Driving down the street, Brax slows to a stop in front of the driveway. Ricky had only needed to stay in hospital for one night as the doctors were pleased with how well she was recovering. Emilia was also coming home with them, so Brax had borrowed Heath's car for the morning as it would be easier than the Ute. They were met with the faces of two of the Braxton brother's and their wives, eagerly waiting to meet their niece properly and to welcome her home.
"Hey!" Bianca beams as they get out, Ricky hugging her as Brax stands with Heath, handing him the keys. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"A bit sore but the doctor gave me some painkillers for it." Ricky says, glancing back at the back passenger door.
"Are you not going to get her out?" Bianca asks.
"Watch this." Ricky says to her, walking over to the door and opening it up.
"Oi, no heavy lifting." Brax warns, not wanting anything to go wrong now she was home. "I've got it."
"See." Ricky smiles at her best friend. "He hasn't let me do a thing." She says, not noticing her husband was now behind her.
"It was the doctor who said you can't risk pulling your stitches." Brax says.
"Okay." Ricky says, nudging his arm before slowly heading inside with Bianca and Denny.
"Welcome to fatherhood bro." Heath smirks as Brax gets Emilia from the car before following the girls into the flat. "Now it's just you, Case."
"Nope, we're nowhere near ready." Casey says, briefly glancing down. "Plus I think it would send Kyle over the edge."
"Yeah, that's a point." Heath sighs.
"Heath, could I have a word?" Brax says, placing the travel cot down to hand Emilia over to Ricky, who was sat on the couch, before walking out with his brother onto the drive.
"What's this about?" Heath asks.
"Casey told me what Kyle said to you. He's just upset and didn't mean it, so don't take it personally. You know we don't snitch on each other, Kyle wouldn't do that after everything." Brax says. "We need to be there for him because he needs us."
"I know that, Brax, but he meant every word. And how has he even got dirt on me? Cause I never told him about the stuff I did in the past, at least not the stuff that could get me put in jail if it ever came out."
"I'll talk to him, okay? Just don't let it get to you, or push him away, cause that could make all of this worse." Brax says. "Is he home?"
"No. Casey went to talk to him before you got home and I don't know what happened but Casey said he just flipped." Heath says, noticing their youngest brother walk out. "Oi Case, get here."
"What's up?" Casey asks.
"Tell Brax about earlier with Kyle." Heath says.
"I don't really know what to say. I went to see if he needed anything and he just went crazy on me. There was blood on his sleeve but he just dismissed it as a nosebleed, which I thought was weird cause there wasn't enough blood for that." Casey says. "He shoved me out the way before walking out. I don't know where he went, but he took his car out again."
"Okay." Brax sighs, taking a hand through his hair. "I'll wait till he gets home before talking to him. I don't know what to do with him."
"Should we even dare ask him to go to a counsellor or something about it?" Heath asks, his brother shaking his head.
"He wouldn't go to one about his childhood, he definitely won't about this. I'll work something out, let me settle Emilia in first." Brax says as they walk back up the drive towards the house.
"Oh, and I didn't want to stress you out with everything going on with Ricky's labour, but the police called again." Heath says, all three of them stopping before they reach the door.
"Right, have they found something then?" Brax asks.
"No, they uh… They're thinking about calling the search off if nothing is found in the next week or so." Heath says.
"What?" Brax exclaims, glancing at the door before looking back at Heath. "How can they just call it off?"
"Because they haven't had any leads since she went missing." Heath sighs. "Kyle wouldn't talk about it with us and then he had a go at me for no reason."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Brax quietly hisses.
"Because Ricky had gone into early labour and then needed an emergency caesarian!" Heath hisses back. "I know you want to look out for Kyle, but Ricky needs you."
"Kyle needs me. It's obvious you can't do it when he's stormed out every chance you've had." Brax glares before walking into the flat, his brothers following quietly, heading into the house instead.
"This is our home, Emilia." Ricky smiles, beaming at her daughter as Brax joins them, crouching down next to them. "You're going to love it here."
"Yeah, we'll make sure of it." Brax smiles as the girls leave them to it.
"I'm going to ask your daddy something and he better not lie to me or you'll see mummy's bad side for the first time!" Ricky says in her baby's voice to Emilia.
"Ask me what?" Brax asks, sitting on the couch next to her.
"What's this about Kyle having a go at Heath?" Ricky asks, wincing slightly as she adjusts per position.
"Nothing you need to worry about. He's just worried about Lillie." Brax says.
"And?" Ricky says, staring at him.
"The police still haven't found anything and I heard they're thinking about calling the search off." Brax sighs.
"What? They can't do that!" Ricky exclaims.
"They haven't had any leads and no one has seen Lillie. That's also why he wasn't at the hospital yesterday, he doesn't want to see me playing 'happy families' with Emilia when he isn't going to get that with Lillie.
"But it's not your fault Lillie was taken." Ricky frowns.
"No but think about it, Rick. We've got Emilia, Kyle had Lillie and now she's gone. He wasn't even there when she was taken and he feels guilty about it, he thinks it makes him a bad dad. He's even threatened to have Heath put in prison if he finds out it's someone from our past who's taken her because the police think it was a targeted attack." Brax says. "I really don't know what to do with him, not now I've got you two to look after."
"I'm fine, Brax, Emilia will be as well. In any other circumstance, I would want you here with us, but Kyle needs you more. He needs to know everything is going to be okay, and he'll get his daughter back. You're the only person who'll be able to get through to him, so take advantage of that." Ricky says, gently handing Emilia over to Brax.
"I will, Rick, I just need to focus on you for a few days. You had your stomach ripped open, so I'm going to be doing everything for you for a bit. That was the doctor's orders." Brax says, smiling at the small baby in his arm, feeling excited he's been given this opportunity.
"Brax, it's called a caesarian." Ricky scoffs, taking a few photos of her husband and daughter, taking in the both of them.
"You didn't see them pull her out." Brax says, glancing up at his wife.
"And you wouldn't have either if you didn't look around the screen they put up to avoid that." Ricky says, desperately trying to hold a laugh in.
"They said they were taking Emilia out, I wasn't expecting it to be that…" Brax trails off, pulling a face. "They never said to not look around the screen. Anyway, we need to think about getting Emilia into a routine sooner rather than later. What time did you feed her?"
"At half 12." Ricky says, smiling as she takes more photos.