Thank you guys for the reviews. I know a few people are not liking this story line but hang in with me. Not a very upbeat chapter but I wanted to be true to the situation at hand. Hope you enjoy it all the same

"What's this?" Brax asked, looking back up at Charlie

A strangled laugh bubbled from Charlie's throat but even if Brax hadn't seen her face he would have known there was nothing about this she found amusing

"You don't even recognise her name. Classy"

The bitter tone in Charlie's voice had Brax snap his head back up from the piece of paper in his hand

"Well that right there is the number of your two year old daughter's mother"

…

Brax stared wide eyed down at the piece of paper in his hand. Had Charlie just said…

"Does the name ring a bell now"

He looked up to see that Charlie was now stood by the dresser on the other side of the room. Her eyes were puffy and red, but still Brax was waiting for her to crack a smile. His gaze travelled around the room as if expecting for Heath or someone to jump out with a camera. He looked back at Charlie, then down at the piece of paper in his hand then back up at Charlie

"You are joking right" because that was the only way that this was happening. He watched as Charlie pulled the sleeves of her cardigan over her hands and wiped away another tear that dropped

Charlie chuckled bitterly "What. You gonna try and deny it"

Brax looked down to the piece of paper before dropping it on the floor, he had no use for it because he sure as hell didn't have no daughter with no one else "If this is a joke, you need to stop because it isn't funny"

"A woman called Nina came round today looking for you. She was with her daughter…well your daughter" Charlie clicked her tongue and wrapped her arms around herself. Charlie shook her head and cleared her throat "She was kind enough to give me the full detail of how you both met"

Brax stood, feeling like he had stepped into some sort of twisted parallel world. He stepped to Charlie but stopped and she took a step further away from him "Funny given even I dont know how we met. Charlie this woman clearly as the wrong person. You do know how stupid this sounds"

"The only stupid person here seems to be me" Charlie shook her head "At first I thought she was crazy"

"She is" Brax took a big step forward, Charlie now had her back firmly to the dresser "I don't know anyone by the name Nina and I sure as hell don't have no daughter out there because I would never do that to you"

Charlie looked at him and she wanted to believe him, but she knew what she saw in Nina. Nina was without a shadow of a doubt sure Brax was the father. And why would Brax tell her the truth

"You would say that, wouldn't you. I bet you thought I would never find out"

Brax blew out a frustrated breath and took another step towards Charlie "Babe, you honestly think I would ever ever cheat on you" he fought the urge to grind his teeth

"I didn't... till today" another tear fell from Charlie's eyes and it seemed she would never stop crying

Brax closed the gap between them and almost punched the wall behind them as Charlie flinched at his touch, but he didn't waver. "Charlie look at me, please" he waited till her eyes met him

"I don't know who this woman is or what she told you but I need you to believe me. I did not sleep with her and I have never cheated on you"

Charlie felt her bottom lip trembling "She had a little girl with her, Brax" she inhaled a deep breath "She couldn't have made that up"

Brax felt like someone was stabbing him repeatedly in the chest

"But you think I would cheat on you?" Brax asked, clearly pained by her lack of faith in him

"Why would she lie?" Charlie asked in a small voice and she felt Brax's hand draw away from her face

Brax almost wanted to laugh but he could feel a surge of anger rising ever so slowly within him. Taking one step away from Charlie, Brax clicked his tongue

"Ok, so let me just see if I've got this right. A woman you have never met before, comes into our home and says that not only did I cheat on you with her but we also made a kid while we were at it and yet here I stand, your husband of over four years telling you she's lying and you somehow can't see why she would lie but can see why I would"

Charlie watched him, her arms wrapped around her, her back pressed against the dresser. She wanted to believe him she really did, but why would he ever confess to cheating. What's more what did Nina have to gain by lying to her. Charlie shook her head slowly

"I can't do this"

…

"Brax"

Brax's eyes slowly opened and he immediately winced at the pain in his neck. Looking up, he saw Charlie stood, her robe around her and her face tightly wound "You need to get up before the twins. I don't want them seeing that you slept out here and start asked questions"

Brax looked away from her and pulled himself up from the couch, his feet landing on the floor "We wouldn't have to worry about them seeing me like this if you hadn't told me you didn't want me in our bed" It had taken him too long to fall asleep, his mind going round and round what was happening and when he had finally managed to get his mind to stop torturing him, he had tossed and turned in his sleep unable to get comfortable on the couch.

Not replying to him, Charlie walked back down the hall and into Hope and Caleb's room

Sighing Brax stood to his feet, he needed a long shower.

…

"But I no want orange, I want apple"

Brax heard Hope complain as he walked into the kitchen

"Well there is only orange, so unless you don't want to take any juice to school, it will have to do" replied Charlie as she packed the kids lunch

Hope sighed but quickly smiled as she spotted Brax

"Daddy" she ran to Brax and he picked her up, placing a kiss on her temple

"Morning Princess"

"We no get to see you yesterday" she pouted and Brax smiled

"Sorry, I had to work late"

"Mowing Daddy" said Caleb and Brax smiled seeing Caeb sat on the kitchen stool, obviously with Charlie's help

Morning buddy" Brax walked to him with Hope still in his arms and ruffled the young boys hair "You all ready for school?"

Caleb nodded "Yea"

Brax looked at Charlie who hadn't once looked at him since he entered the Kitchen. He hated this but even more, he hated that she thought he would cheat on her

"Cheryl called and said she wouldn't be able to make it to take them to school like she had said, so you'll have to take them"

Charlie still wasn't looking at him but given that Hope and Caleb were the only other two present, he figured she was talking to him

"Ok" he nodded. He looked down at Caleb and then Hope "How about it. You want Dad to take you to school"

Hope and Caleb nodded

"It's settled then" Brax placed Hope back down

"Have they already eaten?" he moved towards Charlie

"Of course" she replied and stepped further away from him, although not too subtly. She clearly didn't want the twins picking up on any awkwardness. Well she was going the wrong way abut it, thought Brax

"Hey" he walked over to Caleb and set him on the ground "How about you two go and make sure you haven't forgotten anything you want to take to school today. Then we can go"

Hope and Caleb nodded and as always not knowing how to do things at a normal pace they both raced out of the room

Brax waited till he was sure they were well out of ear shot

"Charlie" he reached for her but Charlie stepped away before he could touch her. Brax clicked his tongue "So what, this is it. You're just gonna avoid me, avoid this? How are the twins not going to notice that something is wrong"

"I can't talk about this right now ok"

Brax let out a breath "Really, ok, then when do you want to talk about the fact you re accusing me of cheating" he wanted to shout but he couldn't. He wouldn't risk alarming the twins. They had always managed to keep their arguments away from Hope and Caleb and he was gonna keep it that way. He watched Charlie and it was clear she wasn't going to answer him. Nodding his head, Brax stepped away from her "Fine" and with that he walked out of the kitchen

As Brax walked out of the kitchen, Charlie braced both hands on the table and blew out a breath.

…

Jack and Heath frowned as they entered the restaurant only to find that John had been right there wasn't a single person about, apart from Sam

Walking up to Sam, Heath gestured around the restaurant "Where is everyone and where the hell is…" A loud bang stopped Heath from speaking followed by a line of curses

"He sent pretty much everyone home and as already sacked one of the waiters. He told the rest to have the day off only not as nicely as that"

Heath nodded and glanced at Jack, they had been trying to get hold of Brax all morning

"I think it's safe to say you can take the rest of the day off too" said Heath to Brax "And thanks for not bailing on him kiddo"

Sam shrugged. He had always felt loyal to Brax or giving him a job when no one else would give him a second glance "No problem. I figured if he really did some damage at least there would be someone here" he took off his apron and walked out from behind the bar "You err... might want to tread a little careful. He's already smashed enough bottles to pay for a whole shift this morning"

Heath nodded and he and Jack watched Sam walk out of the restaurant. Another loud bang had Heath and Jack staring in the direction of the kitchen

"Clearly He didn't clear things up with Charlie last night" said Heath and Jack scoffed

"You think" he shook his head "I don't think he would do that to Charlie"

"Yea well I'm thinking what Charlie believes is a little more important than what you and me believe" at that Brax walked out of the kitchen and stopped short when he noticed Heath and Jack

"We've been called you" said Jack and Brax walked to behind the bar

"I've been busy" he didn't look at either of them

"Yeah" Heath exhaled "We could hear that"

Brax looked up now and shook his head "I'm guessing you've heard of all my wrong doings"

Heath nodded "Bianca practically attacked me about it last night…"

"I didn't cheat" said Brax through gritted teeth and Jack held his hands up

"Neither one of us are saying you did mate. We know you love Charlie"

Brax scoffed "Yeah you want to tell her that. Because according to what she believes I'm not only a cheater but I'm also out father kids with random women"

Heath nodded "Yea we heard about that too"

"Do you know who this woman is?" asked Jack

Brax shook his head and laughed bitterly "No, apart from the fact that she claims her name is Nina and that her daughter his mine" Brax really laughed this time and Jack and Heath glanced at one another "I've never heard of this woman and I'm being accused of sleeping with her"

"I think Charlie is just in shook. Once she's had time to think about it…"

"Na" Brax shook his head "You didn't see her last night" he clicked his tongue "Whatever this woman told her, she fully believes every word"

"Then we'll speak to Charlie" said Heath

Brax scoffed "And say what. Charlie my brother didn't cheat on you. She wouldn't believe either of you"

"No I think it's worth a try" interjected Jack "Think about it. Apart from when you're working here, the only other time you could meet a woman is when we boys go out. If you've cheated she's gonna be expecting myself or Heath to know about it"

Heath nodded "True. Last night Bianca was sure I knew"

Just as Brax was about to speak, he looked up as he heard someone enter the restaurant "Sorry we're closed" he watched the woman who stood with a little girl

"Yea err the guy down stairs told me so"

Brax nodded wondering why she had bothered coming up if that was the case. Heath and Jack had now turned around

"There's a little dinner just around the corner if you're looking for a place to eat" said Jack

"Actually, I was looking for Brax" the woman looked at Brax nervously

"Yea" Brax frowned "That's me"

Heath and Jack glanced at one another and both knew exactly what was coming but it seemed to take Brax a little longer

"Yea I know" answered the woman "My names Nina"

Brax blinked rapidly and stared at the woman and ever so slowly to the little girl that was practically hiding behind her legs

"Nina" he repeated and the woman nodded

"I'm guess your wife already told you about me"

…

Charlie opened the back door and smiled as she saw Martha and Bianca stood there, they usually only ever knocked once before walking straight into the house

"The both of you are supposed to be at work" she backed away from the door "I swear you spend more time here than you do at the school" she looked at Bianca and tried to smile but she knew it didn't quite reach her eyes

"It's going to four, Charlie. Schools over for the day" said Martha and Charlie looked up at the time, she hadn't realised

"Oh, right" she sat down and said a silent thank you that Cheryl had agreed to pick the twins up from school "I guess I haven't paid much attention to the time"

Martha and Bianca sat on either side of Charlie

"How you feeling?" asked Bianca. Putting her hand on Charlie's shoulder

"Honestly?" asked Charlie "Right now a little numb. Like I keep expecting all this to have been just one big joke"

"I'm sorry this is happening to you guys" said Bianca and Charlie shook her head

"I can't believe it's happening at all" she exhaled "I never thought I would be in this position"

Martha cleared her throat and looked at Charlie "Ok I'm going to be honest here and give my opinion on this. When Bianca told me about this Nina person I laughed" said Martha. She held her hands up "Not because I thought the situation was funny but because I thought it was utter bull, and the bigger part of me still thinks it is"

Charlie shook her head "She wasn't lying Martha"

Martha shrugged "Maybe this woman actually believes what she's saying but come on… this is Brax ok. Brax that shut down at the age of nineteen when you skipped town, Brax that wanted to kill Grant for what he did for you, Brax that jumped in front of a frigging bullet. I'm sorry if I'm not all that convinced that this Nina woman is talking about the same person. Just saying"

Charlie stared at Martha for a moment before she blinked "It doesn't mean he didn't do this"

"No it means that he would never hurt you and cheating on you counts as hurting you. All I'm saying is until you have proof I wouldn't go buying into anything this woman says"

Charlie sighed "Last night he was so adamant that he didn't do it. He was so shocked when I told him about her" Charlie remembered the look of disbelieve in Brax's eyes

Bianca cocked her head "I think Martha as a point"

"I remember that night she was talking about" said Charlie "Brax sleep in the car because he was too drunk to get to the front door so what's to say he wasn't too drunk to know right from wrong"

"We can't guarantee that. Maybe he did get so drunk he can't remember it" said Martha "But don't label him guilty before you even hold a trail"

…

Brax looked up at the time as Nina sat quietly after she explained how it was possible for him to be the father. Jack and Heath had practically sprinted out of the restaurant not long after Nina had arrived and that was over a half hour ago. He thought back to the night Nina was referring to and although he couldn't remember all of it, he remembered some and he remembered Nina. She and her friends had been doing her best to flirt with Brax, Heath and Jack that night

"I wouldn't just make this up" Nina shook her head "I'm not that kind of person"

Brax turned away from the clock and looked at her "I remember that night, but nothing happened between us" he shook his head "You clearly believe what you are saying but you've got the wrong guy"

"I couldn't have" Nina sighed "Apart from that night I hadn't been with anyone for weeks before and I hadn't been with anyone else till the point when I found out I was pregnant with Hanna"

"And I don't know what you got up to after I dropped you off but it wasn't with me" he clicked his tongue "I would never cheat on my wife and you coming here throwing around accusations isn't helping me win any brownie points with her"

Nina, winced "Look I'm sorry ok. I honestly thought I would find you at home; I hadn't planned it to turn out that way. And I know you are adamant that we didn't sleep together but do you even remember anything from when you dropped me off"

No, thought Brax but still he didn't cheat "Neither do you" he replied "You don't remember a thing"

As Nina glanced at Hanna, Brax couldn't help but look over at the little girl who sat quietly in a booth at the front of the restaurant, drawing. He didn't want to but he tried to see himself in the little girl. Observing her he found that apart from the colour of the girl's hair he couldn't point out any obvious similarities. Hanna looked up, and she seemed to watch him with as much curiosity as he was her before she gave him a small smile. Brax couldn't help but smile back, none of this was the little girls fault

"Brax" Nina's voice pulled his attention away from the little girl "I wasn't ever going to come here and drop this on you"

Brax stared at her "And yet here you are"

Nina blew out a breath "She's only two but sometimes she seems older than that. All her friends and cousins have dads and I knew that one day she would start asking questions too. I didn't want to keep denying her of the chance of having a father in her life"

Brax sat unspoken for a moment. He so badly wanted to remember that night after he had dropped Nina off, but he could barely remember getting home. He also remembered that he had fallen asleep on the car in the drive and it had been Charlie that had woken him with a loud bang to the window and a stern look on her face. But still his gut told him this wasn't true, he didn't cheat on Charlie

"I don't believe I'm her father" he looked at Nina "And regardless of my lack of memory of that night, I don't believe we slept together but you obviously do" he exhaled "I want a DNA test"

…

Walking into the house, Brax, shut the back door and stopped as he saw Charlie sat on the couch, her feet tucked under her

"How was work?" asked Charlie and Brax frowned. This morning he had to practically squeeze a few words from her. He had been sure she would be in bed by the time he got in, even if she wasn't sleeping

Dropping his keys onto the dining table, Brax walked to the couch and sat beside her "It was ok, although we weren't too busy, I think I scared all the customers away and staff"

He heard Charlie sigh and he leaned forward, his arms resting on his leg

"This Nina woman, she came to the restaurant today" said Brax, he wasn't going to keep this from her, it would only make things worse

Charlie's head jolted in Brax's direction "She did" she nodded "And?"

"And I remember her" said Brax "And I'm guessing she explained that night to you pretty much the same way she did to me. And you probably remember that I spent the night in the car that night because I was so drunk"

Charlie nodded and swallowed loudly "I remember. I didn't speak to you for the whole day"

Brax nodded and the corner of his lips pulled up slightly "Yea till I made it up to you that night" he turned to Charlie "I'm not going to lie to you and say I remember everything that happened that night but Charlie, believe me when I say I am completely sure I didn't sleep with her. Drunk or not I would never do that to you… to us, and I really need you to believe me"

Charlie looked at him for what felt like the longest time, he thought about what Martha and Bianca had said that afternoon "I know that you believe that and I believe that you truly dont think you did this,but you was drunk Brax. What if you did and just can't remember"?

Brax shook his head "I would never…"

Charlie interjected "I know you would never do anything to hurt me, I know that" she nodded and sniffed "But you don't remember what happened that night do you?"

Brax clicked his tongue and shook his head "No, not everything"

"So for now it's still possible that it happened and that little girl is…" Charlie cleared her throat and Brax wanted to say she was wrong that it was impossible but how could he, when he couldn't remember

"I asked her for a DNA test" said Brax

Charlie nodded "Ok" she stood to her feet "You don't have to sleep out here tonight" she said as she walked down the hall

Brax exhaled and watched her go. He buried his head in his hand before yanking on his hair lightly. He couldn't wait for all this to be over