Marriage Problems
"I mean don't you have to come with me?" AJ questioned, lying in bed with Punk later that night, "Why is it always me?"
"Because you have a somewhat filter." Punk nodded to her, "Plus, sounds to me like it's a mom thing. What's the problem?" He turned to her.
"Well she's rich. She was born rich." AJ said.
"Now now… we don't like when people judge us so… we shouldn't judge them." Punk reminded her as AJ made a face at him whilst he wasn't looking.
"But I know I'm gonna have to put an act on the entire time." AJ shook her head.
"Then do it." Punk shrugged, "I mean, it's for Jude, right?" He said.
"Yeah." AJ sighed, "But she wants to be part of a lot of things and… well I like it when it's just me and the girls." She frowned as Punk turned to her.
"Maybe that's a little selfish." Punk nodded to her honestly.
"Maybe, I didn't ask for your opinion." AJ eyed him with folded his arms, sitting against the headboard beside him.
"Well you're getting it." Punk said, "This is your second time doing this whole…. Wedding planning. And it's not even gonna be your last." He said.
"Well… Cassie is up for debate." AJ nodded.
"My point is… this woman has two sons. She won't ever get to help her daughter pick a wedding dress and plan a wedding." Punk said, "I mean, what if we had three sons. Wouldn't that bum you out? If you didn't have a little girl to help get ready for her wedding?"
"I'd be less stressed if I had three sons." AJ rolled her eyes, turning to him and sighing, "Yeah, I know." She nodded.
"You've only met her once. Maybe… Maybe you'll get along with her." Punk shrugged.
"They're just sort of the first in-laws we've ever had, you know?" AJ said, "Dominic's parents are dead and… his aunt and brother live way out of town. This feels like the first time we're… meeting the other parents." She nodded.
"So does that makes the Fockers or the Burns?" Punk wondered as AJ turned to him, "You know, like in Meet The Fockers?" He asked her.
"I'll let you decide on that one." AJ smiled, laughing lightly, "I just can't believe they're getting married." She shook her head, "And you know, I never really thought Jude would be really fussed about it all but she is, she's really excited." AJ told him.
"Well of course she is, it's gonna be a good day." Punk nodded to himself, "And she deserves it."
"So when are you seeing Tom again?" AJ asked him.
"Next week." Punk said, "Going out to some bar with him for a couple hours. He said he still refuses to believe I don't drink." He chuckled as AJ smiled, "And he's in contact with all his kids too, you know. When he was in prison he thought they weren't gonna talk to him ever again." He told AJ who nodded.
"He must have been a big part of your life during that time." AJ nodded, "I'm glad you're seeing him again." She smiled as Punk nodded.
"Yeah, me too." Punk said, "I thought it was gonna be hard but… it wasn't as bad as I thought." He said, "It was good to see him after all this time." He said as AJ smiled, "So when are you going out for lunch with Sean's mom?"
"Next weekend." AJ huffed, "I was actually hoping to be back at work for next weekend." She shook her head as Punk shook his head unhappily.
"You're not working or driving for the foreseeable future. Come to terms with that, please. Because I don't wanna keep having the same conversation with you about it." He said.
"Oh, listen to mister responsible." AJ scoffed.
"Well you need to take this seriously, April." He said.
"Oh, but when I'm hanging off the edge of the bed in our hotel room for your own personal pleasure, it's ok?" She turned to him with a smirk as he looked at her.
"There are… some exceptions, yes." He nodded sophisticatedly as she scoffed.
"Yeah, I don't think that was on my do's and don'ts from the hospital." AJ shook her head.
"Well they're on mine." Punk nodded as she smiled, crawling over on top of him, straddling his hips as he looked up at her, "Can I help you?" He asked teasingly as she smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, you can." She nodded, taking his hand and putting it in her shorts and panties as he smirked, feeling her grind against his hand as she cupped his face and began kissing him, feeling him flip them over where she was on her back in the centre of the bed, pulling him closer as he began to pull her clothes off.
"T!" Dominic called, walking into their house late on, making his way through the hallway and into the kitchen, his pace slowing when he saw Thea sitting at the kitchen table, eating a slice of chocolate cake.
He noticed the candles on the table, burnt out and the dinner she'd made sitting in the pots dried up.
"I'm sorry, T, I got… I got caught up at a job." Dominic nodded as she looked up at him.
"You were supposed to be home at 4 today." Thea looked at him, pointing her fork at him, "It's 9 now." She shook her head, unhappy with how late he was, especially on a night where they'd managed to have a break from the kids.
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn't know you were doing all this." He admitted, feeling even worse than he was.
"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise." Thea nodded, "We may as well have just kept the kids tonight. Doesn't make a difference now." She shrugged unhappily. She thought they could have had dinner together, without the usual chaos of the kids. She figured they deserved some us time, but it didn't matter now.
"Thea, I got caught up at work. What do you want me to do?" Dominic put his hands up.
"There's getting caught up and then there's making me feel like I'm at the bottom of your priorities right now." She said as Dominic rolled his eyes.
"Well, you're not." Dominic shook his head, "It's not my fault that you pick and choose when you wanna have alone time."
"Excuse me?" Thea looked at him, "What the hell does that mean?" She questioned.
"It means I'm always on your time. We do things when you want to. You're selfish." Dominic shrugged as Thea looked up at him.
"I spent my night making us dinner, wanting to spend time with you without all the noise for one night." Thea said, "I don't think that's selfish." She shook her head, "But if that's what you think then fine… I won't bother anymore." She shrugged, standing up from the table and taking her plate over to the sink.
"I don't… I don't mean you're selfish." Dominic sighed.
"That's what you said." Thea hummed.
"I just mean… you're still really hard to read." He said as she turned around, "Even after being together for twelve years, two kids, marriage… I still can't read you or understand where your head is at most times." He said.
"Well, you should be glad of that right now. I'm not thinking very nice things." She glared at him as he rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I know we haven't been getting a lot of time together, just the two of us, what with our shifts and the kids and… life, I guess." He said, "But I don't want you to think you gotta make us dinner and we gotta sit by the candles." He shook his head.
"I don't think I have to do it. I want to do it." Thea shook her head with confusion, "I want to have a night where I can sit with my husband and enjoy dinner without having to wipe snot from Sofia's nose or… ask James to finish his veg or… separate them from fighting… I just wanna have a night where we can be us again." She said as Dominic looked at her.
He watched as she turned around, dumping the dishes into the sink and sighing to herself. He noticed she was wearing an adorable, simple sundress. Her dark hair had been washed, dried and straightened down her entire back. She'd made effort and he felt horrible for ruining it.
"I wish you told me that you wanted to do this." Dominic admitted.
"What's the point?" Thea shook her head unhappily.
"Look, you can't make me the bad guy. I haven't done anything wrong here. I got caught up, I didn't know we were doing this-"
"Dominic, I told you the kids were staying at my parents with Cassie tonight. If you immediately don't want to come home and take advantage of that then that's probably why I'm mad." She said.
"The kids stayed with your parents a month ago and you wanted to sit on the couch in your pyjamas and watch TV." Dominic said, "I'm not a frickin mind reader here."
"Oh, you know what? Just forget it." She shook her head, hitting the dishes off one another angrily in the sink as she tried to tidy up, "Forget I bothered."
"You're a real piece of work sometimes, you know that?" Dominic nodded as she turned around.
"Excuse me?" Thea looked at him, "I wanted to do something nice for you tonight. I wanted us to do something nice for once. I mean… when do I ever come home to you doing something like this?"
"Thea, don't even start." Dominic placed his hand over his forehead.
"No, fuck you. Don't tell me I'm a piece of work when I'm trying to do something nice." Thea said angrily, "You didn't even have the decency to call me and tell me you were gonna be late."
"I was working." Dominic put his hands up with frustration, "I was on a job. I wasn't just sitting around doing nothing." He said, "This isn't even you. You don't make romantic dinners and bake cakes. You order pizza and take your clothes off." He shook his head as Thea looked at him, her breath coming away from her a little as she looked at him, "Wait I didn't mean it like-"
"I can't believe you just said that." Thea looked at him, feeling hurt by his chosen words for her.
"Thea, I didn't mean it like that." Dominic said sincerely. He didn't mean for it to come out the way it did, to degrade or hurt her in any way. He instantly felt dreadful for how it sounded.
"Oh, well…" Thea looked down at the ground, drying the tear from her eyes, "I'll know for next time then." She looked up at him, extremely hurt.
"Thea, I didn't mean it like that. I swear." Dominic sighed, watching her walk past him and out of the kitchen, "Thea." He sighed, listening to her running away upstairs.
He didn't mean for it to sound salacious. He meant it in a positive way. His wife's character was fun and vibrant, easy-going, everything he fell in love with her for. He never wanted her to do things she didn't want to, just to impress him or get his attention. But he heard how it sounded, and he knew she had every right to take it the wrong way. He sincerely didn't mean for it to be taken in the context she'd taken it in, and he felt awful.
Eight Months Later…
"Thea!" Dominic yelled, running outside the wedding venue, "Thea!" He called, running towards his wife who was standing in her bridesmaids dress, her mascara now running with her tears down her cheeks as she stood shivering and shaking in the cold.
"Thea." Dominic placed his hand on her arm as she turned around and jumped slightly, "Where are the kids?" He asked her seriously, "I haven't seen them."
"K-Kirsty has them." Thea nodded, looking at him, "Where did she go?" She asked as Dominic shook his head.
"I don't know." Dominic took a deep breath, placing his hand on his forehead, "I don't know." He gulped as she looked at him, blood down his white shirt, not of his own.
"Where are my parents?" She asked Dominic, "And… And Jude?"
"No one has seen your parents." Dominic said, "I don't… I don't know where Jude has gone." He admitted truthfully as she looked up at him, "I don't fucking know where anyone is." He said stressfully.
"This is my fault." Thea whispered as Dominic looked at her, "This is my fault." She mumbled.
"Look at me." Dominic said, taking a hold of her by the arms, "This is not your fault." Dominic made clear, "It's not." He emphasised, "This… I don't why or what the fuck just happened, but it was not your fault, no matter what you saw." He said as she looked up at him fearfully.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly as she hugged into him desperately, "We should go see the kids." She suggested.
