A/N: Howdy folks :)

I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated this story! I've been so focused on trying to get the next chapter of Tenuous Fighter done (which is a lot harder than I'd like at the moment, Lydia is being difficult) that I kind of forgot that I already have a few chapters of this written haha

But yeah, here it is! Please let me know what you think!

Thank you :D

xoloveJBox

Chapter Four

Brax blinked dazedly at his brother for a long moment. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised by the sudden outburst, but the revelation itself didn't come as a shock to him. He known, or rather hoped, that it would only be a matter of time before Kyle came to his senses. The Braxtons were nothing if not loyal, especially to family, and a baby that hadn't been born yet was no exception.

"Alright," he finally answered, letting neither his face nor his tone give away just how relieved he was. He'd seen just how much the difficult decision had been playing on Kyle's mind, and that was before the baby had even arrived.

"Alright?" Kyle repeated questioningly, certain that he'd heard wrong, that Brax wouldn't just accept it like that.

"Yeah," Brax shrugged casually. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just wasn't sure you'd want a baby in your house," Kyle admitted honestly.

"Not just a baby Kyle, your baby, my niece or nephew. Family." Brax answered, leaving no room for uncertainty before he added "But out of curiosity, what made you change your mind?"
Kyle pulled the plastic case of the ultrasound dvd out of his pocket and held it up.

"This," he answered. Before his brother had abruptly interrupted, Brax had been checking the accounts online, and the laptop was still resting on the bar. Kyle slipped the disc in and pulled up the footage to show Brax. The strong, steady thump-thump, thump-thump made Kyle's own heartbeat quicken, and Brax couldn't help but notice the boyish grin, filled with excitement, that spread across Kyle's cheeks.

"That's my baby," Kyle reiterated, before his face fell serious "I can't live my life knowing that my child is out there with some other family, Brax." He explained in a low tone "Or worse, what if the child never finds a family, and ends up as one of those kids that get tossed around until they're eighteen? I know what it's like to not feel wanted by my father. I can't do that to my child; I won't."

"Mate, your kid is never going to know the way Dad made us feel." Brax promised sincerely "I know you're never going to let that happen, but if you ever did drop the ball, for any reason, there are a whole boat load of people to help you out."

"Thanks Brax," Kyle beamed, not doubting a word his brother said "Listen," he started, rubbing the back of his neck a little awkwardly "What you said the other day, about..."

He trailed off, and Brax chuckled lightly.

"Don't worry, the baby's going to have everything he or she needs. I'll take care of it." Brax assured him, and Kyle sighed with relief, painfully aware that he had no real way to pay for as much as he was sure a baby would need himself "We'll go this arvo, since we're already cutting it fine."

"Yeah, we are," Kyle agreed, allowing himself a moment of exultment. If he was honest, he had no idea what a baby needed, and he made a mental note to see if he could convince Heath to go with them, since he was the only one Kyle knew with any real experience with children.

"What did Phoebe say about it?" Brax asked, cutting through Kyle's thoughts like a knife. No, it was more invasive than that, more consuming. Like flames bursting from a blow torch.

"I haven't told her yet." Kyle murmured, scrubbing a hand over his face, leaving it there to cover the conflicted expression he suddenly wore.

"Well, you might want to think about doing that soon," Brax laughed incredulously. Of course Kyle hadn't mentioned it to Phoebe, but had burst his way into the restaurant to tell his brother. That would make sense, and the Braxtons were not exactly known for their logic or reasoning skills.

"But when you have," Brax continued reassuringly "We're going to celebrate."
"Celebrate what?" Heath boomed as he entered, Casey in tow, each searching out the possibility of free food.

"The fact that there's going to be another Braxton running around the house pretty soon." Brax answered, clapping Kyle on the shoulder.

"For real?" Casey questioned, sounding slightly surprised.

"I think it's going to be a while before there's any running, and I still have to tell Phoebe," Kyle replied, unable to suppress another grin "but yeah."
"Well, go on then you goose," Heath exclaimed, heaving Kyle out of his seat with an unceremonious shove "Get on with it. There's work to do if the house if going to be ready for a baby!"

Kyle laughed as his brothers ushered him out of Angelo's, but before he could let them push him all the way out the door, he turned to Heath.

"Listen, Heath, what you said this morning." He told his brother sincerely, certain that Heath would know what he was talking about "Thanks. I needed to hear it."

"No problem mate." Heath grinned back, secretly glad that he had been able to help.

Kyle decided to walk to Phoebe's van, to give himself time to figure out what he was going to say to her. He knew that this was what he wanted-he'd never been so sure of anything in his life-but the words to make Phoebe see that eluded him tauntingly.

The distance between the restaurant and the caravan park was far too short for Kyle to come up with anything conclusive to say, but he raised a fist and knocked all the same, to make sure he didn't change his mind.

Phoebe looked surprised when she opened the door to see him standing there.

"Kyle?" She questioned, her dark brows knitting together in confusion "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." Kyle answered honestly, though he was still, even now, unsure of what to say. Phoebe must have been able to tell that he was serious because, despite her apparent mild irritation, she moved out of the doorway to let him past. He walked in and closed the door softly behind himself as Phoebe lowered herself onto the bed, indicating for him to take the other seat, but he politely declined, rather staying on his feet.

"Did you bring those files back?" Phoebe asked, and Kyle wondered if it had simply just been something-anything-to say, since it was pretty obvious that he hadn't bought them back "I need to look at them again."

"No, I didn't," he answered quietly "because we don't need them."

"Kyle," Phoebe sighed impatiently "We've talked about this."
"No," Kyle snapped, his voice unintentionally harsh "You've talked about this, and for the most part, I've listened, but you've made all the choices so far Phoebs, and now it's my turn."

Kyle waited until Phoebe gave a small nod, to make sure that she was listening before he took a steadying, slightly shaky breath.

"We don't need the files, because we're not giving the baby away." He told her simply, sounding firmer and more decisive than he felt.

"Kyle, we cannot raise a baby!" Phoebe exclaimed exasperatedly, not sure how many more times she was going to have to say it before he finally listened.

"No, we can't, and maybe you can't," Kyle retorted quickly "But I can. I want the baby."

"Kyle..." Phoebe began, but quickly found that she didn't know how to finish. But even if Phoebe didn't know, Kyle knew what she was thinking. He'd always been able to read her, and that hadn't changed. Just about everything else had, but not that.

"The baby is just as much mine as yours," he told her, his voice low and soft "You can try and give him or her away, but I will fight you every step of the way. I'm going to raise our baby, and you can stick around, if you want to, but I'm not going to make you. That's the end of it Phoebe."

They stood in a suffocating silence for a few dragging seconds, but eventually Phoebe nodded an acceptance at him. There might have been a lot of things going on in Phoebe's head when she'd made the decisions she had, about not telling him about the baby, about choosing adoption as their only choice, but Kyle was certain that spite had not been one. Trying to keep him from the baby now would have been selfish, and that was something Phoebe had- or at least tried to-never been.

With a decision made, Kyle quietly let himself out of the caravan, and finally let himself feel the way his hands were shaking. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from Phoebe, but total agreement had not really been one.

But he wasn't going to question it. The universe had always seemed to like tormenting him, and he wasn't going to give it a reason.

He simply called Brax, and made the short walk home, where his brothers were waiting for him, ready to prepare the house for the newest Braxton.