Ozlander

by Samantha Liddell

  “Do Australians wear thongs to the beach?” James asked. Alistair and Scott were just as excited to hear the answer.

  Fully knowing what they were implying I answered. "Well, yes of course. If they didn't they would get very burnt bottoms,” I stopped for a few seconds to see the looks on their faces then continued, “Bottoms of their feet. You see, we call flip flops, thongs over here in Australia.”

  The 3 Scottish men laughed, Scott replied, “that’s why it called Down under, everything is back to front here.”

  "Well in that case Slip, Slop and Slap my 3 wise white Scottish men. You will need layers and layers of sunscreen to protect that pale white Scottish skin of yours.” I squirted a huge puddle of sunscreen in each of their hands, but Alistair declined.

  "As much as I would love to join you all I really must get ready to head back.”

  “But isn't that what private jets are for?" I asked Alistair, "Don’t they wait for you, not like the good old regular jets."

  “Aye that they do, but film sets do not wait for you, I need to get back in time for filming." And with that, we all said our goodbyes to Alistair. He will be written out of the next few chapters of my life, but somehow I knew he would keep making appearances throughout this story of mine.

  My parents packed the esky full of food and drinks for a day at the beach. I offered 3 queen size bed sheets for our Scottish and English friends with 2 eye holes cut out to protect them from the sun but they all declined for some reason.

  Chapter Three

  A day out at the beach with some Scots.

  We ended up taking 3 cars to the beach that morning. Much to Sophie's disappointment, she was now back in Luke's car with James.

  Luke had somehow just invited himself to come along. He really was full of self-confidence and did as he pleased. We didn't mind though, he was becoming one of the Clan in his own right, plus we got cheap Uber fares with him now.

  Mum and Dad took their own car, as their back seat was full of plants, that they were going to drop off to the bowls club on the way, for the club’s annual charity auction evening that was coming up.

  Scott and I along with Polly and Leah were back in my good old Golf wagon. I threw the keys to Scott, “You can drive, I will give you directions,” I said.

  He was driving the very same car I had driven to work in, just 7 months earlier where I had found myself bumper to bumper on the Bruce highway next to that P plater Surfer guy who needed to give his hair a good wash. And where I had finally decided to do it, to drop everything and take off to Scotland. I am now back in that very same car with my very own Jamie Fraser, 7 months later. How can my life change so much in such a short amount of time? Oh yes, that's right, I found the self-confidence and self-belief to just do it and now look at the package I own and have in my hands. Ok I have to stop referring to Scott as my package and I do not own him, he is my man, my hot, kind, and full of life exciting Scottish Jamie Fraser.

  Ok no, he is just my Scott that’s what he is, I mean who he is, My Scott King, I’m losing focus again, my mind starts wondering off I wonder if I will ever be Mrs. Letticia King. ‘Come back to reality, Letticia’ I said to myself. Then before I knew it, we had arrived at the beach looking for a carpark. My Scott King was obviously very focused as he got a car park right in front of the beach entrance.

  Polly, Leah, and Rupert, our Scottish terrier, all jumped out of the car with pure joy from being at the beach. The girls were about to run off down the track to the beach when I stopped them in their tracks. “Ah get back here please, not until you Slip Slop Slap young ladies and put your hats on." They did as they were told as quickly as they could and then were off with Rupert chasing after them and myself not far behind trying to keep up.

  Scott called out “You follow them I will grab the bags and come find you."

  "As you wish my Master," I yelled back. Just then Scott's phone rang, he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. I continued down to the beach after my children. By the time I got down to the sand Polly and Leah had already found a place to sit and were building sand castles, I walked up behind them without them knowing and listened to what they were saying. Leah announced her castle was the Edinburgh castle and Polly said her one was the Balmoral Castle. My theory was correct after all, travel really does broaden the mind. If they had not just been to Scotland for the last 6 months and 4 days they would never have even known about these castles and would be down here building the Arndell Castle from Frozen. Not my two though, no my two are well travelled now, with open minds. The world is a fascinating place for young and old minds to explore. I continued to listen in on their play.

  Polly announced, “I am the Laird of this castle”

  Leah continued by saying, “I am Lady Leah of Edinburgh Castle." That's my girls I thought, no fairy tale princesses here but strong independent woman running castles.

  My parents along with Sophie and James arrived. “Luke couldn't stay, he got an Uber call out” James announced.

  Sophie replied, “nice guy but a terrible driver.” Sophie proceeded to lay her towel out and quickly take safety under the sun umbrella mum was putting up.

  "Gee you don't get sun like this back home," James said.

  I wasn't sure if it was the Jet lag or the harsh Australian elements that were affecting these two Scots, but either way, they were struggling badly.

  "Oh here, have some cold water." dad offered as he opened the lid of the eski and threw two bottles over to our two moaning Scottish visitors. They both opened the lids of their bottles and skolled down their water as if they had been stranded on a desert island for the last month and suffering from extreme dehydration.

  I offered them more sunscreen to protect their pure white Scottish Skin. They accepted and took turns applying a substantial amount of Sunscreen on each other’s backs.

  My girls were still busy in Castle land when I noticed Scott was still not here. He too had either lost the battle of the Australian heat and had collapsed with Heat Stroke or he was still on the phone. I asked mum to keep an eye on my two as well as the other two who were struggling to survive.

  She said “yes of course dear."

  I headed back up to the carpark with my thongs on, the sand was far too hot to go barefoot. As I approached the car I couldn't see Scott anywhere near it. I scanned the car park area, until I caught sight of him under a tree seeking shade. He was still on the phone, ‘that’s strange,’ I thought, ‘wonder who it could be.’ Just then he moved the phone away from his ear and placed it back into the beach bag he had on his shoulder. We started walking towards each other. He had a look of excitement on his face and a twinkle in those oh so sexy eyes of his. Before I could even ask who he was talking to he had me off the ground and twirling me around in his arms.

  “Letticia, you will never guess what." he announced with pure delight in his voice.

  “Well by the sounds of it, I’m sure I never will." I replied with a giggle. He placed my feet back firmly on the ground and proceed to get down on one knee. Oh dear god not this again I thought, he knew my answer to this already we had been through it before.

  But it was not what I had expected after all, instead he grabbed my hand and said "Miss Letticia Little, will you come on an adventure with me to Bibroohra?" I was confused, is this man suffering from a case of heat stroke? Is he out of his mind?

  "Well that all depends Scott on where Bibroohra is?" I asked.

  “Up near Cairns" he replied.

  ‘Oh, Cairns’ I thought to myself, ‘I do like Cairns,’ and with that I agreed without getting any more information out of him as to why the Hell we were going to Bibroohra. But that was me though, I loved adventure and it didn't take much to persuade me, especially if it was an adventure with my Scottish man Jamie, I mean Scott.

  I really must stop doing that.

  Chapter Four

  Another Adventure is Brewing

  After I had agreed I was now rather intrigued as to why we were he
ading into the unknown to a place called Bibroohra so thought I had better ask. “So, what awaits us in this so-called place named Biboohra?" I asked.

  Scott replied enthusiastically "Aye what awaits us you ask my Sassenach, well only a contract that needs my signature on it by 2pm Friday or it goes to the next in line for the job." he said ever so quickly in his Scottish accent, it was even hard for me to keep up sometimes.

  He had my interest at this point. "Go on" I encouraged him.

  "Well it turns out me, myself, and you funny enough, along with my company Scottlander catering have come highly recommended by none other than your Scottish Idol."

  "Which one?" I asked jokingly.

  "The Idol you went to Scotland for" he replied with a laugh.

  "Oh, that one, well how very nice of him” I said, “I must text him and thank him later on, now that I have his number in my phone with us being best friends and all.” I joked. Anyway, I was getting sidetracked and losing my focus, "Carry on." I said to Scott.

  Scott continued "There is a film set up in Bibroohra being built and filming starts in 2 weeks. They need to hire caterers to be on set. It's a great contract offering a lot of money. If I take it, I would have to fly some of the Scottlander crew over to work. Anyway, that's not important right now, what is, is that we need to get to Bibroohra by 2pm Friday to meet the film director and sign the contract. Should we do this?" Scott asked me.

  I was a little taken aback, was he actually asking for my opinion, were we actually a team, was I actually in a relationship with a guy that wanted my opinion and we discussed issues together? It had been so long since I was treated this way, as an equal, I was shocked but had to regain my focus as Scott was standing there with his eyes full of anticipation. I bought myself back into reality with a little cough to clear my throat, "Yes Scott, a million yeses, let's do this. Let's do this for you, me, and the girls. This is going to be great for Scottlander too, it could open up so many other doors."

  With that Scott leaned in to me kissed me and said, "I love you, Letticia Little" and flung me over his shoulder and started to run down the sandy track to the beach, forgetting to put his thongs on so we didn't get very far before he put me back down and jump off the sand onto the grassy edge for dare life. "Hell Bells, that is hot." Scott announced in utter shock. "You don't get sand like that back home."

  I threw him his thongs from the beach bag. "Well for Hells Bells put your thongs on then” I teased him. He did as he was told and slipped his thongs on and we continued to walk hand in hand down the hot sandy beach track in our trusty thongs to meet up with the others.

  It turned out to be a lovely day at the beach. James and Sophie slept through most of it tucked away under the sun umbrella, after jet lag got the better of them and won. Mum and Dad took long walks down the beach hand in hand. Scott and I, along with Polly and Leah spent most of the day playing together in the water, throwing beach balls to one another, and splashing around. It really was the best place to be on a hot 35 degree Australian Summer's day.

  We felt like a real family, the four of us. Scott had slipped into our family unit with such ease and confidence. His presences had put smiles back on the three of our faces. He made the girls and I feel safe and secure and extremely happy. Scott was indeed my Jamie even though he did not own one quality or resemblance of Jamie’s character apart from the little red tones of colour in his hair and the fact he was loyal, funny and kind. But that was not the point the point is he was the Jamie I needed and the Jamie I wanted. Jamie's come in all shapes and sizes and if you truly believe you deserve a Jamie for yourself there is a Jamie out there for each and every one of us ladies.

  Chapter Five

  The Irish Jewellery Theft

  That afternoon before we had all left the beach we told everybody about Scott's great news and the opportunity Scottlander catering had been given to do the catering for a film set. Everyone was very supportive and said we must get to that contract by 2pm Friday and get it signed. We wholeheartedly agreed.

  With Paul and Sheila heading off for a month to take part in a power walk competition in New Zealand, we decided to re-hire the nanny services of Sophie and James once again. We would all move back into my old house. Paul agreed on this as well after I called him before leaving the beach.

  He and Sheila were leaving first thing in the morning, so the house was free from then.

  We decided we would get everybody settled in the house the following day which was Wednesday and Scott and I would leave first thing Thursday morning to make the trip to Biboohra. With this all organised, we headed home from the beach for one of Dad's world famous BBQ dinners

  Scott surprised the girls on the way home and we all stopped for a double scoop of ice cream. Even Rupert got a scoop for himself. Scott had started to fit in with the Aussie way of living rather nicely I thought.

  We got back to my parents’ house and were greeted with the smell of BBQ meat cooking away in their marinated sauces, and found my parents along with Sophie and James sitting around the pool enjoying a glass of wine. The temperature had dropped to around 25 degrees now. Still hot for the Scottish but a little more bearable. Sophie and James looked a bit more alive now and had a bit more life to them.

  Dad welcomed us over and poured two more glasses of wine and two apple juices for the girls. We all sat back and relaxed. Dad raised his glass and said, to family and we all followed suit, and we raised our glass and took a sip. "No place like home" I said.

  After we had all over eaten and had full bellies, it was getting near to the girls’ bedtime. I got up to get them ready but Scott told me to sit back down and he would do it. I was a little surprised once again, it had been so long since anybody had insisted I sit down. So I took my order from my master without a single hesitation as he picked the girls up. He had one on his back and one on his front. Their arms hung on around his shoulders for dear life, They were laughing so much as Scott pretended to be a book monster who was going to go and read every book they owned to them then eat every last book they owned up. He roared and stomped his feet as they made their way to the bedroom.

  Mum looked at me as if to say, ‘Well done my girl, Well done, we knew you would get there in the end, we all learn from our mistakes.’ Without even saying a single word mum and I had a whole conversation with each other just through facial expressions.

  I got up a few minutes later and decided to say goodnight to the girls myself.

  I quietly approached their bedroom door that was ajar, I could hear Scott reading them a goodnight story. I peeped through the gap. I few tears of joy trickled down my cheeks. At that moment I knew Scott was the one for me. Once the book finished he said goodnight to the girls but he wasn't going to be let off that easily. Leah liked to keep the goodnight conversations going with endless amounts of questions. She chose a tough question for Scott that night though.

  "Scott, why do you love our mummy so much?" My heart skipped a beat but I too was interested in the answer to this question and wanted to hear Scott’s response.

  "That’s a very easy question to answer" he replied. "I love her because she is Letticia Little, I love every part of her, inside and out. She makes me happy, she makes me laugh, she is a strong and determined lass, your mum is and we make a great team. I fell in love with her the very first moment I lay eyes on her on the aeroplane. Plus she has you two munchkins which I'm very fond of and who I Love very much." I had Goosebumps over every part of my body.

  I loved this man very much. I was about to back away from the door but I heard Polly come up with a question of her own. "Will you be our daddy one day?" she asked sounding confused.

  "Well yes, I hope so, but I will never be your only daddy, you will always have two daddies. Paul will always be your daddy as well." and with those two questions answered the girls were satisfied and rolled over to sleep. I decided to quickly open the bedroom door as if I had just got there to kiss the girls goodnight. I gave them each a kiss on the forehead.
Scott and I then walked out of their room hand and hand.

  As Scott turned the light off, I pulled him out of the room and down the hallway towards the room we were staying in and pushed him onto the bed and said, "Your master would like to make passionate love to you right now."

  "Ok, whatever my master, or should I say Sassenach, demands," he replied.

  "Oh, Scott stop turning me on. Stop being so goddamn perfect and shut up and kiss me.” Scott did as he was told, he started off with a gentle kiss upon my lips, and he moved down to my neck and gently placed kisses all around it.

  I thought back to our first time together back in Scotland, where we found ourselves in the back of Scott’s Scottlander catering van, lying down tangled up amongst the dirty tablecloths. How we were so nervous and excited at the same time to finally let go and let temptation lead us, and to this day our body map adventures continues. We are still getting to explore new places for the first time that we have still yet to visit on each other and it is just as exciting as the first time.

  This particularly exploration lasted an hour or so and no compass was needed, as we were so in tune with each other’s likes and needs, and we didn't mind if we got lost in doing so.

  We emerged out of the bedroom an hour later and entered the living room where we found everybody having a nightcap of baileys and watching the nightly news. Mum looked at me and once again we had a whole conversation with each other without saying a single word. It was along the lines of, ‘you go girl, marry this one don't let this one go!’ ‘Totally agree with you there mum, he's a catch that’s for sure, I won't be throwing this one back.’

  There was a news story on the tv about a man who had carried out several jewellery shop robberies up in far North Queensland. His was described as medium height, brown hair, he had a birthmark on his left ear lobe and talked with an Irish accent. "Never could trust the Irish," Scott said jokingly.