Everything Changes
"Phil, baby remember we're doing that class tonight." AJ said, scratching the back of Punk's neck sweetly as she came into the kitchen early in the morning before heading off to work.
"What time?" Punk asked, sitting at the table with Cassie.
"8pm." AJ said.
"I didn't have to read anything, did I?" Punk asked her.
"No, it's the first class." AJ shook her head.
"So why have you been reading stuff?" Punk asked curiously.
"Well I… I wanna impress the teacher." AJ shrugged as Cassie chuckled.
"I think this is so cute." Cassie said.
"Cute?" Punk shook his head, "April, when did we resign to the cute department? That makes me feel old." He said.
"No, you know I love little old couples doing things together." Cassie smiled, eating her cereal.
"Um, little old couples?" AJ turned around.
"Well you guys aren't exactly new to the world, are you?" Cassie scoffed, "I just don't see you guys lasting." She shrugged.
"Why?" AJ asked, a little amused.
"Well you're… mom and dad. You goof off too much." Cassie said, "High school was difficult, you know." She said.
"Yeah and that's why we're doing it." AJ nodded, "Right, Phil?" She tapped his arm as he was reading the paper, "Phil?" She pushed him as he looked up.
"Huh?" He asked, not paying attention, "Yeah, yeah we wanna do this." He nodded.
"I just think it's gonna be funny when you guys get kicked out of school… for a second time. I don't think anyone can say that." Cassie said.
"Well thanks for having faith in us, Cassie. It's always appreciated." AJ said as Cassie smiled and nodded, "I'll see you later. Don't be late." She told Punk, kissing him sweetly.
"Can I bring snacks?" He asked her as she shoved his face.
"Idiot." AJ scoffed, "Goodbye!" She called, leaving the kitchen and heading off to work.
"You don't actually wanna do this, do you?" Cassie asked Punk.
It had been a few weeks later. The shock of the incident that took place on the docks was starting to die down. Thea and Dominic were in the process of trying to move back to Chicago. Cassie was still on leave from the station but was hoping to be back soon after her review was finished. Jude and Sean were putting their focus onto getting everything ready for the baby coming in a month. All felt settled, but the struggles within all of them were still there.
"I do." Punk said, "I think it'll be fun."
"Fun? You're in your fifties, dad. You should be falling asleep on the couch. Not… going back to school." Cassie chuckled a little, "Unless… you're both doing this because you feel old." She wondered.
"That's not why we're doing it." Punk assured her, "It was your mom's idea and I think it's great."
"Why is she so desperate to do it? It's not like she's in a shit job. She's a frickin boss lady-"
"It's not about her job. It's about… her wanting to have gone through the high school process thing." Punk waved his hand, "She talked to me about it before everything happened with Thea and all that stuff. She said she was gonna ask me if I wanted to go with her and then… Thea's problem came to the surface and it got put on the back burner." Punk said.
"Oh." Cassie nodded slowly.
"Look, she might be mad that I'm telling you this but… your mom hasn't really done anything for herself in a long time. And she's not mad about it, but I know that she wishes maybe certain things had been different. I know she wishes her high school experience was different." He said, "And this is the first thing she's really doing for herself and not for me or for you girls." He nodded.
"Oh." Cassie said, "I… I guess I didn't think about it like that." She said, "She really wants to do this?"
"She does and… now that things have sort of calmed down, it's a good time, and I really wanna do it with her." He said, "Plus it's never too late to get an education." He nodded.
"Yeah, you're right." Cassie smiled, "You guys are sweet."
"I know we are." Punk nodded, closing the paper up, "Ok, I gotta go to work." He said, "You need to figure out your own dinner tonight because I will be at school." He nodded, tapping the paper off her head as she chuckled.
"Have a good day at school, dad." Cassie smiled, amused by that sentence coming out of her mouth.
"Later." Punk called, leaving the house as Cassie smiled to herself.
"They're going to school?" Jude questioned, standing in the nursery later on that day where Cassie and Thea were sitting on the floor, watching her paint.
"Yeah, well it's like night time classes." Cassie explained.
"That's kinda sad." Thea said.
"No it's not." Cassie shook her head, "Mom really wants to do it and… she never does things for herself." She said, "I think it's sweet actually."
"Yeah, I guess." Thea nodded, "You think they feel like they missed out? Because they didn't finish high school?" She asked her sisters.
"What's there to miss?" Jude scoffed, concentrating on her painting, having turned her baby daughter's nursery into a wildlife safari painting.
"Come on, high school was fun." Thea said.
"Yeah, to you, because you were popular." Jude nodded, "I couldn't wait to get out of there."
"I didn't mind it." Cassie shrugged.
"I wasn't popular." Thea shook her head.
"People knew your name. Yes you were." Jude scoffed, "I was called Jude the prude for four years in high school."
"Why?" Cassie scoffed.
"Because I didn't put out for some guy and then he went and told everyone or… word got around somehow." She said, "I just didn't want to have sex with him." She shook her head.
"Yeah we… definitely didn't not have the same high school experience." Thea nodded with shame, "Didn't you lose your V card to someone on the football team?" She asked.
"Yeah." Jude said, "He was kinda weird, though. Kept asking me if I was ok every two seconds." She rolled her eyes.
"Still… guy on the football team? Score. Literally." Thea said.
"Who did you lose it with?" Cassie turned to Thea who looked down.
"Jackson." Thea said quietly.
"You can say his name, don't worry." Jude assured her.
"No sex story will ever be as embarrassing as you throwing up on that guy's dick, though. That's still the greatest thing ever." Thea nodded to Cassie.
"What did he even say to you?" Jude laughed.
"He was fine." Cassie shrugged, "He felt all bad about it like… sorry I… almost choked you to death." She shook her head.
"You must have been putting in the work." Thea chuckled.
"Shut up." Cassie pushed her as Jude chuckled.
"You guys are supposed to be building the changing table." Jude said, kneeling down to continue her painting.
"We're having a break." Cassie said.
"A break from what? Looking at the instructions?" Jude shook her head.
"I forgot how good you were." Thea admitted, looking at the half-painted nursery which was pretty remarkable.
"Well we all can't be as talented as me." Jude said to them as they chuckled, "How is the house hunting going?" She asked Thea.
"Not great. We haven't come across anything we like yet." Thea said, "Good news is I manage to get my old placement back at the hospital."
"Well that is good." Cassie nodded, "It'll probably take some time to find a house that's right."
"Yeah, I know." Thea nodded, "What about you? When you back at work?"
"Not sure." Cassie said, "I mean I've done all the evaluations, the interviews, I'm kinda just waiting for them to give me the green light." She said, "I'm just dreading getting partnered up with someone new. It's just… it's gonna feel weird. Like I'm betraying Theo or something."
"Were you sleeping with him?" Thea asked.
"Thea." Jude turned around, "You can't… ask her that."
"Why not?" Thea said, "It's just a question."
"Yeah, I was." Cassie answered, "It was just… casual, I guess. Friends who had sex." She said, "Think I liked him, though. And… annoyingly, I think he liked me." She said as Thea sighed to herself.
"You don't have to forget about him, you know." Jude nodded.
"Yeah, I know." Cassie sighed, "It's just kinda difficult, especially when we didn't get to talk about how we felt. Makes you realise you gotta say how you feel and tell people you love them whilst they're here. You never know what could happen-"
"You loved him?" Thea asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Cassie nodded, "He was just nice without being too nice, if you know what I mean. It was a good balance of being an idiot and being a really good person."
"Yeah, those guys are good." Thea nodded, "I wish we could have met him." She said.
"Yeah, me too." Cassie said, "You guys would have liked him." She nodded.
"So… Jude, what if she doesn't like animals?" Thea asked, "I mean, you got lions and bears… monkey's…" She looked around the nursery wall.
"You think she won't?" Jude asked worriedly as Thea laughed a little.
"I'm just kidding. She's only interested in sleeping and eating for the first few months anyway." Thea said.
"How painful is it?" Jude asked, "I asked mom and she was just like… oh, it's a little painful but it's over quickly and you'll be fine." She rolled her eyes, "I want a real answer."
"Oh, it's agony." Thea nodded, "Worst pain ever. Literally when I was having Sofia I thought my ass was gonna fall off." She said as Cassie turned to her.
"Why your ass?" Cassie asked.
"I don't know, there's a lot going on down there." Thea shook her head.
"I'm supposed doing it without any drugs." Jude said as Thea shook her head.
"Well that's just dumb. Take the drugs." Thea rolled her eyes.
"I didn't want to. I have a plan." Jude said, "I already have my bag packed."
"You're a month away from your due date." Cassie chuckled a little.
"Yeah but I wanna be prepared." Jude shrugged as Thea smiled.
"You're gonna be fine. Mom is right, it is over really quickly, if you're lucky." Thea nodded.
"You thought about names?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah we have one picked out." Jude smiled.
"Oh, tell us." Thea said.
"No." Jude shook her head possessively, "You'll find out when she's here." She said.
"Give us a clue. You're not naming her after some artist, are you?" Thea scoffed.
"No." Jude shook her head, "Ok, the name begins with an M."
"And which one of us are you giving her middle name to?" Cassie smiled.
"Actually…" Jude said, "Her middle name is gonna be April." She nodded.
"Oh, that's sweet. Mom will cry about that." Cassie said.
"You're a kiss ass." Thea scoffed as Jude chuckled.
"I'll come over there and paint your face." Jude warned.
"Yeah, it'll take you a while to get over here, fatty. I'm not scared." Thea said as Jude shook her head, turning back around as they chuckled.
"So you're off to school?" Dean laughed a little, heading away from the docks later that night after he and Punk's shift was over.
"Yeah, I got a class at 8pm. I'm meeting Ape there." Punk nodded, "It's ridiculous but I actually feel nervous."
"Why are you even doing this?" Dean chuckled, "I mean is it really gonna add anything to your life?"
"No, maybe not but… April wants to do it and I want to do it with her." Punk said, "She wants to do this for her and I think it's a good idea."
"Is she having a midlife crisis?" Dean assumed.
"What? No." Punk scoffed, "No, she's just… doing something for herself for once. She's always doing everything for everyone else. And she's not mad about that. It's not like she's resenting everyone but… I know how she feels. She's done the mom thing and they've all grown up. It's the first time I've ever heard her want to do something that benefits her and not the girls. And she asked me to come, so I'm gonna be there." He nodded.
"That's good, man." Dean nodded sincerely, patting him on the back, "So what kinda classes is it?"
"Well there's an English class which is the main one. I think Ape wants to take a language class and some other one." He said, "I'm just doing whatever she's doing."
"Hey, that's kinda what you actually did in high school." Dean nodded as Punk chuckled, "Well have fun. I hope you learn some stuff." He said as Punk chuckled.
"Yeah, thanks." Punk nodded, "I'll see you later." He said, watching as Dean headed off to his car whilst he headed to his own.
He got behind the wheel, pulling out his phone to check the address AJ had sent him where the class was being held, pausing when he saw the numbers of missed calls and missed text messages from Thea, text messages which read 'get to the hospital now' on it.
He immediately assumed it was Jude, but he knew she was still a month out from her due date which concerned him. He called Thea as he started the engine quickly, not getting an answer, speeding off on the quiet dark road.
He got to the hospital as quickly as he could, running out from the car and heading into the large building, "Hey, Marie." Punk rushed into reception. He knew some of the staff due to Thea having worked there.
"Third floor, room 302." Maria nodded to him as Punk rushed away. His mind was spinning too much to even question anything yet. His goal was to get to Jude as quickly as possible.
He got onto the floor he was directed to, following the rooms round, not even realising that he was not on the maternity floor. He realised it however when he saw Jude standing outside a room with Sean.
"What's going on?" Punk called down the hospital corridor as Jude lifted her head, looking down the corridor at him, "Huh? What's happened?" He asked, the closer he got he could see Jude had been crying.
"What's going on?" He questioned, opening up the room door and bursting in, pausing in shock.
"Dad, Thea tried calling you and texting you." Cassie said as Punk turned to Thea, looking back to Cassie who had puffy eyes.
Punk then turned and looked at all the machines in the room bleeping, oxygen going in and out. He walked over to the bed slowly, not really comprehending the sight he was seeing.
"April?" Punk shook his head, looking on at his wife lying in the hospital bed.
