42

When Tess walked out of the bedroom again 40 minutes later all dressed up and with makeup on, ready to go out for dinner she was surprised to find Nick on the living room couch alone, zapping through the TV channels.

"What are you doing here alone?" she asked "I thought you wanted to talk to Alex…"

"Umm, we did talk a bit but then he got distracted…" Nick said and pointed his head to the open balcony door. You could hear giggling and laughing from outside interrupted by silent periods with definite kissing sounds.

"They're like teenagers!" Nick complained.

Tess smiled "Yeah, it's still a little odd though, don't you think? I mean…who would have thought, Claire and Alex having a baby together!"

"Yes I know! I mean, after Claire left so suddenly to find Alex I kinda figured there was something going on but THAT…that's too much for me, really…"

Tess walked over to the couch and gave Nick a hug. "I know what you mean. But I guess we'll have to get used to that. After all it's nothing we can change…and to be honest, I don't really wanna change it! I haven't seen Claire so happy ever since she found out Peter was married!"

"Yeah, I know. And just look at Alex! He looks like a lovesick pup!" Nick shook his head and got up. This was really not the same Alex that had left all those months ago. "Well, I guess we can give them some more time while I get myself ready for meeting Mum…" he sighed and went to the bedroom to change.

Tess wasn't as patient as Nick. After 5 minutes she couldn't stand the kissing sounds anymore and walked outside. "Could you maybe stop that? You know, Nick and I still have to get used to you two being together and you're not helping at all!" Having said that she turned around again and marched back to the couch leaving a puzzled Claire and Alex on the balcony looking at each other. Claire had climbed on Alex's lap earlier and now got up again. "I'll have a look and I still need to change in that bloody dress Tess picked out for me…"
"You're really turning into a girly girl Claire, wearing all those dresses…" That only got him a dirty look from Claire as she followed her sister inside.

"Tess? What's wrong? I'm sorry if we bothered you, really…You knew Alex and I were together…"

"Claire, I didn't know that. I only knew that he got you pregnant but I wasn't expecting two lovesick teenagers…Anyway, maybe I'm just a bit frustrated because I am actually happy for you, you know?"

"It's ok Tess, I'll promise we'll behave tonight…"

Nick walked back into the living room all ready to go, too. Now it was only Claire left to put on her dress and some makeup. She hadn't wanted to but Tess had insisted and promised to help her. "Tess, you ready to help me get dressed?" She asked and walked over to the bedroom.

"Sure Claire!" Tess jumped up and followed her sister.

20 minutes later it was Tess who came back first.

"Wow Tess, you look great! Alex said. He hadn't seen her in her dress yet.

"Just wait till you see Claire! She looks amazing! Get out here Claire!" she shouted for her sister.

"I look fat in that!" Was Claire's answer from the bedroom.

"You're not fat, you're pregnant!"

"But everybody can see it…"

"So what Claire! It's not like you can miss that in any kind of clothes you're wearing…"

Finally Claire found the courage to open the bedroom door. There she stood in a black, knee long dress, wearing only a touch of make up.

Alex just looked at her with his mouth dropping to the floor. "Wow Claire…" was all he could say.

Claire clearly felt uncomfortable with everybody staring at her so she said "Can we go now? Or we'll be late and I don't think it's good to let Liz wait…"

So they all left to have dinner with Liz Ryan…

43

Liz Ryan entered the restaurant and hoped that the others were not there yet. She needed some time to acclimatize with the surroundings. She was really nervous about meeting Alex. When they had talked on the phone he hadn't really sounded happy to hear her voice. She knew she had probably ruined his whole life by not telling him the truth about his father earlier but she had only wanted to protect her family. Now that family was history and all she had left was her two sons. Both had been very upset after the truth had come out all those months ago and she could really understand why Alex had left that day. But maybe he could forgive her now…she really hoped it.

After she was told that nobody was there yet she was relieved and sat down at the bar and ordered a white wine. She just needed something to calm her nerves down. If only she could have talked to Alex alone…or maybe with only Claire or Nick present. But that person would be there, too. She really couldn't understand what Nick saw in her! She was just not the right woman for him. Liz sighed and asked the bartender for the time.

"It's 10 to 8 Ma'am."

"Thank you" Liz said and sighed. Still 10 minutes till they would come. 10 minutes she could still dream about having her son back. What if he didn't want her back in his life? Claire had never really answered her question of the baby was Alex's but Liz had a strong feeling it was. Why else would she have gone to find him now that she was so far along in her pregnancy…

Liz heard laughter behind her and turned around. There they were, all four of them. Claire on Alex's arm and Tess on Nick's. The last view made her shiver but she pulled herself together. Today was her day of meeting Alex again and she wouldn't let that person ruin it. So she got up and walked over to them.

Nick was the first to see his mother come closer.

"Alex…" he said, touched his brother's arm and pointed in Liz's direction.

"I saw her Nick…" Alex still wasn't sure if this whole thing had been such a great idea but at least he knew he had the support from his brother and best friends.

Nick met Liz half way and said "Hi Mum, good to see you.", while he hugged her.

"Ah Nick, nice to have you here! It's been a long time since I've seen both my sons at the same time…"

"Don't be too hard on him Mum, ok? He's gone through a hard time…"
"I know Nick…"

They walked over to where the others were waiting and Liz first greeted Claire with a hug and shook Tess's hand. Then she turned to her oldest son not really knowing what to do. She wanted to hug him but was sure he didn't want that. So she just said "Alex, I'm so sorry…"

Alex had looked at his mother the whole time she had talked to Nick. She looked like she had lost some weight and was a bit pale, like she had aged a couple years since he had last seen her. He would have never thought it but now that he saw her just a few feet away he realized he had really missed her. He wasn't sure if he could ever forgive her but he realized he was willing to make a new start.

"Alex…" his mother said again waking from his thoughts. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for what I did to you. I know now it was wrong but I can't change it. Please don't turn your back on me…"

"It's ok Mum…" Alex finally said, "I love you…" Then he bent down to hug her with tears in his eyes.

"Oh Alex, I love you, too" Liz felt the tears coming. She had waited 8 months to have him back in her arms. 8 months of not really knowing where he was…

"I've missed you Mum…I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to forgive you but I'm willing to try…"

"You can't believe how much I've missed you Alex, it's so good to have you back…"

Alex escaped from his mother's embrace and looked away from Claire, Tess and Nick to wipe away the tears.

"Shall we go and sit down." He then said "I'm starving…after all I've been the only one here today that has done some real work…" That got him a pinch in the arm from Claire.

They all took their seats and ordered. Then the conversation of course turned to Claire and the baby. Liz was desperate to know all about it.

"So Claire, you didn't answer my question yesterday…is the baby Alex's? Will I be a grandmother soon?"

"Muuuum…" Alex wasn't really happy with the way his mother questioned Claire. He guessed that some things would never change.

"It's ok Alex…" Claire jumped in, "she has a right to know I guess…Yes Liz, Alex is the father of my child and that will make you a grandmother soon…"

"Oh that's wonderful Claire! I'm so happy for you! My first grandchild…"

The rest of the evening went by without any more embarrassing questions. They had a lovely dinner and Alex told Liz about what he had done since he came to the city. They also told Liz about their plan of driving all back together on Saturday. Liz disappointment was clearly visible on her face. She had hoped to have her sons for a little longer now that they were all in the same city but she also understood why Claire wanted to go home as soon as possible. So she only told them to drive carefully and tell her when they had arrived.

When the evening was finished they all said goodbye at the restaurant with the promise to stay in contact. Tess and Nick wanted to drive to their hotel right away and Claire wanted to get out of her shoes and put her feet up as soon as possible so Alex had promised to take her home right away. Liz gave everyone but Tess a huge hug and left to go home herself.

"What an evening…" Claire said as she hugged her sister and Nick goodbye and climbed in Alex's car…

44

When they came back to Alex's apartment Claire kicked of her shoes and went straight to the bathroom. The shoes had been flat but still not very comfortable and her feet were awfully swollen once more. When she was finished in the bathroom she sat down on the bed and let herself slide back. "I'm dead…that day really killed me!" she said to Alex, who was standing in the doorframe. "My back is killing me and I can't feel my feet anymore!" she closed her eyes.

"Want a massage? I'm known to be good at that…"

"I really don't wanna know who told you that Ryan but I could really use a massage right now…"

Alex walked over to Claire who had sat up again and started massaging her back. But it didn't really go the way he wanted to.

"Claire…umm…maybe it would be better if you would take your dress off…not that I wanna do anything indecent…umm…the massage would…"

"Jeez Alex, spit it out! But I know what you mean…" Claire got up and took her dress off with Alex helping her unzip. When she stood in front of him only in her underwear Alex had to hold himself back not to turn her around and kiss her. But he had promised nothing indecent and a kiss would have surely led to that. "Get on the bed Claire…" he said instead and she did just that.

Being as tired as she was, Claire fell asleep during Alex's massage. He gently kissed her on the head and on her stomach, undressed himself as well and slipped into bed behind her. He knew exactly what he had would be doing in his lunch break tomorrow. He'd be getting a ring for her. He wanted her to be his wife more than anything else. It was the right thing to do because he loved her and she was carrying his child. A warm feeling spread out all over his body. This time last week he had felt like a lost soul and now he was the luckiest man on earth because Claire was back in his life. Those were his last thoughts before he faded into a deep, content sleep.

The next day Alex couldn't wait for his lunch break. He knew he didn't have much time but he really didn't need it anyway. He knew exactly what kind of ring he wanted to get for Claire and he knew there was a jeweller not too far away. So now it only needed to be 12 so he could go…

When the time had finally come he jumped up and practically ran from the building. Once he reached the jeweller he had a quick look at the displays outside and saw a ring there that would be perfect for Claire. Simple and classy, just like Claire herself. So he got inside and bought the ring. He didn't care how expensive it was, that ring had Claire written all over it. She hadn't gotten an engagement ring the first time, only her wedding bend, so money really didn't matter.

When he walked back into his office 45 minutes later he had the biggest grin ever on his face. He had decided to propose the next day at his birthday party. With all those people around Claire really couldn't say no!

"Did you win the lottery or what put that smile one your face, Alex?" He looked up from the small box in his hands. He had almost knocked Karen over looking at it.

"Better than winning the lottery…" and let Karen have a look at the ring.

"Wow! That looks expensive…"

"Oh it was but that doesn't matter, it's so Claire! I can't wait till you meet her…" Alex had wondered where to hide the ring so Claire wouldn't find it but now he knew. "Karen, could you do me a favour and keep that for me? I wanna ask Claire at the party tomorrow and I don't want her to find the ring before that…"

"Sure Alex. I'll put it in the safe in my office. Just let me know when you need it tomorrow."

"Thanks." Alex said and handed Karen the velvet box. That was done. Now Claire only needed to say yes…

45

Claire was on the couch in Alex's apartment with her feet up reading a magazine she had bought the day before. There was a nice smell making its way into the living room and Claire could hear her sister and Nick laughing in the kitchen. There were definitely some good sides of having Tess around. And one of them was that unlike her her sister was a great cook. They once again had spent most of the day together but today had been a day of relaxing and laziness. Tess had helped Claire to put the finishing touches on her birthday present for Alex. The ultrasound picture had gotten a nice surrounding and was now in its frame and put away at the bottom of Claire's bag. She was planning on giving it to Alex first thing in the morning and couldn't wait to see his face. She knew he loved to feel the baby move so seeing his child for the first time would just push him over the edge. Claire had felt exactly the same.

"Claire? Do you know if Alex has a dipper somewhere?" Tess shouted from the kitchen.

"There must be one somewhere. We used it the other day for the pasta sauce. Try the third drawer from left…" Claire chuckled as she thought about her disaster with the pasta sauce. But cleaning it up afterwards had sure been fun…

"Found it!"

Claire sighed and got up. When Tess was looking for a dipper it was probably time to set the table. She looked on her watch. Alex was late today. He probably had to sort out a ton of things at work since tomorrow was his last day. Then they had all Friday to recover from Alex's birthday party and pack all the things together he wanted to take home right away. They hadn't talked about living arrangements yet because Claire knew she still had to tell Alex about their marriage. Nick had offered him to stay at Wilgul for as long as he wanted but Claire's news could change everything. She had mentioned to Tess though that it might be possible that Alex would be moving in on Drovers. So Tess had offered to move her things to the downstairs bedroom if Alex really moved in to give the young family their space. Claire gladly accepted the offer and prayed that Alex would take the news about the marriage well. She knew she should have told him right away but the time never seemed right and now it was getting harder and harder with each day that passed. But Claire had decided to tell Alex after his birthday and farewell party. She didn't want to ruin that for him in case he wasn't happy about it.

Alex came home almost an hour later than he had done all the previous days. First he had had to much to do then he had to wait for Karen to talk about the party the next day and if there was anything that still needed to be done. But now he was and having dinner with Claire, Nick and Tess. He was glad Tess had cooked with Nick's help. Not that he hadn't appreciated Claire's effort the other day but she was the world's worst cook…

Then his thoughts drifted off to that little velvet box in Karen's safe and he automatically got that broad smile again all over his face…

"Hey Ryan, don't tell me you're not hungry today…" Claire's words took Alex back into the real world.

"Get away Claire, when have I ever been not hungry…" He quickly said so she wouldn't get suspicious.

"Well, you haven't touched anything on your plate yet. It's really not all that bad, you know?"

"Claire!" Alex could see Tess's offended look.

"Ok, ok, your food is really delicious Tess and thanks for cooking…"

Later that evening after their siblings had left and Claire and Alex had gotten to bed they were in each others arms once more just enjoying being together. Alex wanted to do so much more with Claire but now was not the time. He had to ask her to marry him first. For once he wanted to get it right. To distract his thoughts from all the things he had mind for them he asked Claire if she had picked any names for the baby yet.

"Not really" was her answer "I think I have to see the baby first. Are there any names you like?"

"Well, Alexander or Alexandra would be nice…" he said winking at her.

"Forget it!"

"Why? They're good names…"

"Just because!"

"Well, we'll have to call our baby something till we agree on a name…Hey McLeod, how about BOM?"

"Yeah, BOM…Baby of McLeod…"

"Oh Alex…"she punched him but knew he was right. And BOM wasn't such a bad idea…at least until she found a name.

"Claire?"

She could feel his body tighten up next to her.

"What?"

"You know, I haven't really told you this in a long time but…I love you, you know?"

Claire looked up and her eyes met Alex's. "I know Alex, I love you, too. I think I've loved you all these years no matter what happened back then or ever since…" Alex closed the gap between them and gently kissed Claire. Now he was sure she would say yes tomorrow…