Chapter 10

Alex - could you for once clean up after yourself? Claire thought to herself as she entered the bathroom. She started to gather all of his used towels and clothes in a pile, shaking her head - it was like having two kids around, and BOM's stuff didn't even make such a mess. She walked downstairs with the pile of clothes and towels in her arms, determined to find Alex and make him get on with the washing - they couldn't let Meg do all housework and since Alex had been staying over for the past month, the amount of washing and cleaning had increased.
Alex was nowhere to be seen downstairs, the only trail of him was a half eaten toast and a carton of orange juice on the table - Liz really did everything for those boys, didn't she? Claire shook her head, feeling rather annoyed about the mess. She didn't had time to clean up after Alex, but she couldn't just sit by and watch Meg do all the things herself either.
"I guess I will be doing laundry this time" Claire sighed and went to the laundry. After she had loaded the washer it suddenly hit her that she wasn't exactly sure about how it worked - Well she had washed before, but all the different programs and degrees for the water was a huge puzzle for her. This seems right she thought as she closed the washer and turned the switch. "It started - It's a start" she said to herself, feeling rather confident - how hard could it be, right? After she had finished cleaning Alex's mess in the kitchen she went outside, determined to find Alex and give him a mouthful - he needed to clean up after himself, she wasn't his maid and Meg wasn't either. But as soon as she saw him walking around with BOM in the baby carrier, the lecture she had planned in her head slowly disappeared. She couldn't help but smile all over her face at the sight of them, he was a natural with her and the bond between them grew stronger and stronger for everyday - BOM was lucky to have a father like Alex, and she was lucky to have a man like him in her life.
"Oh look, there's mummy" Alex said and tried to turn his upper body towards Claire as she came closer. Claire greeted them both in a huge smile before she walked to Alex's side so her daughter could see her face. "Hey there my little angel" Claire said and stroked BOM on her cheek.
"Neil Thomson called" Alex said and started to walk along the fence. "He wanted to make sure Casino was ready for the Gungellan race."
"But that is only a month away" Claire interrupted him, there was no way they could get him ready that fast - he had done a lot of progress, but with BOM to take care of during the day, they had to cut down on the training sessions with Casino. "That's why I said we could have him ready" Alex said and noticed Claire's mouth drop. "You did what?" she stopped. She couldn't believe he had agreed to that, he knew as well as herself that Casino wouldn't be ready. "But Alex - We can't have him ready by that, even if we train him day and night"
"I know, trust me I do - But Neil was afraid that we didn't have as much time to do the training, with BOM and everything" He stopped for a second. "He was looking to take the business elsewhere - So I had to tell him we could do it. Besides, he won't find a better trainer than us anyway."
Claire looked at him in her famous suspicious way "And what are you going to tell him, when we get closer to the race and he finds out Casino isn't ready?" Claire asked. "Well, I'll think of something - until then, we just have to work our butts off, won't we?" he said with a teasing smile and clapped Claire on her butt before he continued his walking. Claire shook her head and smiled, that man was sure something.

It was nearly lunch time when Alex finished his work with Casino. After his conversation with Neil on the phone this morning, and his conversation with Claire, he knew they would have to work hard to keep up with the training - It had been a bit of a struggle for Casino, getting used to Alex, since Claire was the official trainer and most of the time did do the training, but after BOM's birth Alex had to get more involved with the training - He knew Claire hated the fact she couldn't be around the horses as much as she used to, but she was wearing the feeding machines and that was something he couldn't help her with. If he could, he would gladly take over the feeding, that meant more time with BOM. He started to walk to the house, feeling his stomach churning - He couldn't wait to get something to eat and put his legs up for a brief moment.
Meg had arranged the lunch outside on the veranda and everybody had already gathered around the table when he stepped outside. "There you are, was beginning to wonder" Meg said and smiled at Alex when she saw him. "Just had to finish up with Casino" Alex said and walked behind Claire, stroking her shoulder before pulling out the chair beside her.
"Nick phoned earlier" Tess said and reached for a piece of meat and continued "Harry can't get the tractor to start." Alex swallowed the bite he had just taken before answering. "What, again? I've told him to buy a new one for the past 6 months."
Claire laughed - she was surprised he didn't had, he had the money for it, why keep an old tractor when you can get a new one? "I guess I'll head over there later today" Alex said and looked at Claire as he wanted her to tell him it was okay. She stretched her legs on the empty chair ahead of her and placed BOM on her shoulder, as she said "I'll just be around this little joyride the rest of the day then" and smiled. Jodi looked up from her plate, did she just hear what she thought she did? "You are going to be in here - the rest of the day?" she asked Claire. "Yep, that's right" Claire answered and took a bite of her food. "But you never just sit in here, without doing something?" Jodi continued - she was right, Claire was always on the move, bossing everyone and everything around. "I'm not just going to do nothing, I'll have BOM around - beside. You guys always tell me to pamper myself, so today is the day where Claire McLeod is taking a break" she said with a confident shook on her head. "Look at you go" Tess laughed at her sister.
"Oh, before you go" Alex said and got up from his chair "We have to set something straight, just a second" He said and hurried inside. He left the girls with a confused and exciting look on their faces. He came back with one of his old caps in his hand. "Draw" he said to Claire and holded the cap in her direction. "What is this?" she asked with a small laugh as she draw a little piece of paper. "We need to figure out a name for BOM - she can't go around forever with the name BOM. The kids will make fun of her" Alex joked. Claire slowly unfolded the piece of paper in her hand, and frowned when she saw the name on it. Alexandra - She started to laugh. "Oh, Alexandra - what a coincidence" Jodi said and looked up at Alex. "Another Alexandra here" Tess laughed and folded the piece paper again, before throwing it onto the table. "Are they all going to say Alexandra?" Claire asked as Alex got to her side again. "Well, it's a good name" he said and took BOM in his hands. His comment made them all laugh, he knew they wouldn't have fallen for it and it was meant as a joke, a bit of tease - but he was right in one thing, they needed to find little BOM a name soon.
"Actually" Claire said and placed her feet on the ground. "I've been thinking of a name - but I don't know whether you like it or not" she said and looked up at Alex. "Try me" he said while rocking his daughter on his shoulder.
"Charlotte Prudence McLeod" she said and waited for everybody's reaction. Immediately Tess's eyes lit up as she heard the name. "That's a beautiful name Claire, but how did you get to it?" Becky asked. "Charlotte is my middle name" Tess said, still smiling all over her face. "And Prudence was my mums name" Claire said and smiled to her sister. At first Alex had trouble grasping his head around the name Claire had just dropped, but as soon as he saw Tess and Claire's smiles and he knew the meaning of the name, he absolutely loved it - she already looked like a Charlotte now. There was one thing though, he insisted on getting his name in as well. "It's a really beautiful name Claire" Alex said and bent down to kiss her on the cheek. "One thing though" he said and looked at Claire. "Since she is my daughter - I want my name in as well". Claire looked at him a bit confused. "What, Alexandra?" she asked - Because she was not naming her daughter Alexandra.
"No, Ryan. Charlotte Prudence McLeod Ryan" he said. Claire hadn't even thought about putting his name in as well, but of course - he was her father. "Well, I guess I can live with that" Claire joked and a smile crossed her face. Alex shook his head, she wasn't going to admit it but he could tell she was loving the name. "We've better get back to work" Tess said after a short amount of time and took her plate in her hand before getting up from the chair.
"Can you put her down in the crib before you go?" Claire asked and looked up at Alex. "Of course" he said and reached for Charlotte's blanket on Claire's chair, before making his way inside.
Claire soon found herself sitting alone outside on the veranda - what was she supposed to do? Charlotte was asleep and all of the others were busy with work. Why did she ever agreed with herself on taking a day off - she wasn't good at sitting still.