50

After Claire and Alex had left the conference room together the silence suddenly broke into a common mumble. Everybody wanted to know what was going on. Alex had never talked about a girlfriend so it had been quite a surprise when they all found out about the baby. But now he seemed to be married! Grand discussions and speculations about what could have happened started.

When Claire and Alex walked back into the conference room holding each other tight the room went silent in a heartbeat once more. Everybody looked at them expecting to hear some sort of explanation. Alex smiled "What kind of a party is that when nobody's talking or dancing? It's my birthday and I wanna dance…with my wife!" He added and kissed Claire. He knew everybody in the room was waiting for him to make an announcement but he wasn't ready to give in just yet. This was way too much fun! So he walked over to the CD player, looked for a slow song to put on and finally went back to Claire. "May I have this dance Claire?" She just smiled at him and nodded so Alex took her hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor swaying her in his arms. Claire moved as close to him as her baby bump would allow and rested her head on Alex's shoulder.

The whole room just watched the couple dance, still in silence. Then the mumbling started again. Tess and Nick looked at each other, both not knowing what the hell was going on with their siblings. Here they were and thought they knew everything about them and now it looked like Claire and Alex had been hiding something as big as a marriage for quite a while. "You wanna dance, too? I don't think we'll get an appropriate answer out of them right now anyway…" Nick asked Tess and she agreed. When they were on the dance floor with Claire and Alex more and more people joined them and everything looked the way it had before Alex's proposal.

The rest of the evening passed without any more embarrassing moments and one by one Alex's colleagues and friends left until there were only Karen, Nick and Tess and of course Claire and Alex left. Silence filled the room. Nick and Tess didn't know if Alex wanted to talk about everything in front of Karen and Karen wasn't sure where to start. She was the only one of Alex's colleagues who knew about what had happened. Finally she pulled her courage together and asked "Umm, Alex…now that everybody's gone…don't you think you've got some explaining to do? Not that I'm nosy or anything but you two left a lot of surprised people when you left the room and came back without an explanation." Karen looked at Nick and Tess who were sitting next to each other and added "And from the look at your siblings I can tell they don't have a clue either…so spill the beans! What is that about that marriage thing?"

Alex and Claire looked at each other. They knew they would have to explain it at one point anyway so they sighed and Alex said "Ok, let's sit down together then. I guess you have a right to know anyway…"

"Oh yes!" Tess enforced. So they all moved a couple chairs together and sat down. Alex knew Claire wouldn't be comfortable telling the story so he spoke up "Ok, where do I start?"

"How about the beginning?" Tess suggested but just lifted her hands in excuse when Claire shot her a look.

"That's the problem Tess" Alex continued "there is no real beginning to this. I've known Claire all my life and as far as I'm concerned I think I've been in love with her ever since I first saw her…" Claire nodded in agreement. "So this is not easy…all right I think I know where I'll start, at the rodeo…" And Alex told 3 surprised people the story of how Claire had gotten pregnant, their decision to marry, the miscarriage and the annulment that they now knew never happened, how they had separated and slowly become friends again. He told them about what had happened after he had found out about Harry and finished with how Claire had found the annulment papers and how she had gone to find him. He ended the story with "This is it, now you know everything…" and squeezed Claire's hand tightly. Their gazes locked and he leaned over and kissed her. Then he turned back to the 3 people in front of him. It seemed like they were all lost for words. It was Tess who then asked the question that they probably all had on their mind.

"And what happens next? I mean…do you plan on carrying on your marriage…think about divorce…I don't think you can still annul a marriage after such a long time…will you move into Drovers run with us now…Jeez, I missed my sister's wedding! Do you plan on remarrying or anything?" Once Tess had started there was no stopping her, the words seemed to just well out of her with no sign of an end. Claire had tried to say something a couple times but never got a word. When Tess stopped for a second now to breathe in she took her chance. "Tess…how are we supposed to answer any questions when you keep going like this?"

"You see Claire, there's just so much on my mind right now…"

"I know, but would you let us explain…"

"Ok, ok, I'll shut up…" Tess looked at Nick for support but he was still digesting what his brother had told him.

"Ok, here's what we've decided…well, not really decided but it's what I think we both kind of agreed on…We will continue this marriage…after all I'm pregnant and Alex asked me to marry him again so it would be a stupid thing not to do it, right?" she looked at Alex and he nodded in agreement and went on "As far as the living arrangements are concerned…I know you suggested I move into Wilgul with you Nick but…I think if Claire wants me to be there I'd rather live on Drovers with her and our baby. She'd never live anywhere else and we're married so…" This time it was Claire that nodded and said "Of course I want you there with me…" They kissed again. That was solved then.

"What about remarrying? I mean…you never gave anybody a chance to be at your wedding…it would only be fair if you decided to have another ceremony…" Tess asked.

"Let me have this baby first, Tess, then we'll see…" was all Claire could give her at the moment. She didn't wanna go into endless discussions about the if, when, where with Tess. At least not right now. All she wanted was to go home to Alex's apartment and be alone with him…

"You're sure full of surprises Alex Ryan!" They had all forgotten about Karen a little who was still sitting there next to Nick and Tess. "I thought I got to know you quite well these past 8 months but I would have never expected that!"

"Believe me Karen, I know Alex my whole life but that's news to me as well!" Nick interrupted her shaking his head.

Karen smiled at Nick understanding what he felt like and added "But I guess it's a good thing so…Congratulations! On everything!" she went over and hugged first Alex then Claire. "Well, I think it's all time for us to go home now…I got a long work day tomorrow…" They all agreed and packed all of Alex's birthday presents together and left the building. Karen was the first to leave with Alex promising her they'd stay in touch. The remaining four put all the things in Alex's car and set a time they'd meet again the next day to pack together what Alex wanted to take home with him.

51

Trying to unlock the door to his apartment Alex looked down on Claire who was nestled in his arms leaning her head against his shoulder. It was past midnight and way past their bedtime. And the events of the evening had exhausted them even more. "Claire…" Alex asked.

"Hmm?"

"Claire, I can't open the door with you in my arms, sorry…"

"Oh…" she said and lifted her head off his shoulder, kissing him on the cheek and getting out of his embrace.

Alex finally opened the door and let them inside. He put his briefcase down on the floor while Claire headed straight for the couch.

"Finally…" she said as she put her feet up. Although she had been sitting most of the evening her feet were still swollen heavily. "This feels SO good!"

"What?" Alex had walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Putting my feet up…and resting my back! I can't wait till this baby is finally out and everything's back to normal…" Alex started feeling a little guilty again. He was the one that had put her in this situation.

"Sorry Claire…"

"Oh Alex, don't start that again! It was both of us, remember? And we can't change it now and I actually don't want to. Let me just moan a little here while you go down and get the rest of the stuff, ok?"

"Ok boss!" he winked at her and placed another kiss on her forehead and then left again to get his birthday presents from the car.

When he came back he found Claire sound asleep on the couch, already lost in her dreams. So he decided to put the presents away first and then change into something comfier. He stripped down to his boxers and then decided to wake Claire up and get her to bed. If he let her sleep on the couch her back would only be a lot worse in the morning.

So he went back into the living room and lowered himself on the floor next to Claire.

'God she's beautiful…' he thought and then 'We're married…she's my wife!' He felt that warm feeling making its way through his body again like it had earlier. Alex leaned forward and gently kissed her to wake her up again.

Claire shifted a little on the couch and muttered "Oh Alex…" against his lips. She was still not fully awake but at the sound of her words Alex couldn't help but deepen the kiss. Claire was now kissing him back, completely awake and aware of what's going on. She ran her hands through his hair pulling him closer and closer to her. Claire moved a little making space for Alex to sit down next to her then their lips were locked again losing all track of time.

Suddenly Alex broke away from Claire and sat up catching his breath.

"I've got to stop this Claire…" he said with a breathless voice. "If we don't stop I can't guarantee for anything…"

"But I don't want you to stop…" Claire tried to pull him back down.

"Claire…I can't…" His hands cupped her face while his thumbs started rubbing her cheeks.

"Why? What's up? Don't you want it?"
"I want you more than anything Claire but…"
"Then what's the matter Alex? We're married, we're allowed to do this!" Claire put her right hand on Alex's left hand and looked him deep in the eye.

"Claire, it's not that…I...you're pregnant…"
"I know…and?"
"Well…I don't wanna hurt the baby…"

Claire couldn't help but laugh out loud. Here he was, Alex Ryan, wanting a woman but not wanting her at the same time.

"Alex, the baby will be fine, she'll love it that her parents are back together…"

"Are you sure?" he wasn't convinced just yet.

"Come on Ryan, trust me just this once, ok? I've read all about it…it's no problem to have sex while you're pregnant…"

"Guess I haven't reached that chapter yet then…" he mumbled.

"You're reading a book?" Claire was surprised.

"Well, I thought…it's always good to know what's going on…" he looked a little lost not really knowing what to say. The root rat Alex Ryan was reading a book about pregnancy…with a pregnant wife lying next to him…

Claire released him from his thoughts by sitting up too and kissing him again. "I love you, you know that?" She smiled and added "And now's not the time for talking…" She looked him deep in the eyes again, put her hands on his face and kissed him again, this time more passionate than before. He kissed her back with all his heart as her hands moved from his face to his bare chest pulling him as close to her body as she could.

"Claire…" was all Alex could say and they got off the couch and moved slowly towards the bedroom together, kissing all the time. Alex fumbled with the zipper of Claire's dress and finally it fell on the floor. For the first time he was rubbing the bare skin of her belly.

Claire suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Not because Alex had his hands on her tummy but because of the rather unsexy underwear she was wearing.

Alex felt her tension up in his arms and he got away from Claire.

"What's wrong? We can still stop this if it's not right for you?"

"No! It's just…that pregnancy underwear…it's not…you know…"

Alex smiled. "Oh Claire, I honestly don't care what your underwear looks like right now as long as you're in it…or rather out of it…" he winked at her and bent down to place kisses all over her stomach and Claire felt relieved. She pulled Alex up again and led him to the bed. She wanted him…NOW!

They removed the rest of their underwear and then there was no stopping them. Alex was as gentle as he could be still afraid to hurt the baby and Claire felt like she was in heaven…

Afterwards they crawled under the sheets and Claire curled up in Alex's arms. They were both exhausted but satisfied and content.

"Wow Claire…that was…wow!" Alex kissed her on the head.

"Well, you weren't too bad yourself Mr Ryan…"

"Thanks Mrs Ryan…" That sounded good…at least to Alex!

"I'm NOT Mrs Ryan…I would feel like your Mum!" Claire started shaking "Nope, I'll definitely NEVER be Mrs Ryan!"

"So tell me then, since we are married what is your name?"

"McLeod…Tess and I are the last McLeods, we gotta keep the name alive…" Alex could hear she was serious about that and then she added "You could change your name to McLeod…Alex McLeod, doesn't sound too bad…"

"Get away Claire, I'm glad I know who I am now, don't need any more name confusions…"

"Ok, ok, was just a thought…maybe, just maybe I might add a little Ryan to my name…"

"What you mean…maybe?" Alex started tickling Claire "You WILL add Ryan and that's that!"

"Make me!" Claire said and looked Alex in the eyes. He could see passion rising in them again.

"You trying to seduce me McLeod?" He liked that thought.

"Well, try and find out…"

They didn't get much sleep that night…

52

Nick and Tess drove back to their hotel in silence. Both of them were still trying to fully understand what their siblings had just told them. It had always been obvious that Claire and Alex had a special connection but who would have thought it was something as big as a marriage!

"I still can't believe it…" Tess finally broke the silence. "They're married…husband and wife! That's…that's…I really don't know what to say…"

"I know what you mean, Tess. I've known them all my life but I would have never expected something like that!" Nick shook his head. Unbelievable! "I thought I knew everything about Alex, the way he is, how his mind works but here I am…totally clueless…" Nick felt a bit left out with Claire and Alex now being so close. He had always been good friends with Claire, he had always known he could tell her anything and she wouldn't judge him. And Alex was his brother! They fought with each other, always trying to be better than the respective other but deep down inside they had always been as close as they could be. And now he had to find out that the two people closest to him had been hiding a huge secret all these years. It didn't matter that they hadn't known they were still married, it was the fact they hadn't told him in the first place that hurt the most.

"Nick, what's going on? You look…well…lost a little..." Tess broke into Nick's thoughts.

"Nothing, really, I mean…I don't know, Tess, am I stupid for being jealous of them?"

"Why are you jealous?" Tess didn't really know what he wanted to tell her. She had always thought although Harry and Jack had made all those plans of getting Nick and Claire together that it had always only been friendship between the two. Had she been wrong? Carefully she asked "Does this have something to do with the fact you were supposed to marry Claire?"

"What? No! Where did you get that from?" They had arrived at the hotel now and were still sitting in the car.

"I don't know, Claire once told me you two were supposed to get married. I thought you didn't feel anything for her but now you tell me you're jealous…"

"Tess, I'm not jealous of Alex for having married Claire, I'm jealous of what they have…they're my best friends and I feel like I've lost them…they've been hiding this from me all those years! I thought they trusted me!"

"Oh Nick, I'm sorry…I know I'm shocked by what they told us but…I wasn't here back when it happened so this is just weird news for me. I never thought about how this must be for you…" Tess felt sorry for Nick. She could understand his feelings but she didn't really know what she could do to make him feel better.
"Nick, I know it's late…but maybe you'd like to join me for a cup of coffee and we talk about it…maybe it'll help…" She really hoped he would say yes. She didn't really wanna be alone at the moment, she wanted to have someone to talk to.

Nick smiled "Same old Tess, huh? Talking will cure everything…but maybe you're right. I don't think I can sleep anyway…so, where to?"

"Since I don't think the bar's still open…my room?"

"Ok, your room it is then…"

They got out of the car and made their way up to Tess's room in silence. Once inside Tess went to make them two sups of coffee while Nick sat down in the arm chair by the window and looked out into the night.

When Tess came back with the cups he was again miles away, lost in his thoughts. "Nick?" she carefully asked.

"Oh Tess…ah, that coffee smells good."

Tess handed him one of the cups and said "So do you wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know where to start…It feels kinda stupid to be jealous when I should be happy for them. They love each other and are expecting a baby, they would have married one day anyway…"

"Yeah, but this is different, they've been married for 10 years...why don't you start at the beginning? Your childhood with the two…I wasn't there so I don't know much about that. Only what you and Claire told me…"

"You really wanna hear that? Well, ok then…" And Nick told her about how Alex and him had met Claire for the first time, the tricks they had played on each other, how they had become best friends. He told her about how his rodeo accident had changed his and Alex's relationship and how that had gotten Claire and Alex closer together. Maybe that had been the start of their love for each other. He told her about how he had watched Claire and Alex get closer and closer and then all of a sudden not speaking a word with the other. Now he knew that was the time that Claire had lost the baby and had asked Alex for the annulment of their marriage but back then he couldn't figure out what was wrong. But it somehow brought him and Alex closer together again and his friendship with Claire deepened too. It took a while till Alex and Claire would act normally again round each other but it slowly happened and everything got back to the way it had been when they were kids. Best of friends, always there for each other.

"And now I've lost that again…" he finished looking even more lost than he had before. Tess had been quiet mostly, only asking a few questions here and there when he didn't know how to go on. But now she spoke up "No Nick, you haven't lost them. It'll just be different. Relationships change…even those of brothers and best friends" She got up from where she had been sitting on the bed and got down next to him so she could look him in the eye. "And you'll always have a friend in me. You know that, don't you?" she said taking his hands.

"But how am I supposed to ever trust them again when I can't be sure if they trust me?"

"Because they're still same old Claire and Alex…they never talk about their feelings, never have. And this is all about that, isn't it? They won't change just because they're married. They'll still need you and me and all the help we can give them…"
Nick smiled, Tess was right. It might not be like it was when they were kids, when everything was perfect but they were still his best friends. And he now knew he could always go to Tess as well. It felt so good, so safe talking to her. He didn't know why but he could tell her anything.

"Thanks Tess, that really helped…"

"What, the coffee or the talk?" she asked with a wink "You're welcome. Somehow we're both in a similar situation so we should stick together right?"

"Yeah, we should…jeez it's late! I think I should get back to my own room…" Nick got up not really wanting to leave but he knew it was the right thing to do. Tess nodded and walked him to the door of her room where they stopped.

"Thank you for being such a great listener, Tess. Good night."

Tess looked up and realized how close they were standing together. Her heart started racing. "Night Nick…" she whispered as she saw his face move closer and closer and finally felt his lips on hers. It was a soft kiss, not demanding. More like a good night kiss. But it felt so good…

Nick left without another word and left a dizzy and confused Tess behind. What did he want to tell her by kissing her? Was it just a good night kiss for a friend or much more?

53

Alex woke up to the annoying sound of the doorbell ringing. He turned slightly and tried to free his arm because Claire had rested her head on it, still sound asleep. They both hadn't found any sleep till the sun already began to rise so it was a miracle one of them had woken up to the doorbell. 'Damn it! Where are my boxers?' Alex thought. Him and Claire were still wearing nothing but their smiles but he had to get to the door now. He knew who was waiting at the door so boxers would be enough.

"You know Al…if you want us to help, you gotta let us in…" Nick greeted his brother as Alex opened the door and Tess added "Wow Alex…nice outfit!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, we overslept…actually Claire is still asleep. Have you had breakfast yet? I'm starving!" Alex walked past his brother and sister-in-law into the kitchen. There wasn't much left in there again because they would be leaving tomorrow but it was enough to fix himself a sandwich. "Want one?" He asked Nick and Tess when he came back into the living room. They had sat down on the couch waiting for Alex.

"Nah thanks, we already had something to eat at the hotel…so where do we start?" Tess wanted to know.

"Living room, then Claire can sleep a little longer…"

"Why is she asleep at that time of day anyway? That doesn't sound like the Claire I know…" Tess looked on her watch. It was already 10 in the morning. Alex just answered her with a huge grin on his face and Tess commented "Let me guess…I don't wanna know the details…"

They started packing Alex's stuff in boxes as quietly as they could to not wake Claire up. Being so close to her due date none of them wanted her to help so she would have been in the way anyway. About an hour after they had started a still sleepy Claire emerged from the bedroom wearing one of Alex's shirts.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she said rubbing her eyes. Tess was the only one in the living room at that time, the Ryan brothers were carrying boxes down to Alex's car. He still drove his black ute so they could fit quite a few things inside.

"Alex said he wore you out last night and you needed the sleep…" Tess said without looking up, trying to hide her smile.

"He said WHAT? I'm gonna kill him!" Claire was fuming up, how could he?

"Calm down Claire" Tess now looked up with a huge grin on her face "I was only winding you up! He didn't say anything. But he opened the door in his boxers so I put 2 and 2 together…plus you look like you're glowing today…"

"I do?" Claire tried to catch her reflection in one of the windows. "Oh…" she sat down on the couch.

Just then Alex and Nick came back from outside.

"Look who we have here…Mrs Ryan…" Nick said and winked at her.

"McLeod-Ryan" Claire corrected him and added "and that's not even the final decision…"

Nick looked amused at his big brother. "She bossing you around already, huh?"

"Always Nick, always!" Alex replied and went over to give Claire a good morning kiss.

"Don't you have enough after last night?" Tess rolled her eyes.

"Never…"Alex muttered. "Never!" but Nick brought him back to reality real quick.

"Hey you two, have you decided how to tell Mum the good news?"

Claire and Alex parted and looked at each other. They both hadn't thought about telling anyone. The two most important people knew.

"I probably should also tell Bryce. I told him I wanted to propose but now…" Alex said to Claire.

"Yeah, you should…"

"I don't wanna do it on the phone though, especially not Bryce…I could live without Mum's reaction though…" Alex rolled his eyes. He wasn't exactly sure how Liz would take the news but he knew Bryce would be happy for him.

"You think we could tell them together…I mean…I don't know if they've met since…you know…"

"You mean since their affair? Yes, they have met, Bryce told me Mum visited him a couple of times telling him about me. And it might be a good idea to tell them together. We only have to explain it once and Mum might not explode as much with Bryce around…I should call them."

They had agreed not to go out for dinner because they thought a public place was not the best to tell something like that. Instead they had invited Bryce and Liz to have a farewell dinner in Alex's apartment with Tess and Nick as backup. Both of Alex's parents had agreed to come and now that everything Alex wanted to take home was neatly packed and stored in the cars and Tess and Nick had cooked them all a nice dinner the only two missing were Bryce and Liz. With every passing minute Claire and Alex got more nervous while Tess and Nick got more amused about their older siblings.

Tess was sitting on the bed while Claire was walking from around checking her appearance every 5 seconds.

"Stop pacing around like there's a swarm of bees behind you Claire!" Tess told her sister. "You're making me dizzy!"

"I'm nervous Tess! How do you tell your mother-in-law she's been that for 10 years without knowing?"

"I don't know Claire, but you and Alex created that mess, now you've got to get yourself out there again…"
"You're no big help there…"

Out on the balcony Alex and Nick had a similar conversation when finally the door bell rang. "Here we go!" Nick said and Alex looked at him "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck Al…Lord knows you'll need it!"

Alex and Claire met in the living room and looked in each others eyes. Then they nodded and went to open the door together…