"Daddy?" Charlotte asked, looking at her mother.
"With Uncle Nick." She kissed Charlotte's forehead, trying to calm her.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot the big event was tomorrow."
"Well, that and he can't stand this part." Alex was so good about anything with Charlotte, even diapers, anything but doctor's visits. He couldn't stand to see her hurt, see her cry.
"Daddies rarely can." Karen checked Charlotte over as Claire held her daughter, not liking this part anymore than the rest of her family. She softly sang to Charlotte and the small tyke calmed enough to let Karen touch her. "Okay, princess. All done."
"And?" Claire asked.
"She's perfect." She watched Claire. "How's Mum?"
"I'm fine."
"You know, Alex and Tess called. They said you've been tired a lot."
Claire groaned. "They're worried for nothing. Tess should be thinking about the wedding. I've told her I'm fine."
"What if I ran a blood test? That could assure both of them that you really are fine."
Claire drew in a breath and slowly let it out. "Okay." She turned her head, playing games with Charlotte, as Karen drew the blood. "Do you have any other symptoms?"
"No. I'm just tired. I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, I've felt like this for awhile."
"Since your miscarriage?" Claire nodded. "Are you and Alex still trying?"
Claire shook her head, stroking through her daughter's hair. "Not right now."
Tess smiled as the ute pulled up and two blonde women got out. Meg ran out of the house to her daughter, hugging her tightly. "Hi, Mum." Jodi held her for a little while before letting her go. "Where's Terry?"
"Still working. He wants to see you though."
Becky Harrison hugged Tess and Tess peered into the pink bundled blanket. "She's so beautiful." A tiny brunette baby with Becky's eyes and smile looked back at her. "And you look great, Beck."
"So do you." Becky hugged her back. "Congratulations."
"I'm sorry Jake couldn't come."
"So is he. He said to congratulate both of you." Becky's husband, Jake Harrison, had worked on Killarney when they'd lived in the area.
Tess looked at the baby longingly. "Can I hold her?"
"Sure." Becky moved the baby to Tess's arms carefully.
"Where's Claire and Charlotte?" Jodi asked, looking around at her old home.
"She went in for Charlotte's checkup. The quarters are set up for you and Charlie," Meg told Becky, "And Jodi, you can have your old room."
"Um, Mum..." Jodi paused, not sure how to tell her. "I was thinking maybe I could stay with Beck and Charlie tonight."
"Yeah, um, of course. Make sure you see Terry though. He really is looking forward to having you home." Jodi hugged her mother, glad she understood.
Alex and Nick arrived at Killarney, going up to the house at first, helping Amy get Ryan into her ute. "Are you sure you don't mind us camping out here?" Nick asked.
"Of course not. It's your home more than it is mine." Although both boys had assured her that they had no interest in living at Killarney and they wanted her and her daughter there, Amy still felt like the outsider.
"You know that's not true," Nick told her gently.
Amy wasn't sure what to say. Everyone had always been kind, but before her father's death, she'd been friends with them all. Since Harry had died, the only one who seemed to be back to normal was her sister-in-law, Tess, who'd confessed that it had taken time for Claire to warm up to having a sister around at first and it would probably take time for the boys as well. "Thanks. I'll be back at nine." She drove away.
"You think I'mcrazy for wanting to do this, don't you?" Nick asked, looking at his older brother.
"Depends. I think you're crazy for wanting to clear out the rest of our stuff tonight, but camping isn't, even here." Those were the good times, a lot spent with Claire. It was usually at or around the house that the old nightmares started.
"How are you doing with Dad's news?" It had been three months since their father had died and they had learned that Amy, the lead station hand at Drover's at the time, was actually Harry's daughter.
"Better. I mean, Mum did it, why shouldn't he? She was seeing Bryce when she saw Dad; Dad was seeing Amy's mum while he was married to ours. We always knew their marriage was a sham..." He trailed off, thinking it might not be the best conversation.
"Alex, I know Dad and Mum had problems. I also know that Tess and I aren't the same thing, just like you and Claire weren't. We got lucky. We fell in love with two women that love us back just as much."
"I know." He rubbed his forehead. "Let's just go through this stuff and get it over with."
Claire arrived as everyone was getting set up. "Are you sure Terry doesn't mind babysitting?" Amy asked Meg. She was friends with Terry and Meg, having worked as lead station hand on Drover's until Harry's death, but she wasn't sure he would want to give up a few hours to watch three children, two of which were under a year old.
"Of course not. Kinda like having grandchildren for a few hours." Jodi rolled her eyes and Becky smiled.
"I want to see Charlie," Claire said. "Haven't met my namesake yet."
"Our namesake," Tess corrected, moving over where her sister could see the baby.
"I want to see Charlotte. I haven't seen her in ages." Claire handed Charlotte over to Becky."She's gotten so big," Jodi said, joining her best friend, remembering how little and blonde Charlotte had been at birth.
"Charlie's beautiful, Beck. And I love her name." Becky smiled. She'd named her child after the first women who'd ever really believed in her. She'd taken both Tess and Claire's middle names for Charlotte Louise, or Charlie.
Terry took the babies for a few hours and Jodi prepared the spa he'd loaned them. As Becky and Amy began to talk, Tess made her way over to her sister. "What did Karen say?"
"Charlotte's perfect."
"I already knew that."
Claire turned to her sister. "I'm fine, Tess, really. Stop worrying. It's your bachelorette party; tomorrow's your wedding day. Concentrate on that. I'd tell you if anything was wrong." Tess nodded, trusting her sister, hugging her before going to get ready for the spa and beauty treatments.
"Roses. She remembered." Briony, Tess's best friend in the city and Jodi's roommate, hadn't been able to leave the cafe, but she'd sent a big box of spa treatments and essential oils as a wedding present.
"She wanted to make sure she got the right one," Jodi said as all four got into the water, turning the radio on at the porch. "She felt so bad she couldn't come."
"Do you remember when we first used this?" All women laughed but Amy, confused. There were so many stories, between her brothers, Claire, and Tess that she didn't know, and now these women.
Meg explained. "Terry had been trying to win every contest he ever heard of."
"It was in the middle of a drought. Tess and I were fighting with Nick and Alex over water rights. And these two," Claire shot a look at Jodi and Becky, "decide to put a dead snake in the bathroom to scare Tess, who shoots the snake and nicks the vanity instead." Becky, Jodi, Tess started giggling and Claire looked at Tess. "Where did you get the water to fill the spa anyway?"
"Killarney." Claire's eyes narrowed. "The pool. Alex knew. He kept me company. I figured it was only fair."
Claire burst out laughing before she could even pretend to be angry. "Am I the only one who didn't know?"
"Well, we weren't sure how you'd take it," Becky said, smiling at her friend.
"That seems like a long time ago. Who would have thought that I'd be the only one not married?" Jodi asked.
"Yeah, I thought you'd either get married or Claire and Meg would kill you," Becky said, smiling at her best friend, remembering her exploits with Craig and Alberto.
"And now look. Mum and Terry are together, Claire and Alex, Beck, you and Jake, tomorrow Tess and Nick..."
"All but me and Jake I expected would end up together," Becky confessed, thinking of Brick, but no longer in pain when she did. "I mean, it was so obvious that Claire and Alex were perfect for each other and that Tess and Nick were in love." Meg nodded, agreeing.
Alex looked at Nick. "Listen, about how I reacted...I'm sorry."
Nick looked at his brother, knowing how rare an apology was. "It's okay. I mean, I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same. I...Tess and I never planned this. I really can't say I'm sorry though, at least not about the baby. Maybe there was a better way to tell you or we could have told you two together." Now that he thought of it, he always had a better chance with Alex when Claire was on his side.
"You remember Roger? We were talking about having a second chance to have a real family, correct all the mistakes Dad made?" Nick nodded. "It's so much better than that. It..." He wasn't sure how to put into words how much he loved his family.
"Did Karen say how Charlotte's checkup was?"
"She's perfect."
"What about Claire?" He, like Alex and Tess, worried about his sister-in-law.
"She agreed to the blood test. She'll get the results day after tomorrow. Karen doesn't think it's serious."
"Doesn't think it's serious? Doesn't she know?"
"I guess not. Anyway, she didn't seem worried and Claire's not worried."
"Still...maybe Tess and I should hang around until she gets the results."
Alex shook his head. "You two need to get a vacation while you can."He and Claire had taken two trips since Charlotte was born, both with their daughter. If asked, he would have blamed it on how busy they were, but the truth was now that he knew what 'home' really meant, he hadno urge to leave."If anything...if something..." He couldn't bring himself to say 'if something goes wrong'. "I'm sure someone will call." They had when Tess thought she had cancer. Alex still remembered how upset Claire had been, especially since Tess had hidden it from everyone and Claire'd been in the city with him, miles away from home.
"Yeah." Nick knew what his brother was talking about. "I'm sure."
"Besides, you postpone, Claire'll have a fit." It was as important to his wife that everyone go well for Tess as it had been for Tess when he and Claire had gotten married. Claire wasn't about to let them postpone their honeymoon because she was tired.
Becky and Jodi took Charlie back to shearer's quarters, Amy took Ryan back to Killarney, Meg went home to Terry, and three McLeod women went inside to get changed into their pajamas. Tess made the popcorn and got out drinks and movies while Claire put Charlotte to bed. "Brad Pitt," Claire smiled, coming back down to the living room.
"Yeah."
Claire looked at Tess. "Are you okay? I mean, about Liz?"
Tess tensed, but nodded. "Yeah. I tried all I could, right? I'm not sorry I said any of it. Alex had a right to know that Nick's accident wasn't his fault and what Harry had done about the will. I just wish she would have made an effort, even if it was only for Nick. And I don't see why she's always liked you better than me, even before I said anything."
"Her boys liked you." BothAlex and Nick had dated her sister and, when she looked back on those times,she had some of the first clues that something was changing between her and her best mate."Since Harry...treated them like he did, she overcompensated. That's why they were always so attached to her." Even when Alex was at Wilgul with Nick, Liz had cooked and cleaned and washed for them. "It wasn't your fault, Tess. We just have different ways of handling her. You need her to like you and I always left her alone,dealt with the boys or Harry."
"She's done so much to make them love her. How could she not want to see Nick's wedding, despite who he was marrying? Especially when she was here for Alex's."
"She's Liz. Don't let her worry you, okay? Nick knows who his real family is: you, the baby, Ryan and Amy, and Alex, me and Charlotte...He loves you enough to see past whatever Liz thinks about you. If I were you, I'd be happier that she still lives in the city and you might have to see her once or twice a year."
"Do you think she could be mad about the baby?"
Claire frowned. "I don't know. I don't see how. She likes Charlotte." Still, in all fact, Meg was more Charlotte's grandmum than Liz was. "Really, Tess, don't let her bother you. The only thing that matters is you and Nick. Stop worrying, just for one day." Tess smiled as the girls settled on the couch under blankets, watching movies until both fell asleep.