Dad Talk
"Are you talking or am I?" Dean asked, walking down the street with his brother as they headed to their father's house.
"I'm pretty sure we can both talk, Dean." Punk nodded to him, "Can you take the sunglasses off?" He asked his brother, "It's dark out."
"No, I don't want to." Dean said childishly as Punk rolled his eyes, "What are we even going to say to him? Don't contact us again?" He questioned.
"Well it doesn't have to be as harsh as that but… in simple terms, yeah." Punk shrugged.
They'd had a while to think about things, about their father and what they could possibly gain from a relationship with him now. Both were in agreement that too much time had passed, and that having a father just wasn't something either of them had been interested in for a very long time. They knew the opportunity was there, but they knew in their hearts that nothing would come of it, and they felt it was common courtesy to talk to their father about why they felt that way.
"Is this it?" Dean asked, approaching the house as Dean nodded.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, walking towards the house and knocking on the door as Dean eventually took his sunglasses off and put them in his pocket, "Hopefully he's in. Cassie seems to think he doesn't go out much."
"So he's a big loner?" Dean wondered, looking around the street.
"Sounds like it." Punk nodded, listening to the door unlocking and slowly opening up where Daniel stood behind.
"Oh…" Daniel paused, not really knowing what to say or do at first as he saw them both standing, "Hi." He gulped.
"Hey." Punk nodded.
"Hello." Dean added as Daniel looked at them both. For a few seconds he didn't know what to even say to them. He hadn't spoken to them both together yet. These were his sons, and no matter how much time he'd lost, no matter if he didn't know who they really were, they were still his sons and that had always meant something to him, even if he couldn't show it.
"Uh… do you… do you want to come in?" He asked as they nodded.
He opened up the door wide and let them come into his house, walking through to the living room as Dean and Punk followed, curiously looking around. In all honesty, they had no idea who their father was as a person, so they figured looking around at his house would give off some hints here and there.
"Sorry to show up unannounced." Punk said, walking into the living room with Dean.
"That's ok. I don't have anywhere to be anyway." Daniel nodded to them, "Although I am curious as to why you've both shown up."
"We'll get into it." Dean assured him.
"First how is your wife?" Daniel asked Punk, "I know she was in a terrible accident. I haven't actually spoken to Cassie in a while either."
"She's doing good." Punk nodded, appreciating the concern, "She's home now and… trying to take it easy." He said as Daniel nodded.
"That's good." Daniel nodded, "I'm glad to hear it." He said sincerely as Punk nodded.
"How long have you lived here?" Dean asked curiously.
"Since I got out of prison a few years back." Daniel said.
"So you got a job, I take it?" Punk asked as Daniel nodded.
"Yeah, I work with trade." Daniel nodded, "Not the illegal kind of course." He looked at Punk who faked a laugh.
"Funny." Punk nodded sarcastically as Dean chuckled to himself, feeling his brother step on his foot.
"So you live alone?" Dean nodded.
"Yeah, no step-mom, don't worry." Daniel said, "I'll be honest I… I never really expected a visit from you both. Not now anyway." He said.
"It's been pretty hectic." Punk said, "I guess we've just been thinking about it all." He said as Dean nodded, "It's an area we've not really been to in our lives. It's hard to envision any kind of father figure in our life, especially now at this age." He said as Daniel nodded.
"I understand that." Daniel said.
"And you've never came to find us. This took Cassie coming to you for you to show up." Dean added, "I know you haven't been out of prison for long but… I don't know, we're still two kids at heart whose father walked out on them."
"I know, I can understand why you'd feel that way." Daniel said, "I was just a kid when I had you. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was trouble, so was your mom, and it just… it seemed easier to walk away. I felt like I wouldn't be such a disappointment if I just left." He nodded.
"Do you know what happened to us?" Punk asked curiously, "When you were gone and mom was… doing whatever." He shook his head.
"N-No… I haven't spoken to your mom since the night I was arrested." Daniel said.
"Well whatever trouble she was left to face, she did. We just grew up calling them her boyfriends but I guess as we got older we realised that… no one has a different boyfriend every day." Punk said as Daniel looked across at them, "We'd be downstairs. We pretty much lived down there." He said as Daniel looked on worriedly.
"These boyfriends would come tease us after whatever they were doing with mom." Dean said, "One broke Phil's wrist one time. Phil was at school a year before me so… one time I was at home on my own. I was five or six." Dean explained, "One of them locked me against the oven door and took the key away with them." He said as Daniel looked on with horror, "So I was sitting in my own piss and shit pretty much all day." He nodded as Daniel ran his hand over his face, "And that wasn't the last time."
"We'd get lifted by the cops to foster care." Punk explained, "By your brother who we now know was our uncle. Piece of shit, by the way." He added as Daniel nodded, "Foster care wasn't particularly strict. We'd find our way back home. I guess maybe we were worried about our mom. It's hard to remember how our little brains were working back then." He nodded.
"I… I didn't know any of this." Daniel shook his head truthfully as they nodded.
"And we get that. You were in prison. We're not mad about that." Dean shrugged, "But that's how we grew up. It was just the both of us. We took care of each other and we got out of there. And yeah, we maybe went onto make some of our own stupid mistakes but then we really grew up and had families of our own." He said, "And everytime I look at my kids, my daughters, even now when they're older and grown up… I could just never imagine them having to live the life I did. You not being around made me a good dad. And that might sound harsh but… it's how I feel. It made me work hard and do everything I possibly could to make my kids feel loved and… feel everything I didn't as a kid." Dean nodded.
"It sounds cruel." Punk nodded, "But he's right." He agreed, "We're not mad about all that stuff anymore. We really aren't. I guess it made us pretty thick skinned. Smartened us up pretty quickly." He said, "But it also made us depend on ourselves. So even just the thought of you being in our lives… it's never crossed our minds." He said truthfully as Daniel nodded.
"I can understand why." Daniel nodded, slightly taken back by everything he was hearing, about the details of the upbringing his children had, "I'm… I'm so sorry you both had to… go through all of that." He said as they both looked at him, "As children. It's just… there's no words." He shook his head to himself.
"Yeah well we don't dwell on it." Dean assured him, "We grew up. We have a pretty good family now. But… selfishly, that's ours." He made clear as Punk nodded, "We made that on our own. And yeah there's been shit times, really shit times." He emphasised, "But we've always been a family, we've always been there for each other. You and mom just… never have. And that's just the way it is." Dean nodded.
"I… I know I don't really know you both but… you're both very strong individuals." Daniel said. He was in awe of them practically raising themselves, getting themselves through challenging childhood circumstances and making it out on the other end. They both had a very take notice presence that somewhat intimidated him.
"I feel like you might already know where this is going." Punk said as Daniel nodded to himself, "I'm not sure if you wanted a full blown relationship with us or what but… it's too late for us." He made clear, "And that's not us saying that you need to stay away from us and our family. If you want to see the girls and they want to see you, that's fine with us." He said as Dean nodded, "But we're just not looking for that anymore. I don't think we ever were. I've needed a lot of things throughout my life but… a mom and dad was just never really one." He shrugged.
"I don't blame you both. I really don't." Daniel nodded, "I've been gone for all your life. It was maybe dumb of me to just show up like that-"
"No." Dean shook his head, "No, you had every right. You wanted to know about us and, we also got more information than we had before about everything." He said, "You showing up wasn't a problem. We just… don't need a father, not now anyway. And we don't think we can give you that kind of relationship."
"I see." Daniel nodded, "Well you've both been self-dependent your entire lives. It makes sense and… I can see why you'd resent me maybe." He said, "I guess it was worth a shot." He said as they nodded, "You both have very beautiful families. You should be really proud." He nodded.
"We are." Punk assured him, "If it's any consolation, you seem ok." He nodded as Daniel laughed a little, watching them both smile a little.
"Thanks." Daniel nodded to them gratefully.
"But we're good." Dean said as Daniel nodded slowly.
They weren't there to tell their father off, to curse him out and point at all his flaws. They weren't interested in doing that. They wanted him to see it from their point of view, and let him know that having a father just wasn't something either of them were prepared for, and something that was just a little too late for.
"Hey!" Punk called, getting home later on and walking through to the living room where AJ put her finger to her lips as he noticed Sofia was asleep beside her, "Oh." Punk smiled, looking on at Sofia holding her furby, curled into AJ with a blanket.
"She's decided she's staying tonight." AJ smiled to him, "Thea came to pick her up and she said she wanted to stay." She said.
"You love it." Punk smiled as AJ nodded.
"I do." AJ agreed, playing with Sofia's hair sweetly as Punk smiled, "How'd it go with your dad?" She asked quietly as Punk nodded, sitting down beside her on the opposite side.
"It went… as well as it could have." Punk nodded, "Said what we needed to say." He said as AJ nodded, placing her hand on his lap.
"You gotta go with what you feel." AJ encouraged as he nodded, "How is Dean?" She asked.
"Yeah, he's ok." Punk nodded, "What did you get up to today?" He smiled, kissing her head as she leaned into him comfortably.
"We had lunch and then we went out for some ice-cream. She then spent most of the night using her little toy first aid kit on me, telling me that I need to rest." AJ smiled, "I think she's hearing everyone else say it so now she's joining in." She smiled as Punk laughed a little.
"So you've been well taken care of then?" Punk smiled.
"Oh, definitely. She might even be a better nurse than you." She teased as Punk gasped.
"I'm shocked." He said as AJ smiled, "You heard from any of our children?"
"Yeah." AJ scoffed, "We raised some fools, baby." She nodded.
"What?" Punk laughed.
"They went wedding dress shopping and Jude got stuck in a dress." AJ told him.
"She got stuck?" Punk shook his head with confusion.
"Yeah. Couldn't get out of the dress." AJ nodded, "Thea broke the curtain pole in the dressing room too." She said.
"They're ridiculous." Punk laughed to himself, "So Jude's going around wearing a wedding dress?" He laughed.
"Well, thankfully she got out of it eventually." AJ laughed quietly, "With help from the entire store apparently. Thea said she hadn't saw Jude laugh as much as she did today." She smiled to him as Punk nodded to himself.
"Good. I knew they'd have fun." Punk smiled contently as AJ nodded, "Is Cassie home?" He asked.
"Yeah she stumbled up those stairs and I haven't heard any movement. She's probably crashed." AJ said, "She said they had a few mimosas at breakfast." She nodded.
"As long as they had fun." Punk smiled.
"I think they did." AJ nodded happily, resting her head against his shoulder into the crook of his neck as Punk wrapped his arm around her, glad to be home with her.
