Chapter Text
First thing every new midwife at the St. Mary's maternity ward was told on their first day it was how much mothering they would receive from the head midwife Ellen MacKenzie Fraser. She was a veteran with over thirty years of experience and she loved considering all the people under her wing, her other family, as she liked to call them. 'Good Lord, Claire.' She found one of her team, crying badly in the staff room. She went and hugged her. 'Is it anythin' wrong with yer bairn?' Claire could barely talk, so she just gave Ellen her phone, with a message from Claire's husband telling her he had met someone else and was leaving her and their unborn child. 'That's awful, Claire.' Ellen hugged her even tighter.
'What am I going to do now?' Claire said, caressing her baby bump.
'Ye'll be OK Claire.' Ellen said. 'Ye and yer bairn. Ye're a verra good, strong woman. Ye need that strength now, for ye and yer bairn.'
Ellen was there for Claire three months later too, on the birth of her baby, Julia, taking care of them as Julia spent a couple of days in the NICU. 'You're doing so much Ellen.' Claire said to her, as they both were with Baby Julia. 'I'm not sure how I'm going to pay you for all this.'
'Oh, Claire.' Ellen said. 'Dinna fash for that. There's no payment needed.'
'I do feel bad I am taking you away from your family time.'
'My bairns are adults and my husband can take of himself for a few hours.' Claire laughed and Ellen hugged her.
Christmas came and the Fraser children began arriving at their parents house, where Ellen was in the middle of the preparations for a sizable banquet. 'Mam, there's one more set of cutlery we need. Ye, me, Da, Murtagh, Jenny, Ian, Willie, Laura and Rabbie.'
'Dinna ye ken?' Brian Fraser said. 'Yer mam adopted another bairn without tellin' anyone else.'
Ellen laughed. ''Tis fort Claire, one of the lasses in my team.' Ellen explained. 'She was abandoned by her husband while she was pregnant.'
'That's horrible.' Jamie said'
''Tis her daughter's first Christmas and she doesna have other family, so I thought of inviting her, so she could have someone to spend the holidays with.'
'That's a good thin' to do Mama.' Jamie said.
Claire arrived with Julia some time later. Jamie's heart stopped for a second as he saw the beautiful woman in front of him. 'And this is Jamie.' Ellen introduced Jamie to Claire, noticing her son's nervous smile.
'Pleased to meet you, Jamie.' Claire smiled too.
'Pleased to meet ye too, Claire.'
Claire enjoyed her time with the Frasers, making friends with Jenny, who had a son just a couple months older than Julia. She laughed at Ellen bouncing Julia around and she liked Jamie, in a way she couldn't describe yet.