Three Is A Crowd
"She's always so hard on herself." AJ shook her head, sitting at the kitchen table feeding Robyn after Punk and Jessica had arrived home. Jessica told her mother all about her competition over a celebratory breakfast, before heading outside in the garden to play with Jo in their tree house.
"I know." Punk nodded, sitting across from AJ, "She has high standards, which is good but… I wish she wasn't so tough with herself." He said, "Reminds me of a certain someone." He nodded with a telling smile as AJ just rolled her eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to do your best." AJ shook her head, "I just don't want her to become disheartened. Trying things and not giving up is the most important part of any lesson." She said as Punk nodded.
"Yeah, she gets that. She's still happy, I can tell. And she was amazing. She could outrun me at this point." He nodded.
"She could outrun you when she was five." AJ laughed a little as he nodded, "Jo didn't leave my side since you left. She's so attached to the baby." She smiled, "She helped me change her diaper, and put her to sleep." She nodded.
"It won't last, let's face it." Punk said, "Jessica was the same when Jo was a baby and then she slowly got fed up of helping." He said as AJ nodded, knowing that to be true.
"It's still sweet." AJ said as Punk nodded.
"Can I see my baby?" Punk stood up as AJ nodded.
"Yeah, you take her." AJ nodded as Punk scooped the baby girl into his arms, keeping the bottle in her little mouth as he sat back down on the chair. AJ smiled to herself as she watched them. To think she was preparing to take Robyn home on her own, and be a single parent again was just terrifying. She wasn't taking any of this miracle for granted.
"Hi, baby." Punk smiled as Robyn looked up at him whilst having her bottle, "Hi." He smiled, "Her eyes are so dreamy." He shook his head as AJ smiled and nodded.
"They are." AJ nodded, "She should probably nap after she has that." AJ nodded, looking at the clock. It felt so weird parenting a new-born again. It wasn't like they weren't familiar with things, but they'd been so used to parenting older children for the time being that it was such a drastic change, a nice change.
"I could take a nap." Punk admitted as AJ smiled.
"Boy me too." AJ laughed.
"I do gotta tell you something." Punk said, "And I hope you don't freak out." He looked across at her as she looked at him worriedly.
"Well… I'm freaking out now." AJ told him, "What?"
"Those agents spoke to me when me and Jessica were leaving the track field. They wanted to let me know that, they haven't been able to locate Jason. As far as they know he's still out there." Punk nodded as AJ gulped, "And Jamie isn't saying shit, apparently Shane is just in denial." He said, "So they told me to just keep an eye out, be aware." Punk nodded, "I wasn't planning on telling you because I knew you would just worry but I knew you'd find out anyway." He shook his head as AJ sighed, "I'm here now, and he's one scared guy out there, he knows the feds are on him, he's not gonna risk me delivering him to them." He said.
"You don't know that." AJ said, "He's evil." AJ nodded.
"I know but… you're safe here with me, alright?" He said, "And those agents are good, they'll be doing everything they can to get him." He nodded.
"I just want it all to be over. Like really over." AJ nodded.
"He's all that's left." Punk said, putting down Robyn's finished bottle before cradling her into his chest and burping her, "They also asked me about coming to work with them again." He rolled his eyes.
"These boys are keen." AJ smiled a little, "Should I be threatened?" She said.
"Maybe." Punk laughed a little, "I think I made myself clear this time. I want a quiet life. Time to spend with my family." He said, "And I couldn't think of anything worse than working somewhere in a suit."
"I think it's sexy." AJ smirked.
"Then I'll wear a suit just for you." Punk nodded as she smiled.
"I'll sleep with one eye open now." AJ admitted.
"Hey, no… no, we carry on as normal, the only way we know how." Punk said, "He'll be hiding in some ditch now anyway." He shook his head as AJ sighed, knowing she had to believe that to get through the fear.
"Mommy, I catched a spider." Jo burst through the back garden door as AJ turned around in horror at Jo with her hands clasped, "Wanna see?" Jo smiled.
"No, I do not." AJ said seriously, "Jo, take that back outside." AJ shook her head, "You know I hate spiders."
"Oh, but they don't do anything." Jo said, "I think this is a big daddy spider." She jumped up and down with excitement.
"Phil." AJ whined, almost in tears as Punk just nodded.
"Jo, c'mon, you know mommy is afraid of the spiders." He said as Jo frowned, "Go put him back outside. He might be looking for his babies." He said as Jo nodded.
"He might be." Jo agreed, "Like if you were looking for me." Jo said as Punk nodded, "Ok, I'll put him back outside so he can find his family but I'd like a pet spider." She told her parents, "For my birthday." She nodded.
"Can I see how big it is?" Punk asked as Jo nodded, whilst AJ almost clung to her chair with her legs up.
Jo walked over to Punk who was still burping Robyn, opening her clasped hands a little as Punk saw the gigantic spider sitting in her little hand, almost taking up the full size.
"See him?" Jo smiled.
"You're a weird kid." Punk shook his head. Even he was disturbed by the size of the spider, "Go, go put it back outside." He nodded as Jo just ran by them and back outside as AJ shook her head.
"She terrifies me." AJ placed her had on her chest, "And don't you dare give in to buying her some sort of… tarantula for her birthday. I'll move out." She warned as Punk laughed, knowing she was being serious.
Meanwhile Jo ran back into their garden, on track to set the spider free where she found him.
"What are you doing?" Jessica asked as she saw Jo crouched down.
"I'm freeing my spider so he can find his babies." Jo smiled as she opened her hands up as the spider crawled out, only this time it crawled towards Jessica on the grass, and just like her mother, Jessica was terrified of spiders.
"Oh my Gosh-" Jessica immediately stomped on the spider, her only natural instinct as it came running towards her with all its legs.
"Jessica!" Jo screamed in horror as Jessica wiped her converse off the grass as Jo looked on in horror, "Why would you do that?" Jo immediately began to cry, "He had… he had a family." She cried.
"How do you know? Stop being a baby." Jessica rolled her eyes, even though she felt a little bad.
"How would you like it if… if someone came and stepped on our daddy? And squashed him?" Jo cried a lot of tears, starting to cry so much she was losing her breath, "You're so mean." Jo pushed her as hard as she could.
"Hey, don't push me." Jessica pushed Jo back. Jo then pulled Jessica's hair hard as Jessica yelped and pulled Jo's, making her cry even more.
Meanwhile Punk had passed Robyn over to AJ once they both began to hear fighting and crying coming from the garden, "Hey!" Punk walked into the garden where he saw Jo on top of Jessica pulling her arm and trying to bite her, "Hey!" Punk yelled a little scarier, immediately lifting Jo up from Jessica, "What the hell is going on?" He asked them both.
"Jessica killed my spider." Jo cried, wiping her very wet face at this point.
"I hate spiders and it came running at me." Jessica said, "She's… she is crazy." Jessica pointed to Jo.
"Don't… don't call her that." Punk said, "Why are you both rolling around the garden fighting?" Punk shook his head. He always thought fathering two, now three daughters would mean tea parties, playing dress-up, having his nails painted, yet here he was separating his two oldest children from breaking each other's arms.
"She started it." Jessica said.
"You killed my nice spider. Daddy he had babies." Jo cried as Jessica just shook her head.
"You're such a baby." Jessica said, "You hurt my arm." She admitted, feeling her arm a little sore from her sister twisting and tugging on it.
"You deserve it." Jo spat angrily, "I hope it hurts." She said childishly.
"I only want Robyn as a sister." Jessica said, equally as childish.
"I only want Robyn as my sister." Jo said whilst Punk stood and watched them go back and forth.
"Robyn hates you." Jessica nodded, "And mom and dad hate you. They want to send you away to a different country in a cardboard box." She said as Jo gasped.
"No we don't." Punk rolled his eyes, "Jessica, stop it." Punk warned, "I think you should both just make up." He shook his head tiredly.
"No." Jo said, "No, she killed my spider. Daddy, she stomped on him and squashed him." Jo cried.
"I didn't mean to, it was coming towards me and I hate them. Your weird for picking them up." Jessica shook her head.
"There's nothing wrong with them." Jo argued.
"They're disgusting like you." Jessica said.
"Jessica." Punk warned.
"They're disgusting like you." Jo mimicked.
"Jo." Punk warned.
"I wish I could step on you and squash you so you'd disappear forever." Jessica shook her head, of course not meaning a single word of that.
"Jessica." Punk said angrily as he began to get fed up of their squabbling. Meanwhile Jo seemed to have no fight left in her as she ran away to her tree house upset, climbing up the stairs rapidly and hiding under the roof so no one could see her, "Really?" Punk turned to Jessica who just shrugged, "That wasn't very nice. You know she believes all of that stuff that you say to her."
"She's annoying and weird." Jessica said.
"You're older and you're supposed to look out for her, Jessica." Punk said, "Not bring her down."
"She started fighting with me. You always take her side!" Jessica yelled, running in the opposite direction back into the house as Punk stood with his hands on his hips in the middle of the now empty garden.
"Great." Punk nodded to himself, walking back into the house where AJ was sat with Robyn.
"What is going on?" AJ shook her head, "Jessica just ran past and is away upstairs." She shook her head.
"Can I just-" He picked Robyn up from her and cradled her into his chest as AJ shook her head, "I'm so glad she can't speak." Punk said, kissing the baby's head softly as AJ just laughed a little. Three kids was going to be a crazy ride for sure.
