Decision

"I'm going to unpack my bags and do some washings." Janine told Punk who still couldn't really say anything, "You're not gonna faint on me, are you?" She smiled as Punk just looked at her, "Ok, look I know this is scary and I heard you loud and clear weeks ago when you said you weren't ready for kids. I don't think I really was either. But… I don't think anyone is ever ready for this type of thing."

"When'd you find out?" Punk asked.

"A… a few days ago." Janine nodded, "I knew it wasn't exactly a phone conversation and… I had to put on my big girl pants and come home. Work this thing out." She said as Punk nodded slowly.

"Ok." Punk said, leaning back against the kitchen counter to support his weight, otherwise he really felt like he'd collapse at any minute.

"It's gonna sink in, baby. You're just in shock." Janine smiled, "I felt the same way." She nodded.

"Did you feel like you uh… you couldn't breathe?" He gasped a little, "Cause that's how I feel." He laughed nervously as she smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, same feeling." Janine assured him, "Tell me we'll make this work." She nodded, "For our baby." She said as Punk looked across at her.

He was truly at a loss for words and thoughts. He had accepted that his marriage was over for a while, but now even more so because he was completely in love with another woman. To hear this news… it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. Maybe the right thing to do was continue to tell Janine the truth. To tell her that he had been sleeping with another woman for three weeks. That he was in love with her and wanted to be with her. But he couldn't just think about himself now. This woman was carrying his child.

"Do you mind if I uh… I go to Dean's for a little bit?" Punk asked, "Sorry, I just… I think I need some fresh air." He said as she nodded.

"Ok, yeah. Just don't tell him about the baby." She said immediately as he looked across at her, "I'm still very very early. No one knows." She said as Punk nodded.

"Ok, yeah." Punk gulped.

"Promise?" She smiled, walking over to him as he nodded, "Ok." She nodded, leaning up and kissing him. It hurt him to kiss back. His heart wasn't in the right place. His heart wasn't hers anymore, but she didn't know that.

"I'm gonna go unpack my bags." Janine smiled, pulling back from the kiss as he nodded.

"Ok." He smiled.

"When you get back we can talk more, yeah?" Janine nodded.

"Yeah ok." Punk nodded along, watching her leave the kitchen, taking her bags upstairs as he immediately headed for the door.

"She's fucking pregnant." Punk sat down on Dean's couch, "She's actually pregnant." He stood back up, not knowing what to do with himself.

"Who is?" Dean asked, "Your girlfriend or your wife?"

"Fuck off." Punk nodded seriously as Dean realised he wasn't in the mood for jokes, "Janine." He gritted his teeth, "She's pregnant. Literally pregnant with my kid."

"She is?" Dean questioned.

"Yes. She just told me." Punk said, "She came back tonight. I brought up divorce. I was calling it off, man. I was… I was gonna tell her everything. I was telling her everything and then she… she hit me with that."

"Shit." Dean sighed to himself, "How pregnant is she?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe like… six weeks or something." Punk guessed, "She said I've not to tell you because she's still really early but I gotta talk to someone about it." He shook his head.

"Is she gonna have the baby?" Dean asked.

"Well yeah, it sounds like it." Punk said, "I literally can't believe this is happening." He shook his head, sitting down on the couch, placing his hands on his head as Dean watched him sadly.

"What are you going to do?" Dean asked.

"I gotta tell her." Punk said, removing his hands from his head, "I gotta. I'm not… I'm not lying to her whilst she's pregnant with my kid."

"Exactly. She's pregnant with your kid. What do you think she's gonna do when she finds out what you've been doing these past few weeks?" Dean asked as Punk looked across at him, "She is out of your life, with the kid. Think about that for a second." He said as Punk placed his hands over his mouth.

"So… so what do I do? Do I lie? Never tell her?" Punk shook his head, "I'm not in love with her, Dean. I love…" He sighed to himself, "This girl I've been seeing. I'm in love with her."

"She's not the one carrying your kid, though." Dean said.

"So what you think I gotta just ignore everything because she's pregnant?" Punk asked, "Be the couple who stayed together for a baby and not each other?" He asked.

"Well hey, man. If you wanna walk away from your kid, go ahead. I mean it would fit with how you've been acting lately." Dean nodded.

"Shut your mouth." Punk nodded, "I'm having a fucking nightmare here and you're not helping." He said.

"What do you want me to do?" Dean asked, "This is your mess. You put yourself in this situation." He said, "Either you break your own heart and suck it up. Or you break hers and lose your kid." He said. Tough love was all he had for his brother right now.

"I can't even believe there is going to be a kid." Punk shook his head, "How do I go home now and look her in the eye, tell her that everything will work out when I… I don't even love her." Punk said.

"I don't know, buddy. This is a shit situation for everyone." Dean nodded, "I just know that Janine is the type of woman who will take you to court and gain full custody of your kid. Or better that, she'll just disappear and you'll never be involved." He said, "And I… I can't bear to watch you go through that."

"But what am I supposed to do, Dean? I love someone else. It's her I want to be with." Punk said. It made him realise just how in love he was with AJ, when he still couldn't get her out of his head, even with the bombshell his wife had just dropped.

"I don't know." Dean shook his head, "I just… I don't wanna see you lose everything. A baby changes everything. I mean you're gonna be a dad." He smiled a little as Punk gulped.

"I'm gonna be a dad." Punk whispered to himself, feeling sick at the thought yet knowing his priority had to lie there.

"Hey, baby. I thought you'd be at Dean's for longer." Janine smiled, walking out of the on suite bathroom in their bedroom which Punk had come into after making his way home.

"I uh… I just got some fresh air and stopped by to say hi to him." Punk nodded to her as she smiled.

"Desperate to tell him about the baby?" Janine smiled.

"Yeah." Punk nodded. Already told him he thought, shamefully.

"I know, I can't wait to start telling people." Janine said, "Especially my mom. She's gonna be so happy. So happy." She smiled to herself as Punk looked across at her. Despite his own problems, he saw the smile on her face. He saw her willingness to make it work with him and… he only wished he felt the same.

"I'm surprised you never told her when you found out." Punk said.

"It was hard not to." Janine nodded, "But… I'm only a few weeks gone probably. Pregnancies can be unpredictable." She said as he nodded.

"You feel healthy?" Punk asked her as she smiled.

"Yeah, I feel good." Janine nodded, "Really good."

"You look really happy." Punk smiled.

"I am." Janine nodded to him.

"Look, about everything I said earlier-"

"I don't blame you." Janine said, "Our marriage has been terrible lately, I know that." She nodded, "But… this is our baby. That changes everything, doesn't it?" She asked him.

"Yeah. It does." Punk walked over to her, "Changes everything." He said as she smiled.

"Are you scared?" Janine asked him.

"Terrified." He nodded.

"Me too." She agreed, "Good to know we're on the same page." She laughed a little.

"Yeah." Punk smiled, looking across at her, "We'll make this work." He nodded, his heart beating faster as he said it, detecting the lies he was telling himself and her. Simply because it was the easier thing to do. He'd never hated himself more. It wasn't a particularly good time to think of himself as being any kind of good father.

"Yeah?" Janine smiled with relief as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it's gonna work out." He nodded, cupping her cheeks softly as she smiled, hugging into him.

"Mmm, I love you." She smiled, relaxed as Punk leaned his chin on her head, hugging her back tightly.

"I love you too." He said quietly.

"Hey." AJ smiled big as she saw Punk coming into the bar the next afternoon, "Little early for a water, isn't it?" She said as Punk smiled. He hadn't even said anything yet and he was already hurting. Just seeing her smile was hurting him. Because he knew he had to let that smile go.

"Yeah, I uh… I actually came here to talk to you." Punk nodded, "Would you be able to go outside?" He asked as AJ looked across at him with concern.

"Are you ok?" She asked him as he nodded.

"Yeah." He lied, watching her come out from behind the bar, walking around and heading outside of the bar with him.

"What's going on?" AJ asked him, "You know I can't leave in the middle of the day." She smirked a little, only assuming he'd come by for their usual rendezvous.

"This has to stop." Punk nodded as her face dropped.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Janine came back last night and uh… well she's pregnant." He put his hands on his hips as AJ raised her eyebrows, "She's pregnant so uh… we can't… this can't go on-"

"She's pregnant?" AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, looking down at the ground as AJ looked at him, "April, I… this wasn't how things were supposed to go-"

"And yet…" She whispered to herself, feeling slightly foolish for ever thinking this could have gone her way, "That's what I get for sleeping with a married man." She figured, "Karma, right?"

"N-No… this, this isn't your fault. I dragged you into this. I'm the one to blame here, from all angles." Punk said as she looked at him, "I promised you this wouldn't happen."

"Yeah, you did." AJ remembered. She remembered the hope it gave her, "So you're gonna just settle?" She assumed, "The couple who stays together for a baby?" She nodded.

"I can't leave her." Punk shook his head.

"Hey, I get it." AJ put her hands up.

"You don't have to. You can hate me. You should hate me." He said, "And this is killing me because I… it's you who I want." He nodded as she looked up at him, "And I didn't lie to you when I said I loved you. I do." He assured her. He needed her to know that.

'So… I just become the other girl." AJ nodded to herself. Of course it hurt. She was in love with this man. She thought they could have had a future. She thought he was the one.

"No, you… you were never just the other girl." Punk shook his head, "You have to believe me."

"If I could do something to make sure I didn't lose you, I would." He said, "But… she's having my baby. I can't leave now and… if I did I'd never see my kid." He shook his head, "And hey maybe I don't deserve to but… I have to be there for her."

"I get it." AJ nodded vaguely.

"These past few weeks-"

"You don't have to go on about it. You don't have to tell me things you think I wanna hear. It doesn't make anything better. You go back to your wife and I'll… go do whatever. Just like I thought would happen." She shrugged, "It's fine." She nodded. Her heart physically hurt. It was not fine.

"April-"

"Congratulations." AJ whispered, bowing her head as she walked off back into the bar, making sure he didn't see her crying. She waited until she reached the bathrooms in the bar, locking herself in a cubicle, sitting down on the toilet and sobbing to herself.