78

It was Thursday morning and everybody was getting ready for the arrival of the first wedding guests. Bryce, Liz and Edna would be flying in today and Claire couldn't wait to see the old lady again. In the few times she'd met her she had really become like a grandmother to her and Claire wanted to show Edna the farm she was so proud of.

Alex was nervous because this would be the first time Bryce saw him where he grew up and he wanted his father to be proud of him. The other thing that made him nervous was that he didn't really know how Harry would react to Bryce's presence and how Liz would take the fact that Sandra was now living at Killarney. His whole family was a mess and for once in his life Alex wished he had as little family as Claire had.

Claire had been running around like a flushed chook all day trying to make sure Edna's room and everything else was all right. They had called her earlier in the week to ask if she preferred the downstairs bedroom Tess now had or if it would be all right to have the spare room upstairs, After Edna had insured them the spare room would be just fine for her Meg had cleaned it and put new sheets on the bed and flowers on the cabinet.

"Are they here yet?" Claire looked up from the rocking chair she sat in to feed Charlotte. Alex had just walked in the nursery and smiled on Claire's comment. It didn't happen often that his wife got nervous but she sure was now. He knew Edna meant a lot to Claire and she wanted the old lady to be proud of her home.

"Mum called about half an hour ago that they were still almost an hour away from Drovers so relax Claire, it'll still be a few minutes. Enough time to feed BOM and change her."

"I just want her to like it here…aren't you nervous about what Bryce will say?"

"A little, but I'm more nervous about Harry meeting Bryce and Mum meeting Sandra! I really don't know what will happen if those four meet at the same time!"

"Could be interesting for sure! How far is Meg with lunch?"

"Almost done, will be ready just in time for them…"

It was arranged that they'd all have lunch together on Drovers followed by a tour of the homestead. After that Bryce and Liz would drive back to their hotel in Gungellan while Edna would stay on Drovers.

Claire was just finished with feeding and changing Charlotte and walked down the stairs as she heard somebody honk outside.

"They're here!" she shouted and hurried down the rest of the stairs with the baby in her arms.

In the hallway she met Alex who had just come out of the kitchen.

"It's not like we didn't all hear the honking Claire…no need to shout!" he said to make his wife laugh but that backfired because Claire only shot him one of her famous looks and said "Shut up Ryan!" as she opened the front door to greet Edna, Bryce and Liz.

After the greetings were done they all sat down to have lunch together. Meg had prepared sandwiches and salads and everything was waiting to be eaten in the dining room.

"The place looks lovely Claire!" Liz said looking up from her plate. "When did you find the time to paint everything?"

"Oh, Tess did that while I was pregnant. We've had it for a while…" Claire replied. When Claire had been about 4 months pregnant Tess had finally been able to convince her that peeling paint that probably contained lead wasn't the best thing for a little child so Claire had agreed to have everything freshly painted.

After Liz had heard that it had been Tess's idea to paint the house Liz lost interest in it and started talking about the wedding and asked about what had been arranged and what still needed to be done.

After lunch it was time for the tour of the homestead. They started with the main house showing Edna her room and where Claire and Alex and Charlotte slept.

"I hope she won't wake you during the night Edna. She's not really sleeping through…" Claire said with an apologetic look.

"That's all right Claire. I'm not really sleeping through either and my hearing's not the best anymore so I should be fine. The house is really special by the way, I can understand why you love it so much…"

As they walked over to the stables so Claire could show off her horses Bryce took Alex to the side to have a little private talk.

"Alex, could we talk alone somewhere for a minute? There's something I need to tell you…"

"Sure…Claire, Bryce and I will be in the study for a minute…"

Claire nodded and Alex left her with Liz and Edna to do the rest of the tour. Tess had joined the others at work after lunch, glad to get away from Liz Ryan.

"You sound serious Bryce" Alex said as he and his father entered the study "Is everything ok?"

"Not exactly…Isabel and I have decided to file for divorce…or rather Isabel has decided but I think it's better that way…"

"Why? What happened?"

"I told them about you…"
"Oh…" that was something Alex hadn't expected. In all the time he had been in the city Bryce had never shown any intention to change something about the situation.
"But why now? Weren't you just trying to get everything back to normal?" Alex new Bryce and his wife had had problems in their marriage but it from what his father had told him it had always looked like they were trying to sort everything out.

"Well, I've thought about telling your sisters for a while now but what really helped me make my decision now was when I saw you and Ashley together last week. I think it was then I saw for the first time what I was actually putting you through…you know you have 3 sisters but you can't even contact them let alone let them know about your family." Bryce sighed at the thought of his granddaughter "And that was the second thing that got to me last week. When I was holding Charlotte in my arms I realized that I could never have a normal relationship with her if I wasn't honest to my family about you. So I told them all at our weekly family lunch on Sunday."
"What did they say? It must have been a shock for them…" Alex thought back to the day he had found out that Harry wasn't his father. How hurt he had been by all the lies he had been told all those years.

"Well, the girls took it pretty good I would say. It didn't take Ashley long to put two and two together and she directly asked me if you were my son. Lindsey and Jacqueline asked me for a picture of you and wanted to know what you did and where you lived. Isabel didn't say anything at first but after the girls had left she practically threw me out of my own house."

"I'm so sorry Bryce…" Alex felt for his father.

"It's not your fault Alex…you never asked to be in this world but you are and I'm not sorry for that. Yes, it was a mistake to have that affair with your mother and I can truly say I'm paying for that now. But I will never be sorry you are here because I really love you…you are my son and nothing can change that."

"Thank you Bryce…I guess I'm a lucky man to have two fathers now…where did you go after Isabel threw you out?"

"I stayed at a hotel. But now Liz has offered me to stay with her for a while and I think I might come back to that if it's ok with you…"

Alex was surprised once again. He new that his mother and Bryce were still getting along pretty well but was there more to this? How would Harry take that? But then again…Harry had Sandra now and Liz lived a long way away and deserved to be happy.

So Alex said "That's really up to you two Bryce, I have no saying in that…"

"Thank you son!" Bryce replied and Alex could see the relief on his face. "You know, the girls have asked me if they could meet you…I think Ashley told Lindsey and Jacqui all she knew about you. They're all curious now. But I told them it's up to you…I have Ashley's email address here. If you decide you want to meet them just contact her and she'll take care of everything. She also told me to say she really likes having an older brother and especially because it's you…"
Alex was overwhelmed by his feelings now. All the time he had been in Melbourne this was what he had always wanted besides meeting his father, to get to know his sisters.

"Would you tell them I would love to meet them and that I will contact Ashley as soon as this wedding is over and everything's back to normal?"

Bryce happily agreed and father and son hugged before they went back outside to join the others…

79

After Bryce and Liz had left again Edna excused herself to take a nap. The journey had made her tired and she joked about not being 18 anymore. Before she left to go upstairs she warned Claire that the two of them plus Alex would cook together that evening to give Meg a night off.

Now Claire was sitting in the study working on the books half heartedly trying to find a way to tell Edna politely that she wasn't too keen about cooking. She remembered her last cooking incident in Alex's apartment in Melbourne and shuddered. That had ended in a catastrophe…although the food hadn't tasted too bad and cleaning the kitchen afterwards had been quite funny…

"You got a minute?" Alex leaned in the doorway looking at his wife and daughter, who was placed in a crib beside the desk.

"Sure, I'm not really working anyway. Did you hear Edna saying she wants to cook with us?"

Alex laughed "Yeah, I heard that…she doesn't know what she's getting herself into! But that's not why I came…" He walked over to Claire and sat down on the desk opposite of her.

"What is it then? Bryce? Liz? Harry? Sandra?" Claire knew the tension between his parent parties had been bugging Alex's mind for most of the week.

"Bryce…sort of…he told his wife and daughters about me…"

"Wow! That's something I wouldn't have expected! How did they react, what did they say?"

"Well, his wife asked for a divorce…" Alex felt sorry for Bryce that his existence had ended his marriage.

"I'm sorry Alex…I hope he doesn't blame you!"

"No, no, he told me it would have probably ended anyway but I still feel kinda guilty…"
"Don't Alex, it's not your fault…" Claire rubbed his knee and looked him in the eyes "What did your sisters say?"

"Bryce said they were surprised. Ashley, the clever kid, must have gotten pretty quickly who he was talking about. I bet by now the other two know everything about me she knows…they wanna meet me…"

"And do you wanna meet them?"

"Yes…No…I don't know…what if they don't like me?"

"Oh Alex…Ashley really likes you! I could see that when I met her. And your other sisters will like you, too! Just meet them and you'll see! If you want me to come with you I will…I'll be by your side if you need me!"
"Thanks Claire…I will think about it, ok? Right now I just want this wedding to be over so we can go on with our lives and then we'll see…thanks for listening! I better go and check on the horses before we have to get in the kitchen with Edna…could be fun! Claire McLeod cooking…" Alex hopped off the desk after he had gotten a slap on his leg from Claire and left the study.

When it was time to cook dinner Edna came downstairs again looking for Claire and Alex. She found them in the study looking at some papers and smiled. They were a really nice couple and you could see how much they loved each other. It was only a pity neither of them knew how to be in a real family. From what she had guessed out of their stories both Claire and Alex never had a "normal" home so Edna had decided to help them a little so at least their sweet daughter would be able to grow up that way.

Edna knew she couldn't change Claire and she didn't want to she just wanted to add a few skills. And she'd start with the cooking today…

"Claire, Alex, are you ready for you first cooking lesson?"

"Edna..." Claire answered "I'm really not sure if I can do that…"

But Alex liked the thought of cooking together with Claire and he knew exactly how he could get her to do it. "Come on McLeod…since when do you not accept a challenge? Come on, let's see who is the better cook…you or me!"

That got to Claire as always. She loved to beat Alex…"Ok, bet is on! Let's see whose food they'll like better…yours or mine!"

2 hours later Claire and Alex were covered in flour but laughing as they put their first pie in the oven where the lamb roast was already waiting. A very pleased Edna sat at the kitchen table smiling at the sight of the young couple. She hadn't done much of the work, mostly she had only told Claire and Alex what to do and had given advice on how to do it.

"What do we do now?" Claire turned around and looked at Edna.

"Well, the lamb and the pie are in the oven, the vegetables are cooked and wait to be served, the salad is done as well…I would say we clean the kitchen and then you two should clean yourselves. Have you set the alarm like I told you?"

"Yep, all set and done…Come Claire, let's clean this mess up, shall we?"

Later when everybody was seated around the dinner table Claire and Alex proudly presented what they had cooked with Edna's help. They didn't fail to tell all the girls who had cooked what and that they needed to know what tasted better. In the end they all called it a draw but nobody complained about the taste of anything and Edna was once again pleased with herself and the result she had achieved. A few more lessons in the next few days and the two of them would be able to survive without the help of Meg or any other house keeper.

When Claire and Alex got ready for bed that night they still smiled about their cooking session with Edna.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Alex asked Claire as he slipped under the covers next to her.

"What, the cooking? Yeah, I have to admit we did have fun. And it didn't taste all that bad, did it?"

"No, we were good. Though I have to say my carrots were better than your peas…"
"They were not!"
"Were indeed! But anyway…who'd have thought…you and me were able to fix a proper dinner for everybody and nobody complained!"
"They better not!" Claire shouted out "It tasted great and I won't accept any other opinion!"

Alex laughed "What ya gonna do? Shoot them?"
"If necessary…"

Alex smiled. That was what he loved about Claire…dead serious about everything she did.

"I love you Claire, you know that?"

"Hey, where did that come from?"

"Do I hear a complain?"

Claire laughed. "I would never complain about you loving me because I feel just the same Mr Ryan…"

They kissed passionately and this time Alex didn't have a problem with somebody sleeping next door as he deepened the kiss…

80

Early Friday morning a courier arrived bringing the dresses and matching shoes for the bridesmaids to Drovers run. Since Claire and Alex were the only ones living on Drovers that didn't need to be there for the fitting the left their daughter in Edna's care and went out to do the few chores that needed to be done that day while the rest of the women in the house tried on their dresses.

Nobody but Tess knew what Claire and her had chosen regarding style and colour so it was a huge surprise as they opened each box.

The dresses were all the same dark blue but had a unique style that matched Claire's wedding dress and the personality of person who'd wear it. Claire and Tess had left photo's of each girl at the bridal shop along with the measurements so that Pat could design each dress with a personally touch.

Now the girls one by one put on their dresses to see if they fit and if something needed changing. Meg and Edna would both have a look and decide together what needed to be done. Thankfully it was not a lot and by the time Claire and Alex came back from doing the chores every dress was finished and fitted perfectly and it was time to get lunch ready.

Just as the evening before Edna insisted on preparing the meal with Claire's and Alex's help so they left Tess, Becky, Jodi and Meg in the living room and claimed the kitchen. Since Tess and Nick had talked their siblings into having a buck's and hen's night that evening it had been decided to have a cooked lunch and only snacks and sandwiches for dinner.

Once again Edna managed to make Claire and Alex do all the work while she supervised and gave orders all the while playing with Charlotte.

After lunch it was time for Alex to pack some things for the night and leave for Wilgul. It was agreed that the buck's night would be held there and Alex would spend the night with his brother and get ready for the wedding on Wilgul.

"Do I really have to go Claire?" Alex asked with a still empty bag in hands. "We are already married and even have a child together…what's the point in sleeping on Wilgul?"

Claire laughed at the face Alex pulled. He looked like a little boy who had just had his favourite toy take away from him. "Come on Alex, play nice. You know Tess wants to do everything as if it was our first wedding and after all we put her through she deserves that. So please…be a good husband and stay with your brother tonight."

Alex walked up to Claire and took her in his arms. "But I'll miss you…that night in Fisher alone in the hotel room was awful…"

"I know…I'll look like a vampire tomorrow as well if I have to get up alone every time Charlotte's awake…but we'll survive I guess, it's only one night…"

"I know…by the way, is it ok for you that we don't go on a honeymoon just yet? We never had one but with all the horses coming next week we wouldn't be able to go…"
"It's ok Alex, I think I'm too excited about the horses anyway to enjoy it."
"It's a good feeling, isn't it? To know all these horses are coming and we'll get our business back up…"

"It is! All the time you were gone I was so sad every time I saw the empty training area…"
"I'm sorry Claire…I don't think I thought about what my leaving would mean to you…"
"It's all right Alex, I always knew why you left and I have to say it really did you good to be on your own for a while…"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Alex said with acted indignation. He knew what Claire meant. He hadn't been the most reliable and responsible person before he had to take care of himself for the first time in his life.

"Well, just think about what you did to all the single girls in the district…" Claire said with a wink. "Now go and pack your bag…I'll say goodbye to you when you come down." She gave him a quick kiss and left the bedroom.

Neither Claire nor Alex had originally wanted a hen's or a buck's night but had been "convinced" by their siblings that it was absolutely necessary to have one.

Now Alex was on his way to Wilgul and really nervous about what would happen tonight. His buck's night was basically a family affair poker game which he liked but it also meant the first meet up of Bryce and Harry. Alex knew that Bryce was not a problem in this. The problem was Harry and his pigheaded mind that was not ready to forget what had happened in the past and move on. So his buck's night should be really interesting with both of his fathers in the same room.

When Alex arrived on Wilgul Nick had already set up the table for the poker game and chips and beer were waiting for the guests. Nick, Harry, Terry and Jake were already seated around the table and other than Alex the only ones missing were the new vet Dave and Bryce who had to drop Liz off on Drovers first.

"Hey, you already started without me?" Alex complained as he walked into the living room where Nick had set up the table.

"Not our fault if you're late…I said the party would start at six and now it's half past…" Nick replied smirking.

"Get away Nick! I'm the main person, how can you start without me?"

"Shut up, get yourself a beer and sit down Alex!"

15 minutes later both Bryce and Dave arrived at the same time and introduced themselves to each other before entering the house.

"Dave Brewer, I'm the new vet here…what's your excuse for being late?"
"Bryce Redstaff, and I guess you can say I'm one of Alex's fathers. I had to drop of his mother on Drovers run for the hen's night so that's a good excuse. What's yours?"

"Was on duty…so the groom has more than one father? Interesting!"

"Long story…shall we go inside?"

Inside Alex and Nick welcomed Dave and Bryce and introduced them to the other men. Harry only looked at Bryce and shook his hand but didn't say anything. Bryce was smart enough not to be hurt, he could imagine how hard it was for Harry to have to face him. Maybe a friendly poker game would help…

The evening went on but ever since Bryce had showed up there wasn't much talking on the table and even Dave's chattiness didn't help. All the men were waiting for a reaction of Harry who had been unnaturally quiet. Finally it was too much for Alex. He wanted his two fathers to get along, the situations was too hard on him as it was.

"Is this a party or a funeral? I bet the women at Drovers have more fun than we do here! Why don't you two take a break and sort things out outside?" he shouted in the direction of Harry and Bryce. "I know this situation is not easy for you but I can't stand this anymore! Go and hit yourself if you want to but sort it out!"

Harry and Bryce took a careful look at each other and left the room silently. Once outside they sat down still not talking. It was as neither of them wanted to be the first to speak. Finally Bryce was to the one to speak up first "Look Harry, we can make this hard for Alex and go on ignoring each other or we think about him for a second and try to get along for his sake. I would choose the later because I really care about him. I know it must have been really hard for you to find out you're not his father but I want you to know that I have no intention on taking Alex away from you. I think there's enough room for both of us in his life…"

Harry was silent for a few seconds after Bryce had finished and thought about what the other man had said. "All right, we should really try to be civil around each other for Alex's sake and for his family…" was all he said but offered Bryce his hand to seal their deal. Bryce took it and they went back inside.

"Everything sorted?" Alex wanted to know and Harry answered "Sure…let's get on with the game!"

The rest of the night went without any more awkward moments and everybody had a lot of fun so that Alex said at the end "Man, I really need a party room on Drovers or something! We have to do this more often!"

81

On Drovers Tess had planned a retro party for Claire's hen's night. Except for Liz and Edna everybody would dress up like 10 years ago when Claire and Alex had first gotten married and they'd play the music from back then Tess would mix all the "in" drinks she could remember.

It had taken her some convincing to get Claire to wear one of her leggings and a long pullover but with the help of Jodi and Becky she had succeeded and all the girls were now dressed in the style of the early 90s.

Tess wasn't looking forward to spending another evening with Liz Ryan but she knew she'd have to put up with her for Claire's sake. She was her mother-in-law and Charlotte's grandmother after all. If only she knew what she had done to that woman to deserve her rejection…

Through the open door to the veranda they heard a car pull up and shortly after that Liz walked into the living room.

"Good evening everybody! Have you already started the party without me?" she said and added after having a look around "Oh Claire, the decorations in here look lovely! I've brought us some of the good stuff!" with that she planted 2 bottles of champagne on the table with the drinks.

"Thanks Liz, Tess and the other girls did all the decorations…the whole party was their idea."

"Oh…thank you Tess then" was all Liz replied with a funny look at Tess.

Tess ignored the look and turned her usual chattiness on "Ok, let's get this party started…we'll have lots of fun games and a lot of dancing tonight…"

Claire watched Liz and the looks she gave Tess carefully. She didn't want any scenes tonight and really hoped that Liz would behave herself. After all Nick wasn't there…

Edna was comfortably seated in an arm chair and watched the young people play games and have fun. She really enjoyed being on Drovers Run, she hadn't had so much fun ever since she visited her son in the USA a few years back. It was like Claire and her family had given her a new life and something worth living for. And Charlotte was just the cutest baby she had ever seen.

After everybody but Claire had already had quite a few cocktails and glasses of Liz's champagne Tess suggested they should all do the limbo. Claire didn't look too happy at first but Tess and Jodi dragged her on the dance floor and forced her to join in.

"But I'm not that flexible!" She said. "I will land on my butt, you'll see…"

"That's the fun about it! Come on Claire, you'll love it!" Tess shouted and showed Claire what to do.

"I'll skip this one…" Liz said smiling from a safe distance and sat down next to Edna.

"Aren't those girls just lovely?" The elderly woman asked Liz with a huge smile.

"Oh, they certainly are…if only Tess could commit to things for longer than five minutes…she'll be back in the city in no time!"
"Tess? You really must be getting something wrong there Mrs Ryan. I don't think Tess will go back to the city any time soon. She just started her alpaca breeding programme and seems so excited about that. I don't think she would give that up. And she told me all about the organic business she had with your son. That sounds very promising, too."
As the word came to Nick and Tess's relationship to him Liz's body stiffened up and she mumbled "That girl has only caused trouble ever since she first came here…"

Edna didn't know if the younger woman had wanted her to hear that or if she'd thought that her hearing was already quite impaired but Edna just couldn't leave that remark uncommented. "I'm not sure if Tess is really the one causing trouble or if it is rather you that does." She heard Liz breath in but went on before the other woman could say anything "I don't know you very well Mrs Ryan but from what I've seen in those 2 days you're here I don't think I want to be friends with you…can't you see that you ruin both your sons lives with your behaviour? I think I should go to bed now, tomorrow's a big day for all of us. Maybe you should leave, too." With that Edna got up from her arm chair and walked over to Tess and Claire and the rest of the Drovers girls to say goodnight. Claire who had watched and overheard the whole scene with Liz smiled and whispered "Thank you!" to the old lady who then winked at her.

Liz stayed in her chair totally dumbstruck after what Edna had said. Shortly after the old lady had left she asked Claire if she could use the phone and then called Bryce to pick her up which he did half an hour later.

Claire's hen's night went on till way after midnight and all the girls had a really great time.

Before Claire went to bed she checked on Charlotte who was sound asleep for a change and then went into her bedroom to change for the night and go to sleep before her daughter chose to wake up again.

She opened the door and walked inside and when she reached for the switch to turn the light on she felt somebody grab her round her waist and place a passionate kiss on her lips. Not knowing what was going on Claire stroke out and placed a hard slap on the person's face that she couldn't recognize in the dim light.

"Ow, Claire! What the hell did you do that for?"

"Alex? What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be on Wilgul with Nick!"

"Is that the way to greet your husband when you haven't seen him for most of the day…ow, that really hurts…"
Claire switched on the light to see what he was wining about and saw that Alex's lip was bleeding. "Looks like you bit your lip Ryan…and by the way, that was the way to greet the groom that is supposed to not see his bride the night before the wedding. Come on, I'll get some ice from the kitchen while you sit down and shut up…I really don't wanna put up with Tess when she sees you here!" Claire pushed Alex towards the bed and left the room to get some ice from the freezer.

When she came back Alex had crawled under the covers pressing a paper tissue on his lip to stop the bleeding.
"Here, get that on." Claire said and handed him the plastic bag with the crushed ice that was wrapped in a tea towel. "I don't want you to have swollen lip at the altar tomorrow."

"Well, if it is swollen we both know who's fault it is!"

Claire laughed "Yeah, yours…what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep over there…"
"So you thought you'd just come sneaking in here? That's not a good idea Mr Ryan! As soon as my sister sees your arse in here you'll be very sorry for yourself that can guarantee you!"

"She doesn't need to know if we're both quiet…good thing she has the downstairs bedroom now…" Alex said and wiggled his eyebrows seductively.

"You really have a one track mind Ryan…" Claire said with a smile "But who said you're getting anywhere tonight? We'll get married tomorrow and the tradition doesn't tell you to spend the night before your wedding with your future husband…"

"But we ARE already married Claire! Come on…I know you don't wanna sleep alone tonight either…"

"You wanna try me? I could throw you out right now if I wanted to..."

"See, I knew it! You want me…"

"Well, maybe…but we'll have to be really quiet…by the way, how did you get here anyway? I didn't hear your car pull up?"

"I took Chester…he's in the stables now. And I promise I'll leave as soon as the sun comes up so Tess won't see me…now come on, let's do some of that naked stuff you like so much…" Alex pulled Claire in for a passionate kiss and helped her get the pullover over her head. "Have I told you yet that I really think you look damn sexy in those tight leggings McLeod?"

"Shut up and kiss me Ryan…" Claire said and started unbuttoning his shirt…