Parents


"Morning, children." Punk walked into the kitchen bright and early the next morning.

"Good morning!" Sofia shouted happily, sitting with her brother having breakfast.

"Morning." Thea said, looking on at Punk as he poured himself some coffee.

"You make this?" Punk asked her.

"Mhm." Thea said.

"Well thank you." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him.

"You're welcome." Thea nodded, looking at Cassie who sat at the table with the kids, eating some toast.

"You girls coming with me to see mom?" Punk asked, "I told her you were bringing her a bag with some clothes and stuff in it." He nodded to Thea.

"Yeah, Dominic is just in the shower so once he's out we can head. I don't wanna leave them on their own down here." She nodded to Sofia and James.

"Ok." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him. She was weirded out by how overly fine he was acting.

"How'd you sleep?" Cassie asked.

"I slept fine." Punk said, "Although I did hear someone going back and forth to the bathroom." He looked over at the kids.

"It was her." James pointed to Sofia.

"I was just checking if there were any water monsters in the toilet." Sofia said as Punk laughed quietly, turning to Thea who just shrugged.

"And were there?" Punk asked.

"No. But I had to be sure." Sofia nodded.

"She… does it all the time." Thea said quietly to her dad who just nodded, "Jude sent me a picture this morning at like 5am. She was up feeding Mirren." Thea smiled, "The caption was these baby things don't really sleep do they?" She chuckled as Punk smiled.

"I'm gonna visit her on my way home from." Punk nodded as Cassie looked at him.

"Are you gonna… acknowledge last night?" Cassie asked him.

"What is there to acknowledge?" Punk shrugged.

"Your dad." Cassie said, "Meeting him for the first time in your life. What you're gonna do?" Cassie shook her head.

"I'm not gonna do anything." Punk said, "I don't need a dad. I never did and I… I really don't need one now. I mean why… why would he even approach me now? After all this time?" He shook his head. He was finding it hard to understand. It had almost upset him that his father had chosen now to appear. After he'd made all mistakes and taken all the wrong paths. He was also still in shock that he'd actually met his father now. It was all very strange to him and he was finding it hard to act normal.

"Don't you wanna hear what he has to say?" Cassie asked him. She expected her dad to be mad at her, and to be curious. But he was the opposite. He seemed ridiculously calm and unbothered by all of it.

"I think you're in shock." Thea added.

"I'm not." Punk insisted, "I just don't care."

"Yes you do." Cassie said, "You came home last night acting completely different. It was scary." She rolled her eyes, "I figured that… it wasn't too late for you to reconnect with your dad-"

"Reconnect?" Punk asked, "I was never connected to him in the first place, Cassie. He's just a stranger to me, and he's gonna stay that way."

"You were a stranger to me once." Cassie said as Punk looked at her.

"Yeah, and you were also eight years old." Punk reminded her, "I'm in my fifties here. I grew up. The time for having a dad is… is long gone." He said.

"Don't you have questions for him?" Cassie shook her head, "He's a nice guy, you know. I've met him a couple times. He seems lonely. He is lonely." She said.

"I don't want to know anything from him or about him." Punk said, "You girls do what you want." He said, "Just keep me out of it."

"But it's your dad." Cassie shook her head with confusion, "And he wants to talk to you-"

"It's not about him." Punk said, "I want nothing to do with him. You shouldn't have just… brought this on top of me. Not something like this." He shook his head.

"I thought you'd wanna know why he left-"

"I don't wanna know anything." Punk made clear.

"Maybe Uncle Dean does." Cassie pointed out.

"Then Dean can go talk to him." Punk shrugged, "I want kept out of it." He said as Cassie sighed, turning to Thea who just shook her head, internally advising her sister to leave it for just now.

"I was just trying to do something good." Cassie said, "In all fairness, I didn't know he was gonna find you last night. He said he was gonna wait." She said, "But still… don't you wanna hear what he has to say? This is your dad-"

"No, I don't." Punk said, "I'll be waiting in the car for you both." He told them, sitting his half-finished coffee down, "Bye, children." He kissed James and Sofia's head on his way out as Cassie sighed to herself and turned to Thea.

"Let it sink in for him." Thea nodded, "It must be hard." She said.

"I just want him to know my intentions were good. I'm not saying that they should get on like a house on fire. I just think dad and Dean might get some answers. I couldn't imagine thinking that my dad had walked out on me. Maybe this is their time to get the truth." Cassie said.

"But Cass, maybe they don't want it. Maybe they've made with peace with moving on." Thea said as Cassie nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Cassie said, "You just go on with him, I'll swing by the hospital later." She said.

"You sure?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, I'll stay here with Dominic and the kids." Cassie said.

"Ok." Thea nodded, rubbing her shoulder and putting her jacket on, "Just let it sink in for him." She said as Cassie nodded, "I'll see you later." She said.

"Mommy, where are you going?" James asked.

"I'm going to see A but you guys are gonna stay here with daddy and aunt Cassie. I'll see you both later." She said, giving them kisses and hugs, "Be good, please." She said before leaving the kitchen, grabbing the bag she'd packed for her mom and leaving the house.


"You know Cass has a big heart, I understand why she wanted to contact your dad." Thea said, sitting at some traffic lights on their way to the hospital.

"Look, I don't… I don't even wanna talk about it." Punk said truthfully, "My focus is on your mom."

"I know that." Thea assured him, "Aren't you just a little curious?" She asked him, "I bet you were curious as to what Cassie was like when you got out of prison." She said, "Right?"

"You know I wish you'd all stop comparing it to that. I didn't choose to leave." Punk made clear, "And I wasn't gone for… that long, not compared to my own dad. I mean it's not even like he's been gone. He just doesn't exist in my world." He shook his head, "He could be the nicest guy in the world but he was still the bastard who left."

"Did Sam ever tell you why?" Thea asked him.

"No, and I don't care." Punk said.

"You were in prison with him at the same time." Thea told him as Punk turned his head and looked at her.

"What?" Punk shook his head, suddenly hearing a horn being beeped behind him as he didn't realise the lights had gone green, putting his foot down and driving along the road, "What the hell you talking about?"

"I thought you didn't want to know." Thea said as Punk turned into the hospital.

"Well you can't say something like that and not expect me to ask about it." He shook his head, parking in a space and turning to her, "Why was he in prison?"

"Hit and run." Thea said as Punk looked at her with confusion, "Cassie didn't go looking for him. He popped up when she was looking on the computer at the station. Joys of having a cop in the family now." She said.

"A hit and run?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah." Thea said, "Eighteen year old girl. She was killed." She said, "And he went to Cook County so… you were in there with him at the same time."

"I don't… I don't remember seeing him in there." Punk shook his head, "So how long was he in prison for?"

"Well he got life so… I'm assuming thirty. Most of his life anyway." Thea nodded, "Cassie saw his name and got curious so she tracked him down and she's met him a couple times. She thinks it's unfair that he's all alone and we have this big family not too far away."

"It's not really her choice, though. Is it?" Punk said, "I swear, you girls make up your own rules as you go along." He said.

"Her heart is in the right place. She thinks you might have questions for him, and maybe she's right." Thea said, "Don't you wanna know what happened?"

"What's there to know, Thea? He walked. Tons of guys do it. He just left." Punk said, "That's all there is to know and I've always known that. Now I just got a… face to think about now." He shook his head, getting out of the car as Thea sighed to herself.

"I just think you're scared." Thea got out of the car, taking the bag she'd packed for her mother out.

"Scared of what?" Punk laughed, lifting out the donuts he'd brought for his wife.

"Scared of what he has to say. Scared of… of letting him know you." Thea said, walking with him through the hospital car park.

"He doesn't deserve to know me." Punk said, "It's really too late for that."

"But when you saw him didn't you feel something?" Thea asked, "This is your dad. You have the chance to know him. Wouldn't you even consider talking to him? You don't have to get along but… just to let him say what he has to say?" She said.

"No." Punk shook his head, walking into the hospital as she followed.

"Dad, come on." Thea said, "Aren't you curious as to why he now wants to come and meet you?"

"No, I know why… because Cassie called him out for it." Punk said, "Look, he walked out on me and Dean, we really needed a dad, we… we needed someone at least to take care of us and he just fucked off somewhere-"

"Prison." Thea nodded.

"I don't care." Punk said, getting the elevator up to AJ's floor, "He still felt. That was a choice. So he's gotta live with that now."

"I'm gonna tell mom." Thea said childishly, "She'll convince you-"

"Don't. She… She has enough going on. Leave her out of it." Punk warned, stepping out of the elevator and walking down the corridor.

"I just think you're dismissing it too quickly, I mean what if-"

"Shit." Punk said, quickly hiding behind the vending machine, stopping in his tracks and grabbing Thea behind with him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Thea scoffed, "I almost rolled my ankle." She said, watching as he peeped around the vending machine.

"Why the fuck are they here?" Punk whispered to himself.

"Who?" Thea tried looking around the vending machine.

"Don't look." Punk panicked, pushing her further in.

"Dad, what the hell are you doing? Who are we hiding from?" Thea shook her head as Punk looked around the vending machine, sighing to himself and rolling his head back against it.

"Can't I just breathe for one second?" Punk whispered to himself, closing his eyes over and taking a deep breath.

"Who is that?" Thea asked, looking at the older man and woman standing outside her mother's hospital room.

"That… is your mom's parents." Punk nodded, "Who I've not saw since the night I was arrested." He said as Thea looked around the vending machine.

"I barely remember them." Thea looked on.

"What is with the fucking parents coming for me this week?" Punk groaned to himself, "I don't have the energy for this." He shook his head.

"Yes you do." Thea shoved him, "Come on, let's go." She said, walking out from behind the vending machine as Punk groaned to himself and followed.