Mending Gaps [the tribe]

[Bee]

The wild Australian bushland lay silent for just a mere ten minutes that morning. Before the rumbling echo of two crushing limbs of who belonged to two small children.

The eldest child, a girl, would resent ever being branded a small child and on a number of occasions a person as not walked away from this boisterous girl upon saying such a thing without some sort of injury to coincide with those two words.

The girl was six going on seven, although no one was entirely sure when this girl would enter the world of a seven year old. Her mother, barely out of her own teens, had failed to keep down a date in which her first and only daughter was born.

The other child, the girl’s cousin, was a little boy, wild and determined he was the spitting image of his namesake in body and in mind. He was the cautious voice in his elder cousin’s mind when she went to do something too daring, or something that would not need to kill her because her mother would do it for her.
His mother often told him that he reminded her of his father, she always looked sad as she was explaining this to her son who had grown up never knowing what a father actually was. He knew what ‘mum’ meant, as he had said it ever since he could string one syllable together but dad was a foreign word for him. He’d asked his cousin what it meant when he’d overheard his mother saying “My boy is never going to know his dad, I feel like I’ve let him down” to Jay, her boyfriend. But his cousin didn’t know as she’d never experienced having a father herself.

The boy’s attention was brought back to his cousin who was climbing the tree that the day before, his mother and her mother had told them to never climb.

“Your mum is going to kill you” He told her in a tired voice knowing that she wouldn’t listen to him even if he stood there for hours saying this.

“Mum will never know” the girl told him as she swung herself onto the first branch, “Aren’t you coming up?”.

“No” He said outraged.

“Scardy-cat, Scardy-cat, Scardy-cat from Ballarat!” she taunted as she swung herself onto the branch higher than the last.

“I’m not scared!” He yelled at her.
“Are too!” she threw a pinecone down at him to which he leapt out of the way, “see you’re scared of pinecones!”.
“You threw it at me!” he yelled at her throwing it back up but missed by at least four metres.

“I didn’t even flinch then!” she giggled at him before leaping up to the next branch.

The boy was interrupted from watching his cousin momentarily as a strange man stepped through the shrubbery, he was tall, unshaven, had long brown hair which had a long leather belt attached at the back, a brown leather jacket, ripped jeans and had just one boot on.

“Brady!” the boy called up to his cousin as the man looked up in shock at the little girl who was now almost at the top of the tree.

“BRADY!” The boy ran over to the tree, this scared Brady into letting go of the tree branch and she began to plummet towards the ground.

The man leapt into action running to catch the little girl before she hit the ground.
“You ought to be more careful, why were you up that tree Brady?” The man asked setting her down on the ground.
“Non of your business” she sneered at him before taking the hand of her cousin and running off, the man decided to follow the two children but at a slower pace, he knew who Brady was and he had an idea of who the little boy she had dragged away from him was.

He knew that that boy was his own son.

this idea has been playing in my mind for a while...let me know what you think of it...

Character list
Brady - 5-6 years old, daughter of Trudy and Martin/Zoot (dec)
Bray Jr - 4-5 years old son of Amber and Bray
Trudy 19-20 - mother of Brady
Amber 21-22 - mother of Bray
Zoot (dec) - father of Brady
Bray 22-23 - father of Bray
Jay 22-23 - Amber's boyfriend
Josiah 20-21 - Trudy's boyfriend
Lex 22-23 - married to Tai-San, father of Mei-Ling
Tai-San 19-20 - married to Lex, mother of Mei-Ling
Mei-Ling - 2-3 daughter of Lex and Tai-San
KC - 16-17
Jack 18-19 - engaged to Ellie - father of Ava
Ellie 18-19 - engaged to Jack - mother of Ava sister of Alice
Ava 3 - only child of Ellie and Jack
Nathalia 15-16 - young single mum to George 2
George 2 - only child of Nathalia
Cloe 18 - pregnant to Pride
Pride 24 - having a baby with Cloe
Patsy 19 - emotionally damaged by the chosen
Dana 4 - Patsy's daughter due to rape by a member of the chosen
Alice 26 - Ellie's older sister

[mrsgerrard]

This sounds good, really intresting!

[Bee]

"Brady he's still following us!" the boy cried to her, "He's coming to get us because you were rude!".

"Dont be stupid Bray" She told him, "He's not coming to get us, he saved me, why would he try to hurt me?".

Bray shrugged and the pair ran off again.

The man had been tracking them, it was easy for him because the pair had no shoes on so all he had to do was look for miniture footsteps in the mud.

without warning however he was pulled up in a net, as he hung from the tree he heard a familiar voice state "you thought you could just sneek into our tribe did you? well I have news for you...".

The man turned and crained his neck hardly daring to believe it, "Lex?".

Lex turned around in shock, "How do you know my name scum?".

"Lex it's me" the man said desperately.

"Oh come on Lex!" The voice which was unmistakably Ambers called through the bush, "Let the poor man go!".

"He knows my name though!" Lex said outraged, "He called me Lex!".

"Lex a lot of people know you here!" Amber snapped at him walking over to let the boobytrap down, "He's no harm to us!".

"How do you know?" Lex sneered at her.

"Oh grow up Lex, you'd think after becoming a dad you would have..." Amber snapped.

"Amber?" the man called feeling it was time to make his presence known to the mother of his child.

Amber turned around and walked to the netting hardly daring to believe what she just heard.

"Bray?" She asked in shock, "No it cant be you!".

Bray's face spread into a wide grin, "It is you! i've found you!".

"Let him down Lex!" Amber yelled at him.

"How do we know he's not an imposter? or a clone?" Lex asked.

"It's him!" Amber yelled.

"Fine" Lex let the net fall to the ground with a thud, "It's your funeral" he walked off.

Bray stepped out of the netting and for a few moments he and Amber just stared at each other, "No way".

Bray opened his arms and Amber ran to hug him, "I've missed you so much!" Bray told her.

"Me too, me too!" Amber cried into his shoulder, "We had a boy Bray".

Bray nodded, "I know i met him before, and Brady, she's gotten so big!".

"When?" Amber asked looking up at him.

"Brady was climbing a tree and fell out" Bray told her, "I caught her and they both ran away together, they led me here".

"She shouldnt have been climbing that tree!" Amber was annoyed, "If Trudy found out...wait was Bray climbing that tree?".

"Bray?" Bray asked, "I wasnt...".

"No our son, his name is Bray" Amber said, "I named him after you".

Bray's face broke into a wide grin, "my boy!".

"our boy Bray" Amber said, "Anyway lets get back to the tribe, they'll all want to see you!".

Amber followed him through the bushland towards the unsuspecting tribe.

[mrsgerrard]

Ohhhh this sounds good! Cant wait for the next chapter

[Bee]

"dadda" Mei Ling pointed from her mothers arms at Lex who came storming through the bush.

"Give me that!" Lex snatched an apple out of Brady's hands.

"LEX" Trudy and Tai San yelled.

"Give my daughter back her apple!" Trudy went to grab the apple from Lex's hands.

"Finders keepers Trudy" Lex snapped at her, "You would know a thing or two about that wouldnt you?".

Trudy glared at Lex before taking Brady's hand, "Come on sweetie we'll go get you and Bray another apple each".

Brady resisted her mothers tugging and let go of her hand before walking over to Lex and stamping on his foot which made him release the apple he was holding.

"YOU LITTLE SCUMBAG!" Lex screamed out as she ran off with the apple.

"Lex your daughter is here!" Tai San yelled at her husband, "You're setting a very bad example for her!".

"I-dont-care" Lex snapped at Tai San before marching off.

"Am I not perfect compared to him?" Jack asked Ellie as Lex stormed past.

"At least you give a crap if your daughter is around" Ellie looked down at her daughter in Jacks arms, "He doesnt care about Tai San or Mei Ling!".

"That's because Lex is an arse..." Jack started to say.

"Okay Jack I get it" Ellie caught him before he swore in front of their daughter.

"I was thinking that we should all move into the hut I'm building" Jack said unsure about the responce he would get from his fiance.

"Isnt it half done?" Ellie asked.

"No it's almost finished, i just need to put up a few of the inside walls" Jack told her, "I can do that after you two move in though!".

"I dont know Jack" Ellie sighed.

"Why? why wont you?" Jack asked.

"Why wont they what?" Alice came over and sat with them, "Check out captain calm over there" she pointed at a tree at which Lex was now beating with a stick.

"Nothing Alice, can i talk to you?" Ellie asked before taking her sisters arm and dragging her away leaving Jack more confused as ever.

"Never ever ever become a girl!" He told his daughter, "I want to be able to understand you".

"What is it Ellie?" Alice asked as they went deeper into the bush.

"I dont want to move in with Jack" Ellie told her.

"Why?" Alice asked her, "You love him still dont you?".

Ellie sighed and shook the tears out of her eyes.

"You dont?" Alice asked.

"No its not that..." Ellie sat on the ground, "I'm...I'm...I'm...I'm pregnant".

Alice's face widened in a huge grin, "What? thats wonderful news sis!".

"No its not..." Ellie wiped her eyes, "We only wanted one kid, Ava was meant to be an only child!".

Alice sat down next to Ellie and pulled her into a hug, "It's a shock, yes, but we can deal with it sis".

"I dont want a baby and i know Jack doesnt, he just wanted one kid, because he was an only child, he loved it and he wanted to just have one child to devote his attention to" Ellie cried, "He's going to hate me!".

"No he isnt, Ellie, you have to tell him" Alice told her.

"No i'm not telling him, i'm not breaking his heart like that" Ellie cried.

"It wont break his heart...you remember the day Ava was born?" Alice asked.

'how could i forget' Ellie thought.

---

"It's happening" Ellie had told him in the morning when she awakened to a bed completely wet.

"Whats happening?" his eyes widened at the sheets, "Oh no it cant happen yet!".

"ITS HAPPENING WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT" Ellie screamed through a contraction.

Jack had never looked more young or scared at that point, "I..err...ummm...i'll get Alice".

"DONT FUCKING GET ALICE GET AMBER OR TRUDY!" Ellie screamed at him.

"Err..okay" Jack felt happy to be out of the room as he ran across the bushland to Trudy and Ambers hut.

"Jack whats wrong?" Amber had asked as she held her own one year old son.

Jack stared at the baby for a few moments as his stomach did flips, "Err...Ellie...she...wet..." He managed to stutter out.

"Her waters broke?" Amber asked gasping, "Jay come here!".

Jay ran from his and Ambers bedroom, "What is it?".

"Get Trudy Jack, Jay take Bray I need to get to Ellie" Amber told him.

"What? why?" Jay asked.

"She's having the baby" Amber told him.

"Oh Jay can you look after Brady for a little while please?" Trudy asked passing Brady's hand over to Jay.

"Yeah sure" Jay didnt look happy but he tried not to sound it.

"thank you, lets go!" Trudy led them back to Jack and Ellie's hut.

"FINALLY" Ellie moaned through a contraction, "I feel like pushing!".

Jacks eyes widened, "You cant push yet!".

"Jack be quiet" Trudy and Amber looked to see how dialated Ellie was, "Ellie you're fine to start pushing" Trudy told her.

Ellie snatched at Jacks hand before starting her pushing.

Ellie had no sense of time, but what felt like five minutes later the baby was there.

"Ellie we have a girl, we have a daughter!" Jack grinned at his girlfriend, "She's beautiful Ellie, she's perfect!".

Ellie was handed the baby which was still crying as Jack leaned over and kissed Ellie and his daughter, "She's just as beautiful as her mother!" Jack grinned, "She's perfect!".

---

"You see?" Alice said breaking Ellie from her memories, "He's the perfect dad, he wants whats best for Ava and he'll want whats best for the new baby".

Ellie looked down at her soon to be bulging stomach and wondered what her baby would be like, and for the first time since discovering she was pregnant she felt happy about it.

"I'm going to be a mummy again!" She smiled up at her sister, "Ava's going to be a sister!".

Alice smiled, "And i'm going to be the best auntie that ever lived!".

"I think i'm ready to tell Jack now" Ellie told her.

Jack sat playing with Ava not really seeing Amber enter their campsite with a strange man.

"Amber!" Trudy ran over to her, "You've been gone for ages, Bray...".

Trudy looked up at the man before her, "Bray...", she passed out upon seeing her daughters uncle, who was meant to be dead, standing there smiling at her.

"Didnt quite imagine that as a welcoming" Bray smiled at his former lover as they lay Trudy down.

"Mum" Brady ran over with Bray, "What happened to mummy?" she asked her aunt.

"Oh she just got a little over excited" Amber told her niece, "Dont worry".

"It's him!" Bray pointed at Bray, "He chased us here i told you Brady!".

"Dont point its rude" Amber told her son, "And he's noone to be afraid of".

Bray stared in awe of his son, he could not believe himself and Amber could have ever made something so beautiful, he was perfect, he looked a lot like Bray but still had some features which would define him as Ambers son.

"Bray we'll have a talk about it later but I need to tend to Trudy, "Brady how about you and Bray show the man some of your toys?".

Brady and Bray took Bray off to a hut on the other side of the clearing whilst Trudy was awakening from her impromtue fainting fit.

"Amber, what the?" Trudy looked around her, "I thought Bray...he was here wasnt he?".

Amber nodded, "He came back Trudy" she smiled happily at her sister-in-law.

"Help me up i want to see him" Trudy tried to sit up but Amber pushed her back, "Do you feel okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine take me to Bray please?" Trudy begged.

Amber nodded pulling Trudy to her feet and taking her over to her sons hut.

"Bray theres someone here to see you" Amber told him as he watched his son play with some toys.

"It's auntie Trudy whats so special about that?" Bray Jr asked her sarcastically.

"Dont be rude Bray" Amber scolded him, "And i'm talking to the man".

Bray turned around at the mention of Trudy and smiled at her, she ran to his arms, "I cant believe its you!" she cried into his shoulder, "How did you find us?".

"I ran into the kids and they led me back here" Bray told her, "Brady's so big now!".

"I know" Trudy cried into his shoulder, "Where have you been?".

"Thats a long story, not for today" Bray told her, "Anyway I need to go back to watching these kids play".

Trudy let go of Bray and nodded.

"Mummy why are we called the same thing?" Bray asked her.

"You were named after him Bray" Amber tried to explain to her son.

"Why though?" Bray asked, "Why him?".

"Bray come out for a walk with me and Bray" Amber told him.

"Why i wanna play games!" Bray moaned.

"Right now young man" Amber snapped at her son.

Bray stood up and walked over to his mother who took his hand and led Bray out.

"Bray theres something we've been meaning to tell you" Amber told him, "You know how Lex and Tai San are Mei Lings parents?".

Bray nodded.

"well Tai San's a girl and Lex is a boy" Amber explained, "I'm your mummy and i'm a girl and Bray is your daddy and he's a boy, do you get it?".

"so he's daddy?" Bray asked pointing at Bray.

"Dont point but yes he's your daddy" Amber told her son.

"How do you feel about that?" Bray asked him.

"Okay i guess" Bray shrugged, "Can i go play with Brady now?".

Amber and Bray nodded and watched as their son ran back into the hut, "He's going to take a while" Amber explained to Bray, "He's not very trustworthy of men".

"It's okay" Bray smiled, "I'm just glad i found you two" he leaned in to kiss Amber.

"Oi what do you think your doing!" Jay yelled from the other side of the clearing, "Dont you go near my woman!".

"his woman?" Bray looked confused at Amber.

[Bee]

Amber looked from her former lover, father of her child to her new lover and felt at loss of how to explain this two the pair of them.

"Bray this is Jay" Amber looked at him, he had hurt in his eyes knowing that Amber had moved on from him since his disappearance.

"He's a techno" Bray said in short, "I remember him...".

"He WAS a techno" Amber told Bray.

"And you're dating the man that is responsible for my disappearance..." Bray tried to keep his emotions under control.

"I didnt mean for it to happen this way..." Amber looked at him desperately.

"YOU NEVER STOPPED TO THINK, HEY THIS MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE FATHER OF MY CHILD, HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FACT THAT I NEVER MET MY SON UP UNTIL A FEW MOMENTS AGO, I MISSED FOUR YEARS OF MY BOYS LIFE BECAUSE OF THIS MAN, YOU MAKE ME SICK AMBER" Bray stormed away and began attacking the tree which was only just recovering from the destruction in the form of Lex.

"How did you even hold it together long enough to make a baby with that guy?" Jay asked her watching Bray disappear into the bush.

"Shut up Jay" Amber walked off into her tent where she colapsed into tears.

"Nice one" Trudy glared at Jay before walking into the tent to comfort Amber.

"I was an idiot..." Amber sobbed, "I thought I could just ignore the whole Jay and Bray thing but i cant, i replaced Bray Trudy, and he's right, i replaced him with the man that took him away!" Amber cried into Trudy's shoulder.

"I'm not going to say its going to be fine" Trudy sighed, "Because its not, Bray loved you so much, and you loved Bray, it was obvious, and Bray is just hurting now because he still loves you" Trudy told her.

"But i cant love him back" Amber cried to Trudy, "I'm with Jay now".

"But do you love Jay?" Trudy asked.

"Of course i do, i'd never be with anyone i didnt love" Amber told her.

"Do you love Bray?" Trudy asked.

Amber sighed, "You know my heart has always belonged to Bray Trudy, he's my soulmate i know he is, i just cant be with him".

"If you want to be with him make it happen, otherwise you'll be stuck not knowing the what if's for the rest of your life" Trudy told her.

"But thats if Bray takes me back, i doubt it though" Amber told her.

"He might just surprise you" Trudy told her, "Come on anyway we need to get tea cooked for these kids and put them to bed".

Amber nodded, "Who would have thought being a mum would be such hard work?" she smiled.

"Well it's never been easy!" Trudy smiled at her, "At least you dont have the daughter of Zoot who just so happens to have the same stubborn streak as her father".

"Yeah but i do have the son of Bray..." Amber said sadly, "I guess we've got it equally hard!".

[Bee]

"NO I DONT WANT TO" Bray yelled at his mother, "YOU CANT MAKE ME!".

"Wanna bet?" Amber asked her son.

Bray glared at her, "I HAD A BATH LAST NIGHT MUM!".

"Yes and you smell because you and Brady went wondering today!" Amber sighed frustrated at her son, "You dont want to be the smelliest kid in the tribe do you?".

Bray thought for a moment "Yes" he grinned mischeiviously at her.

"Well i'm not going to let you now get in the tub!" Amber snapped at him.

"NO" He ran away.

"Oh for gods sake!" Amber got up and started to march after her son.

"Bray do what your mother says" Bray grabbed the boy as he ran past.

"No!" Bray glared at his father, "You're not the boss of me!".

"Oh I think i am, i am your father" Bray told him, "And otherwise i'll just make you do it".

Bray picked up the struggling boy and Amber started to remove his clothes before Bray put him down in the bath.

"You're no fun!" Bray snapped at his parents, "Brady doesnt have to take a bath if she doesnt want one!".

"I'm pretty sure auntie Trudy makes her have a bath" Amber told him, "She's having a bath right after you".

"I hate bathtime!" Bray told her.

"Your telling me" Amber muttered before turning to Bray, "Do you want to bath him?" she asked.

Bray glared at her before saying "Yes i do, do you mind?".

Amber nodded before leaving her son with his father, she could never feel nervous about leaving the boy with his dad, before the virus she used to hear all these stories about fathers killing their children to get back at their ex partners but she knew Bray would never do that to their son.

"Hey" Jay came over as she left the tent, "I'm sorry about before".

"Dont mention it" Amber told him, "I know it looks like we're lousy together but we weren't then".

Jay nodded, "I still love you more then anything Amber, you and baby Bray are my world".

"He's not much of a baby anymore" Amber told him.

"Yes but it's going to get too confusing if i dont call him baby Bray" Jay told her.

Amber nodded.

"Are you hungry?" Jay asked.

"No" Amber told him, "I'll eat after Bray's gone to bed".

"Hey is Bray finished with the bath?" Trudy asked, "Brady's having an early night".

Amber looked behind Trudy where Brady was trying to pull her arm free as she was crying.

"Whats up Brady-girl?" Jay asked her.

"Mum is being a bitch" Brady told him.

"Brady!" Amber snapped at her, "Dont you talk about your mother that way!".

"Why not?" Brady asked, "She's the reason why i dont have a daddy like Bray!".

Amber looked at Trudy in surprise, "You need to sit down and listen to your mother about that" Amber told her.

"I dont want to talk to mum!" Brady cried.

"Bray" Amber and Trudy said at the same time.

"What?" Bray came out holding baby Bray who was wrapped in a towel.

"Can you bath Brady?" Trudy asked.

"Sure why?" Bray asked.

"She wants to know about Martin" Trudy told him.

Bray nodded, "Come here Brady".

Amber took Bray from him and Brady went over to her uncle.

"Lets get you dressed before you catch a cold" Amber told Bray.

She and Trudy walked off into the tent that they shared with their boyfriends and kids, "I knew this day would come but i didnt want it to, is that selfish?" Trudy asked Amber as Amber started to get Bray dressed.

"No" Amber told her, "I wouldnt want to tell Bray if he was the son of Zoot about his father, i didnt even want to tell Bray about Bray!".

"You're so lucky though, Bray's here, you dont have to, Brady's going to hate me!" Trudy put her head in her hands".

"No she isnt, she's five years old, she doesnt even know what hate is yet" Amber slipped Bray's pajama top over his head, "Bray go jump into bed and i'll be in later to tell you a story".

Bray wandered into the sectioned off part of the tent where he and his cousin slept.

"Her parentity was always going to be hard to explain" Amber said, "she's the daughter of the man that has caused so much destruction in this new world".

Trudy nodded, "Although i wish none of the stuff with him ever happened i cant regret it, because I wouldnt have Brady otherwise, and my life would have no meaning".

"Mummy" Brady came running in with her towel around her, "I'm sorry mummy!".

Trudy smiled at Amber and Amber let the mother and daughter have some peace.

"What did you tell her?" Amber asked Bray.

"The truth, i told her all about the new world and how Martin had met her just once and how he had fallen off a balcony at the mall" Bray told her, "She's a good kid, she deserved to know where she came from".

Amber nodded, "Thank you Bray".

"Dont mention it" Bray said without looking at her, "I'm going to go to bed too, it's been..a hard day...".

Amber frowned and walked into Bray's bedroom where the boy was wide awake being told a story by Jay.

"You didnt have to do that" Amber told him.

"But i wanted to, I love spending time with this little guy!" Jay smiled up at his girlfriend.

"Jay you're not his father" Amber told him.

"I'm closer then Bray is!" Jay snapped at her, "I'm going to bed, dont be surprised if its not our bed that i'm sleeping in".

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Amber cried.

Jay didnt answer her, he just stalked off and left her and Bray who looked frightened.

"I'm so sorry Bray" Amber hugged her son close, "I'm sorry about everything".

"Its okay mummy, i'm still here" Bray smiled his fathers smile at her.

Amber kissed the boy goodnight before going into her own room to lay down to a sleepless night.

[Bee]

Amber was dreaming, she was dreaming of a day when Bray was only about twelve months old and he'd gone missing. Jay had been looking after him that day and the boy had wondered off because Jay didnt watch him. Amber had never felt so scared or angry in her life, scared for her boy but also angry at her boyfriend for letting her son go. She'd searched for an hour before marching back and was about to scream at Jay when he'd come up to her with her son in his arms, she'd taken Bray from him and walked off to her tent without a word to her boyfriend.

He was going to propose to her that day, he told her a few weeks later, so they had never gotten married, she was glad now that they didnt, but why?

Amber woke up to her son shaking her, "Mummy daddy wants to take me fishing can i go?" Bray's face was lit up with excitement.

"What?" Amber rubbed her eyes, "Where's your dad?".

"He's waiting for me outside, can i go mummy?" Bray asked her.

"Wait I just want to talk to daddy" Amber told him getting up herself and walking out with the boy.

"Hi" She said to Bray who turned around.

"Hi" Bray said in monotone, "Did Bray ask you?".

Bray nodded at his dad, "Yes daddy i asked her and she wanted to talk to you".

"About what?" Bray asked.

"I just want to know the details" Amber told him.

"What you think i cant look after my own son?" Bray asked her.

"I didnt say that i just want to know where my son is going to be!" Amber snapped at Bray.

"Our son, and he's going to be with his father" Bray told her.

Amber sighed, "Fine take him but i want him back by lunchtime".

"Come on Bray" Bray smiled at his son, "Lets go" he glared at Amber.

---

Meanwhile Jack and Ellie were woken up by their daughter who had come marching in demanding some breakfast.

"She's got your sisters stubbornness" Jack told Ellie.

"No thats yours" Ellie smiled at her boyfriend.

"BREAKFAST" Ava yelled at her parents.

"Who ever heard of manners?" Ellie looked at her daughter.

"Can you please give me some breakfast!" Ava looked frustrated at her mum and dad.

Ellie went to get up but was stopped by Jack, "You have a lie in i'll get her the food" Jack told her.

"No you already have to do so much!" Ellie told him trying to get up.

"No its my turn and i want to spend as much time with my daughter on the weekend as possible!" Jack smiled.

Ellie laid back down, "Okay fine".

Jack grinned at her before picking up his daughter and walking out with her.

Ellie laid over and took a picture from under her pillow of her mother and father, "Hey mum and dad, I know you didnt want me to have to live like this but everything has changed, theres not one baby born these days that doesnt have teenage parents, i mean i was eleven when this all started, Alice looked after me a lot, then Jack, he's the best thing that has ever happened to me, apart from Ava, Ava's your first and only granddaughter, might be one of two soon though, I'm pregnant, i could just imagine if this happened in the old world, I mean Ava was born when i was fifteen, and now i'm having another one and i'm not yet twenty, it's had to believe its all changed so much!..." Ellie was interrupted by Jack who came in his face pale and picked up Ava's teddy, "Dont mind me" he said.

Ellie looked at him shocked, "Oh Jack you didnt..."

"We'll talk later" Jack snapped at her before walking out.

Ellie looked at the picture of her mum and dad worried about how Jack took the news about being a dad again.

[Bee]

Jack didnt know how to feel, on one hand Ava was the best thing that had ever come into his life, that is apart from Ellie, but on the other he was only eighteen and his second child was about to be born.

He couldnt even work up enough courage to go tuck his own daughter in for a moment thinking if he'd looked at her he would condemn himself into having the second baby.

He began to remember his parents after his baby sister, who had been lost in the chaos of the virus to another childless couple, and how they had reacted to the new edition in such a time of unharmonious living.

---

"Jack" His father called him from the waiting room with a big grin on his face, "Come meet your baby sister Ava".

Jack jumped up and went over to his dad who was wincing from having difficulties breathing.

"Are you okay dad?" he asked.

"I'm fine, come see your sister!" his dad grinned and took him into the room where his mother, looking exhausted but happy sat with the baby who was at that time feeding from a bottle, mothers were no longer allowed to breastfeed due to the virus.

"Hey big brother" his mother had smiled at him, "When she's finished feeding you can have a cuddle if you want".

Jack nodded then thought, "Mum, dad, i know you two are sick and i know you wont be here for me or Ava".

His parents looked at each other then at Jack sadly, "We know Jack".

"Whats going to happen to us?" Jack asked.

"Ava is going to a camp, its a camp for babies, she'll go as soon as the two of us are bedridden, you'll go stay with your cousins in the city".

Jack nodded, "so i guess that this is it then? one of the last chances for us to be a family".

His parents nodded sadly before his father broke into a grin, "what does it matter? we're a family and i finally have the daughter i've always wanted!".

Jack smiled and his mother had handed him the baby just a few minutes later, it was the first and only time he was to hold his baby sister as his mother and father died a day later and the two siblings were shipped off in their separate ways.

---

"Jack" Alice said bringing him from his unconscious memories.

"Oh hi Alice, I gotta go" Jack handed her the teddy and walked off into the bushland, he knew now that he had to be there for Ellie and their new daughter, or son but right at this moment he needed to cry, for his parents and for the girl, who would be 7 now, that he would never know.

[Bee]

Jack had never told anyone about his sister before, not even his cousins when he went to stay with them, as far as they knew his mother had died before giving birth, and when his cousins ran off days after the last adult died leaving him in the city by himself he decided his sister would never be the topic of any conversation uttered from his mouth.

But he realized today that he would have to tell his future wife about her.

Ellie sat on their bed she was lost in a train of thought and didn't acknowledge him until he'd sat down next to her.

"Jack" tears sprung to her eyes.

"shh" Jack enveloped her in a hug which lasted a few minutes.

"Jack we need to talk about this pregnancy" Ellie looked up at him.

Jack nodded, "I know, Ellie the truth is that this pregnancy was a big shock, I never thought i'd be a teenage dad but i am, and to think that my second child is coming before i reach adulthood scares the crap out of me".

Ellie looked at him tearfully, "Do you want me to get rid of it?".

Jack let go of her, "What?! no!".

"Then why arent you happy?" Ellie asked.

"I am Ellie, thats what i'm getting to.." he hesitated for a moment.

"What?" she asked noticing this.

"Before the virus started...i had a baby sister" Jack told her, "Her name was Ava".

Ellie looked at him in shock, "You had a sister?".

Jack nodded sadly, "I dont know where she is..but this made me remember why i named our girl after her".

Jack told her the story of his parents, "So Ava was a ray of hope in our lives and the next one will be too".

Ellie smiled and kissed him, "Thank you Jack".

"Why?" he asked.

"For just being you, for being there for me" Ellie smiled, "For being the best dad in the world to our girl".

Jack smiled and kissed her, "shall we go share our news?".

Ellie nodded.

---

"You're what?!" Lex gasped, "Oh great, just GREAT".

"LEX" Tai San yelled at him, "A bit of support is needed!".

Ellie and Jack looked at each other smiling.

Alice approached holding Ava, "Have you just announced it?".

Jack said nothing but went to take Ava off Alice, "Hey bubba, guess what? you're going to be a BIG sister!".

Ava smiled at her dad, "Sister!" she clapped her hands.

Everyone around laughed and decided to hold a celebration dinner for the couples news.