THE ELIZABETH SERIES
CHAPTER NINETEEN
IN SPITE OF A DREAM
By JoLayne
EnyaJo@aol.com

RATING: ADULT, if you're not old enough, please push the back button.
CHARACTERS: DM A M J Amy Warren OFC Elizabeth, Kevin,
Caroline, Antonio, Sofia, Brynn
SUMMARY: The honeymoon period.
DISCLAIMERS: Still apply from chapter one.

~~~~~

CASA SEGURA

After Methos drove them back to the house, he lifted her into his arms and
carried her over the threshold. Elizabeth appreciated the custom, but said,
"You're a little too late, aren't you?"

"It's never too late."

He set her down on the living room floor and shut the door. The lighting
flashed on his wedding ring, then on her own. She would have to get used
to wearing one again, a ring from the man she would love forever. This
time she knew she would. "Methos?"

Seeing her hold her ring on her finger and scrutinizing it, he said, "Don't
tell me you wanted a diamond."

"No. This is perfect." She lifted his left hand and kissed his wedding ring.
"I don't know if this marriage is legal, but we were married in front of
God. My God, and I take it very seriously. This wasn't just a lark on your
part, was it?"

"No."

"Well, I'm going to give you an out. I don't want you to ever think you
have to be here with me, for any reason other than you want to be with me.
I never want you to wear this after you don't feel the need to. Just take it
off. Okay?"

"You taking off is more inevitable."

"I'm not going anywhere. That was a dream. This is reality. Do you want
change your mind?"

"No, no. I don't want that at all."

They stood looking at each other. Elizabeth seductively asked, "What do
you want to do?"

Methos purred into her ear, "I have the perfect idea."

"I was hoping you would," she smiled, then about fainted when he licked
behind her ear, just the way she liked, without being slobbery. 

He opened her coat and positioned a hand on her hip. Then pulled out her
sword, confusing her. "Take this." She did, then he pulled his sword out of
his coat and stepped back, held the sword out, waited.

"What? Is this an ancient custom I'm not aware of?"

"I'm going to attack you and you defend it," he waved his sword, readying
them both for it.

"No, I'm not. Not with swords and not in my house."

"Come on," he clinked his sword against her blade. 

"I'm not fighting you."

"No, you're going to show me what you can do. I've only seen you take
Logan." He nudged her sword up and said, "Come at me."

"No." The memory of her sword to his neck on holy ground and his putting
swords to hers in Seacouver and Paris were too much. "Was that really
why you married me? I'm not going to lose my head, so if you want the
ring back, take it."

"I married you because I love you, idiot! And you need to know how
serious I am that you take care of yourself because it's the two of us now.
We're going to go through this life we have left together. So, come on,
show me what you have."

"No swords."

He put the Ivanhoe gently on the couch and said, "Okay," motioned for her
to attack him. "Come on. Let's see how strong you are."

She laid her sword against the wall and sauntered to him. She pulled the
sleeve of her sweater up and flexed her upper arm muscle. 

He laughed. "I'm not scared. Come on."

Elizabeth teasingly pushed him. Before she knew what happened, Methos
grabbed her arm, swung her around, yanked her arm up behind her back
between them and locked his other arm under her chin and said, "Now
what? That didn't take much."

She warned, "You don't want me to kick you in the groin."

He giggled, actually giggled, "You could try... but it ain't going to happen."

She tried to struggle out of his clench, kicked back at his knees, stepped on
his feet, the arm behind her back jerked with her movements as he didn't
let it go and she exclaimed, "Ow! That hurts."

"So do something about it."

She jerked forward, but Methos just went down with her. He didn't loosen
his grip at all. "That hurts! Ferida!"

"So, get me off you."

She turned to look at him, smiled, "What if I don't want to?"

"I'm an immortal who can't wait for your quickening. Pretend I'm Logan
with two legs. What do you do?"

"Well, first of all, I wouldn't have laid down my sword."

She got him there, he nodded, "Good to hear it. Okay, I'm an immortal you
trust. Warren Cochrane. He's the skittish type and you're convinced he's
Mr. Goody Two Shoes. What if you put your sword down and he gets you
into a head lock? What do you do?" She kissed him on the cheek. 

Methos turned his head and kissed her deeply, not once loosening his grip
on her wrist or neck, then said, "I don't appreciate my wife kissing other
men. But that's beside the point. I still have you in a headlock."

"Your wife?" she smiled and he nodded, with a heart warming smile of his
own.

"I still have you in a headlock," he reminded her of the task at hand.

Elizabeth muttered, "You're no fun," as she tried to slip her wrist behind
her back from his hold. Didn't work.

He moved them to the right, toward the couch. "See my sword over
there?"

"Yes," she said, still trying to slip her hand away, but every time she
moved it, her nerves and muscles cried out. 

"Pretend it's Warren's." Methos said, "It doesn't look so threatening, does
it? What is it... five feet away? It's no big deal." The tone of his voice was
low and serious. It made her more uncomfortable than her arm was. He
continued, "You think you can get out of this situation?"

"Yes," she grunted, then hooked onto his arm under her chin and yanked,
tried to spin herself around. He was faster and, still holding her arm that
had deadened, grabbed his sword from the couch, pushed her to the floor
and before she knew it, she was laying on her back with the Ivanhoe to her
neck.

After she got the gist and screamed from the remembrance of Seacouver,
Methos quickly pulled the Ivanhoe back and set it down behind him. She
sat up to get away, not knowing if this was a 'practice session' or the
remnants of the maniac. Either way she didn't like it. He pushed her back
down to the floor. She spun around and elbowed him in the face. "Good!
Keep going," he encouraged her to keep fighting.

She looked back at him and saw he was enjoying it. For what purpose?
She didn't care. When she tried to stand, he took her ankles and flipped her
back down. Before she knew it, he was again on top of her. The only part
of her not held down was her left leg, so she raised it and kicked him in the
butt. It only made him laugh. She grabbed his face and pushed him up,
then rolled. He was always right there. With every movement, she couldn't
get the best of him, and he kept laughing and prodded her to keep going.

They continued wrestling, until Elizabeth finally gave up from exhaustion.
Her arms and legs fell to the floor and said, "I give."

Methos grinned down at her, "I always win. You will, too. This is just the
first lesson."

He was so full of himself. It was true, but she didn't like his uppity grin.
So, she lifted her shirt to flash him then sat up. Methos only laughed
harder, "Yes. You have mammary glands, I don't."

When she was on her feet, he leapt up and tackled her again. She laid on
the floor, "Hey!"

He kissed her deeply as he took her left hand in his, then put it over his
neck. Then he whispered, "But I have something you don't."

She chuckled, "But I think I'm going to have it in about a minute and a
half."

Methos started to unbuckle his pants and grunted, "Whatever happened to
foreplay? It can be quite a nice experience." 

~~~~~

DECEMBER 23, 2001
LISBON AIRPORT

As soon as Amanda got off the airplane, Elizabeth cornered her. Amanda
groaned, "Liz, I know. I'll only call him David around other people."

"It's not that," Elizabeth said, pulling her into a hug. "I missed you."

"Oh, honey," Amanda squeezed her back. "I missed you, too. And you're
over Pyrius, and over James, and you're back with," she looked over at
Methos walking out of the newsstand, "Him. It's great."

"I don't want any kind of James talk in front of David. Ever. It was my
stupidity to get into that situation in the first place. I put down my sword in
front of him. It won't happen again." 

"You know what secrets can do. I kept too many from Mac and he may
never forgive me for it. Don't do that."

"No, please. He's so concerned that I'm going to lose my head, I don't want
him to know I was compromised so recently."

"Why is he worried?"

Methos reached them and kissed Amanda, "Nice flight?"

"Yes, thank you for asking."

"We have a date at another gate."

"Huh?" Amanda asked while Methos took her hand and steered them
away. Elizabeth smiled and picked up Amanda's bag and followed.

Methos told her, "There's another passenger we have to pick up."

"Who?"

Elizabeth took her other arm and said, "David invited Duncan to come for
Christmas without knowing I invited you. His plane is arriving in about a
half an hour."

Amanda stopped. "No, he's going to think I set this up."

"Why," Methos asked. "I invited him and I can't be swayed by you." He
pointed at Elizabeth and said, "I can be by her, but not by you."

She stamped her foot. "What a thing to say!"

"I'm kidding. Gods, you can't take a joke anymore, Amanda?"

"With you, it's hard to tell when you're not serious. You're not used to
telling jokes, are you?"

Amanda took her bag from Elizabeth and noticed the wedding ring,
screamed, "Lizzie!" making most of the people in the vicinity to jump.
Amanda dropped the bag and grabbed her hand, then Methos'. "Is this?"
She stood with a silent smile on her face as Methos walked around her to
put his arm over Elizabeth's shoulder. 

Elizabeth said, "Yep, he's my old man."

"In more ways than one," she hugged them both. "This is so great. What
made you do it?"

Methos and Elizabeth looked at each other for the other to answer.
Elizabeth was going to say that he had a dream that spooked him, but
Methos said, "The great disabler, Amanda. It was love..." He smiled and
sauntered ahead of them to Duncan's gate.

When they got to the gate to pick up Duncan, Amanda hung back, wanted
to see what would happen before making herself known. As soon as he
appeared at the door, her heart flipped. He didn't see her as he greeted
Methos and Elizabeth. The smile on his face was wide and he seemed
carefree. She saw Elizabeth point her out to Duncan and was relieved that
he didn't cringe. In fact, his smile was even more welcoming and walked
to her and kissed her on the cheek. "It's good to see you, Amanda. You're
looking well."

"Thank you, Mac," Amanda really meant it.

Duncan grabbed Methos' hand, looked at the wedding band, shook his
head. "I didn't really think you were telling the truth." Then he looked at
Elizabeth and kissed her cheek. "Are you happy?"

"Ecstatic," he said, ironically. What would Duncan expect him to say?

There was a bit of sadness in his eyes that his smile couldn't quite cover.
They felt a new buzz and turned to see Brynn walking down the hall with a
tote bag. "Hey," she announced to them. "Can I get a ride home?"

The smile that appeared on Methos' face was annoying to Elizabeth, but
matched it and said, "Sure. The more the merrier. It's good thing we
brought the Jeep."

"And you are?" Amanda asked, looking the tall blond immortal with the
killer legs showing from the short miniskirt that Amanda would think
twice about wearing.

Brynn extended her hand, "I'm Brynn Thayer, Warren's fianc‚."

Duncan grabbed her hand, "Very nice to meet you. How is Warren and
Antonio getting along?"

"I'm not sure. I've just finished up the last bits of business back in
Australia."

Elizabeth told Duncan, "They're fine. He was a wonderful suggestion for
Antonio's teacher."

Duncan took Brynn's bag and walked her down the hall. Amanda wasn't to
happy about that and tossed her bag to Methos and followed them.
Elizabeth laughed, "Brynn does bring out the best in us, doesn't she?"

~~~~~

ANTONIO AND SOFIA'S
DECEMBER 25, 2001

The Christmas season went much better than the year before. Duncan and
Amanda could freely call Methos by name, but only around Elizabeth.
Amanda was still reminded every time Antonio, Sofia, Warren or Brynn
came around to call him David. This irritated Amanda, but she was trying
to be on her best behavior since Duncan was there and seemed to look into
everything she did or said. Elizabeth, at every opportunity, would try to
leave them alone, making Methos shake his head and get out of the way.
Finally, Duncan and Amanda had to tell her to relax, they would take it as
it comes. Amanda privately told her that they've been dealing with each
other for centuries, and they have a pattern. She thanked her for trying, but
told her to just back off a little. "I've never had trouble getting any man I
want in my life, so..." she didn't need to expand.

Duncan enjoyed getting to know Warren again, meeting Brynn, and seeing
how Antonio was coming along with his training. Amanda agreed with
Elizabeth. Brynn was a looker, enjoyed male ogling, and was still a joy to
be with. Sofia was thrilled that they all spent Christmas dinner at their
house along with Antonio's family, her mother, and old lady Ramirez from
down the road who even came with goodies. Lady Ramirez and her
husband were childless, and she had had an awful month when her
husband died suddenly leaving her to manage the ranch on her own. She
tried to be bubbly, but Warren finally got her to admit that she didn't know
if she could handle things on her own. She said, "Our workers just don't
have the love of horses like my husband, Eladio, did. I'm keeping it going
only because he loved it so." She had let the wistfulness take over, so the
old woman shook it off stating, "Now is not the time to talk of such things.
This is a celebration about the love of Christ, not a time for sadness." On
this note everyone went back to enjoying the festivities.

~~~~~

NEW YEAR'S 

Duncan and Amanda left, separately, a couple of days after Christmas,
which was fitting as they had staked out separate bedrooms during their
stay with Methos and Elizabeth. Because they were still on their
honeymoon, Methos couldn't rush them to the airport fast enough,
although they'd miss having old friends around. Every time Methos
watched Elizabeth when he thought she wasn't looking, his mind would
drift back to the dream he had had of her losing her head. He hadn't dreamt
it again, but it was always in the forefront of his mind during his waking
hours. It had all seemed so real.

The sadness of Duncan and Amanda's absence was soon replaced by
delight with the unexpected appearance of Amy, Kevin, Joey, Joe and
Caroline at their door. It was a wonderful surprise, and Elizabeth was
pleased that Kevin was even cordial, if not his old self around her and all
those immortals. They had a great time catching up without the pall of
Pyrius or immortality or anything on their minds except the fact that both
David and Elizabeth, and Joe and Caroline were married, and Joey was
growing like a sprout. He was six months old, but wore size 2 clothes and
had the physique of a football player. They had already nicknamed him "Tackle".

After a nice supper on New Years' Eve, they were making plans to go to
the dance club, since Methos and Elizabeth knew they wouldn't be able to
celebrate alone. He leaned over to her and said, "At some point in time, we
are going to spend a New Years' Eve together, alone, right?"

"Next year, I promise," she whispered and kissed him at the table, which
prompted cat calls and teasing from the others when they saw it. 

Joe even said, "Kids these days..." with an exaggerated shake of his head,
that got a round of laughter, especially from Kevin, who knew they were
both at least a century old.

Elizabeth and Amy told Caroline to just relax and enjoy being a guest then
went to the kitchen for a quiet talk, something they hadn't had time for
since their arrival. Elizabeth was at the sink when Amy hugged her from
behind. "You know," she said. "Your taste in men has gotten a lot better
after Eliot."

She laughed, and told Amy, "Eliot was the worst husband I had."

Amy, speculating out loud, said, "Seven husbands... let's just hope David
is the last one, huh?"

"He's my first immortal husband, chances are good." She didn't want to
confide that Methos probably only married her because he was convinced
she was going to lose her head. She didn't want to think about it herself,
just enjoy her time with him until he realized she was sticking around for
good and decided he needed to be free again. 

Amy saw the hint of sadness in her eyes and was concerned, "You guys are
happy, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes," Elizabeth was adamant.

Meanwhile, Methos brought Kevin and Joe out to the garage to show them
his pride and absolute joy, his Bizzarrini. On the way to the garage, Joe
spotted Brett Maxwell standing on the edge of the property in the trees.
Methos offered to give them a ride, but Joe backed out. "I'll never fold
myself up into one of those seats. I'll stay with here Caroline and Joey."

Kevin shut the car door after sliding into the sportscar. "Your loss, Joe,"
Methos said as he slid behind the wheel and peeled out of the drive way.

Joe's mind raced thinking of what he'd say as he walked towards Brett.
Maxwell welcomed him but stayed out of the range of the house in case
Elizabeth saw him talking to Joe. "Still trying to find Methos?"

"Yeah, but it's the holidays. Methos doesn't worship any God, so he's
laying on a beach in Nice. I have some people watching him for me over
the holidays, so I can celebrate with my wife and family and friends."

Brett admitted he took some time off too. "Elizabeth isn't the fighting sort,
so I knew I could take my wife to Puerto Rico for our anniversary and not
miss anything important. But, when I came back here, I've noticed
Elizabeth's ring. Who is she married to?"

"His name is David Sommers."

"Is he immortal?"

"I don't think so. How would I know? I don't talk to Elizabeth about immortality."

Brett shook his head, deciding, "Nah. I've read Elizabeth's entire chronicle
and she's never married one in the past, why would she start now?" Brett
looked Joe over, "Have you spoken to Methos?"

"Nope, I only watch and record."

"But you were friends with him."

"I wasn't his watcher before, and not that I am, well... that's not allowed."

Brett smiled, "You always were upstanding, Joe. It's a little hard, though,
isn't it? Especially when you have a history like you two."

"Just so I know he's safe," Joe encouraged the other watcher to believe.
"That's all that matters."

~~~~~

APRIL 2002
CASA SEGURA

Elizabeth bid Mrs. Ramirez's men adieu and wondered when Methos
would be home. She'd gotten rid of him that morning so he wouldn't be
around when the delivery was made. That might have been a little silly,
but she'd worked so hard and didn't think Methos knew what was going
on, and she didn't want to spoil the surprise at the last minute.

She called his cell and got him on the phone just as he was just driving
past Antonio's and thought to drop in. "Don't," Elizabeth warned him.
"Come right home."

"You're the one who told me to be more friendly. Make up your mind."

"Brynn's there, isn't she?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm looking at her right now."

She didn't like the tone of his voice one bit. It had a happy quality that she
only wanted him to have when he was thinking about or looking at her.
She said, "Get home now!"

Methos laughed and waved goodbye to Brynn as he went past on the drive
home. He loved the fact that Elizabeth couldn't figure out his past with
Brynn at all and was extremely jealous. A little jealously was good for a
solid relationship.

As he got out of the car, Elizabeth met Methos at the door and said, "I'm
glad you're here."

"Of course, you are," was his dry retort.

Elizabeth was taken back a bit by that. "Love your self esteem. Come on."
She took his hand and started to walk around the house. 

Methos stopped to take the library books off the front seat of the Bizzarrini
as the top was down. "These aren't mine. I have to be careful with them."

"Leave them. You can deal with them later, it's not like it's going to rain or
anything. In fact, it wouldn't dare rain."

He only smiled. "Why is that?"

"What's the date today?"

"The 13th. Why?"

Elizabeth grimaced. She hadn't thought of the Friday the 13th possibility in
the future. But, it was done. "Well, from now on, April 13th is your
birthday. So you can put that on all your documents. Remember it. I will."

"My birthday?" His smile finally matched hers. "Okay. 13 April. Done."
Then, hiking up his shoulders with childlike excitement, he asked, "What
did you get me?"

"Put those down and come with me."

He locked the books in the trunk of the car, "Where?"

"Can't you just wait for the surprise?"

"No, I like to be in the know."

"Okay." She took his hand and pulled him across the grass around to the
back of the house. When they were in the back yard, she pointed at the old
stables that was part of their property but never used because it was full of
the previous owner's garbage. There were cobwebs and it seemed like it
was going to fall down, "That."

"I already own that, at least half of it. You're giving me the other half?"

"Have you been inside it lately?"

"No. I gave up fighting bugs centuries ago."

She smiled, then remembered his fib about fumigating his apartment
because cockroaches have overrun the place. He could usually read her
like a book and sometimes she didn't like it, but she had managed to put
this one thing over on him. "I've been working on it. And... you know that
guy that was here this morning, the one I wouldn't tell you anything about?"

"Yeah?"

"You weren't by any chance a little bit jealous?"

"Yeah." No emotion, just the truth. She wanted him to show it, darn him.
But he didn't show her a thing. 

So she said, "Well, he's a carpenter and he's been working here for me.
Why do you think I've been trying to get rid of you every day? So you
wouldn't see any of it take shape."

"Okay. Sounds good. What's in there? An office?"

"No. Better. Come on." They walked to the stables. Smelled horses. When
they reached the door, Elizabeth pulled it open. Methos saw that the
stables were clean, freshly painted, with gates on the stalls. There was a
black horse's head showing over the door of the end stall.

Elizabeth beamed from excitement and pulled Methos into the stables.
"Do you like it? Everything is top of the line."

Methos' eyes only saw the beautiful horse at the end of the stable, not the
architecture. "A horse? You bought me a horse for my birthday?"

"Yes. Do you like him? He's a beauty. A black beauty."

"Why did you do that?" His face was tight and he looked ready to explode.

Elizabeth was so excited about her surprise that she didn't immediately
notice anything was wrong, "I thought you'd like him. I like horses, in fact,
I love horses. Especially my first one. I named him Pilgrim. He was my
only friend for years." Methos hadn't taken a step toward the horse, or had
given any indication that he was pleased with her gift. Elizabeth's
enthusiasm diminished when she finally noticed his tight demeanor. "If
you don't want him, I'll keep him and I'll try again to think of something
else especially for you."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it bother me? He's a beautiful horse. Strong, vibrant, like
you," she smiled.

"Don't be coy!"

His booming voice astonished her. "It's not..." Then it came to her. "It has
nothing to do with some grand plan to remind you of your horseman past,
Methos. Mrs. Ramirez, do you remember her? She lives down the hill?"
Methos nodded. "She's retiring and selling her stock. I thought you'd like
him. That's all. I was thinking of getting one for me, too, so we can follow
the trails up the mountain in the woods. If this isn't what you want--."

He cut her off with a hug. "I'm sorry. He's a good horse. I haven't had one
for years."

"When I first saw him, he reminded me of the one you rode in Wyoming, remember?"

"Yeah," Methos smiled. That was a very steady steed he had over a
hundred years ago, but when cars were invented, he hadn't owned one
since. "Thank you."

"Do you want to keep him?"

Methos looked at the perfect specimen of a horse and said, "Yes, I do."

He patted the horse's snout and the black horse seemed to warm to him
right away. Methos knew how to handle them. Elizabeth saw him open the
gate and rub his hand down the horse's front legs, feeling his tone, then he
determined, "He's a very nice horse. Thanks."

"What are you going to name him?"

"I don't name horses."

"You're going to name this one. He deserves a name."

Methos looked at him and was at a loss, this was something he'd never
done in his life. Then he said, "Black."

"Yes, he's black."

"That's his name."

"You can't name him Black. That's a stupid name."

"No, it isn't. It's descriptive."

"You want descriptive? Okay, call him Ebony, Raven, Jet..."

"It's Black," Methos stated. "He's my horse and I get to name him whatever
I want."

"That's a stupid name."

He stared at her, not liking in the least that anything he did or thought was
considered to be stupid. "Does Black have a saddle?"

"Yes, a brand new one."

"I'm going to take my horse for a ride."

"Can I come, too?"

"I don't know. You don't like my decisions."

"Your decisions are fabulous," she flashed her wedding band at him. "It's
your names that have a lot to be desired."

Methos saddled his steed and climbed on. Black wasn't jittery, he was
strong, he felt good under him. The saddle was impressive. He reached out
his hand and pulled Elizabeth up behind him. As they entered the trails,
Elizabeth told him to keep bearing right. When Methos guided the horse
straight ahead, instead of taking the path to the right, Elizabeth grabbed the
reins and said, "Go right."

"Why?"

"Because I say so?"

"Ugh, married life..."

He turned Black around and they went onto her path. Elizabeth leaned
over his shoulder and said, "You can take that ring off. It's not stapled on."

"Be quiet. I'm riding my horse." He had an inkling of where she wanted
them to go, he hadn't thought that she knew about the waterfall. He spent a
lot of time there thinking during his discovery period, and it was his
exercise pit, but he'd never tell her or anyone. It was secluded and
beautiful. And, he was right, that's just where she steered him. When Black
entered the clearing where the waterfall dumped, there was a blanket and a
basket on the ground. Elizabeth started to lay out what she had earlier left
there for them as Methos laid Black's reins over a tree branch. 

He knelt by the basket and looked in. "What's all this?"

She took out a bottle of wine and two glasses, some cheese, crackers,
birthday cake. He laughed as she lit the candle. "I don't think this cake is
big enough for 5000 and... how many candles?"

He kissed her. "This is the best birthday ever."

She rubbed his cheek and said, "They're kind of nice to celebrate, aren't
they? Blow out your candle before the wind does. Make a wish."

He only looked at her, having never believed in making wishes. She
looked in the basket and sat back, upset. "I forgot a knife, do you happen
to have Ivanhoe with you?"

He patted it under his coat, but said, "I don't cut cake with my sword."

"Oh," she took the candle off the cake and looked at it. "I guess then we'll
have to have to food fight." She tore off a chunk of cake and smeared it on
his face. He licked the chocolate frosting off his lip. A piece of cake fell on
his shirt and he threw it at her. Then picked the rest of the cake up and
held it over her head.

"No," she squealed, "You can't have all the ammo!"

He pulled open the neck of her shirt and dumped the whole thing in.
Chunks smeared on her chin and fell into her lap. She screamed, "Hey!" as
he smashed his hand over her chest and stomach, smearing the cake. He
pushed her back to the ground and she licked the frosting off his face, she
said, "It's good."

"Did you make it?"

"No, it's edible. I was busy buying today."

He pushed her shirt up to her neck and started licking the frosting and
eating the cake from her chest and stomach while fiddling with her erect
nipples. She took a piece and ate it, smeared another on the top of Methos'
head as he licked around her belly button. A tingle shot down her body
making her squirm with delight.

He watched her lift her shirt off while he undid her jeans and was pleased
that they were a bit loose on her. With his chin, he nudged her panties
down. She smeared her hands with cake and frosting from her body and
what had fallen off to the blanket, then plopped them on his cheeks. He
licked his way up her body as she pulled his shirt up and off him. 

He picked up more of the cake that had fallen off onto the blanket and
rubbed her face with it. They licked each other's cheeks, foreheads, noses.
She bit his. "Ow," he whined. "Take it easy."

"Well, it's so big."

Methos glared at her.

"You're absolutely beautiful..." She reached down and stroked his bulge.
He got on his knees and pulled jeans off. She laid before him, wearing
only his birthday cake. "Come here," she pleaded. 

"I'm just looking," he smiled, happy with the sight of her well toned body.
She'd been a reluctant, but accomplished trainee under his guidance.
Thinking that since it had been so long since he had had that dream, they
just might be safe.

"I love looking at you too, but you're too far away." She sat up and
unzipped his pants, he rolled to his back and took them off. She crawled
on top of him, reached between their bodies, grabbed his cock and
squeezed. He kneaded her breasts, moved a hand down her body, she lifted
herself to allow him access to her clit. 

When she kissed him again, his mouth tasted like cake. She flicked her
tongue around in his mouth, gathered crumbs and swallowed. Feeling her
wetness, he lifted his hands to her face and rubbed her fluid, then licked it off.

He was hard, ready, solid. She lowered as he guided himself into her. She
shook as she looked into his eyes. Methos laid his head back, buried it into
the blanket, as she rocked up and down on him. He rolled them over and
he fell out of her. They repositioned their legs and he plunged back into
her, making her gasp. He grunted, "Ah, my favorite sound."

She rocked her pelvis up to meet him each time he came down on her.
Methos took her hands and licked the frosting off them. She grabbed his
face, his shoulders, as she shrieked. He smiled as he lifted his chest,
wincing with every thrust into her.

Lifting her head, she kissed and massaged his nipples with her tongue.
Some of the cake had rubbed onto him and she licked at it, ate it, bit his
nipples. Methos tensed, muscles in his chest and stomach rippled. She
tickled him as her hands lightly rubbed his washboard stomach. She
wrapped her legs around him when he let out a cry.

Black whinnied, was disturbed by the sounds of them and the waterfall.
Methos yelled for him to shut up!

"Faster," she moaned. "Deeper, please."

He followed her directions to the letter. He fell back down on her and
ground his hips over hers with every thrust, putting himself as far into her
as he'd ever been. She screamed, spooking the horse. Black pulled back
and ran off when the reins floated off the branch. 

Elizabeth rubbed her hands over Methos' butt and squeezed her fingers
around his tensed, then released muscles as he drove his member home.
She clenched her legs tighter around Methos, pulled him into her with
each down and up reflex. She cried out as he made her feel a rush of heat
that vibrated to her toes. 

He clasped his arms behind her back, smearing cake in the process. She
arched up as he chewed on her nipple. He roared as he started to feel
himself release his fluid into her. She grabbed his head as her body
trembled. His heat flowed. He plunged himself completely into her and
planted his feet, kept himself far into her as he convulsed. Then pulled in
and out again.

Methos pulled his arms up to her shoulders and held her head as they
climaxed. Their jerky, chocolate breaths fanned each other's faces. He
stayed in her, holding her tightly, rocking them back and forth.

When he shrank, he slid out, but stayed on top of her, exhausted. He laid
his head on hers as his muscles relaxed. As her body settled down, she
kissed his eyelids, nose and cheek in gratitude for a job well done. 

He let his head fall to the ground alongside hers. He pulled at her hair, still
feeling the residue of the orgasm. She unfolded her legs and they flopped
to the sides of his. She didn't even have the strength to keep her arms up,
around his neck, so they collapsed to the blanket.

As she looked at the sky, her breathing slowed. "Happy birthday."

He grumbled from his favorite spot on her neck, "Can every day be my birthday?"

"Yes. Every day is going to be your birthday."

"I don't believe you." He licked her hairline behind her ear in his special
way that made her shiver. Methos rolled off her and laid on the blanket.
He noticed Black was gone. "I seemed to have lost my present."

"Oh, well," she didn't have the strength to stand, let alone look for a horse.
"I can always buy you another one."

They stared up at the night sky. There was a shooting star. "Make a wish,"
she said as she closed her eyes, making one of her own. 

He squinted at her, "What could you possibly wish for?"

"That the dream you had never comes true."

She sat up and Methos scraped some more cake off her back and grabbed
chunks out of her hair. She stood and held out her hand. "What?"

"Come on."

She helped him up and they treaded into the river. They squealed at the
cold of the April water, while swimming in the shallows under the twelve
foot waterfall. Elizabeth stood and let nature give her a shower. As she
rubbed her hair back off her face, Methos stood up behind her. The cold
water bathed them both. The high-powered flow of the water washed off
all traces of cake, frosting, and sex. Methos walked out of the fall and
turned back to her. She took one look at him and started laughing, hysterically.

"What's the matter?" He couldn't figure it out.

She could do nothing but laugh as she got out of the water. She was sorry,
really, but she couldn't stop laughing. Methos asked again what the hell
was wrong with her.

She said. "There's major shrinkage..."

Methos looked down at himself, his penis looked like a scared turtle from
the cold water. He pushed her in the water and stomped to the shore to dress.

When he was finished, he noticed that Elizabeth's laugh had ceased,
finally. Women... they didn't have to worry about their genitals not
keeping with the program. She was back floating in the water. He sat on
the shore and watched what he could see through the dusk. Black walked
up to his side, softly beat his head against Methos' shoulder. "That woman
looks pretty good." Black neighed, making Methos looked at him.

~~~~~
 
AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME IN LONDON

The family had sat down to dinner, one of the few opportunities they'd had
to be together in months. Cameron was always away, and his wife was
about at the end of her rope. Their butler, knowing that it was special
occasion when Mr. James was able to have a quiet meal with his family,
hated to interrupt, but it was important. He meekly walked to Cameron's
end of the table to quietly announce,"Sir, you have a phone call." 

"Ah, I've been expecting it," Cameron James told his not very happy wife,
wiping his mouth and standing up. "I'm sorry. It will only take a minute, dear."

When he got to the extension in the den, he said into the phone, "I have it,
Jeffery." Only after he heard the click that told him there weren't any extra
ears on the line, he answered, "James."

Louis excitedly told his boss, "Sir? We found one!"

"Montrose or Bennett." 

"Elizabeth Bennett. And sir, she's also Immortal."

That was absolutely perfect, as it would make it all the more easier. James
told his minion, "Good work. You're slow, but you do good work. Find
Miss Elizabeth. Bring her to me." He hung up with a satisfied smile on his
face. Then he groaned, knowing he should get back to that crab apple wife
and two bratty kids.

~~~~~

MAY 21, 2002
PARIS

Amanda couldn't sleep being in Paris without Duncan, and when took an
early morning walk to clear her head. Only after strolling without a
destination in mind, did she find herself in front of the barge. Her feet had
automaticly treked to it. They were going to take it easy. Go slowly.
Develop the trust again, but he didn't come to Paris with her. He thought
she wanted to be in Paris to pull another heist, but she had only wanted to
see a friend. He had to stay in Seacouver and apologized for thinking the
worst. They decided a little bit of distance would be a good thing for the
time being. Amanda hoped "absence makes the heart grow fonder" was
what he was thinking, and not "not out of sight, out of mind". Duncan
assured her that wasn't be the case.

When she grew tired and took a shortcut back to her hotel, she what
sounded like a soft crying. Amanda stopped and looked around. There
wasn't anyone around at that hour of the morning. Someone, a small child,
was in trouble. The cry was strong, but soft. Amanda followed it to the
source and saw a baby lying in the bushes of a park. What was it doing in
the bushes? Where the hell were the parents? No one in their right mind
would leave a baby in the bushes. The baby girl was naked and didn't have
a blanket to protect her from the chill of the morning air. The baby girl
saw Amanda and lifted up her arms, straightening her legs as she cried.
Amanda shushed the child as she got closer. That's when she knew the
baby didn't have parents. The child emitted a soft hum. It was a premmie. 

~~~~~

SEACOUVER

Duncan jogged back from the bank to the dojo on that clear, crisp
morning. It was a glorious day, until he felt the presence of an immortal.
Thinking it would be a quick run, he hadn't taken his katana with him. He
couldn't ascertain where the buzz was coming from. A quick run to the
safety of home wouldn't be difficult, but he automatically canvassed the
area for whoever it was.

About a half block down the street stood an immortal, a woman. He went
flipped through his memory of all the women he'd known. She was stood
nonchalantly on the sidewalk, feet apart, hands on hips, her long beige
trenchcoat billowing in the breeze behind her. Long blond hair, wearing
vintage clothes from what seemed to be the old west. Men's clothes. There
wasn't a hint of recognition from his end, but she looked right through
him, straight into his soul.

Duncan, still panting from the jog, wiped his forehead with the back of his
hand and walked up to introduce himself, feel out her mood and reason for
being there. The woman only smiled and said, "I thought that was you,
Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod."

"You have me at a disadvantage. And you are?"

She smirked, "The one with the advantage."

Duncan looked around for any friends she may have in the vicinity and
told her, "We've never met."

"No, we haven't been properly introduced," she agreed in a thick southern
accent. "But I know all about you."

She smirked and walked away. He followed her demanding an answer to
why she was acting so mysterious. She got into her car and laughed,
"You'll find out all about me when I'm ready for you to know."


~~~~~

SUNDAY MAY 26, 2002
CASA SEGURA

When Methos and Elizabeth got back to the house after treating
themselves to brunch in Sintra, there was a car in the driveway with a
French license plate. Methos hadn't thought of his dream for weeks,
having only dreamt it once. Life had been pretty uneventful, just loving
and honeymooning with Elizabeth. But the license plate jolted him. The
passport in his dream was for Paris. When they got out of the car and
approached the house, they both felt a buzz. Methos pushed Elizabeth
back and yelled, "Run!"

"Why?", then she remembered, the dream. It had been so long, she thought
it was over. Wedded bliss had been so wonderful, Methos' dream was
history in her mind. It was all too much for her and she stepped back to the
foreign car and looked it over. There was a rental tag in the window.
Methos walked up the steps to the porch with his Ivanhoe drawn.
Elizabeth backed up to see what would happen, she would run if need be,
but she strained to hear what went on inside.

What she heard was Methos' shouting and a woman's laugh. Amanda ran
to the door and ran outside to Elizabeth, who was hiding behind a tree
across the road. The women laughed and hugged. "You scared us to
death!" Elizabeth admonished her while clutching her friend with relief.

"Methos said that, too," Amanda smiled demurely. "Little old me?"

Elizabeth pulled back and looked her friend over. She was still skinny,
gorgeous and down right perky. She giggled and hugged her again, "It's so
good to see you."

Amanda gasped dramatically, "You haven't gotten rid of each other yet?"
Before Elizabeth could take offense, Amanda laughed. "That's why I'm
here, Liz. That's why I'm here."

"Okay, tell me. You're here for something other than you've missed me?"

Amanda lead her to the house and said, "I've missed you, but I have an
ulterior motive."

"What?"

"I'll tell you both at the same time."

"How's it going with Duncan?" 

Amanda only shrugged, tossed her head left and right, "Slow. Which is good."

"Well, come in. Let's talk." They walked into the house and saw Methos
hunched over something on the couch. When he moved and Elizabeth saw
it, she gasped, looked at Amanda. "You adopted a baby?"

"Well, kind of. I found her."

Methos said, "She's a premmie."

"You just found her?" Elizabeth was shocked to see the little bundle on the
couch that Methos acted like was made of plutonium. When she peered
close enough, she felt the baby's hum. "Amanda that's, that's... that's a lot
of work. It's not only a baby, it's a premmie."

"I found that out. That's why I'm here."

Methos looked at her, not liking that remark at all. "Why?"

Amanda said, "I'm not mother material. I've tried before. He turned into a
little snot-nosed monster. You remember Kenny?" Methos only had the
pleasure of hearing about the imp's escapades, hadn't had the misfortune to
run into him. "I don't want to screw up another child. But she needs a
mother." She looked at Elizabeth and said, "You."

"Me? I've never raised a baby. I wouldn't know the first thing about it."

The baby woke up from her nap and started to cry, making Methos jump
and walk away from it. Amanda pointed her finger at the baby and told
Elizabeth, "Try to do something."

"What?"

"She's hungry or poopy or something," Amanda said, pushing Elizabeth
toward the couch. "I don't know how she would have pooped anything out,
she doesn't eat. I'm not good at feeding her. She fell asleep during the car
ride from plain old exhaustion. I have everything the store said a baby
would need. It's all right here."

"How long have you had her?"

"Since Tuesday and she's driving me crazy. I really wanted to raise her, but
I can't. I don't know how and we can't seem to get into a rhythm."

Elizabeth stood back from the couch the baby laid upon and commented,
"She looks more than 5 days old."

"That could be, I don't know. I just found her." There were boxes and bags
all over the kitchen. Since the others didn't move quickly to quiet the baby
with a bottle, Amanda prepared one and tried to feed her. Methos and
Elizabeth could only stare at them. The baby was sucking on the bottle, but
Amanda would move and take it out of her mouth, ruining the momentum
of the child's eating. 

"You should probably hold her better," Elizabeth suggested. "You're
clutching her like she's a purse."

"I can't get the hang of it. You try."

Amanda suddenly deposited the baby in Elizabeth's arms and gave her the
bottle. "Well, I've never done this either." The volume of the child's cry
sent shivers up Methos' back and he walked out.

"Try," Amanda pleaded. "You told me that you really wanted to have a
baby with your first husband, here."

Elizabeth had to holler over the baby's screams. "That was 140 years ago
and before I knew I couldn't have one."

"Try."

Elizabeth looked at the bright red crying blob in her arms. She sat and held
the baby and lifted one leg over the other for the baby to have a foundation
on her lap and put the bottle to her mouth. She just cried, mouth open
wide. Elizabeth looked at Amanda then realized that Methos was no where
in sight. "Damn," Amanda muttered. "She's not going to eat now. When
she gets like this, she's stubborn."

Elizabeth hushed the baby, holding her to her chest and rocking her. It was
no use. The child would do nothing but straighten every muscle in her
little body and scream. She laid her back on her lap so they were both
more comfortable and dropped a bit of formula into the baby's open
mouth. The baby stopped crying long enough to taste what it was. Then
Elizabeth put the nipple to her mouth and rubbed it along her lip, more
formula dibbled in. The baby stopped crying and stared up at her. Then she
opened her mouth like a fish and Elizabeth slid the nipple in. The baby
quieted as she hungrily chewed.

Amanda said, "You did it."

"It wasn't rocket science, Amanda."

"Well, you must have a better touch. She cries all the time I'm feeding her.
I've already been kicked out of three hotels."

Elizabeth wiped the tears from the baby's cheeks as she drank. The redness
from her anger gradually changed back to a healthy shade of pink. She
held her cute little fingers. Examined them. Felt her little feet under the
blanket. Amanda told her, "She's a precious girl who needs a mother."

"I can't do that. This is too sudden. I... there's two of us here." She looked
for Methos. "And he's gone. I guess that's your answer."

Amanda picked up Elizabeth's left hand, pointing to the gold band, "You
and Methos got married. That makes this all perfect. That's why I'm here.
That's why I thought of you two. He'll come around."

"I don't want him to come around. I never pictured myself as a single
mother. And I don't want to be."

Elizabeth just looked at the baby. Amanda hugged her to encourage her to
say yes, but it only made the bottle slip out of the baby's mouth and she
cried again. It took a while for Elizabeth to calm her down enough to try
eating again. "Methos!" Amanda called, walking through the house to find
him as his buzz was still strong.

He was standing in the bedroom looking at a large narrow box that was
leaning against the wall. "What the hell is this?"

Amanda smiled, "I didn't know you believed in hell, Methos."

"David. You're pretty good at making hell on earth."

"What a thing to say!"

"What is all this stuff?"

"Her crib. She's going to need it."

"This is all very presumptuous of you, Amanda."

"Elizabeth would make a great mother. You, I don't know about but..."
when his glare wasn't welcoming, she decided to say, "You've lived a long
life. You have things to teach her. Think, Methos... you'll have a little
person you can mold into whatever you want her to be. Don't tell me that
doesn't appeal to you."

He was silent, hating how Amanda thought she knew him better than he
knew himself. She surprised Methos by grabbing him into a hug that he
returned when the surprise ebbed. "That little girl just completes the family
unit."

"I married Liz, I'm not taking on a premmie. I only take one major step at a
time through life."

"Don't think of her as a premmie, Methos. Think of her as a baby who
needs a home. Do you really think she's better off with me?"

Methos had to admit to himself that she got him there, but she doesn't have
to be with any of them. When they went back into the kitchen, Elizabeth
had loosened the blanket over the child and saw Amanda's make-shift
diaper. It was a disposable one, but there was scotch tape wrapped around
her waist. Amanda explained, "Those sticky things just didn't work. I have
a couple of rolls of tape in one of those boxes."

Elizabeth ran her hand over the child's full, dark, 2 inch hair. She had a
child's version of Methos' hairstyle. "She is cute."

"Have you smelled her?" Amanda went to stand by Elizabeth, nudge her
into taking the child off her hands. "She has a wonderful smell. That must
be that baby smell I've heard so much about."

"Yeah, I smelled her," Elizabeth sighed. "She smells nice." Methos
moaned. "But her bottom doesn't." Elizabeth told him, "You've raised
children before, you told me."

Amanda was stunned, "You did?"

"Meletta," Elizabeth prodded him to remember.

Methos wasn't too happy with her for mentioning that. It was, after all, his
memory and history to tell, not hers. "One child. A long time ago. And I
didn't do it by myself."

"You won't be alone, Methos. Lizzie will be there, too."

"I never raised a pre-immortal. In fact, I stay away from them like they're
the plague."

"You were friends with Antonio."

"I didn't have to raise him. And I don't have to raise this one."

Amanda said, "She needs a home, Methos."

He still didn't like how she said his name, "David. Stay in practice."

"David. Please. What else am I going to do with her? I can't raise her. We
can't just give her to an orphanage."

"That's where they all go, Amanda."

"Not all of them," Amanda argued. "Some are found and raised by one of us."

"You found her, you raise her, or give her away."

While they were arguing, Elizabeth went through a box and found a
bundle of diapers and laid the baby on the middle of the table. "Let's see if
I can figure this out." She tried to read the directions, but they were in
French. "I can't read it."

Amanda pushed Methos to the table. He hated being pushed into anything.
He had to think things through. "No."

"At least help me read the directions," Elizabeth handed him the box.

He read it and said, "It doesn't sound that hard."

They changed the diaper and Elizabeth picked her up, held her to her
breast and the child went immediately to sleep. She looked at Methos
standing there with his hands in his pockets and tried to give him the child.
He stepped back, held up his hands, saying, "No. No."

They fumbled with her. She woke up, cried. As Elizabeth situated the baby
in her arms, Methos was remembering the one little girl he had raised with
the help of his teacher. Meletta. She was a joy. But that was over 4800
years ago. He had been a young immortal then, not a world traveled, 5000
year old man. He knew the dangers out there. He had to be mobile. Babies
slow you down. The baby's dark hair reminded him of Meletta and he had
a flashback of Hazimil holding her on his lap. They had done a wonderful
job of raising that little girl. There were just as many ass hole immortals
then as now. 

Elizabeth assumed that he'd made their decision and she handed the
sleeping baby back to Amanda, waking the baby in the process. Methos
snapped to attention and took her himself. He laid her on his chest like he
used to do with Meletta and felt her warmth reverberate against him. She
soon fell back to sleep. 

Amanda was almost shocked at the gentleness and nurturing he suddenly
displayed, "You look good, Methos."

"David."

"You look comfortable, David." He laid the baby down on the couch,
situated pillows around her. Amanda said, "She doesn't move a lot yet."

"Just to be on the safe side." Then he smiled at what he said and how he
felt. She was an adorable child. Why did she have to be an adorable child?
Why did she have to look so much like Meletta? He could still back out. 

He was quiet as he stared at the baby. Elizabeth sat beside him and asked, "Well?"

Methos cringed, "You want to, don't you?"

"I never thought I'd be a mother. We can... give it a shot, can't we? If it
doesn't work out, we could find somebody else to take her in. Sofia told
me about the Sacred Heart Orphanage in the city. She's had some dealings
with them. They'll know what to do. Or maybe, Sofia and Antonio will
take her."

"A newbie can't have a premmie."

"Warren and Brynn?"

"That's not my problem."

"Methos, neither of us are newbies. Being a premmie only means that...
we'll have her forever." Elizabeth held her little hand. Methos know if she
was in that house overnight, she'd be there until she was 18 or killed
before her time. Elizabeth was thinking along the same lines as Methos, "I
know. It's insane. But, what could happen?"

"Elizabeth, we're immortal. We protect our heads as a full time job."

"Yeah. Then who better to train her?"

"We can't protect our heads if we have to worry about hers."

"We can protect hers while we're protecting ours."

"Yeah," Amanda said. "The two of--."

Methos turned to her and said, "I've wanted to say this so often, Amanda,
shut up!"

She backed up, knowing she was pushing too hard. She didn't want to have
that child end up in an orphanage, with no family and no one to love her,
but she couldn't mother her. Amanda had given it her best shot. She
wanted what was good for that girl, and she thought she had the perfect
solution, the wise old man and the young nurturer. "You're right. It's your
decision. I'll leave you three alone. Just the family. You have a family conference."

Methos stood up like he was going to go for his sword and Amanda ran
out to the courtyard and shut the door behind her. He stood with his hands
on his hips trying to figure out a way to tell his woman that this was one
thing he wouldn't do for her. "A regular, mortal kid... maybe. Maybe.
But--."

"Why would that make a difference? If she were mortal, we'd still have to
take care of her, feed her, cloth her, protect her."

"Are you trying to talk me into this or out of it?"

"Neither. We just have to talk it out." Elizabeth shook her head, "It's scary.
I never in a million years thought this would happen. It's quick. It's too
fast. We should really think this through."

"So," Methos put his arm on Elizabeth's shoulder when she stood up.
"We're giving her back to Amanda."

"That's a decision. That's not talking it out."

"What's to talk about?! We're not parent material!"

"How do we know that? Methos, you never tire of telling me and everyone
else that you're very old and very wise. That sounds like the qualifications
of a magnificent father."

"So you want to keep her."

"I don't know! I just don't want to dismiss any possibility. This was thrust
on me, too. I've never done it before, you have. Is it easy?"

Methos only remembered the good things, he honestly couldn't remember
raising his voice to Meletta or having any frustrations at all. But it was a
different world back then, with different obstacles. The modern world was
full of dangers you had to keep one step ahead of to survive. 

She continued, "I know it's a lot of work, I've heard. But have we failed at
anything we've put our minds to? No. Look at what we've overcome in our
lives, separately and together. We're not stupid. We can take care of
ourselves, even though you seem to think I can't."

"I don't think that," he quietly said.

"Then why is it every time I turn around, you're telling me how inadequate
I am? That I need to lose weight, I need to train, 'how many calories in that
piece of bread', 'look at all that butter you're using'. I'm thinking a kid
might take your mind off me."

"That would never happen and I do it only to make sure you don't leave me."

She was sorry she'd brought it up. "We don't invite danger. In fact, there's
never been an immortal that's come around here that we haven't invited
except for Logan, and I took care of him. We're safe here. We have a lot of
love to share with her." The child was sleeping so peaceful, how could she
be any trouble? "I smelled her, Methos," Elizabeth quietly admitted.

"I did too. She smells like barf."

She smiled and agreed, "And isn't it adorable?"

He nodded, slightly. He would give her that much.

Elizabeth said, "We have an out. We can bring her to the orphanage and,
and... say that she's a long lost relative that lost her parents and needs new
ones and that we can't do it... so that's our cushion. But, I don't think
there's anything we can't do."

Amanda walked back into the house. "How's it going?"

"What's her name?"

Amanda said, "I haven't given her one."

"What?" they both said at the same time, staring unbelievably at Amanda.

When she didn't like their stares, she said, "I didn't want to get attached.
That child has a very magnetic personality."

"We can do better than that," Methos said, looking the baby over. "What
should we name her?"

Elizabeth was surprised, "Really?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

Elizabeth kissed him. "It'll be a piece of cake. I think I should name her though."

"Why?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I have visions of you naming her Pink, or Flesh
Colored, or A Little Off-White."

"Let me give it a try."

"Something modern so she fits in," Elizabeth said. "Is there any name you
haven't already bedded? Why don't I just get a baby name book and you
cross out all your conquests and we'll see what's left over?"

"Boy, do you have issues," he smirked, then looked at the baby. "Claire?"

"That's pretty," she was surprised by how fast that was. Then wondered,
"Why Claire?"

"Claire was an old mortal woman who lived in my building in Paris. She
was very sweet. Very smart. Very graceful. Just like this little one will be.
Claire it is."

Amanda left them alone with the baby and went into Lisbon to see what
was up, let the family unit get to know each other. Besides, taking care of
that kid for a week had been tough and she needed to unwound.

When Claire woke up from her nap and was once again hungry. Elizabeth
made the formula and fed her as Methos watched. He was reading a book
and had the stereo on low. A Sinatra song came on. When Elizabeth was
burping the baby, he held out his hand to her. They danced with Claire
between them.

~~~~~

MONDAY MAY 27, 2002

Methos happily took Black for some exercise. Elizabeth and Amanda sat
in the courtyard with coffee and Claire. Elizabeth thanked her for bringing
her and decided that it just might work out. The last week had gone well.
"I always have wonderful ideas, Liz. Remember that."

"I guess looking for that job is out of the question now."

"You spent all the loot from James' coins?"

Elizabeth stiffened, looked to see if Methos was in the vicinity. "No. But it
was always in the back of my mind that I should get out and spread my
wings. I have to ask you that favor again. I still don't want you to tell
Methos. Be careful what you say, all right?"

"Why not?"

"He's still dealing with last summer, and being married, and now Claire.
He's dealing with enough right now and that mess with James is over.
Nothing to worry about. So, why tell him?"

"I'm so happy Methos is back to what seems to be normal, for him. He can
be irritating, but... I want him to be happy." Claire burped and Amanda
cooed, "I may just miss this little girl. You two take good care of her."

"Going someplace?"

"It's time."

"For what?"

"Places to go, people to see."

Elizabeth smiled and hopefully suggested, "Someone from the clan
MacLeod perhaps?" Amanda shrugged. "Let's not be strangers, okay? I
promise, if you will."

"That's a promise," Amanda smiled and hugged her goodbye. When she
picked up her suitcase and make tracks to the door, Elizabeth caught up to
her and asked, "You're leaving right now? Aren't you going to wait and say
goodbye to Methos?"

"Nah, I'll see him around. Tell him bye for me." She leaned down and
kissed Claire's head. "You be sweet, little girl. I'll see you around, too."

As Amanda drove off, Elizabeth had a nagging feeling she might not see
her again. Being worried about a dream was silly, but Methos was too
jarred by it. Elizabeth didn't like the feeling at all. She didn't want her
world to end, now that she suddenly had everything she could ever hope
for. A man of her dreams, a child to raise, good friends. What right turn
did she make to warrant all that happiness? 

~~~~~

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7, 2002
EARLY MORNING

Methos dreamt the dream that he'd almost put out of his mind. During the
dream, he knew he was watching the flickering pictures go through his
brain, wanted to wake up, stop it. There wasn't a thing he could do to save
himself from again seeing Elizabeth's insides puffed up. When he awoke,
the sweat was pouring off him. Elizabeth was on her side, sleeping, facing
him. He turned on his side and laid facing her, looked at her, at everything
about her, as if he needed to remember her because she was going to be
taken from him. 

That thought chilled him. His finger traced the scar on her neck. Then
traced from her collarbone to her shoulder. He lightly squeezed her arm to
feel the muscle tone. She didn't wake up. She hadn't lost any more weight
after she stopped working out and practicing after Claire came into their
lives. He'd have to get on her about it in the morning. As he watched her,
he tried to dissect the dream. He couldn't get past Pyrius taking another of
his wives from him. He knew it was going to happen. Just had no idea
how, where or why.

Then another thought came to him. Did he propose and marry Elizabeth
because it was in his dream and he was subconsciously making it come
true? The subconscious was a devastating thing. For five millennia, he
hadn't ever given a thought to being close to a female immortal, and there
he was married to one? He wouldn't have normally done that, would he?
He played right into Pyrius' hands. Pyrius would take another of his wives.
Was he appeasing his dream, making it all fit to have married her?

Off in the distance, he heard a baby cry. He wondered if he was truly
awake, or still dreaming. It was only when Elizabeth awoke to Claire's call
for help and pulled herself out of bed that he realized that he had made two
things from his dream come true. The wife, the baby, what else needed to
be accomplished before her head was taken? Was there a way to stop it?

Methos froze. If he did find a way to stop the inevitable, would he want to
stick around with her and the child? After the vivid dream, and the sounds
of Elizabeth singing to Claire, he wasn't sure. Then he was pissed, Pyrius
was dead as a doornail and he was still controlling Methos, just like he had
during those three days in Greece.

~~~~~

LATER

It was a wickedly hot day. Elizabeth talked to Amy as she held Claire in
the house with the air conditioning cranked up. She just couldn't let that
girl out of her sight, unless it was to force her on Methos. She told Amy,
"David wasn't too fond of the idea of being a father. He's kind of distant to
her, but he'll hopefully come around. He hasn't said we should give her up,
so that's a good sign."

"I'm sure he will," Amy assured her. "Kevin was like that with Joey, too. I
think maybe it's a male thing to let the mother and baby bond first."

"I hope so. How is Joey?"

"Fabulous, and into everything."

Elizabeth smiled, wondered what she had to look forward to with Claire,
"I'd love for you and the family to visit us again. Met Claire."

Amy paused. "I'd absolutely love to, it's beautiful there and I've missed
you. But..."

"What?"

Amy didn't want to admit that she and Kevin couldn't afford another
transcontinental trip again so soon, so she said, "Kevin's really busy with
work and I've got Joey in a preschool now."

"He's only a year old."

When Amy explained that it was almost too late for him to get into a great
school, Elizabeth was really overwhelmed with how to raise a child in
today's world. After Amy ended the conversation and they hung up,
promising to call again soon, Claire flung her head back and Elizabeth
braced it. Danced with her to a music station, tried to do the flamenco for
her without juggling her around too much. She saw Methos ride past the
courtyard on Black. They went to the sliding windows and watched
Methos get off his horse and take the saddle off, then bring him into the
stables. 

Elizabeth opened the door, but a blast of hot air hit them both. So, she shut
the door and sat down at the kitchen table with Claire and bounced her
gently, making funny faces at her. A little gurgle escaped her lips, with
bubbles. Elizabeth kept doing it. When Methos came in, Claire gurgled
louder, longer. "That's a laugh!"  

"That was a pretty funny face," Methos commented, taking a chair at the
head of the table.

"She's getting more expressions all the time. I know just by looking at her
if she's hungry, or her diaper's full, or she just wants to be held."

Claire raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth. Methos asked, "What's
that look?"

"That's the 'I want Daddy' look." She held Claire up to him. 

He sat back, "Nah, you do it."

"Do what? She's already eaten. She's clean. She just wants you."

He took Claire and held her vertically on his chest. Elizabeth picked up the
bottle and spit rag from the table, "You took a long ride. You were gone
for hours."

"I stopped over at Antonio's. Started talking with the guys. What have you
been doing today?"

She was going to say, raising their daughter, and he could have told her
where he was going and she would have like to have gone over too, but
didn't. "I talked to Amy."

"How are they?"

"Good. I also talked to Duncan this morning."

"Why didn't you wait until I got back to call?"

"He called us. He found out we got Claire and called to congratulate us."

"How did he find out?" He said it a little too forcefully as he didn't like her
sharing all their secrets.

"Amanda. Care to tell me why he found out from Amanda? I thought you
would have told him. You've called him since we got her."

"I just haven't."

"Why not? Have you changed your mind already?"

"I like that it's between us."

Elizabeth didn't know how to take that. "Well, Amanda just told him
yesterday. She finally went to see him. Duncan was a little ticked to find
out about Claire second hand, as any normal person would be, he didn't understand."

"Did you actually just put me down?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "Take it as you want." Methos was going to give
Claire back to her, but she wouldn't take her. "I've had her all day, it's your
turn. You were at Antonio's all afternoon?"

When he'd settled himself on the chair with Claire on his chest, he said,
"No, just an hour or so. I went for a long ride to think."

"What did you come up with?" She slowly asked, almost expecting him to
say they should either give Claire away, or he was having second thoughts
on their marriage. He'd been awfully distant lately. 

"I think we should leave here."

"Why?"

"I had the dream again last night," he looked down at Claire. "Verbatim,
just like the first time. There was a child's cry in my dream, here she is. I
didn't have a clue as to what that could possibly mean before. Pyrius told
me he took another one of my wives, we're married. There was a passport
from Paris, Amanda found Claire in Paris. It's all coming true. You lost
your head here."

"I'm not past tense. I still have my head, Methos."

"We have to leave."

"Okay," she was chilled. "Where?"

"I don't know for sure."

"New York?" she asked hopefully, but quickly dismissed it. "No."

"Why not?"

"I love New York, but I don't know if it's the best place to raise our
daughter. It's too busy. Too many people. Claire would have to start school
in a couple of months."

Methos looked at her, "Huh?"

"How about Seacouver?"

The crease on Methos' forehead appeared again as he declared, "Are you
insane? Pyrius took your head. Pyrius took me in Seacouver."

"Well, it, it, Methos... Pyrius is dead. You had a dream. I have my head.
It's symbolism. Maybe Pyrius in your dream was telling you that
Seacouver is safe for me. I mean... Pyrius is not going to take my head! So
whatever it is, it could happen anywhere. And Warren and Brynn are
getting married in ten days."

"You just love a good wedding."

"Yeah, I do."

"You can see the pictures. We're getting out of here."

She was dejected, and watched him uncomfortable holding Claire, "If you
want to leave, you can take off for a while, that's okay. Just come back."

"Haven't you been listening to a single word I've said? You have to leave.
It's not safe for you here. We're leaving. Tomorrow at the latest." Methos
leaned in and kissed her, "You will not be in high weeds, ever."

"Huh?"

"My dream."

"Ah."

At least he wasn't going to take off on her, and for the first time since
getting Claire, he was actually focusing his attention on her. Elizabeth
nodded, "I think Seacouver would be good. It's a medium sized city, not so
hot as here in the summer. I found out they have good schools while I was
trying to get hired, you're comfortable there, they speak English." Methos
stared at her neck as Claire slept peacefully on his lap, as if he hadn't heard
a word she said. Elizabeth stood, "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're picturing what my body will look like without my head
attached." 

When she walked away, Methos said something that gave her already
chilled body the shutters. He said, "I've already seen it."

~~~~~

THURSDAY AUGUST 8, 2002
CASA SEGURA

Elizabeth and Claire had been gone for too long! Methos was fretting.
With all the stuff Amanda brought for the baby, he wondered what in the
world Elizabeth could possibly need. Where were they!? He looked at his
watch. It was over five hours since she left for a quick trip to the store as
he was packing things up. When he saw the Jeep make it's way up the
gravel drive, he marched out of the house, relieved they were back but
ticked she hadn't let him in on how long they'd be gone.

He opened the driver's door before the Jeep stopped. "What did I tell you?
Were you listening? Damn it! You never listen to me!"

Elizabeth parked the car and shut off the motor. Got out to tell him, "I
went shopping. We're leaving. There were things I needed."

"You could have called."

"I did. You were on the phone." She tried to move past him, but he was
firmly planted, trapping her. "You still don't understand the concept of call
waiting, do you? It's very easy. You push the button and talk. You push the
button again and you continue your first conversation. Who were you
talking to?"

"Antonio. He's going to watch the house and take care of Black for me.
And I made arrangements with the bank..." He was ready to tick off all that
he had done, but violently shook his head. "That's not the point."

She backed him up so she could shut the front door and open the back.
Reached into the back seat and grabbed Claire. He took the baby from her
and planted a kiss on her head. Then asked, "What did you buy?"

"A suitcase. A new car seat for Claire that would fit in an airline seat.
Other stuff."

She lifted some bags from the back of the Jeep and turned toward the
house. Methos said, "Hey. Where are you going?" He grabbed her in a
hug, along with Claire and the bags. "Don't take off like that."

"I didn't take off. Learn call waiting."

Suddenly, Claire grabbed a ringlet of her hair and pulled, making
Elizabeth wince. Methos said, "Funny. I like doing that. It must run in the
family." She got free and was on her way to the house again. He said, "Hey."

"What? This is heavy."

"Don't keep me in the dark again."

When she turned around, Claire grabbed her hair again. Methos and Claire
followed close behind her into the house. Inside, Elizabeth promised, "I
won't. But soon you'll start complaining that I'm telling you where I am
every minute of the day." 

"Never." 

Claire leaned toward her from Methos' arms, "She wants you. I'm nothing
to her when you're around."

Elizabeth made funny faces to her three month old and took her, kissed her
on the lips. Claire grabbed at her cheeks. Methos said, "Let me in on that."
When he kissed Elizabeth, Claire's slobbery mouth hit his cheek. She
wanted in on it, too. Methos pulled back and wiped his cheek. "She needs
kissing lessons."

"Nah, they're sweet."

"And wet."

"I also stopped in to tell Brynn and Warren we couldn't be at their wedding."

Methos didn't like that immortals knew what he was doing, and cringed
that she might have told them why they were leaving. His dreams were
important to him, but he certainly didn't need them advertised. "What did
you tell them?"

"That we need a change of scenery, that Antonio is comfortable in his
training. Brynn was a little miffed that we wouldn't be at her wedding, but
she understood."

Methos only finished packing up things and ignored her. She had to prod
him, "Okay, time to fess up, who is she?"

"Who?"

"Brynn."

"Warren's fiance‚."

"Who was she?"

"Someone from the past."

"Methos!" Elizabeth's outburst jarred Claire.

"She's nothing to me," Methos said. "She only was only my life for about...
ten minutes..."

"Then why can't you tell me? When was the ten minutes?"

He loved to see her jealous, but he divulged the truth, "Do you remember
when the "Priata" was stolen from the Milan Museum while it was on loan
in the 60s?"

"No."

"What?!"

"What's the Priata?"

"I forget how young you are," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Are you going to explain it to me?"

"The Priata." He repeated, thinking it would explain it all. It didn't. "It's a
painting. Owned by me. It depicts the Medici family seizing control of
Florence. It was painted by a friend of mine. His name was Leonardo Da
Vinci, perhaps you've heard of him."

"Funny," she smirked, then realized what he said. He was friends with
Leonardo DaVinci!?

"He gifted it to me about three months before he died. It was very precious
to me."

"And it was stolen and somehow ended up in a museum and you stole it back."

"Yes."

"What does have to do with Brynn?"

~~~~~

FLASHBACK
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 1968

In the dead of night, the National Gallery was an even more imposing
building. The security lighting contorted the architecture of the walls and
doorways, along with the Aboriginal sculpture, and make an eerie glow.
Methos was in the midst of making his way from the skylight to the
Renaissance Room where his painting was displayed, when he felt the
presence of an immortal. He had to be careful not to cross the security
laser beams across the floor, making a grid pattern of squares filling the
entire room. The tickling sensation going up and down his spine as an
immortal hovered in the next room almost made him lose his concentration.

He stepped lightly over the laser grid just above the floor and peeked into
the next room, seeing a blonde woman outfitted in black leather staring
back at him, pressed against the wall across from the door. "I'm not here
for you," she breathlessly told him.

"That's good," he whispered back. 

"You do your thing, I'll do mine?" she hopefully asked in a thick
Australian accent.

"What's your thing?"

She relaxed somewhat and kept an eye out for security guards. "I need to
pick up a rock. What's your thing?"

"A painting in the other room."

"Okay. Go ahead," she told him, but didn't move.

"You first."

"Where's the Jewel Room? From my map, I thought this was it," she
confided, still cautious of him.

He smiled, shook his head. She broke in but didn't know where she was
going? "Tell you what," he said. "That painting is a little higher than I
expected. Help me out in here and I'll direct you to the Jewel Room."

"That sounds fair." Brynn cautiously walked across the cross hairs to
Methos at the doorway. When she turned the corner and flashed her light
on the Priata, she chuckled. "That's what you're here for?"

He only nodded, took out a screwdriver from his leather bag. Brynn said,
just a little too loudly, "You're taking the Priata?"

"Shhhhh," he quietly hissed at her. Amateurs! "Sound echoes can be
picked up by that thing," he pointed to a vibration monitor on the wall and
put the screwdriver in her hand. "I don't want to destroy my painting, so
can you get on my back and use this to undo the screws at the top?"

She focused her flashlight on the screws along the back edge of the frame
against the wall. "There'll be a siren or something if you take it down."

"Not anymore," Methos smiled. "I've been watching this place for months.
I already deactivated it." He stooped over and put his hands together in
front of him for her to use as a step to get on his back. "I hope you're graceful."

She lifted her leg to reveal that she was wearing leather boots with a very
high, very sharp heel. "Wonderful," he seethed. "I'll heal. Just hurry up."

Brynn stepped onto his hands and carefully planted her feet on his back,
catching the wall so she wouldn't crash to the ground. When she steadied
herself, she worked fast loosening the two screws on the top and the two
on the upper sides of the frame that he couldn't reach from the floor.
Methos was in unbearable pain with her heels digging into his back, but he
didn't say a word, only made sure his wobbling wouldn't disturb the laser
beam grid. During the process, he was able to stay within the square, not
touch the lights, and prodded her to hurry up.

"Okay," she said, then crouched down on his back with her hand on the
wall to steady herself, then looked at the ground to step within his square.
It was a tight fit for the both on them as she and Methos were pressed
together, until he stepped over a beam onto another square. "Thank you,"
he said, carefully pulling the painting and frame from the wooden slats
holding it on the display. 

Brynn saw the dripping blood on his back as he stretched and said, "Jeez,
sorry. I didn't know they went in that far."

When she looked at him again, he already had the painting out of the
frame and was rolling it up to fit into a steel cylinder he brought with him
for the purpose of safe travel. He carefully took his bag, slipped the
cylinder under his arm and carried the frame to the doorway. Brynn loudly
whispered, "Where's the Jewel Room?"

"How should I know?" was his reply.

She was ready to spit tacks, wished she's spiked him deeper in the back,
but was quieted by him after he reached the hallway, and was no longer in
the myriad of beams. He set the frame against the wall and motioned for
her to follow him.

She grabbed her bag and carefully walked out of the Renaissance Room,
then quickly, quietly followed him down the hall. "What rock do you need?"

"The Jewel of the Ivory Coast," she whispered, keeping close to him as he
seemed to know more about where security cameras were than she did. "It
belongs to the people of the Ivory Coast, not Melbourne. The Ambassador
himself is paying for..."

"What do I care? Be quiet," he told her. He waited for the camera to make
it's movement to the other side of the hallway and took off across it to
another hall and plastered himself against the wall. Brynn followed, did
exactly what he did. He pointed to the second room off the left side of the
hall and said, "It's probably in there."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I was completely turned around. This place looks
different at night. I can handle it from here. Thanks."

She bent down to get her things from her bag, and before she knew it,
Methos was gone.

~~~~~

CASA SEGURA

Methos finished up the tale by saying, "I never saw her again, until Warren
brought her from Australia."

Elizabeth stamped her foot, "You're lying."

"I am not!"

"Now, why couldn't you have just told me that earlier and ended the suspense?"

"What's the fun in that," he hiked his shoulder, teasing her. "Were we
supposed to introduce ourselves by saying, 'Hey, I haven't seen you since
we both broke into the National Gallery?" He looked at Elizabeth, with a
pleased smile on his face, liking that she was seething with jealousy.
"Although in my case, it was recovering my own possession, which is
sitting safe and sound in my storage locker in Cincinnati."

"You don't trust me?" She stopped him before he could deny it. "No. I
know you trust me. You just wanted to toy with me. You wanted to see me
jealous."

"Yeah," he agreed. "And you played your part very well."

Elizabeth grumbled as Claire cried out for food. "Feed your daughter. I'm
going to finish packing."

CONTINUED in Chapter Twenty - A Long Walk Through High Weeds

    Source: geocities.com/enyajo/elizabeth

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