Everything is not what it seems
Punk went to bed that night without making contact with AJ. She asked if he was ok, and to that he just nodded and closed his eyes. He didn't want to talk or think about it. He didn't know how to feel about it all but he knew he wanted it to go away.
The next morning AJ got up for Punk, leaving Punk sleeping along with the kids and going straight to the office. She hated to leave him when he needed someone around, but perhaps the best thing for him was to just be alone and have time to think.
On her way to work she always stopped by a coffee shop to get her morning coffee, and when coming out of the shop, she felt a heavy hand grab her free arm and pull her over to the side.
"What the-"
"I need more money." Kirin said as AJ shook her hand from her.
"I just gave you some." AJ said, "Don't just grab me on the street when I'm going to work." She spat.
"You have to give me more." Kirin said desperately.
"No." AJ said firmly.
"You really want Punk to know what you've been doing?" Kirin smirked.
"I have nothing to hide. I've done nothing that will break our relationship. And I am going to tell him the truth, so you can stop holding it against me." She spat.
"Al said you weren't as sweet as you look." Kirin smiled.
"Well you have been blackmailing me for the past four weeks." AJ spat, "Forgive me if I'm not giving you sweet vibes." She said, "This ends here. You're on your own." She began to walk away as Kirin pulled her back with a more serious looking face.
"How is Joni?" Kirin asked, "How come you never mentioned Joey shot her?"
"Because I didn't think you'd care." AJ said, "She's fine. Not that it really concerns you-"
"I'm her mother." Kirin batted.
"No you aren't." AJ laughed, "I am."
"I do like you, AJ." Kirin said, "From one kid in care to the other, I really like you." She nodded, "But I can't help feel you've taken everything that was supposed to be mine."
"I took it because you left it." AJ said, "Punk chose Joni over you, so you left. You were too selfish to put someone else before you, so you left." AJ said, "You could have had a wedding ring and more children. I know Punk loved you and wanted to make things work. But you blew it. No one else." AJ spat harshly, "People like you… they blame everyone else around them when they are the source of all their problems." She said, backing Kirin up against the wall, "He is mine now. Not yours. We have our family. And that's the way it's always gonna be. Do you get that?" She asked hastily as Kirin just nodded quickly.
"Yeah." Kirin said as AJ backed off.
"Good." AJ said, "No more money. No more pulling me down streets when I'm on my way to work. Enough." She said, walking away and down the street as Kirin folded her arms like a child that hadn't got what they wanted. Maybe she had underestimated AJ, but her threats wasn't going to stop her.
Punk had woke up, obviously aware that AJ was at work. He could hear the TV on downstairs which was obviously Joni. She'd been getting up by herself and wandering downstairs at the weekends, sometimes making her own bowl of cereal and enjoying the TV programmes she watched. Normally AJ and Punk would both be up, but he'd slept later on this morning.
He walked away into Bradley's room, smiling as he seen him sitting up in his cot, not a peep out of him, holding his stuffed lion and looking up at his father when he approached the cot.
"Hey, buddy. You want breakfast?" He asked as he lifted his hands up to be lifted up, which Punk did, perching him on to the side of his hip, "Did you have a good sleep?" He asked him as he walked down the stairs, of course not expecting a reply, "I didn't, little man. Daddy tossed and turned all night." He said, reaching the bottom of the stairs and peaking his head into the living room, "Hey, Jo." He said as Joni smiled up at him, "You get breakfast?"
"Yeah, I had cereal." Joni nodded, still in her pyjamas.
"You wanna come help feed your brother?" Punk asked as Joni nodded, jumping up with excitement and running away into the kitchen as Punk followed, putting Bradley in his high chair and preparing the jar of baby food AJ had left out for his breakfast. He and AJ both thought it was important that Joni was involved with taking care of Bradley, because they both wanted them to get on as they grew older.
"His food always look yucky." Joni laughed, sitting at the kitchen table with Bradley at the top in his high chair, waiting on his breakfast.
"That's because it is." Punk said. It was the only time where he hadn't thought about all that had gone on last night. He was concentrated on his kids and nothing else.
"When can he start having proper dinner with us?" Joni asked.
"When he gets older." Punk said, "His teeth still aren't all through yet." He said.
"Is that why his food is all mushy?" She asked.
"Yep." Punk nodded, walking over to the table and putting down Bradley's breakfast, sliding it over to Joni who loved to feed her brother. She'd done it before and knew the procedure.
"Ahhh!" Joni shouted as Punk smiled, watching as Bradley opened his mouth like Joni was demonstrating and began to enjoy the spoonfuls of whatever it was he was eating.
"You're getting good at that." Punk nodded as Joni smiled proudly, "Hey, you know how we talked before about… how I don't see my mom or my… dad." Punk said as Joni nodded, "Well what do you think I should do if… if my mom came to see me?" He asked her curiously. Yes, he was asking a seven year old their opinion on all of this.
"She's your mom. You should be nice to her." Joni said sweetly.
"But she didn't want me before." Punk said, as if having a serious conversation at a meeting, folding his arms and leaning them on the table.
"She might want you now." Joni shrugged as Punk just smiled. The words she spoke were wise. He always knew she was intelligent, but he was extremely proud of her.
"And if she does what should I do?" Punk asked her.
"You should talk to her and give her a chance." Joni said as Punk just sighed, sitting back on the chair, watching as Joni raised the small spoon to Bradley, giggling as he spilled some over his face. He watched her as she stood up, leaving Bradley worried as he turned his head to see where she was going.
Punk smiled as she came back with a wipe, wiping his face and going back to feeding him, "This is what mom does." Joni said as Punk nodded with a smile.
"You like looking after him?" He smiled as she nodded.
"Yeah." Joni smiled.
"Good." Punk said, "Because you're gonna have to look out for him. You're his big sister." He smiled, "You gotta be there for him."
"I will be." She said cheerfully as Punk smiled.
He could either be a stick in the mud, and hold his mother's own mistakes against her, or he could do as his daughter says and talk with her. He could definitely say that she had a very justified reason for giving him away. It didn't break his heart any less but it made things a lot clearer for him.
Meanwhile AJ was at work and was in the copy room, photo copying some documents when she seen Chris walk in. He had a swollen, black eye, as well as stitches on his lower lip and above his eyebrow.
She couldn't not ask, "What happened to you?" She said, not having eye contact but seeing him glare at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Very funny." Chris spat.
"What?" AJ looked up, "I'm serious. What happened?" She asked.
"Oh, I tripped." Chris said sarcastically as AJ folded her arms.
"I'm just trying to be nice. But whatever." AJ said as Chris soon realised she actually didn't know.
"You don't know?" He said.
"Know what?" AJ shook her head as Chris grinned. He'd been thinking of ways to turn this perfect couple inside out.
"Your husband done this to me." He said as AJ laughed a little.
"Ok. Good one." AJ laughed, going back to the photo copier.
"I'm serious." Chris said, walking over to her, "I begged him to stop. He wouldn't. He said I'd to stop harassing you both. Something about a letter too." Chris shook his head with confusion.
"Oh my god." AJ gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. She'd forgotten she had allowed Punk to believe that the letter was from Chris. Really it was from Kirin but she couldn't have told him that. And she couldn't have told him the letter was actually real.
"I mean… I get I was annoying you both, but I didn't think he'd almost kill me." He said, "You should have seen him, April. He was like a monster." He said, "Forgive me, but what if one day you do him wrong and he takes it on you like this." He pointed to his face.
"He would never-"
"You don't know." Chris said, "This is what I was talking about from the start." He placed a hand on her arm comfortingly.
"I'm so sorry he done this to you." AJ shook her head. It explained the blood she spotted on his cheek last night. She felt bad for Chris. She'd blamed him to hide her own secrets that Kirin was threatening against her. Yeah, he might have deserved a punch or two, but it looked like Punk had gone to town on him. She was mad with him. How he could just head out casually and do this to someone hurt her.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." Chris shook his head, "This is all him." He said.
"No… no, it's not. I've got myself in such a mess." She shook her head, placing her hand over her forehead, feeling a little light headed.
"Here, take a seat." Chris said, guiding her over to the chair in the copy room, "Talk to me. What's wrong?"
Later on, Dean had come round to the house to take Joni and Bradley out. Punk had called the guys to explain to them about his mother appearing suddenly. They were all shocked with nothing really to say, like he expected. Dean volunteered, hinting to Punk that it might brighten him up a little, if he took the kids to the park. Of course Punk allowed him to and he found himself with an empty house.
He was fighting with himself whilst sitting on the couch, looking at the piece of paper his mother had gave him with her address and phone number on it. He wanted to call her and tell her he was willing to work it out with her, but he still had his doubts.
He was stopped out of his thoughts when there was a knock at the front door.
He sat the piece of paper over and stood up, heading out of the living room and to the front door, opening it up and seeing Kirin standing, arms folded with a smirk on her face.
"Miss me?" She smiled, walking on in without Punk's permission, walking through the hall and into the living room as Punk rolled his eyes.
"Not at all." Punk said, walking into the living room after her, "What are you doing here? I thought you went back to New York?"
"I came back when I found out my brother was in prison." She said, "I didn't find out until a few days ago that he shot Joni, so now I'm here for absolutely no reason." She said, sitting down, removing Bradley's toys that she had sat on, throwing them on the floor.
"So why are you here? In my house? If Joey is no interest to you anymore then go back to where you came from." Punk said.
"I'm getting a good supply of money here. I have a good apartment. I'm quite happy here now."
"Well fine, but that doesn't mean you have to be around me or my family." Punk folded his arms.
"Oh, Punk. Stop pretending you're over me." She laughed a little.
"I am over you. So over you." He said, "I'm happy with my kids and my wife." He said.
"But is your wife happy with you?" Kirin asked, standing up.
"Of course she is." Punk spat as Kirin dug into her purse, opening up the envelope and pouring out all the letters onto the floor, "What is that?"
"Letters your wife has been receiving from her ex." She said, "She isn't your sweet little April, alright? She's fucked up. Just like me." She said, watching Punk pick up one of the letters.
"Why would she lie to me?" He said as he read the letter with a sigh, "You were the one that sent the letter through the door the other night?"
"Yep." Kirin grinned, folding her arms as Punk sighed, suddenly realising he had bet Chris up last night for nothing, "I've been blackmailing AJ for the past four weeks. I've promised to keep her secret a secret as long as she supplied me with money, but she told me today, rather forcefully actually, that she wasn't paying anymore, so I'm not staying quiet." She smiled, "And plus, I don't want to see you hurt." She pouted.
"You've been blackmailing my wife?" Punk spat, eyes burning holes through her.
"And just. She's a little fiery thing. Must be hot in bed." She smirked, "I don't swing that sort of way but I think us three could do sweet things together." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him as he pushed them away.
"You're sick." Punk said.
"Oh, please." Kirin laughed, backing away, "You'd love to fuck us both at the same time." She laughed, "But you're over me, so I guess not." She said.
"So what are you getting out of this?" He asked.
"Well I was getting money." Kirin said, "But not anymore." She said, "Maybe I'll just sit back now and watch you two crumble and fall apart." She smirked, "It's destined to happen."
"You think?" Punk asked.
"Oh, I know. She is exactly like me, Punk." Kirin said seriously, "She's twisted. Cold. Sick. She's me… just without the drugs and the alcohol." Kirin said, walking towards him, "That's why you love her so much." She said as Punk looked at her. He couldn't believe something she had said had actually made sense.
"AJ is nothing like you." Punk spat, of course defending his wife regardless of what his mind was thinking.
"Oh, she is." Kirin said, "Good luck with figuring all this out." She said, "I was just the messenger."
"Why can't you just leave?" He spat frustratedly.
"Because I'm gonna be here when you need that shoulder to cry on." She smiled, pressing her hand against his cheek sweetly as he just back away, "I'll see myself out." She said as she walked out, leaving Punk gathering the letters and shaking his head. He couldn't believe AJ would lie to his face like this. The letters weren't much to be getting scared about, it looked like her replies were telling him to stop writing, but he was still mad she had lied and was writing to her ex who was clearly interested in her.
Meanwhile at the park, Dean was sitting on the bench with Bradley in his stroller whilst keeping an eye on Joni. He was casually enjoying the fresh air when a ball was kicked his way. He was too slow to realise who kicked it, but he picked it up anyway, standing up as he watched a black haired girl run towards him.
"Sorry." She said in her English accent as Dean smiled.
"It's ok." Dean smiled, passing the ball to her as she tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at him.
"My son has a bad aim." She said as he laughed a little.
"Me too." Dean said as she smiled, backing away nervously as he watched her run off back to the little boy waiting on her.
Dean sat back down on the bench, turning to Bradley who sat staring up at him, smiling as he turned back to the young girl running around with her son. He couldn't not look at her.
A/N: Let me know what you're all thinking!
