AUTHORS NOTE:

Enjoy the next few chapters centering on all four boys as they celebrate Christmas in the family.

(Please do not take any disrespect to anyone who does or does not celebrate Christmas)

In response to my guest review [thank you for the lovely comments, I'm very flattered by them. Much appreciated :)] all the chapters have been written otherwise I'd never be able to write them straight off the top of my head. I can't write stories in chronological order so I write the chapters then piece them all together in an appropriate order later on. :)

Thank you to everyone who is continuing to read and review my story. :)

I will update again in a few days time.

Chapter 31: A Braxton - Bennett Christmas

(Kyle 8, Casey 4, Heath 11, Brax 15)

It neared the end of December. Heath was on school holidays and Brax was struggling to get shifts at his new job. Wanting to treat his brothers Brax decided to spend the day with them at the beach.

Brax was lying on the sand while Casey played beside him and Heath was out surfing. Casey climbed onto Brax's chest.

"Bax I hungry."

Brax sat up. "Alright when Heath gets out of the surf we'll go get something to eat okay?"

Casey climbed down and started to run towards the water, not wanting a repeat of the last time Brax had taken his brothers to the beach, Brax quickly stood up and chased after his brother. "Casey stop!"

Brax caught up with Casey and wrapped one arm around Casey's waist and scooped him up from the sand.

"Do not run off on me like that." He said firmly.

"Buts I getting Heaf." Casey pointed to the water. "Just wait until he comes out. I know you're hungry."

Heath swam back to the sand and saw Brax standing at the edge with Casey in his arms.

"Heaf huwry!" Casey squealed when he saw Heath walk up the sand.

"What's going on?"

Brax smiled. "Case is hungry. So why don't you get your stuff and we can go get something to eat."

"Great, I'm starved." Heath replied.

Brax held Casey's hand and Heath walked beside his brother as they walked towards the shops. As the brothers entered the shopping centre, in the middle of the store stood a large decorative Christmas tree. Christmas time always made Brax unhappy as he had once asked his parents why they didn't celebrate Christmas when all the kids in his class did, and they had told him that it was a useless custom for families to waste money on presents.

Danny had told him that he and Heath were always too much trouble to deserve Christmas and that they had no money so they would never get anything for Christmas, making it pointless. After that Brax had just stopped asking and Heath also knew not to ask, Casey however was never old enough to understand until now.

Casey tugged on Brax's hand. "Bax?" "Yeah mate?"

"What's that big fing wif the pretty ligh's?"

"That's a Christmas tree"

"What's a Chris-as tree?"

Brax lent down and cuddled his baby brother. "A Christmas tree is what people put up to celebrate the spirit of Christmas."

"Why we not haf one?"

"Mum and Dad won't let us celebrate Christmas." Heath spoke sadly.

"Why, did we be's bad?" Casey asked. Heath and Brax laughed.

"No mate. Mum and Dad just don't have any Christmas spirit."

Brax got a smile on his face as he thought of an idea and continued. "But you know what? This year's gonna be different."

"What do you mean Brax?"

"We're celebrating Christmas this year."

"What about Mum and Dad?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm sick of you boys missing out on this sort of stuff. After we have some lunch we'll go and get some decorations and a tree."

"Like that one?" Casey pointed. "Not quite Case, but something special."

Heath gave a beaming smile at his older brother and Casey squealed, clapping his hands. "Let's go hey." Brax smiled and encouraged his brothers towards the food court.

When the three got back home, as usual both Cheryl and Danny were nowhere in sight, which gave perfect opportunity to get their decorations up. Brax lifted Casey up to put the star on the top of the tree while Heath sat back smiling. Brax moved back to admire the tree. "You like?"

"Yeah, it's the bestest!" Casey squealed.

"It's great. Thanks Brax." Heath added. "You're welcome mate."

They were interrupted when the door opened and in walked Danny and Cheryl. Brax put Casey down on the ground, ready for whatever fight his parents were going to start.

"What is all this bloody festive rubbish? I thought I made myself quite clear we don't celebrate that mumbo jumbo in this house."

Danny approached Brax and Heath held Casey close as he watched on.

"Well I can afford it now, so I made the decision we're having it."

"Mighty tough of ya Darryl to stand up to ya old man like that."

"We deserve to have a Christmas. Well at least Heath and Casey do!"

Danny gripped Brax's shirt. "Ya think ya so tough don't ya, disrespecting ya parents? It's my house and what I say goes, we ain't havin' that Christmas rubbish here."

"But Dad..." Danny released Brax's shirt ready to hit him when Cheryl groaned from behind Danny.

"Just forget it will ya, let them have their stupid Christmas, just don't go making the whole house festive and interrupting ya father and me with all the crap."

"We won't" Brax replied. "Consider yourself lucky boy." Danny tapped Brax on the face and left the room.

"Are you okay?" Heath asked. "Yeah mate."

Brax bent down and opened his arms for Casey to run to him. After picking Casey up, Brax walked over towards Heath and placed his free hand on his shoulder. "The first Braxton Christmas ay?"

When Christmas morning arrived Casey woke up early and climbing out of bed he ran into Brax's room and hit his brother on the arm to wake him up.

"Bax! Bax! It's Chris-as!" Brax groaned and turned to see his baby brother smiling at him.

"Hey Case." Brax lifted his brother onto the bed and Casey sat on Brax's abdomen jumping about.

"Urg, settle down Case."

"Gets up!"

"Alright, alright. Just keep quite okay, we don't want to wake Mum and Dad."

"Can I goes wake Heaf?"

"Sure mate."

Casey climbed off his brother and ran down the hall to Heath's room. Heath was slumped on his bed, lying on his stomach, with one of his pillows on the floor. Casey hit Heath on the back.

"Heaf wake up!" Heath groaned and didn't move.

Casey picked up the pillow on the floor and struggling to hold it and hit Heath roughly over the head.

"Hey!" Heath shouted grumpily. Heath was now fully awake and saw his brother giggling at him. "I'll get you!"

Casey saw Heath rise out of bed at quick speed and ran out of the room, Heath fast on his heels. "Come 'ere!"

Casey squealed when he was quickly picked up off the floor by his older brother.

"Got ya, ya little squirt! What's the big idea hitting me with my pillow?" He laughed.

Brax came down the hallway and saw his brothers laughing. "Boys, quiet yeah? We don't want to wake Mum and Dad."

"Ssh." Heath whispered to Casey and laughed as Casey continued to giggle in Heath's arms.

"What are we doing today, seeing as its Christmas?" Heath asked, as he placed Casey on the ground. Brax smiled. "Come on. I got a surprise for you both."

Heath and Casey followed Brax into the lounge room to where the Christmas tree stood and they saw four nicely wrapped presents. "Go on, there are two for each of you."

Heath looked at his brother. "You serious?" Brax smiled and nodded.

Heath tapped Casey's arm and the two ran to open their presents. Brax stood back and watched the happy faces of his brothers as Heath opened his remote control transformer robot and new video game and Casey opened his large battery operated dinosaur figurine and coloring books. The toys alone had cost Brax $80 and the extras cost $25, but the price was worth it to see his brothers enjoying a special Christmas.

Heath turned to look at Brax. "We didn't get anything for you." He said quietly.

Casey stopped un-wrapping his toy and looked at his brothers. Brax shook his head and smiled. "I have everything I want right here."

He bent down and opened his arms, immediately receiving a response from both his brothers when Heath and Casey ran to him and hugged him, tackling him to the ground.

Allowing Brax to sit up, Heath spoke, "thanks Brax." "Yeah, fanks Bax, you bestest." Casey added.

"You're welcome. I love you boys so much and I just wanted this to be special for you."

"We love you too." Heath replied and Casey hugged his brother tighter and laughed.

Brax wrestled his brothers again and soon all three were laughing again. Danny and Cheryl walked out of their bedroom and groaned at their sons in the lounge room. All three boys stopped laughing and Brax sat up off the floor.

"Morning Mum, morning Dad."

"Urg." They stepped over the wrapping paper on the floor on the way to the kitchen.

"We were just about to clean that up." Brax stated. "Yeah well you better." Cheryl replied.

Danny noticed the toys on the floor. "What's all those?"

"I bought them for Heath and Casey." Danny grunted.

"Fine but don't either of you go playing under your Mum's or my feet or leaving those toys around, ya hear?" He turned to Heath and Casey.

"They won't Dad." Brax said before Danny walked into the kitchen to join Cheryl, leaving the three brothers in the lounge room.

Brax ruffled each of his brother's hair. "Let's clean all this up so we can spend the rest of the day together."

"Can we play my new video game?" Heath asked. "Sure mate."

"And can we's colored in my books?"

"Of course." Brax smiled, he couldn't remember the last time he and his brothers were so happy together as a family.

Meanwhile at the Bennett house;

Kyle sat looking at the Christmas decorations in the house. He had just finished opening his presents from his mother. Alison walked into the room to see her son sadly daydreaming.

"Kyle baby, what's wrong?"

"I just wish Dad would have been here."

"I know you want your father here Kyle but you know that's not possible."

Kyle had been asking his mother every year since he was five years old if his father would be spending Christmas with him. Kyle stood up.

"It's not fair! I love him! Why won't he ever come and see me?" He shouted before he ran off to his room.

Alison shook her head, she knew Danny was always busy with his 'actual' family but Kyle was his son too. Alison dialed Danny's number.

Danny saw the number appear on his phone.

"What's that?" Cheryl asked. "Nothing." Danny took his phone and walked outside.

"What do you want?"

"I called to ask you when you plan on visiting your son! He has been asking if you were coming to visit him for weeks, you have never even spent a Christmas with him!"

"Yeah alright, simmer down woman. You know I'm busy."

"Yeah you always say that. You're always busy with your other family!"

"Hey keep quiet will ya. I don't want the kid hearing about that!"

"Don't worry, Kyle can't hear. You need to come and see him."

"Fine, I'll come over in the next few days."

"Good and at least buy him a Christmas present this year."

Danny grunted buying gifts for his kids was a waste of money, money that could be better spent on alcohol. "Yeah alright."

Danny hung up the phone and walked back in the house. Alison went to Kyle's room.

"Kyle baby, I just got off the phone with your father he said he's coming to visit in the next few days." Kyle perked up and smiled, he couldn't wait.