It gets even worse. Claire hesitates, lips pressing together for a moment. She hasn't told many people this, but Jon's earned it, of all people.
"Well. I was actually married before I married Jamie. He wasn't." A virgin on their wedding night, he really had no idea what a marriage was. Which meant a rocky start, but in the end, Claire's glad he was clueless. It meant he did what felt right and not what was expected. "I thought I'd never see my first husband again, and there were circumstances that required I marry into Jamie's family, so..."
That's not the whole truth. She could have returned to Frank, her husband, but she choose Jamie. A thing she's never regretted, though she does regret the pain she caused Frank, then, and for the rest of his life. She's not always been a kind woman. Claire takes a breath and glances up at the sky.
"But war came, and Jamie had to send me away, because--that's when we found out I was pregnant with Brianna. I ended up with my first husband again, and... well. I thought Jamie was dead, and he thought I must be, too." Or just gone, out of reach. "For twenty years, we had no idea it was possible to find one another again, so he remarried, and I raised his daughter with Frank. We carried on."
Always tragic, she felt, that Jamie never got to see either of his daughters with her in the flesh. A thing that could change here but she doesn't dare hope.
"After my first husband died, I found out Jamie was still alive, and so I found him." And all the shocks that come along with that. "My being alive made his marriage invalid, but he still looked after them. He's a good man like that."
And, she probably shouldn't say this, but she's already told Jon enough that should have probably be kept to herself. What's one more?
"He had a bastard, too. The boy didn't know Jamie was his father, but Jamie loved him very much, and inquired after him even after years apart. I'm sure he's up in stasis, somewhere." Claire hasn't looked. Maybe she will one day. Just not yet.
She gives Jon a warm smile. "I don't think boys often grow up dreaming about being husbands and fathers. I assume it's more about slaying monsters and saving damsels in distress, no?" That must be universal.
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"Well. I was actually married before I married Jamie. He wasn't." A virgin on their wedding night, he really had no idea what a marriage was. Which meant a rocky start, but in the end, Claire's glad he was clueless. It meant he did what felt right and not what was expected. "I thought I'd never see my first husband again, and there were circumstances that required I marry into Jamie's family, so..."
That's not the whole truth. She could have returned to Frank, her husband, but she choose Jamie. A thing she's never regretted, though she does regret the pain she caused Frank, then, and for the rest of his life. She's not always been a kind woman. Claire takes a breath and glances up at the sky.
"But war came, and Jamie had to send me away, because--that's when we found out I was pregnant with Brianna. I ended up with my first husband again, and... well. I thought Jamie was dead, and he thought I must be, too." Or just gone, out of reach. "For twenty years, we had no idea it was possible to find one another again, so he remarried, and I raised his daughter with Frank. We carried on."
Always tragic, she felt, that Jamie never got to see either of his daughters with her in the flesh. A thing that could change here but she doesn't dare hope.
"After my first husband died, I found out Jamie was still alive, and so I found him." And all the shocks that come along with that. "My being alive made his marriage invalid, but he still looked after them. He's a good man like that."
And, she probably shouldn't say this, but she's already told Jon enough that should have probably be kept to herself. What's one more?
"He had a bastard, too. The boy didn't know Jamie was his father, but Jamie loved him very much, and inquired after him even after years apart. I'm sure he's up in stasis, somewhere." Claire hasn't looked. Maybe she will one day. Just not yet.
She gives Jon a warm smile. "I don't think boys often grow up dreaming about being husbands and fathers. I assume it's more about slaying monsters and saving damsels in distress, no?" That must be universal.