Summary: An exploration of Claire & Jamie’s story if their firstborn had lived and they had the chance to be parents together of wee Faith Fraser before the Battle of Culloden.
Chapter 24
There was nothing quite so excruciating as waiting on a bairn to arrive, Jamie thought. Time seemed to suspend itself in those dark, pre-dawn hours with Claire, waiting for the moment she would let him go and fetch Mother Hildegarde, and trying to distract her from the intermittent pains of labor until then.
Soft pink streaks of sunlight painted the horizon when a different bairn than the one they were waiting for toddled into their room from the adjoining nursery, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Faith had sorted out that if she simply stood on something ‒ a small chair or clothing chest ‒ she could reach the latch, and their days of privacy had abruptly ended, as would have their sleeping through the night if they weren’t already embarking on that journey of sleepless nights with the new bairn.
“Good morning, lovey.”
Claire sounded tired to his ears ‒ understandably ‒ but she still mustered a smile when he deposited Faith onto the bed and watched her crawl towards her mother.
“Baby’s coming, sweet Faith,” Claire murmured to her, brushing the curls away from her face. “You know what that means?” She smiled, tickling under Faith’s chin and getting no response. He wondered if Claire had recognized yet exactly who Faith got her morning temperament from. “You get to spend the day with Fergus and Murtagh, having all kinds of fun, and you might even get to sleep in Fergus’s room tonight. We’ll see how long your baby sibling takes to arrive.”
Faith grunted, never speaking much just after waking, and turned her face into Claire’s belly with a pout.
“But not just yet,” Claire added, her voice thick. “For now, you can stay right here with me.”
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Tori