Go find your room." Brax encouraged Darcy.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, my name is on the door." Darcy said, her sandy blonde ponytails bouncing up and down.
"I know sweetie, Charlie put it there, she thought it would be nice." Brax replied. Darcy hugged Brax and whispered in his ear, "I like Charlie, Daddy, will she be my new mummy? I don't like Mummy Tegan she left me."
"Oh baby, I'm sure Charlie would love to be your new mummy, but you'll have to ask her." Brax said just as the person in question arrived.
"Thank you Charlie." Darcy said shyly.
Charlie smiled at the young girl. "Your welcome Darcy," She turned to Brax. "Heath has gone up the road to get the meat for the barbeque, but can you make the potato salad? Lilly put in a request."
"Alright," Brax said. "I'll go do that now."
Once Brax had left, Darcy decided to ask. "Charlie, will you be my Mummy?"
Charlie was taken aback. "Sure, Darcy, if you want me to."
Darcy nodded. The pair hugged.
"Charlie, will you be mine too?"
Charlie turned around to see Lilly with a shy look on her face.
"Wow, Lilly, really?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, I know we didn't really have the best relationship at the start, but I'd really like you to be my Mum."
"I'd like that Lilly, I really would." Charlie admitted. Lilly held out her arms hesitantly. Charlie smiled and pulled her into a hug.
"Alright well I'm off to find Ruby." Lilly said, leaving.
"Well now that your sister's happy, how about we find out where your bathers are?" Charlie suggested.
"Yeah Mummy, will you come swimming with me?" Darcy asked.
Meanwhile, Lilly had knocked on Ruby's bedroom door.
"Who is it?" Ruby called.
"Lilly!" Lilly answered.
Ruby opened the door. "Whats up?" She asked.
"Can I come in?" Lilly asked.
Ruby nodded. "Yeah sure." She stood aside to let Lilly in.
"Can I um.." Lilly trailed off, shyly gesturing towards Ruby's bed.
"Yeah," Ruby answered, putting some clothes into her drawers. She closed it and then went to sit on the bed with Lilly. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I'm really sorry that I was a bitch to you Ruby, I didn't mean it. I was jealous, I was worried about not being the only girl in my Dad's life, and I took it out on you and Charlie."
"Lilly," Ruby said thoughtfully. "Its completely fine. Yeah, I thought that you were a bitch at the beginning, but I never had a father figure until my mum met Brax. Yeah, she's had boyfriends, but she's never been as committed to anyone as she is to Brax."
"What happened with your Dad?" Lilly asked.
"If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially your Dad, I don't know if Mum has told him yet." Ruby answered.
Lilly nodded. "I promise."
"Lilly, Charlie was raped when she was fourteen." Ruby said.
"Oh Ruby, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry." Lilly said honestly.
"I was raised by my grandparents. I grew up thinking that Charlie was my sister, thats why I call her Charlie. I only found out about three or four years ago." Ruby told Lilly while picking at a stray thread on her duvet.
"I can relate, I never knew my Mum. Dad tells me that she didn't want me."
Now it was Ruby's turn to not know what to say. "Oh, Lilly, I'm sure it wasn't like that."
"Anyway," Lilly continued. "My dad is a big softy, but he's a great Dad. Casey is practically my brother, we are only a few months apart. And Uncle Heath, well he can be really strict sometimes."
"Yeah I saw the strict side to Heath, I'm not sure I like it." Ruby said, causing Lilly to giggle.
"I would call him Uncle Heath if I were you Ruby, now have you heard about Nanna Cheryl?" Lilly teased. "She's a drunk basically. She spends a lot of money gambling and buying booze. Dad's had to help her out since he was a teenager. He practically raised Case, and kept Uncle Heath in line."
"Girls, Dinners ready!" Brax yelled up the stairs.
Ruby and Lilly stood up and gave each other a quick hug. Then they ran downstairs out onto the back deck where everyone was sitting, eating and chatting around the big table.
"Ruby Ruby Ruby!" Darcy exclaimed.
Ruby went up to her. "Darcy Darcy Darcy!" Ruby answered, dipping her finger into the sauce and putting it on Darcy's nose.
Darcy burst out crying and kept repeating the same words over and over again. "Mummy, tell Ruby to stooooop!"
"Ruby, knock it off and apologise to Darcy now." Heath demanded.
"I'm not doing anything!" Ruby retorted, wanting to see how far Heath would go before snapping. She wanted to test his strict side.
"Ruby." Heath warned.
"What Heath?" Ruby asked.
"Uncle Heath to you." Heath replied.
"Your not my Uncle and I won't apologise Lilly could see that Heath was on the verge of getting really pissed off so she decided to intervene. Come on Ruby, just do it!
