The Barn Dance
by Donna and Toni


After her visit at the clinic, Charity met up with Sam outside the livery. He looked at her hopefully, and when she gave him a thumbs up, he was hard pressed not to give a loud cry of delight at the news; but that would have spooked the young horse he was holding. Walking up to him, Charity gave him a happy hug. "Sam, don't tell anyone yet. I think the barn dance we are having for Ceara's 18th birthday would be a good time to announce it, don't you?" 

Sam agreed that it would, and after settling the young horse into it's new home in the Edan stables, the two of them went to make arrangements for the party. The news of the addition to their family
was going to be a surprise for the little redhead living with them, that was for sure! One of the first things they did was to dispatch the Pony Express riders with the invitations, so that everyone would
know about it, and would have time to get there. The stage was going to go to Camelot and Esperanza just before the party, so anyone who wanted to could ride it.

A special hand written invitation had been made for one particular person, and with a big grin on his face, the rider took off to the Fort to deliver it.

The big Irish soldier that it was meant for grinned delightedly as he read it, and immediately asked his commanding officer if it was all right that he have time off to attend. Since there wasn't too much going on at the time, permission was given, and Harper wrote a reply to be taken back to the young guest of honor; after the rider had left, he immediately started thinking of what he could possibly get Ceara for her birthday.

When the young woman read the reply, she turned to Charity happily and said, "He can come! Colonel O'Neil said that Pat can come to my party!" As far as she was concerned, his presence alone would be enough of a gift for her; she hoped he didn't go too crazy trying to think of the perfect gift.

All the neighbors were invited of course, including the Texan that had spent a couple of days with them before claiming a *spread* of his own. More and more of the empty farmsteads were becoming occupied, which was a good thing.

So, on the 10th of July, the barn had been swept clean, and a great deal of food had been prepared with the help of Katherine Dixon, who was now almost 6 months pregnant. Kat was happy to have something like that to help with. She and Daniel Hagman were going to provide some of the music to dance to. As the appointed hour neared, people started to show up, including the Mayor of Edan himself! Mercy and Joy Campbell, escorted by Bogy, came early to help get things set up, and
the three MacDonald sisters were just a few minutes behind them, escorted by Father Ralph and Father Alec.

Even Philip and Fiona came; the young Irish priest had arrived dressed in civvies, and immediately volunteered himself to help as well. That seemed to be the case with most of the male guests! 

Things really got interesting though when the contingent from Camelot arrived! Most of them were wearing kilts! Rob Roy MacGregor led the way. He was hoping to see Mercy Campbell again. Along with him was a grinning Ramirez, the very young Connor and Duncan MacLeod, Warren Cochrane, William Wallace and a couple of the Knights. 

When Rob Roy spied Mercy helping with the food tables, he immediately headed over her way. She was trying to put a particularly large platter in just the right spot on the table, and trying not to say
anything unladylike with the effort of doing so, as she leaned over at an awkward angle, when suddenly a pair of large hands easily took the heavy plate from her and set it down where he could see she'd been trying to place it. 

The task done, she turned to the tall Scot and smiled "Well, thank you, Rob! That's very kind of ya." He looked even better than she remembered from the last party they'd shared, the one where they'd met.

"I wa' hopin' ye wa' be here," he said with a happy grin. He had so much to tell her. He and the other Scots had already gotten a good start to a goodly farming community just outside of the gates of Camelot. Maybe he was wishful thinking, but maybe someday he could talk her into being there with him at his side!

As Mercy and Rob Roy chatted, catching up with what had been going on, an interesting confrontation was going on on the other side of the barn. Three different Connor MacLeods were circling each other, nostrils flared like stallions deciding whether or not they wanted to
challenge each other. Not that the Highland Duncan had got off any easier. He was standing face to face with not only the modern version of himself, but one dressed in a Japanese kimono!

William Bourke had arrived just as the "face offs" had formed, and he went to Sam Grey, who he knew to be the host of the gathering, and told him, "Excuse me, Mr. Grey, but I just saw what looked like a sort of uneasy meeting between, I think, Captain MacLeod and two of his lookalikes; likewise for that younger cousin of his. You might want to go and ah, ask them to keep the peace on your property before his lady, as well as everyone else's, finds out. I don't think she's in fit condition to be gettin' upset, if you know what I mean." His gaze rested casually on the very pregnant young looking woman.

It was too late for that. Katherine waded into the fray, eyes flashing, with Carol right behind her. She grabbed her Connor while Carol firmly steered the one she affectionately called *Wally* away
from the others. Ramirez also stepped in and took the younger version aside to have a talk with him. Everyone around couldn't help but laugh when the loud, "Why dinna ye tell me there wa' three of me, you pompous piece of haggis!" was heard. After a moment, in an uncanny unison, all three Connors chuckled that evil sound laugh of theirs.

Carol looked at Wally and swatted his arm, grinning. "Y'know it's spooky enough without you guys doing that. See why I gave you a different name, at least?" 

Sarah Jo had managed to steer the modern Duncan away from the bristling younger version of himself. Cochrane and Wallace both grabbed the sputtering Highland Duncan by the elbows and took him aside to knock a little verbal sense into him, while a grinning John Blackthorne took Samurai Duncan over to get a drink of ale. 

With *The Great MacLeod War* over before it even got good and started, the guests went back to other diversions. Such as watching the guest of honor's face light up when a certain Irishman walked into the barn.

Patrick Harper greeted his own lookalikes - no rivalry here! And then strode over to where his hostess and Ceara stood watching him. He kissed Charity's hand gallantly, and smiled, "Evenin', Miss Charity. You're lookin' quite beautiful tonight, so ya are." He then turned to the young redhead beside her and kissed her hand as well, but the look in his eyes as he greeted her was just a bit different from the one he'd given Charity; for her part, Ceara was returning it as she thanked him for his compliment on her looks as well.

She had put off dancing with anyone until he arrived. She wanted to dance with him first. After that, she had promised Sam Grey the next one. Ceara glanced over to where Sam had his hand protectively over Charity's shoulders, a happy smile on his face. Something was up between those two, but so far, neither one of them had given her even a tiny clue as to what it was. Knowing them, it must have something to do with horses!

Since the first dance being played after the soldier's arrival was an Irish jig, and she certainly knew how to do those, her heart soared with happiness as she danced confidently in and out of Pat's arms; when it ended, leaving both of them breathless, her attention was diverted for a little while more by the attention of some more of the male guests at the party, even including Finley MacNab and, with a happy grin and a courtly bow, William Bourke! She felt most at ease with the man she cared most about, and this ease carried over to her dances with his lookalikes as well, which certainly made the dancing easier. Even the shy Rob Roy MacGregor had asked her to dance; it
would seem everyone wanted to have at least one twirl around the floor
with the birthday girl!

When she had a turn though with one of the priests, Father Philip, she couldn't help teasing him a little about the way he was obviously monopolizing the lovely Fiona's time on the dancefloor. He just grinned and spun her around. It was no secret now that he and Fiona were *walking out together* as it was called. In fact, all the priests were dancing at that particular moment. Nearby, Father Alec had the shy Faith MacDonald out dancing, Father Herrera and Hydra were even more obvious of a couple than Fiona and Philip, and Father Ralph was dancing with Hope, who although dressed nice as usual, seemed to be a little more subdued than she had been at the previous parties.

In fact, it seemed to be the priests that were dancing with Hope MacDonald the most, and she seemed almost grateful for it; Ceara thought that strange, given her normal outgoing "life of the party" self. She still wondered about that fading bruise on the side of the lovely girl's face, (she obviously hadn't heard what had happened) and it was when Pat had told her, too softly for anyone else to hear, that her eyes widened and she went to the woman immediately, as she sat near the punchbowl. She touched her hand and said softly "Hope, I'm so sorry about what happened! Is there anything I can do to help?" Castration of the man responsible flitted through her modern-day mind, but he'd vanished the night of her attack and hadn't been seen in Edan since.

Hope thanked her kindly, but told her that she was fine. "I've decided it's time for me to settle down and do something other than party," she said to Ceara. "The question is what? I'm almost hopeless with the needle and despite the lies Father Ralph tells me, I'm a horrible cook. Besides, Faith and Joy do such wonderful work. Grace is always helping out somewhere, and Mercy is working at the Mercantile. If we had children around, I could possible teach school. My father made sure we were all very well educated."

The young birthday girl thought for a moment, then said, "Well, it'll be awhile before the babies that are currently due will be old enough to start school, but....what about writing? If you were educated enough to teach, you must have certainly been educated well enough to write! Or draw, or paint? Something in an artistic field maybe." She looked hopefully at her friend.

Hope looked throughtful. "It would give me something to do. I do like to paint. I've also been helping over at the church. I fear I'm mostly in the way, but the good Fathers are kind to me, and try to find something for me to do."

As they were talking, Charity and Sam walked over to Ceara. "Okie dokie, birthday girl. Time for cake and presents! Front and center!" She motioned to a table where a beautiful cake with 18 small candles blazing merrily on it. Nearby was another table filled with gifts.

As she walked happily over to the two tables, a certain pair of green eyes watched with just a little bit of anxiety. He was sure there were any number of gifts there better than his simple handmade one, ones she'd like a lot better. But he'd done his best; now all he could do was wait and see, and tell his heart to stay calm no matter what her reaction.

The first one she opened was from Sam. It was a new leather halter for her horse, with its name engraved on a brass plate on the cheek piece. Charity's was a new pair of riding britches, and a pair of paddock boots she had found at the Mercantile. She then opened a very small package and found a little wooden carving of a horse that Gideon had made for her. Next was one from Faith and Joy. They had made her an absolutely beautiful off white gown trimmed with emerald green ribbons and homemade lace. "We thought you might be needing a fancy dress sometime in the near future," they said, casting glances at Patrick Harper and giggling.

Ceara blushed and Pat smiled, only partially distracted from the worry he was trying so hard not to show, as the pile grew smaller. There were other lovely gifts from the other women of the Bride Ship, such as embroidered hankies, and scarves, feminine things that all women seemed to enjoy, and she thanked every one of them for them. Rob Roy, William, and Finley had all made lovely carvings for her as well, one with an intricate Celtic knotwork, one with a sea design, and one with an Irish blessing on it even though he was a Scot; she especially thanked Finley for that one, making him blush with a kiss on the cheek. Methos' gift was beautiful too; he'd found a pair of gloves, in
just the right size, made of the softest, finest leather that would serve her well as riding gloves, and he enjoyed his own kiss and thank you from the guest of honor!

Finally, the only gift left (he wondered how that had happened) was Pat's; he tried not to hold his breath too much as she carefully unwrapped the paper, all eyes on it. When she uncovered it completely, she gasped, then looked at him with eyes that shone with happiness, as she smiled, "Oh, Pat....it's absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much!" Under the paper had been an intricately hand carved jewelry box; it had been lined with a soft material resembling velvet that Pat had managed to find at the mercantile, and it even had, incredibly enough, tiny hinges holding the lid to the box itself using handcut wood pins that fit into the small holes in the back of the box! Over the entire surface were Celtic designs symbolizing good luck, blessings, good health...and love. 

Ceara knew what the designs meant, as the history of her heritage had been her second favorite theme of study after the one of horses, and her eyes misted with tears as she lifted them to those of the tall man looking down at her. Keeping his voice steady, he told her softly "I love you, Ceara; I'm very proud to call you my lady, so I am." 

The mist turned into two small tears that trickled down her cheeks, as she said, in nearly a whisper, "I love you too, Pat; and I'm very proud to call you mine as well." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment longer, and then, as arms went around each other almost at the same time, he lowered his head to hers and kissed her, long and sweet, neither one caring who was watching.

After a few minutes, Charity stepped up and tapped Patrick on the shoulder, clearing her throat. "Excuse me, I hate to break this up, but Sam and I have an announcement to make." 

While Ceara blushed yet again, the tall soldier grinned, still with his lady in his arms, and told his hostess, "Then I yield the floor to you, milady; we'll just be over here in the corner, so we will. Come on, love." With a final hug, the two parted, and Pat took the birthday girl's hand in his and led her off to the side of the table. The spotlight was now Charity's, and Sam's as he joined her.

"Don't head off just yet, Ceara. You are going to want to hear this too," Charity chuckled. All eyes were on her as once more Sam put his arm around her shoulder protectively. "Folks, just one more little tidbit to add to our cause to celebrate. I just found out a couple days ago that Sam and I are going to be parents!" 

A happy noise came from the group, but the one heard above all was Ceara's; Charity had been right, she had definitely wanted to hear that! She gave a little scream, then ran straight to her "surrogate mother", and hugged her tight, telling her, "Charity, that's the best news I could possibly have hoped for! Do you know when it's due yet? Have you picked out a name?" The young redhead looked at her inquisitively, eyes bright with happiness.

"I'm about a month along, so 8 months from now. And since both mine and Sam's father was named Michael, our child will be either Michaela or Michael, depending on what pops out." 

The young woman's next target was Sam, resulting in another huge hug, and she had a mist of tears in her eyes as she looked at them both and smiled softly "Congratulations to both of you....and I want to be the first one to volunteer as a babysitter!" Suddenly, it seemed like everyone in the room had surrounded the just announced parents, and were hugging and congratulating them as well. 

As Ceara watched her love among them, telling Sam he was definitely going to take him to the Saloon for a celebratory pint in the next couple of days, an image started to come to the young horsewoman that would stay with her for a long time to come; that of a tall Irish soldier, who she knew loved kids because she'd heard him talk about them often enough, holding a small bundle of his own, making funny faces at the little person in it while an exhausted but happy brand new redheaded mother laid in bed and smiled at the sight.