A/N: As I promised cloloveswah that I would update by Friday, here is another chapter. I hope you guys like it! Thanks go out to c8linWAH, katy1986, wildatheartfan, RaxAtHeart and cloloveswah for reviewing the last chapter. :) You guys are the best!
When they got back home, Danny was the first to shout the news to the eagerly awaiting family.
"It's a girl!" he told them, bursting into the living room where Caroline and Dup sat going over the books and finances.
"Way to steal the limelight, Trevanian," Dup said, looking up as Rosie stood behind her father with her mouth open. It was true, she had wanted to tell everyone herself that she and Max were having a girl, but it was a bit late now.
Alice, closely followed by Charlotte, ran in out of breath after hearing the car pull up outside the house from the clinic, where she had been keeping an eye on the kids one of the locals had dropped in. "What'd I miss?"
Before Danny could say something again, Rosie turned around and exclaimed, "We're having a girl!"
"Oh!" Alice cried, pulling Rosie into a hug filled with laughter and excitement. Danny was soon scooping them into his arms, whilst Dup and Caroline congratulated Max.
Rosie had to slip out from under Danny's arm to have her hug with Caroline and get pulled into Dup's arms, not relishing the scent of stale beer surrounding him. Charlotte stood nervously in front of Danny and Alice, smiling at Rosie and announcing that it would be exciting to be an aunt before she was even a teenager.
"We're going to go and tell Liv," Rosie said, smiling at her family.
Danny nodded, "See you later."
As Rosie and Max left, they heard Charlotte petulantly ask, "Can you take me into the Bush now, Dup? You said you'd show me the cave."
"Alright, kiddo, a deal's a deal. We heard the news, now we can go."
"That'll be our girl one day," Max told Rosie, looking back to see Charlotte come skipping out the house with DuPlessis trailing behind.
Max drove into the township, the journey seeming to take no time at all. Pulling up outside Fatani's Bar, they hopped down from the jeep and Rosie practically skipped inside, swinging her and Matt's intertwined hands between them.
"So…" Liv asked, leaning forwards over the bar with a wide smile as she set down the glass she'd been cleaning.
Excitement spilling out of her, Rosie practically shouted, "It's a girl!"
Squealing, Liv dashed out from round the bar and joined Rosie in a hug that involved lots of jumping about.
Fatani and Max looked on, seeming amused by the two girls reverting to their teenage years.
"I'm happy for you both," Fatani said, his emotions perhaps more masked than Olivia's had been.
It would have been awkward, for Rosie at least, had Fatani given a warmer reaction given that not long after they had first met, he had admitted having feelings for her. Rosie still felt weird when she thought about that.
"Thanks mate," Max replied to Fatani, as Liv promised Rosie that they would be at Leopard's Den as soon as they could that evening to celebrate.
Rosie nodded and allowed them both to get back to work.
When she and Max returned to Leopard's Den, they found both Danny and Alice in the barn watching the two goat kids prancing about and playing games. Alice giggled occasionally whilst Danny smiled.
"You've got to see these fellas, Rosie," Danny said.
Rosie wandered over and stood beside her father, who lovingly wrapped an arm behind her back, looking on as one of the two kids jumped on top of a bale of hay and bleated. She couldn't help laughing; it was just too cute.
"Shame these two are going back tomorrow, eh?" Alice commented. "Leopard's Den really would have been bursting with life with these two kidding around."
"That was such a bad joke," Max chuckled from behind them all.
"I'd like to see you do better," Alice replied.
"You're on."
Rosie groaned. She'd heard enough of Max's bad jokes to last a lifetime.
"What do you call a goat's beard?"
"Goatee," Danny answered. "Heard it before."
"Alright, how about this one? Why can't goats eat round bales of hay?"
Alice and Danny both shrugged.
"Because they're used to three square meals a day!" Max exclaimed, delivering what had to be the worst punch line in the world.
"Come on, we're going before you can exhaust your jokes bank," Rosie said, pulling Max out of the barn and back towards the house.
"You know you love my jokes really," he remarked, walking alongside her.
Rosie didn't get a chance to answer, as Dup and Charlotte came into view, walking on foot.
"How was the Bush, Charlotte?" Max shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.
She ran over, her face alit with joy and excitement.
"It was the best," she enthused. "We saw loads of birds, vultures and everything, and Dup showed me the special plants that grow here and taught me about animal tracks. I tracked a zebra," she said proudly.
Looking impressed, Max replied, "Well it sure sounds like you had fun."
"Yeah, where's Mum?"
"She's in the barn with Dad," Rosie answered, and Charlotte took off running again.
Dup staggered towards them, looking haggard and tired with the rifle slung over his shoulder and using his hat as a fan, beating air against his red face.
"That is the last time I take her into the Bush," he declared. "I won't survive it the next time."
"Dup?"
"She made me run practically the whole way back. I'm not old, but I'm not young either!" Muttering to himself, he stomped up the steps and into the house. He was half-asleep in his favourite chair by the time Rosie and Max got inside.
They stopped in the kitchen, where Max poured out two glasses of water and handed one to Rosie.
"Max…while you're there, can you get me some more fried onion?"
He nodded and opened the fridge, pulling out the plastic box they had put yesterday's leftover fried onion in. It was one of Rosie's cravings, though it had to be the weirdest one in the world. Max didn't understand it at all. Fried onions were better than raw though, he supposed. Next, she would be begging for ice cream again, and they were all out. It was practically impossible to get ice cream unless you were in the city, but with her pregnancy hormones raging out of control, Rosie seemed to forget that fact, and it became almost impossible to reason with her.
"Thanks," she murmured as he placed the tub and a spoon in front of her. Immediately, she picked up the spoon and dug in, a hungry gleam in her eye.
Max made himself a cup of tea and sat at the table until Rosie pushed the empty tub away.
"I'll tell Nomsa to make some more tonight, shall I?"
"You're the best," Rosie whispered, nodding.
Max smiled and leaned down to kiss her.
A/N: Let me know what you think! ;)