Chapter Text
It was a dark stormy December night in Glasgow, the wind was blowing hard and heavy rain had been falling for the whole day. Frank Randall was having some coffee at the maternity ward's waiting room when people ran with a hospital bed. 'I want to go with my wife.' The red-haired man said to one of the nurses.
'She's in good hands now, Mr. Fraser.' The nurse said. 'But ye'll have to wait for news.'
'I just canna stay here. 'Tis my wife and my bairn.'
'I'm sorry, Mr. Fraser, but that is no' allowed.'
The man sat in the waiting room just on the opposite side where Frank calmly sipped his coffee, closing his eyes and whispering something in what looked like a different language, a thunder was seen through the window, and, as the thunder came, all the lights in the hospital went out. People began scrambling around looking for light sources and generators, they could still be working. Some time passed and Joe, one of the doctors and a friend of his wife, came to pick up Frank, announcing the birth of his new daughter. Frank smiled lightly and left with Joe, nodding his head to the man at the other side of the room.
Julia Randall was slightly premature and had to spend some days in the NICU, Claire went everyday to check on her daughter. There she heard about the other baby girl in the room, who sadly, had lost her mother during the birth. One day, she saw the father of the little girl and went to talk with him. 'I've heard what happened.' Claire said. 'My condolences.'
'Thank ye, Mistress.' The man said. 'Ye're verra nice.' She smiled and left the man to go back to her daughter's incubator.
Two weeks later, both families left the hospital with their babies. Frank Randall drove his family out of the place, while an older man with a funny beard came to pick the other man and his daughter. 'Let's go Jamie, lad. Jenny has filled up yer fridge and she'll be callin' to check every now and then.' Claire heard the older man say, as she got in her car. She focused on her baby and little by little, the memory of the man she met in the NICU flickered out...
Six Years Later
Frank Randall worked quickly and focused. He wanted to empty his stuff out of his house before his soon-to-be-ex-wife was out. He finally had proof of what he had always suspected, that his daughter wasn't really his. Each time she looked at the girl, with her bright red hair and blue eyes, he felt inside him that they were not of the same blood, no matter how much Claire talked about her Irish ancestry and playful genes. He had finally gathered the bravery to test himself and the girl and the results were clear as day- she wasn't his daughter. And so he was leaving and starting the divorce procedures. He received a message from the moving company he had hired and took his stuff down, for the employees to load it on the van, and then waited for an Uber to come and pick him up.
Claire came home with Julia, calling Frank's name without an answer. She told Julia to go back to her room and went to look for her husband throughout the house, finally finding an envelope in his now empty office.
I finally have proof of how much of a whore you are.
I'm not participating in take care of your bastard anymore.
Frank.
Claire was absolutely confused by his note and looked at the other papers on the envelope- divorce papers and a negative paternity test with Frank and Julia's names on it. Claire didn't know what was happening, she had always been faithful to Frank and she knew he was Julia's father. She tried to call him, but she had been blocked from his phone. She called friends and family, but no one knew or wanted to help her. Next day she took Julia to the hospital, to make a new test on her, she could prove Frank was her father and the test he had taken was wrong. 'Claire, I think we need to talk privately.' Her friend Joe said, Claire left Julia with one of the nurses and went with Joe. 'Claire, you're my friend and I wanted to be really sure of the result, so I passed the machine three times.'
'Joe, can you short it up?' Claire asked to Joe.
'The results are clear.' Joe said. 'Frank is not Julia's father.'
'Don't be ridiculous, you've known me for almost a decade.' Claire shouted. 'You know I would never cheat on my husband.'
'I know Claire, and that's the thing...' Joe took a deep breath. 'The results say that you're not Julia's mother either.'
'What in the name of God...?' Claire snatched the results from Joe and her heart sank when she read them. 'Joe, Julia is my daughter, I gave birth to her. You were there.'
'I know, Claire.' Joe said. 'You gave birth to a baby, I'm just not completely sure it was Julia.' Claire was on the verge of tears and sunk into Joe's office couch. 'Do you remember the day Julia was born? The storm and the black-out.'
'I do remember the day my daughter was born, Joe.'
'I think something happened and you went home with the wrong baby.' Joe went back to his desk. 'I've checked the records. Only one other girl was born during the black-out, Sarah...Sarah Fraser. She might be...you know...your biological daughter.' Suddenly Claire had flashbacks of the man she talked to and saw around the NICU while Julia was there. His wild red hair and blue eyes, almost identical to Julia's. She didn't want to believe Joe and the test results. Her daughter was her daughter, she was sure of it. 'The dad is one James Fraser, the records say. I think we should find him and test him and his daughter.'
Claire left Joe's office, hugging tight Julia as they walked out. 'Mama, when is Daddy coming back?' Julia asked that night at bed time.
'He'll be back soon.' Claire kissed Julia's temple. 'He just needs to do some more work abroad.' Claire left the room and went back to hers, a glass of wine to temper her mood. She opened social media and tried to find James Fraser, she had to go through a few individuals with that name, until she found the man she was looking for. He was doing fine, working on his family's distillery. He was raising her daughter alone, with the help of his godfather and sister. Claire felt tears in her eyes when she saw Sarah. She could see her mother's smile on her, as she could so much of Julia in Jamie. She drank the rest of her wine in one go and began writing a message to James Fraser, having to start it several times, as she was unable to think on a good way to explain the whole situation...