Kids


Punk woke up through the night after hearing noise downstairs. He got out of bed, looking over at AJ fast asleep and smiling. It was getting easier to sleep without nightmares the more he had confined in her about prison. He only wished he'd gotten it off his chest sooner, and that he didn't worry so much about what people would think. He was learning to accept it and in that, was learning to move forward, not look back.

He left the bedroom, opening up the spare bedroom door where his grandchildren were sleeping in the double bed. Angels. Light in his life. His pride and joy.

He walked further down the hall, opening up Cassie's door where he chuckled upon seeing her almost hanging off the edge of the bed, snoring loudly. He knew how hard she was working, breaking into the field on her own and trying to keep up with the fast paced environment. She was determined, that was for sure.

Once realising it was no one in the household that was downstairs, he got a little nervous, making his way down the stairs, walking down the hallway and noticing it was Thea, standing in the kitchen and eating it from a bag of chips.

"Those are mine." Punk said as Thea jumped a little, turning around and looking over at him.

"You gave me a fright." Thea scoffed.

"Oh, really? You who has just broke into my house to ransack my chips?" Punk questioned as she rolled her eyes, "It's 1am. What are you doing here?" He asked. Thea and Jude still had a key to the house, which meant they could come and go whenever they pleased. Usually, whenever they had trouble with their men.

"Had a fight with Dominic." Thea said, pulling a chair out and sitting down on it, "Prick." She said as Punk nodded slowly.

"A fight about what?" He asked her.

"I don't even know." Thea shook her head, "Well Cassie was taking the kids out tonight and they were staying here so we were gonna have dinner. I cooked. I baked a cake." She shook her head as Punk screwed his face up.

"You baked?" Punk shook his head.

"Yes. Because I wanted to do something nice." Thea said, "And he came home at like… 9pm. Didn't even have the courtesy to call me. Basically told me that I shouldn't have bothered and that I should stick to just ordering pizza and… other things." She mumbled as Punk looked across at her, "He was fucking mean." She sighed to herself. Her feelings rarely got hurt, especially by her husband, but right now her feelings were hurt at what he had said.

"Maybe you just caught him on a bad day." Punk shrugged.

"I don't give a shit if he's having a bad day. He doesn't get to talk to me like that. Like I'm a piece of shit." Thea shook her head.

"I really don't imagine he meant for you to feel like that." Punk said. It was always difficult to be neutral in situations like this. He was always on his daughter's sides, but he had to be fair and to help them see the bigger picture.

"Well he did." Thea said, "I know we've been pretty distant these past few weeks. I've been working a lot of shifts, so has he. And the kids needs come first." She nodded, "But things just feel really off and I hate it." She shook her head sadly as Punk looked across at her and sighed.

"Look, Thea… I'm not the best with advice on this type of thing." He said, sitting down across from her at the table, "But couples fight. All the time. It sounds like you guys are just busy with life and it's… it's taken its toll a little but it'll bounce back." He nodded.

"I just hate how he spoke to me." Thea shook her head as Punk looked at her.

"Do you want me to speak to him?" He asked fatherly.

"No." Thea scoffed, "I'm not twelve." She rolled her eyes, "I mean he said he was sorry and that he didn't mean it but…" She shrugged, "I just wanted to do something nice and I feel like it got thrown back in my face."

"He's your husband. You don't have to try to impress him." Punk laughed a little.

"It's not about that, though." Thea said, "It's about wanting to do it. I saw how you and mom were when I was a kid. You were sweet to one another without having to think about it." She said.

"Yeah but we also fought like cat and dog sometimes." Punk reminded her, "It happens. You go through little rough spells. You and Dominic are great, and he's always been there for you." He said as Thea nodded.

He could tell it sounded like their marriage was a little rocky, but nothing worth worrying about. It was normal and he didn't want her to feel like the world was falling apart.

"I just hate it when we fight. Makes life harder." She sighed.

"Then go home and talk to him. There's no use you being here." He said as she sighed to herself.

"How are the kids?" Thea asked.

"They're fine. They went out for pizza with Cassie. I think she had a lot of fun with them." He said as Thea smiled.

"Good, I'm glad." Thea nodded, "I'm sorry for waking you up." She sighed.

"It's ok. I don't mind." He assured her, "Just talk it out with him. Tell him how you feel." He advised. He'd had many moments of sitting through the middle of the night with both Thea or Jude, talking to them about issues they had regarding their lives, of course as adults. He only gave advice and comfort he wished he'd gotten as a younger adult when he was growing up and going through hard times. He was always there for his children, in whichever way they needed him.

"I can't believe you still keep pictures like this up on here." Thea shook her head, standing up and walking over to the fridge where a collection of family pictures were stuck to, "I remember doing her hair and make-up for this." She smiled, taking a picture of Cassie on her prom day from the fridge.

"We had Jude's prom picture up there but she ripped it down and said she hated it so." Punk shrugged, "And you didn't go to yours. Well… that's what mom tells me."

"I was in hospital." Thea nodded to him briefly as he looked across at her staring at the picture of Cassie, "She looked so good." She smiled to herself.

"Not too much make-up." 18 year old Cassie emphasised, sitting at the kitchen table, her hair in rollers whilst Thea got ready to do her make-up for her.

"Come on, I'm not gonna have you looking like a clown." Thea said, "Trust me."

"I don't." Cassie mumbled.

"Aren't you sad to leave all your friends? I mean, they're all going to college and you're going to the academy." Thea said, taking out the make-up brushes from her bag, looking at all the make-up sprawled out on the kitchen table, wondering what to start with first.

"I only have like two friends." Cassie chuckled a little, "And one isn't even going to college. I'm not that sad." She shrugged.

"Well… are you nervous?" Thea smiled, "Close your eyes." She said as Cassie closed her eyes over and let her biggest sister do her make-up, a thing she knew very little about.

"I'm a little nervous." Cassie said, "Just because I don't know what to expect." She admitted.

"Well I guess that's like any new job or career step. The unknown is always the scariest part. Once you get past that it's easy sailing." Thea nodded.

"Somehow I don't think being a cop gets easier." Cassie said, "But I'm up for it." She shrugged as Thea smiled.

The big age cap between her and Cassie had always made them pass ships in the nights at time, but never had it made them any less sisterly. In a way it made her emotional to see her littlest sister become not so little anymore. She remembered when she was just a baby, almost having to be the second parent for her.

"You're a badass." Thea smiled, "So… since it's just me and you in here, you got a date tonight?" She asked. Of course she had to get the gossip.

"No." Cassie chuckled, "I'm going with my friends. We made a pact at the beginning of the year." She said.

"To be boring?" Thea teased.

"Shut up." Cassie smiled, "I'll have way more fun with them than any boy." She said as Thea smiled.

"I wish I thought like you when I was eighteen." Thea admitted truthfully as Cassie just smiled.

"Hey! Sorry, I'm late." Jude came through the door, taking her coat off and making her way into the kitchen, "Damn, one woman glam squad, huh?"

"Well two woman now." Thea said, "Start taking her rollers out." She nodded.

"Ok." Jude said, standing behind Cassie as she began taking her rollers out.

"So this is how many people it takes to make me look pretty?" Cassie smiled.

"Uh no. We're just amplifying it." Thea said as Cassie chuckled.

"Well I'm glad, because I have no clue about any of this stuff." Cassie said, "I'd be showing up with my hair tied back and some jeans on." She said as Thea and Jude chuckled.

"Not on my watch." Thea chuckled, beginning to apply eyeshadow. No matter if they had moved out of the house, or they were having their own families, moving on with their own careers and own lives, they always had each other.


Eight Months Later…

"Where's Cassie? Where'd they take her?" Jude grabbed hold of Thea who came back into the wedding venue's main reception, "Where is she?"

"I-I don't know." Thea shook her head, walking back into the reception with Dominic, "You need to get out of that dress." She advised.

"Sean said he can't find mom and dad." Jude said as Thea grabbed her by the arm.

"Yeah, I… I don't know… I don't know where they are." Thea shook her head, taking her sister towards the hotel rooms.

"I'm gonna go look for them." Dominic whispered to Thea who nodded, squeezing his hand and looking up at him before he ran off in the opposite direction.

"Where is Sean?" Jude asked, her head all over the place as she looked aroud.

"He's off to look for mom and dad." Thea nodded, "Where's your room key?" She asked, approaching the honeymoon suite.

"I don't have it." Jude shook her head, "But… But Kirsty is in there with the kids." She nodded as Thea knocked on the room door.

They waited a minute before Kirsty, Jude's best friend and maid of honour, opened up the door with eight month Mirren balanced on her hip.

"Hey." Kirsty said with relief as Jude and Thea walked in.

"Oh, come here, baby." Jude sighed to herself, taking Mirren from Kirsty desperately, holding her close to her, completely forgetting about the blood down her dress, just desperate to hold her angel baby girl, "Momma's here, it's ok." She sighed, kissing Mirren's head.

"Where is everyone?" Kirsty asked worriedly as Thea closed the door over, leaning it against it and taking a deep breath.

"Sean and Dominic are looking for my parents." Thea nodded to her, running her hands over her hair, "Where's the kids?" She asked, walking over to the couch area as Kirsty looked at her with confusion.

"What?" Kirsty shook her head.

"James and Sofia?" Thea questioned, turning to her and turning back to the rest of the room, walking around the corner where the bed was, noticing no one was there.

"I don't have them." Kirsty shook her head as Thea walked back into the seating area.

"What the hell are you talking about? Yes you do." Thea said. The thought of anything else wasn't possible.

"No, I just… I just had Mirren. I thought you and Dominic had the kids." Kirsty said as Jude looked over at Thea who had gone a white, almost grey colour.

"We don't have them. Dominic thinks they're with you." Thea said, never feeling as bad as she did right now, the pit of her stomach doing constant turns, feeling sick to her stomach.

"They're not with me." Kirsty shook her head.