Got You
"Morning. You're up early." Lia smiled, walking into the kitchen the next morning where Punk was already up, drinking a bottle of water, sitting at the kitchen table.
"Yeah, my body clock is programmed into getting up at… 7am every morning." Punk said as Lia nodded, switching the kettle on to make herself coffee, "Hey, I hope that you guys didn't keep Eva away because I'm here." He said as Lia turned around to him.
"She always stays with my mom on a Friday night." Lia assured him, "I pick her up after work so… you'll see her then." Lia smiled as Punk nodded and looked across at him, "How'd you sleep?"
"Ok, I guess." Punk said, "It was kinda weird actually. Waking up and… not feeling cramped, having a mattress that didn't feel like a brick." He shook his head as Lia took her coffee over to the table and sat down across from him.
"You're not selling me on this prison thing." Lia teased as Punk smiled, looking down, "Thinking about AJ?" She asked as Punk looked up.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I'm not… I'm not angry or upset that she's moved on. I guess it-it's what I wanted for her. It's why I divorced her and cut contact off." He said as Lia nodded, "But I don't know, I guess it kinda stings to know for sure." He said as Lia nodded, "I take it… I take it Jessica calls him dad." Punk said as Lia shook her head.
"No, she doesn't." Lia shook her head, "She calls him Jamie. That's his name. He is a cop. Pretty dedicated to his work." She said as Punk nodded, "And he's good to AJ. He's a good person. She… As you could imagine, was pretty broken and he… he was there." Lia nodded as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "I can't speak for AJ. I mean, at one point you're gonna need to talk, not for the both of you but for Jess." Lia nodded.
"AJ doesn't wanna see me." Punk shrugged, "Which means… she probably won't want me anywhere near Jessica." Punk said.
"C'mon. You and I know she's not that cruel." Lia said, "She wouldn't take that away from you."
"Yeah? Seems like she hates my guts." Punk shook his head.
"It's probably easier to hate you than… crumble and fall apart." Lia said.
"How has she been?" Punk sighed, "Her health? Has she been ok?" He asked.
"First year wasn't great. She had a couple of run ins with the social. It's a long story that I'm sure you'll find out about." Lia said, "But she got good, started putting all her focus on… being there for Jess, being a mom, working, and things just got better." Lia said, "She doesn't open up anymore the way she used to. I've never heard her talk about you since you went to prison." Lia admitted.
"She's still working as a defence attorney?" Punk asked.
"Yeah. Not as aggressive as before. She tends to take the lighter cases now so they don't take up too much time." Lia said as Punk nodded, "Whether you think she wants to speak to you or not, you both have a child together, that means unfortunately, there's not really a choice. I mean… I assume you want to see Jess?"
"Of course I do." Punk said immediately, "It's all I care about."
"Then you gotta talk to who's been raising her for five years." Lia nodded as Punk sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Have you… saw Jess?"
"Yeah. I got AJ's brother to send me pictures of her every so often. I couldn't… I couldn't not know what my daughter even looks like." Punk shook his head, "He would just send the pictures, no letter or words. Every picture, she'd grown so much more." He said, "I should have… I should have been there for her, for AJ."
"You can't say that. You can't say what you should have or could have done. Don't torture yourself. Focus on the now. I'm not saying things will be the way they were when you first left but… you can still live your life, be a dad and get a job." Lia nodded.
"I know." Punk said "Is she happy?" Punk asked, looking across at her.
"From what I know and can see, yeah." Lia said as Punk nodded.
"I mean… I feel like an idiot for feeling shit about it cause… I pushed her away and divorced her so… what did I expect?" He shrugged. He didn't quite comprehend when he had made the decision to cut off contact with AJ, how it would actually feel eventually getting out and seeing her living her life with another man, a life where he had no place in anymore.
"You did what you thought was best for her and Jess." Lia said, "No one blames you for that." She nodded, "You're out now. You don't have to… sit in wonder and wait for each day to pass by. You're here now and you can… you can try and build a life back up for yourself." She nodded.
"Yeah." Punk said, running his hand through his hair, "I should probably give it a few days before I approach her." Punk shrugged, "Does she know I'm out? I wrote to her, just to let her know but obviously I didn't get anything back."
"Yeah, she knows. Dean spoke to her." Lia said, "Give yourself time to adjust, you've just been out a day, I mean all of this has got to be overwhelming and I'm sure it'll be even more overwhelming seeing Jess and seeing AJ." Lia nodded, "So… give it a few days." She said as Punk nodded.
"I never meant to hurt her. It's killing me to know I did." Punk shook his head. He knew what he did, pushing her away was going to hurt her, and finding out that she'd moved on, and probably fell out of love with him completely, had really hurt him.
"It was out of your control." Lia said, "You did it to benefit her, so she could have a life that didn't revolve around prison visits and waiting for you to get out." She said, "I understand why you did it."
"She doesn't." Punk said.
"She will one day." Lia nodded, "Just take it easy. One day at a time." She said as Punk nodded.
"What are you doing up?" AJ asked, walking into Jessica's nursery through the night. She was now two months old and thriving like she should have been. There had been a court hearing for both Punk and Matthew earlier on in the day, to set bail. Matthew unfortunately was not granted bail, Punk was, whilst Dean had been completely dropped of the charges as there was no audible or physical evidence that proved he knew about the murder.
It was all becoming very real how serious it was. Whilst Dean was dropped of the charges, he and Punk had both been 'relieved' of their duties as police officers, and were very clearly told they would never work for law enforcement again. Not to mention, Punk was still dealing with the severe pains he was getting in his abdomen, which no one but Dean knew about.
"Couldn't sleep." Punk shook his head, looking down at Jessica in her crib as she lay fast asleep.
"Why are you in here?" AJ asked him quietly, placing her hands on his arms as she crept behind him, kissing his arm as she looked down at Jessica.
"She calms me down." Punk nodded as AJ looked up at him, "World could be falling apart and as long as I had her, it'd be fine." He said, turning around, "And you."
"We're here." AJ nodded, hugging into him.
It was a scary time, no one could deny it. Although AJ had managed to get Punk an extremely gifted lawyer to defend him in court, she knew the DA and the games they played, how they were turning everything around to make it seem like Punk had actually conspired in the murder.
"I'm glad Dean didn't get dragged into it." Punk nodded.
"You shouldn't be dragged into it either." AJ sighed, "The murder is on trial. You… You had nothing to do with the murder." She said.
"They think I did." Punk shrugged. It was starting to sink in what kind of consequences he was actually facing through all of this. Going to prison being the scariest of course. He'd already lost his job, and it felt like everything was falling apart.
"We have two more months until the official trial. I know court. The murder is gonna be the main focus, Matthew is plead guilty, he's gonna tell the truth that you weren't there which makes it impossible for them to turn it around, right?" AJ shook head.
"I don't know." Punk said, "I really don't know what to expect." Punk turned to her.
"We'll get through it." AJ nodded, trying to be strong, they were both trying to be strong and think positively, but it was extremely hard when they could both see how much danger Punk was really in, "Come back to bed." AJ said, taking his hands in hers as Punk nodded, following her out of the nursery and back into their bedroom.
"I'm sorry about all of this." Punk shook his head, "I… I don't want you to worry." He said as AJ shook her head.
"None of this is your fault." AJ said, "We just need to stay positive. Enjoy time with Jessica. Take our mind off of it all and make sure you're prepared for court. There isn't anything else we can do." She said as he nodded, "I'm always gonna be by your side. Throughout all of this." She said as he nodded.
"I love you." Punk said, looking down at her as she looked up. Throughout all of this she had been his rock. Knowing he had her, and their daughter, was what kept him going. It was a terrifying position to be in. To not know what was going to be done, if he was going to be let off, fined, or the worst scenario, imprisoned, for something he just didn't have anything to do with. It was terrifying him.
"I love you." AJ nodded, reaching up and pressing her lips against his softly, feeling him deepen the kiss, picking her up and laying her down on the bed.
It didn't take long before clothes were off and he was on top inside her. It was important and necessary they were there for each other and held each other close. Punk was worried about the outcome of everything, and he just wanted to hold his family as close as he possibly could.
"Fuck, baby." AJ moaned, rolling her head back, feeling him thrust into her deep, hitting off her g-spot whilst she tangled her hand down, massaging her clit. It was the best way to forget about everything and hold one another closer, to lose themselves in each other completely, "You're gonna make me cum." AJ bit her lip as Punk looked down at her, smiling to himself as he leaned down and kissed her neck, whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she raked her nails down his back as she came. The thought of not having his love, having the closeness they had, was terrifying her.
"Fuck, April." Punk moaned, thrusting inside of her whilst she stayed tense from her own orgasm, her eyes closed and her head rolled back, lifting it up just in time as she watched him reach his release, "Fuck." Punk groaned out, spilling himself inside of her, resting his head on her shoulder as she turned his face around.
"I love when you cum inside me." AJ whispered, kissing the side of his mouth as he still spilled himself inside her, grunting in her ear as she kept her arms around him.
He eventually pulled out and collapsed beside her as she turned her head and smiled at him.
"What?" Punk smiled.
"Nothing. I just love you." AJ shook her head, shuffling towards him and curling her naked body into his. At scary times like this, he still made her feel safe and like things would be ok.
"I love you." Punk nodded, his brain starting to do overtime. He'd always knew he would ask AJ to marry him, but now felt like the best time to assure that he had her back, and that no matter what happened, he could still give her all he knew, all he had, "Marry me." He whispered as AJ looked up at him sharply.
"What?" AJ shook her head.
"I… I would have wanted to do this a little better, and with a ring." He shook his head, "But… I just want you to know I got you. I always will." He nodded, "And I always knew I wanted to marry you."
"Yes." AJ smiled. She didn't even need to think about it, "I'll marry you." She smiled, reaching up and kissing him passionately as he pulled her on top of him, running his fingers through her hair. They were keeping each other steady through everything.
