Chapter 2:

Claire woke up bright and early the next morning. She wasn't normally much of a morning person, but the anticipation of the day ahead left her hyper and not able to sleep a wink more. Jumping out of bed, she went off to take a shower and quickly got herself ready to face the day.

Humming a cherry note, she raced through her shower and finished in record time. Now came time for her clothing choice. She glanced out the window and frowned at the clouds in the sky. It seemed as if the day was already against her. Taking the current weather into consideration, she slipped on a pair of jeans and a short sleeved v-neck shirt, then decided to throw on a light knit pale blue sweater over her ensemble. If it got hotter later in the day she could just take the sweater off.

Moving back into the bathroom, she wiped a patch of the lingering steam off the mirror and went to work. She brushed her long hair until it fell past her shoulders in glimmering waves of golden waterfalls. After she was satisfied with her hair, she moved on to her makeup and applied a slight touch of mascara, some shiny lip-gloss and she was done. She figured since she had no where special to go that she shouldn't bother trying too hard. Unnecessary primping would only serve to waste what precious little time she had there.

Taking one final look at her reflection she grinned. She had to admit that she looked pretty good. Her cheeks had a slight flush to them even though she had yet to step outside and her eyes had a glimmer of their old sparkle in them. 'Today will be a good day for me. I can just feel it.' She thought as she gave her reflection one last grin, then moved back into her room. She shoved her few makeup supplies in her clutch bag, made sure she had her wallet, her room key and her cell phone, and was finally off to officially start her first day in Ireland.

Claire felt the slightest apprehension as she entered the old tavern in front of her. Like most things in this town, it was slightly run down, but had an almost homey old world charm to it. She adjusted her sweater and took a deep breath, trying to calm her frayed nerves. This tavern was supposedly owned by a good friend of her father's and she wanted to make a good first impression. Taking one last calming breath, she fully entered the room and glanced around.

The inside didn't fair much better then the outside, but something about it was still strangely welcoming. She moved over to a table and took a seat. Still glancing around the place, she noticed a dark haired young man who was tending the bar. He was filling a drink order, so he had his back to her, but there was something almost strangely familiar about him. Dismissing her thoughts since she couldn't possibly know anyone from here of all places, she smiled at the approaching waitress.

"'Ello there. What can I get you this fine mornin'?" The girl asked politely in her rather thick accent with a big toothy grin to match.

Claire thought about it for a moment before finally saying, "Well, what do you suggest?"

"Hmmm... usually I'd suggest the Irish Breakfast, which consists of bacon, eggs, sausage, black and white puddin', fried tomatoes and fried potato farls, but since you're an American, I'm not so sure you'd be able to handle all o' that."

Claire raised her eyebrows at the young girl in front of her, "It sounds wonderful. I think I'll have an order of that."

The girl raised a surprised eyebrow right back at her. "Ah, a brave one. You'll do well here." She said nodding her head in approval. "Anythin' else I can get you with that?"

"Just a coffee." Claire said with another dazzling smile.

"Ok, one Irish Breakfast and a coffee comin' right up." With that, the girl spun around and entered a door in the back that Claire assumed to be the kitchen.

The girl came back about ten minutes later with a heaping platter full of steaming food that looked surprisingly appetizing, well parts of it anyway, and a large coffee. She placed the food down in front of Claire and waited patiently by her side. Claire glanced over at the girls grinning face and quirked an eyebrow. This only seemed to make the girl's smile widen. Claire glanced back down at her food and took a big gulp. She could definitely eat, but this was more food then she was used to eating in a day alone.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up her fork and speared a big chunk of the stranger looking stuff on her plate and slowly raised it toward her lips. Closing her eyes, she took a bite, waiting for the inevitable urge to gag, but it surprisingly didn't come. The stuff was actually pretty good. Claire opened her eyes and looked over at the girl in shock. The girl just gave her another grin and turned to get back to her other duties.

Claire dug into her food like she hadn't eaten in a week. When she was finally done, there wasn't much left on her plate, save for a few pieces of the black and white pudding. She drank the last of her coffee and sat back with a contented sigh. She was damn lucky that her regeneration skills gave her a fast metabolism, otherwise she'd probably be twice the size that she was by now.

Glancing around, she caught a glimpse of the waitress again and signaled her over. "How was it?" The girl asked as she took a look at Claire's basically empty plate.

Claire glanced up at her with a wide grin. "It was great."

After paying the girl for the food and leaving a tip, she asked in her most causal voice, "So, do you happen to know a Callum McGuinness?"

The girl stopped her movements and stared at Claire with a slightly strange expression. "Who wants to know?" She asked suspiciously.

"Tell him that Claude's daughter is asking for him." The girls eyes widened to an almost comedic level before she managed to stutter out, "His da... daughter?"

"Yeah, his daughter." Claire confirmed with an easy smile.

The girl took one last look at her and high tailed it back into the kitchen.

"So my daughter tells me that you're claimin' to be my long lost brother's child." A giant of a man asked a few minutes later, before sitting down across from her at the table.

"Your brother? Well, that's news." Claire said taking it all in. If what this man said was true, then he was her uncle and the girl who'd just served her breakfast was her cousin.

"My brother, aye. So, where is he? Did he send you down here to yank me chain?" The Irishman asked bemusedly.

Claire gave him a puzzled look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. In fact, I was hoping that you'd know where he was."

"Really now lass? Are you sure you're his daughter? You don't resemble his ugly mug in the least." Callum said giving her a scrutinizing once over.

Claire gritted her teeth in frustration. "I guess I look more like my mother then."

Her gave her another skeptical look. "You guess?"

"Yeah, I don't exactly know who my mother is."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Now how did that work out? You know who your pa is, but have no clue who your ma is."

"I was adopted." Claire dull panned.

His eyes widened a bit. "Oh, that'd explain it. My brother never really was one for bein' tied down."

Claire sighed in frustration. "Look, I came here to find out more about my fa... Claude, and I'd appreciate it if you'd help me out." She said between slightly clenched teeth.

An amused gleam came to his eyes. "I see that you've inherited your father's cheery disposition."

Claire forced a smile back. "I guess so. Although, it seems like you won't be of much help after all. Sorry to have disturbed you." She said as she stood up to leave.

"Nonsense. I may not know where my brother is, but I can help you out. Come now, let's have a drink and a nice chat over at the bar, yeah?"

Looking at his earnest expression, Claire gave a little smile. "Ok, I guess I can spare a few minutes."

She walked over to the bar with him and sat down at a stool. "Hey Pat, can you get my niece and me here a few brews?" He directed his question at the dark haired man behind the bar.

"Your niece, ey? Didn't know you had one of those." The lightly accented voice of the man behind the bar replied while he reached over to retrieve their beers. When he turned around to hand them their drinks, Claire's eyes widened in shock and her breath got caught in her throat. All she could manage to get out was one word, "Pe... Peter?"

A/N: What can I say? I absolutely adore cliff hangers. ::grins:: Ok, now let's get down to business. I'm really sorry that I didn't update sooner. I had this chapter done a week ago, yeah I know, but real life got in the way. I always proof everything I post a few times before I actually post it, but I didn't have the time until now. I'll try to get the next part out by this weekend. I won't have time to post anything tomorrow because I have a job interview in another town, wish me luck. :)

Once again, thanks to everyone who left reviews. If you've read this story up until this point and enjoy it but haven't reviewed yet, then feel free to do so now. I promise that I won't hold your lack of reviews against you. I know that sometimes you don't have the time, or simply don't feel like leaving a review, but even a short little something is welcomed and helps to keep me inspired.

Thanks to lovestoread, noro, jjpeachjuice, tearsfalldownmycheeks and snb123 for reviewing. (As for eternalgorithm, well, that hopefully answers your question, or does it?)

A little side note: I used me only when Callum was talking about himself and my for everything else purposefully. I've been trying to research Irish accents, especially Cork ones in particular, but there are soooo many in Cork alone, so I just decided to use a lighter accent. I was going to use a thicker one at first, but after some research, I found out that Cork's accent is unlike many other accents from different parts of Ireland. Peter's will be even lighter since he only has a slight lilt. Ok, that's about it. Catch ya later.

Diana