closed | finally enough mirrors for all the beautiful hair

[nineteenfortyfive]

Who: Claire Fraser (nineteenfortygive) & the children (Bree, Fergus, and... Theon)
What: Moving house.
When: Vague first week of November.
Where: Olympia
Warning(s): Added when needed.

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[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire reaches for one of her hands, to give it a firm squeeze.]

I kept it from you long enough. If I can give you answers now, I will. We've had enough secrets between us to last a lifetime.

[givingback]

Thank you, mama.

[ Bree hugs her again and this time rests her head on her shoulder. ]

I think for now I have enough. I'm just glad we can actually talk.

[ When she thought they'd never have the chance again, once. ]

And my room is...this is incredible. I have more room than I thought we could even get.

[ And by 'we' she means her mother, of course. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire finds she's glad for this sort of affection afforded to them now. No secrets. No lies. It's easier, to be like this, and not feel guilt for it.]

So am I.

[She strokes her hair, idly.]

Jamie would have wanted you to have everything. And I think you have, for the most part.

[givingback]

Sending you through the stones - us, really - that was his way of making sure?

[ Bree's leaning into the touch, even if she doesn't realize it, not really. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

It was. He never regretted that. Not at all.

[Even though he didn't die as planned, with how things were after Culloden, he couldn't promise either of them safety.]

[givingback]

I don't think I can blame him for it. He was a man of his time, after all.

[ Duty and honor and dying for a cause. Everything that goes into such a decision. ]

And you were happy when you found him again? Before all of this with stasis and the world ending, I guess. It felt right?

[ In other words, was she right when she said Jamie would still be just as in love based solely on the things Claire had said? ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

I was happy. It wasn't easy, finding our footing with one another again, but... I like to think we did. Jamie and I always worked well together, even before we were wed.

[It was just the twenty years gone past that made everything so complicated. They lived their lives. Became different people, in a sense, but then it was so easy to find the things she loved about him again.]

You were right.

[There. Officially confirmed.]

[givingback]

Uh huh. I wonder what else I was probably right about all along that you doubted.

[ She's just teasing, grinning. For a moment she forgets that the linens are still pretty dusty and falls back on the bed, only to send up a cloud of dust. Even as she coughs she laughs, looking over at Claire. ]

It's a good thing I'm not an asthmatic.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[That better not be anything lewd, young lady. Claire about to say as much when Bree sends the attack into the air, and Claire covers her mouth and nose with one hand while waving away the dust with the other. Even so, she ends up sneezing. Once. Twice. And a third time.]

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. [She sniffles.] Good thing you've your old bed until this place is cleaned up.

[givingback]

[ Bree coughs again, laughs more, then sits up swinging her legs over the bed. ]

Bless you. And I think I'll be beating all of this bedding with a stick until every single person up in stasis has been awake for ten years. Have I said thank you yet?

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire's half a mind to mess up that pretty red hair of hers, but the thank you saves Bree from her mother being a brat. For now. She laughs, sniffling again.]

More than enough. Have I told you thank you?

[givingback]

[ Bree smiles, but it's in confusion. ]

For what?

[nineteenfortyfive]

For being you.

[She smiles warmly, and realizes that throughout Bree's struggles here to settle in her new sense of self, she's never really acknowledged it.]

You're everything I could want in a daughter. I'm very proud of you, Bree. Always have been. And more so, each day. I'm very lucky to be your mother.

[givingback]

I was enough?

[ She knows there were times she was terrible, the things she said, the way she acted. But if she was ever worth the pain it cost to separate from Jamie, she hopes she loved her mother in return enough for Jamie, too. ]

Because I'm pretty lucky, too, you know.

[nineteenfortyfive]

You're everything.

[Anything Bree has said or done in the past is long forgiven. Claire understands. It's not easy, finding out your mother's kept such a secret for your entire life.]

I never regretted being your mother. I regretted leaving you, now and then. Knowing I wouldn't be around for all the important things, but... the Storm's been a blessing, in that regard.

[givingback]

Don't regret it, mama.

[ Bree says that seriously, her tone shifting just a little as she sits up straighter. And true, it doesn't matter anymore, but if there's any lingering guilt or regret, it isn't needed at all. ]

I wanted you to be happy. After twenty years of doing what you had to for me, you deserved that. You deserved to go back and find him. It was hard. It was really hard to not pick up the phone just to hear your voice, but I never regretted telling you to go. Not after what you and Jamie did for me.

[nineteenfortyfive]

If you think twenty years is enough time with you, you're sorely mistaken.

[But there's never enough time, is there?]