The Broke family actually began long ago with Flo and Flat Broke of Pleasantview. Little history is known about the original Brokes, but their story resumed with single, widowed mother, Brandi Newbie Broke, and her three sons, Daniel, Beau and Ian.

Bob and Betty Newbie had hoped for better for young Brandi, but from the moment she first laid eyes on him, Skip Broke was the only man for she'd have. At first Brandi was content with Skip's meager income and the small home that they could barely afford - the seemingly happy couple had their first son, Dustin, within their first year of marriage. Family photos from that time show everyone all smiles.

However, things seemed to take a wrong turn not long after Dustin's first birthday. Brandi's second pregnancy came a few days after the celebration, and Skip began spending nights away from home drinking in the local bars. Rumors went around that he was telling people the baby was not his; Brandi insisted it was. The once-happy couple fought constantly.

Things were no better after Beau was born. Though it was obvious to everyone, except Skip, that Beau was his, he continued to accuse Brandi of cheating on him. Brandi confessed to her mother that she had begun to suspect Skip's actions were the result of a guilty conscience.

Two months after Beau turned a year old, Skip was found dead in a small water-filled pit behind the couple's home. Though it had been widely known that Skip was digging a swimming pool for his family, speculation quickly turned to Brandi. Investigators could not link her to the crime, however, and Skip Broke's death was attributed to drowning after falling into the watery hole where he was purportedly digging after tying on one too many.

Not long after Skip's death, Brandi realized she was pregnant and gave birth to her third and final son for Skip. She named him Ian.

Dustin Broke, now a grown man, has moved out and is pursuing a job in politics. He is currently the father of a son and daughter, one for each of the Pleasant twins. Though he is active in his son, Dillon's, life, he has not been able to convince Lilith Pleasant to let him see his daughter, Elena. After years of trying to reconcile his damaged relationship with his childhood sweetheard, Angela, the two were married after Dillon moved away to college.

After a few years of loneliness, Brandi ran into the recently divorced Don Lothario. The two became fast friends, and even faster lovers. They were wed three months after their meeting, and Brandi became pregnant three months after that. The twins, the girls Brandi had always dreamed of, were named Isabel and Catelyn. Unfortunately, Brandi has not yet become privy to her new husband's promiscuous ways; much worse than Skip's philandering, Don has fathered three other children since being married to Brandi.