Sisters Stand Together

Jaz blinked in the darkness. Beside her Ben snored softly. She smiled. He had had a few beers and when they finally made it to the shearer's quarters he had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. She didn't know what had woken her. It wasn't her forever protesting bladder.

Tracing her husband's profile with her eyes, she thought, not for the first time, how lucky she was to have him. Her baby kicked and she placed a hand on her stomach.

"Easy, little one. Mama wants to get some sleep tonight."

The door rattled softly and Jaz sat up. Someone was outside.

"Jaz?"

Grace's voice sounded in the night and Jaz slid off the bed. Pulling the blanket up to Ben's chin she tiptoed to the door. She opened it and slipped outside.

"Grace, what are you doing here?"

"Regan needs us," her sister said simply

Jaz nodded. "Just let me grab some footwear."

She went back inside and pushed her feet into some sandals. Kissing Ben's cheek she went back out to Grace.

"What happened?"

"Dave."

Jaz frowned and moved faster. If Dave had hurt her sister again she was going to have words with him. Grace hooked her arm through Jaz's and they picked their way across the yard in the semi darkness. Dawn would come soon.

"Grace, did you even try to sleep?" Jaz as Grace tried to cover a yawn. "I know you have trouble sleeping but even this is unusually for you."

Grace shook her head. "Channing was restless and then I heard Regan crying. I haven't had a chance."

Jaz shook her head. "You need to try to sleep, Grace. You won't be of any help to anyone."

"Hey, you worry about yourself, Jaz. I'm fine. Come on, Regan needs us."

Jaz smiled. Of course Grace was more worried about Regan than herself. Never mind that she had a son who was just two weeks and work to do. Her older sister would rather fix everyone else's problems than deal with her own.

They entered the house and Grace led the way upstairs and to Regan's room. Jaz pushed opened the door and found Regan lying on her stomach across the bed. She sniffled and turned to Jaz.

"Oh, Regan." Jaz hurried to hug her sister.

Regan's eyes were red and tears had dried on her cheeks while others pooled in her eyes. "He's still in love with Kate."

Jaz held her sister tighter and rocked back and forth. Grace joined them and wrapped her arms around them both. Regan cried harder and sobs racked her body. Jaz closed her eyes and whispered her love to her sister.

When Regan's sobs quieted they broke apart. Regan moved to the middle of the bed and laid down. Jaz lay beside her sister and Grace rested against the headboard and stroked Regan's head.

"What are you going to do, Regan?" Jaz asked.

Regan shrugged. "I don't know. He's leaving in the morning to get Kate. What am I supposed to do?"

Jaz sighed. "I don't know. Do you love him?"

"Did I ever really love him?"

Grace laughed softly. "Maybe you should have asked yourself that before you let him in your bed."

"Too much to drink," Regan said with a half smile. "He started kissing me and I couldn't think straight."

"Typical. The bloke kissed and the mind just kinda runs away," Grace said.

"I had the same thing with Ben," Jaz whispered.

"But you love Ben." Regan reached for a tissue.

"Not at first. He drove me bonkers when I first met him." Jaz grinned as she remembered the first time she had met Ben. He had just offered to help her but still she had found him annoying.

Regan sighed. "I just want to sleep and forget about Dave Brewer and his grin."

Grace nodded and lay down, stealing a pillow from behind Regan. They lay there, three sisters, two with broken hearts and the youngest unsure how to help them heal. Especially when she had what they didn't, a husband who loved her, a man who wanted her, who would never hurt her.

Jaz lay there listening to her sisters breathing and knew they had fallen asleep. She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. This was her family, these girls, the people of Drovers. She belonged here and so did her sisters.

The sun was shining when Jaz opened her eyes again. Outside the window a bird sang a cheery song and Jaz could hear someone banging around in the feed shed. She rolled over and squinted at the clock.

"Bloody," she muttered. "After eight."

She looked at her sisters and saw that they were both asleep. Grace must have gotten Channing at one point. The little boy lay beside his mother, sleeping soundly.

"I guess you don't have insomnia," Jaz whispered.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. Stretching, she yawned. She picked up her nephew and cuddled him close. He smelled like baby powder and milk. She grinned. Soon she would be able to cuddle her own child.

Channing stretched and opened his eyes for a moment before closing them again. Jaz hummed as she carried the little boy back to Grace's room. She laid him in the bassinet and covered him with another blanket.

"Sleep tight, my little one," she whispered.

Her bladder was protesting so she hurried into the bathroom. As she was walking back to Regan's room, Ben rounded the first landing.

"Hey, Princess, where did you go?" He ran up the last flight of stairs and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her soundly.

Jaz rested against his chest, entwining her fingers behind his neck. "Regan needed us, so Grace and I went and slept in her room."

Ben wrinkled his brow. "All three of you on one bed?"

Jaz shrugged. "Why not? Are you heading over to Kilarney?"

Ben nodded as they headed down the stairs. "There are fences to repair and I have to get the shearing sheds ready. We have a couple hundred sheep to shear tomorrow."

Jaz wrinkled her nose. "How long is that going to take?"

"Well, with Patrick gone two days at the least. Maybe we can persuade Dave to stick around and help us out."

"Bad idea," Jaz said as they went into the kitchen.

"What did Dave do?" Ben led her to the veranda where breakfast was laid out on one of the tables.

Jaz snagged a muffin before answering. "He slept with Regan last night."

Ben shrugged and poured himself another cup of coffee.

Jaz rolled her eyes. "Kate called and Dave went off to the rescue."

Her husband laughed and kissed her cheek. "Bad Dave. He should know better than to cross a McLeod."

Noisy got up from where she was sleeping and started barking. A man rounded the corner of the house and she sat back down, wagging her tail.

"Noisy, get back," Jaz said.

The dog came back to Jaz's side and shoved her muzzle into Jaz's hand.

"Hey, Dave," Ben said cheerily. "I hear you had two women after you last night."

"Ben, it isn't funny," Jaz hissed. "What are you doing here, Dave?"

Dave fiddled with the brim of his hat. "I've come to see Regan."

"She doesn't want to see you." Jaz bit into the muffin and leaned back in her chair.

Dave rubbed a hand over his face and frowned. Jaz grinned. This was fun. He stepped up onto the porch and took a seat across from her. She picked up a glass and poured some orange juice into it. Sipping the juice she watched Dave over the rim of the glass. She had met Dave years ago on her first visit to Drovers Run. She always thought he was nice, if a bit strange. After what he done she thought he was still strange and defiantly not nice.

"I still don't get why you are all mad at me," Dave began. "I asked for one night and that's what I got."

"Yeah, but you got a call from your ex and before we knew it you were off to rescue her. That wasn't very nice, Dave. You didn't even give Regan one night."

Dave sighed. "Well, how was I to know that Kate would call?"

Jaz shrugged. "If you are still in love with her you shouldn't have seduced my sister."

"Too much to drink. My head wasn't on straight," Dave offered up.

"Of course, blame it on the grog," Jaz muttered.

Ben laughed and got up from his chair. Leaning down he kissed Jaz and then rubbed his hand across her belly. "I'm off. I'll see you two later. Take it easy, Princess."

She smiled and waved him off. "We always do. They won't let me do less."

"Good on them." Ben put his hat on and headed towards his truck.

"Hey, Ben, aren't you going to help me out here?" Dave called.

Ben turned and shook his head. "You've crossed the wrong sisters, mate. As much as I would love to stay and watch you get chewed up and spit out, I have work to do. I'll be back later to pick up what's left of you."

Dave visibly shrank in his chair. Jaz laughed and pushed the plate of muffins towards him. He took a muffin and bit into it.

"Is this going to hurt?"

"Briefly," Jaz said. "Well, Grace might hurt you a bit more, but Regan and I will go easy on you."

"Thanks, that's reassuring," Dave muttered around a mouthful. "Where are your sisters? I want to get this over with."

"We're right here."

Jaz looked over her shoulder and smiled. Grace and Regan stood in the doorway, both dressed and ready for the day's work. Even if that day first consisted of chewing up a man and then spitting him out.

Regan came and stood behind Jaz. Grace took Ben's chair and propped her boots up on the table. Jaz leaned over and slapped her sister's legs. Grace just smiled and turned to Dave. She rubbed her hands together and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Grace," Regan said.

Grace shrugged and poured herself a cup of coffee.

Regan took a deep breath. "I was going to talk to you privately but my sisters insisted that they be here."

"Sisters stand together, Regan," Grace said. "Hurry up and chew him out. Channing will be awake soon and I want to see him squirm."

"Who? Me or the bub?" Dave's attempt at humor was sorely lacking his normal finesse.

"You," Grace said, sipping on a cup of coffee. "Go on, Regan."

"Grace, really." Regan flicked her sister's shoulder before turning back to Dave. "Look, what happened last night shouldn't have. I'm sorry if I led you on. I told you earlier in the night I didn't want anything more from you and that still stands. Last night was a mistake and I'd rather forget it happened."

Dave nodded. "Alright, that's fair. I'm sorry too, but beautiful woman plus too much grog equals stupidity. So, is that all? Are you done chewing me up? That wasn't so bad."

He started to get up, but Regan stopped him. "No, that's not all. You are a good man, but you tend to let your mouth run away with your mind. You've hurt Tess, me and probably Kate. Think long and hard about this next move because if you hurt Kate again, we won't be so understanding."

"You don't hate her?' Dave asked. "I mean, after last night I figured you'd be livid at her too."

"Kate had no way of knowing that you were going to be in my bed when she called." Regan sat down in the other chair and rested her hands on the table.

"She can't help it if you can't keep it in your pants," Grace commented.

"Grace, really." Jaz poked Grace. "Stop interrupting."

"Yeah, stop interrupting," Dave mimicked. "I want to get this over with."

"What over with?" Regan asked, toying with a mug.

Dave looked at Jaz and she smiled. He looked at the other two and a smile slowly spread across his face. "So you aren't going to chew me up and spit me out."

"No, we thought we'd let Kate do that," Regan said.

"She doesn't know about last night," Dave said quickly.

"She does now," Grace sang. "Have fun, Brewer. She's a real gem when she's mad. I should know."

"Why did you go and do something that bloody stupid?" Dave looked thunderstruck and Jaz felt a little sorry for him.

"She called here asking if she could come for a visit when she's feeling better," Grace began. "I told her that was fine but she had to leave you behind. She asked why so I told her. She was mad, but I think she'll listen if you grovel and beg and maybe get down on your knees."

"You're having too much fun with this aren't you, Grace McLeod?" Dave asked. "Jaz, help me here."

Jaz shook her head. "I'm on Regan's side, Dave. It was your own fault. You need to learn to think with your head."

Dave stood up. "Alright, fine. If that's the way it's going to be. Regan, once again I'm sorry. Maybe when Kate is better you won't hate me."

"Oh, we don't hate you," Regan said. "Just what you do to us."

She smiled and Jaz could see Dave relax. The three girls stood up as Dave began to walk to his car.

"Bye, Dave, nice to see you again," Jaz called.

Dave waved back.

"Bye, Dave. Good luck," Grace laughed. "You'll need it."

"And it's all your fault, Grace." Dave had reached his rental car now. "Regan, I hope we can still be friends."

"Friends, Dave. Just mates who have a drink together whenever we are in the same neighbourhood." Regan waved the man away impatiently.

"Well, that didn't go so bad," Jaz commented as Dave drove away. "I like him."

Regan laughed and nudged her. "You always like the blokes."

"I'm more choosy now that I'm married," Jaz said.

"Seriously, though, thanks for insisting on being here," Regan said. "I don't think I could have said all of that if you weren't."

Jaz hugged her sister. "Like Grace said, sisters stand together.

They moved back to the table and sat down to finish breakfast.

"It's been a long time since we stood together," Regan mused.

"Not really," Grace said. "We stood together at the end of the drove."

"Yes, but that was for Drovers." Regan sipped her coffee and grimaced. "Who made this?"

"It's not that bad," Grace replied taking a swallow. "Never mind, take that back."

They both pushed their mugs away and grabbed the orange juice instead.

"Regan's right, Grace." Jaz popped the last bit of her muffin into her mouth and swallowed. "It's been a long time since we stood together for ourselves. It felt good."

"Here's to sisters doing it for themselves," Grace said holding her glass up.

"To sisters," Jaz and Regan echoed, touching their glassed with hers.

"Oi, you three." Stevie's voice rang across the yard. "Are you going to sit there gabbing all day? We have work to do."

"Yeah, yeah, Stevie, hold on." Jaz grinned at her sisters.

"Grace, I need you and Jaz to start cleaning up the yard. Regan, we have sheep to muster. That mob in Jack's Folly needs to be moved to Skinny Jim's."

Regan groaned. "Coming, Stevie. Have fun cleaning up."

"Sisters that stand together, work together," Jaz said standing up. "Tell Moira that I'll get smoko together and she can do whatever else she needs to do."

"If I see her, I'll pass along the message." Regan put her hat on her head and jumped off the veranda.

The monitor on the window sill squawked and Channing's voice sounded. Grace sighed and headed into the house. As Jaz stacked the plates and glasses she thought about what she and her sisters had talked about. It was nice working together and standing up for each other. They may still not always agree, but they loved each other and each knew that.

She smiled. Drovers certainly had a way of changing people. They were all the better for being there.