𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 | 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐫 ✅

43 - The Story So Far

Claire listened intently to Jamie and I as we took it in turns to tell her story of how we had met and played together as children and how we had grown to love each other. She listened as I told her of our rash decision to be handfast on the night he had returned from France as a mercenary, and she laughed as I told her that wee Jamie's first word was "no", and that he liked to say it to everything.

"Ye've got yer own children?" I asked her as I gave wee Jamie a piece of cake to teethe on.

Claire shook her head as she applied the linen to Jamie's ball wound, "no, my husband and I were never blessed with the miracle." She looked over at wee Jamie, who was sitting in the middle of the bed with his cake, happily sitting up and holding it. "He's a beautiful little boy, though. He looks just like you, Jamie."

Jamie smiled, looking up at her briefly before glancing back at me. His smile grew when his eyes rested on me, "thank ye, Claire. Aye, he does a bit, doesna he?"

"Handfasting lasts a year, doesn't it?" She asked, "you told me on the way here."

"Aye. We intended to be married, but -"

"But fate got in the way," I finished for him, "so we arna married. We arna even handfasted, anymore."
"Do you want to be?" Claire asked as she gestured for Jamie's shirt, silently telling him that it was okay to put it back on.

Jamie and I both looked at each other before we nodded, "aye. We owe that much to wee Jamie, do we not?" He replied.

"You shouldn't marry for somebody else, even if that somebody is your child -"

I interrupted her, "no, Claire, we mean that wee Jamie should have his parents married, shouldna he? I think that we would not be so worried about being wed if it was just us, because we ken that we both love each other, but our son deserves us married."

"Aye," Jamie agreed, "Eira's right. We want to be married as soon as possible."
I thought for a few seconds before I said, "well today's Wednesday. Father Bain would marry us on Sunday after service, I reckon, if we asked."

Jamie frowned, "aye, but then he willna like wee Jamie for being born outside of the marriage -"
"He was born inside the year -"

"Aye, but ye ken what bloody Catholics are like." Jamie spat the word out as if it was poison.

Claire and I laughed, and at our laughter, wee Jamie began to giggle too.

"Ah, and the Fraser smile, as well." Jamie took another look at his son, staring for several seconds as if he couldn't quite believe that something so perfect existed.

"Sunday, then?" Claire asked.

Jamie and I nodded, "aye." We chorused.