Merry Christmas
He leaned back in his chair and quietly surveyed the room, a smooth contentment flowing over him. Yup, life was good. He let his gaze slowly linger on the occupants in the room, one by one, in a silent world of his own, totally tuned out to the mayhem going on around him.
First there was Stevie, and as he just looked at her, he could feel a tightening in his chest as his heart swelled with emotion. He couldn't help it, his face broke into a broad grin as he watched her impatiently blow the red curls off her face with a huff of expelled air as she sat kneeling in front of the tree, stretching her slim frame for a present at the back. God, he loved this woman. He still felt the icy fingers of fear in his gut when he thought about how close they had come to total disaster in their relationship, through pride and stubbornness. As his blue eyes followed the contours of her face, it became obvious that she could feel the scrutiny and she looked up – instantly her eyes filled with love and a wide smile covered her face as she lifted a questioning brow. He slowly shook his head and just silently mouthed, "I love you". She sat back on her haunches and said nothing, just smiling back and he knew, he knew with utmost certainty that he was loved.
He moved his gaze on … past all the children pulling at paper and squealing with delight, as toys and treasure were unearthed beneath the rapidly growing mounds of discarded paper. There was Claire, he still thought of her as Baby Claire but as she was now 8, he certainly couldn't call her that aloud. Next to her was Jack, her 6-year-old brother, an absolute miniature of Nick. On the other side, sat 2 year old Hannah and as he watched Tess leaned over to her daughter and pulled paper from her mouth for the umpteenth time that morning.
Tess. He looked at his brother's wife and years of memories flashed through his mind – her quirky ways, her dumb alpaca's, her face at Claire's funeral, her beauty as a bride, her strength in running Drovers whilst grieving for both her sister and at one time, her husband, her encompassing love and caring for all she loved. She was a good woman and he was so grateful for how happy she'd made Nick.
Another smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he watched Nick lean over and kiss Tess gently – they were still like honeymooners those two. It was good to have them back for the holidays, he wished they'd come back to Drovers for good but he knew that Nick was carving a name for himself in Argentina and it would be a few years yet before he was ready to come back – after all, so much had changed at Killarney and in the family dynamics, "home" was a whole new place to when Nick and Tess had first left for Argentina.
A squabble amongst the children drew his attention back the huddle around the base of the tree. He felt punch drunk with happiness as he looked at the oldest among them, trying to supervise the chaos of the siblings and cousins – Bom, his precious Bom. She was tall for her age, her long hair pulled back in a clip was darkening quickly now and little was left of the blonde baby her mother had known. She too felt his eyes on her and as she lifted her piercing blue eyes to meet his, she flashed an excited grin before a small hand tugging hers drew her attention back to the other children. He felt a sense of awe as he watched her – he could still barely believe that she was back home with them all. When Peter and Julia had got divorced 2 years ago, Stevie had persuaded Alex and Tess to fight for custody and after a small battle they had won, much to everyone's surprise and joy. As Nick and Tess were still in Argentina, it was agreed that Alex & Stevie would raise Charlotte and she would visit Argentina in her school holidays. He knew he'd been granted more than his fair share of second chances in life – first Stevie, then getting Charlotte back and he offered up a silent prayer of thanks, he didn't take it lightly.
The small hand tugging Charlotte's was most insistent and he chuckled as he watched his youngest daughter chattering away to Bom – Lulu had her mother's bright red curls and gregarious nature. Born Louise Rose Ryan, she came into the world with a squall and pretty much lived her life that way – she was a little whirlwind of noise and mess but so adorable. He watched as Matt, the youngest of them all, tried to crawl across to Stevie, his chubby legs moving as fast as he could towards his mother. She saw him and laughing, she pulled him onto her lap and planted a sweet kiss on his neck, tickling him into baby chuckles as she did so.
There was a disruption of laughter and greeting as Jodi waddled into the room – her pregnant stomach entering before she did. She cracked a witty comment as she sank into the closest chair and all around her laughed, the years away hadn't changed her in the least. Rob came in close behind her, far more quietly than his wife, but with a cheeky smile for his extended family. After years on the move, they had finally been moved out of Witness Protection the summer before and it was so good to have them home and know it was permanent, that they were free to live and love with their family.
Someone called out and asked Jodi where Kate and Dave were and she answered with disgust "Checking the sheep. Dave is so happy to be playing with animals that don't have to be sedated first!"
"Oi, I heard that" called out Dave as he entered the room, his arm around his petite wife. Kate smiled to all in greeting, it was good to be home for Christmas - she was tired of all the travelling back and forth to Africa for holidays but Dave had finished his 6 years in Kenya and had recently bought into the Nanjemup practice again.
As he looked around the room, his slight reverie broken by the laughter, music and noise as they started to sing along with the carol playing on the music system, it was in that moment Alex knew that this was what Christmas was about - family, love, second chances and the privilege of spending it together.