Spokesperson


"You having fun?" Punk asked, turning to James who was sitting beside him at the hockey game.

"Yeah." James nodded briefly, taking it all in as they sat through the final intermission.

"What's better the hockey or the hot-dog?" He asked.

"The hockey." James nodded to him as Punk smiled, placing his hand on his head and messing his hair affectionately.

"My boy." Punk smiled with joy. It was great to be able to be so involved with his grandchildren and still be fit and healthy to watch them growing up.

"I just snuck into the guys bathroom." Thea sat back down in her seat next to her father, leaning forward to make sure James was ok, smiling as she saw him sitting minding his own business and watching everything around him.

"Please elaborate some more." Punk said sarcastically.

"For the toilet." Thea said, "The girl's line is wrapped around the damn place. I'm not waiting." She scoffed.

"Be careful when you do that. Some guys get all hot." Punk said.

"Yeah well they can come at me." Thea scoffed, unbothered as she took a sip of her coffee, "Do you think he's having fun?" She asked him quietly, leaning forward again and looking on at James who was sat next to Punk.

"Yeah, he's having a blast." Punk nodded to her.

"I'm glad you could make it." Thea smiled happily as Punk nodded.

"Me too. It's like a free school day for me." He said as Thea smiled.

"I remember when you used to take me and Jude." Thea nodded.

"You guys would just fight the entire time. It was a nightmare." Punk shook his head.

"Jude wasn't interested in anything to do with hockey. Mom just made you take her with us." Thea chuckled as Punk nodded.

"Yeah that was your mom's night off. She loved hockey night cause she'd get the house to herself for a few hours." He nodded.

"I missed out on so many games after you went to prison." She shook her head.

"Why? Because you were stubborn and hated me?" Punk turned to her as she looked at him.

"Well… yeah." Thea said as Punk nodded, "I guess becoming an adult, a proper adult, makes you realise how silly you can be as a kid."

"I don't think it was silly." Punk shook his head, "This was our thing. And suddenly I'm not there anymore. I understand why you'd distance yourself from it." He nodded.

"Did you get to watch any of the games in prison?" Thea asked him.

"No, you kidding?" Punk chuckled.

"Someone told me prison is a pretty sweet gig. They have x-boxes and shit there. No?" Thea questioned as Punk couldn't help laugh, "What?" She said.

"It's just… a very innocent question. Bless your heart." He patted her arm, "No x-boxes, believe me." He assured her.

"So what did you do?" Thea asked, "I mean, I know you're there to be punished but surely you weren't locked up twenty-four hours a day." She said.

"Well you got jobs to do. Each wing would rotate. So you'd be in kitchen one week. Out in the yard the next. In the halls and any kind of stock rooms." Punk said, "There were classes you could take too. I always did the woodwork one because I knew what I was doing. So it was easy." He shrugged.

"Sounds… thrilling." Thea nodded sarcastically, "Did you get beat up?" She asked him as he turned to her. He knew his girls and his wife inside out. Thea was pretty much the spokesperson. She didn't have a filter. She was the one they always made complain to the waiter if there was something wrong with food in a restaurant.

"Not more than the average prison." Punk said calmly as Thea looked at him.

"You got an answer for everything, don't you?" She smiled a little.

"What does that mean?" Punk asked.

"It's always little short answers. Ones that don't really go anywhere." She said, "You think none of us notice?" She asked.

"What kind of answer do you want me to give you?" Punk laughed a little, "Yeah, I got my ass kicked a couple times. It's prison. You're in there with people who don't give a shit." He said, "You don't need me to explain that to you."

"No, but you can talk about it." Thea nodded. She'd had conversations with her mother about her concern over his dismal on everything to do with prison. It was concerning. Especially considering how long ago he was released. For him to still struggle acknowledging things was a worry.

"Did your mom ask you to talk to me about this?" Punk asked her as Thea shook her head, "Yes, she did. Don't lie." He warned.

"Ok, so she's worried about you." Thea said.

"Why? I'm fine." Punk insisted.

"Yeah but you don't… you don't talk about prison. And look, I'm fine not knowing what happened. So are Jude and Cass. But it's mom. You talk to her about everything." Thea said, "She… She hates that you don't wanna open up about it to her."

"It's not about… opening up." Punk shook his head, "It's a part of my life that I do my best to forget-"

"That really won't work." Thea nodded, "And you know that." She said.

"Well it's how I deal with things, ok?" Punk said, "I respect how you deal with things, don't I?"

"It's not about me." Thea said, "Come on, you don't wanna keep that shit to yourself."

"There's nothing for me to even tell. It's prison. Yes, it was brutal and at times unbearable, but nothing was hurting me more than just… missing my family. Everything else was just… added inconveniences." He shook his head, "Shame on your mother for telling you to ask me about this." He said, slightly mad.

"Oh, yeah, shame on her for caring about you." Thea scoffed, "Get real." She warned as he turned to her.

"There's nothing for me to tell." Punk made clear, "Some fights and some riots broke out but that was normal."

"Dad, you were there for eight years." Thea said, unconvinced by his brief responses, "You saw stuff. Period. And I'm not asking you to tell me. But just talk to mom. She's worried about you-"

"Well she shouldn't be. I'm fine." Punk scoffed. He hated the fuss.

"Do you think it was easy for her to tell you all her lowest moments when you were gone? To tell you about what happened with me?" Thea asked, "No, but she did it anyway because she wanted you to know and you wanted to be there for her, right?" She said as he nodded, "So just let her be there for you."

"I do. Why is this getting turned into such a big thing all of a sudden? Is swear this family just creates problems for itself sometimes." He scoffed.

"Shut up." Thea said, "She's worried about you. If you still have nightmares then you clearly need to talk about it." She shook her head.

"Why did she tell you that?" Punk questioned.

"I am the first born. She tells me everything." Thea smirked as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe just leave this to me and your mom." Punk said as Thea turned to him, "I'm serious." He said in a more serious tone as she looked at him.

"Start talking to her then and I'll butt out." She made clear.

"You're acting like I'm ignoring her." Punk laughed a little, "Like you're playing counsellor to our marriage."

"Hey, trust me. If my marriage is as good as yours for the length of time you've been together, I'll be lucky." Thea promised, "It's not about your marriage. It's about you in prison. Mom just feels like you've shut her out from that, and obviously that worries her so just… just talk to her. Maybe there's some stuff that you're nervous about telling her, maybe you got into trouble, maybe you came across some bad people… she'll understand. It's mom. She'll always be ready to defend you, even when your ass is in the wrong." She reminded him as Punk smiled a little and nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed to himself. That was the hard part.

"It is none of my business." Thea agreed, "But… I feel like, she deserves to know." She said as Punk sighed to himself.

"You're a pain in my ass, you know that?" Punk nodded to her as Thea smiled.

"I know." She smiled, sipping on her coffee as she looked onto the ice, getting ready to come back from intermission, "Do you think he is actually enjoying himself or just… putting up with it?" She wondered, looking on at James.

"He is pretty quiet." Punk said, turning to James beside him who was pretty content eating his hot-dog and watching the people on the ice and the players getting ready to play again.

"He is quiet." Thea agreed as Punk turned to her, noticing concern in her tone.

"Yeah but… that's not a bad thing." Punk made clear.

"I know that." Thea said, "But he is… really quiet." She emphasised.

"Do you not remember the way Jude was when she was that age?" Punk asked her, "Girl just slept everywhere she went." He nodded as Thea chuckled a little.

"Yeah, I remember." Thea nodded, "I don't know, maybe it's because Sofia is so… out there."

"Sofia is crazy." Punk agreed as Thea nodded, "But he's fine." He said quietly, looking on at James, "He's just vibin. Taking everything in." Punk nodded, watching as James spilled ketchup down his t-shirt from the hot-dog.

"Babe, careful you're spilling." Thea said as James looked down, unbothered as Punk smiled.

"He's just quiet. Kids are all different." Punk nodded to her.

"I know. He does really good at school so… I don't know, I guess you just sort of worry about every little thing." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, you do." Punk understood.

"Jude sent me a picture of Mirren in the bath the other night." Thea smiled, "I think she's been doing a lot more with her. She went out with her and Sean too." She nodded.

"Yeah, they called in on their way home. They went out for lunch somewhere." Punk nodded, "She's doing a lot better. Still at therapy twice a week and… it doesn't seem like it's such a chore for her to go either. You know, I… I think she's really comfortable with it." He said as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Thea said, "I'm just glad to see her getting back to her normal self and being able to bond with Mirren. I'd hate for her to miss out on all that stuff." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she's doing good." Punk smiled.

"You heard anything from Cassie about mom's mom calling?" Thea asked him.

"No, nothing. I think she's stopped harassing the station." Punk said.

"You worried about it?" Thea asked him as Punk shook his head.

"No, she… she can do all the harassing she wants to do. Her husband tried to kill me. He was unstable and… out of his mind." Punk shook his head, "More than the usual kind." He said as Thea nodded, "Your mom's parents were just like Sam. Toxic and a waste of space." Punk said, "People who should never have been given the privilege to be parents." He shook his head as Thea nodded.

"Well you guys got your own family. You don't need them. Never have." Thea nodded as Punk smiled.

"We best get some goals here." Punk sat up eagerly as the game started back up, turning to James who was watching on curiously. It was impossible not to smile.