AN: Because I'm devastated, and because this is how it should've been.
Darryl Braxton sat in his backyard in the early morning light, waxing his old surfboard and surrounded by his brothers. It was the first time in a while they'd all been together.
Casey looked up from waxing his own board, a grin on his face.
"I guess this makes you officially old now huh? Like not just old, but really old."
"Don't forget who's turning the big five-oh next year." Brax reminded. That shut Case up, and his horrified expression gave Heath and Kyle something to laugh about. He'd missed this, just hanging out with them, and maybe stirring them up too. While he was happy they had their own lives, it was nice to have them all home for a little while.
A girls arms wrapped around him from behind, one of his many nieces, and she popped a kiss on his cheek.
"Happy Birthday Uncle Brax," she said cheerfully.
"Thanks sweetheart," he replied, patting her hand before she stood up and headed off to do whatever it was kids these days did this early in the morning. When she was out of earshot he turned to Heath. He knew she was one of his lot but the details sometimes escaped him, there were so many of them that he didn't see all that often.
"Which one's that again?"
"That's Connie, Darce's eldest daughter," Heath explained before teasing, "that old timers must really be setting in mate, guess it happens when you hit sixty."
"Give me a break, there's like a million of them thanks to you and Bianca."
"What can I say? I'm a stud."
"We gave it a fair crack too," Casey defended himself and Denny.
"Reckon we all did," Kyle chimed in, ever the diplomat.
"How many did we end up with all together again?" Brax puzzled. He knew how many kids they each had, but he'd forgotten the total. And then there were the grandkids...
"I've got eight," Heath proclaimed, "once Bee popped she couldn't stop." Brax, Casey and Kyle just smiled and shook their heads at that comment.
"Plus four is twelve," Casey added.
"And five makes seventeen," Kyle said, emphasising the five to stir Casey up.
"Yeah but I still win," Casey argued, "'cause Evie only had three pregnancies and Denny had four."
"Oh that so doesn't matter, twins count as two kids so five's five."
"Well I still beat ya all," Heath cut in, "four pregnancies for Bianca, a couple before that, and three of a kind beats two pairs any day." Brax watched their banter with contentment, he really had missed this.
"Fine," both Casey and Kyle conceded, there was no arguing against triplets, even if you had two sets of twins.
"So we're up to seventeen," Kyle said, "add your two Brax and that's nineteen."
"Nineteen," Brax appreciated, that was alotta new Braxton's to unleash on the world. "Why can I never remember that?"
"It is a pretty big number," Kyle observed.
"And that's not even counting the grandkids," Heath threw in. They all knew he had that one in the bag too and Brax suspected his comment was just to get Kyle and Casey going again. It worked.
"How many are you up to now?" Casey challenged.
"Four," Kyle returned triumphantly, his most recent edition bringing him into the lead.
"What'd they call this one Kyle?" Brax asked.
"Kyle," his brother answered with a smile.
"Again? We need new names."
"Well me and Bee came up with plenty of new ones," Heath said proudly.
"Yeah, by mashing our names together," Casey said, raining on his parade.
"Still counts," Heath muttered.
"You blokes want breakfast now or when you get back?" Ricky called from the back door.
"Hit the waves first?" Brax consulted his brothers who agreed. "When we get back thanks," he called to his wife.
"Sure you don't want some porridge before we go old timer?" Heath teased, poking Brax in the belly when they stood.
"No," he said, pulling Heath into a headlock, just to prove he still could. Heath protested loudly making Casey and Kyle laugh. Eventually he released his brother, so he could go say goodbye to Ricky. "Bet I can still run circles around you boys," he added, jogging over to Ricky to prove his point, ignoring a 'whatever' from Casey as he reached her.
"We won't be long," he told her, tucking a strand of silvery hair behind her ear and pressing a kiss to her lips. She brought her hands up to rest on his face.
"It's your day Brax, be as long as you want." He popped another kiss on her lips and headed off to grab his board.
Later in the day they'd head back down to the beach with everyone, take the whole place over most likely, but for now it would just be the four of them and it made Brax feel young again.