I do not own any characters, plots, or anything else pertaining to "Outlander". This chapter will see a little bit of a time jump, about a month or so, and will feature Bree's Bachelorette Party. I thought it would be fun to write it in Claire's P.O.V. Hope you all continue to enjoy this story. As always, thanks for following/favoriting and commenting.
Chapter 16
A Night to Remember
Claire puts on her favorite black dress and heels for the upcoming bridal shower. She had rented out an elegant hall downtown for the occasion and had it decorated with the most beautiful flower arrangements she had ever seen. Claire smiles at herself in the mirror and wishes she had the opportunity to hold a bridal shower. When she had married Frank, they hadn't had the time to have a bridal shower, because of the impending war. Then, with Jamie, they had gotten married rather abruptly. At the time, she hadn't been in a celebratory mood because she had already been married to another man in her own time. "Claire." She's taken out of her thoughts by the sound of his deep voice.
Claire turns to see Jamie standing in the doorway, with a smile on his lips. "Ye look bonny tonight, Sassenach." She gives him a smile, before she walks over to her mirror to apply her make-up. Claire begins putting on her lipstick, when her eyes catch Jamie's in the mirror. His eyes have always been rather magnetic and the effect he has on her hasn't altered in over twenty years of marriage. Jamie walks towards her, with his eyes still locked with hers, until he reaches the back of her chair. He immediately leans down and kisses her neck. The sensation of his lips is as intoxicating as usual and she's loving the familiar sensation. After a few moments, he lifts his head, and meets her eyes once more in the mirror. "Dinna go gettin into too much trouble." Claire gives him a playful shake of the head. "I don't think you have to worry yourself tonight. I've prepared a rather quiet evening in celebration of our daughter's upcoming marriage." Jamie gives her a smile and then a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't forget that you have to meet the boys at the pub in town tonight." He begins shaking his head. "Trust, I wonnae be forgettin that. The lad has been callin me on that devilish device, since the sun started risin in the sky." Claire can't help but laugh at the frustration that appears on her husband's handsome face.
She finishes applying her make-up and turns to face Jamie. "I should be the one warning you to behave tonight." His eyes connect with hers in confusion. "What are ye sayin?" Claire gives him a devilish smile. "In this time, a Bachelor Party is described as a night of debauchery. I'm sure that's why Roger is rather nervous about the whole thing." Jamie shakes his head. "I'm a married man, I wonnae be gettin into trouble." Claire gets up from her chair and wraps her arms around his neck. "You better not, soldier." She gives him a smile and leans in to kiss him. Claire loves the jolt of electricity that floods her body, every time they meet like this. Jamie soon deepens the kiss, but Claire reluctantly pulls away from him, knowing that this is not the time for them to be intimate. She stares into his eyes, her arms still wrapped tightly around his neck. "I'll see you when I return, if you're not too corrupted from tonight's events." Jamie gives her a frown. "Same goes fer ye, Sassenach." She gives him a short kiss, before releasing him, and exiting the room.
Claire makes her way through the hallway and down the stairs. When she reaches the bottom, she quickly walks over to the fireplace, and lifts the old clock her Uncle Lamb had bought her. Claire had wanted a good hiding place to conceal her and Jamie's special bridal gift for Bree. They had both pondered what to get her and realized that there was one gift that was rightfully hers, that she had never received. A gift that she had brought back through the stones with her, only for it to not survive the journey. Claire picks up the ring and feels happiness wash over her. Jamie had tried to match the ruby on his father's ring that had been lost and had thankfully found a stone very similar to it. They had it engraved with a special message inside, something that would remind their daughter how much they love her. Time is Relative, but our love for you is transcendent. Claire had suggested that it was the perfect inscription because it had illustrated the journey they had started together all those years ago and had given up because of their transcendent love for their beautiful unborn daughter. Traveling through the stones had solely been for Bree's survival because she was their most precious gift.
Claire stares at the ring and smiles at it. She quickly opens her change purse and grabs the elegant ring box she had picked out for the occasion. Claire opens it and puts the ring in place. She then sets the box securely in her change purse and makes her way towards the front door. Claire hears the taxi's loud horn outside and quickly opens it. She hopes that this evening goes smoothly, as she exits the house, and walks down the steps to the taxi. Claire opens the door and settles into the backseat. She instructs the taxi driver on where to go and they drive towards their destination.
Ten minutes later, the taxi driver stops at the hall. She smiles, as she hands the driver money, and exits the taxi. Claire starts to walk towards the grand entrance and feels a sense of excitement wash over her. This is such a special moment in her daughter's life and she's happy to be apart of it. She smiles as she opens the door and makes her way towards the proper hall. When Claire reaches the correct door, she opens it, and is met with a very different environment than she had anticipated. While her flower arrangements are intact, there is now a rather large bar set-up where the tea table was located before. In addition, modern music is filling the room, instead of the classical music, she had originally organized. Claire feels both confusion and anger at the turn of events, as Gloria comes into view. She quickly makes her way over to her daughter's lifelong best friend. Claire is immediately taken aback by her attire. She's dressed in a pair of bell bottoms and a tank top, instead of the formal attire they had agreed upon.
Claire takes a sharp breath in, as she stops in front of Gloria, who's conversing with some guests. "Gloria, what is going on?" She quickly looks over at her, with the same guilty expression she used to give her, when her and Bree did something wrong. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd agree to the change of plans." Claire stares at her in disbelief for a few moments, before shaking her head. "Why did you decide to alter everything?" Gloria let's out a sigh. "A few of our guests didn't RSVP and when I called to ask why, they said that it was because it was too…boring. So, I turned it into a Bachelorette Party instead." Quite a few moments pass between them and Claire isn't sure how to feel. Her daughter's perfect evening is now ruined and there's nothing she can do to change that.
The room suddenly grows quiet and the lights dim. Claire stares at Gloria expectantly and their eyes meet. "I'm also sorry that I didn't call you about moving the events a half an hour earlier. I would have called you, but I knew you wouldn't be too happy with me." Claire is just about to chastise her like she did when she was a little girl, but the doors fly open suddenly. She hears everyone cry out "surprise" in unison. Claire reluctantly turns to see her daughter with a big smile on her face and her anger begins to dissipate at the sight. She may not like how Gloria handled everything, but she knows that she needs to put that aside for now, and try to be happy for her daughter.
Claire watches Gloria make her way to the front and follows suit. "Mama." She looks over at Bree and gives her a smile. Claire closes the space between them and embraces her daughter for a few moments. As she's holding her, all she can think about is how it's still hard for her to grasp, that her little girl is about to get married. That she's about to have a life separate from her own and about to intertwine herself to another wholly. Claire remembers how fearful she was at the notion of being intertwined with Jamie body and soul, but soon realized, that there was no one else she'd rather be tied to for life. As Claire pulls back from their embrace, Bree smiles up at her. "Thank you for arranging this mama." She bites her tongue, letting her daughter believe, that this was her doing for now.
Claire gives her a smile and brushes her hair away from her shoulders. "I'm so happy that you like it." Bree's smile widens, as she steps away from her, and starts meeting with everyone. For the next few minutes, Claire can't help but watch the beautiful woman her daughter has become and how well she holds herself. The sense of grace she has with the people around her warms Claire's heart. Her eyes follow Bree being dragged by Gloria over to the open bar and her heart stops, when they both stand on the counter together. Never in her life, did she expect to see her daughter, standing on top of a bar, like some sort of streetwalker. Claire is relieved that Jamie isn't here to witness this, she could only imagine what his 18th century inspired perspective would be on this. "Attention ladies, we're here to celebrate Bree's final months as a single woman. To kick-off the festivities, I've convinced Bree to take a couple of shots." The bartender fills a few tiny shot glasses and hands the first glass to Gloria. "Thank you, Mike." She holds out the shot glass to Bree and her daughter reluctantly takes it. "I usually don't do shots, but since I'm getting married, I think I can break the rules just this once." Bree holds up the shot glass and drinks the liquid. Then, to Claire's horror, three more shot glasses are handed to her, and she empties them all. Claire is tempted to put a stop to this, when her daughter's voice interrupts her thoughts. "Mama, where are you?" She watches her daughter start scanning the room for her.
Bree's eyes take a few moments to find her, but when she does, she gives her a grin. "Come on up here, mama. I want you to have some fun." Claire takes a moment to consider this, but reluctantly starts moving towards the bar. She doesn't want to cause a scene or disappoint her daughter, even though she doesn't approve of the evening so far. When Claire reaches the bar area, the girls hold their hands out, both pulling her onto the counter with them. "For everyone who doesn't know, this is my mama, Claire, the Time…" Claire quickly stops Bree from revealing their true family origin by grabbing her arm and getting her attention. "What should I drink?" Bree gives her a smile, seemingly forgetting her near earth shattering revelation moments before. "Whiskey!" Claire gives her a reluctant smile, knowing that she will most certainly regret what she's about to do. She turns to the bartender. "Your best whisky." Mike gives her a smirk and fills a glass with the alcohol. He hands her the liquid and she reluctantly grabs it. Claire turns to her daughter, who's smile is the brightest she's ever seen it, and empties the glass. The liquid slides down her throat, as she hears Gloria's voice ring out. "Another for the mama of the bride." Claire turns back to Mike and he hands her over another glass of whiskey. This goes on for an indeterminate amount of time and Claire feels the effects of alcohol take over her body. She knows this will certainly be a night she'll never forget, just as certainly as she knows, this will also be a night she'll forever regret.