Hey lovely readers, this is something completely different. I had this idea yesterday and I wrote this, it's going to explore a completely different dynamic to Charlie and Brax and I hope you'll join me for the ride and find it as interesting as I do. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Home and Away.

"She's beautiful," Ross Buckton said to his wife Elsie as she held baby Charlotte in her arms. "I can't believe we've finally got a baby girl."

Elsie sniffed. "She lost her real parents and now she's going to be separated from her twin brother. Are you sure we can't afford to take Darryl in too? Ross... we could, you know we could. If we just spent our money carefully…. Are you sure there's no way?"

"We can't afford two babies, you know that, Els. And we've always wanted a baby girl. Charlotte is our little blessing."

"I know. I just wish we could take little Darryl in too." Elsie sighed as she looked at the little bundle in her arms. Six month old Charlotte was sleeping soundly, one hand curled around the blanket and a thumb in her mouth, a peaceful expression on her face.

^..^

"Mummy! Daddy! Look at me!" Five year old Darryl Braxton shouted as he splashed in the water using his little boogie board. He couldn't remember a time when he wasn't in the water.

"I wanna play!" Heath, Darryl's three year old brother squealed as he raced down the beach into the water, joining his older brother.

"Okay, but not for long!" Danny Braxton shouted. He turned to see Cheryl smiling at him. He smiled back at her and took her hand. They had always had fertility problems, and IVF had never worked. After they adopted Darryl, they thought that their family was complete, until Cheryl became pregnant two years later. Darryl and Heath were their miracles, and Cheryl couldn't be any happier.

"I love you, you know that?" Cheryl grinned.

Danny entwined his fingers with hers. "I love you too."

^..^

Twelve-year-old Charlie Buckton sighed happily as she walked home from school with her friend Bianca Scott.

"I think he likes you." Charlie said to Bianca as she took a sip from her water bottle. It was a hot day and her parents always encouraged her to stay hydrated, especially in the hot climate that was Summer Bay.

"Who?" Bianca asked, feigning ignorance as they rounded a corner into Charlie's street.

Charlie giggled as she whacked her friend's arm playfully. "You know who I'm talking about, silly."

"Liam?" Bianca asked confused. "No way."

"Come on Bi," Charlie said as she stopped walking. "He likes you, it's so obvious. And I saw your face this afternoon at lunch. You were totally staring at him the entire time. You nearly put tomato sauce in your yoghurt."

Bianca blushed. "I did not."

Charlie grinned as she resumed walking. "You did too. You've got 'the hots' for him."

"I'm twelve. We're not supposed to get 'the hots' for anyone."

Charlie scoffed as she stopped walking again, causing Bianca to nearly bump into her. "Oh come off it, Bi. I can't believe you're saying that. It's usually me telling you that we're not supposed to be dating until we're at least sixteen."

"That's because your dad is a cop." Bianca said, rolling her eyes.

Charlie sighed. "And he doesn't let me forget it."

^..^

"Bwax, I'm scared."

Fourteen year old Brax looked down to see his little brother staring up at him. Casey Braxton was three years old, eleven years younger than Brax. Brax was the nickname that he was given ever since he could remember, ever since he was friends with Sam and Brodie and the rest of the boys.

Brax leant down to Casey's height. "What's going on buddy?" He asked calmly, even though he knew what the answer would be. Their parents fighting again. It had been happening since Brax was ten. Danny would come home drunk, Cheryl would yell at him until it was a full on shouting match. Brax hated how Heath and Casey were exposed to that. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cheryl had turned to the bottle and Danny was barely home, leaving Brax to look after Casey and twelve year old Heath. It was a lot for a fourteen year old boy to handle, but Brax was used to it.

"Mummy and daddy are fighting again. I'm scared. Bwax, make it stop."

Brax sighed as he picked Casey up. "I'll try, buddy. Where's Heath?"

"He's in his room."

"Okay, how about we go see Heath?" Brax asked. "You can play with him."

"Will you make the loud noise stop?" Casey asked.

Brax sighed again. "I'll try, Case."

^..^

Fourteen year old Charlie struggled under the heavy figure that held her pinned to the bed.

"No, please." She begged of her captor, who didn't budge.

"Shut up Charlie, do you want me to gag you?" Grant Bledcoe smirked as he unbuttoned his pants and tossed them aside. Charlie felt the tears flow freely down her face.

"Grant, please." She breathed out.

"Shut up!" He snarled at her as he roughly pulled her pants down and positioned himself, giving her a sick grin. Charlie wanted to throw up.

"I trusted you." She cried as he clamped a hand over her mouth and pushed himself in side of her. Charlie cried as the pain exploded in her. She turned her face to the side, praying for the pain to stop. It felt like an eternity before he finally got off her and threw her clothes at her before exiting the room, leaving a crying and broken Charlie behind.

^..^

Fifteen year old Charlie moaned as another contraction wracked her body with pain.

"Make it stop." She cried to her mother, who comfortingly squeezed her hand and brushed her matted hair away from her face.

"ARGHHHHHH!" Charlie wailed as contraction after contraction hit.

"Okay Charlie, it's time for you to push now."

"I can't." Charlie tried to breathe through the pain. She felt her eyes closing and she struggled to keep them open.

"No, no, Charlie stay with us!" The doctor told Charlie. "We're going to have to operate."

"A c-section?" Elsie asked.

"Yes." The doctor said, just as the machines began beeping frantically. "Charlie will be fine, and so will the baby." Those were the last words Elsie heard before Charlie was wheeled off to theatre. She put her head in her hands, praying to God that Charlie and the baby would be okay.

^..^

"She looks too much like him!" Charlie sobbed as she looked down at the bundle in her arms. "She's half his, I can't do this! I can't!" Elsie pulled her daughter into her arms as she sobbed.

"Everything will be okay, Charlie."

"No it won't!" Charlie cried, pulling away from Elsie. "He got me pregnant. Ruby is going to remind me of that every time I look at her. Mum, I can't. I can't face her without feeling sick. I can't face her without seeing him. What is wrong with me?"

"You went through a trauma, baby," Elsie said as she brushed a lock of hair behind Charlie's ear. "But you can't punish Ruby for this. She's a part of you too, and she needs you."

"I don't know if I can love her." Charlie cried. Elsie just stayed quiet, holding her daughter as she tried to cry the pain away.

^..^

"How is she?"

Elsie jumped and turned around to see Ross, holding out a coffee in a takeaway cup.

"God Ross, you scared me. Don't do that," Elsie said as she gratefully took the coffee cup and took a few sips before turning back to Charlie, who had finally fallen asleep. "She finally got to sleep, she's exhausted."

"Our girl has been through a lot," Ross said as he sat down in the chair next to Elsie. "She's a fighter."

"I wish there was more we could do to protect her," Elsie said. "She's fifteen and a mother, she didn't choose this. Hell Ross, she didn't deserve this. What that bastard did to her…"

"I know, baby," Ross said as he comfortingly rubbed small circles on Elsie's back. "All we can do now is move forward. Charlie needs that and so does Ruby."

"Ruby…" Elsie said softly. "Oh god."

"Hey, hey," Ross said. "We'll get Charlie through this, give her everything she needs to move forward, yeah?"

"But what if we can't help her this time?" Elsie asked worriedly. "Ross, this could be more than we can handle."

Thanks for reading and please review! Virtual cookies will be coming your way :)