Chapter Two…

The car journey was a short but awkward one. Neither of them really said anything. Cali stared out the window, she had never been to Australia before and she wanted to take it all in. Brax just tried to concentrate on the road but couldn't help stealing the occasional glance at his sister. The more he looked, the more he could see his family in her. A bit of mum, a bit of Heath, a bit of Casey, even a bit of him. How could he have not known about his own sister?

They pulled up in front of the house that he had only just recently moved into with Charlie and Ruby. The drama was supposed to be over for them, but now this.

"Here we are, home."

"So this is your and Charlie's place. I can't wait to meet her, she sounds lovely."

"How do you know about Charlie?" he asked.

"Like I said Mum's letters." Brax only know realised she spoke with an Irish accent, with a hint of Australian.

"Where do you live?" He asked as they walked into the house.

"Well, I lived in Ireland with Dad, but he has sent me back here so he can be with his girlfriend."

"DAD! You have been with Dad all these years? How, he left when Casey was bor… oh I see. Mum kept Casey and Dad took you?"

"Yeah. So Mum really never told you about me?"

"No, she didn't tell any of us." As he said that, Cali broke down in tears. Brax instinctively put his arms around her. "Hey, hey don't cry it's going to be ok."

"She lied; she has been lying to me for my entire life."

"Wait, you thought we knew?"

"Of course I did. Mum told me you did! Wait, if you didn't know, who signed all those cards, who wrote those letters?"

"What cards and letters?" Brax was getting more and more confused.

"The birthday cards, the Christmas cards, the letters Mum sometimes sent with hers from you or Heath or Casey."

"I don't know what you are talking about. Are you saying you have been in contact with Mum and she told you we all knew?"

"Yes! I get letters from her at least once a month and she sends pictures of you all and presents for my birthday and Christmas… I take it you never got anything I sent you then? No cards, letters, presents, photos…"

"No, Mum must have taken them." He looked at Cali. She looked so lost and heartbroken he needed to do something. "Right, we need to sort this out. I'm going to ring Mum and the boys and see if I can get them to come over. I'll be back in a minute, make yourself at home." Brax walked into the kitchen.

Make yourself at home… Cali had been waiting for years for someone to say that to her, but it wasn't happening as she had hoped.

Brax came back into the room a couple of minutes later.

"Mum's at work so I left a message and one with Heath; that idiot never answers his phone. Just Casey to tell now." As he spoke the front door opened and in walked Casey.