Triallaire

The Merry Wives of Jamie

11 October, 1766

Lallybroch, The Highlands, Scotland

For much of the journey, I laid down in the wagon beside Jamie's printing press, but the jolting of the wheels over the uneven road was enough to make me move to the front of the wagon, where Jamie was seated. For the last few hours of the journey, that was where I remained, laying against Jamie's shoulder sleepily. At one point, it seemed that he and Archie thought I was asleep, so I listened to their conversation:

"So, what'll ye do aboot Balriggan?" Archie asked Jamie quietly, riding his horse beside the wagon, and I heard Jamie let out a sigh.

"I dinnae ken, truly. Ned will be able te tell me aboot the legalities of the situation, but I dinnae think it should be a problem," Jamie replied, equally quietly.

"Ye'll have te tell her at some point," Archie said.

"Aye, I ken. I will tonight, I promise ye, lad," Jamie told him.

"Where will we stay? Last time, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Ian didnae have room fer us, and wi' the MacKimmies at Balriggan..." Archie began, but was interrupted by the wagon hitting a pothole, which jolted me up.

"Oh, sorry, lass. The road's gotten a wee bit rough," Jamie told me, noticing that I was awake.

"Hm," I replied sleepily, but it was faked. I was more interested in what he and Archie were talking about. "How much longer do we have?"

"No' much now," Jamie replied, and then he glanced back over his shoulder, where Young Ian was lagging behind on his own horse. "Best ye catch up, laddie! Yer Ma will want a few words wi' ye, I'm sure."

"Aye, tha's what I'm afraid of, Uncle," Young Ian replied, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Aye, Jenny's always had a sharp tongue. I take it that hasnae changed?" I asked, and then Jamie chuckled.

"Not at all," he told me. We bumped along the road for another forty-five minutes, perhaps, and then the gate of Lallybroch was in sight. It being October, the rose vines had died and grown bare, and the fields were empty, having already been harvested in September. The building itself, however, was exactly as it was when I had last seen it around Hogmanay in 1746. It had been twenty years, and granted, the estate had the wear and tear of being lived in for the last twenty years, but it was still as beautiful as I remembered. Off in the distance was the Broch Tuarach - the rounded 'north facing tower' in which the door faced north. I glanced up at the windows of the estate, finding the one I had sat in many times as the Lady of Lallybroch, overlooking the fields and Broch Tuarach itself.

"I'm really startin' te believe that I really do belong here."

"I think ye do belong here, wi' me. I kent that from the verra day we met, when I first laid eyes on ye. That's one of the reasons I agreed te marry ye, besides being forced by my uncle. Though not the main one."

"What was the main one, then?"

"Because I wanted ye more than I've ever wanted anythin' in my life."

I smiled softly at the memory, remembering standing near the windowsill with my back against Jamie's front, both of our hands resting on my swollen pregnant belly. I glanced up at Archie, the child who was growing inside of me at that moment - along with his brother, Brian, of course - and was once again saddened by the fact that he had grown and I missed it. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my thigh and I turned my attention to Jamie, who gave me a soft smile. "Are ye ready?" he asked me.