Friend
"I wanna have a party." Punk nodded, sitting in the kitchen with Dean who looked at him with confusion.
"You what?" Dean screwed his face up.
"For April. For her coming home." Punk nodded, "I wanna have a party." He said, "She'll be out in a couple of days, we should do something."
"You really think a party is what we all need right now?" Dean asked, "We've just found out our mom is an even bigger liar than we thought. Our dad may actually have come back for us, and we have an uncle who has gave us nothing but bother over the years." He said.
"Yeah well that shit isn't my family, Dean. This is. April is my family. My girls. You." Punk said, "I never trusted mom, I just bit my tongue because… well I did think she had been there for the girls when I was in prison. And I appreciated that. I know her and Thea are close. I never wanted to come between that." Punk explained, "But all she's ever done is lie to us. And now this guy… our dad, he's spent his entire life in prison and… and I don't know if he's expecting something from us but I don't think I have it in me to give him it." He said as Dean nodded.
"Yeah, it's… it's a bit late." Dean agreed, "Hearing all this… doesn't really make him out to be the bad guy I thought he was." He admitted, "He got caught up and took the fall for mom. He's… kinda like you."
"Don't." Punk warned, "Please do not compare me to them." He begged as Dean nodded, "I mean… he still walked out on us in the beginning. Thinking about the bigger picture, nothing has really changed and it probably wouldn't have changed if she told us sooner but… it's not about that." He said.
"What'd you think they were running from?" Dean asked.
"Well whatever it was, mom paid it off." Punk looked at him, "Makes sense I guess. I never really understand how she wound up… doing what she was doing. Sleeping with all the guys. Leaving us on our own. I never thought she did out of choice so I guess this kinda proves that."
"What are we gonna do about Hamilton?" Dean asked him, "He's our fucking uncle. He never did anything remotely close to help us. Maybe he tried putting us in foster care and whatever but… when we got older he just… he made it harder for us. Why would he do that?" He shook his head.
"Well it doesn't sound like him and Daniel are the closest brother in the world so… I doubt we made an impact on his life." Punk shrugged.
"We gotta confront him about it, right?" Dean nodded.
"Yeah, I guess." Punk nodded.
"And what about… what about dad?" Dean asked, "I mean he fed me a bullshit story, he fed me the cop story, why would he still wanna protect mom?"
"He probably just wanted to tell the story that makes him look bad, to see how we'd react." Punk said, "I'm just… I'm tired of this shit. I'm too old for it. I want a quiet life with April and I wanna… watch my kids grow up and… babysit my grandkids and take a vacation with Ape somewhere… I don't wanna be feeling like this." He sighed to himself.
He was caught off guard by how much he felt affected by finding out the truth about his childhood and the story between his parents. He hated the what if's that it left around his head, the secrets he never knew and the lies he and his brother grew up in. It hurt. Of course it hurt.
"So you just wanna ignore it all?" Dean asked as Punk shrugged.
"Well fuck mom, I'm not talking to her again." Punk said, "She made Cassie real upset. If she cared about my girls she wouldn't… say shit like that to them." He shook his head, "And dad… I don't know, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to him." He shook his head, running his hands over his face as Dean watched him.
"Maybe we should have a party." Dean nodded as Punk looked across at him, "For April coming home." He said, "Yeah, it's been a while since we had one. We can also celebrate Mirren being born." He said.
"Yeah?" Punk questioned as Dean nodded.
"Yeah." Dean said, "Remind ourselves of the amazing families we got." He nodded to his brother as Punk smiled.
"Yeah, in the meantime I'm gonna need to fill everyone in." He shook his head.
"I can't believe Sam never told them." Thea shook her head, standing in her niece's nursery the next day whilst Jude changed Mirren at the changing table.
"Really? You can't believe it?" Jude shook her head, "I can." She said.
"I know she has her flaws but she… she was always honest, right?" Thea said, "She always told the truth, even if it was humiliating for her." Thea said.
"I think this might go beyond humiliation, Thea. She killed someone and then… let Daniel take the blame." Jude shook her head, "She's unstable, she always has been."
"I know that, I'm not condemning what she did." Thea made clear.
"What are dad and Dean doing?" Jude asked as Thea watched her struggling to put the clean diaper on Mirren.
"You need help with that?" Thea asked her, walking over to her.
"No, I got it." Jude insisted stubbornly as Thea watched her trying to feed the diaper under Mirren.
"Jude, there's an easier way to do it, just let me show you." Thea scoffed, walking over and budging her sister out of the way, "Don't worry, I had to ask mom for help with this too." She nodded.
"I'm scared I hurt her. She's so small." Jude shook her head.
"I know, but look, you just take her little legs and slide the diaper under." Thea said as Jude watched.
"You make it look easy." Jude said tiredly.
"You'll get the hang of it." Thea nodded, "Just don't be stubborn. If you need help with something, ask me. I know mom isn't around right now to help but I'm here." She said.
"Your daughter almost set her hair on fire." Jude scoffed with laughter as Thea shrugged, "What is dad saying about all of this?" She asked.
"Not much." Thea said, "In fact, we're having a party tomorrow night."
"What?" Jude turned to her, "What is wrong with this family?" She shook her head.
"No, it's… it's for mom coming home. She's getting out tomorrow and dad thought it'd be a good idea. And to celebrate this little one being born." Thea smiled over at Mirren.
"Mom, who has a head injury? He's throwing a party for her?" Jude asked, "Doesn't she wanna just come home and rest?"
"Well it's not gonna be rave or anything, Jude. It's just family coming together, some food and drink." Thea shrugged.
"I think I'll pass." Jude nodded.
"What? Why?" Thea questioned.
"I've just had a baby and I… she needs to be in a routine and I'm just not in the mood for a party." Jude shrugged as Thea looked at her.
"Have you left the house since you had her?" Thea wondered.
"What?" Jude turned to her, "Of course I have." She lied.
"With Mirren? I notice the stroller is still up here." Thea said, "Go for a walk in the park or something. It'll be good for her and for you." She nodded, "I loved taking James out when I first had him-"
"Yeah well I'm not you, am I?" Jude said as Thea looked across at her.
"Are you ok?" Thea asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." Jude said, "It's been a few days. Me and Sean have just been trying to adjust. And I don't fancy going all the way to mom and dad's for a party where everything is awkward because of what's going on." Jude shook her head.
"It's not gonna be awkward. It's family." Thea said, "Jude, you have to get out of the house with her. Even if it's just to go to the store or get a coffee."
"I will. It's only been a few days." Jude shook her head as Thea watched her.
"Are you really not gonna come? Mom will be upset." Thea said.
"I'll see mom later." Jude shook her head, picking Mirren up from the table, holding her against her chest.
"Ok well… I'll let dad know then." Thea nodded, "Are you sure you're ok?" Thea asked.
"I'm fine." Jude assured her as Thea nodded.
Thea left her sister's house and drove elsewhere, not finished with her round of visiting yet, parking the car and getting out as she approached Sam's house, knocking on the door with a heavy fist.
"It's you." Sam noticed as Thea walked into the house, "Your dad send you?"
"No." Thea said, walking on through to the kitchen, noticing the empty bottles of alcohol sitting around, more than the usual, "Rough night?" Thea asked her as Sam nodded.
"Yeah, you could say that." Sam nodded, "I'm assuming your dad has filled you in on all my lies." She said.
"Yeah, he has." Thea said, "How could you? After everything they went through as children, don't you think they deserved the truth about everything?"
"Thea, why didn't you wanna tell your family that you had an abortion?" Sam asked.
"Oh, shut up, that has nothing to do with this." Thea spat angrily.
"No, tell me… why didn't you want to tell your mom you had an abortion?" Sam asked as Thea looked across at her, "What did you say to me back then?"
"I was… well I was embarrassed about it." Thea nodded truthfully.
"And that's exactly how I felt about telling my son's the truth." Sam said, "And I didn't want to tease them with this… idea that maybe their life could have been different if I didn't drag Daniel into things with me that night. Maybe it would have been me who went to prison and… Daniel would have looked after them and… been the parent they needed." Sam said, "I never wanted them to think that because I knew it'd hurt them."
"It's not all about you, Sam. This was their life. They deserved to know." Thea said, "What good was it really doing? Keeping it from them?"
"I am already the worst mother on earth, I didn't want them to think any worse of me." Sam said truthfully.
"Well now they do." Thea assured her, "I mean why… why didn't you at least tell them about their uncle. Someone who has been around them for years. I can't even imagine how it'd feel to find out that that's… that's your family-"
"Because Hamilton is a piece of shit who never cared about them. Family or not. I didn't want them to get hurt. Is that so hard to believe?" Sam shook her head.
"No, you said it yourself, you just didn't want them thinking any lower of you than they already did." Thea said, "I thought you were my friend." She shook her head.
"Sweetie, I am your friend. I'm here for you. Whatever is going on with… with me and your dad, your uncle… it's got nothing to do with you or our relationship. You girls are the best thing that happened to me. I got a chance to… do some good for once-"
"Yeah only… it wasn't us who needed you to do good, Sam. It was your son's." Thea shook her head as Sam looked across at her.
"I tried my best." Sam shook her head, "You don't know what it was like-"
"I do, actually. I've been in debt. You know that." Thea said, "And all I could think about was getting my children, my family the hell away from all of it. And I did." She said.
"Yeah and you left your pregnant sister as bait." Sam spat as Thea grabbed her by the neck immediately, pushing her against the fridge.
"No… no, my family had my back, which is more than what I can say for you." Thea said, loosening her grip on Sam's neck.
"Well I'm used to it." Sam said, massaging her neck.
"I'm gonna go. I don't even know where I stand with you anymore." Thea admitted, "I know what it's like to have demons. To be desperate for a drink or… a line. Whatever." Thea said, "But I know I have my kids and my family who need me and who love me." She said, "That wasn't enough for you, though… was it?"
"Well you should know better than anyone that addiction is different for everyone. Maybe you're just stronger than I am." Sam said, "If you're leaving then go, I'm going out." She announced.
"I'm going." Thea nodded, about to leave the kitchen, turning back around and slapping Sam across the face, almost knocking her down to the ground.
"What the hell?!" Sam held her cheek, leaning against the fridge.
"That's for what you said to Cassie." Thea said angrily, "Don't you ever tell my sister she doesn't belong in this family." She spat, "The only one who doesn't belong is you." She said, storming out of the kitchen and leaving the house.
