, and I unfortunately did not have the chance to see her again before she disappeared. But from what I did know about my mother, and from what I've been told by her friends, colleagues, and from people whose lives she saved, she was a woman who never gave up. She was a woman who could look the Devil himself in the eye and tell him that she wasn't afraid, that she could take him down with her bare hands." The audience laughed at this. "She was a brave, daring woman who cared deeply about saving as many lives as she could, and my brother and I are very fortunate to have her as our mother. Thank you again, everyone, for this award that I am proud to accept on my mother's behalf." There was more applause, and then Maevis glanced back at Elton, who shook his head slightly, and then they exited the stage.

After the ceremony, Maevis decided to donate the Victoria Cross to the Scottish National Museum, who were very appreciative of this donation and promised to create a permanent exhibit dedicated to her mother, and then she and Elton posed for photographs with the Queen, with Tom, with soldiers their mother had saved, and then left before dinner was served.

"I have te say, I'm verra exhausted," said Elton with a yawn once they had gotten into the cab that would take them back to Maidie's apartment.

"So am I," said Maevis with a chuckle. "I'll be glad to get some sleep." She paused for a moment as she glanced out the window, then looked back at him. "Maidie will be done with her shift. Will you come up and meet her?"

"I'd be honoured," Elton said with a smile. "She and… and our mother… were both inducted into the Order of the Thistle, too, werenae they?"

"I don't know what that is, but probably," Maevis replied.

"It's an auld order that people used te be inducted into by the British monarch, but when Scotland won its independence, it became somethin' our Prime Minister inducts people into," Elton explained.

"It sounds fancy," Maevis replied. When they arrived, Maevis led him up to Maidie's flat, opening the door with the key Maidie gave her to let herself in. As soon as the door opened, Maidie, Rory and Morgan began to cheer, which surprised Maevis when she entered the apartment.

"There's our girl!" Rory exclaimed excitedly.

"Come on, let's see it!" Maidie said to her, jumping up from the table.

"Huh? Oh, I… I don't have it. I donated it to a museum, they're gonna make an exhibit for Mama," Maevis told them. "Uh… I brought company." She stepped aside, revealing Elton in the doorframe behind her, and Maidie's smile faded as her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, my… Elton, was it?" Maidie asked him, approaching him with a kind smile on her face.

"Aye, it is," Elton replied.

"Gosh, you… You're her son," Maidie replied. "Well, I must say, you… don't look too much like her, but you do really look like your father."

"My father?" Elton asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Maevis. "Ye… ken what he looks like?"

"I told him about Mama, Aunt Maidie," Maevis told her.

"The whole truth? All of it?" Maidie asked, and Maevis nodded.

"All of it," she replied. "I left the drawing Mama did of our father at home, but I have a picture of it." She pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through the pictures until she found the one she had taken of Mama's sketch of Jamie Fraser, then showed it to Elton, who's eyes widened.

"He does look like me," Elton replied in awe. "This… This is our father?" Maevis nodded, a smile on her face. "What's his name?"

"Jamie Fraser," Maevis told him.

"So we're Frasers," Elton replied as he looked at the picture. "Fowlises and Frasers."

"A fierce lot, both of you," said Maidie. "Happy birthday to you as well, Elton. I told Maevis this morning. I wish I'd have known you were coming, I'd have gotten you a present as well! Morgan, go and fetch the present for Maevis."

"Sure, Mom," said Morgan, going off into Maidie's bedroom.

"I've got cake! I can fix it to say 'Maevis and Elton'," Maidie said as she went into the fridge to pull out a cake tin, uncovering it and grabbing a butter knife to scrape off Maevis's name so she could rewrite it and fit both.

"It's all right, really," Elton told her. "I ken I sort of jus' dropped in."

"It'll take two minutes! You deserve your name on this cake, too, sweetheart," Maidie told him kindly as she picked up a tube of gel icing and began to write their names again. Morgan came out with a rather large wrapped box and set it on the table.

"God, what is that?" Maevis asked with amusement.

"Open it and you'll see," Maidie told her as Maevis went over to the table. She tore the wrapping paper off and then took the lid off of the box, pulling aside tissue paper to reveal what looked like wool clothes. She raised an eyebrow, then pulled out first a wool jacket of some sort that looked like it could be a costume in a period movie, then set it down to pull out a corset next, and then a large wool skirt.

"Aunt Maidie, what is this?" Maevis asked her.

"Those were the clothes your mother was found in on North Uist when she returned in 2146," Maidie answered her as she brought the cake over.

"We have to put the candles in!" Morgan exclaimed, coming over with a handful of little wax candles and sticking them into the cake, and Maidie giggled and pet Morgan's fair hair.

"Her eighteenth century clothes?" Maevis asked as Elton came over to have a look at them.

"I had them authenticated. They're truly from the eighteenth century. Authentic eighteenth century Scottish woman's wardrobe, the expert said," Rory chimed in, and Maevis smiled at him.

"They're beautiful," she said, looking down at the corset on the table as Elton picked it up.

"This is incredible," he muttered as he turned it over in his hands. "I… I suppose it… isnae somethin' one could just make or even find in a shop."

"And how else could it survive four hundred years and still look so new?" Maevis asked him, and he glanced up to meet her eyes, then smiled a little.

"All right, are we ready to blow out the candles?" Maidie asked as she struck a match and lit nineteen candles on the cake, which read 'Happy Birthday Elton and Maevis'. "Hurry up, I don't trust this to not start a fire. Nineteen candles, Morgan? Really?"

"They're turning nineteen! You have to have nineteen candles, Mom!" Morgan exclaimed, and Maidie only laughed and shook her head. "Right, come on, let's sing to them!" Rory and Morgan joined her side as Maevis and Elton set down their mother's clothes and turned their attention to the cake.

"Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday, Maevis and Elton,

Happy birthday to you!"

Morgan and Rory stopped as Maidie continued another verse that those brought up in America didn't even know existed.

"From good friends and true,

From old friends and new,

May good luck go with you,

And happiness too."

"What was tha'?" Rory asked with amusement.

"What, do they not sing that verse in America?" Maidie asked him. "Oh, nevermind. Blow out the candles, both of you!" Elton and Maevis shared a chuckle, then they bent down over the cake and blew out the candles together for the first time in their nineteen years.