Bedtime Stories
"Hey, what are you two doing?" Punk asked, getting home and spotting James and Sofia up to some mischievous at the bottom of the stairs.
"We're kicking toilet rolls upstairs." James explained as Punk nodded slowly.
"Right." Punk said, "Having fun?" He assumed.
"Yes!" Sofia yelled excitedly as Punk chuckled.
"Something smells good in here." Punk noticed.
"Mommy's making dinner." Sofia told him.
"Great. What burnt items will I be trying tonight then?" Punk wondered, messing Sofia's hair sweetly as she smiled, watching as he walked off down the hallway and into the kitchen.
"Hey, you're back." AJ smiled tiredly, getting up from the table, walking over to him and giving him a hug.
"And you're out of bed." Punk said unhappily, kissing her head.
"I've actually been resting all day." AJ promised, "Thea and Dominic have been taking good care of me." She said.
"By serving you burnt food?" Punk asked, looking over at Thea who had many pots and pans on the go at the stove.
"Shut up or you'll be wearing your dinner." Thea promised as Punk smiled.
"She's stress cooking." Dominic nodded.
"No, I'm not." Thea defended, "I don't stress cook."
"Yes you do." Dominic laughed, "You're cooking like five dinners right now." He noted.
"I'm just… giving everyone some choice." Thea shrugged.
"You guys are aware your kids are… throwing toilet rolls up the stairs, right?" Punk asked them.
"Yeah." Dominic and Thea both replied.
"Ok." Punk nodded to himself.
"How'd it go with the cops?" AJ asked.
"It was fine. They just asked me everything, went over it all in detail. I… I don't think I'm in any kind of alarming trouble." He said, "They might wanna take a statement from you guys, Jake said he'd be in touch." He nodded, "Oh and your mom was there when I got there. Slapped me on the face." He said.
"Oh, God." AJ groaned.
"Is Cassie still down there?" Thea asked.
"Yeah, she said she'd stay late and do as much as she can." Punk nodded, "Me and Dean also spoke to Hamilton tonight."
"You did?" AJ raised her eyebrows.
"Really?" Thea turned around.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "We knew we weren't gonna get anything out of it. It's way too late for that and he's… he's never had our best interest at heart."
"He's also a racist pig." AJ mumbled to herself.
"And that too." Punk nodded, "We just kinda called him out for not doing more for us when he could have. If it was any constellation, he did look pretty hard on himself but… as he should be." Punk said.
"So… there's not gonna be any relationship with him then?" Dominic figured.
"No, definitely not." Punk shook his head, "Family isn't blood. It's.. it's this. It's being together, helping each other, being there for one another." He said as AJ nodded in agreement.
"So what about your dad? And Sam?" Thea asked him.
"I don't know about them yet." Punk said, "Me and Dean haven't really talked about it yet." He said, "Has anyone spoken to Jude today?" He wondered.
"I text her but I got nothing back." Thea said, "I was supposed to be dragging her out for a coffee this morning but… I didn't wake up until later and I figured after last night we could all just use a day on the couch." She said, "Dominic also sorted things out with the realtor."
"I bargained and got another week to move out. They weren't happy about it but… I put on my mean voice." Dominic said as Thea smiled.
"Well that's good. I can come down and help you guys pack things up." Punk nodded.
"I wanna go see Jude tomorrow." AJ nodded to Punk, taking his hand, "I wanna visit."
"Babe, you shouldn't be out and about." Punk said, "You've literally just gotten out of hospital-"
"I'd like to see my daughter and granddaughter." AJ said firmly.
"I think she's actually got a visit from the health visitor tomorrow." Thea said.
"Well we can stop by tomorrow night." AJ said, "I want to see her." She said as Punk nodded.
"Ok." Punk nodded, rubbing her back softly, walking over to the stove and watching Thea.
"Can you get out of my space, please?" Thea asked him.
"Why have you made so much food?" Punk shook his head, chuckling.
"Stress cooking." Dominic hummed as AJ smiled.
"It's not stress cooking." Thea snapped, "There's a lot of us here. And Cassie is gonna be hungry when she gets home."
"Cassie is one person, though." Punk chuckled.
"Just get out of my kitchen, dad." Thea warned with a wooden spoon as Punk chuckled, putting his hands up and backing off.
"Hey." Sean walked into their bedroom, looking on at Jude who was sitting up in bed not doing anything. He was used to his fiancé being so hyperactive. She always had to be doing something, so this was alarming to him. He understood the exhaustion of having a baby, especially for her, but he just knew she was distant. He'd been with her for long enough to know when she wasn't herself.
"Hey." Jude nodded.
"I went to the store. I'm gonna make some dinner." He said as Jude nodded, "Gonna make your favourite." He smiled.
"I'm not even that hungry." She admitted truthfully.
"You gotta eat, Jude." Sean said, "You need your energy, now more than ever." He smiled.
"Yeah, I know." Jude said, "I just… I don't know, I just feel drained." She said.
"Why don't I run you a bath?" Sean asked, "You can relax, maybe light a few candles." He smirked as she smiled.
"I'm ok here for now." Jude nodded to him as he looked across at her.
"Jude, I'm worried about you." He nodded. He didn't have to tiptoe around her, he liked to think they had a good relationship where he could tell her how he was feeling and tell her his concerns.
"Why?" Jude shook her head, looking up at him, "This is… this is what happens when you have a baby, right? You lose sense of time for a little while, you lay in bed and sleep all day, you… feel like crying sometimes…" She whispered as Sean sighed, walking over to the bed.
"That's not how it's supposed to be." Sean shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "I guarantee you're not the only one to feel like this after having a baby."
"I don't even know what the feeling is. I just… don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing. Even when she's sleeping I feel… nervous about something. It's just this feeling in my stomach." She shook her head as he nodded.
"It's ok, I'll help you through it." Sean assured.
"I'm just trying not to ruin this for us or… for you." Jude shook her head, "It's supposed to be this great time and I'm supposed to be overjoyed and I…" She sighed to herself, trying to hold her tears back, "I feel like a bad mom for not feeling like that." She cried, drying her tears under her eyes.
"Hey, don't do that." Sean sighed, sitting down beside her on the bed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she leaned her head on his, "You're not gonna feel like this forever. And you could… you could never ruin this for me." He shook his head, "And you are not a bad mom." He made clear, "You're already smashing it out the park." He assured her.
"I just thought I'd feel different." Jude admitted, "And everyone is expecting me to… do all these things. Go out, go visiting, and all I wanna do is… stay under these covers." She sighed to herself.
"Everyone deals with things differently." Sean nodded, "Having a baby isn't all sunshine and rainbows for everyone. It's tough and… it's exhausting, and it's new to us." He said, "And you don't have to live up to anyone's expectations. You take things your own way." He assured her.
"I just feel like she deserves better than me." Jude sighed.
"Don't talk like that." Sean shook his head, "You're amazing, and she's so lucky to have you as her mom." He nodded, "Cause her mom is a badass." He said as Jude smiled to herself.
"Or she's just… a victim of something." Jude said.
"No, she's not." Sean looked down at her as she looked up at him.
"She feels like it." Jude nodded, leaning her head back down on his shoulder.
"You're a lot stronger than you think, Jude." He told her, kissing her head, "You just need a little bit of help right now, and we'll get you it." He nodded as Jude sighed to herself.
"Papa Punk." Sofia called, walking into the spare bedroom in her pyjamas, "Will you tell us a bedtime story?" She asked, climbing up into bed where her brother was already waiting.
"Don't you want your mommy or daddy to tell you a story?" Punk asked her.
"No, we want you to tell us a story." Sofia said as James nodded in agreement.
"Hey, guys. Are teeth brushed?" Thea asked, walking into the spare bedroom.
"Yes." Sofia answered.
"Yeah, I brushed mine before Sofia." James smiled as Sofia folded her arms.
"I almost forgot." Sofia admitted as Thea smiled, "Papa Punk is telling us a bedtime story." She told her mother.
"Oh, he is?" Thea chuckled, walking around the bed to kiss her children goodnight.
"Apparently." Punk laughed a little, "You gotta find me one of your books to read then." He said.
"No, a story from your brain." James said as Sofia nodded.
"Yeah, we don't do book bedtime stories." Thea explained to her father, "This way, they have fun and… I also have fun with it."
"I dread to know what kind of stories you're telling them." Punk scoffed.
"Hey, I'm an excellent storyteller." Thea said as Sofia and James looked up at her with uncertainty, "What? I am."
"Daddy might be better." James admitted as Thea scoffed, turning to Punk who just chuckled to himself.
"You guys are lucky you're cute." Thea hummed, leaning over and kissing their heads, "Goodnight, babies." She smiled, brushing James' hair back, folding her arms as she walked back around the bed, "Nothing too scary." She warned her father seriously, pointing her finger at him as Punk slapped it away lightly.
"Get out, it's storytime." Punk warned her as Thea smiled, leaving the bedroom and closing the door half shut behind her.
"You have to sit in the middle." James told Punk as he and Sofia budged to opposite sides of the bed. Punk climbed onto the bed, sitting between them.
"I really got to make it up?" Punk asked, looking down at them as they nodded.
"Yes and hurry up." Sofia said, fearing she was going to fall asleep soon.
"Alright alright." Punk tried to think to himself, "Ok… can I talk about goblins and monsters?"
"Yeah." James nodded.
"But also princesses." Sofia nodded as Punk thought to himself.
"Ok." Punk said, "So there's a princess… and she lives on a boat with her… goblin husband." He nodded.
"Cool." James smiled.
"That's not right." Sofia sat up with concern, "Princesses marry princes." She explained.
"Not in this story." Punk shook his head, "They live on a boat, right? And they're travelling out to sea. Let's call the princess-"
"Pebbles!" Sofia exclaimed.
"Ok." Punk nodded, "Ok, Princess Pebbles and her husband, the goblin… they're sailing out to sea on a big boat. They're going on vacation. To the Bahamas. Right?" Punk said as they both nodded, "So they're travelling along, enjoying the sea breeze, Pebbles is getting some tan going on, but then the goblin spots another boat in the distance. A big one just like theirs."
"Who is on it?" James asked.
"Well they get closer to it and they see a shit ton of…" He paused, "Don't tell your mom I just said that." He warned as they nodded, "They see a ton of… pirates." He said dramatically as Sofia huffed.
"I don't like pirates." Sofia said.
"The pirates boat gets closer to them and one of the pirates says… argg, we want your boat." He put on his best pirate voice.
"Does the pirate have a missing tooth like you?!" Sofia cheered as Punk raised a brow.
"No… no, all his teeth are intact." Punk assured her, "But… he is missing some toes." He nodded to them, "Fishing accident." He nodded to James.
"That's gross." Sofia said.
"Anyway, the pirates want the boat from Pebbles and the goblin, because it's bigger, it's a better boat. The goblin says, but where will we go?" He said, in his best made-up goblin voice, or what he assumed a goblin would sound like, "And the pirate says, arggg… you'll have to swim back to shore." He said.
"Oh, no." Sofia frowned.
"The goblin starts to panic and cry. He says, but I can't swim." Punk mimicked, "I'll drown." He continued, "The pirates all laugh. They make fun of the goblin. They say, you can't swim because you're ugly." He nodded as Sofia frowned.
"Poor goblin." Sofia mumbled, cuddling into him.
"The goblin says, how about a fight? I can't swim but I can fight. If I fight all of you, you can't take our boat." Punk said, looking down at them, noticing Sofia was beginning to fall asleep, "Meanwhile Pebbles has got her hands on some rope. Now before she became a princess, she spent some time on the farm with horses so… she knows how to do some reigning in." He added
"She's a cool princess." James said, followed by a yawn.
"She lasso's the pirates up one by one, pulling them overboard from their boat and into the sea. The goblin cheers and claps. He's used to his princess always saving him from danger." He added.
"What happens to the pirates?" James asked.
"Well the goblin and Pebbles start to tie the two boats together whilst the pirates are in the sea. They take the two boats and just as they're sailing away, a huge, gigantic, scary… sea monster!" He exclaimed as Sofia woke back up with raised eyebrows, "Gobbles up all the pirates for dinner." He nodded.
"But they didn't eat the goblin and Pebbles?" James asked.
"No, apparently the goblin and Pebbles have their deep sea connections out in the ocean." Punk nodded, looking down at Sofia who had fallen back asleep, noticing James getting sleepy too, "So, the goblin thanks his wife for always having his back, and for being a badass, and they celebrate by continuing on their route to their vacation." He nodded, looking down as James sleepily nodded.
"Were they bad pirates?" James clarified.
"Yeah, super bad." Punk nodded, turning to Sofia who was fast asleep, "Stay tuned for part two." He smiled, leaning down and kissing James' head, climbing off the bed, watching as James fell asleep.
He pulled the covers up and over both of them, smiling to himself and heading out of the bedroom, jumping out of his skin when he saw Thea standing.
"Goblins, princess', pirates and sea monsters?" Thea questioned, "And the Bahamas?"
"You enjoy that story?" Punk asked her childishly, "Huh?"
"For a first attempt? You did ok, yeah." Thea nodded as Punk smiled, heading downstairs with her.
"Hey, can you stop talking about my missing tooth to your kids, please?" Punk asked as Thea laughed loudly as she headed downstairs behind him.
