70

"Tess! Hurry up!" Claire shouted the following morning and muttered to herself "I thought she had gotten better!"

BOM was fast asleep in her stroller and Claire hoped they could make it to the bridal shop before she woke up again. If only Tess would hurry up…

"She still in the bathroom?" Alex asked and wrapped his arms around Claire from the back and kissed her on the hair.

"Yup…it's getting worse again Alex! Ever since her and Nick spend so much time together she's taking longer and longer again. And he's not even here!"

"When are you supposed to be at the shop?"

"In 35 minutes…"

"You'll be fine, only takes 20 minutes to get there…I wish I could go with you. I'd love to see you in that dress." Alex pointed to the table where the box was sitting that held the wedding dress of Claire's mother and grandmother.

"No way Ryan, you're gonna have to wait till our wedding day…well, second wedding day. When will you meet the estate agent?"
"Should be here any minute now. He wanted to have a look at the apartment and the furniture and tell me what price I can get for everything. Claire, don't forget we're all invited to dinner at Mum's tonight. Bryce will be there, too. They wanna see their granddaughter." Alex looked proudly at his sleeping daughter. "She'll have them wrapped around her tiny fingers in no time…"

Claire smiled. "Just like she has everyone at Drovers, Killarney and Wilgul. She's one lucky child to have so many people care for her…did you tell your Mum that Tess is coming, too? I'd hate to leave her alone all evening"

"Yeah, I told her, she said that was not a problem. But she didn't sound very pleased…"

"Finished!" Tess emerged the bathroom dressed in her "city clothes" as Claire called them and she had put on makeup.

"That was about time! We'll be late to get to the bridal shop and the dressmaker will have to wait!"

Claire opened the front door and almost ran a middle aged man over with Charlotte's baby carriage. "Oh, sorry! You must be the estate agent, right?"

"Yeah, Jonathan Clark, nice to meet you Mrs. Ryan!"

"McLeod-Ryan…sorry Mr Clark, I'm in a hurry. My husbands inside, why don't you walk right through…" Mr Clark nodded and circled around the baby carriage only to have Claire shout "TESS!" in his ear.

After the women had left Mr. Clark took a look around the apartment.

"That's a very nice apartment Mr Ryan, and the area's nice, too. Think we can get a good price for it…"

Alex was very pleased to hear that.

Claire, Tess and Charlotte made it to the bridal shop with only five minutes delay but Claire was still a bit mad at her sister for taking so long in the bathroom.

"Mrs McLeod-Ryan?" an assistant approached them as they entered the shop offering her hand. Claire still felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard Alex's last name after hers. Even though they knew they were married for a while now, it was still a rather new feeling.

"Yes, sorry, we're a bit late…" Claire said with an side look on Tess. But her sister pretended not to have noticed.

"Oh, you're right on time…My name is Joan and I'll be your assistant for the day. Now if you want to follow me to the studio we can start right away. Pat, out tailor is already waiting for you. I assume you have your dress with you?"

Claire and Tess followed Joan through the shop, Tess carrying the box that held the wedding dress, Claire pushing Charlotte.

"How old is your child?" Joan asked when they entered the studio. Claire always dressed Charlotte in neutral colours so you couldn't tell right away that she was a girl.

"My daughter is eight weeks old now. Her name's Charlotte. I hope it's not a problem we brought her but I'm still breastfeeding so it would have been a problem to leave her with my husband…"

"That's not a problem…I'll be right back, I'll only tell Pat you're here so she can have a look at the dress so we can decide what is possible."

Pat was a nice woman in her mid forties who obviously liked to eat. She was more than twice the size of Claire but moved surprisingly quick. She looked at the dress the two sisters had brought with them and listened to what Claire and Tess had in mind about what could be changed.

Together they decided to make the dress shoulder free and sew gloves for Claire out of the gained cloth.

Pat took Claire's measurements and promised to have the dress finished till the end of the week for a last fitting so the sisters could take it back home with them.

Since Claire was already married she had decided not to wear a veil but instead just put her hair up and maybe, only maybe add some flowers.

Claire and Tess spent 6 hours in the shop but when they finally left it they had found dresses for every girl on Drovers Run including Charlotte. Pat had said she would make the perfect little dress for the girl so she'd match her mother.

All 3 of them were exhausted now and Charlotte was starting to get uncomfortable and whiny in her stroller.

"It's time we get home now dear, isn't it? You need a few hours of proper sleep in a bed…and so do I! I remember now why I don't like shopping!" Claire said and rocked Charlotte a little harder so the baby would calm down.

"Come on Claire. Admit it! You enjoyed being the centre of attention all day in there!" Tess said.

"Well, yeah…there are worse things…" Claire smiled.

"Yeah, like having dinner with Liz Ryan!" The words slipped out of Tess's mouth before she could think. "Sorry…"

"Tess, she's not all that bad! Though I have to admit I'm not particularly sad she's living in the city now…but compared to Sandra I'd take Liz any time? You think she knows about Sandra?"

"Claire, Liz Ryan hates me! I can never do anything right in her eyes!" Tess had never really told Claire what had happened between her and Nick and how Liz had interfered in their relationship. Nick knew now though Tess could tell he still didn't quite believe her.

"Hate is a strong word Tess…"
"It's true Claire…" and finally Tess told her sister everything that had happened and what Liz had said to her. When she was finished Claire was fuming.

"I knew Liz was not an angel but that is just…oh, I'm gonna kill her tonight!"

"No you won't! I'm over it and so is Nick! We're just getting back together again and if you told Liz off you'd just make our situation worse again. Leave it Claire, please! I can live with Liz hating me, she lives far away from Drovers and Wilgul and I don't have to see her every day. Please Claire!"

"Ok, ok, I will try and keep quiet! But I can't guarantee for anything if she says one bad word about you tonight! Thank God Bryce will be there! That'll hopefully hold her back a bit! Come on Tess, we need to get back and change for the dinner or we'll be late. Though I really don't wanna go now…"

Back at the apartment Alex told them the good news Mr Clark had just phoned him with. He had already found somebody who wanted to buy the apartment and the price was great. Alex would get almost $30,000 more than what he had paid for originally.

Then they all changed and got on the way to have dinner with Liz and Bryce…

71

"Ready to face them?" Alex asked Claire and Tess as they were standing in front of Liz's house. The sisters looked at each other and nodded so Alex rang the doorbell.

It didn't take Liz long to open the door.

"Alex, Claire…Tess. Come inside and show me my granddaughter!"

Bryce was already there so after greeting everybody Claire took Charlotte out of her stroller and showed her around.

Both Bryce and Liz adored the little girl. It was Liz's first grandchild and the first granddaughter for Bryce.

"She's adorable Claire. So beautiful…" Liz had tears in her eyes as Claire put the baby in her arms.

"How does it feel to be a granny now, Mum?" Alex asked with a wink. He could see his mother loved Charlotte already and he was happy about that. Claire was right, Liz was the only grandmother his daughter would ever know.

"It's a good feeling actually. She has your nose Alex…and Claire's eyes. She's just adorable" Liz sighed.

"Can I have her, too? I am her grandfather after all…" Bryce said and Liz handed the baby over kissing her on the head.

"My first granddaughter…you did a good job Alex. And you too Claire. I love the boys but there's just something about those little females that gets me…and I know, I have 3 daughters!"

Alex heart sank when he heard Bryce mention his sisters. He would have loved to meet them bur knew it wasn't possible. Bryce's marriage was in trouble and had been for quite a while. If his family knew about his existence it would just throw them over the edge and one thing he really didn't want was his father losing his family. So he'd have to live with the knowledge of his sisters not knowing about him. Maybe one day but not now…

"Let's sit down and have dinner, shall we?" Liz said and they all followed her to the dinner table and sat down.

The rest of the evening went smoothly and everybody had a good time. Charlotte was the centre of everybody's attention and seemed to enjoy it. Liz behaved herself towards Tess and never made any bad comments towards her. Claire was thankful for that and decided to keep quiet for the sake of keeping a good relationship with her mother-in-law.

Bryce and Liz both promised to come to the wedding and were left with baby pictures and promises to keep them informed.

"Mum and Bryce look really good together, don't they?"

Claire and Alex were settled in bed, Claire's head resting on Alex's shoulder. After they had gotten back to the apartment Tess had called Nick right away which had given her a chuckle from her sister. Claire and Alex had put Charlotte to bed and had then slipped under the covers themselves.

"What you mean?" Claire lifted her head and looked in Alex's eyes to see what he was on about.

"I mean there are still some sparks flying between them, even after 30 years. I wonder if Bryce wasn't still married if they'd get back together…"

Claire laughed. Alex looked like a little boy on a mission. "Who would have thought…Alex Ryan wants to set up his parents…"

"Get away Claire! Bryce is married so there is no getting back together for them…"

"Didn't you say Bryce's marriage was in trouble? Maybe he's really thinking about getting together with Liz…not that I really wanna think about what they would be doing." She shuddered. "Harry's with Sandra now and as much as I hate her I must admit that I haven't seen Harry that relaxed and happy since the truth about your father came out…"

"Yeah, I know. And you know, I really think if Mum and Bryce were together they could both be happier than they are now…"

"Well Mr Ryan, this is none of our business. And for me all that counts right now is you and our daughter. But who knows, if Bryce decides to end his marriage you might get to see your sisters at last. I know you want to meet them…"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, maybe only to me but when Bryce mentioned them today I saw the hurt in your eyes. Why did he never tell them about you?"

"He wanted to keep his family together I guess and I would have only been a complication to his marriage that was already falling apart. It's ok, one day I will meet them, I'm sure about that. Right now I'm happy with what I have…Mum and Dad both talking to me again, an extra father who really seems to care about me, a beautiful daughter and not to forget the most gorgeous wife a man could want…have I told you today that I love you Claire?"

Claire smiled and felt the emotions welling up in her "I love you too Alex! More than I ever thought was possible. And I promise you everything will be all right!" She moved her head closer to him so he could kiss her.

As their lips touched Claire felt all the passion she had held back in the last weeks rise up inside her. And the way it seemed Alex felt the same. They kiss got more and more passionate till Alex broke away from her.

"Claire…" he said with a breathless voice "We gotta stop now or I can't guarantee for anything…Tess is next door and BOM is sleeping on the other end of the room…I wouldn't be right…"

Claire pulled his head closer again and just went on kissing him. "I don't care about Tess or BOM right now…I want you Alex, I need you!" she whispered against his lips. After kissing her for a few more moments Alex once again pulled away from Claire.

"Claire, you're killing me…but I can't…not with Tess next door…"

"I can be quiet if you can…" Claire said with a seductive wiggle.

"I can't…sorry. Let's wait till we're back home, ok? It'll only be 3 more days…"

Claire sighed. Alex was right, now was not the right time. She sighed again and rested her head on his shoulder again. "This will be tough 3 days…" she said and felt Alex nod and heard a deep sigh.

"Yes…I'll be dead by the end of the week…"

Claire chuckled "So will I…on another note, what would you think if we visited Edna before we leave again? I'm sure she'd love to see Charlotte."

"You really like the old woman, don't you?" Alex smiled at the thought of Edna. She sire was a special lady.

"Yeah, she's like the grandmother I never had. Can we go see her?"

"I'd love to Claire. We can call her tomorrow, ok? Now let's get some sleep or I might just forget about Tess and BOM…"

"Is that an offer?" Claire smirked.

"Claire!" Alex kissed or on the head and Claire sighed and turned to the side. "Night Claire…" Alex said and rolled up behind her grabbing her waist.

"Night Alex…"

It took both of them quite a while to fall asleep…

72

The next morning Claire called Edna to tell her they were in the city. She had called the old lady several times since she had last seen her and had even sent her pictures of the baby. She knew Edna would love to see Charlotte and was right. They were all invited for lunch that day.

"That's done…what do we do today?" Claire sat back down at the table on the balcony where they had just finished breakfast.

"Well, I guess we have to pack the rest of my things together and load them in the car. But we should be able to get that done before we leave for lunch at Edna's. When are we supposed to be there?" He had only heard Claire say that lunch sounded fine but not an exact time.

"She's expecting us at 12:30."

"Am I going, too? I only met her before we left the last time so she doesn't really know me…" Tess wasn't sure if she was invited for lunch as well.

"Believe me Tess, Edna knows probably more about you than you know about her! It looks like our Ms I'm-as-tough-as-nails told her all about us! At least I got quite a few questions when we went there for lunch the last time…"

Claire was sulky "She's a nice lady and I needed someone to listen to me without any judgement…" She was glad to hear Charlotte crying so she could escape the situation. She knew it wasn't right that she had talked about everything with Edna just like that. But like she had said she needed somebody to listen at that time.

She got BOM out of her crib and freed one of her breasts so the baby could drink.

Alex peaked through the bedroom door and asked "You alright Claire? I didn't mean it like that…neither Tess nor I think it's a bad thing you talked to Edna. But you have to admit it's not really like you to do something like that. But she helped you and that's all that counts."

"I know I shouldn't have told her everything but she makes me feel safe. Like I've known her for a long time…"

"Yeah, me too. I'll tell ya something. Why don't we invite her to our wedding? I'm sure she'd love that and if she says yes we'll organize something for her so she can get to Drovers…"

Claire had a huge grin on her face now. She liked the idea "Deal…we'll ask her today. Now go and pack your things so we're finished that and can enjoy lunch. I'll help ya when I'm finished with our little sunshine here. She must take after her Dad…always hungry!"

Alex only smiled and shrugged his shoulders "Nothing bad about taking after me…" he said and left Claire and Charlotte alone.

Four hours later they pulled up in front of Edna's house. The boxes were all packed but not in the car yet. They'd do that the next day after Claire and Tess would be back from the bridal shop.

Edna was once again waiting at the front door when they pulled up, waving at the 3 adults in the car.

"Come on in! Lunch is almost finished. Now let me see that beautiful daughter of yours!" She said and sat down. Claire got Charlotte out of her car seat and put her in Edna's arms.

"She's lovely Claire…looks a bit like Alex though but she has your eyes. How old is she now? 9 weeks?"

"Yes, almost. She will be on Sunday."

"And you really had her in a shed? I thought young women like you wanted all the medication they could get. Even I had my sons in a hospital!"

Claire laughed. "I didn't really have a choice. She wanted to come into this world so quickly that we didn't have time to make it to the hospital. The nearest was over an hour away."

"It's good then you had help…"

"Yeah, Alex was with me the whole time and Tess was the best midwife I could have asked for."

Edna looked up at Tess "Well done young lady. Claire, could you look after the lunch for me? The roast should be finished by now…"

"Umm, why don't I go?" Tess suggested. "Claire's not really all that good in the kitchen…"

"You stay here Tess, I wanna talk to you and get to know you a little better. Claire will be fine, she needs to learn that at one point if she wants to be a good wife and mother…" Tess shrugged her shoulders and looked at Claire apologetic.

"I'll go then…Alex, would you give me a hand? Two bad cooks make a better cook if they work together, right?"

Alex didn't look too pleased but followed Claire into the kitchen while Edna started questioning Tess about her life and what she had planned for the future. Just like Claire Tess liked the old lady right away and was glad she had somebody that listened to her dreams. She loved talking and Edna loved to listen, so why not take advantage of that?

After lunch Alex leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach. "That was wonderful Edna! Thanks for that. And Claire didn't even ruin it…maybe there's still hope for you McLeod!"

"Alex, stop teasing your wife!" Edna criticized him "You know, my husband George and I always used to cook together. It was a lot easier and everything was finished faster. Maybe you should help Claire when you're back home…"

Alex looked puzzled and Claire and Tess laughed out loud.
"There you have it Ryan! Even in times when Edna was young there were men out there that actually helped their women with the housework!" Claire couldn't resist to say.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Claire…but I'm better now!" Alex said a little offended. Claire leaned over and kissed him. "I know, at least you know how to clean a bathroom now…"

Edna and Tess laughed and Edna got up to make some tea.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with talking, talking and more talking. Edna wanted to know everything about Claire running Drovers, hers and Alex's horse training, Tess's alpaca breeding, how far they'd come with the preparations for the wedding.

When the talk came to their wedding Claire looked at Alex and he nodded to let encourage her.

"Edna…there's something Alex and I would like to ask you…"

"Then just go ahead dear! I hope it's nothing bad, is it?"

"No, it's not…Alex and I talked about it and we would both like you to come to our wedding. We would arrange something for you that you'd get to Drovers Run and you can stay with us for as long as you like…It would really mean a lot to us…"

Edna's eyes were welling up with tears. She hadn't expected that. Secretly hoped for it but never expected. Her own family lived so far away. One of her sons lived in England now with his family, the other had moved to the USA. She had 4 grandchildren in their teens and could count the times she had seen them on one hand.

"Oh Claire…I would love to come! Thank you so much for inviting me! Are you sure I'm not in the way?"

"Edna" Alex said, "We wouldn't have asked you to come and stay with us if we didn't mean it. Like Claire said, you're welcome for as long as you want. I'll talk to my father and mother. They're both coming to the wedding from here, I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking you with them." He was sure that Bryce wouldn't mind but wasn't too sure about his mother. But he told himself she'd get over it.

They called Bryce and arranged a ride for Edna right away and when it was time to leave Claire and Alex hugged Edna and thanked her for the nice day and that she'd come to their wedding.

"I have to thank you for inviting me. Both my sons are married but I was only at the ceremony of my oldest. And I never had a daughter and I hardly ever see my granddaughters. I consider you family Claire, I hope you know that."

"Thanks Edna, I do too. I never had a grandmother but now I feel like I have one! See you in a week then…"

They all said goodbye and drove off with a content feeling that life was just as good as it could be….

73

The next morning Claire, Tess and Charlotte were once again on their way to the bridal shop for Claire's dress fitting. Alex had another appointment with Jonathan Clark who would bring the possible buyers with him this time. Alex really hoped they would come to an agreement today so he had the money real soon. He needed it if he wanted to buy Claire the wedding present he was looking at. After letting her down 10 years ago and getting her pregnant again and leaving her she really deserved that present.

When Alex heard the doorbell be was taken out of his thoughts. So he went to open the door.

"Ah, Mr Ryan, my I introduce you to Ashley Redstaff and Logan Hollister. They're here to visit the apartment."

Alex jaw dropped as he saw his sister standing in the doorway and he could see that she remembered him too. He had only seen her a couple times when he had met Bryce at his office but they had talked on the phone whenever Alex had called his father.

"Mr Ryan, nice to meet you again!" she smiled at Alex and offered him her hand.

Alex took it trying to gain back his conscience "Miss Redstaff, nice to meet you again too, Mr Hollister, please come in!" he was finally able to say.

Alex could see Logan's questioning look at Ashley but she whispered something in his ear and he nodded relieved.

"As you can see my things are already packed for leaving so feel right at home and have a look at everything." Alex said once they had entered the living room.

"You are leaving Mr Ryan? My father didn't tell me about that. Any particular reason?"

"I'm going back to where I grew up to be with my wife and daughter…" Alex said looking at the young woman. He knew she was 3 years younger than him and that she had been together with Logan for almost 5 years. And now it looked like they had decided to move in together.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a wife, Dad never told me you were married."

"It's a long story but I've only known for a couple of weeks myself…"

Alex could see Ashley was quite curious about what he meant with that but she didn't ask any further questions.

They looked around the apartment together and Alex explained some things. When they had seen everything Ashley turned to Logan and said "This is perfect honey…I can really see us living in here. What do you think?"

After Logan had nodded in agreement Ashley hugged him and turned to Alex. "How fast can we move in?" she asked.

Alex smiled. It sounded like this would be Ashley's first apartment of her own. "Well, how soon can you get the money together? My family and I will be going back home tomorrow so you can move in here as soon as everything's signed and paid for."

"Ah, payment's not a problem, my Dad will take care of the that. I'm sure you won't mind if he has a look at the contract…"

"No, no, that's fine. How soon do you think we could get everything done?"

"Well, I'll take the contract to Dad today and if he agrees we can come back here tomorrow morning before you leave and sign everything and he can arrange with you how you get the money." Alex wondered how his father would react if he knew that Ashley wanted to buy her brother's apartment.

"Sounds fine by me…thank you Ms Redstaff. Mr Hollister, it was really nice meeting you!"

Alex showed them to the door and had a huge smile on his face after they left. His father was paying for the apartment which meant he would get the money as soon as possible and that meant he could buy Claire the wedding present she deserved…

Halfway across town Claire was just trying on her wedding dress for the first time. From the first look it had turned out great but she wanted to wait with her judgement till she was wearing it. Tess had taken BOM to the toilet to change her nappy so Claire was all alone trying to put the dress on. After some trouble with closing the zipper she finally managed and then took a look in the mirror. The dress looked good, really good. Then she put on the gloves Pat had made and looked again. She really liked what she saw. The dress was simple but elegant and the changes made it look a bit more modern. And the gloves were the perfect addition to the appearance.

"Claire, you look amazing!" Tess shouted. She had just entered the room carrying an almost sleeping Charlotte. "I knew you look good in a dress but this…WOW! You're gonna knock Alex of his feet when he sees you in this dress!"

Claire turned around to look in the mirror once again "You think?"

"Oh yeah"

Then Pat walked in to see if Claire needed any help and to look if there was anything that needed changing.

"I see you didn't have a problem putting it on. And let me tell you you look really great…"

She went over to Claire and turned her around in every possible direction. "I don't think there's anything we need to change, it fits perfectly. Your husband will be a very happy man, Mrs McLeod-Ryan…Let me show you what I've made for your daughter."

Pat left the room for a few seconds to come back with a small, white dress that matched Claire's perfectly.

"Oh Pat, this is lovely! She'll look just like her mother!" Tess shouted out and Claire could only agree with her sister.

"Would you like to try it on? We don't want it to be too small so she doesn't fit in it next week." Pat suggested and Claire, still in her wedding dress, tried to change BOM into the dress without waking the little girl up. When she was finished she picked Charlotte up and held her so both Pat and Tess could see her.

"Like I said…it looks lovely! Claire, could we make a photo of you and your daughter for our catalogue? We like to show people what we can do for them…like matching outfits for mother and child…" Pat asked truly excited.

"I don't know, I'm not very photogenic…I'm not even wearing any makeup!"

"Oh don't worry about that…that's something we can change quickly!"

Claire looked at Tess asking for advice. She didn't really like any pictures of her but maybe this one would be better…

So when Tess nodded Claire agreed to let the bridal shop photographer take pictures of her with Charlotte.

When Tess and Claire left the bridal shop 2 hours later everything was set and the pictures were taken. Claire had hers and Charlotte's dress in 2 boxes and the dresses for Tess, Meg, Jodi and Becky would be shipped to Drovers throughout the next week so Meg still had enough time to change what didn't really fit.

Back at the apartment Alex told them what had happened this morning with Ashley and that he was now waiting for her or Bryce's call to confirm the deal.

"I can't believe my sister wants to buy my apartment! I wonder what Bryce will say to all this!"

Claire laughed "Yeah, it is a small world after all…"

30 minutes later a surprised Bryce called his son to confirm the deal and promised him to be meet him together with Ashley and Logan the next day.

Alex, Claire and Tess then filled the car with the rest of the boxes so everything would be set for them to leave to Drovers Run the next morning…