AUTHORS NOTE:

Hi all, just another chapter upload.

In reply to the reviewer JS, thanks for the compliment on my writing :) I totally understand it's a harsh content to read and I appreciate your effort (and others too). In reference to Charlie, she does make a minor appearance much later in the story, but not in a relationship way just an interaction with Brax.

For those that are finding the content hard, I do promise lots of brotherly love and non-abusive stuff soon in the story but it's not until chapter 13 and after, that's when it all really starts - cute baby Casey appears, Brax struggles to raise his brothers, someone deals with bullying and Heath understands some hard lessons. (HINTS)

So for those who'd still like to read the hardcore Braxton caring stuff you don't need to read all the previous chapters if it's too confronting, to follow what's happening in the story and just maybe keep an eye out for updates around those chapters and see where the story goes. The odd chapter afterwards I will add warnings for rough abuse :)

Thanks and enjoy my next chapter.

PS: please review and let me know what you all think

Chapter 3: School days

Five year old Brax was getting bored at being at home all the time with his drunken parents. He had once heard about this place called school while watching TV one day. He often wondered what it would be like. When Danny and Cheryl sat at the kitchen table one morning Brax approached them.

"Mum, Dad. Can I ask you something?" "What?" Cheryl asked.

"I heard about this place while watching TV…" "Get to the point Darryl."

"I was wondering if I could go to school. It seems like a fun place to go and…"

"School? School is for losers Darryl." Danny scoffed. "But I'd really like to go."

"You think we can afford to pay for you to go to school?" Cheryl added. Brax silenced, he knew it was no use pleading and so just walked away.

"Fancy the kid asking to go to school." Danny laughed.

After some consideration and thinking Danny and Cheryl realized that if Brax was at school he wouldn't get in their hair all the time, so decided it would be a good decision.

Later that day, Brax was in his room when he heard his father yell. "Darryl get out here, your mother and I want to have a word with you!"

Brax's heart skipped a beat as he wrecked his brain trying to remember what he may have done wrong. Cautiously he wandered into the living room, waiting to be yelled at and hit, but nothing happened. Brax saw his parents sitting on the lounge.

"Yea' mother and I have discussed this school business and have decided you're gonna go." Brax's face lit up. "Thank you."

"But there will be conditions." Brax nodded. "You are to keep our business to yourself and not go talking about what goes on here to anyone and you are to behave yourself, I won't have any son of mine ruining my Braxton reputation, ya hear."

"Yes Dad. I won't I promise." "Good, now go on and get out of here and make the most of your free time coz once you start school next week, you won't be havin' any more of that for a while." Brax took off to his room and lay on his bed, imaging what school would be like.

Brax's first days of school were everything he imagined it to be, fun, happy and a place he could be himself without getting yelled at. The teacher sat him next to a boy with black hair and freckles.

"Hi. My name's Hayden Collins. What's yours?" Brax held out his hand.

"Darryl Braxton. Though, I don't really like the name Darryl."

"Why don't you call yourself something else? Like a nickname?" Brax shrugged.

"Like what?" Hayden thought for a moment. "Do you like Daz?" Brax scrunched his nose and shook his head.

"Um… How about…That's it...That's what I'll call you…Brax." Brax smiled. "I like it."

"From now on your name is Brax." Brax was happy he had already made a friend and found a new name for himself.

Hayden and Brax played together and spent all their class time together and became close friends. The two often enjoyed playing on the gym set in the play ground. One day at lunch, they were pretending to be avengers of the sea. As Brax jumped off the moving bridge he tripped, falling forwards and hitting his mouth on a metal bar in front of him.

Brax held his mouth in pain and burst into tears, it scared him seeing his mouth bleeding. He placed his fingers in his mouth at an uncomfortable feeling he had and removed two of his top teeth. Hayden rushed over to him.

"Brax are you alright?" Not getting a reply, Hayden ran to get a teacher. Mrs Gerring, their class teacher came over and helped Brax up.

"Come on sweetheart. What happened?" "We were playing and he jumped off hitting his mouth on the bar." Hayden told her.

Mrs Gerring held her arm around Brax and took him to the office. "It's alright we'll get you cleaned up." Brax grasped his teeth in his hands tightly. The nurse cleaned up Brax and let him rest in the office till he was ready to go back to class.

Brax walked into class at the last hour of the day and sat down next to Hayden. "Hey, you're the talk of the class." Brax smiled, showing his missing teeth.

"Wow. Did you keep your teeth?" Brax held out a cup containing his teeth. "The nurse put them in this for me, so I could show my Mum and Dad."

"Are you kidding? You gotta put them out for the tooth fairy."

"Who?" "The tooth fairy. My parents said that when your teeth fall out, you put them under your pillow and a tooth fairy collects them and gives you money as a reward."

Brax had never heard of this concept and was sure he had teeth fall out before, maybe his parent just didn't know about the tooth fairy, maybe they had to tell her to come?

"Last time I lost a tooth I got $1." Hayden said proudly. Wow, Brax thought. Imagine how much he could get for his two teeth.

Brax was so excited to get home and show his parents his teeth. "Mum! Dad! Mum! Dad!" He shouted.

"What's all the fuss Darryl?" Cheryl asked as he emerged from the hallway, she was looking drawn out and smelled sickly. Danny soon followed behind.

They noticed his bruised lip. "What happened to you?" Danny asked.

"That's what I wanna tell you! Look!" Brax held up his container with his teeth.

"I fell on the gym set today at school and two of my teeth came out." Danny lifted Brax's chin up to access the damage to his lip. "You'll live."

"My friend Hayden said that if I put the teeth under my pillow, the tooth fairy will come and collect them and give me money." Danny and Cheryl laughed.

"You ain't getting any money kid." Danny spoke.

"Why? Won't the tooth fairy come to me? Can't you tell her to come?" Brax asked.

Danny and Cheryl laughed again. "You can't be serious Darryl?" "There's no such thing as a tooth fairy." Danny told him.

"But Hayden said…" "I don't care what this Hay kid said. I'm tellin' ya there is no tooth fairy!" Brax felt crushed.

"Get those away from me!" Cheryl exclaimed shoving the container of teeth away.

"Look Darryl, kid's parents lie about these things just to get kids to believe in some fake world. I ain't having my kid go through life believing in some crap that ain't true. We won't lie to ya Darryl! Teeth fall out all the time and no-one wants to pay for someone else's teeth. You had a fall you lost your teeth, move on." Danny told him frankly.

Brax looked down at his container of teeth, tears glassed over in his eyes. Brax threw the container on the floor and ran to his room. "Oi, Darryl!" Danny shouted.

Brax lay on his bed, crushed. He started the afternoon feeling so excited about this ordeal, only to have his parents crush it right before his very eyes. Danny picked up the container and tossed it into the bin.

"Fancy believing in that rubbish?" Cheryl groaned and ran back to the bathroom to throw up.

"Hey you alright in there?" Danny called out. Cheryl emerged from the bathroom, looking at her husband. "I need to see a doctor. I think I might be pregnant."