Thanks to everyone who is still reading this fic and an even bigger thank you to those who leave a review. I promise this story line is going somewhere, just bare with me guys and enjoy the roller coaster that is Chax :)
"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
"We're going to do a DNA test" aid 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 be buried his head in his hand before yanking on his hair lightly "he couldn't wait for all this to be over
…
Brax stretched out and sighed as he noticed Charlie wasn't beside him. In all the time that they had been together, even when they argued the bed had never felt so cold. Charlie had slept with her back to him, ridged straight and the tension in the room was almost too much for Brax to take. Sitting up slowly, he allowed the quilt slide down his chest, resting his arm on his lap as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Looking at the time, he noticed it had only just gone past six in the morning; the twins wouldn't even be awake yet. Stepping out of the bed, Brax stretched a little before walking out of the room, he was about to make his way into the living room when he heard Charlie voice. Turing towards Riley's room, he walked towards the room slowly and stopped just outside the door that was open just slightly
"I know I shouldn't be keeping you awake" he heard Charlie say to Riley, her thumb repeatedly stroking his cheek "But mummy needed one of your cuddles"
Brax felt a tight painful squeeze in his chest. He couldn't see Charlie's face but he could hear the pain and sorrow in her voice
"I promise I'll put you back down in just a minute" he heard Charlie say, as she lifted Riley to her shoulder
Brax wanted to go in, talk to her, try and convince her that he didn't do what he was being accused of but he knew that would only spoil the moment for her. He may be able to hear sorrow in her voice but her body language showed that she was slightly more relaxed than she had been the night before and Brax was sure that was because of Riley.
Watching the exchange between mother and son for a little moment longer, Brax slowly and quietly edged away from the door and made his way back into his and Charlie's room. He didn't have to be at the restaurant till later in the day but he couldn't go back to sleep now, he felt tense and he needed to get some of the tension out of his system. Walking into the bathroom he turned the shower on and stripped of his clothes before stepping under the hot sprays
…
Cheryl knocked once before walking into the kitchen "Hey" she smiled and Hope and Caleb turned to her with grins
"Hi Nana Cheryl" both Hope and Caleb
"I see you're both ready for school"
Hope nodded "Yea, daddy making us peanut butter toast"
Cheryl smiled as she glanced at Brax who's head was bent as he slid the knife full of peanut butter on the bread
"I can see that" she replied "You both got your back packs ready?"
"Mummy did it already" answered Caleb and Cheryl nodded
"Where is your mummy?"
"Riley did a stinky" said Caleb and Hope giggled
"It smelled too bad" said Hope
Cheryl chuckled "I'm sure it did" she watched as Brax placed the twins peanut butter toast in front of them
"Eat up and then mum can take you guys to school"
"You mean Nana Cheryl" said Hope and Brax rolled his eyes
"Yea, she's your Nana Cheryl but she's my mum" he pulled lightly on one of Hope's pig tails and Hope giggled
"You sure you ok to take them in?" asked Brax and Cheryl nodded
"Told you. I don't start work till early afternoon, something you already know"
Brax shrugged and turned towards the sink. Cheryl watched the twins for a moment before she stepped to Brax, stopping beside him
"Heath told me"
Brax rolled his eyes "Of course he did" his gaze flickered to Hope and Caleb, before he looked at Cheryl "I would never cheat on her"
Cheryl watched him for a moment, before she nodded and placed her hand on his arm "I don't doubt for a moment that you wouldn't"
Brax smiled, it was good to know someone had such faith in him "Think you could get Charlie to think like that?"
Cheryl sighed "It's different for Charlie"
Brax nodded "But it shouldn't be"
"You not put enough peanut butter" said Hope, pulling Cheryl and Brax out of their conversation
Brax cocked an eyebrow and Cheryl shook her head with a smile
"You have enough and you know it" said Cheryl as she walked over to the twins "Now eat up so we can get you both to school" Cheryl looked up as Charlie walked into the kitchen
"Morning" Charlie smiled
"Morning" replied Cheryl "No Riley"
Charlie shook her head "He was half asleep before I even finished changing him"
Cheryl nodded. She wanted to say more, see how Charlie was dealing but she wouldn't do that in front of the twins. But somehow it seemed Charlie could see what Cheryl was asking with her eyes, because she gave Cheryl a small smile as if assuring her she was holding on
"You not done yet?" Charlie asked the twins and both Hope and Caleb simultaneously shoved the rest of their breakfast into their mouth both giving her a big cheeked smile
Charlie shook her head smiling at their silly antics and Brax stood watching her. Looking up and noticing Brax's gaze, Charlie fought to keep her smile up and looked back down at the twins
"Come on then" she picked them off the stool and placed them on the floor "Go get you back packs" she tapped there bums and Hope and Caleb ran out of the kitchen
"Thanks for this Cheryl, I'm just going to jump into the shower" Charlie turned and walked out of the room and Cheryl glanced at Brax and she could see the hurt in his eye, she could also see a small evident of anger and it was that right there that had her believing Brax didn't do this
"You can't expect anything more from her, for now" said Cheryl but Brax didn't answer as the twins ran back into the kitchen back pack in hand
"Ready"
…
"You sure you ok? Martha asked as she and Charlie walked into the diner
Charlie nodded as she pushed Riley's pram "I need to get out the house. All I'm doing is thinking. So this will do me some good"
Martha nodded "Ok" she and Charlie smiled at Irene and Roo as they say at a table not too far from the counter
"Plus, Riley's loves it. I swear as soon as we leave the house he doesn't make a sound, his eyes kinda just dart from left to right"
Martha chuckled as she picked up the menu "Yea well no surprises there. If I remember correctly, Hope and Riley were exactly the same"
Charlie smiled, as she picked up the menu
"Poor girl" said Roo and Charlie looked up from the tale to see that Roo was talking to Irene "I keep asking if everything is alright and she just says fine. Apparently she doesn't even remember the dream after waking from it"
Charlie watched Roo and Irene as she listened in on what they were saying
"Surly that can't be normal, if these dreams are as bad as you say then it seems to me that something isn't right"
Roo shrugged "During the day she seems fine but even the other people in the caravans are starting to talk. I mean you wanna see how loud she screams, the dreams must be really bad. And her little girl" Roo's places her hand to her chest "She sleeps right through it, she's obviously used to her mum having those types of dreams"
Irene sighed "Well nothing you can do about it love" Irene picked up her pad and walked over to Charlie and Martha
"Hey darling" she looked down at Riley in his pram, who was watching Irene, wide eyed "Hey little fella" Irene grinned "You are such a cute aren't you" she stood up and looked to Charlie and Martha "How are you both?"
Martha and Charlie smiled "Good, just a little hungry" answered Martha
"Well then that can I get you both?" Irene smiled
…
Charlie shook her head at John and Marilyn's antics behind the counter
"Seriously need to be doing that somewhere else" Martha said a little loudly and gave Marilyn and John a grin
Charlie chuckled "I needed this"
Martha smiled "Glad I could be of service"
"When have you got to get back to the surf club?" asked Charlie and Martha looked down at her watch
"Now actually"
Charlie nodded but stopped as her eyes followed the figure that had just walked in. Martha frowned at the look on Charlie's face, before glancing behind her. Martha looked the woman over, then her gaze dropped to the little girl with her; she blew out a breath and turned back to Charlie
"Is that Nina?"
Charlie nodded but didn't speak. She watched as Nina smiled at Roo just as Roo passed a bag to her.
Thanking Roo for the lunch she had pre-ordered, Nina turned to leave but stopped as she spotted Charlie, staring at her. She felt her breath quicken a little, her gaze moving to the pram and to the woman that was with Charlie. Giving the glare she was receiving she could only guess that the woman knew who she was. Not wanting to cause a scene, Nina held firm onto Hanna's hand
"Come on sweetie" she pulled Hanna along and quickly made her way out of the diner
"Bye woo" Hanna wave her hand frantically and Roo and Irene chuckled at the young girl
Obviously not having picked up on any obvious tension, Martha and Charlie turned to Irene as she spoke "Is that the girl you were talking about before?"
Roo nodded "Yea"
Martha frowned and before she could stop herself she asked "The one you was saying has the dreams?"
Charlie glanced at Martha, she hadn't been aware that Martha had also been listening to that conversation
Roo nodded and walked closer to them "Yea poor thing. The first time it happened we near enough broke into her caravan thinking something was wrong, but then dad found a key and when I walked in there she had just jolted awake. I have never heard that kind of fear in a person's voice before"
Martha and Charlie glanced at one another before Charlie stood to her feet
"Thanks for the lunch, it was great as usual"
Roo smiled "Nothing less for you guys"
As Roo walked away, Martha stood and she and Charlie made their way out of the restaurant. Walking in the direction of the surf cub neither of the two spoke for a few moments before Martha finally said
"What do you think that's about?"
Charlie shrugged "Honestly I don't want to know"
…
"We should probably get going, right bud" Charlie pushed Riley's pram along the beach "We don't want to be late picking up Hope and Caleb, do we" She made her way up the beach but stopped short as she noticed Nina. She watched as Nina was talking to Hanna a smile on the little girls face as she held onto her mother's hand. Clearing her throat Charlie figured she could make her way past Nina, no need to make things more awkward than they already were
Looking up from Hanna, Nina's smile faded and she spotted Charlie walking in her direction, but given Charlie was doing her best to ignore her, she was sure Charlie wasn't planning on carry out a conversation with her. Nina watched Charlie till Charlie was almost past her
"Hi" she should have kept quiet, but Nina hated that she was hurting a family. She hated more that it was obvious that Charlie hated her. Hanna let go of Nina's hand and bent down to pick at some shells
Charlie stopped and took a moment before turning to Nina "This may be a small town and I won't be able to avoid bumping into you every now and again but that doesn't mean I have to acknowledge you or carry on a conversation with you"
Nina blinked a few times before she nodded slowly; she looked down at Hanna who was watching Charlie with interest. Hanna most have known something wasn't right, because usually the girl would have bombarded Charlie with a million questions, the way she did everyone else they had come across
"I know you're angry and that you hate me…"
Charlie interjected "I don't need you telling me how I feel. You'll never understand how I feel" Charlie gave her a pointed look "So don't try stand there acting like you understand"
Nina exhaled and bit on her bottom lip nervously "That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm just saying you have every right to hate me"
Charlie scoffed "Well thanks for giving me permission, I feel so much better now. If you don't mind I've got somewhere to be" Charlie began walking away but stopped as Nina spoke
"You'll never know how sorry I am for this, but I swear this is not something I ever planned and you might not believe me but I'm not the sort of person who would ever dream of breaking a family. But I don't want my daughter to ask me one day who her father is and I tell her I kept her away from him because I was too scared of what people would think of me. I'm not a malicious person, I swear, but Hanna deserves a father"
Not saying a word, Charlie walked away. Nina was the one who was here trying to destroy her family, she wasn't going to let her play the sympathy card
…
"Hi Cheryl" Charlie smiled as Cheryl walked into the kitchen; she was surprised Cheryl had made it this long before coming to see her. She had expected Cheryl to corner her that morning and force her into believing that Brax was innocent in all this "Twins are in their room, playing and Riley's fast asleep" said Charlie as she walked into the living room, Cheryl following behind her
Cheryl nodded "Good" and sat down on the couch "So, how you fairing?"
Charlie looked at Cheryl and sat down "Confused" she confessed "Sometimes I forget, like today on the beach it was just me and Riley and he was making this cute noise and I thought, oh, Brax would love to hear that. I was close to dialling his number then I remembered. I remembered Nina and Hanna and all I wanted to do was cry" Charlie lowered her head "I don't know how this could be happening"
Cheryl placed her hand on Charlie's arm "I'm sorry it's happening. I hate that you and Brax are going through this"
"We wouldn't be if he hadn't…" Charlie stopped and exhaled "I just want her to disappear"
Cheryl nodded "Yea well I think that is more than understandable" Cheryl watched Charlie "I know I'm a little bias because he's my son but I believe that boy would never hurt you. I may not have raised him but he raised himself right"
"He was drunk, Cheryl" Charlie shook her head "I remember how mad I was at him that morning for actually driving" Charlie chuckled "If only I had knew why he had decided to drive instead of calling a cab like he usually does"
"That doesn't prove anything" said Cheryl and Charlie shook her head
"It doesn't dispute it either" she closed her eyes for a moment before speaking "I know everyone is saying he wouldn't do this, but you tell me, Cheryl, what are the chances that this woman is lying. Because you and I both know she as nothing but a father for her daughter to gain from this, why would she just randomly chose Brax and risk being found out by agreeing to a DNA test"
Cheryl didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing. Charlie was right, if Nina was lying she wouldn't have so readily agreed to a DNA test and so far she hadn't demanded nor asked for a single thing form Brax. Cheryl looked up at the family picture that was stood on the mantel piece; she hoped for everyone's sake that the DNA results should come back negative
…
"You miss me" Ruby smiled as she and Casey walked into the living room
"Ruby, Case" Charlie smiled as Ruby flung herself onto the couch and gave her a hug "I see someone's missed me"
Ruby pulled back and smiled "Just a little. I'm not sure I like living with a boy" she whisper
"Said boy can hear you" said, Casey, as he dropped their bags at the foot of the couch. Charlie chuckled lightly
"How you coping with this one Case? She nudged Ruby lightly
Casey rolled his eyes "Let's just say having Hope and Caleb around all the time is less work"
"Hey" Ruby mock frowned "He's lying, I'm the best girlfriend ever"
"You didn't say you were coming down" said Charlie and Casey sat on the single couch
Ruby shrugged "It was a sort of spur of the moment thing. We didn't have anything on this weekend and between Uni and work that rarely ever happens so we thought why not come and see you guys because you would obviously be missing us terribly"
"Obviously" said Charlie "You guys eaten?"
Ruby and Casey shook their heads "We were kinda jut gonna call Brax and ask him to bring back pizza for us"
Charlie nodded and tried to keep the smile on her face "Well you best call him now before he leaves for the night" she had been sure she had played it cool but she didn't miss the frown that fleeted through Ruby's face and the look Casey was giving her
"You ok. You and Brax aren't fight are you?" asked Ruby
Charlie shook her head, but why was she even bothering? Casey and Ruby weren't kids, they would find out what was going on eventually
"Nothing for the both of you to worry about" she smiled "So which one of you will call him because if he doesn't bring you back pizza, I can make you something to eat" Ruby looked horrified and Casey sprang forward for the phone causing Charlie to laugh "I thought so"
…
"I'm gonna call it a night" said Brax as he stood to his feet "How about we go for a surf in the morning?" he gaze shifted between Ruby and Casey
"Yea that would be great" replied Casey and Ruby nodded
"Night" said Brax before walking down the hall. Neither Casey nor Ruby had missed that although Brax didn't say anything to Charlie, his gaze lingered on her for a few second before he turned and disappeared into their room
Looking at Ruby, Casey gave a small nod before standing to his feet "I'm gonna call it a night too. See you in the morning"
"Night Case" Charlie smiled up at him and Casey returned the smile before making his way into his and Ruby's room. He wanted to talk to Brax and question him about what was going on, but he would have to wait till the morning. With the way Brax and Charlie had been acting all night, Casey couldn't help but worry
…
"Ok" Ruby stood from the couch her and Casey had been sat on and made her way over to Charlie. Sitting down she pulled her feet up underneath her and watched her mum "You going to tell me what's going on, because you and Brax have officially got me and Casey freaked"
Charlie cocked her head "I'm sorry" she pushed a strand of Ruby's curls behinds her ear "I really didn't want you guys getting involved in this but I guess we didn't do a good job of acting like everything was fine"
Ruby shook her head "You did a rubbish job and that's got me worried even more. If tonight was the two of you trying to act like everything was normal then something is really wrong" Ruby had seen Charlie and Brax argue numerous times but they had never been this hostile to one another
Charlie gave a sad smile "You know what, it's nothing for you to worry about, ok"
"Right and the fact that you don't want to tell me as me freaking out. You always tell me even if it's just to make Brax feel bad about whatever it is you think he's done wrong. What could he have done that was so bad" Ruby narrowed her eyes "Or is it something you did?"
Charlie sat unspoken for a while and Ruby watched her not knowing what to say. She followed Charlie's gaze as it moved to the picture of the twins, her, Casey, Riley and Charlie and Brax at the beach "Mum how bad is this? asked Ruby. It had to be something bad
Charlie exhaled a huge breath before she spoke, her voice a little cracked "He as a kid with someone else"
Ruby felt her jaw slack at what Charlie had said, by he she was assuming Charlie was talking about Brax. But just to be sure she asked
"Who, Brax?" even Ruby could hear the disbelief in her voice
Charlie nodded "She's two and her name is Hanna"
"Two" Ruby repeated. She didn't need to great at maths to figure out what that meant "You think Brax cheated on you?" Ruby's first instinct was to laugh
"The fact that there is a woman in Summer Bay right now stating he's her childs father kinda means he did"
Ruby sat still for a moment absorbing this new information. Brax cheated on Charlie. She looked at Charlie for a moment before speaking "And Brax as admitted to cheating?"
Charlie shook her head "He's denying it, says he would never do that"
"That's because he wouldn't" The words automatically escaped Ruby, but she wasn't going to act like she believed any of this. She knew Brax and she knew what she saw in his eyes when he looked at Charlie. More to the point she knew what she saw tonight when he looked at her
"Does this woman have proff of what she's saying or is she just going around trying to frame innocent men" Ruby's tone was harsh
"They're going to do a DNA test" replied Charlie. Charlie placed her hand on Ruby's "I don't want you worrying about this ok. I'm only telling you because you will find out eventually"
Ruby frowned "How can I not worry" asked Ruby "Some sick woman is going around accusing Brax of…"
"He might have done it Ruby, she could easily be telling the truth. She has nothing to gain from lying"
Ruby didn't care, she didn't believe Brax would ever do this and she wished she knew where this woman was so she could confront her
"Mum I don't care what she says, I fully believe Brax. He would never do this" Plus the pained look that had been evident on Brax's face just before he walked away that night showed Ruby he was hurting as well as Charlie "She's lying" said Ruby
"I really hope so" replied Charlie and Ruby lay her head on Charlie's shoulder