As Long As I Have You

[Danni02]

But...but...but...NO! So sad that Brax isnt the father, but I love how he doesnt seem to phased by it, and he is still saying he will still love the bub and doesnt mind he isnt the biological father. Nice title drop too there, Cally.

Update soon

[Sazzle]

Thanks for update - Really good!

So gutted that Brax is not the daddy!! However...LOL!! I was thinking that maybe Charlie is just having a really BIG baby...Brax is all chunky and that and I'm going to hope for this option... But, either/or...Brax will act and be the Daddy so happy days. Brax was very sweet in what he said.

Hope that Charlie catches up with Ruby soon and their relationship continues well

[totally]

It is not Brax' baby? I am still hoping for a twist. But, Brax will be the only father this baby will know. He will be his dad, although he is not biologically. I hope Brax loves the baby as much as he would love his own child. Great story! I can't wait to read more!

[soph1303]

Great update,

God Angelo is a jerk even in his death !!

Aww Charlie and Brax are just too cute !!

Sad that its not Brax's baby !! But so glad that Brax is going to love it like it's his own child anyway !!

More soon please

[RoRo90]

great chapter

NOOOOO Brax isn't the father really wanted him to be

But he was just amazing in the chapter, still wanting Charlie and the baby knowing that the baby was Angelos

really wanna see how things are gonig between Charlei and Ruby and I just hope Carla stays away

update soon

[callyha]

Hey guys, thank you SO much for the lovely comments I really appreciate them and always look forward to reading them

I should have said in the last update: that each update will be up when its up; I'm back at work so finding time to write isn't like it was over Christmas and New Year. Sorry for the lack there-of of updates and I hope this one is okay for you!

Chapter 44

Six hours had passed since Brax was told the baby wasn't his.

His fists were bloody, cut and bruised and the wall infront of him was stained red. All he had wanted was his life to move on with Charlie; he knew he would still have that with her, and they could have more children together, but it was finding out that he wasn't going to be the baby's true dad that really tore him.

He turned away from the wall, wiping his red, puffy eyes from tears he had cried through physical pain and emotional pain. He still carried one of the scan pictures in his pocket, proud that he could tell people his girlfriend was pregnant and that he was going to be a dad. He held it in his hands -careful not to stain it with blood from his knuckles- and stared lovingly at the image; wondering how he could bring himself to love a child, that had a father like Angelo Rosetta.

*

Six hours had passed since she was told Angelo would be apart of her life forever more.

She shuddered at the thought of Carla finding out that she had a grandchild on the way; and that of her beloved and precious son. She always knew the chance of Angelo been the father was higher than Brax's chance, but she had wanted Brax to be the father so bad that she never thought of what things would be like for her and for Brax. The drive home from the hospital was the quiestest they had ever been since they got together; it wasn't nice and it was un-nautral.

Sighing heavily, Charlie took the scan pictures from her bag and looked at them once more. She saw the dates on the side of the picture, March 6th seemed to be a date she wouldn't forget in a hurry; it was a cruel twist in her life, not only was it when her baby with Angelo was due, but it was also the date they first met.

"Charlie" Brax shouted as the front door slammed

"Yea?" Charlie replied, wiping her face and putting the scan pictures on the side

"Hey" Brax walked into the bedroom "you alright?" he noticed she looked sad

"I'm fine" Charlie replied

"I meant it Charlie. Bub is mine, no matter what" Brax said, trying to fill Charlie's face with a smile rather than the glum look she had

"You keep saying that Brax, but how do I know that when the baby is born you're still going to be here?" Charlie's eyes filled with tears "I can't expect you to still be with me when I have Ruby in my life and a baby with someone else and a life that was flushed away a long time ago. I can't ask you to stay with me"

"You're not asking me to stay. I want to stay. I loved you the very first moment I looked at you, and everytime I look at you, I fall right back into love with you" Brax walked closer to Charlie "I know you don't expect me to stay, and I know you don't expect a great life after having everything stuffed up for you, but I don't expect you to give up on ever been happy" Brax placed his hands on her waist "I'm ready for this, and I'm ready to be a dad; blood relation or no blood relation"

"As long as you're sure" Charlie replied, looking deep into Brax's eyes

"I'm sure" Brax replied, leaning and placing a kiss on Charlie lips "besides, the kid is used to my voice now, so any other voice is gonna confuse the poor kid"

"Ooh" Charlie playfully hit Brax on his arm. He placed his hand on where Charlie had hit and rubbed, allowing Charlie to see the blood-stained fists he had "Brax" Charlie took Brax's hand in hers

"Its nothing" Brax pulled his hand away and slid it into his pocket, regretting what he had done with his disappointment after the scan

"Nothing?" Charlie echoed "you call having cuts and blood on your fists nothing?" Charlie sat on the bed beside Brax "what happened?"

Brax took a deep breath in before he turned to face Charlie "I was gutted" Brax sighed "I really thought the baby was mine; I never told you this, but after I came home from the hospital I fell asleep and had a dream about my kid. And it was mine" Brax smiled as a tear rolled down his face "I just, I had my heart set on the baby been mine and, I didn't know how else to let my anger out" Brax held his hands out palm side down, showing Charlie the full extent of his cuts and bruises "I'm sorry Charlie" Brax bowed his head

"Come on" Charlie sighed as she stood and made her way to the bathroom for the first aid kit. Brax follwed and -after an initial flinch- allowed Charlie to clean his fists up and bandage them up before they made their way back to the bedroom

"Charlie, I was wondering, when are we telling people?" Brax asked as he pulled his top off and removed his trousers "I mean, my mum for one will want to know"

"I know she will" Charlie nodded "but, I was hoping that Ruby would have been around in the last few days so I could find out how she's taken to the idea of the baby"

Charlie put one of Brax's t-shirts on and climbed into bed "if I haven't seen Ruby at all tomorrow, then we'll go round to Cheryl's and tell her then" Charlie pulled the duvet over herself

"What are we telling her" Brax asked "I mean, I'm happy saying you and me are having a baby together, but if mum sees that the baby doesn't look like me, she's probably going to say something" Brax finished getting ready for bed and jumped in beside Charlie

"Brax, we have six months until the baby is due; we have plenty of time to think of something to say of the baby does look like Angelo" Charlie replied "but if you want to tell your mum the truth, I'm okay with that"

"No" Brax replied immediately, nearly not allowing Charlie to finish speaking "as far as my mum and everyone else goes, you and I are having a baby together. End of"

"Showing authority there are we Brax?" Charlie giggled

"Don't mock me" Brax said as he rolled on top of Charlie, putting his weight on his arms so he wasn't fully on top of Charlie

"I wasn't" Charlie smirked

"You were" Brax smiled, placing his lips onto Charlie's before rolling to the side and allowing Charlie on top of him. He looked deep into her eyes and smiled "I love you"

"I love you too" Charlie replied, laying her head on Brax's chest and moving her body so she was laid on the bed

~*~

"Charlie!" April squealed as she ran along the path to Charlie, jumping into Charlie's arms nearly "How are you?" April squeezed a hug out of Charlie

"I'm good April, how are you?" Charlie replied, looking up to find Bianca walking toward them

"I can't be bothered with school, can't actually believe I've said it, but Bianca is looking at dresses today and I wanted to help" April looked around to Bianca

"I know you did, but you can't have the day off school" Bianca replied, resting her head on April's shoulder

"Well, don't make any decisions without me" April replied

"How about I take Charlie with me and see what she thinks?" Bianca suggested

"Hmm" April thought "Make sure its nice, that it suits her and that I will like it too" April told Charlie, who smiled and tried not to let a laugh out

"I will" Charlie saluted "I promise"

"Awesome" April smiled "I'd better go" April moved away from Bianca and hugged Charlie once more before hugging her sister and heading off to the diner to grab some food and meet a few of her friends

"I take it April is really excited about helping you with the wedding?" Charlie asked

"She is bless her, but she's doing my head in" Bianca ran her hands through her hair "Liam was having his meltdown over Angelo so I had him to help, April was on at me about the wedding, and Irene kept finding Liam's empty beer bottles lying around" Bianca explained "I can't expect Irene to be okay with Liam's behaviour, so I've not really spent anytime with April and I feel really bad about that"

"Don't feel bad about it. I'm sure April will understand that Liam needed you" Charlie placed her hand on Bianca's hand "and besides, hasn't been studying every night for a test that's not happening for a few more weeks?"

"Yea" Bianca laughed "no, I shouldn't laugh. I'm so proud of her for choosing her studies, but like you say, they are weeks away"

"All she's thinking off is her future; thats not a bad thing to do. If I was her age again, I'd have focused more on my studies than I did"

"Same" Bianca giggled

"Anyway, how is Liam now?" Charlie asked

"He's okay" Bianca nodded, pulling her hand away from Charlie's "He had a huge wake up call and has realised that what everyone has been saying about Angelo is true"

Bianca replied "I suppose it was hard for him to hear everything, but, he wasn't the one on the bad side of Angelo"

"That's like Carla was. She wouldn't believe a word we told her about Angelo" Charlie said as she walked in the direction of the beach

"I heard about Carla" Bianca smiled "take it she's gone for good"

"Maybe" Charlie replied, looking out to the water

"What do you mean 'maybe'? Charlie, what's happened?" Bianca asked

Charlie opened her purse and handed Bianca the scan pictures. Bianca opened them and her eyes glazed over with tears as a smile appeared on her face "the baby" Charlie swallowed back tears "its Angelo's"

"What?" Bianca looked up

"I'm due early March" Charlie wiped the tear from her cheek "Angelo is the father. And when Carla was here, she noticed I had a bit of a bump. All she has to do it come back now and put two and two together"

"What did Brax say?" Bianca asked as she looked to the baby on the scan picture

"That he didn't care that the baby wasn't biologically his, he loves it and he's always saying that its his" Charlie wiped her face once more

"Well, if he's said that then-"

"You didn't see his face though" Charlie cried "all he wanted was this baby to be his" Charlie placed her hands on her stomach

"The doctors could have made a mistake" Bianca suggested as she rubbed Charlie's shoulder "I mean, they tell people they are having a boy and when the baby comes, its a girl, when they say the baby is due on such a date, the baby comes later or earlier"

"But thats-"

"That's what happens Charlie" Bianca wrapped her arms around Charlie and gently stroked her back "I wouldn't be certain the baby is Angelo's until the day the baby is born. When she is, she will tell you who her dad is"

"You sure?" Charlie asked, hopeful once more at the possibilty that Brax could be the dad

"I'm sure" Bianca replied "and besides, not matter what; she is going to have a great dad in Brax"

"He is going to be a great dad isn't he?" Charlie smiled, pulling away from Bianca who tucked the loose strand of hair that blew across Charlie's face behind her ear

"He is" Bianca smiled "and I hope that I am going to be her auntie" Bianca nudged Charlie gently and looked away

"Maybe" Charlie teased

"Please! I'll spoil her rotten!"

"I know" Charlie smiled "and do you think I'm having a girl?" Charlie asked as she placed her hands on her stomach

"Maybe" Bianca replied "I'm either right or wrong. But if its a boy I'll spoil him rotten too"

"Anyway, how are the wedding plans going?" Charlie asked

"Well, we've got a lot planned already; April was going to give me away, but she suggested Irene did because Irene has been like a mother to both of us, so April is a bridesmaid" Bianca siad with a smile on her face "I was hoping you would be my chief briedsmaid still" Bianca pulled an angelic face at Charlie

"Of course" Charlie replied, smiling

"We were thinking March " Bianca replied, biting her lip

"As in 2007? next year?"

"Yea" Bianca nodded "Are you sure you'll be able to be bridesmaid? I mean, beacuse you could either still be pregnant or have a few days old baby"

"I'll have Brax with me, he can look after the baby for a few minutes whilst I walk ahead of you down the aisle and stand at the top" Charlie replied "and if I'm still pregnant, well, you'll have a penguin walking in front of you, not a human" Charlie added causing both women to start in a fit of hysterics.

~*~

Colleen placed the two plates of chicken salads down on the table infront of Charlie and Bianca and hovered for a few moments. Colleen had managed to miss Charlie each time she came into the diner and each time Colleen had nissed her chance to tell Charlie a thing or two of what she thought of Angelo.

Standing in front of the table with her hands cupped infront of her, Colleen waited until Bianca or Charlie acknowledged her presence. She soon tired of waiting and opened her mouth, ready to speak when she heard Leah call her name. Tutting loudly, Colleen bumbled back into the kitchen, keeping a close eye on Charlie and Bianca as they

ate their meal

"She couldn't be subtle if her life depended on it really" Bianca giggled "could she?"

"I don't think she knows what the word means" Charlie replied "but I know what she's after"

"What?" Bianca asked, stuffing some rocket into her mouth

"She wants to tell me how I should be ashamed of been with Angelo whilst he was doing what he was doing" Charlie poured some vinegarette onto her salad "In my day we never had a man like that out on the streets. We were safe and we all knew each other" Charlie mimicked Colleen's voice, causing Bianca to nearly choke on her food

"Don't" Bianca pleaded for Charlie to finish "I have to swallow" Bianca pointed to her throat "but you're right" Bianca said as she sorted herself out and wiped her mouth from the water droplet that clung to her lip "she'd say something like that. And she'd make sure everyone knew that she said from word go that Angelo was bad news"

"No one disagreed with her" Charlie replied "the only difference, everyone could get away from it, I couldn't"

"Charlie" Bianca placed her hand on Charlie's "don't think like that anymore; you have moved on, you have a fabulous life going on right now. You have a man who loves you, you have friends who adore you and" Bianca looked around, making sure Colleen and her ears were nowhere around "you have a baby on the way" Bianca smiled "this time six months ago you never thought you'd have that"

Charlie smiled to her friend. As she was about to say something to Bianca, Ruby caught her eye "Ruby" Charlie thought she spoke in a whisper

"Hey" Ruby turned to face Charlie and smiled softly

"H-h-i" Charlie replied, not knowing what to do or where to look

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Ruby asked as she walked away from her group of friends

"Erm" Charlie looked to Bianca, who nodded perfusily "Sure" Charlie nodded, turning from Bianca to Ruby

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I ran off" Ruby began to speak as she headed out of the door "it was immature of me and I'm sorry"

"Ruby, you don't have to apologise" Charlie shook her head "I was kind of expecting something much worse than that if I'm honest"

"I thought that was bad enough" Ruby shook her head "I guess, I wasn't expecting you to say to me that you were pregnant. I mean, I know I can't expect you to not move on with someone and start a family with them; that would be totally selfish of me" Ruby paused to catch her breath "but, at the same time, I thought we'd have a little longer to spend time together and get to know each other more"

"We can still do that" Charlie replied "I don't have a job at the moment and with how things are with the Club, Brax and I could be alright. I will always have time for you" Charlie went to tuck the strand of hair that blew across Ruby's face, but stopped

Ruby tucked the strand of hair behind her own ear, smiling as she saw the gesture Charlie nearly did "how did the ultrasound go?" Ruby asked

"I have pictures if you want to see" Charlie replied, going for her bag which hung by her side

"Sure" Ruby nodded. Charlie handed Ruby the three pictures and took a step back, allowing Ruby to have enough light to see the baby. Ruby looked to the pictures in her hand and ran her finger over the image of the baby, a small smile formed in the corner of her mouth as she studied the picture "wow" Ruby looked to the next picture "12 weeks?" Ruby asked, looking teary-eyed to Charlie

"Yea" Charlie replied, her voice laced with tears

"Can I come to the 20 week scan?" Ruby asked, taking a step closer to Charlie, who stood with her mouth open, looking to Ruby who waited for an answer...

[Samantha1]

Aww, such a sweet chapter. Poor Brax, gutted he isn't the Dad but i'm sure he'll make a great one anyway. Great writing.

[Inactive User]

Great chapter. Awww poor Brax! Glad Charlie and Ruby are talking again and hope Charlie lets Ruby goes with her to her 20 week scan. Update soon please xx

[Sazzle]

Glad Ruby came and spoke to Charlie. Hope that they still continue to build their relationship in a good way!

Gutted for Brax and Charlie with them being upset over Angelo being the father... And I hate that Carla has potential to come back and cause problems. Can see big drama ahead. Really enjoyed update though.

Thanks so much for taking the time

[totally]

What an amazing update! I am sad for Brax and Charlie now the baby is probably Angelo's. Maybe the docs will be wrong and it is Brax' baby after all. But if it is not, I so hope it won't make a difference. I hope we won't see Carla ever again! Glad that Ruby and Charlie are talking again. Take your time Cally, your updates are amazing.