Dinner that night at Drovers was a silent affair. No one spoke much. Stevie had expected Alex to ask where Rose and Michelle were, he never did. Perhaps Nick or Tess had already told him what happened.
After dinner Nick and Tess quickly excused themselves leaving Stevie and Alex alone on the verandah.
"So what happened with your sister?" Alex asked finally. He figured whatever happened it wasn't real good, and he almost didn't want to bring it up.
"Nothing, just a stupid argument, you know sisters." She shrugged her shoulders, looking away from him, trying to forget her encounter with Michelle earlier that day.
"Don't do that to me, please don't shut me out." He told her as he stood and moved to the other side of her so that she was looking at him.
She sighed, and told him briefly the story. She tried not to think about the words as she spoke them. She tried not to comprehend that her own sister could have spoken to her that way.
He briefly thought about telling her of his encounter with Michelle and Rose at the truck stop, but decided against it for the moment. It wouldn't serve any purpose, only to upset her even more.
"I'm sorry" He told her. The words were short and simple, but he was sincere, and those words meant more to her than anything else he could have said or done. He thought of his own relationship with Nick- they fought at times but in tough times they could count on one another. And as he looked back over his life, the one face he always saw in his memories was that of Nick. He thought also of Claire and Tess, even though they were separated so long, they were so different, they disagreed on so many things, still when it came down to it they loved one another and were there for one another.
"You know, Michelle is wrong" He added with certainty. "You are a great mum."
Stevie nodded in response, afraid to speak. They sat silently for a while. She loved him so much for this. For just being there with her, with no need to do or say anything, he was just there. He waited for her to speak.
After a while she turned to him "I have to get away from here" She told him.
"From what?" He asked gently.
"From everything" She replied, as if that would explain it. . Lawrence would be back before too long, and she didn't want to face him just yet. Michelle was now breathing down her neck. Stevie thought back to when Rose was a baby. Michelle had been relentless in pursuing Stevie to give Rose up. Stevie didn't have the energy to fight her off this time. Tess, Kate and Jodi were constantly watching her. Maybe they weren't, but it felt like she couldn't even sneeze without someone noticing.
Stevie expected Alex to tell her it was a stupid idea, and that you can't run away from your problems. But he didn't.
He nodded in response, although not fully understanding. "I'll go with you" He replied without hesitation.
"What about your family? Your home? Your job? You can't just leave." She told him. Alex had so much here. Stevie had nothing. She couldn't ask him to walk away, it wasn't as easy for him as it was for her. Running away was something she was used to.
He took her hands "You are the only thing that matters to me. You, and the baby, you are my family."
She looked into his eyes. She had heard those words from his lips many times, in her dreams. She never expected it to really happen, it seemed so surreal. But his eyes confirmed the words to her. It was that moment looking into her eyes that she finally realized the feelings he had for her. His eyes spoke to her on a level that his words or even his actions never could. She had heard him tell her that he loved her. But deep down on some sub conscious level, she just couldn't bring herself to believe it. Until that moment. Looking into his eyes at that moment all her doubts and fears were shattered as his love took hold of her heart.
"Take me away from here?" She asked him quietly as she fought back tears.
"Ok" he told her as he took her in his arms. "But not tonight. I need to take care of one thing first, and you need to get some sleep. But tomorrow, I promise, I'll take you wherever you want to go."
"Ok tomorrow" She agreed as she rested in his embrace. She could wait for tomorrow, she had waited so long already. For this-For someone to take care of her, for someone to love her, for Alex. As he gently stroked her hair she wished that moment would last forever.
As she closed her eyes images and thought flashed in front of her eyes, the same images that always came to mind when she closed her eyes.
Rose – handing that precious baby to Michelle, and a grown up Rose screaming at her 'I hate you'.
Michelle- Her big sister who had betrayed her all those years ago, and then just as she thought there might be hope for their relationship, Michelle had betrayed her again.
Her father, kicking her out of home, and her mother standing by and letting him do it. No on lifted a finger to help her. No one cared. Even her own flesh and blood.
And even though she was an adult now, deep inside she still felt like that 15 year old girl. So young, so scared, so alone, so unloved. But she had found a safe place on Drovers Run.
Claire- the best friend she ever had. But still it haunted her the way Claire had asked her to leave Drovers. She understood it, but it had still hurt. But no where near as much as losing her best friend forever. And a precious little girl was growing up without her mother.
Tess- Accusing her of stealing from Drovers on that first day they met. But that was nothing. Tess was a stranger then. But the look on Tess' face the day BOM went missing, that had hurt.
But now Claire was gone, and Tess had a life in Argentina. And Stevie would have to find her own life without the McLeod sisters by her side. And that thought hurt her as much as her own family turning away from her, it was like being rejected all over again.
Trent- the knife, the rock, his lifeless body lying on the cold hard ground. She hadn't meant to kill him. But she was now a murderer.
Lawrence- the wedding day, looking up and realizing it wasn't Alex she was about to give her life to.
The baby- The fear of having another child. Of being responsible for someone's life. Maybe everyone had been right and she just didn't have what it took to be a mother. And after everything Trent had done to her, was she capable of loving this baby as much as she loved Rose?
Some of these things were recent, others had haunted her as long as she remembered. But tonight the images seemed more distant. As if finally she was free to move on. At last she wasn't on her own. She found a place to call home-and it wasn't Drovers run. Her home was in Alex Ryan's arms.