Title: Drover's Run

Name: April

Spoilers: Peter episodes of Season Two, most of Season Three (Which I haven't seen yet, so bear with me, please.)

Alex Ryan lay on his side, a hand on his girlfriend's stomach, feeling both her breathing and the baby moving. He'd already dressed, as quiet as possible, and came back to lay down and watch her sleep. Most of the damage from the wreck five months before had healed, but he was still aware of how lucky he was that his family was healthy, happy, safe, and most of all alive.

Claire McLeod opened the blue eyes that he loved and he couldn't help but smile. "Hey."

"Hey," she said smiling as well, turning to face him. Most of the time they'd been together had consisted of her being in the hospital so it was a strange yet comforting feeling waking up beside him.

The baby kicked him and he grinned. "Fiesty little mate."

"He'd have to be," she said proudly. The doctors at the hospital swore it was a miracle she'd survived the wreck and had no explanation for how the baby had made it. She saw a look in his eyes and moved her hand to cup his face, her thumb stroking his cheek. "What?"

"Scared to leave." Especially since Tess and the hands at Kilarney were the only ones around for miles.

"We've talked about this. I'm not able to ride yet and, evenif I was,Charlotte's too young. I need you to go for me. Okay?" She kissed his temple. He nodded, but she could tell he still didn't like it. "How often do you and Nick do anything with Harry anymore?"

"Yeah, time with Dad, good selling point," he said sarcastically.

"You two gonna be okay for a week?" The relationship between the two had never been great but had gotten worse since Liz's secret and the divorce.

He ignored her question, not knowing the answer. "You coming to see me off?"

She kissed him. "Sure. Let me check on Charlotte first."

"I'll do it. You get dressed." He kissed her again before getting up to check on their daughter.

Nick Ryan was finishing the chores for the day, making sure everything would be okay for the week. Tess McLeod woke up alone and her heart raced, dressing quickly and going outside. Nick turned as he heard the door close and saw the expression on her face. "Hey." He walked over to hold her. "I was coming back in, I promise. I wanted to finish chores. I wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye." He hugged her.

"I know."

He moved blonde hair out of her face. "You okay?"

"I wish I was going with you."

"I wish you were too. I'm going to miss you." He kissed the top of her head. "But Claire needs you. You wouldn't feel right out there worrying about her."

She nodded. "I know. But we just got here, you know?" He nodded, knowing she didn't mean 'here' as in Wilgul, but 'here' as in together, finally.

"Yeah, but Tess, I'll be back. I promise. I would never leave you. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered.

"What if, when I get back, we take a few days off and went to the city? You could see your friends, we could explore..." He offered.

"I just want to be with you." He smiled. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you." He kissed her temple. "You ready to go?" She nodded, helping him get ready to go over to Drover's.

Alex carried Charlotte out, his arm around Claire's waist, Roy joining them. "Hey, boy." He rubbed behind the dog's ears. "You need to stay here this time. Keep an eye on the place." As Claire greeted Tess and Nick, Alex whispered to Roy, "Take care of them for me." It seemed ridiculous, but the dog seemed to have a sixth sense for danger. It would never allow Claire to be hurt and had adopted Charlotte ashis territory as well.

The rest of the group arrived and got ready to leave. Meg came over to the girls. "You'll be okay?"

Claire smiled. Her mother had died when she was almost too young to remember her, Ruth had only been there for five years, so Meg was the only real mother she'd ever had. "We'll handle it." Tess assured her.

Meg heard Jodi groan about having to go on the trip, but tried to ignore it. "I cooked extra, put it in the refrigerator, enough for supper for a week."

"Thanks, Meg," Claire said.

"Don't mention it." She went over to her horse, joining her family.

Harry watched from his ute as his sons said goodbye to their girlfriends. Nick hugged Tess, kissing her temple. "I love you," he whispered, rubbing her back in small circles.

"Be careful. Don't get too sore and don't get into any leeches," she teased, remembering the first, last, and only drove she'd ever been on.

He laughed. "I won't."

Alex kissed Charlotte's small forehead and then Claire's lips. "I love you. I'll miss you both," Alex told her, hugging her.

"I love you too." She hugged him. "You should go. We'll be okay." He nodded, not liking being out of touch with her. "Trust me."

"I do." There weren't many people he could say that about.

Tess, Claire, Charlotte, and Roy watched the mob leave and Tess turned to look at Claire. "Are you okay? I mean, not just with Alex leaving, but you usually go and you can't..." Tess's words spilled into each other.

"Tess." She paused. "I'm fine."

Tess nodded. "Right. Anything I can help you with?"

"I can't lift the feed for the horses. Can you put them in the wheelburrow?"

"I can feed them. Really. I'm here to help."

Claire looked at her for a minute, seemingly sizing her up. "Okay." She gave instructions on what to feed which horse, grooming and visiting each one. It was killing her not to be able to ride, but she hadn't been back on a horse since the wreck. There'd been so much therapy and, now, she didn't want to risk hurting the baby.

"What now?"

"I need to go in." Holding her daughter, the baby inside of her, combined with the heat, made it hard for her to breathe.

"Okay. We can do that," Tess hurriedly led her sister back inside. "Did you two have breakfast?"

"Yeah, with Alex." Tess was hovering and Claire could tell it would be a long week. They'd originally agreed their family would be gone two weeks, but Nick didn't want to spend that much time away from Tess, Alex away from her and Charlotte, and a week or a week and a half was all it really called for this time.

Tess sat down at the table with her sister. "Can I hold her?" She motioned towards her niece.

"Sure." Claire carefully handed her over.

"So how are things going with you and Alex?"

"Great." Claire paused. "I'm happy, Tess. Really. I never thought I'd be happy again."

"So she's going to call Alex Dad?" Tess asked, smiling at Charlotte, letting the little girl grab her finger.

Claire nodded. "I'll tell her one day...when she's old enough to understand."

"Of course. You wouldn't want another scene." She'd heard about Harry's reaction to Liz accidently letting the fact that he wasn't Alex's biological father slip.

"I don't care about a scene. I wouldn't do that to Charlotte. She deserves to know the truth. She'll understand...Peter could never love her as much as Alex does, as much as he always has." She couldn't picture many men who would lie to the whole town, claim a baby that wasn't theirs.

"He loves all three of you."

Claire nodded. "Nick loves you too."

Tess nodded. "I know."

"But?" Claire could tell there was a but; there always was with Tess.

"I woke up this morning and I thought he'd left without saying goodbye. I started panicking."

"Tess..."

"I love him, Claire. I'm scared. I don't want to lose him. I wish I could be like you and Alex...I just can't."

"No relationship is the same, Tess, and none is a guarantee. Love is charging, just like you said. It's scary, yes, but it's worth it."

Claire was thinking mainly of Alex, but, of course, Tess went negative. "What you went through with Peter was worth it?"

"If I hadn't gone through that, I wouldn't have Charlotte. Besides, Nick isn't anything like Peter. He's not Peter, he's not Alex, he's not even Dad. He's Nick. And you're Tess." Claire paused, not liking to talk about her wreck. "When Alex held me, I started living again. Do you remember what you told me the day before the Show?"

Tess nodded. "Is he the one for you? Ba-boom. Ba-boom."

Claire nodded. "Yeah. You can't listen to Liz or Harry, Alex or me, Meg, the only ones that matter are you and Nick. Is he the one for you?"