Lillie Braxton - River Girl

17 - Goodbye Heath

Lillie POV
Brax is cooking up the barbecue, Ricky standing beside him, both of them laughing happily. Casey is with Denny, both of them totally in love with each other. Heath, Bianca and Darcey are with Connie, Irene walking, Bianca rushing over to her. Nick walks over to me, hanging me a lemonade and sitting down.
"What you thinking about?"
"How damn lucky I got with my brothers, and friends, and you" I smile.
He puts a loose piece of hair behind my ear and then pulls me in for a soft romantic kiss.
"Hey, how about we go for one last surf Heath?" Brax suggests.
I look from him to Heath, who nods happily. Case and I jump up grabbing our boards. When we get to the beach, we sit up on the railings.
"Can't believe everything that's happened since we've got here" I sigh.
"Yeah, I'm not in jail like I thought I'd end up" Heath scoffs.
"Where do you think you'd be? If we didn't come here?" I ask.
"Working at the fish market with mum, yay" Casey cheers sarcastically.
"Probably dead or jail" Heath nods.
"I probably would've dropped out of school"
"What about you Brax?" Heath asks.
He stares quietly out at the ocean and shakes his head.
"I don't know, but are we just going to sit here like a bunch of old women or are we gonna go for a surf?"
I laugh and we all jump off, rushing down to the water. Before we get in, we all look at each other, especially Heath. He nods and we all then get into the water, for one last surf as a family.

We get back to the house and I stand up, taping my glass. Every stares to me, waiting for me to speak.
"I look at all of you, and I can't help think of how lucky I am to have all of you as my family. Brax, Heath, Case you boys, are the best family I could have asked for. Never forget that, because its true I wouldn't choose anyone else as my brothers" I declare, "And you chicks, Bianca, Denny, Darcey and, you Ricky. Thankyou for helping me keep this boofheads in line! Bianca, Darcey, I know you'll look after Heath, I have no doubt about that"
"I look after you daddy!" Darcey squeals, running and jumping into Heath's arms.
"And Nick, you're the person who keeps me sane, and happy. I love you. I love you all so much. So here's to Heath and Bianca, may the next chapter in your life, be amazing and safe" I smile.
"Cheers!" everyone responds happily.

I hug Darcey goodbye and help her get into the car.
"I'll look after him. Look after yourself beautiful" Bianca says as she hugs me tight goodbye.
"You too" I smile.
Heath says his goodbyes to the girls, then Case and walks over to me.
"You, are amazing and strong and brace. Never forget that sis, you're a Braxton" he says.
I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly.
"Stay out of trouble, I'm so proud of you" I whisper into his ear.
He walks over to Brax and I watch them both hug, making me smile. They fe Tinto the car and we all yell waving as the car speeds off. I stand next to Brax who is watching the car disappear. Ricky looks to me worried, I shake my head and lead her inside with Case, giving Brax a moment for himself.
Everyone has gone and it is now just me, Case and Brax all sitting inside in the living room.
"It's going to be weird without him here" I note.
"Yeah, without his constant bad jokes" Case chuckles.
"And his stupid bloody grin every time he got something right" Brax adds.
For some reason, my eyes have water filled in them. I wipe my eyes and look to the boys.
"I've seen him everyday of my life, he sour brother! Now he's happy and I'm proud, I'm so proud. But I'm also, so sad" I admit.
Brax waves me over, I walk over and sit next to him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight in his arms, stroking my hair. Casey puts his hand on my thigh. We all sit, linked together. My life is fun, messy, confusing, at times dangerous, hilarious, beautiful but most of all it is family. It is the people I love. It is my brothers, my boyfriend who's my best friend, my neighbours, my board and my waves. It's my life and I wouldn't change it or swap it for a damn thing. Why would I want to? I'm a Braxton.