26

Alex was still in a state of shock. Claire was pregnant! Questions ran through his head. Was it his? When was she due? Boy or girl?

"Alex, everything all right?" He heard Claire's voice through his thoughts "Yes, I am pregnant but could we go somewhere else to talk? I really need to sit down I think…"

"Yeah, ok. Umm, there's a nice café not too far from here, not very busy…"
"Café sounds nice, I need a loo, too"

So they got in Alex's car in silence. Alex had to look at Claire's tummy every now and then still not believing what he saw. She looked so big!

When they reached the café a couple minutes later Alex looked for a nice table a bit away from any of the other guests while Claire headed straight to the bathroom.

When she came back there was already a cup of tea waiting for her. "Ah, that's great Alex, thanks…" Claire said as she sat down as gracefully as she could.

"Claire, it's really good to see you here…" Alex started and took Claire's hand. "But I think you need to answer some questions…"

"Getting straight to the point Ryan." Claire smiled. He hadn't changed all that much. He looked a little different, his hair shorter in a nice cut, shaved, not as much tan as he used to have, more city like in general. But other than that he still seemed to be Alex, her best mate.

"How far along are you?" Alex just needed to know if it was his child, if he had done it to her again.

"I'm 8 ½ months pregnant Alex and before you start jumping to any conclusions again like 10 years ago, yes, it's yours." She looked straight in his face to see his reaction.

Alex heard Claire's words but it took a while till they really hit him. Claire was pregnant…with his child. Again...The first quite happy look on his face turned to guilt. He had done it again. He got her pregnant again without being married to her.

"I'm so sorry Claire, I…umm…should have used some protection that night…"

"Alex Ryan, what are you trying to tell me? You don't want the baby?" Claire didn't know what Alex wanted. At first he had looked happy but then his face had lost its entire colour.

"Well, if that's the case I'm sorry I bothered you…" she said angrily and wanted to get up.

"Claire!" Alex put his hand on her arm to stop her from running away. "That's not what I meant…I'm sorry I got you pregnant again just because I wasn't thinking clearly. That doesn't mean I don't want the baby…not at all!" There was this gorgeous smile again all over his face. "We having a boy or a girl?" He then asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You're a complete mystery to me! You know that?" Claire was relieved now that Alex seemed to want to know about the baby. "First of all…that night wasn't your fault at alone, if I hadn't wanted it, it wouldn't have happened. Second of all…it wasn't even a fault if you ask me, I'm quite happy about the baby now. And third of all…I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, you couldn't see during the ultrasound…"

"Claire, I'm so sorry for leaving you alone when you probably needed me most…" Alex still felt guilty. He couldn't help it.

"You didn't know Alex. And I can understand why you left…" Claire took Alex's hand and looked him deep in the eyes. "Would you come home with me now? I really wanna have the baby at home and I want you there with me…"

Alex kept their eyes locked "There's nothing I would rather do…" With that he leaned over and kissed Claire softly. This was what he had wanted to do for 8 months now…

When he finally let go of Claire he finally realized something "By the way McLeod, how did you find me? I thought nobody at home knew where I was?"

Claire laughed "Long story Alex…very long story." She said and then all of a sudden felt really tired. "Could you maybe take me back to my hotel? I've been up on my feet half the morning and they really could use a rest."

Alex looked at her and smiled "Under one condition…you tell me the story how you found me on the way…" he said with a smirk.

"Deal!" Claire said and got up. On the way back to the city she told Alex about Nick and Liz and Bryce and her drive to Melbourne. She also told him that Liz was now here as well which only got her an undefinable sound from Alex.

Once they reached her hotel room Claire lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly while Alex sat on the bed next to her holding her hand and rubbing her stomach with the other hand. He was going to be a daddy soon…

27

When Claire woke up again she felt Alex's presence immediately. He was curled up behind her, sound asleep himself as it seemed. He had one of his hands on her shoulder, the other was resting on her tummy. She could feel the baby move inside her and smiled. This was such an amazing feeling. If only Alex was awake, he could feel it too…

Then she felt Alex move behind her and whispering in her ear "What time is it?" still half asleep.

Claire laughed "It's almost 5:30 and if you woke up properly Ryan you could feel the baby move..."

Alex was now fully awake, his hand still on Claire's stomach as he felt a soft kick. And there was another one. Alex smile got broader and broader and finally he said. "Wow, quite active our little one! Think we have the next footie star in there…" He rose up on his elbow and started talking to Claire's tummy "You will be a footie player, won't you son?" He asked with a seriousness on his face that made Claire laugh.

"It'll be a girl…" she said.

"I thought you didn't know!"

"Well, I don't…but I can feel it!"

"Ah McLeod, we'll see…I'm sure it is a boy!" Claire turned around and looked him straight in his eyes. She was getting serious now.

"Alex, when can we go home? I really don't wanna be here in Melbourne too long. The longer I stay the harder it'll be to get back home…"

"I've thought about this while you were asleep. I can't just take off like that. I have a job here and I have an apartment. I'll need to sort things out first."

Claire's hopes for a speedy return to Drovers Run sank at his words. But he was right though, he couldn't just run away like that.

"What I probably can do is take some time off. I haven't had any holiday since I started working there and I'm sure I can get at least two weeks off. But I'll need a couple days to get it all fixed so what would you think about going home in a week from now?"

Claire nodded "That's ok I guess, the baby's not due for another 3 weeks so I guess we still have enough time to drive home…" And with Alex driving they would probably be a lot faster than she had been coming down here.

"So Claire, what do we do with you then? You wanna stay here at the hotel or would you maybe come with me to my place till we head home?" Alex wasn't sure about her answer so he looked at her questioning.

Claire hadn't really thought about what she wanted to do once she found Alex plus she still needed to tell him about their marriage but for now she made a decision…

"I think I should come and stay with you…I mean…just in case there's something wrong with the baby, you know?"

"The baby…uh, sure. Let's get your stuff together then and get you to my apartment. You'll have to follow me in your car though, do you think you can manage?"
"Alex, I found my way to the hotel, didn't I?" she hadn't told him about getting lost and meeting Edna yet. She'd leave that for later but knew she had to bring the boxes and the map back and would need Alex's help for that.

So they packed Claire's things and checked her out of the hotel, which wasn't easy to do at almost 6:30 pm so they ended up paying another night.

Once they had gotten to Alex's apartment Claire was really surprised how clean it was. She took a look around, no dirty laundry, no dirty dishes, not all that much dust. She was impressed. "You found your feminine site, Ryan. This place is cleaner than Drovers after Meg's gone through!"

"Well, I'm full of surprises, aren't I?" He smiled and winked at her, not telling her that Saturday was the day his cleaning woman came to make this place look good as new…

28

"So Alex, is there anything in your fridge a hungry, pregnant woman could eat?" Claire walked over to the fridge and opened it only to find it almost empty. "What the heck have you been living off these past months?" She shook her head and smiled, some things would never change.

"Delivery service, one of the advantages of living in the city." Alex winked at her and added "What do you feel like, Italian, Chinese? Let me know and I'll get us something decent to eat."

"Well, I think I feel like Chinese today…" Claire said and 10 minutes later they had ordered the food and Claire excused herself to go to the bathroom.

While they were eating Claire suddenly remembered Edna's boxes and her map. She needed to take them back to her but was sure she'd never find the way again. So she asked Alex "Hey, what are your plans for tomorrow? Anything special?"

"No, actually I had planned to have a nice day at home with only the TV and myself but that was before you showed up…" He smiled "Which I don't mind at all…"

"Well, that's good…umm, would you like to take me somewhere?"

"What do you have in mind Claire?" Alex was confused. Claire hadn't been to the city in years and she was not really the type of woman who would enjoy sightseeing, especially so far along in her pregnancy.

"I need to take some things I borrowed back to a very nice old lady…" And then Claire told him about Edna and how she got lost when she reached Melbourne. Alex couldn't help but laugh.

"Sure we can go there tomorrow but don't you think you should call her first and let her know we're coming?"

"You're probably right…do you have a phonebook?" While Claire looked for Edna's number and then made her phone call Alex realized they hadn't talked about their sleeping arrangement yet. He only had one bed in his small apartment and the couch was definitely too small for him to sleep on. But he wasn't sure if Claire would be willing to share a bed with him.

Claire hung up and smiled. "Edna's expecting us for lunch tomorrow."

"Ok, sounds nice, I haven't had home cooked lunch in quite a while. Umm…Claire, I don't know if you've noticed but…I only have one bed in here…"

"And?"

"Well, we haven't talked about it yet…I mean…I don't know if you…" Why was this so hard? Alex always seemed lost for words when it came to seriously talking to Claire.

"Are you trying to ask me if you could share the bed with me?" Claire had to hold herself back to not start laughing. Alex looked like a trapped animal.

"Yeah, I guess so…would you mind?"

"The damage is already done" Claire said with a wink "so I guess we'll be fine."

Alex was relieved. He really wouldn't have liked to sleep on that couch…

The rest of the evening passed with Claire and Alex on the couch watching TV and just enjoying each others company and ended with Claire falling asleep in Alex's arms.

Meanwhile back home at Drovers Tess had another sleepless night because once again Claire seemed to have disappeared. Tess had been waiting for her call and report about whether she found Alex all evening and when the phone didn't ring she tried the number Claire had given her. But Claire didn't pick up. So Tess had called the hotel reception but they had only told her that Ms McLeod had checked out. So once again Tess had no idea where Claire was and if she was alright…

29

The next morning Tess was nearly out of her mind. It was already 10 am and Claire still hadn't called. And since Tess couldn't do anything about that she drove everybody else nuts. They were out mustering some sheep that needed drenching the next day. Usually Tess would joke around with the other girls but today she just snapped back at them. After another very rude comment towards Becky Jodi couldn't hold herself back anymore.

"Jeez Tess, what's up with you today? Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today? You sound worse than Claire when she has one of her moods…"

The mentioning of her sister's name was enough to make Tess boil with anger.

"Claire…CLAIRE! Don't start with Claire! I don't wanna hear that name again till I see her walking up to me. And even then I'm not sure I wanna talk to her!"

With that Tess rode off and left the others alone with the sheep…

When Tess was back at the homestead she marched into the study right away. There had to be a way to find out where Claire was. If she had found Alex she'd probably be with him. So Tess had decided to call Nick and ask him again if he knew where Alex was. Maybe he had heard something since they last talked.

"Wilgul, Nick speaking…" he answered the phone.

"Nick, this is Tess!"

"Morning Tess. What can I do for you?"
"You haven't by any chance heard any news from that brother of yours or my stupid sister?"

"No, why?"

"Claire didn't call yesterday and she's checked out of her hotel. I don't have any idea where she could be…" Tess started crying.

"Tess? Umm…I'll be right with you, ok? Don't do anything stupid, you here me?" Nick hung up the phone.

20 minutes later Tess saw a red ute pull up in front of the house. She was sitting on the veranda with a glass of cold lemonade, still crying. Once the tears had started she couldn't stop them anymore. But now Nick was here and maybe they'd find a solution together. After all this was about their siblings.

When Nick saw Tess crying he couldn't help but walk over to her and take her in his arms.

"Sshh Tess, it'll be ok."

"How can she do this to me Nick? She knows I'm worried and she knows it was a stupid idea to drive to Melbourne in the first place. She's pregnant and the baby could come any minute!"

"Doesn't she still have 3 weeks to go?"

"Yes, but that's still not the state you should travel in!" Tess's sobbing had stopped "What if the baby comes early and she's all alone?"

"Tess, I'm sure the fact she hasn't called means that she's found that stupid brother of mine. They'll be together somewhere and she probably completely forgot about you…"

"I need to find her Nick! I'm going crazy not knowing where she is!" Tess looked at him begging.

"Ok, what is the last thing you know she wanted to do?" Maybe they could figure out something together and make a few phone calls so Tess could calm down

"I talked to her Friday evening and she said she wanted to go to some Pony club on Saturday…"

"A pony club?"

"Yeah, it looks like she got that hint from Alex's father…"

"Well, do you have a name? Maybe we could find out the phone number and give them a call…"

Tess knew the name and they even found the phone number but when they tried to call the pony club nobody picked up the phone.

"Nick…I need to get down there! I can't just sit here and do nothing…"

Nick looked at Tess and knew he couldn't hold her back. So he said "Tell you what. If Claire hasn't called by tonight we'll book 2 flights to Melbourne…"

"2 flights?"

"Yes, I won't leave you alone in this situation. After all it was my brother who caused all the chaos!"

"Sounds like a plan…Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…"

"It's ok. You know I'm always there for you when you need me…" Nick hugged Tess again and Tess closed her eyes. She felt so safe in Nick's arms…