Baby Blues

A couple of nights later AJ was at home eyeing the empty room that was originally PJ's nursery but was now bare.

"We should have held onto a few things." Punk noted standing in the doorway.

"No. The new baby if it even makes it should have it's own things." She said then looked at him. "I don't want the baby in here."

"My room is empty we can use that." He suggested.

"I don't want to do anything until I know for sure this baby is ok." She informed him and he nodded.

"Ok." he said agreeing with anything she said.

"This could be like a game room or something for you." She said to him and he seemed confused.

"I thought this was going to be your office?" Punk asked.

"For what?" she asked. "Baby is coming whether I wanted it or not so there goes my school dreams and I can't even go back to being a personal trainer because who is going to want a big fat woman being their trainer?"

"You won't be fat you'll be pregnant." He corrected. "And you can still go to school it won't be easy but you can do it."

"I can't be both a mom and myself." She said to him.

"You're acting like this is death sentence." He noted.

"It won't be for me." She mumbled under her breath.

"You're going to have to pull yourself together now." He ordered her and she was surprised. "You're having this baby whether it was planned or not but don't be so negative. You're giving this baby an unfair advantage already."

"This kid is stuck with me as a mom it's already an unfair advantage." She said coldly.

"Is it the Billy thing?" he asked her and she cringed. "Is that why you hate this baby?"

"I don't hate it." She sighed. "I just...I just don't want to get my hopes up so much can go wrong and not just physically. If Billy decides to look into this..."

"He wont even know." Punk said to her.

"He'll be entitled to rights." AJ warned him. "I don't want to share my child with him."

"Our child." Punk corrected. "He won't have a leg to stand on- literally." he promised her.

"We should get going." She said walking past him and out of the room.

"For what?" he questioned.

"Work." She told him as he followed her into their bedroom and watched her undress and reach for her work uniform.

"You want to work?" he asked her.

"You just told me I could still go to school if I wanted." AJ reminded him. "I'm feeling better now and I want to work. I can't sit in this house all night waiting for Billy to show up."

"He's not showing up." Punk insisted. "I just don't think working at a crowded busy club surrounded by drunks is the right job for you at the moment."

"You're firing me?" she asked with a laugh.

"No of course not." He assured her. "Maybe you can work on the books for me? Handle orders and stuff?"

"I don't know how to do that." She said shaking her head pulling up her shorts.

"You'll learn." he shrugged.

"I'll stick to the waitressing." AJ informed him.

"No AJ." he groaned.

"Unless you plan on firing me which I suggest you don't because if you even consider it I will be forced to sue you and that will make our wedding awkward." She said with a smile as she put on her chucks.

"You'd sue me?" He asked with a laugh.

"Of course." She smiled teasingly.

"You'd basically be suing yourself because we share money." He pointed out smugly.

"I wouldn't sue you for money." She said to him and he smirked. "I'd sue you for Laundry rights."

"Oh really?" he laughed.

"Yes. I'd sue you and if and win I won you'd have to do laundry forever." She said to him with an excited smile.

"I don't think the courts would waste their time." He informed her.

"They'd hear me out." She said positively.

At that moment the doorbell rang and AJ froze.

"Relax." he said to her.

"It's him he probably broke into my doctors office." She whispered.

"He's a bi-polar psychopath not an intelligent burglar." Punk snorted and walked out of the room.

Punk peeked through the peep hole before opening the door. Hector Mendez stood tall wearing his uniform and Punk stepped aside to let him in.

"Hector." Punk greeted forcefully.

"It's been a couple of days and I was curious-" he stopped when he saw AJ coming down the stairs.

"Now isn't a good time we're on our way to work." AJ told her dad as she grabbed her jacket.

"You're a waitress?" He asked looking at her shirt and she nodded.

"I'm really good at it too." AJ smiled proudly. "Right Phil?"

"I'll be in the car, take your time." Punk said with a smile then walked out the door.

"You must not be that good." Hector smirked.

"He's just concerned." She said zipping her jacket up. "Is there something you needed?"

"Yea Phil came to the station looking for you I wanted to make sure you really wanted to be home and he didn't force you into it." Hector said to her.

"He didn't." She said simply. "That all?"

"Why were you at motel? Or do I not even want to know?" Hector asked.

"I did something stupid and I thought Phil would hate me but as usual I was wrong and he's still the only person in my life that I've ever been able to depend on." She informed him.

"Is that some sort of dig at me?" Hector asked her.

"Take it as you like." She shrugged grabbing her purse now. "I really don't want to be late for work so if you've satisfied your parental needs for this year can I go?"

"Your mother and I would like you to come to dinner." Hector said to her and AJ let out a laugh. "I'm serious April."

"Why?" AJ asked him. "Why the sudden interest?"

"It's not sudden we've been meaning to ask you for a while now." Hector said to her. "I think it's time we all try a little."

"I tried." AJ said to him. "When I found I was pregnant I begged for you guys to not throw me out but I'm not even mad about it because it was the best thing that had ever happened to me."

"You really believe that?" Hector questioned. "You could have been working in a huge law firm by now."

"That was never my dream that was your dream for me." She pointed out. "I wouldn't trade anything for the short amount of time I spent with my son, your grandson in case you didn't realize which I assume you didn't realize since you never met him."

"If you would have spoken to me at the service I would have told you that I regretted never getting the chance to know him." Hector said to her and AJ rolled her eyes.

"You were just upset that it wasn't a service in a church." AJ scoffed.

"Your son wasn't even christened." Hector argued.

"And that drove you and mom crazy. Phil doesn't believe in that." AJ reminded him.

"Maybe if her did-" Hector began.

"Don't you dare." AJ hissed at her father. "What happened to PJ was horrific and Phil carries the guilt on him everyday- it's so visible that it literally breaks my heart so don't you dare say if Phil believed in god things would have turned out differently because I believed in god and he did nothing for me!"

"April." Hector gasped.

"You should go." AJ said opening the door. "We're both just going to have to accept that we can never salvage our relationship because I'm different and don't get all huffy because last time I checked it was you who raised me."

"I'll let your mother know you can't make dinner." Hector said as he walked out the door. AJ waited a minute before walking out herself.

AJ was on cloud nine as Punk flexed into her spread body. Her nails were digging at his back as she kissed his lips and welcomed him into her.

"That's the spot." AJ moaned loudly.

"I know all of your spots." Punk reminded her smugly.

"Oh god!" she groaned slamming her head against the pillow.

"Louder." He commanded and she screamed louder as he moved harder. "If it's too much just tell me."

"It's not." She assured him as her eyes shut tightly.

It didn't take her long to climax but Punk kept moving inside of her. He rolled over so she was on top which he loved because he loved to lay there and let her take over. Her hips moved back and forth and her breasts were dangling over his face as his hands gripped her hips.

"Just like that." Punk encouraged not even having to flinch his hips.

"I know what you like too." She remarked just as smugly.

"You sure do." he grunted and bit on his bottom lip.

AJ kept moving until she felt herself hurling towards another release. She looked down at Punk who was anxious to finish off himself.

"Sorry." She forced out and felt herself come.

Punk rolled her back over and finished inside of her after a few hard thrusts then pulled out completely. AJ rolled onto her side and kissed his cheek before curling into his body.

"I'm glad we left work early." she grinned.

"Me too." He agreed holding her close. "So, what happened with your dad?"

"Nothing." She said to him. "I think he just wanted to make sure I was here of my own free will."

"And are you?" he questioned.

"Of course." She said to him. "I'm still scared."

"That's ok, it's natural." He said to her.

"Yea." She sighed. "I like the baby." she said to him and he nodded. "I know you think I don't but I do I'm just afraid to like it too much, you know?"

"You have to like it a little more." he told her. "The baby feels things in there and it needs to feel your love."

"Do you love the baby?" she questioned.

"Of course I do." Punk said honestly.

"How are you able to love a baby that might not even be yours-" she began.

"Is this how it's always going to be?" he asked cutting her off. "Are you going to constantly throw it in my face that I might not be the father? Like when the kids older are you going to not consult with me on things or let me part of it's life fully?"

"No." she said quietly. "I'm sorry I don't mean it like that."

"Are you going to see me as this child's father?" he asked her.

"I already do." She assured him sitting up. "It's all just been a lot."

"I get that but I told you I'm the father I don't need a test to prove it." He said to her.

"I'm going to have the test done." AJ promised.

"You don't have to, as a matter of fact don't." He said to her. "Nothing is going to change the fact that I'm going to raise this child and be it's father."

"How are you so amazing?" she asked him seriously.

"I was born that way I suppose." He teased seriously. "When's your next appointment?"

"A couple of weeks." She said laying back down. "You're coming?"

"To every single one." He said to her.

"We're going to have to tell your mother." She warned him.

"I don't see why." He said in the same casual tone.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the woman is present in your life and it's going to be her grandchild, more present than my parents." She reminded him. "Izzy will be excited."

"So you're just not going to tell your parents?" he asked her.

"Nope." she said to him. "Why? So they could judge us more? We're actually adults with money now and they'd still think that this child would ruin my life. Oh god." She said to herself quietly.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm my parents." She said to him as the realization hit her.

"No you're not." Punk argued.

"I am!" she said sitting up fully. "I've been so negative and depressed about this baby and I didn't even realize I sound just like my own mother. This baby is going to come out and hate me isn't it?"

"Impossible." He said to her.

"Very possible." She said looking at him. "I'd hate me. Promise me when this baby comes you won't let me be like my parents."

"You won't be." Punk assured her.

"Are you sure you don't mind turning your old room into the nursery?" she questioned.

"Of course not." He said to her.

"But the first six months at least the baby is in here with us." She informed him and he nodded. "I'm going to be a crazy nut just to warn you." she said seriously and he smiled.

"What's the difference?" he asked seriously and she pinched his arm.

"I mean it. I'm going to be that mom that's constantly holding a tiny mirror in front of the baby's face to see their breath and every time the baby twitches or sneezes I'm taking it to the doctor." she warned him.

"And I'll be right next to you doing the same thing." He assured her.

"We need one sane person." She snorted.

"We're sane." he reasoned. "We're just going to be cautious."

"Right." she agreed. "Very cautious but are we going to be so cautious that we're going to smother the baby and it's gong to count down the days until it's 18 so it can leave us?" She asked horrified.

"No." Punk scoffed then frowned. "We won't smother. Even though you can't spell smother without mother."

"Hey." She pouted.

"It won't happen again." Punk said to her. "We can't let what happened to PJ dictate the future of this new child. It's going to be really hard not to but we have to try."

"It is going to be hard." She agreed.

"We've faced hard before." he reminded her.

"We have." She smiled agreeing.

Across town Billy was at his art show. His pieces were all AJ and the pieces he got from PJ's nursery.

"Hey." Denise greeted her cousin. For a fancy event Billy was only wearing a dirty old t-shirt and ripped jeans, his hair was erratic as well.

"You like my pieces?" Billy asked his cousin as Seth stood behind her sipping a glass of champagne.

"They're the same as last time." Denise frowned. "Your mom called me..."

"I'm fine." Billy laughed. "I know that's why she called."

"She wants to know why you are not taking your medication." Denise said to him.

"Because it holds me back." Billy said to her. "I see things differently when I'm free of that."

"You can't be free of it." Denise reasoned. "You're obsessing again."

"Art is my life." Billy told her. "This is art-"

"It's pictures of AJ." Seth snorted.

"I bet you have some good ones." Billy smiled at him.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Denise asked Billy then looked at Seth.

"Nothing." Seth said brushing off the remark.

"Months of sleeping with her and it was nothing?" Billy asked amused and Denise's face dropped.

"That's not-" Seth started but Denise ran off. "What is your fucking problem?"

"You saw the draw to her yourself so don't stand there and shit on my works of art." Billy said to him.

"It's not art!" Seth yelled. "It's stalking if anything." he shot at Billy then walked off in search of his wife.

"Beautiful show." A man smiled walking over to Billy and shaking his hand. "But very similar pieces to your last show."

"Yes I know I'm working on new photos." Billy said to him. "My muse is playing hard to get."

"Don't they all?" the man laughed. "Pretty girl."

"She's very pretty, it's her eyes." Billy agreed. "Deep, soul full, dark- just perfection."

"Is she your girlfriend?" The man asked and Billy nodded. "Lucky man."

"The luckiest." Billy agreed.

"Hope you bring her around next time." The man smiled sipping his glass.

"She's a homebody." Billy shrugged. "But next time I'll bring her out kicking and screaming if I have to."

Punk and AJ were sitting at the kitchen table in his parent's home. The table conversation was basically between AJ and Izzy as they talked about a show they were both watching.

"You're awfully quiet." Catherine noted looking across the table to Punk.

"I have nothing to say." Punk shrugged.

"Phil." AJ whispered kicking him under the table.

"Oh yea I guess I do." Punk said mumbled and looked towards his mother. "AJ and I are getting remarried."
Oh for gods sake." she muttered dropping her fork.

"That's amazing!" Izzy cheered.

"You get to be a bridesmaid." AJ informed her with a grin.

"That's so cool!" Izzy beamed. "Did you hear that mom?"

"You don't have to come." Punk said to his mother.

"How terrible would that look if I didn't show?" His mother asked annoyed.

"We're also having a baby." AJ announced casually and his mother looked about ready to faint.

"A baby!" Izzy asked excitedly. "Congratulations! This is so great!"

"A baby?" Catherine asked the two.

"That's right." Punk confirmed placing his hand over AJ's.

"You know you don't have to get married every time you get her pregnant, right?" Catherine asked him seriously.

"Really? We thought that was standard protocol." Punk said back sarcastically.

"Are you even sure this child is yours?" Catherine asked him and AJ's face fell.

"Of course I'm sure." Punk said annoyed before AJ could respond. "What is the matter with you? Most women of your age would be thrilled to be a grandparent. We're not kids anymore we're both adults and we're having a baby with or without your blessing just like the first time."

"Relax." Catherine said to him. "A baby in the family seems nice after the hard year we had." she said surprising them. "The last five years actually. When are you due?" she asked AJ.

"November." AJ told her and she nodded.

"Perfect time of the year it's not warm or cold just right." Catherine said to them as she began to eat. "I'll throw you a shower."

"I don't want one." AJ announced and Catherine glared at her. "It's too soon to even think about that kind of stuff and I don't want to jinx anything."

"You didn't have a shower for your son." Catherine noted. "You should do one this time around."

"No one offered before." AJ pointed out.

"You're not alone anymore April." Catherine remarked stiffly. "You're not a child anymore and I think this is easier to process than the first time around unless your mother-"

"My parents are going to be as involved as they were the first time around." AJ confided and Catherine seemed surprised. "So not at all."

"That's fine." Catherine said to her. "One grandmother is enough."

"Grandmother?" Punk questioned.

"She's obviously not going anywhere." Catherine said pointing at AJ. "I'm going to embrace this unlike I did the first time around because life is unexpected. Also it's what Anthony would have wanted."

"Dad would have been so excited." Izzy agreed.

"Thank you." AJ said to her quietly.

"You took the news better than I expected." Punk had to admit.

"We're all full of surprises dear." Catherine smiled.

Punk and AJ arrived home after dinner and Punk was still trying to figure his mother out.

"She's planning something obviously." Punk said helping AJ out of her jacket.

"Yea my baby shower clearly." She said to him. "Maybe she really is just trying. I wish my parents would try a bit like your mom is."

"It's out of character for her." Punk argued.

"I think losing your dad might have changed her feelings a bit." AJ reasoned. "And to be honest after she started going into details about the shower I told her I didn't want I'm a little excited."

"Really?" Punk asked her.

"Yea." AJ smiled. "No one's ever thrown me a party before. It is her only grandchild cut her some slack and just be happy she didn't try to stab me."

"That is a relief." He teased.

"If she finds out that this baby isn't her blood-" She began.

"Again? Really?" Punk groaned. "I don't want to talk about it anymore and you told me you'd stop bringing it up."

"I know, I know." She sighed sitting on the couch. "It's just always going to be in my head until I know for sure."

"I told you I didn't want a test." Punk said to her.

"The amino at six months is risky but I've been thinking about it-" She began.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked her. "I don't want to know. I already know what I am to the baby and that's it."

"What if there's genetic issues?" AJ asked him and Punk hadn't thought of that. "The doctor is going to need your medical history and Billy's and how do I go about getting that kind of information without tipping him off?"

"Fuck." Punk muttered.

"What if the baby is bi-polar like him?" AJ asked with wide eyes.

"The baby isn't bi-polar." Punk assured her.

"You don't know that!" she argued. "We didn't consider any of this Phil we have to do the test so at least we know what we're getting ourselves into."

"I really-" He stopped when there was knocking at the door.

"Who is it so late?" she asked standing up but Punk was already at the door and revealed a police officer.

"What did I do now?" Punk asked amused.

"I'm looking for April Mendez." the officer said to him.

"No April Mendez here." Punk told him.

"It's Brooks." AJ corrected walking over to the door. "What could I do for you?"

"Your father has been shot." The officer told her.