Disclaimer: Not mine. Michelle is. She comes entirely from my mind. Alex belongs to me in my mind, but didn't come from there, so legally, he's not mine. DANG!
Excuses: So I didn't do this earlier because: 1- I had exams. 2- I was in The Edinburgh Military Tattoo- A Salute To Australia. 3- I had to catch up on all the work I missed. 4- People wanted an epilogue for Letters. 5- I wrote a NCIS fic. 6- I had writer's block. A big one. 7- I just didn't. Okay?
A/N: Here it is. I can see the end peoples... Oh, and sorry if you can't review this chap cos of details with having "reviewed before". It's got to do with me removing the old AN that was chap 8.
CSIcrazy: Yeah, sorry bout that. You couldn't review because I removed the chap that was just an Author's note. Hmm, one look on Alex's face coming right up. I will go and check out your fics ASAP.
Anne: Wasn't planning on it...
Genevra: Supprisingly, no, you're the only one who wants to help with future bits...
lilyflower: Ahh, the first time Tess was hallucinating was when she ate that funny rye bread in S4.
All the adults sat on the veranda watching the two children play on the steps. They heard a car charge up the driveway and the silence that had surrounded them was broken. They eyed each other wearily; each afraid of what was to come.
They waited for him to arrive, for the moment when his eyes would come to rest on the figure everyone knew he would recognise. They were worried as to what his reaction would be, when it came. Turns out they needn't have worried.
His reaction would shock them all.
When Alex heard about a Natalie and her daughter Michelle, his mind recalled the day that he convinced himself he had imagined. The day he opened her mail and unwittingly stumbled across something he wasn't supposed to. That something would change both their lives…
He hurried to his Ute, resisting the urge to speed. As it was, he made it to the Run in record time, rushing through the house to the group on the veranda and searching the group for the woman everyone thought dead. Tears streamed down his face when he found her face in the small crowd. The relief and love on his face was evident. She stood, taking him in her arms, needing to assure both of them that he was there, that she was there, that they were there together.
Everyone looked on in shock. Had the situation been any different, Claire and Alex would have both laughed long and hard at the faces of those around them. As it was, they didn't bother trying to hide their smiles at the faces around them.
"I suppose I have some explaining to do." Claire said, across the shoulder of the man clinging to her, looking as if he never wanted to let go. He knew he didn't.
She motioned for him to sit, needing a few moments to herself, to collect her thoughts and emotions.
"I'd begin at the start, but it's a long story." Claire paused, still unsure what she needed to say, and what she could refrain from disclosing.
"During the time that Peter and I were dating, if you can call it that, he got himself into some business that wasn't one hundred per cent legal."
A gasp went around the gathered group. None of them had particularly liked Peter, but they hadn't thought that badly of him. One person, however, didn't seem all that surprised. Alex looked over to where she stood, nodding at her slightly.
"You knew."
"I saw that letter… before that I only suspected." More than one head whipped around to face him. Alex was faced with a sea of questioning and surprised faces. More than one of them made a mental note to question him later, one was more than annoyed that he hadn't kicked his brother's butt more about what was worrying him.
"Well, that changes things slightly." Claire stood, face covered in emotion, for a few moments before recollecting herself. "Had I known, I might have been able to convince them to let you come too. They almost let me as was."
"Them?" Meg was fast, but not as fast as usual.
Realisation began to dawn on the group; several disbelieving faces regained their previous expressions. "You were in Witness Protection." Came the general chorus.
"We're in the company of genius'!" There was a pause. "Why me and not Bom?"
"We talked about that. It would be easier to fake the death of one adult than it would be to fake two. I tore my heart in half when we decided that we had to leave Bom here." Her face contorted with the pain that hadn't totally left her. "They thought that if we both 'died' then Peter's mates would suspect something more than if it was just me." There was more to it than that, she knew. Claire had left her small daughter behind so those she had left would always have a reminder of her. "When Michelle was born, my heart began to heal but there's still missing parts."
Alex's face contorted in confusion and it hit the rest of the group. Alex didn't know. They had done their maths (without Claire, of course) and figured that Claire would have been about a month and a half along when she had 'died'. They figured that Alex knew.
For some reason, Alex thought back to what Charlotte had thought earlier. Maybe it was the use of her name. Maybe it was something that had been stuck in his mind and had only just surfaced. "Charlotte said you have a daughter." He said, more to himself than to anyone else. He was reluctant to voice his thoughts, but there didn't seem to be any other explanation. He told himself he had no reason to feel betrayed - they had thought they would never see each other again. Sure, he had suspected she mightn't be dead, but he was sure she'd never be able to return. He had been sure that some other man would be smarter than he himself had been and sweep her off her feet and she'd never want to leave.
Alex told himself that he had no right to feel jealous that someone else had, yet again, put a life into her womb.
Two small bodies propelled themselves out of the house. They had stopped playing on the stairs a while ago and headed upstairs to try to pull the trundle bed out from underneath the bed. When they discovered they couldn't, they had spent some time disrupting the harmony and well ordered room then headed down to find someone to help with the bed.
Michelle made her way to her mother, climbing onto her lap and snuggling into her arms. Alex found his lap occupied with Charlotte, who was talking a mile a minute, about what they had been doing. Alex, who normally listened enthralled to her every word, just stared at the picture made by Claire and her daughter. When the small girl turned around to get Charlotte's conformation on something, he was struck by her eyes, so unlike her mother's yet still so familiar.
Michelle looked awestruck back at him. She looked towards her mother, and back at him. She whispered into Claire's ear, and he watched as she nodded, tears forming in her usually clear eyes.
Michelle clambered down from her perch on her mother's lap. "Daddy!" She squealed, running towards him.
He shook his head in disbelief… It couldn't be. He was about to protest, then realised. The small eyes. Those little, trusting, clear eyes. The reason they were so familiar was because they starred back at him when he talked to his brother, and when he kissed the picture of his mother at night (not that anyone else knew that) and anytime he faced a reflective surface. They were the family eyes. She was his.
He hugged his daughters. Both of his daughters.