Chapter 6
Everybody was cautious around Claire for the next couple of days but they soon realised that she really was fine; especially knowing that Peter had gone at last.
Tess had an idea "uh oh" was Claire's response. She knew what Tess' ideas were like. "What are we in for this time?" "Well, when was the last time we had a party?" Claire shot Meg a look. "Jodi's 18th, why?" Meg asked. "Well, why don't we have another one? We could have a new year's party. Don't you think it's a great idea?" "I don't know Tess. It's new years in little over a week. Do you think you can organise a party in a couple of days?" "Sure, leave everything to me!" with that she ran out of the room with a huge smile on her face. She was so excited. She loved parties and organising them. She would invite everybody. It would be so much fun. Christmas at the Ryan's, and new years at Drovers! Claire had a look on her face that said 'what have we got our selves into', Meg felt the same way. Jodi was excited and Becky was a bit to. By the end of the day, Tess had practically organised the whole thing and invited nearly all of Gungellan. Nobody could take the smile from her face. The Ryan boys were always up for a party, they even offered to help set up the barn.
It came to Christmas day, and everybody was getting ready to go to Killarney for Christmas dinner. They were actually quite excited. At least Meg and Tess were. Tess got to spend Christmas with Nick, and Meg didn't have to cook and would probably spend the day with Terry. Claire was the only one who wasn't ready when it came time to leave. She had decided she wasn't going to go. She couldn't go. She'd spent the whole morning throwing up in the bathroom. She was disappointed because she wanted to spend the day with Alex. She felt really sick though and couldn't work out why. Tess seemed quite concerned because she knew Claire never got sick. "I'll be fine. Go and have a good time." Claire didn't get to finish off what she was saying; she had to rush to the bathroom where she was sick again. She shouted through the door for them all to go. Tess went in. "Claire are you ok?" "I had some left over meet yesterday; I think it might have been off. You lot go, I'll come over if I feel better. Tell them I'm sorry. Now go before you're late. Have fun and don't worry about me." "Well if you're sure" Tess said reluctantly. She left though when she saw the look that Claire gave her. Claire was relieved when they left. She felt awful and just wanted to be left alone. She was disappointed that she couldn't go but then, would it have been worse spending a day at the Ryan's and not be able to spend the day with Alex who would have been her only salvation. She probably would have had fun though. Claire sighed and threw up again.
When they all got to Killarney, everyone was waiting outside for them. Alex looked concerned when he couldn't see Claire but wasn't going to say anything. It was Liz who asked after her. "And where's Claire?" "She, a, she's not coming. She's not very well" Meg said "not very well? That's unlike Claire; she's always had perfect health. What's wrong with her?" "She's just a little sick" "a little sick more like it, she looked awful!" Jodi commented "Jodi be quite. She'll be fine in no time. She might even be here later if she feels better" Meg said faking a smile and trying to remove the look of concern on everyone's face. They all knew Claire never got ill; it was probably as bad as Jodi had made it sound. Meg was not only trying to convince everyone else, but herself to. She was worried about Claire and didn't want to leave, but knew Claire wouldn't let her stay. They all walked inside in silence. Alex had a million thoughts go through his head and decided not to worry about it; he could call her later to make sure she was ok when nobody was around.
Claire felt much better now. She didn't know what had come over her. She had woken up feeling dreadful. She looked at the outfit Tess had put out for Claire to wear. She laughed to herself. She had almost worn it as well. She now had on her usual jeans and a shirt. She hardly ever wore dresses. The last time she did was for Peter and that was only to get the Bloodline contract. Apart from that, she'd never had a reason to. Tess was interfering as usual, trying to make Claire wear the dress. She pulled it up to her for a minute. She looked at herself in the mirror and wished she was more girly, then she chucked it on her bed, erasing the thought from her mind and decided to go and do some work. She was feeling better and had nothing better to do. She went to the stables, got blaze and was training him outside. She felt nothing like she had that morning and it was still puzzling her why she had been ill. If only she had eaten meat that had gone off, but she hadn't!
It was after dinner and Alex kept looking at his watch. Thoughts of what state Claire might be in were going through his mind, and they'd had no word from her. His father had noticed "Are we keeping you?" he said. Everyone turned to Alex. He had been fairly quite all day, which was really unlike him. He didn't know what to say but he came up with a good idea. "Actually yes dad, I've got to be somewhere, don't wait up for me, see ya!" and with that he got up and left. He hadn't been enjoying himself. The McLeod's used to go over on Boxing Day and the only reason he enjoyed it was because Claire had been there. They always had great fun. He got to Drovers and went inside. He called out for Claire and got no reply. He searched the house and couldn't find her. He did notice the dress on her bed though. He laughed at the thought of Claire in a dress. Then he thought to himself maybe that was the reason she didn't come. He went outside and found her riding a new horse. She saw him with a grin on his face walking over. "Aren't you supposed to be at home?" she shouted to him "aren't you supposed to be ill?" he said cheekily. Claire felt like a naughty school girl. "Feeling much better are we?" he said with a sarcastic tone. Claire looked at him confused. "I know why you're here; I saw the dress in your room. You'll have to come up with a better excuse than feeling sick, just to get out of wearing a dress you know McLeod. You could have just worn your normal clothes!" Claire was shocked. Not half an hour ago she had been thinking about wearing it and about two hours ago she had been bent over the toilet seat emptying her stomach. And what was so unusual about Claire wearing a dress? She was a woman after all! "No, I just didn't want to spend the day with you actually!" she shouted to him, before opening the gate and riding off. That threw Alex. Why wouldn't she want to spend the day with him? They always had a laugh together" he got on another horse and followed her. He caught up and they started racing to the creek. It was fun and you could tell from the look of excitement on their faces. They were both so competitive and eager to win. They were head to head, but the horse Claire was on didn't like the water and threw Claire off. Alex stopped and couldn't stop himself from laughing at Claire lying at the edge of the creek soaking wet. Claire got up and went over to Alex. "You look so sexy when you laugh" Claire had a mischievous grin that he didn't notice. She pulled him down to meet her lips. He was willing to go, not even contemplating what Claire had intended to do. They barely touched when she pulled him off the horse and into the water. She laughed so hard. Alex hadn't seen her laugh so much in a long time. As Claire was standing he noticed how her shirt had pulled tight against her body. She looked sexy even when she was dripping wet. He got out and started to kiss her. Claire had forgotten why she had been mad at him. They both decided they were already wet, so went for a swim, minus the clothes this time though. It was so much fun. It ended up being a great Christmas though. They went back to the house and had a shower together, had something to eat and went to bed. "Is this my Christmas present then?" Alex asked as he started kissing Claire. She kissed him back and didn't say anything. "You know seeing you in a dress would have been a great present" he added. Claire stopped and moved away. She didn't understand what the big deal was. It was just a dress. "What have I done now?" he asked moving closer to her. She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know why she was so annoyed. She was getting wound up over nothing. She kissed him as Alex moved on top of her. "I think I prefer you with nothing on at all actually" she laughed as he kissed her around the neck. She did love him.
Everyone except Tess and Nick wondered where on earth Alex had gone to. They thought it might have been a woman, but then why be so secretive about it, and why did he look so worried. In the end they gave up and would just have to quiz him when he eventually got home, which he didn't, at least not that day. Everybody left late. It was dark and nobody noticed Alex's Ute. Tess was going to check on Claire but didn't want to wake her up if she was sleeping. She also figured Alex was with her so she stopped Meg from checking on Claire. She went straight to bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. They all had had a fantastic time.
Alex woke up the next morning alone. He looked over and Claire had gone. He looked around the room and he couldn't see her. He wondered where she was. He knew it was safe to look upstairs because Tess already knew so he walked out on the upstairs landing. It was there he heard Claire. She was being sick in the bathroom. He was really shocked. She had actually been sick and he thought she'd been lying. He had been disappointed that he hadn't seen her in the dress, although she always looked hot in her usual clothes to him. He didn't know what to do. Should he go and see if she's alright or just leave her alone? Should he call a doctor or Tess or someone? Why was she being sick? Claire now knew the answer to that question. She didn't know what to do about it though. If they were going to tell everyone they were together, it might seem a bit suss if she then tells everyone she's pregnant again. And how would Alex feel about being an actual father. He said he wanted kids, but this soon? And what if she lost the baby again? Shed already lost one. She was actually happy, apart from the fact she was throwing up every five minutes, she and Alex were going to have a baby. Alex decided to leave her alone and wait until she came out. He went back to bed and waited there. She did eventually go back to her room, but decided not to tell Alex, at least not yet. She was going to go and see the doctor first. She had an appointment to check her hand and make sure it hadn't got infected from when she had cut it sheering the sheep. She would talk to the doctor about it then. "Where you been?" he asked her as she got into bed. He cuddled her and didn't even try to kiss her. "Nowhere. Just needed a glass of water" they both knew she was lying but Alex didn't want to say anything. He felt stupid not believing her and it might be nothing after all.
He tried to spend as much time with her as possible, even if it was just to make sure she was ok. He never saw her being sick again, because he hadn't stayed the night again and it was only in the morning Claire was being sick. He thought she was ok now, and so didn't say anything to her.
Tess spent a couple of nights around Nicks and had been getting up early to sort the place out for the party so hadn't noticed how sick Claire had been in the mornings. She assumed Claire was better. Claire also rushed out of the house every morning as quickly as possible, as the food made her want to be sick again. Meg didn't notice because Claire would grab something in her rush to get out. What Meg didn't notice was how Claire just chucked the food in the bin as soon as she was outside and then threw up again. Claire didn't want anybody to know, at least not yet.
Eventually it was New Years Eve. Everyone was helping out with the preparations for the party. A stage had been built for the band to perform on and all the food and drink were laid out. By the evening it was all ready and the Ryan boys left to go get cleaned up and changed after helping with the decorations and the mini stage.
"But I don't want to" Claire said to Tess "but you'd look great" Tess said trying to get Claire to put on this really small dress she had. "I'd look stupid" "it would defiantly wind Alex up" Tess commented with a cheeky and desperate grin. Claire liked the sound of that. She put it on and was glad she didn't have a bump yet, because it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. She got ready and by the time she came downstairs, everybody had arrived. She looked stunning and everybody noticed as she walked in. Claire blushed. The dress was blue and made her eyes show up even more. It was low cut and quite short. It looked fantastic on her. She had a great figure and it hugged all the right curves. Tess smiled with satisfaction as she not only looked at Claire, but everyone else and at the way the place looked.
Alex was probably the only person who hadn't noticed Claire walk in. He was talking to Nick when all of a sudden a woman fell into his lap. Claire had been dancing and had got dizzy all of a sudden when the man had twirled her around. She'd lost her balance, and luckily for her, landed right in Alex's lap. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was that really Claire McLeod? She looked amazing! He helped her up and couldn't keep his eyes off of her or his mouth shut. Claire had gone red again from embarrassment. Within in seconds she was whisked away again by another man, to dance. Alex realised he looked like a complete idiot. When Claire went to get a drink, he walked over and started teasing her. "Well well McLeod, you don't scrub up to badly" with that, he pinched her ass without anybody seeing. Claire was shocked and just stared straight forward not quite sure what to do. "Something I never thought I'd see, Claire McLeod in a dress!" he pinched her ass again. He was enjoying this. He knew she wouldn't hit him there in front of everybody. She was getting really annoyed. She felt stupid and she couldn't make a fool out of herself again by hitting him. She just had to grin and bare it. The next thing she knew, he'd whisked her onto the dance floor. They danced wonderfully together. They were made for one another. There was such chemistry and everyone cheered and he flung her around the dance floor. Liz had made Alex take dance lessons as a kid. He'd get Claire to practice with him. At the end of the dance, before Claire was taken away again, he whispered to her "you look fantastic, I love you" Claire was shocked but didn't have time to say anything back before she was dancing with somebody else. Claire danced most of the night. She was really enjoying herself. So was Alex, even if he was just watching Claire enjoy herself. He didn't dance with Claire again for the rest of the evening, but when Claire went outside for some fresh air, he followed her to ask her a question. He had made up his mind about something but needed to know what Claire thought. It was a big deal for him. "Claire, I need to ask you something." Claire was not really listening to what he was saying, her mind had wondered as she took in the fresh air. To what, even she didn't know, she just wasn't listening to Alex properly. "yes" was the feeble reply "you know I love you, well I want everybody else to know to" "yeah" "I think we should tell people" "uh huh" Alex smiled and was happy with that answer. He walked back inside, pleased with the outcome. Claire still stood there until Tess started to shout out to her. "Claire, Claire.. Claire? Are you ok? Claire!" Tess had come over to her when she didn't get an answer. It was the last 'Claire' that made her come out of her day dream. "What?" Claire said to Tess in an annoyed tone. "Are you ok?" Tess said a little concerned. Claire smiled and said "I'm fine, what did you want" "its nearly midnight, are you coming inside?" Claire just nodded and they both walked in.
Alex grabbed Claire by the arm as she walked past him. He was grinning and she smiled back. They danced together and then Alex looked at his watch. He pulled Claire up to the front of the barn with him where Tess and Nick had been dancing. He got on the mini stage with Claire and called for everybody's attention, not letting go of Claire's hand. Claire tried to make him let go but he wouldn't. She wanted to know what he was doing "Can you all shut up? We have twelve seconds to go, ten. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one." As everybody chorused HAPPY NEW YEAR! Alex pulled Claire into him. He put his hand around her waste. He pushed his lips to hers and moved his tongue into her mouth. Claire automatically put her arms around his neck, moving even closer to him, moved her hands to the back of his head and kissed him back with as much passion and feeling. The world stopped and the electricity between them was so immense, sparks could fly. The love ands feeling they had for each other showed so much in that moment, words could not describe. They were in their own little world, oblivious to everyone around them screaming and gasping and whistling. Claire had to come up for air, and she had the biggest smile on her face. Every thing was going in slow motion. Then she realised everyone looking, even more so, the shocked looks from the women at Drovers, minus Tess, who stood there with a satisfied grin on her face once again. Claire couldn't look at them though, the pleading looks they gave to know what was going on nearly made her laugh. Instead she just looked into Alex's big brown eyes. He gave his mischievous grin. "I have an announcement to make" he started, already having everyone's attention. The other three women looked and saw the grin on Tess' face. They started to ask her what was going on. She told them to shut up and listen. She was so pleased for Claire because she deserved this so much. She deserved to be happy and with the man she was meant to be with. "As you may have noticed, me and Claire are seeing each other, and have been for months now, but more than that. We're getting married!" He put so much energy and feeling into what he said. He wanted the whole world to know! He takes the ring that Claire had been wearing on a chain, from her neck and places it on her finger. They kiss again. Everyone cheers and the women can't believe what there hearing. Alex picks up the bottle of Champaign that Nick passes him along with some glasses. He pops the bottle pours it into the glasses. "I would like to make a toast, to Claire McLeod" he clinks glasses with Claire and drinks the Champaign. When he sees Claire hasn't drunk hers, he asks her why. "Not now?" "What's wrong Claire? Drink up!" "I can't?" "Why not?" "I said not now" "tell me Claire" "not here" "tell me!" he says getting worried. Claire hesitated, and then though to herself, it's been a night for announcements, a night I'll never forget, nothing could spoil it now, so what the hell. She put her arms around his neck and reached up to his ear as he placed his hands on her hips. The noise around them seemed to disappear as Claire whispers into his ear "I'm pregnant" were the two simple words that she said. He pushes her away so he can see her face. He looks at her as if to say, are you sure? She nods with anticipation, waiting for him to say or do something, her face dropping in panic as he just looks at her with a shocked face. All of a sudden he lets out a scream, pulls her into his arms and swings her around in circles as she laughs with relief. He puts her down, holds her face, and says; "are you sure" she nods. "We're gonna have a baby?" she nods again. He kisses her as everyone comes on to the stage to find out what's going on "We're gonna have a baby!" He shouts. Questions flew about the place and Claire was overwhelmed but ecstatic. It was such a relief to have everything out in the open and to know that Alex was as excited about having the baby as she was. She didn't leave his side for the rest of the night. Everyone was asking questions, especially from the women at Drovers. 'Why didn't you tell us?' 'How come Tess knew?' 'Why didn't I figure it out' 'oh my god!' 'Getting married?' 'Pregnant?' Alex didn't want to answer the questions, so he dragged Claire away and started dancing to a slow song that had started playing. Claire rested her head on Alex's shoulder. She thought how lucky she was as they danced together. Alex was thrilled. He was going to be a father! The rest of the night was fantastic and they all had the best time!
Everybody was cautious around Claire for the next couple of days but they soon realised that she really was fine; especially knowing that Peter had gone at last.
Tess had an idea "uh oh" was Claire's response. She knew what Tess' ideas were like. "What are we in for this time?" "Well, when was the last time we had a party?" Claire shot Meg a look. "Jodi's 18th, why?" Meg asked. "Well, why don't we have another one? We could have a new year's party. Don't you think it's a great idea?" "I don't know Tess. It's new years in little over a week. Do you think you can organise a party in a couple of days?" "Sure, leave everything to me!" with that she ran out of the room with a huge smile on her face. She was so excited. She loved parties and organising them. She would invite everybody. It would be so much fun. Christmas at the Ryan's, and new years at Drovers! Claire had a look on her face that said 'what have we got our selves into', Meg felt the same way. Jodi was excited and Becky was a bit to. By the end of the day, Tess had practically organised the whole thing and invited nearly all of Gungellan. Nobody could take the smile from her face. The Ryan boys were always up for a party, they even offered to help set up the barn.
It came to Christmas day, and everybody was getting ready to go to Killarney for Christmas dinner. They were actually quite excited. At least Meg and Tess were. Tess got to spend Christmas with Nick, and Meg didn't have to cook and would probably spend the day with Terry. Claire was the only one who wasn't ready when it came time to leave. She had decided she wasn't going to go. She couldn't go. She'd spent the whole morning throwing up in the bathroom. She was disappointed because she wanted to spend the day with Alex. She felt really sick though and couldn't work out why. Tess seemed quite concerned because she knew Claire never got sick. "I'll be fine. Go and have a good time." Claire didn't get to finish off what she was saying; she had to rush to the bathroom where she was sick again. She shouted through the door for them all to go. Tess went in. "Claire are you ok?" "I had some left over meet yesterday; I think it might have been off. You lot go, I'll come over if I feel better. Tell them I'm sorry. Now go before you're late. Have fun and don't worry about me." "Well if you're sure" Tess said reluctantly. She left though when she saw the look that Claire gave her. Claire was relieved when they left. She felt awful and just wanted to be left alone. She was disappointed that she couldn't go but then, would it have been worse spending a day at the Ryan's and not be able to spend the day with Alex who would have been her only salvation. She probably would have had fun though. Claire sighed and threw up again.
When they all got to Killarney, everyone was waiting outside for them. Alex looked concerned when he couldn't see Claire but wasn't going to say anything. It was Liz who asked after her. "And where's Claire?" "She, a, she's not coming. She's not very well" Meg said "not very well? That's unlike Claire; she's always had perfect health. What's wrong with her?" "She's just a little sick" "a little sick more like it, she looked awful!" Jodi commented "Jodi be quite. She'll be fine in no time. She might even be here later if she feels better" Meg said faking a smile and trying to remove the look of concern on everyone's face. They all knew Claire never got ill; it was probably as bad as Jodi had made it sound. Meg was not only trying to convince everyone else, but herself to. She was worried about Claire and didn't want to leave, but knew Claire wouldn't let her stay. They all walked inside in silence. Alex had a million thoughts go through his head and decided not to worry about it; he could call her later to make sure she was ok when nobody was around.
Claire felt much better now. She didn't know what had come over her. She had woken up feeling dreadful. She looked at the outfit Tess had put out for Claire to wear. She laughed to herself. She had almost worn it as well. She now had on her usual jeans and a shirt. She hardly ever wore dresses. The last time she did was for Peter and that was only to get the Bloodline contract. Apart from that, she'd never had a reason to. Tess was interfering as usual, trying to make Claire wear the dress. She pulled it up to her for a minute. She looked at herself in the mirror and wished she was more girly, then she chucked it on her bed, erasing the thought from her mind and decided to go and do some work. She was feeling better and had nothing better to do. She went to the stables, got blaze and was training him outside. She felt nothing like she had that morning and it was still puzzling her why she had been ill. If only she had eaten meat that had gone off, but she hadn't!
It was after dinner and Alex kept looking at his watch. Thoughts of what state Claire might be in were going through his mind, and they'd had no word from her. His father had noticed "Are we keeping you?" he said. Everyone turned to Alex. He had been fairly quite all day, which was really unlike him. He didn't know what to say but he came up with a good idea. "Actually yes dad, I've got to be somewhere, don't wait up for me, see ya!" and with that he got up and left. He hadn't been enjoying himself. The McLeod's used to go over on Boxing Day and the only reason he enjoyed it was because Claire had been there. They always had great fun. He got to Drovers and went inside. He called out for Claire and got no reply. He searched the house and couldn't find her. He did notice the dress on her bed though. He laughed at the thought of Claire in a dress. Then he thought to himself maybe that was the reason she didn't come. He went outside and found her riding a new horse. She saw him with a grin on his face walking over. "Aren't you supposed to be at home?" she shouted to him "aren't you supposed to be ill?" he said cheekily. Claire felt like a naughty school girl. "Feeling much better are we?" he said with a sarcastic tone. Claire looked at him confused. "I know why you're here; I saw the dress in your room. You'll have to come up with a better excuse than feeling sick, just to get out of wearing a dress you know McLeod. You could have just worn your normal clothes!" Claire was shocked. Not half an hour ago she had been thinking about wearing it and about two hours ago she had been bent over the toilet seat emptying her stomach. And what was so unusual about Claire wearing a dress? She was a woman after all! "No, I just didn't want to spend the day with you actually!" she shouted to him, before opening the gate and riding off. That threw Alex. Why wouldn't she want to spend the day with him? They always had a laugh together" he got on another horse and followed her. He caught up and they started racing to the creek. It was fun and you could tell from the look of excitement on their faces. They were both so competitive and eager to win. They were head to head, but the horse Claire was on didn't like the water and threw Claire off. Alex stopped and couldn't stop himself from laughing at Claire lying at the edge of the creek soaking wet. Claire got up and went over to Alex. "You look so sexy when you laugh" Claire had a mischievous grin that he didn't notice. She pulled him down to meet her lips. He was willing to go, not even contemplating what Claire had intended to do. They barely touched when she pulled him off the horse and into the water. She laughed so hard. Alex hadn't seen her laugh so much in a long time. As Claire was standing he noticed how her shirt had pulled tight against her body. She looked sexy even when she was dripping wet. He got out and started to kiss her. Claire had forgotten why she had been mad at him. They both decided they were already wet, so went for a swim, minus the clothes this time though. It was so much fun. It ended up being a great Christmas though. They went back to the house and had a shower together, had something to eat and went to bed. "Is this my Christmas present then?" Alex asked as he started kissing Claire. She kissed him back and didn't say anything. "You know seeing you in a dress would have been a great present" he added. Claire stopped and moved away. She didn't understand what the big deal was. It was just a dress. "What have I done now?" he asked moving closer to her. She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know why she was so annoyed. She was getting wound up over nothing. She kissed him as Alex moved on top of her. "I think I prefer you with nothing on at all actually" she laughed as he kissed her around the neck. She did love him.
Everyone except Tess and Nick wondered where on earth Alex had gone to. They thought it might have been a woman, but then why be so secretive about it, and why did he look so worried. In the end they gave up and would just have to quiz him when he eventually got home, which he didn't, at least not that day. Everybody left late. It was dark and nobody noticed Alex's Ute. Tess was going to check on Claire but didn't want to wake her up if she was sleeping. She also figured Alex was with her so she stopped Meg from checking on Claire. She went straight to bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. They all had had a fantastic time.
Alex woke up the next morning alone. He looked over and Claire had gone. He looked around the room and he couldn't see her. He wondered where she was. He knew it was safe to look upstairs because Tess already knew so he walked out on the upstairs landing. It was there he heard Claire. She was being sick in the bathroom. He was really shocked. She had actually been sick and he thought she'd been lying. He had been disappointed that he hadn't seen her in the dress, although she always looked hot in her usual clothes to him. He didn't know what to do. Should he go and see if she's alright or just leave her alone? Should he call a doctor or Tess or someone? Why was she being sick? Claire now knew the answer to that question. She didn't know what to do about it though. If they were going to tell everyone they were together, it might seem a bit suss if she then tells everyone she's pregnant again. And how would Alex feel about being an actual father. He said he wanted kids, but this soon? And what if she lost the baby again? Shed already lost one. She was actually happy, apart from the fact she was throwing up every five minutes, she and Alex were going to have a baby. Alex decided to leave her alone and wait until she came out. He went back to bed and waited there. She did eventually go back to her room, but decided not to tell Alex, at least not yet. She was going to go and see the doctor first. She had an appointment to check her hand and make sure it hadn't got infected from when she had cut it sheering the sheep. She would talk to the doctor about it then. "Where you been?" he asked her as she got into bed. He cuddled her and didn't even try to kiss her. "Nowhere. Just needed a glass of water" they both knew she was lying but Alex didn't want to say anything. He felt stupid not believing her and it might be nothing after all.
He tried to spend as much time with her as possible, even if it was just to make sure she was ok. He never saw her being sick again, because he hadn't stayed the night again and it was only in the morning Claire was being sick. He thought she was ok now, and so didn't say anything to her.
Tess spent a couple of nights around Nicks and had been getting up early to sort the place out for the party so hadn't noticed how sick Claire had been in the mornings. She assumed Claire was better. Claire also rushed out of the house every morning as quickly as possible, as the food made her want to be sick again. Meg didn't notice because Claire would grab something in her rush to get out. What Meg didn't notice was how Claire just chucked the food in the bin as soon as she was outside and then threw up again. Claire didn't want anybody to know, at least not yet.
Eventually it was New Years Eve. Everyone was helping out with the preparations for the party. A stage had been built for the band to perform on and all the food and drink were laid out. By the evening it was all ready and the Ryan boys left to go get cleaned up and changed after helping with the decorations and the mini stage.
"But I don't want to" Claire said to Tess "but you'd look great" Tess said trying to get Claire to put on this really small dress she had. "I'd look stupid" "it would defiantly wind Alex up" Tess commented with a cheeky and desperate grin. Claire liked the sound of that. She put it on and was glad she didn't have a bump yet, because it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. She got ready and by the time she came downstairs, everybody had arrived. She looked stunning and everybody noticed as she walked in. Claire blushed. The dress was blue and made her eyes show up even more. It was low cut and quite short. It looked fantastic on her. She had a great figure and it hugged all the right curves. Tess smiled with satisfaction as she not only looked at Claire, but everyone else and at the way the place looked.
Alex was probably the only person who hadn't noticed Claire walk in. He was talking to Nick when all of a sudden a woman fell into his lap. Claire had been dancing and had got dizzy all of a sudden when the man had twirled her around. She'd lost her balance, and luckily for her, landed right in Alex's lap. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was that really Claire McLeod? She looked amazing! He helped her up and couldn't keep his eyes off of her or his mouth shut. Claire had gone red again from embarrassment. Within in seconds she was whisked away again by another man, to dance. Alex realised he looked like a complete idiot. When Claire went to get a drink, he walked over and started teasing her. "Well well McLeod, you don't scrub up to badly" with that, he pinched her ass without anybody seeing. Claire was shocked and just stared straight forward not quite sure what to do. "Something I never thought I'd see, Claire McLeod in a dress!" he pinched her ass again. He was enjoying this. He knew she wouldn't hit him there in front of everybody. She was getting really annoyed. She felt stupid and she couldn't make a fool out of herself again by hitting him. She just had to grin and bare it. The next thing she knew, he'd whisked her onto the dance floor. They danced wonderfully together. They were made for one another. There was such chemistry and everyone cheered and he flung her around the dance floor. Liz had made Alex take dance lessons as a kid. He'd get Claire to practice with him. At the end of the dance, before Claire was taken away again, he whispered to her "you look fantastic, I love you" Claire was shocked but didn't have time to say anything back before she was dancing with somebody else. Claire danced most of the night. She was really enjoying herself. So was Alex, even if he was just watching Claire enjoy herself. He didn't dance with Claire again for the rest of the evening, but when Claire went outside for some fresh air, he followed her to ask her a question. He had made up his mind about something but needed to know what Claire thought. It was a big deal for him. "Claire, I need to ask you something." Claire was not really listening to what he was saying, her mind had wondered as she took in the fresh air. To what, even she didn't know, she just wasn't listening to Alex properly. "yes" was the feeble reply "you know I love you, well I want everybody else to know to" "yeah" "I think we should tell people" "uh huh" Alex smiled and was happy with that answer. He walked back inside, pleased with the outcome. Claire still stood there until Tess started to shout out to her. "Claire, Claire.. Claire? Are you ok? Claire!" Tess had come over to her when she didn't get an answer. It was the last 'Claire' that made her come out of her day dream. "What?" Claire said to Tess in an annoyed tone. "Are you ok?" Tess said a little concerned. Claire smiled and said "I'm fine, what did you want" "its nearly midnight, are you coming inside?" Claire just nodded and they both walked in.
Alex grabbed Claire by the arm as she walked past him. He was grinning and she smiled back. They danced together and then Alex looked at his watch. He pulled Claire up to the front of the barn with him where Tess and Nick had been dancing. He got on the mini stage with Claire and called for everybody's attention, not letting go of Claire's hand. Claire tried to make him let go but he wouldn't. She wanted to know what he was doing "Can you all shut up? We have twelve seconds to go, ten. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one." As everybody chorused HAPPY NEW YEAR! Alex pulled Claire into him. He put his hand around her waste. He pushed his lips to hers and moved his tongue into her mouth. Claire automatically put her arms around his neck, moving even closer to him, moved her hands to the back of his head and kissed him back with as much passion and feeling. The world stopped and the electricity between them was so immense, sparks could fly. The love ands feeling they had for each other showed so much in that moment, words could not describe. They were in their own little world, oblivious to everyone around them screaming and gasping and whistling. Claire had to come up for air, and she had the biggest smile on her face. Every thing was going in slow motion. Then she realised everyone looking, even more so, the shocked looks from the women at Drovers, minus Tess, who stood there with a satisfied grin on her face once again. Claire couldn't look at them though, the pleading looks they gave to know what was going on nearly made her laugh. Instead she just looked into Alex's big brown eyes. He gave his mischievous grin. "I have an announcement to make" he started, already having everyone's attention. The other three women looked and saw the grin on Tess' face. They started to ask her what was going on. She told them to shut up and listen. She was so pleased for Claire because she deserved this so much. She deserved to be happy and with the man she was meant to be with. "As you may have noticed, me and Claire are seeing each other, and have been for months now, but more than that. We're getting married!" He put so much energy and feeling into what he said. He wanted the whole world to know! He takes the ring that Claire had been wearing on a chain, from her neck and places it on her finger. They kiss again. Everyone cheers and the women can't believe what there hearing. Alex picks up the bottle of Champaign that Nick passes him along with some glasses. He pops the bottle pours it into the glasses. "I would like to make a toast, to Claire McLeod" he clinks glasses with Claire and drinks the Champaign. When he sees Claire hasn't drunk hers, he asks her why. "Not now?" "What's wrong Claire? Drink up!" "I can't?" "Why not?" "I said not now" "tell me Claire" "not here" "tell me!" he says getting worried. Claire hesitated, and then though to herself, it's been a night for announcements, a night I'll never forget, nothing could spoil it now, so what the hell. She put her arms around his neck and reached up to his ear as he placed his hands on her hips. The noise around them seemed to disappear as Claire whispers into his ear "I'm pregnant" were the two simple words that she said. He pushes her away so he can see her face. He looks at her as if to say, are you sure? She nods with anticipation, waiting for him to say or do something, her face dropping in panic as he just looks at her with a shocked face. All of a sudden he lets out a scream, pulls her into his arms and swings her around in circles as she laughs with relief. He puts her down, holds her face, and says; "are you sure" she nods. "We're gonna have a baby?" she nods again. He kisses her as everyone comes on to the stage to find out what's going on "We're gonna have a baby!" He shouts. Questions flew about the place and Claire was overwhelmed but ecstatic. It was such a relief to have everything out in the open and to know that Alex was as excited about having the baby as she was. She didn't leave his side for the rest of the night. Everyone was asking questions, especially from the women at Drovers. 'Why didn't you tell us?' 'How come Tess knew?' 'Why didn't I figure it out' 'oh my god!' 'Getting married?' 'Pregnant?' Alex didn't want to answer the questions, so he dragged Claire away and started dancing to a slow song that had started playing. Claire rested her head on Alex's shoulder. She thought how lucky she was as they danced together. Alex was thrilled. He was going to be a father! The rest of the night was fantastic and they all had the best time!