Alex held the bouquet of roses behind his back. He wasn't sure how Stevie would take the flowers and he wanted to see what mood she was in before he sprung them on her. When he had left the hospital yesterday she had been all smiles. But that was probably because today she was going home.

He could hear her strident tones before he entered the room.

"When can I leave?"

"As soon as Mr. Ryan gets here, Mrs. Morgan," the nurse replied.

"I told you not to call me that." Stevie's voice went from whiney to angry.

Alex hurried into the room and the anger and fear fled from her face at the sight of him.

The nurse gave him a look that said 'thank goodness'. Alex smiled at her and mouthed 'thank you'. Then turning to the bed he looked sternly at Stevie.

"That wasn't very nice, Cowgirl. I have half a mind not to give you your surprise."

Stevie crossed her arms and frowned. "I can't stand being called Mrs. Morgan. I'm going to be Stevie Hall again. And what is my surprise?"

"Do you promise to smile?" Alex sat beside her and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear.

Stevie's face stretched into some semblance of a smiled and Alex laughed. Pulling the rose out from behind his back he held them in front of her.

"Oh, Alex. They're beautiful. Thank you." She buried her face in the bright, red blooms and then lifted it to smile for real at him. "You've been so good to me. I don't deserve all this."

Alex took the flowers from her and laid them on the bed. Then framing her face with his hands and staring deep into her eyes he said, "Yes, you do. Stop beating yourself up. You deserve all this and more."

She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the bed. Walking stiffly to the window she leaned against the frame. "Alex, how can you be here when all I've done is hurt you? Why do you want to be here?"

"Because after you left I realized the reason I didn't want you to go was because I loved you." He got up and walked to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "I still do, Stevie. I always will."

She turned to him and tears made their way down her cheeks. He wiped them away and pulled her to him.

"Don't cry, Stevie. Please don't cry."

She sobbed into his chest and he held her tight, rocking back and forth. It scared him to see her so visibly upset. She had always been so good at hiding her feelings. Now it seemed she was an opened book. After hearing what she had gone through he thought she would be hiding everything away much more.

"Alex, you can let go now."

He looked down and shook his head. "Nope. You're stuck with me."

Stevie laughed. "There is no one I'd rather be stuck with."

He shook his head and then bent down to touch his lips to hers. She moaned softly and pressed herself close to him. Alex moved his hands down her back and held her tight. Suddenly she pushed against him. He looked down at her and saw the panic in her eyes.

"Steves, what's wrong?"

She shook her head wildly and moved away from him. Gasping she pressed a hand to her chest. "I can't do this, I can't."

He followed her to the bed and tried to stop her nervous pacing. "You can't do what?"

She shook her head again. "I can't, I can't."

"You can't what?" Alex steeled himself to keep from shaking her. What had gotten into the woman?

"Don't hurt me, Kane. Please don't hurt me."

Kane? Did she think he was Kane? Alex cringed. That bastard was going to get it when he found him again.

"Stevie, look at me. Look at me." Alex gently forced Stevie's face up so he could see into her eyes. "It's Alex, not Kane. I'm not going to hurt you."

Stevie stared at him and then backed away. She covered her mouth with her hand and sank onto the bed. Bracing her hands behind she sighed.

"Alex, I'm sorry. I thought..." she trailed off.

Alex sat down beside her and brushed hair from her face. "Hey, it's okay. I shouldn't have pushed you. We'll take it easy. Now are you ready to go?"

"Ready," Stevie said trying to smile. "Let's get out of here."

At Camelot, Rose and Luke were waiting on the porch with the kids. Stevie smiled as she saw her children.

"You know, I'm still not sure about Luke," she said softly as Alex turned off the car.

"Stevie, he's the good one. Don't forget that." He reached over and stroked her cheek. "Luke would never hurt Rose. Mostly because he knows you'd have his back side."

Stevie grinned and opened her door. Alex opened his and stepped out.

"Oi, Rose, Luke, you have everything packed?"

Rose handed Kana to Luke and hurried down the sidewalk. "Mom, you're back."

Stevie hugged her oldest daughter. "And it's good to be back. Did Henry really offer a good price for this place?"

Luke nodded and told her the amount. Stevie's eyes widened and she looked at Alex. He shrugged and grabbed her bag from the back of the Ute.

"It's a good price, Cowgirl. Hey, Luke, where's the surprise?"

He wrapped an arm around Stevie and propelled her to the porch.

"What surprise? The price Henry gave us is surprise enough." Stevie sank into a chair and took Kana from Luke. "Come to Mommy, Kaleb. I missed you, little man."

"Mommy, you go away again?" Kaleb leaned against Stevie and she stroked his hair.

Alex could see how much Stevie loved her children and her children loved her. Luke faded into the background to get Stevie's surprise and Alex sat down and watched her interact with her children. Kaleb babbled about something and Stevie smiled and nodded. Kana stuck her thumb in her mouth and leaned against her mother's chest, happier than she had been since Alex had arrived.

Luke appeared back on the porch and Alex nudged Stevie's foot. She looked up and he nodded in Luke's direction. The dog lunged against his collar and Luke let him go. Stevie laughed as he jumped into her lap and then back onto the floor, bouncing and barking.

"Turbo!" Stevie stroked his head and then pushed him down as he bounced up again. "You silly boy. I've missed you."

Alex took Kana so Stevie could pay proper attention to her dog.

"Where did you get him from?" she asked as she slid to the porch and hugged her dog.

"Henry gave him back," Alex said. "Told us he could never get the dog to work properly."

"And he said for you to hold onto you things tighter," Rose said. "I have everything packed. Can we leave?"

Stevie clambered to her feet, wincing a little, and wrapped her arm around Rose's shoulders. "We can as soon as I sign those papers for Henry and he gives us a nice fat cheque."

Alex stood on the porch, staring out into the darkness. There was so much Stevie didn't know yet and so much he wanted to tell her. But he didn't know if she could handle it. And she had enough to deal with; he couldn't dump his problems on her. But there were a few things she needed to know before she came home.

"Alex?"

He turned to her and smiled. Holding out an arm he tucked her close to his side. She sighed and rested a hand on his chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pressing his lips to her head.

"I don't know. Everything is happening so fast. I want to go back to Drovers but I left so quickly. I don't know if Tess will want to see me."

Alex laughed. "Oh, she will."

Stevie looked up at him. A fire flashed in her eyes for just one moment and then disappeared. He knew then that he could tell her anything. The real Stevie, the one that could stand toe to toe with him in a fight, was somewhere buried deep down inside of the woman he held.

Alex sat down on the edge of the porch. With a groan Stevie sat beside him and leaned against his shoulder.

"What's been happening at home?" she asked quietly.

Alex took a deep breath and began to tell her everything. How Nick had gotten a three month contract in Argentina. How Regan McLeod, Tess's cousin, had tried to destroy Drovers but instead fell in love with the place and ended up staying on as a hand. He told her about Tess leaving to go be with Nick, about her coming back, the baby and then that dreadful phone call.

Stevie cried and he felt tears rolling down his face as he recounted those terrible days as they all tried to come to grips with the fact that his brother was dead. As the tears escaped his eyes he told her about the fight he had had with Harry, the hurt that pushed him to flee. He spoke about how he had been so angry, scared and sad and how he only wanted her, and how when Sandra had appeared he had almost lost control. But the memory of Stevie's smiling face had stopped him.

"Then the shack caught on fire and Jodi and Rob rescued us." He stopped, to breath, to think through the last of what he was going to tell her.

"Rob?" Stevie looked at him. "Who is Rob?"

"Rob Shelton, Killarney's new overseer," Alex explained, glad to have something else to talk about.

"But is Nick really dead? And why are you here?" Stevie pushed away from him and wiped tears from his cheeks.

Alex lowered his face. "I ran or rather drove off after Jodi dragged me out of the fire. I drove to the truck stop. But Terry had forgotten to unlock one of the pumps and I went in to tell him." Alex took a deep breath before continuing. "Then the phone rang and I answered it. It was Luke. I don't know really why he called the truck stop but when he told me what happened I knew what I had to do. So I chartered a plane and here I am."

Stevie was silent after he finished and he was afraid to look at her. What was she thinking?

"Is Tess okay?" Stevie asked. "Have you told her about me?"

Alex nodded. "She's okay. But she could really use her best friend right now. And I called Drovers. They can't wait to see you."

She nodded and then leaned against him again. He wrapped his arms around her, needing the warmth of her body. He hadn't realized how much he missed her. Just seeing her smile every day had brought joy to him, to tease her, laugh with her, play pool together, share a beer at the end of a long day. Now that he held her he knew how much he had missed those things and that those were the things that he needed.