An hour later Ruby was tired of Charlie pacing and mumbling to herself "mum," she sighed "will you please sit down."

Charlie stopped and looked at her "what?" she asked.

"Will you sit down and stop pacing you're making me dizzy," Ruby replied.

"Sorry," she said and sat down "I just can't believe it."

"None of us can," Casey said "why don't you go home and get some sleep, I'll be here for the night."

Charlie was so exhausted she was running on air at this stage "nah, I'll be fine."

"Mum," Ruby huffed "just go home I'm fine, I'm gonna stay fine, Case will be here with me…please go home?" she asked.

Charlie sighed and stood up "fine, but I'll be back first thing, and you," she said pointing at Casey "better call me if anything happens."

"I will, I promise, now go," he said hugging her.

Charlie pulled back and hugged Ruby "see you tomorrow then, I love ya," she said and walked to the door.

"Love ya too…get a good sleep!" she called after her.

Just as Charlie got off the lift she saw Brax walking to the stairs "Brax!" she called and walked to him.

"You're not going the station, your already barred," he said walking back to her.

"I'm not I'm going home…what happened?" she asked.

Brax sighed "he denied everything, he won't say anything else until a lawyer shows up."

Charlie nodded "little scumbag, I cannot get my head around this at all, I mean she's his daughter how could he do such a thing?"

Brax wrapped his arm around her and started to walk her to the exit "he'll get what he deserves…I'm driving you home," he added and walked out with her.

As they drove home Charlie kept glancing at him "I'm sorry about everything," she said "I was such a bitch to you, I pushed you away even though I wanted you with me."

Brax nodded and turned a corner "we'll talk about this another day…who owns the car?" he asked as he pulled up to her house.

"Oh, Tori and all arrived earlier Pete gave them the key to here…is that okay?" she asked.

"Sure, they're your family," he replied "get some sleep, I'm gonna stay with Ruby tonight."

"Something tells me she's gonna kick you out too…so I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

Brax nodded and smiled quickly "you will," he replied.

Charlie kissed him on the cheek "night Brax, thanks for the lift."

"Hey," he said grabbing her hand, he looked down as he rubbed his thumb across it, looking back at her for a moment he leaned in and kissed her sweetly.

Charlie pulled back a little seeing he didn't pull away she slowly leaned in again and kissed him slowly.

Brax slid his hand onto her waist and pulled her closer deepening the kiss, pulling back he rested his forehead against hers and sighed "how did we get here Charlie? Where did we go wrong? We were so in love, we were so close, we were always together…what happened?"

"I don't know," she replied and pulled back "but I do know I love you and I'll do whatever it takes to fix this."

Brax stroked her cheek "I've never been so scared of losing you in all my life as I was today."

Charlie placed her hand on his "you'll never lose me Brax, I'm your wife, I love you, we're gonna fix this."

Brax nodded and kissed her quickly "you better get some sleep we've had a rough couple of days you need your rest."

Charlie nodded and opened the door "I'll see you at the hospital in the morning…I love ya."

"Love ya too babe…call me if you need me," he said and backed out of the drive.

Charlie waved as he beeped and let herself in, hearing the tv she sighed heavily and walked into the living room. Seeing Mason and April asleep on the sofa with Justin awake the other end she walked to the back of it and kissed Mason on the head before doing the same to April. Moving to Justin she wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder "hey," she mumbled.

Justin tilted his head and smiled "hey," he replied and threw his arm back around her as best he could "how's Rubes? Pete said she was awake."

Charlie pulled away from him and walked to the armchair "she's good, she's awake and alert, she knows who we are and all that…how are you?" she asked nodding to the bandage on his arm.

Justin looked down on it and waved her off "I'm fine, it missed me, just a graze."

"What happened?" she asked.

Justin shrugged "I collected Mason from Uni just as we got back to the car another car skidded to a halt beside us and just took a shot. I threw him to the ground and threw his bag at them so we could get away."

"Wow, and Decker thinks it's best you all came here?" she asked.

Justin nodded and sat forward " where else is safer than your cop sister and brothers? no one knows were here no one saw us leave, as far as the neighbours are concerned we're at work like normal."

Charlie stood up and yawned "this is way better than two calls a day, I love you and all but I really need to sleep."

Justin chuckled "I won't take it personally…go on, get some sleep."

Charlie walked to the stairs and spotted a purse she didn't recognize on the table "is Tor here?" she asked.

Just nodded "in your bed I think…that okay? We didn't think you'd be home tonight."

"Yeah that's fine…where's Brods?" she asked.

"Spare room out cold…Night Charlz!" he called after her.

Charlie walked into her room to find Tori in her bed, changing she walked over and slid under the covers. Scooting closer to her she chuckled as Tori lifted her arm, scooting so she lay on her chest she closed her eyes "hey big sis," she whimpered.

"Hey lil sis," Tori said and brought her arm down around her "everything is gonna be okay," she added as Charlie cried a little louder.


The next morning Charlie groaned as the bed dipped "you better be Brax or have food," she mumbled.

"Come out from under there and find out," Brody chuckled.

Charlie pulled the covers off her head and squinted "hey Brods," she said and sat up properly.

"Hey," he chuckled and hugged her "I made you breakfast," he said nodding to her locker "Brax not stay?" he asked.

"Thanks," she said and sat up more "and no, he stayed with Rubes last night."

"How is she?" he asked getting comfortable beside her.

"She's good she's better than we expected," Charlie replied.

"Pete called it was a relief to hear she was awake," Brody said and nudged her "Tori said you had a rough night, she said you were crying…wanna talk about it?"

Charlie looked down at her toast and sighed out of all her family she was closest to Brody, he knew all about what was going on-excluding the Robbie part "I screwed it all up with Brax."

"Surely it's not that bad?" he asked.

"Where do I start," she groaned "Robbie arrived for a few weeks, Brax got jealous and acted like a tool for a few days."

"Understandable, he's practically raised Ruby…go on."

"I suggested they go out on their own and get to know one another for Ruby's sake."

"And it backfired?" he chuckled.

"Yes," she giggled "they got on well and went out a few more times."

"So what's the problem?" Brody asked.

"You know we argued non stop about him being at Angelo's?" she asked. Brody nodded "when Ruby and April had the accident it took three or four hours for anyone to contact him…Heath found him there and dragged him out."

"Okay, what else happened?" Brody asked.

"I ranted and screamed at him told him I hated him and asked him to stay away that I needed some space to figure things out, anyway when it calmed down I apologised but said we still needed space. He agreed as long as I kept him updated on Ruby, Robbie was there all the time, I got close to him, he was there for me."

Brody held up his hand "if you tell me something happened I'm gonna slap you…Charlie!" he yelled when she looked away.

"He kissed me!" she shrieked "he was at me about how bad Brax was and how he treated me, as I ranted at him he kissed me…and Brax saw it."

Brody threw his hands over his face "so what's happening now? Has Brax moved out?"

"He's staying at his friends, Ruby woke up so we put it aside, we've talked a little but nothing is sorted yet," Charlie said and rolled out of the bed.

"Where's Robbie now so I can punch him?" he asked.

Charlie scoffed "oh, you won't be seeing him for a while…turns out it was his brother who caused the accident. He called Robbie once he realised it was the girls and he told him to run and leave them there."

"What!" Brody yelled and jumped off the bed "seriously?"

"Seriously," Charlie replied and walked out when April called her.

…..

A while later Charlie pulled the door opened just as Brax was putting his key in "oh, hey," she said and jumped back.

"Hey," he said and stepped in "where is everyone?" he asked.

"Tv," she nodded "she didn't kick you out?" she asked.

Brax chuckled and clicked the kettle on "oh, she did, slept on the chairs outside," he yawned.

"Here, sit down," she said puling a chair out "I'll make it then you go get a few hours sleep…I'll run them out somewhere."

"It's fine," he yawned and rested his head on the table "I've to meet the estate agent in an hour anyway."

Charlie bit on her lip as she made him coffee "you're still selling it?"

"Yes," he yawned "I told you I meant it, I want it gone."

Charlie placed the cup down and rubbed his back "Brax you need to sleep."

Brax sat up and lifted the cup "I can't, they guy will be waiting to be let in to take pictures and all that."

Charlie took his keys "go to bed, I'll go."

"I can't ask you to do that, you've enough on" he replied reaching for the keys.

Charlie stepped back with the keys "turns out Ruby doesn't want to see me in there today so I'm free, I'm going and you're gonna go asleep."

Brax looked down at his coffee then over to her "fine, but if I wake before it I'm going."

Charlie chuckled "you won't be awake, bet we won't see you till dinner time."

Brax stood up and walked to her sliding his hands onto her waist he backed her up into the counter "did you get enough sleep?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded "I'm not even up an hour-and Brody made me breakfast."

"Good," he nodded and lowered his head "I've missed you," he said before kissing her deeply.

Charlie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer "I've missed you too," she mumbled between kisses.

"Yikes!" Mason chuckled breaking them apart "uh, we can get outta your hair for an hour or two," he added.

Charlie giggled and pulled away "I'm actually heading out and Brax is heading to bed so be quiet."

Brax wrapped his arms around Charlie and pulled her into him "you may wanna stay at Pete and Jacks tonight…I got plans for this one," he said kissing her shoulder.

"We don't need to know what you're doing to our sister Braxton," Just said appearing beside them.

Brax chuckled "alright mate," he said and shook his hand "what's the plans for today?" he asked.

"Job hunting," Tori said pushing by them "hey Brax," she said and hugged him "Charlz I got an interview at the hospital, is it okay if I stop in on Ruby?"

"Sure," Charlie nodded "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

"Cool, see ya!" She called over her shoulder "you three better have one interview each lined up by the time I get back!"

"Job hunting?" Brax asked "I may be able to help."

"Okay…what have you got?" Justin asked.

"My mate owns a garage, I'll make a call," Brax replied "Brody I need a chef in Angelo's and Mason, John next door is looking for someone to help out at the juice bar."

"Everyone's sorted then…see ya!" Charlie called and hurried off.


Charlie arrived at Angelo's and stopped at the stairs at a man waiting "Tom?" she asked.

"That's me…and you are?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm Charlie Braxton, you were to meet my husband Daryl," she replied.

"Oh yes, I thought I was meeting him," he replied.

Charlie nodded and moved the closed sign "you were but something came up he couldn't get out off…after you," she said gesturing up the stairs.

As he went around taking pictures and asking questions Charlie began to feel guilty, Brax had built this place up from the ground, he had put so much into this place and he was giving it all up for her "sorry what?" she asked as he stopped in front or her.

"How many bathrooms are there?" he asked.

"Two upstairs and two downstairs…do you think it'll take long to sell?" she asked curiously.

"Not sure, it's a great place, I can see this going quick," Tom replied.

"Oh," she replied and just nodded.

"You don't seem to happy about that," he said.

Charlie looked at him for a moment "can I be really honest with you?" after his nod she gestured for him to sit. "He's only selling this place to make me happy…we've had some problems with him and always being here and not at home."

"Ah," Tom nodded "unless your name is on the deed I'm afraid I have to do as Mr Braxton asks."

Charlie nodded "right…and how do I get that and get my name on it without my husband knowing?"

"I'll assume you have a lawyer?" Charlie nodded "okay, well you need to get onto him and ask but as far as I know it's Mr Braxton's decision whether you go on the deed or not…I think he has to sign something."

Charlie nodded again "right, I'll look into that."

"You don't want him to sell?" Tom asked.

"No," she sighed "he's made this place into something, he's spent all his time and money on it…I can't let him sell it because of me."

"Okay," Tom said and stood up "I'll hold off putting this on the next then, good luck Mrs Braxton," he said and held out his hand "if only more wives were like you," he chuckled "I'll speak to you soon," he added and walked off.

"Bye, and thanks!" Charlie called after him…damn it she thought, why must things be so hard.

….

Charlie arrived home to find Brax and the three boys sitting on the table with a beer "what's this?" she asked taking the beer from Mason.

"Hey!" he yelled.

"Chilling with my in-laws," Brax chuckled "how'd you get on?"

"Yeah good, he was really nice…why aren't you asleep?" she asked as she walked inside.

"You were gone for like three hours, and you're brother woke me up making some crazy food of his," Brax replied.

"Oh, I stopped in on my dad then I went for a walk," she said.

"Okay," he nodded "what else have you on today?"

"I was gonna drop into the station and see what's happening, other than that nothing," she replied.

"Skip the station and come on a drive with me?" he asked "we need to talk and we can't do it here."

"Sure," she nodded "I'm starved just let me get something to eat, call Ruby then we can go."

Brax nodded "chef you're up!" he called "your sister is hungry!"

"Brax I can make my own food," she chuckled.

"So, take advantage while he's here" he chuckled "coz once he starts in Angelo's I'm gonna wor…never mind, go sit down," he said.

Charlie saw the sadness flash across his face "Brax, you don't have to do this for me, we can call and tell him to forget about it."

Brax shook his head "it's done, I've made my decision."

"It's not done, he only took pictures you can change your mind," she said.

"My minds made up, I wanna spend my time with you and the girls and this one," he said placing his hand on her stomach. Leaning in he kissed her quickly "don't worry about it," he added and walked off.

Charlie sighed as he walked off, "what do you want?" Brody asked "Charlz? Earth to Charlie," he chuckled and waved his hands in her face.

"What?" she asked and looked at him.

"Something on your mind?" Brody asked.

"No, it doesn't matter," she said and walked to the table.

A few minutes later Brody placed a sandwich down and sat beside her "eat and start talking."

Charlie took a bite and looked over at him "Brax is selling Angelo's, he said it's the only way to get us back on track."

"And you don't want him to?" Brody asked.

"No," she sighed "I never wanted that, sure I would love for him to be here with us all the time but…he's built that place from scratch, he's put a lot into it I can see he doesn't want to sell it either, he's just doing it to make me happy."

"Why don't you tell him this and change his mind?" Brody asked.

"I have, he's not interested, once he gets and idea into his head he sticks with it, he's made his decision," she muttered.

Brody stood up as Brax came back "check and see if you're on the deed, he can't sell without you on board."


Over at the hospital Tori had just finished her interview and went looking for Ruby, getting to her room she looked through the glass and smiled as Ruby laughed. Pushing the door in she walked in "someone looks a whole lot better."

"Tori!" Ruby shrieked and held out her arms "you're here," she squealed and hugged her tight.

"I'm here," Tori chuckled and pulled back "how are you feeling?"

"Good," she nodded "Sid said we'd talk about me going home in a few days…sorry, this is Casey my boyfriend. Case this is my aunt Tori."

Casey chuckled and held out his hand "we met at the wedding, nice to see you again," he said and grabbed his coat "while you guys catch up I'm gonna go get something to eat," he said and kissed Ruby quickly "I'll see ya soon…good to see you Tori!" he called.

"You too," she replied and turned back to Ruby "he's nice I like him."

"Yeah, I do too," she chuckled "so what brings you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything," she added quickly.

Tori chuckled "I'm here for an interview, I asked mum could I stop in and see how you were."

Ruby frowned she assumed she was just here because of her "an interview? How? I mean," she said and moved closer to her "I mean is it safe?"

Tori chuckled "Decker decided there's no safe place for us than here with an army of family members as cops…don't worry," she added when Ruby frowned again.

"It's not that, I'm just remembering something I heard," she replied and frowned again.

"Then why do you look so confused?" Tori asked.

"Because I was in a coma when I heard it…I think," Ruby replied.

"Its not uncommon to hear what's going on while you're in a coma Rubes, you probably just heard mum and all."

"No," she frowned again "it was Brax and Casey I think...mum would have told me."

"Told you what"? Tori asked.

"That she was pregnant…she would tell me right?"

Tori was shocked, Charlie never mentioned it "uh, yeah she would…your brain can play tricks on you too, don't worry about it."

"That's not all, I thought I heard Brax telling Case that my dad kissed her and he's selling Angelo's to fix things with mum…yeah, your right my brain is playing tricks on me, this is all crazy," she chuckled.

Tori stood up as Casey arrived back "I better head, I'm staying with mum so I'll be able to come see you again, I may even bring Mason," she chuckled and hugged her "see ya soon sweetie, you look after yourself, bye Casey!" she called on her way out-she needed to see her sister and have a long conversation.

"You okay?" Casey asked as Ruby stared into space.

"Yeah…just tired, I got so excited I drained myself," she chuckled and lay down.

Tori arrived home and grabbed Charlie by the arm "I need to talk to you…where's Brax?" she asked.

"He took Mason to see John about a job…what's up?" Charlie asked.

"Where's Justin and Brody?"

Charlie frowned "they're down at the beach what's wrong?"

Tori stepped closer to her "are you pregnant Charlie?"

"What? Who told you that?" she asked surprised.

"I went to see Ruby she heard a few things while she was unconscious she was all confused…are you?" Tori asked.

Charlie sighed "yes, but you can't tell anyone, no one but me and Brax know."

Tori sighed heavily hoping her next question was a no "Brax told Casey, Ruby heard it…she also heard that Robbie kissed you, is that true too?"

Charlie walked away from her "he kissed me I didn't kiss him back…he's just trying to cause trouble with me and Brax."

"Charlie," she groaned "you guys ended coz he was a waste of space, he was no good for you or Ruby why would you even consider going there again? What about Brax?"

Charlie slammed her cup down and whirled to face her "I did not kiss him back! I did not give him any reason to think I wanted anything! I told him to stay away from me! Brax knows!" she yelled stepping closer to her "I have enough on my plate without you lecturing me too, just back off Tori!" she hissed.

"Charlie I didn't mean to upset you I just want to help," Tori said following her.

"Just back off I said!" she yelled "I'll fix my own problems by myself!"

"Everything okay here?" Brax asked from the doorway.

"Fine," Charlie replied "how did it go?" she asked as Mason walked in.

"Yeah, good, I start tomorrow…that John guy is hilarious," he chuckled.

Charlie smiled "that's great," she said and looked over at Brax "are you ready to go now?"

Brax looked from her to Tori then back to her "sure…I'll just get changed," he said and walked by them.

Charlie turned back to the sink ignoring Tori "Pete is gonna bring you all over to his for dinner tonight dad Jack and Beth will be there too."

Tori nodded and walked to her "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I know you'd never give him a reason."

"No," she sighed and turned to face her "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that. I'm just under so much stress I'm snapping at everyone for anything."

Tori rubbed her back "it's okay, we know you're under a lot of pressure, with us landing here too we've probably made it worse."

"No you haven't," Charlie said quickly "I'm happy you guys are here-happier knowing that you're staying."

Tori smiled and hugged her "you know I'm always here if you wanna vent and get things off your chest."

Charlie wrapped her arms around her and sighed "thank you."

Tori stepped back as Brax walked in "that's what big sisters are for…I'm gonna go see what Justin and Brody are up to, I'll see ya later."


A while later Brax pulled into the national park and turned off the engine "you wanna stay here or go for a walk?" he said after a minute.

"We can stay here for a bit," she said and slid her hand into his and looked out the window, she needed to compose herself and think what she was going to say-where to start.

A few minutes later she turned to him "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about everything, instead of fixing what was wrong I created more problems. I didn't want to accept that we weren't working, that things were bad, I just wanted my husband there with me like we used to be when we started dating. Brax we were inseparable, we had so much fun, we were always laughing-always planning something…nothing else mattered but us."

Brax sighed heavily "we just hit a rocky phase, I threw myself into Angelo's hoping I'd be too busy to notice anything was wrong, hoping that if I didn't think about it it wasn't happening. I'm sorry too I should have put everything aside and got back to how we were, I should have worked harder to make sure you were happy-that we were happy."

"I was happy Brax-I am happy," she said quickly "I have never loved someone as much as I love you, I could never believe how lucky I was to be with you, you were so sweet and caring. You always wanted to hold my hand or just sit there with me or put your leg beside mine just so we were touching…I miss that," she whimpered.

Brax turned to her and caught a tear as it fell "I'm the lucky one, I still couldn't believe that you kissed me back," he chuckled "I was sure I was going to get a slap. Charlie, you're my soul mate, my best friend, I can never imagine being with anyone other than you, I love you so so much, my life doesn't make sense without you. I still wanna hold your hand, I still wanna sit and do nothing, every time I see you I think wow, this is my wife, this is the woman of my dreams and she chose me."

Charlie sighed heavily "what do we do now?"

Brax moved closer to her and slid his hand onto her neck "now, we fix it once and for all, no more bottling things up no more pretending everything is okay."

Charlie leaned in and kissed him, as his hand tangled in her hair she moved a little closer to him "I think the backseat is good place to start," she mumbled.

Brax chuckled and kissed her a few times "nah," he said pulling her onto him "I'm good right here," he said and kissed her deeply, puling her dress up along the way.

….

A while later Charlie sat on his lap with her back to the door, Brax leaned in and kissed her shoulder "that was amazing babe," he chuckled.

Charlie giggled and kissed him quickly "it was…my back is killing me though."

"I told you to take it easy," he chuckled "I'll give you a massage when we get home."

"So you're staying with me?" she asked.

Brax nodded and nudged her off him "it is my house after all…I need to walk my legs are dead."

"Our house," Charlie corrected as she climbed out after him.

As they walked hand in hand Brax kept shooting her glances "can I ask you something?" he finally asked.

"Sure," she replied and stopped walking.

"When you said you had feelings for Robbie," he started.

"Brax," she cut in.

"No it's okay, I just want you to answer this then he'll never be mentioned again…if he had of kissed you before you told me that, would you have kissed him back?" he asked.

"No," she replied instantly "if he had tried it then he would have gotten the same slap he got the other night…I love you Brax, my head was messed up for like a minute, I know where I'm meant to be."

Brax smiled and lowered his head "that's al I wanted to know," he said and kissed her sweetly "let's go home," he added and led her back to the car.

When they arrived home Charlie frowned at the car in her drive "maybe they walked to Pete's," she said as they climbed out.

"Maybe not," Brax said as they all sat around the kitchen table "what's going on?" he asked.

"Apparently," April said and stood up "Robbie won't be charged with anything!" she said angrily and stormed off to her room.

"What!" Charlie shrieked and looked at Peter "is this true?"

"Yes," he sighed and walked to her "Charlz they have no evidence, we have nothing to hold him on…I'm sorry, he's been released."

"Charlie!" he called after her as she ran out the door "where are you going?"

"To make sure he doesn't go near Ruby!" she called back.

"Hey," Brax said and pulled her back "I know you're upset but please calm down and go back inside."

"I can't leave her there Brax! What if he turns up there?" she yelled.

"Right, I'll go you just stay here," he replied.

"Fine," she sighed and stepped back "call me if he turns up."

Brax nodded and stepped closer to her "I love ya," he said and kissed her "go relax and try not to work yourself up."

"I'll try," she said as she walked back to the house "love ya too!" she called and walked inside.

"I better get back to the station and see how Jack is getting on with Martin and his lawyer, I'll see ya," Peter said and walked off.

"I'm gonna go for a walk on the beach," Brody said "anyone wanna come?"

"Yeah I will," Mason said "anyone else?"

"Nah," Justin said and stood up "I'm gonna watch tv."

"You okay?" Tori asked walking to Charlie.

"I'm fine," Charlie said and closed her eyes as a pain shot through her.

"You sure? You don't look it," Tori said stepping closer to her.

"I said I'm fi..oww," she yelled and dropped to the floor clutching her stomach "oww!" she yelled again.

"Charlie!" Tori yelled and jumped down beside her "oh no!" she gasped and jumped up "Justin!" she yelled.

"What?" Charlie sniffed and looked down as blood trickled down her leg "no!" she whimpered and looked at Tori "it's happening again I'm losing it!" she sobbed.

"No, no you're not," Tori said and looked behind her "Justin!" she yelled again.

"What?" he asked "what happened?" he yelled running to them.

"She's bleeding, I need you to carry her to the car," Tori said and grabbed her keys "it's gonna be okay Charlz, we're gonna get to the hospital and everything is gonna be okay."

"She's pregnant?" Justin yelled in shock.

"Not for much longer if you don't hurry up!" Tori hissed quietly.

Charlie cried as he lifted her into his arms, this couldn't be happening again, she couldn't be so unlucky.

A/N so what did we all think of this? Are we liking the new family members? See ya soon JJ.