Disclaimer: Not mine. World would be brighter, with more emphasis on the whole country living thing.

A/N: So, just a short chapter. It seemed an appropriate spot to stop and I figured I've been AWOL for too long.

NZFan: I'm happy you're happy with the Jodi-being-McLeod inclusion. Wasn't too sure about it myself
Straycat: Glad to see that it wasn't obvious. I've had the idea for soo long that its nice have a fresh pair of eyes
CSIcrazy: I told you I'd write more. Lol. Glad its not just me that laughs through this.
Momo: Welcome aboard!
trsshh: I'm hoping Alex and Claire will take the advice too. Because, otherwise, I'm going to be writing this still in ten years time!
Meggie...: Claire will react... soon. I promise. I even know how she's gonna react.
Genevra: What? No review? Emi is upset. Hope you're okay.

TEN THINGS NOT TO DO WITH THE FAMILY NOT-SO-SECRET

Luke came to the door, fully dressed, and not in the least ruffled. "Come on in Tess." He reached for a jacket, "I'm going for a walk Jodi. Nice to see you Tess, I'd stick around, but I think the two of you have some things you need to talk about, sister to sister."

Tess waited until Luke had disappeared out of the bright circle of the house and into the darkness. "How are we going to tell her?"

Jodi was surprised. "You think we should tell her?"

"She has as much right as me to know what's going on in her life here. Plus, the sooner we tell her, the less chance there is for someone else to spring the news on her." Tess took a deep breath. "When we lost the baby, I was so glad to have you there. To have some family, as shallow minded as that sounds." Jodi looked surprised. "Don't get me wrong, I loved having Stevie there… she'd been through some of it before. But I was grateful you to have someone who had the same blood flowing through their veins."

"When?"

"Now." Tess thought for a moment. "Or as close to now as we can get, I suppose."

Claire was still shook up. The idea that one daughter might possibly hate the other had, of course, entered her mind. She just didn't expect it yet. She was slowly reacquainting herself with the property. It wasn't as if the lay of the land had changed, but there were new structures, different paddock contents, less fences. She laughed at the fact that Tess had managed to cut down the amount of disliked fence checks.

She saw a figure in the darkness, drifting randomly like she was. The figure looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Hands in pockets, Luke looked somewhat different to what he had when Natalie had last seen him. Whereas in the servo he was in his element, here he was nervous, unsure.

Luke saw Natalie, and moved towards her. He wasn't sure what it was about this woman that meant the balance on the Run was upset, but something had. Meg hadn't said anything over the phone (the woman wasn't one to gossip) but he had enough sense in his head to put the arrival of this strange woman together with Jodi's needing support and had gotten a jackpot.

"Luke?" Claire asked, surprised and shocked.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, once again, he had failed to see how close the woman had gotten.

"Yeah. Natalie isn't it?"

Claire contained the laugh that threatened to erupt at the irrationality of the situation.

"Yes and at the same time no." Luke looked confused. 'Well who wouldn't?' Claire thought to herself. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here."

"Sorry, I should have explained earlier, at the servo. I'm kinda living with Jodi. She's Tess' half-sister." In the dark, he was unable to read Claire's face. "What did you mean, by being and not being Natalie?"

"Ummm…" Claire's voice was shaky. "I'm Natalie Durham but I'm also Claire. Claire McLeod. Tess' sister."

'Oh Fuck'. Luke thought.

A/N: Wow, that wasn't meant to happen! Luke wasn't meant to spill the beans. Suggestions as to where to take this are DEFINATELY going to be accepted, worshipped and possibly written.