Family Matters

[Zetti]

Can I be the one that kills Angelo, stupid ignorant, annoying, pathetic excuse for a human being!

I love the flashback when Belle and Aden are having their little fluffy moment

All in all a great chapter

[bradyell]

LOVED that!!!!

Everything was just perfect! Belle's reaction to the text, Aden's reacion to Belle's reaction, Justin being all protective...perfect!

Then the flashback, every single word between Aden and Angelo was spot on and totally how i'd imagine that confrontation to go! Just kinda wish Aden had managed to land that punch! Angelo really does have it coming!!!

Really can't wait for more

[Miranda]

Its really good and very imaginative. Can't wait to see what's going to happen, its intriguing.

[matticus01]

Pretty amazing chapter.... the emotions.... the text! omg the text!!!

Belle's emotion, Aden's reaction, wanting to protect the kids... its all just amazingly wonderful

brilliant job, update soon

[HighwayUnicorn]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Belle awaited the arrival of her children as the after school clubs was coming to an end for the second time that week, with it being Tuesday. Danielle and Jayden were to make their way home from senior school alone as per usual, whilst Tyler and Lilly were set to meet Belle outside the school gates. Aden had arranged to collect Olivia after his shift at the hospital which was due to end at 5pm.

Time eventually progressed and most of the children attending the optional clubs had left the premises, their parents having collected them. Lifting her wrist, she looked at her watch, registering the time.

“Alright, Belle?”

The voice that came from behind her drooled out, fear engulfing her as she turned on the spot to face him. “Get away from me” she spoke as confidently as she could yet she knew she didn’t feel as confident as she may have sounded. A small whimper emitted her frame.

“Get my text last night?” he asked casually with a smile.

“Yes” she muttered as she turned around again, folding her arms across her chest as she awaited the arrival of her children. “And if you come anywhere near the house or my children, Aden will kill you.”

“Really? I’d like to see him try.”

“So would I” Belle smiled. “I’d watch as he kills you ... slowly ... like you deserve” she spat as Angelo emitted a breathy laugh. “Aaah, good. Now, I know Danielle” he murmured as Lilly and Tyler exited the school gates. “Who are these?” he spoke loudly as the children approached Belle and smiled at Angelo, unaware of who he was.

“Come on” Belle murmured as she led the children back to the car.

“See you around, Belle” Angelo spoke loudly, smiling evilly at her, and with his plan already formed, he played out various scenarios in his head as he watched the car pull away.

*

“Sh*t” Aden muttered. “He didn’t hurt you did he?” Aden groaned as the thought entered his head. Belle and Aden were sat around the table in the kitchen and the children were at home in the living room watching a movie.

Justin had decided to go out for the day, taking a trip into town to do some shopping whilst Belle stayed at home to finish some housework and Aden was at the hospital to work.

Aden had only been home for five minutes before Belle spoke to him and told him about her encounter with Angelo and as she expected, he was terrified for her and their children’s safety.

Belle shook her head. “No. He just ... he just spoke to me.”

Aden nodded. “Did he touch you?” he asked.

Once again, Belle shook her head. “No.” Aden nodded and emitted a breathy sigh as Belle stood up from her chair. She approached Aden from behind, wrapping her arms around his chest as he breathed heavily. “I think we need to tell the kids” she murmured.

“Everything?” he questioned as Belle shook her head.

“We need to warn Tyler and Lilly ... that we don’t want them near Angelo ... whatever he says. He’s so manipulative and I can’t ... don’t even want to imagine what he’d do to them if they befriended him. They’re such good children but they think, because they’re nice and good, that everyone else in this world is and we know that’s not the case.”

“I agree with you. They need to know that he’s dangerous so as they don’t go off with him ... he could probably trick them into something and that’s the last thing we need.” He paused for a moment. “And what about Jayden and Danielle? I think they deserve the truth ... the whole truth” he murmured softly.

“Everything?” Belle asked with a slight whimper.

Aden nodded, gesturing for her to seat herself on his lap. She did so, Aden’s arms snaking around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. She whimpered quietly, shuddering slightly before Aden pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“It will be okay you know?” he told her gently. “They’ll understand, they won’t judge you.”

Belle shrugged. “I don’t know, Aden. They’re gonna think I’m so ...”

“So what?” Aden asked gently, cupping his wife’s face in his hands and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

“Weak” she whimpered.

“Oh baby, they could never think that. You are so strong ... you are my strong, beautiful wife and they’ll understand, okay?” he murmured, entwining his fingers in her hair.

Belle nodded and smiled. “You always know what to say” she told him gently.

“I am pretty amazing” he laughed breathily. “Come on, we best tell them.”

Soon enough, Tyler, Lilly, Jayden and Danielle were sat on the sofa in the lounge, Belle sat on the armchair in the corner of the room and Aden stood in front of the coffee table, facing the children.

“Right, first of all ...”

“Are we in trouble daddy?” Lilly lisped.

Aden smiled, letting out a breathy laugh before shaking his head. “No sweetheart, of course you aren’t, none of you are but me and your mummy do need to talk to you. Lilly, do you remember when mummy picked you up today? And that man was there?”

It was Tyler’s turn to begin talking next as he too remembered. “Yes daddy, a man was talking to mummy. Do you know him mummy?” he asked innocently as Belle nodded.

“Yes sweetheart, I know him.”

“What’s his name mummy? He seemed nice” Lilly smiled sweetly.

Aden knelt down on his knees, in front of Lilly and Tyler, taking their hands in his own. “His name is Angelo ... and he’s not nice ... he’s a horrible, horrible person, okay?”

“Why?” Lilly asked softly. “He didn’t seem horrible.”

“Angelo hurt your mummy a long time ago and he’s a very dangerous man.”

“He hurt you mummy?” Tyler suddenly asked. “How he did he hurt you?”

Belle stood up from the sofa and knelt next to Aden, resting her hands on Tyler’s knees. “It’s very difficult to explain Tyler. Angelo hurt me a lot though ... he did something very, very wrong and bad. He’s a very bad man. But me and daddy need you to stay away from him okay? We need you to stay safe.”

“Like your mum said, Angelo is a very, very bad man. He might say anything to get to know you and no matter what he says or does, you must promise us never to go off with him. Okay? Because he might try and trick you” Aden told them.

“Like what you said about bad men, daddy? Remember? Even if a man offers you sweeties, you should never go with him” Lilly lisped as Tyler nodded.

“So even if he offers us sweets daddy, we shouldn’t go with him?” Tyler asked.

“That’s right” Aden smiled. “Do you promise?” he asked as Belle smiled at the children.

They both nodded. “We pinky promise” Lilly smiled slightly.

“Good girl” Aden whispered, kissing her forehead. “And you as well please, Tyler?” he asked the little boy who nodded.

“I promise daddy” he whispered with a smile.

“Thank you” Aden murmured. “Now, can you two go upstairs for me please? Me and your mum need to talk to Jayden and Danielle for a minute” he spoke softly as they nodded.

Once they heard the door rattle against it’s frame calmly, Jayden spoke. “What did he do that was so bad?” he asked.

Belle sat on the sofa next to Danielle, taking her hand in her own and Aden perched himself on the arm, wrapping an arm around Belle’s waist gently. “Right, we are going to tell you everything but you do need to be quiet and not interrupt, okay?” Aden murmured. “It’s a long story.”

“Okay” Danielle smiled, gently squeezing her mum’s hand to offer her some reassurance. “We’re listening.

“Okay” Aden began. “So I came to the bay when I was about nineteen. I had an argument with my dad and Roman saw, quite literally, everything. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go.” He soon looked at Belle, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist to provide her with the encouragement she needed.

“I was already living in the Bay with Irene” she began, her breath shaky. “Me and my mum had never really seen eye to eye and after an argument, I never went back to her. Anyway, on the day we had this argument, I went to the beach, rather than back home to Irene. Little did I know, she had contacted the police. Angelo, he was a knew officer in town, found me and took me home. Soon after, I went to see him and I thanked him for looking out for me. Anyway, he asked me on a date and I said yes.”

She sighed.

Danielle squeezed her hand once again. “It’s okay mum” she encouraged.

“Thank you” she whispered. “Anyway, Angelo and I, well, we soon became an item. After a month or so, he lost his title of being a sergeant. He was never given a real explanation as to why, but he blamed it on me. I went to see him when he was working one day and when I got home, he shouted at me and told me I shouldn’t see him when he was working. For a moment, I thought he was just angry, but then he lashed out and hit me.”

“Oh my God!” Jayden breathed. “But you left him, right?” he asked.

Belle shook her head. “No, not quite. He apologised and I thought it was a one off.”

“But it wasn’t, was it?” Danielle asked as Belle shook her head.

“No, sweetheart. I went on for months after that. He hit me ... degraded me ... he beat me literally everyday and I became quite literally, perfect at hiding it.”

“So how did you and dad end up together?” Jayden asked confusedly.

“I met your mum when I was working shifts at the diner, she came in to speak to Irene once before and we got talking ... we got on really well, but I knew there was something wrong. I knew abuse when I saw it” he told them lowering his head slightly. “You are so lucky that you have a granddad like Roman ... because mine was nothing like him.” He took a deep breath and before he knew it, the words escaped his lips. “I was sexually abused by my grandfather.”

Danielle and Jayden clapped their hands to their mouths.

“Jesus, dad! What? He ... when ... what ...”

“I was eight, Jayden. I was so young ... we think it’s the right moment to tell you now, you’re old enough and mature enough to understand and now that Angelo’s on the scene ... you need to know. Anyway, my dad ... he never looked after me. He let my granddad do those things to me ... and he knew all along because he did it to him too.”

“Dad” Danielle breathed. “I’m sorry” she murmured as tears began to pool in her eyes.

“Danni, you have nothing to be sorry for, okay? Nothing” he told her with a smile.

“What happened after you found out about mum?” Jayden asked, finding himself wiping away a few tears which had began to fall from his eyes.

Aden coughed slightly before continuing. “I spoke to your mum but as I expected, she was in denial. One night, I saw Angelo and your mum going home to his place and he ... became violent before they had even got into the house ... and I saw it ... so I went to stop him ... but your mum was so scared that she didn’t want to walk away from him.”

“Aden begged me to go back home with him instead but like your dad said, I was so scared of Angelo and what he’d do to me ... I just ... I couldn’t walk away from him.”

“Did he hurt you again?” Danielle asked.

“Yeah babes, he hurt me again. He beat me and after a while, he went to bed and left me downstairs ... so I took my chance and went to Aden. He took me in and looked after me. Things were okay for a while. I moved in with him for a while and everyone knew, but not everyone believed me. But as long as Aden was with me, I knew I was safe. So I stayed with him. Eventually, we developed feelings for each other ... your dad took me out a few times and Angelo was hardly on the scene. Then we went to a party ... we had been together for a while and we had spoken about it ... your dad told me what happened to him when he was a kid and we trusted each other and really loved each other ... and we decided to ...”

“Make love” Aden smiled slightly.

“Yuck” Danielle murmured.

“You don’t need to go into detail on that one dad” Jayden assured him.

Aden shook his head. “I went off to the beach house so as I could prepare the room ... candles, you know ... I left your mum at the diner enjoying the party. Then I offered to come and meet her but she said she’d be okay and she’d walk back to the beach house to see me anyway. That was the last I heard from her ... the next thing ... I knew something had happened.”

“Angelo abducted me” Belle spoke quietly, shuddering slightly, once again Aden tightening his hold her whilst Danielle squeezed her hand.

“It’s okay mum” Jayden confirmed.

Belle nodded. “Thank you ... anyway, he kept me locked up in this cabin ... it was dark ... and cold”

“Is that why you have the night light?” Danielle asked as Belle nodded.

“Yeah” she spoke softly. “I was so terrified ... I’m still scared of the dark. Even now, I have nightmares about Angelo ... you’ll find that out in just a bit. Anyway, Angelo wanted to hurt me and taunt Aden. As far as he’s concerned, Aden took me away from him and Angelo wanted to hurt us both and he knew he had to hurt me to get to Aden. But he phoned Aden ... it was literally torture. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t scream for help ... I was trapped and vulnerable ... Angelo taunted Aden down the phone ...”

“I called the police and we managed to trace the call from Angelo ... we headed to where the cabin was ... and it was too late.”

“Too late for what? What happened?” Jayden asked.

“Mum?” Danielle murmured as she noticed Belle was crying.

“Baby, it’s okay. Remember, they won’t judge you ... I love you ... we all love you” Aden spoke softly, pressing kisses into her hair as Aden took her other hand and squeezed it gently.

Belle emitted a breathy sigh, a tear falling from her eye. “Angelo ... he ... he raped me” she whispered.

“Oh my God, mum” Danielle whispered as she threw her arms around Belle shoulders.

“I’ll kill him if I see him” Jayden growled.

“No, Jayden” Belle suddenly stood up, stumbling out of shock, Aden standing up and gently wrapping an arm around her waist. “You can’t ... he’s dangerous and you need to stay away from him. Promise me ... the both of you, promise you’ll stay away from him!”

Danielle nodded, Jayden following reluctantly.

“Fine, but if he comes near here, I’ll kill him” Jayden spoke. “I won’t approach him but I won’t be held responsible for my actions if he comes to the house, okay?” he said.

There was silence and after a moment, Danielle spoke again.

“So you have the nightlight because it was dark and Angelo raped you? Do you still have nightmares?” she asked as Belle nodded.

“Sometimes ... it never goes away” she told her daughter truthfully.

“I love you mum” she murmured as she approached Belle, wrapping her arms around her, Belle returning the hug within an instant.

“I love you too sweetheart but now you know why I’m so protective of you.”

"You don’t want me to go through the same thing as you?” she guessed.

Belle nodded. “Yeah” she murmured. “I’d go through it time and time again if it meant you were safe.

“You both must have been so scared” Jayden spoke softly as Aden sat next to him on the sofa, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

“We were ... but now, I’m worried for you and your mum so I need you to be careful, okay? That’s why we’ve spoken to you about this tonight.”

Jayden nodded. “Yeah, I know ... I meant what I said. I won’t go near him but I will kill him if he comes near any of us.”

“You really are a Jefferies aren’t you son” Aden smiled. “Go on, it’s late and you’ve got school tomorrow. You best go up to bed.”

“Yeah, you as well please Danni. I love you” Belle murmured as she hugged her daughter goodnight, before she then approached her dad and hugged him as well, heading upstairs to bed afterwards.

“I’m sorry you both went through that” Jayden muttered softly as he wrapped his arms around Belle. “Night mum, I love you.” He pulled away, quickly hugging Aden. “I love you too dad” he spoke before he too headed up to bed.

“That went better than I thought it would” Belle murmured. “They’re good kids aren’t they?” Belle smiled as Aden wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Yeah, they are. Well, all the kids are ... or should be in bed, do you want to go and check on them and I lock up down here?” he asked as Belle nodded.

Aden locked the front door and back door, checking the windows before heading upstairs, knowing that Justin would remember to lock the front door when he arrived back home. Heading upstairs, he climbed into bed, turning on the nightlight and waited for Belle.

“Night Lilly babes” Belle whispered as she pressed a kiss to Lilly’s forehead softly, so as not to wake her, before repeating her actions when she approached Olivia. She then headed into Tyler’s room and once again, for the fifth night in a row, pulled the quilt cover over his body again.

“They okay?” Aden asked as Belle entered their bedroom, stripping down to her underwear before changing into her pyjamas.

Belle nodded. “Yeah, they’re asleep” she murmured. “And I’m glad we did the whole talk on this tonight ... thank you for being there babe ... I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t have been anywhere else, okay?” Aden told her gently as she climbed into bed next to me.

“I know” Belle yawned. “And for now, I’d love for my husband to hold me while we sleep” she murmured.

“My pleasure” Aden smiled as he pulled Belle gently into his arms, wrapping his muscular arm around her petite frame in a bid to protect her.

“I love you baby” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

[Miranda]

Gosh, Carina, that is so moving and imaginative. I can't think what to say...!

(can I ask one question of people: did Angelo hurt Belle in the real HAA series? cos I read that she was beaten up once and named Angelo as her attacker)

[HighwayUnicorn]

No. Angelo didn't hurt Belle in Home & Away. Everyone thought it was him because he was the last one to see Belle before she was assaulted.

But when she went into her room, she didn;t actually see who it was ... a guy who had broken in had hidden then beat her up.

It was a guy who was burgling the house ... he even ended up taking some jewellery from her.

Hope that helps

xxx

[Miranda]

Oh, yes it does help. I've always liked Angelo, but obviously in your fic, he is an evil character, boo to him....

[HighwayUnicorn]

Yeah, this fic is the sequel to Romance in the Bay He was really evil in that one.

I don't mind him in Home & Away now. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with him in the first place.

I just didn't like him when he was with Belle.

It's the same as Liam. I love Liam with Bianca.

But I hated him with Belle because he came between Belle & Aden.

I don't like anyone for coming between Adelle I'm an absolute die-hard Adelle fan.

But yeah, he didn't actually hurt Belle in Home & Away ... nothing to worry about

[Zetti]

That was such a moving chapter.

I wish I could write like that.

Jayden & Danielle's actions were so well written

Well done x