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Walking down the stairs in the plaid of the clan, Alyssa held her head high. She was marrying a stranger, just as Heather and Holli had done before her. She was marrying her best friend’s son, but that best friend was younger than her, and her son appeared older. Oh, it was too much to think about.

She stopped in front of the man she had to assume was the priest, dressed unlike anyone else in the room in a white robe with a belt around his waist. Kendrick turned to her and smiled, and she wondered if she should really be marrying a man who was twice her size.

She said all the right things at the right times, but it felt like she was sludging through mud the entire time. It was all so slow and strange.

When Kendrick was told to kiss her, he held nothing back. Lifting her by her waist and kissing her passionately in front of all the people there. And it seemed as if at least half the clan was there.

After Alyssa was back on her feet, she felt people surrounding her, hugging her, and welcoming her to the clan. The hugs triggered a memory that clan was the old Gaelic word for children. Yes, this was a big happy family.

Beth hugged her tightly. “It’s nice to have another one of us around. Thank you for bringing me Candy Crush , even though it upsets my husband.”

Alyssa giggled. “I just put a ton of games on all the devices I brought. I knew someone would want to play.”

“How many devices did you bring?” Beth asked, her eyes wide.

“No idea. We had a big drawerful. Every time I saw someone give a phone away on Facebook Marketplace, I’d snatch it up. Then I’d delete everything off it and fill it with books and games. I brought my whole collection.”

Beth grinned. “I’m going to have Candy Crush for a long time!”

Alyssa nodded. “You just won’t be able to save your information and transfer it to the next phone.”

“Who cares? It gets so hard after a certain point; I would rather go back and start over.” Beth shrugged. “Seriously, though. Welcome to the family. It’s good to see my grandsons happy.”

“Do you have granddaughters?” Alyssa asked, wanting to know if there was truly any hope for her to have a girl.

“I do. Many of them. And you’ll have as good of a chance as anyone of having girls.”

“Thank you for reassuring me,” Alyssa said. “Do I hide my accent?”

Beth shook her head. “No, half the clan has an American accent at this point. Or should I say, American accent mixed with a Highland brogue.”

“Well, that certainly makes things easier for me. It’s strange to feel like I’m already part of things, even though I’m not. I guess it helps to have other people who have travelled in the same way I have here.”

Beth nodded. “You wouldn’t believe how happy I was to see Heather. And Holli. And now you. Sometimes you just need to speak with a modern woman to be understood completely.”

“I agree with that. I’m glad there’s a group of four of us now.”

“Your life will be different from ours. We’ve all held the title Lady McClain, and we’ve lived in the keep. Is it going to bother you not being married to the laird? I think that’s what the rest of us wanted.”

Alyssa smiled. “I’m not outgoing enough to be married to the laird of a clan. I’m more the supporting character, rather than a heroine.”

Beth nodded. “We all need those, don’t we?”

“Well, you can be the supporting character in my romance.”

Beth laughed. “Aren’t we always supporting characters in other people’s books?” With a hug, Beth was off, mingling with the clansmen there for the wedding and feast.

Kendrick joined her then, his arm going around Alyssa’s waist automatically. “Did you enjoy your talk with Grandmother?”

“Believe it or not, I did,” Alyssa said. “I think she and I were born in the same year.”

Kendrick frowned. “That makes no sense.”

“Your mother is a year younger than me.” Alyssa watched his face for surprise.

“This time travel thing you all do gets very confusing after a while, doesn’t it?”

“It does! I can’t figure any of it out, and when I try, my head starts hurting again.”

“I guess it’s nothing to worry your pretty little head over, is it?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kendrick took a giant step back. “My mother told me that those are fighting words to a woman from the twenty-first century, so I had to try them!”

Alyssa shook her head. “You’re taking your life into your own hands!”

He chuckled. “Just don’t kill me in my sleep…not before the wedding night at least.”

Alyssa froze. Why hadn’t she thought there would be a wedding night? Too many books with marriages of convenience probably. She needed to get her head on straight.

Heather hurried over then, smiling at Alyssa. “Another of my best friends now married to one of my sons. I do believe I live the strangest life in the entire history of strange lives.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Alyssa saw Kendrick slip out of the way, so she leaned toward Heather. “Kendrick expects a wedding night. Is that weird?”

Heather shook her head. “It’s a pretty natural thing for a man to expect.”

“But…I don’t know him!”

“You will after your wedding night.” Heather grinned at her friend.

“I guess I’ll have to figure this out then, won’t I?”

“Guess you will.”

“No advice for me before I sleep with your son?” Alyssa asked, trying to make Heather as uncomfortable as she felt.

“No, but you should ask if Beth has advice for you before you sleep with her grandson. She’s better at those things than I am. Of course, she’s been married sixty-five years or so.” Heather shrugged, a smile lingering on her lips.

“How long have you been married now?” Alyssa asked. It was confusing to say the least.

“Thirty-five years. I know it’s weird because I just saw you a year and a half ago in your time, but here, it’s been a lifetime.”

“I wish we’d grown old together,” Alyssa said, feeling sad.

“Are you calling me old?” Heather asked, putting her hands on her hips indignantly.

Holli came over and linked arms with Alyssa. “We’re both calling you old.”

“I’m the youngest out of the three of us!” Heather complained.

“Look in a mirror, old lady,” Alyssa said, finding confidence in having Holli beside her.

“We should get together in the afternoons,” Holli suggested. “Heather, Beth, and I always meet in the parlor to mend or sew or eat or…well, whatever we feel like doing.”

“I like the whatever we feel like doing part of the afternoon,” Alyssa said, smiling. She looked at Holli. “Are you taking notes on everything you see so you can write it all down later?”

Holli laughed. “I’d describe it as someone from the future, not someone from this time. How would that look?”

“No clue!” Alyssa said. “But you’d finally be able to write what you want to write.”

“Maybe when the boys are older,” Holli said.

Alyssa blinked. “You could do it now, before the first one is born.”

Holli shrugged. “Being pregnant has done two things to me. Made me very weepy and very relaxed. I have no desire to do anything but eat and sleep. And grow. I want my baby to grow.”

Heather looked at Holli and frowned. “Are you worried about the baby? Do you want me to have Gavin check on you?”

“Nah. I think I’m doing fine. I’m just not…feeling urgent about anything.”

Heather smiled. “I was not like that when I was expecting. I was worried about everything. I’d stub my toe and call Gavin to make sure the baby was okay. I’m sure he thought I was crazy.”

Beth joined them, obviously hearing the last of what Heather had said. “Oh, he thought you were absolutely insane. But when he tried to heal your head, it didn’t work. So, I told him you were just hormonal.”

All the women laughed at that. “I hope I’m not like either of you two,” Alyssa said. “I just want to be me.”

Beth shook her head. “I’ve been through seven pregnancies.

Between my seven sons, there have been thirty-two pregnancies, and now with grandchildren, I’m pretty sure it’s over one hundred.

I lost count a while back. Not one woman acted like herself during her pregnancy. They all changed in some way.”

Alyssa stared at the older woman, her jaw dropping. “That’s a lot of pregnancies.”

Beth nodded. “And my husband was the healer on call for every single one of them,” she said, shaking her head.

“What did you do before you came here?” Alyssa asked.

“Me? I was a CPA. Most boring job in the world, but it sure paid the bills. When I came back, I did it in a pair of jeans. Gavin smuggled me into the keep, afraid people would see me.” Beth grinned.

“We married, and he was immediately called out to heal. I felt like I’d always be last in his eyes.

That’s when he started having one of his brothers train the men, and it’s stayed that way. So much easier.”

“Kendrick told me that is his job,” Alyssa said. “Is it always one of the brothers doing the training?”

“Oh, yes!” Beth said. “The men only accept it because one of the brothers is doing the training and not someone who’s not closely related to the laird.”

“Wow. I had no idea clans worked that way.”

Beth shook her head. “Clans don’t work that way. Only this one.”

Alyssa nodded. “So, this is an aberration?”

“In so many ways,” Beth said. “In this clan, the retired lairds are always helping the new laird find his way. Bryson has only been laird for three months. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather are all still alive, living in this very village. Each one has invaluable advice for Bryson, whether he likes it or not. He’s learning to be laird at his ancestors’ knees. ”

“He likes it,” Holli said. “He wouldn’t know what to do without their help.”

“We’ll see if he feels the same when he’s the father of seven sons, and the youngest is fifteen years old. By then, all the men wish their fathers would just leave them alone and let them rule the clan.”

“I guess we’ll eventually find out,” Holli said. She absolutely didn’t seem worried about it or anything else.

Kendrick came over to them, and pulled Alyssa away from his mother, grandmother, and sister-in-law. “They are all bad influences. Please tell me you’ll stay away from them when you can.”

Alyssa laughed. “Two of them are my closest friends, and I have a feeling your grandmother will be another close friend. Why would you think they’ll be a bad influence?”

His eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard of women’s lib. They all talk about how women have more modern roles in society in the future.”

Alyssa smiled. “I’m old fashioned. I just want to raise a family.”

“With some girls,” he said, a smile transforming his face.

“Yes, with some girls.”

“Then I hope you have everything you are looking for in life and then some.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and looked like he wanted to say something else, but he wandered off instead.

During the rest of the feast, Alyssa met Heather’s other sons and their wives. The entire family was in on the secret of them coming from the future, but the rest of the clan knew absolutely nothing. It was fun to meet all the women who asked what women’s work was like where she was from.

“You didn’t ask Holli? Or Heather?”

“You’re like us,” one of them told her. “You aren’t married to the laird or one who will give birth to the future laird. That makes you approachable.”

Alyssa smiled. “Can I tell you a secret?”

All the sisters-in-law crowded in close. “I don’t want to be the laird’s wife. I’m perfectly happy being the wife of one of his brothers.”

Holli joined them in their little circle. “She’s telling the truth. She has always been one who didn’t care to marry a rich man, or a powerful man. She wants instead to marry a normal man who can concentrate on her and their children.”

Alyssa could immediately see on the faces of the sisters-in-law that they weren’t as open with Holli as they would be with her. She found it interesting, but she wasn’t sure why.

“Do you all come to the keep to sew in the afternoons?” Alyssa asked.

“We do on occasion,” Bonnie, one of the sisters-in-law said. “I do love to hear the stories about the future that Heather and Holli tell us.”

“I have some too, of course.”

“Aye, you do, we will all be happy to hear them if you care to tell them.”

“I’d love to tell them. Not just this moment, of course, but when we can be assured no one else will hear.”

“Only members of the family are allowed ta know,” Bonnie said. “I didn’t know until after I’d married Callum. At first, I laughed at him. Nothing that he said made any kind of sense to me. But now…Now I know he was telling the truth.”

“How?” Alyssa asked. What had proved to these women that time travel was a thing, when it had been so hard for modern women to conceive.

Bonnie leaned forward and whispered. “They showed me something they called an iPad. I had never seen anything so perfect, and it had pictures on it. Not the kind that people paint, or children draw. It had exact replicas.” Someone hurried to them, handing a young baby to Bonnie. “Me bairn needs some attention, I see.”

“He’s so sweet!” Alyssa said.

“She is sweet,” Bonnie corrected. “I will take her above stairs to feed her. I canna get used to pulling out my breast in front of people.”

Alyssa laughed. “I have a feeling I’ll have the same problem when my time comes.”