38

After they had said goodbye to the girls Claire and Alex walked back to their car and once again had to say goodbye to each other.

"Thanks for a lovely afternoon Alex…" Claire said, not daring to look him in the eye "I had lots of fun and thanks for the laugh…I hope you don't mind!"

Alex smiled at her "Nah, it's ok…you really haven't changed in that department…but I had fun, too. Thanks for letting me have Emily over the weekend…"

"Thanks for letting me have Charlotte…"

"Well, I don't really have much say in her life…" Claire could see the sadness that appeared in Alex's eyes and knew that he was thinking about the fact that if they had found her after the accident he would have a say in Charlotte's life now.

Claire didn't really know what to say to help him but she felt sorry for him. He clearly loved her oldest daughter as if she was his own child.

"I'm sorry Alex…I wish every day that this stupid accident hadn't happened…" she said.

"It's all right Claire, it's not your fault and we can't change it now so let's just make the best out of it and enjoy the time we have together, ok?"

"Talking about my accident…have you thought about a good way of letting my sisters know I'm alive without giving them the shock of their life?"

"No…and I don't think there is a way they won't be shocked…they think you've been dead for 12 years…"

"How are we gonna tell them then?"

"Well, you could just walk in on Jodi the way you walked in on me…" Alex suggested with a wink and got a slap on the arm from Claire for that.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault I showed up on your doorstep like that…you can blame both my daughters and my memory loss…and I really don't wanna do that to Jodi. I'm not like that…"

"Yeah, I know…I'll think of something and we'll talk it through on the phone, ok? We can do that as soon as you know how long you can get off…"

"Sounds good to me. I'll probably know by tomorrow or Tuesday the latest. I'll give you a call, ok?"

"Righto…I better go home and face Jodi and her surprise…she should be back by now…"

"Is that why you've left your sat phone in the car all the time you've been here? To not have to talk to her?"

"Yeah, was it that obvious?"

"Well, I spent two weeks on Killarney and I never really saw you without that thing so…yeah, it was obvious."

Alex smiled "I love my technical things…but you're right, I didn't wanna get into the situation of having to lie to Jodi in front of Emily…"

"Well, then you better go now…I'll call you as soon as I know, ok?"

Claire looked at Alex who nodded then smiled and opened his arms so he could give her a hug. Then Claire got in her car and drove off…

When Alex got in his car he could already see that he had a few missed calls on his sat phone…Jodi. She was definitely back and there was no way he could get around talking to her. So he picked up his phone and dialled the number of the Drovers homestead. After only two rings Jodi picked up.

"Drovers Run…" Alex heard her voice on the other end and smiled. He had missed Jodi and her liveliness.

"Hey Jodi, it's Alex…"

"Hey! Where are you? I called Killarney and only got Rhonda who told me you were not in and I should try your sat phone…but you didn't answer that as well? So…where the hell are you Alex Ryan? I was worried!"

Alex had listened to Jodi's tirade patiently, he had known that this would come. Now that she seemed to have finished he answered "Same old Jodi, eh? I'm sorry I didn't answer my sat phone but I forgot it in the car. And I am at Westminster College because I had Charlotte over for the weekend and just took her back…" Alex knew this was a lie but he couldn't possibly tell Jodi about Emily because he couldn't explain her existence without mentioning that Claire was still alive.

"Charlotte? As in my niece?"

"Any other kid you know with that name?"

"Alex! Why didn't you tell me she was with you? I would have come a day early! And why was she with you again in the first place? I would never have thought that Peter lets her stay with you that often!"

"It's a long story Jodi, too long to tell on the phone. And the way it looks now you'll probably see Charlotte over Easter. But could we discuss that tomorrow and in person? I still have a long way to drive and am getting tired because your niece wore me out…" Not a complete lie since Emily was actually Jodi's niece…

"Ok, do you wanna come over after breakfast? You can give me a run down of what you've done and I'm sure my surprise would love to give you a big hug, too…"

"Now you got me curious Jodes…who is your surprise?"

Jodi laughed "You'll have to come round tomorrow to find out Alex…wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now…"
Alex sighed and he and Jodi talked about a time he would go over to Drovers the next day before he hung up and got on his way home to Killarney.

When Claire arrived on Shaw's acres she was glad to still see light in the main house. That meant that either Laura or Bernard or even both were still awake and she could talk to them about taking time off. She had a little of a bad feeling about it because she had just had two weeks off but she also knew she had to tell her sisters about her still being alive. They had already put it off for way too long. And then there was of course the Easter holidays to talk about. Since Charlotte's father didn't seem to come back from the USA in the near future the girl would probably spend her holidays with Alex. And knowing her younger daughter she would probably want to join her sister. After all Alex was her father. But that would mean if Claire didn't get time off she wouldn't see both of her daughters for more than a few days.

With a sigh Claire got out of her car and headed towards the main house.

Inside she found Bernard and Laura on the sofa in the living room watching TV, Laura leaned against her husband. Claire smiled at the sight and hated to interrupt the intimate moment but she just had to try and clear everything tonight. So she cleared her throat and walked all the way into the room.

"Hey you two…I'm back…" she said and sat down in one of the chairs "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Laura must have seen the rather serious look on Claire's face and sat up straight "What's up Claire? You sound serious…"

Claire sighed. She didn't really know where to start. Those were her friends sitting opposite of her and she hated to let them down again.

"I don't know how to ask you this but…I know you won't be here over Easter and I will have that time off…but would there be a possibility to maybe get a few more days off after that? I know I just had a two week holiday…but you know that Emily's and Charlotte's Easter holidays are coming up and Charlotte will have to spend it at Killarney if we don't want to lie to her father again. And you know Emily, she will want to spend her holidays with her father and sister…I really hate to let you down again but I'd like to spend some time with my daughters, too…" Claire came up for air and Bernard took the opportunity to take the word.

"Claire…it's ok! You can have as much time off as you want…"

"What?" Claire was puzzled. That was not the reaction she had expected. Yes, Bernard and Laura were her friends but she was still working here and they were paying her for it. So she would have at least expected some resistance.

"Claire, we know you want to tell your family about you on Easter." Laura looked at her friend. "Bernard and I talked about it earlier today. As much as we would love to have Emily back here we think it's probably best you stay with your family for a while after you told them. You should really get to know your sister and who knows, the one in Argentina might come back home, too. So…if you hadn't asked about time off we would have forced you to do so…"

Claire was taken completely by surprise and was lost for words. When she finally found her words again she couldn't help the huge smile she had on her face. Her friends were really the best and she couldn't ask for better people to work for.

"And how long do you suggest I stay with my family? And what about my work here? You can't tell me you wanna eat Laura's cooking for ages, Bernard…" she asked looking from Bernard to Laura and back, still smiling.

Bernard laughed "No, you're right there…but we've already made some arrangements…"

"What arrangements? Don't tell me you're trying to replace me…"

Laura smiled at her friend "You know we could never do that…but we had a really nice phone call from Jason shortly after you and Charlotte left…" Claire was curious now. It didn't happen very often that one of the Shaw boys called their parents. Jason was the older one and from what Claire knew about her own life now was 10 years younger than she was. He had been married for 5 years and had a good running firm in the city.

"Jason made the suggestion that if we didn't mind he would rather like to spend Easter here than in the city and that Mark had agreed. When I told him that they would have to put up with my cooking because we had already told you we'd be away for Easter he said that it wouldn't be a problem because Cassie would be very happy to cook for all of us…" Laura continued and then looked at her husband.

Bernard smiled and then said "Jason said something about sharing some news and that he and Cassie would like to stay a while…"

Claire could see where the thoughts of her friends were going "You think Cassie's pregnant?"

"It sure sounded like it…" Laura said with a huge smile on her face. It would be her first grandchild.

"So…how long are they going to stay then?"

"We don't really know…but at least two weeks…which would cover the girls' Easter holidays…"

When Claire finally made it to her cottage she looked on her watch and decided it was not too late to call Alex right away and tell him the good news. And she was curious if her sister was really home and what she had said to Alex.

Alex had just walked through the door when the phone had started ringing. Claire. She had already talked to her boss and to her own surprise she had gotten another two weeks off so that she and the girls could now all spend the Easter holiday on Killarney…like a real family. That was the thought that came back to Alex's mind. The short time they had spent together at the ice café that day had made Alex realize that even though Claire was not the same person she was before her accident and that he had missed most of Charlotte's and Emily's life so far they were still the family he had always wanted and dreamed about. He had tried to have it with Fiona but even though they had been married for a long time he had never gotten as close to her as he was with Claire. Even now that she was a different person they were already closer than he ever was with Fiona. There was just something about Claire that made him trust her completely and gave him the feeling she was his family, a feeling he had rarely had in the past years with Nick and Tess in Argentina.

With the content feeling that Claire, Charlotte and Emily would spend two weeks with him soon Alex quickly drifted off to sleep…