As Long As I Have You

[Danni02]

Awesome update

Oh dear, poor Ruby. I guess it could have been expected that she may feel weird about Charlie having another baby, but hopefully things get sorted. I'd hate for Ruby and Charlie too lose touch now. Wonder what will happen to the club now actually, I never even thought about it! hehe.

Update soon, and your welcome

[soph1303]

Great update,

Glad that Carla has gone !!

It's good that Ruby knows about the baby now, hopefully she'll come around soon !!

Love Chax as always !!

More soon please

[totally]

Awesome! Carla is gone! YAY! I understand that Ruby thinks Charlie lied to her. But she needs to understand Charlie as well. Charlie went through a rough time and I am sure Ruby will realize it soon enough. Charlie standing in front of that mirror was so sweet. She is so looking forward to this baby, and Brax as well... Great to see! They deserve some happiness! Can't wait to read more Cally!

[RoRo90]

Last two chapter where great

Glad that Ruby told Carla exactly what kind of person Angelo was

Carla's gone YAY

Understand where Ruby is coming from about the baby but I hope her and Charlie can move past this, They have come so far

Brax and Charlie enough said

cant wait for more

[Inactive User]

Great chapter. Can understand Ruby's reaction about the baby. Hope she and Charlie will soon sort things out. Wondering how Ruby's adoptive family will react if they knew soon... Update soon xx

[CharlieandBrax4Ever]

Amazing chapter Cally

Brax and Charlie are so cute I really hope the baby is his ?

I can understand rubys reaction but I hope she goes and see Charlie soon xx

[HighwayUnicorn]

Deleted.

[Sazzle]

Fantastic last few updates! So glad Carla has left but I'm guessing she may pop up again...seems quite interfering but hopefully she's not back any time soon if ever

Loving the relationship with Charlie and Brax and really hope Ruby and Charlie can continue to build good relationship and be open with eachother

Love your writing and the story!

[callyha]

Wow. Thank you guys! I'm so glad that you're enjoying this! Danni, soph1303, totally, RoRo90, Sarah, CharlieandBrax4Ever Carina and Sazzle Hope you like this one, I'm not feeling it to be honest

Chapter 43

Brax walked into the Surf Club and clasped his hand together with Alf's and then John's, who thanked him for coming as they shook his hand. Nervous and unsure of what was going to be said, Brax placed his hands in his pockets and stood, rocking side to side as he waited for Alf or John to speak

"Don't look so nervous mate" Alf laughed as he saw how uncomfortable Brax looked and gently tapped him on his back, hoping to ease his discomfort

"So what's this about then?" Brax asked, shifting his weight from one foot to another

"We got a call the other day from Angelo's solicitor. His business can't be sold unless the contract is signed by the owner" John replied as he unfolded his arms and placed his hands into his pockets

"He's dead though" Brax pointed out

"Yea, we know" John replied "His name isn't on the contract though"

"Eh? who's is then?" Brax asked, looking to both John and Alf

"Charlie's" Alf answered. Brax's eyes widened as he heard Charlie's name "We didn't want to tell her because we didn't know how she would take it"

"I don't know how to take it so calling Charlie would deffinately be the wrong thing to do" Brax scratched his head "have you read the contract?"

"Yup" Alf replied "Its solid" Alf handed the papers over to Brax , who opened them out and skim read a few lines before folding the paper back up and placing it in his pocket "Charlie has to sign before anyone can buy; she has to be present when potential buyers come and look" Alf listed a few brief details from the contract "I had Morag take a look as well and she can't find any hidden loop holes or anything"

"So that's good right?" Brax asked

John and Alf looked to each other as Brax asked the question; Brax sson felt un-nerved again as the two older men shared the same look "I would keep my eyes open if I were you mate" John said "Morag might not be able to find any hidden hole in the contract, but there is something up if Angelo put Charlie's name on the contract in July"

"Of this year?" Brax asked, looking quickly to Alf and John before grabbing the contract out of his pocket and finding the date Angelo had signed the business over to Charlie

"Yea" John nodded "Is there a problem?" John asked as he looked to Brax

"July 21st" Brax waved the contract in the air "f***ing July 21st. The day before the fight" Brax felt the anger wash over him "He thought I would have been killed in that fight, or at least Frankie; he didn't think that someone in the crowd would. He rang his solicitor the night before the fight and had Charlie's name put on incase the police had to close the place down"

"The flamin' mongrel" Alf placed his hands on his hips

"He's dead and still stuffing her life up" Brax threw the contract onto the table beside him and placed his hands on the paper, he leant fully on the table and bowed is head, looking to the floor and hoping for an idea or something to come to him

~*~

Charlie zipped her jacket up as she walked along the path running alongside the beach. Her hands went straight into her pockets as she kept her head down and walked with one thought on her mind; seeing her baby for the first time with Brax by her side. She tickled her stomach with her finger through the lining of her pockets as she headed for the Surf Club to meet Brax. A smile formed on her mouth; lighting up her whole face as she passed by the locals on the beach; she been oblivious to them, and them been oblivious the her.

As she approached the Surf Club, Charlie caught a glimpse of Miles, who wa sheading into the Diner for his usual coconut slice and hot chocolate. "Miles" Charlie smiled as she jogged to where Miles had stopped

"Charlie" Miles returned the smile, looking to Charlie who had a glow "Wow" Miles unwrapped his arms from around her "how've you been? I was meaning to come around to your place but things have been crazy" Miles placed his hands in his pockets and hunched over ever so slightly

"I'm really good" Charlie beamed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, desperate to tell him about the baby "Carla finally left"

"Yea, Leah mentioned something to me about a woman who is- how did she put it?" Miles scratched his chin and looked to the side

"A pain in the butt?" Charlie smiled as she made to walk to the diner

"Not the words she used" Miles laughed as he follwed Charlie into the diner "so, where are you heading this fine day?" Miles as he stood at the counter, grabbing the exact change from his pocket to pay for his things

"I have a hospital appointment" Charlie replied, not thinking

"For what?" Miles asked "I thought you were okay after the fight?" Miles looked concerned

"Oh, its nothing serious" Charlie reassured her friend "its a routine thing"

"You had me worried then" Miles breathed a sigh of relief

"So what about you?" Charlie asked "you going to be doing anything today?"

"I'm going to be looking after VJ for Leah after he finishes at nursery. I have no idea what to do with a four year old" Miles walked over to the empty table and sat

"Can't help you there Miles" Charlie replied "How about you take him to the beach? teach him to dig a real big hole, or build a sandcastle with him" Charlie had to smile at the image she had in her own head; not of Miles with VJ for the afternoon, but of her, Brax and the baby; sitting on the beach, playing and having fun

"Hey" Miles tapped Charlie on the shoulder "its not that funny to think of me on the beach building sandcastles"

"Sorry" Charlie removed the smile from her face, but kept it in her head "but it is funny"

"Yea, I know" Miles agreed

"Anyway; I'd better go" Charlie stood up after noticing the time "I'll see you later"

~*~

Brax glanced at his wrist and noticed the time. Rising to his feet quickly, he made Alf and John jump "What's got in to you?" John asked as he looked to Brax

"I'm supposed to be somewhere in half an hour" Brax replied, making his way to the door "Sorry"

"Oh, all right" Alf nodded his head as he stood

"Don't forget to tell Charlie" John shouted just before Brax dissapeared from view. He then turned to face Alf and they shared the same concerned look "What does this mean for us?" John asked

"I have no idea mate" Alf shook his head "I have no idea"

*

Brax jogged over to Charlie, who was stood looking out to the beach and water. Her hair blowing in the slight breeze "Hey" Brax puffed as he stood beside Charlie

"Hey" Charlie replied, turning to face Brax and greeted him with a kiss "what you been doing?"

"I had a talk with Alf and John" Brax replied "Angelo put your name on the contract"

"He what?" Charlie asked

"Here" Brax handed Charlie the folded contract form his pocket "Angelo thought things would turn out differently to the way they did, and before the fight, he rang his solicitor up and had your name put down. Angelo would have walked away with a lot of compensation money if things went the way he hoped" Brax shifted his weight from foot to foot as he watched Charlie skim read the contract

"So what does it mean?" Charlie asked "I am going to have to talk to the police about what happened? is this thing actually ligit?" Charlie waved the contract infront of her

"Yea, its ligit" Brax nodded "Alf had Morag look it over. He and John have no idea whats going to happen now; Angelo's still tried to stuff things up for everyone" Brax took the contract from Charlie "only this time, it hasn't worked" Brax smiled

"I really can't take anything else that has had Angelo's involvement in" Charlie burried her head into Brax "I had ten years of it. Can't I now have however many more without him?"

"Yea" Brax replied, tilting Charlie's head up so she looked into his eyes "you have however many years with me"

~*~

New parents walked out of the hospital cradling their baby in their arms as Charlie and Brax walked hand in hand through the doors. Charlie couldn't help but stare at the newborns as they passed her by; she couldn't wait until that was her, walking out of the hospital doors with her son or daughter in her arms and Brax right beside her, with a smile on his face as he carried the ballons and flowers -much like the father who had walked passed them.

"That'll be us soon" Charlie beamed as she took a tighter grip on Brax's arm "well, six months" Charlie corrected her 'soon' comment

"When can we find out the sex?" Brax asked as they walked along the corridor to the maternity ward

"Not for a few more weeks yet" Charlie replied "its too early at the moment to find out what we're having. This scan is just to make sure everything is alright and that the baby is developing how it should be. The doctor might be able to tell us when I'm due" Charlie walked ahead of Brax and told the man at the desk who she was. The man told her the doctor wouldn't be long and to take a seat.

"Oh right" Brax siad, sounding slightly dissapointed as he lowered himself into the seat beside Charlie

"Do you want to know what we're having?" Charlie asked

"Yea" Brax nodded "and no"

"That's not really helpful Brax" Charlie said, laughing softly

"Well, I want to be able to tell people 'this is my daughter' or 'this is my son'" Brax smiled at the side of his mouth as he placed his hand on Charlie's stomach "I hate calling the baby 'it', it sounds horrible"

"I know it does; and I will admit, it would be nice to say my little girl of my little man, but, when they tell you what you've had when they hand the baby to you, there is not better moment in your life" Charlie remembered back to when Ruby was born; although she wasn't handed the baby straight away, she was told that she had had a daughter, and she remembered feeling the happiness run through her "you can find out when we can, but I don't want to know"

Brax looked to Charlie and saw how the smile on her face showed what that moment could be like "Nah, I think I'll wait until its born"

"You said 'it'" Charlie smiled

"Hmm" Brax thought "how about boo"

"Boo?" Charlie laughed "seriously?"

"Yea" Brax confirmed "that way, whatever the baby is, the nickname can stick"

"Charlotte Buckton" The doctor said as she stood with a folder in her hands. Charlie rose to her feet and headed toward her, Brax followed a beat behind "this way" the doctor held the door open and Charlie and Brax followed her in "how are we feeling today?"

"I'm good" Brax sighed "had to run to get to Charlie though"

"And how is mum feeling?" the doctor asked, trying not to laugh at Brax's innocence

"Really good. I haven't had those cramps anymore" Charlie replied

"Any sickness?"

"Not really, I've felt it but not really been sick" Charlie replied

"Right" she said as she noted them down "so all we're looking for today is that the baby is developing at the noraml rate and developing what it will need"

"You can really see what the baby has?" Brax asked

"We can see enough to keep an eye of the development of organs, but its too early to tell if its a boy or girl"

"Oh" Brax replied "so, you can tell when?"

"Twenty-weeks" the doctor smiled "So Charlotte, would you like to pop yourself up onto the bed and roll your top up". Charlie did as she was told and layed down, pulling her top up to reveal the little bump she had "this might be a little cold" the doctor said as she squeezed some gel onto her stomach "right then" she turned the screen so

Charlie and Brax could see the baby. Soon enough the sound of a heartbeat was heard, followed by the blurry mess of the baby

"Oh my god" Brax had a lump in his throat as he heard the heartbeat

"First time dad?" The doctor asked as she saw the glaze in Brax's eyes

"Yea" Brax's voice was croaky

"How far along am I?" Charlie asked, wiping the corner of her eye from the tear she had after hearing her baby's heartbeat and feeling Brax's grip on her hand tightening

"I would say" the doctor moved the transducer around Charlie's stomach, trying to get a better image of the baby so she could see how developed the baby was "Just shy of twelve weeks" the doctor replied "you are due March 6th next year" The doctor smiled as she looked to Charlie and Brax "I'll print some pictures for you and then i will give you a moment" she added, turning to face the screen and printing out three pictures "here" she handed the pictures to Charlie and left the room, leaving Brax looking to the blank screen, still in awe of seeing his baby on screen

"Brax" Charlie wiped the gel from her stomach, rolled her top down and sat up on the bed

"I know Charlie. I saw" Brax was so happy "I saw the baby" he kissed charlie on the lips before taking the pictures from Charlie and looking at them again "bub looks like a peanut, but all I can see is bub; its amazing" Brax studied the pictures closely as Charlie watched on, tears forming in her eyes as her heart sank

"Brax" Charlie spoked softly "March 6th"

"I know, now I know when to have the room done by" Brax breiefly looked to Charlie before looking back to the scans "oh" Brax realised and slowly brought his head back up "bub isn't mine, is it"

"No" Charlie shook her head, tears ran down her cheeks and dropped to her top "I'm so sorry Brax"

Brax held onto his own tears and leant in closer to Charlie, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight "its not your fault Charlie; and this doesn't change anything"

"But-" Charlie wiped her face "Angelo's baby" Brax pulled away from Charlie and looked to his hand holding the scans in. Charlie felt guilty as she watched Brax look at the child he thought was his

Charlie had tears in her eyes once more as Brax looked to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders "As long as I have you, I don't care if the baby is the Popes" Brax wiped the single tear that fell from her eye "I love you, and I love this baby" Brax placed his hands on Charlie's stomach before they leaned into each other and placed a soft kiss on each others lips.

[Inactive User]

Awesome chapter. Chax is so cute at the end! More soon please xx