A/N: Why on earth can I not write chapters longer than 700 words?

Disclaimer: I still didn't get them for my birthday...

Carby and Jill:Thanks for reviewing, glad you liked it.
Jess: Can't wait to read yours. I don't know that I'll actually write the proposal scene, I think it'll work out better the other way. I'm having real trouble writing at the moment, I think I've lost the flow of this story, which is a bummer, and the characters won't act the way I want them to.
Meg and Straycat: I like the idea of characters in a movie figuring out they'd make a great movie. There's a great story on 7th Heaven thats surrounded by that idea.

Next morning, Claire sat on the bed in what had once been her father's, and then hers, and now her sister's bedroom. The room was cheerful, and colourful without appearing to be a flamboyant rainbow. The dressing table was covered in the usual paraphernalia, and the mantle piece was covered in a progression of photos- a large framed wedding photo of Nick and Tess, two matching frames with a photo of one-year-old Charlotte and a recent one of David and Charlotte. There were photos of the group at Kate and Dave's wedding, of muddy men after some escapade.

Something caught Claire's eye. Hidden in behind the photo of her, Alex and Charlotte soon after Bom's birth, was the photo. The photo she had hugged at night after Ruth took Tess. The photo she had almost burned in anger when her prayers went unanswered.

She remembered the first night she had slept in this room. She had moved the pillows in an attempt of defiance to the revered room, and found his handkerchief. The smell of his tobacco, sweat and horses reached her nose and she broke down for the first time since Jack had died. Claire remembered how she had retreated to the seat in the corner, and gazed at the photo she had clung to as a child. Twice had her life had been turned upside down by her baby sister. Now it was Claire who was upturning her sister's life.

She hadn't thought past turning up. She hadn't fantasised about falling into Alex's arms, and having a whirlwind romance, ending at the alter as soon as humanly (and legally) possible. Meg's words the previous night had stirred something inside her that she had squashed a long time ago. The part of her that had once played mummies and daddies arose, unbidden. She knew the realities these days- knew what it was like to raise a child from birth to adolescence. She knew that there was heartache, sleepless nights and crying that lasted for hours for no foreseeable reason.

As clique as her head told her heart it was, her heart still wanted the picket fence, and the dog, and the perfectly cooked meal waiting for her husband when he arrived home from a long hard day at the office. She had had offers, of course. She was a fiery woman, smart and attractive, and Natalie had definitely dressed to the nines. But each time her heart and head had come to the same conclusion- he wasn't Alex, ergo he wasn't right. Oh, and there was the small matter of her daughter to consider. Why expose her daughter to the heartache she herself had felt when Ruth and Tess left?

Claire sighed, annoyed. She didn't know how this would all work. It wasn't simple any longer. No longer was it just the two of them. Now there were two innocent, impressionable girls who had been added into the mix. She just wished she could damn all the consequences and go for it.

Alex arrived, not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed. After getting home at some un-Godly hour, he had tossed and turned, finally falling into a brief, unrestful sleep before awaking with the dawn.

Sitting in the ute, he was unsure of where he fit in this new, rearranged household. Before, he had happily walked through one door or another, and been promptly pummelled by an energetic child who wouldn't have had more effect on him than a feather were it not for his acting. He was unsure now what to expect, the girl having stated in no uncertain terms that she hated him.

The talk with Dave the previous night had also given him a lot to think about. For someone who worked mainly with animals, the man had immense insight. Alex was worried about how this would work. He knew it wasn't very sensible or mature, but he had an overwhelming desire to say damn the consequences, and claim her as his own. In the most romantic way possible, of course.

He opened the door, heading once again for the stables. During his tossing and turning he had come to the conclusion that to solve this mess, some bonding would be needed between himself and Lottie. He needed to convince her that although Michelle and Claire were both there, he hadn't stopped loving her. That no-one could ever replace her in his heart and life.

And what better way than by taking her out on the pony he had bought her, that he had taught her to ride on, and that she adored.

A/N: Why oh why are Claire and Alex still not having that talk they really, really, REALLY need to have?