"What's up with Brax?" Casey frowns.
"He's just upset with himself for not noticing Kyle self harming, and then dropping him off at the clinic." Ricky says.
"But it's not his fault." Denny says.
"Yeah, I know. I've tried telling him that and I'm hoping some daddy-daughter time might help him." Ricky says.
"Well if it helps we've just been over at Heath's place and he's blaming himself as well because he was avoiding Kyle and thinks he drove him to it. Bianca made him take Darcy and Harley into Yabbie Creek for lunch to take his mind off it." Casey says, lightly smiling at the fact the girls had similar ideas.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Does Denny need to send you off with imaginary kids to take your mind off it?" Ricky lightly smirks.
"Nope, but I haven't been here since the start. To think I wasn't here after Lillie arrived, and I never even got to meet her." He mutters in realisation.
"She was a little angel." Ricky sadly smiles.
"I just hope whoever abducted her isn't bringing her up as their own, that would kill Kyle." Casey says, not even wanting to think about it. "Actually, maybe that's the better option."
"How?" Denny asks.
"Just look at all these child slave rings and stuff that kids are kidnapped into all the time. They're made to do all sorts of horrible things, illegal things, without choice. You hear about it on the news all the time." Casey says.
"Lillie was only a baby, the children are normally of school age." Ricky says.
"Yeah, she'll be okay." Casey says, wishing it was true.
"Of course she will, she's got the Braxton gene." Denny lightly smiles.
"Anyway, why don't we have Bianca, Heath and the kids over for dinner later? We could all be together right now, and maybe it will help Brax and Heath." Ricky suggests.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Casey nods, Denny also agreeing.
"Great, I'll let Brax know then go over and see Bianca." Ricky says, walking back into the flat.
"Kyle's going to be okay. He's getting the help he needs now." Denny says, resting herself into Casey's side as he nods.
Despite having a lot of strain put on their marriage due to everything that had happened, Denny came to her senses and realised she couldn't live without Casey. The brothers were a package deal, and Casey had never complained about her family, so she couldn't do it to his, even though she didn't agree with some stuff. But then that was all in the past, they proved that once Casey was shot and they didn't have any problems after that.
"Do you think now's a good time to ask Brax?" Denny asks.
"Yeah, probably." Casey says.
"Ask Brax what?" He says from the door way, Emilia gripping the teddy he was holding so she wouldn't drop it again.
"Oh, uh…" Denny pauses, Casey nudging her. "I've left the bait shop as there wasn't much work going anymore, and I was wondering… If there was a job going at Angelo's?"
"Yeah, I can sort that." Brax nods.
"Really?" Denny frowns.
"Did you want me to say no?" Brax asks.
"No, that's great. I just wasn't expecting an answer straight away." Denny says.
"Well I'm going to need maternity cover for Rick, and now I'm a manager down for a while, so I was going to need to find someone soon." Brax says.
"So they're only temporary jobs." Denny comments.
"Prove to me you're a good worker and I might make you a permanent staff member." Brax says as he walks over to the armchair. "You can start on Monday."
"Great, thank you!" Denny smiles as Casey kisses her.
"Told you he'd say yes." He mutters in her ear before standing tall. "Makes it even more of a family business now, and you'll be able to extend the opening hours. We've already done it with the gym cause we need to try and boost the profits some more if we want to upgrade the equipment."
"I thought you were going to wait a while to do that?" Brax says as they join him couch.
"Turns out the equipment supplier is releasing new machines sooner than we thought, and we want to get in there soon." Casey says.
"Do you need extra money to afford them, cause I can cover it?" Brax asks.
"No, we'll be alright with money. Heath was just talking about expanding the gym but I said I don't think it will be approved by the Surf Club council, and he can talk to them if he's being serious about it. I thought he would have spoken to you about it?" Casey frowns.
"He mentioned something a while back, I just thought he was on about buying more equipment and adding new bootcamps." Brax says.
"Well that's part of it. You'll have to ask him about the details cause I'm not getting involved unless it's actually going to happen."
"Yeah, I'll have to." Brax says.
"It feels wrong doing this without Kyle." Brax mutters, sitting down next to Ricky at the table.
"We're doing this to take your mind off him. He's going to be okay." Ricky says.
"He'll be home before you know it and then you'll be able to smother him with love as much as you want." Bianca smiles.
"You think he won't know that because we didn't know he was self harming?" Heath frowns.
"Heath, stop turning everything I say into a negative. Of course Kyle knows you all love him, he was just going through a tough time. And might I add that he hid the self harming from all of us, so none of us can be to blame for not knowing." Bianca says, Ricky, Casey and Denny agreeing with her.
"He's getting the right help now. The people at the clinic know what they're doing and he's surrounded by dogs. What more could he want?" Casey says.
"To be at home." Brax mutters, noticing them look at him. "What? Casey's the one who's always gone on about wanting a dog, not Kyle."
"Because you warned him off it." Ricky smiles.
"Yeah, and it worked, didn't it?" Brax smirks.
"Wait, you told me Kyle wasn't asking because he didn't like dogs." Casey frowns.
"Did I?" Brax smirks.
"That's so unfair! We could've both had a dog by now." Casey mutters.
"Casey, as I've told you for the last however long it's been now, we are not getting a dog. When you and Denny have your own place in the future, you can have as many dogs as you want."
"Don't you worry, we will be." Casey says.
"Will we now?" Denny asks.
"Aw, come on Den!" Casey moans.
"Seriously, you're acting like Darcy and she's a lot younger than you." Heath frowns.
"Hey!" Darcy moans as Heath puts his arm around her shoulder, laughing.
"How can you not think dogs are the best? It's been proven by scientists that dogs are a man's best friend, one of the family." Casey says.
"I'll never see a dog as one of the family. It's just a dog." Heath says.
"You would say that because we've never had one, but if we did, your opinion would be very different." Casey says.
"Alright, enough dog talk." Brax says before an argument broke out between them both. "Heath, what's this about the expansion you want to do on the gym?"
"Oh yeah. I thought we could expand it so it's bigger. It would mean we could fit more machines in, which would boost income. It would also mean more people can work out during our busy hours." Heath says. "All I have to do is get you to write a letter to the Surf Club council, so they can consider it."
"Why do I have to do it when it's what you want?" Brax frowns.
"Because you're the legal owner of the gym and council respect you more than me." Heath says.
"Yeah, I think it's best you do it." Casey says. "I've gone through the gym books and files when I was away and they made no sense."
"Fine, but if it doesn't get accepted then you don't complain to me about it. I can't see it happening." Brax says.
"Well it's worth a shot." Heath says as they start to tuck into the food.