First Impressions


"I don't know why we have to have dinner with him." Punk said, setting the table in the kitchen with his wife.

"Because he's having a baby with our daughter, that's why." AJ said, "That makes him family. So we need to get to know him." She said, "I think it would ease Cassie's mind a lot."

"What am I supposed to even say to them? It's not a normal situation, is it?" Punk said.

"Don't think about it so much." AJ said, "Get to know him. Ask him about his life, I don't know." She shrugged.

"Easy for you to say, I'm not good with this stuff. I always get into trouble." He huffed like a child as AJ shook her head.

"Then just use your head before you blurt out something. If it sounds ridiculous in your head, it'll sound ridiculous out loud." She patted his arm as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah thanks for the advice, Ape." Punk nodded, "What are you making?" He asked, setting the table and looking over where AJ was cooking.

"Tacos." AJ shrugged, "It's the only thing I can cook that I know will make a good first impression." She said confidently as he laughed a little.

"This is a bit odd, isn't it?" Punk sighed a little as AJ turned around, "I know that they're being responsible about it and that's great. But I just don't know why they can't give their relationship a go. Clearly they like one another."

"Think about it like this… how long did it take for us to get back together once you got out of prison, both times." She said as Punk looked at her, "It took us a while."

"It's not exactly the same thing, Ape." Punk said.

"Not exactly but there's similarities." AJ nodded, "He was gone for a year, Cassie thought he was gone forever, she's just taking her time with this. I mean they never actually dated before in the first place so it's still new to them. Add a baby into the mix and it's pretty serious. Let them figure it out on their own. Who knows maybe it'll just fall into place naturally."

"Oh, I'd bet serious money on them being together before the baby is here." Punk nodded.

"No one's betting anything." AJ warned him as Cassie came downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Do I look ok?" She asked them, wearing a light blue sun dress, having made some effort to straighten all her hair and put on a spot of make-up.

"Oh, you look pretty." AJ smiled.

"I can't believe I have to wear a shirt, to my own kitchen, to eat the food I cooked." Punk scoffed.

"You cooked?" AJ turned to him with a raised a brow.

"I mean, my lovely sweet wife cooked." Punk smiled sweetly.

"Yeah." AJ made a face at him.

"I just want him to see you guys the way I see you, and not the way those criminal records on the police systems paint you as." Cassie said as AJ and Punk looked at her, "So just… be yourselves." She nodded, turning to Punk, "Well, maybe not totally yourselves." She teased as Punk scoffed.

"Honey, it'll be fine. Just relax." AJ nodded, rubbing her arm softly.

"I just thought it'd be better if he came here instead of going out to a restaurant or something." Cassie nodded, "Everywhere is pretty clean, huh?" She looked around as Punk and AJ looked at her.

"Is our house normally dirty?" AJ challenged, unimpressed.

"No, you know what I mean." Cassie waved her hand, "Oh, we could have ate outside, it's such a nice night." She looked out the window.

"Cassie." Punk said.

"What?" Cassie turned around.

"Take a breath." He suggested as she nodded to herself, "You have no reason to be nervous about this." He said as she nodded, "We're just gonna get to know him and he can get to know us." He said as Cassie nodded, taking a deep breath.

"It's gonna be fine, sweetie." AJ assured her, just as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Cassie said, leaving the kitchen as Punk and AJ smiled to one another. It was different seeing Cassie act this way.

Cassie walked down the hall, opening up the door where Theo was standing waiting.

"Hey." Theo nodded to her.

"Hi, come in." She smiled, opening up the door wide as he walked into the house. It was the first time he'd been inside her house, which felt pretty ridiculous considering she was pregnant with his child.

"Here, not for you, obviously." Theo said, handing her the bottle of wine, "Old people like wine, right?" He asked as Cassie laughed a little.

"Uh… one, I wouldn't say old people to my parent's faces and two, they don't drink." She smiled a little. She knew Theo's personality very well. Like her father, sometimes he didn't think before he said things, and it was hard to take him sometimes, so she was a little worried about the clash it was going to have with her parents.

"Oh, well… you save it for when the baby is born." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"I will." She nodded.

"Smells damn good in here." Theo said as Cassie smiled.

"Mom's made tacos, I hope you're ok with what." She said.

"I finally get to try mom's famous tacos?" He questioned, "I'm down." He nodded as she smiled, taking his jacket and sitting it over by the stairs as he watched her. She looked stunning and he desperately wanted to tell her just how stunning he thought she was. But he chose not to.

"You've only ever lived in this house, right?" Theo asked, walking down the hallway with her. He understood why they were doing this, especially if she was planning on raising the baby into his house for the first few months at least. It was important to him, just as much as it was to her, for him to get to know her parents.

"Yeah, born and raised." Cassie nodded.

"It's nice." Theo nodded, walking behind her as she lead them into the kitchen where he saw her parents.

"Uh I know you guys have before, kinda…" Cassie said, "But Theo this is my mom, April and my dad, Phil." She pointed.

"It's nice to meet you. Properly." Theo nodded, shaking AJ's hand as she smiled, moving onto Punk's whose grip was a little tighter.

"We're glad you're here." AJ nodded to him, "Take a seat." She ordered as Theo nodded, sitting down at the table as Cassie joined him.

"Can I get you a drink?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah, just whatever is good." Theo nodded to him as Punk walked over to the fridge, getting some soda's out and sitting them down.

"I hope you like tacos." AJ said.

"Love them." Theo nodded, "Cassie's told me all about your tacos." He said.

"Oh, well I hope they live up to expectations." AJ smiled, sitting them in the middle of the table as she and Punk eventually sat down across from them.

"So, Theo you always lived here in Chicago?" Punk asked as they got stuck into dinner.

"I was actually born in Mexicali." Theo nodded as Cassie turned to him.

"I didn't know that." She admitted, feeling dumb.

"Yeah, I moved here when I was five." Theo said, "My parents split up so my dad stays in Mexicali and my mom is here in Chicago." He said as AJ and Punk nodded.

"Do you still visit your dad?" AJ asked.

"Once a year, probably." Theo shrugged, "He re-married and has other kids so it's kinda like the black sheep coming to visit, if you know what I mean." He said as AJ and Punk nodded.

"You have any siblings?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah, I got a little brother, Matthew. He's at Harold Washington College." Theo said.

"Oh, our niece is there. Yeah, she stays on campus." AJ nodded, "It's a nice place."

"Sarah doesn't go to Harold, she goes to Kendall college." Cassie shook her head, "Chrissy went to Harold."

"I always think it's the other way around." AJ shook her head.

"Lot of names to remember." Theo admitted.

"Oh, that's Phil's brothers daughters. Cassie's cousins." AJ nodded.

"You guys close with them?" Theo nodded. It wasn't hard to make conversation, especially basic conversation like this, but it was once that ran out was the worrying part.

"Yeah, we're really close." Cassie nodded, "We used to go on vacations with them all the time when I was younger." She said, "Camping trips, cabin in the woods type vacations."

"Yeah, those are the best ones." Theo nodded.

"Taking Cassie on those vacations always ended in a casualty, though." Punk said, "I don't think she ever went on vacation without coming back with a broken limb." He nodded.

"Majority of the time I broke something was because Thea or Jude let me. Or when they made me test out that rope swing. I was always the damn guinea pig." She shook her head as Theo smiled.

"Hey, you were always dumb enough to do what they said." Punk chuckled to himself as Cassie smiled.

"How long have you been on the force, Theo?" AJ asked.

"This will be my sixth year." Theo nodded.

"Why'd you wanna be a cop?" Punk asked him.

"I don't know, I always knew I needed a fast paced job. I was never gonna work in an office, manual work was sort of boring to me too so I thought working with the police would be pretty exciting." He nodded, "And it is. It's a lot tougher than I thought but it's something I definitely enjoy." He said, noticing the collection of pictures stuck on the fridge, "Is that you holding the snake on the fridge?" He pointed as Cassie looked up.

"Yeah." Cassie laughed a little, "Mom insists on having all those dumb pictures up for everyone to see." She looked over at her mother with embarrassment.

"They're not dumb." AJ defended.

"I think it's nice." Theo nodded.

"I took the girls to a reptile centre when they were younger." AJ nodded, "Cassie was the only one who'd hold the snake. Jude and Thea wanted nothing to do with it." She remembered fondly as Theo smiled, looking over at Punk who wasn't saying anything.

"Daredevil?" Theo turned to Cassie who laughed a little and nodded.

"A little." Cassie shrugged.

"That's why you're a good cop." Theo nodded as AJ smiled to herself, "There's uh… there's not a lot of pictures of you up there." He looked at Punk who nodded.

"That's cause I was in prison." Punk said bluntly as Theo nodded slowly whilst Cassie looked down. She was really hoping they could avoid the awkward, tense conversations.

"How long for?" Theo asked.

"Eight years." Punk nodded, "I uh… I didn't meet Cassie until she was eight." He said as Theo turned to Cassie.

"I didn't know that." Theo looked at Cassie who just nodded. He knew her father had been in prison a couple of times, but he never knew he didn't appear in her life until she was eight because of it.

"I don't really remember what it was like without you there so it… it doesn't matter." Cassie shook her head, trying to move on from it as Theo watched her.

"You've got your own apartment, Theo?" AJ asked, breaking through the awkwardness.

"Yeah… yeah, my mom definitely encouraged me to move out." He laughed a little as she smiled.

"And you're ok with the baby staying here with Cassie?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, I mean… I'm gonna make my spare room into a nursery." He said as Cassie looked at him, "I know that the baby will be here for the first few months, and that's fine with me as long as I can come here and see it as much as I can." He nodded.

"Of course you can." AJ assured him.

"Maybe further down the line I could have the baby stay with me every now and then, give Cassie a break." He said as Punk nodded.

"That's a good idea." Punk nodded. It did ease his mind that he could sense how much Theo wanted to be involved with the baby. It made a big difference knowing his daughter wasn't on her own, even though there was no relationship between them as such.

"Are you gonna find out the gender?" AJ smiled, staying on a positive note.

"Yeah." Cassie turned to Theo who nodded in agreement, "I'm way too impatient."

"What do you think it is?" AJ asked.

"A boy." Cassie nodded confidently.

"Is there a way to tell?" Theo laughed a little.

"No, but I guess sometimes you just have a feeling." AJ shrugged.

"I'm not sure I can handle any more women in my life." Punk admitted as AJ chuckled.

"Oh, yeah you guys already have grandchildren." Theo remembered, "How many?"

"Three." AJ said, "Two girls and a boy."

"Well hey, maybe we can even it out." Theo nodded to Cassie who smiled to him as Punk watched.

He knew Theo was a good guy. He didn't expect them to have things figured out completely, but to hear how much he wanted to be involved and how much he really cared, even the fact he had showed up to have dinner with them, it was respectful and it made Punk feel a whole lot better.


The night was followed on by more casual conversation. Theo got to know more about AJ and Punk and vice versa. He felt awful for having assumptions about them before properly meeting them. He felt welcomed into what was a very loving home.

Whilst Cassie was at the bathroom, Punk invited him into the living room to check the hockey game score after finding out he was a massive hockey fan. AJ was happy to let them go whilst dishing out some ice-cream for her and Cassie.

"Where'd they go?" Cassie asked, walking back into the kitchen.

"To check the hockey score." AJ shook her head as Cassie groaned nervously, "Just sit and eat your ice-cream." She encouraged.

"Is it going ok? I think it's going ok." Cassie nodded, sitting down at the table.

"It's going fine." AJ assured her calmly, "He's very sweet and it's good to know he's taking this seriously. Your father will sleep better tonight." She nodded, sitting down across from her daughter at the table.

"It made me realise how much I don't even know about him, actually." Cassie sighed, "And so much he doesn't know about me either." She said.

"Well, I think you'll get to know each other pretty well during this time." AJ nodded.

"I know we still have a lot to talk about, you know… about the baby and stuff, how it's gonna work when it's here and stuff but I think it's good we can be civil." Cassie nodded.

"Of course it. It makes parenting a lot easier." AJ said, "And you know we'll be there to help you with whatever you need."

"I feel a lot better now." Cassie admitted truthfully.

"Why?" AJ smiled.

"I don't know, I was just nervous about him coming here. I think he only knows the chaotic versions of you both. I wanted him to see you guys how I know you." She nodded.

"Well hopefully we didn't scare him too much." AJ teased as Cassie smiled. To see her daughter relaxing a little, less stressed out and anxious, of course it was the most important thing.

Meanwhile in the living room Punk had put the hockey game on to check the score, which he and Theo were delighted to see the Hawks taking the lead.

"Who do you think it's up for the trade?" Theo asked him.

"Well if that's Lehner gone, who knows at this point." Punk shook his head, sitting down on the couch.

"Wrong move?" Theo asked him.

"Hell yeah." Punk nodded.

"We needed a sub winger, though." Theo said.

"Yeah, and we got a kid who's probably got one successful game under his belt." Punk shook his head.

"Gotta start them off somewhere." Theo said as Punk nodded.

"That's true." Punk agreed as Theo looked around.

"Is that Cassie?" He asked, wondering over to the mantel where three pictures of the girls were, which looked like school pictures.

"Yeah, the one at the far right." Punk nodded.

"She looks a lot like her oldest sister." Theo nodded.

"You think so?" Punk looked over, turning the TV down a little.

"Yeah, definitely." Theo observed.

"Here wait and I'll give you a real laugh." Punk stood up, walking over to the side of the other couch and pulling out one of the photo albums from the basket.

"She'll kill you." Theo laughed a little as Punk sat down on the couch, opening up the album on the coffee table as Theo sat down beside him.

"April has an album for each of them." Punk said, showing him some pictures of Cassie as a child.

It was the first time in the night he didn't feel like he had to be scared or nervous. He felt welcomed, accepted, and he was taken back by how warm and easy it was to get along with her father. He'd almost forgot he was even meeting him for the first time, the conversation was starting to flow that well.

"That's a damn good Halloween costume." Theo chuckled as he saw a photograph of perhaps a five year old Cassie with a colourful cardboard box around her, dressed up as a Rubik's cube.

"Yeah, I popped at that one when I saw it." Punk smiled, turning the pages.

"She mentioned she played soccer." Theo nodded, noticing the pictures of Cassie playing soccer, "She any good?" He smiled.

"Hell yeah, she was a striker for seven years." Punk nodded, "She got sick of it, I guess."

"When'd she quit?" Theo asked.

"Oh, she didn't quit." Punk said, "She got herself kicked off." He nodded, "She said she felt bad and didn't want to quit so she wanted them to fire her essentially." He shook his head as Theo chuckled, "For her own peace of mind, I guess." He shook his head.

"She's close to her sisters, huh?" Theo nodded, seeing many pictures with her sisters in it.

"Yeah, super close." Punk nodded, "I truly believe they're the three best people on this planet." He said seriously as Theo smiled. He didn't have the best relationship with his father, so it was pretty different and rare to see a real good one up close and personal.

"I think you gotta be bias with that one." Theo nodded.

"No way." Punk shook his head as he smiled, "I'm not gonna threaten you or anything, don't worry." He assured him as Theo looked at him, "And I won't be up in your business. I appreciate that this is yours and Cassie's relationship or… not relationship, whatever." He said, "But I'll say to you what I've said to my two other daughter's husbands. Hurt her and it'll be the biggest mistake you'll ever make." He nodded seriously as Theo looked across at him, "I want the absolute best for her, and the baby."

"Well then we have that in common." Theo assured him as Punk nodded.

Meanwhile Cassie was getting antsy in the kitchen, finished her ice-cream and tapping her hands on the table.

"It's quiet in there." Cassie said nervously, "I'm gonna go check on them." She said as AJ smiled.

"Ok." AJ said.

Cassie stood up from the table, walking out of the kitchen to head into the living room when she paused at the door, unseen by her father and Theo.

She noticed they were looking through a photo album, laughing as her father pointed out some embarrassing pictures of her. Normally she'd be mad, but she didn't mind. She hadn't expected them to get along so well, but it really did help her relax. It was a pretty good sight to see in amongst all this madness. It annoyingly made her think about the what if even more.