Insight

"So I'm picking Mirren up from pre-k and this lady comes up to me and asks me how much do I work for." Jude said, clearing up after dinner whilst their daughters were in the living room.

"How much you work for?" Sean shook his head, "The hell does that mean?" He questioned.

"Well I looked at her and I just said excuse me." Jude said, "I didn't really know how to take the question." She laughed.

"I wouldn't either." Sean said, "What'd she say?" He asked.

"Then she said, it's for my living room, I was wondering how much it would cost." Jude explained.

"Was this woman intoxicated or something?" Sean shook his head, "This is why I don't talk to parents when I pick Mirren up." Sean said.

"I had to say to her that I had no idea what she was talking about and then she eventually said oh, I thought you were a decorator." Jude shook her head, "She then explained that Mirren had told her daughter that I was a painter." She nodded, "She just assumed it was… the decorator kind." Jude laughed.

"Ok, that makes a little more sense." Sean laughed to himself, "I really love that Mirren enjoys telling everyone that her mommy is a painter. Way to steal my cool police man thunder." He nudged her playfully as she smiled.

"Except now they all think I paint new refurbished houses." Jude laughed a little.

"You really are amazing at doing those murals." Sean nodded to her, "I don't know why you don't do more of them. You could make a shit ton of money." He said.

"I don't have the time. Between teaching classes and then going to my meetings, volunteering at the weekend… poor me, I know. But I really wouldn't know when to squeeze it in."

"Yeah, I know." Sean understood, "As long as you're happy doing what you're doing."

"I am." Jude smiled, "Are you?" She asked him.

"I'm all good, baby." Sean smiled, leaning down and kissing her sweetly as she wrapped the kitchen towel around his neck to keep his lips on hers for as long as she could.

"You working on anything exciting?" Jude asked, pulling away from the kiss dreamily.

"Nothing exciting I'm afraid." Sean said, "In fact I was in the precinct all day today. I signed up to be a cop to make sure I didn't end up doing some boring desk job and here I am." He shook his head.

"Yeah but some days you just gotta have those days." Jude said, "Cassie and Theo have been super busy in Chicago. Crime rate must be better here."

"Well it's Chicago they're in." Sean nodded, "I mean, I know this city doesn't sleep and all that but… Chicago don't do much sleeping either." He said as Jude nodded.

"You found it harder working in Chicago?" Jude asked him.

"I wouldn't say it was harder. Just… more things happened. And with Theo in charge of narcotics, I really don't envy him at all."

"Yeah that's gotta be a tough one." Jude nodded, "But he's super good at it."

"You spoken to Thea today?" Sean asked her.

"I did, yeah. I called her this morning, she was having her breakfast, chatted for like half an hour." Jude nodded, "She seems bright and… she's doing good."

"That's good." Sean nodded, giving her a brief hug, knowing how much she had been worrying about her sister over these past weeks.

"Yeah it is. I can even hear it in her voice how much better she's doing." Jude said, "The withdrawals are still there and she's… she's still got her moments but, I really think this diagnosis is gonna help her a lot." She nodded.

"Yeah?" Sean looked at her as Jude nodded.

"Well it's like she's found the source, right? If she can learn how to maintain this disorder then… the addiction shouldn't be as strong as it has been." Jude said, "I know it's still gonna be there but… it has to be a relief for her in some way."

"It's just mad that… it's such a late diagnosis." Sean said as Jude nodded.

"I guess it's the type of illness, plus when addiction is involved, sometimes you can't see past that." She said as Jude nodded.

"Well I'm just glad she's on the right track again. She's got a bigger heart than people think. Sucked to see how bad things got for her." Sean said as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, it did." Jude agreed, "I'm gonna try fly out next week for a couple days and see her again. You're ok with that?" She checked.

"Of course I am." He rubbed her back softly, "I'd like to see her actually. We could take the kids some time."

"Yeah, that'd be good." Jude smiled, "Ok, rock paper scissors for bath time." She nodded, throwing the kitchen towel over as Sean nodded.

"Alright." Sean said, "Rock, paper, scissors." He put his hand out in front of hers.

"Ha!" Jude smiled, smashing against his choice of scissors with her rock.

"I think we should start drawing straws soon." Sean said as Jude chuckled.

"They prefer bath time with you anyway." Jude smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You're just saying that." Sean said.

"I'm not." Jude smiled, leaning up and kissing him sweetly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling him kiss down her cheek and down to her neck as she smiled and closed her eyes, "You got kids to bath first." She reminded him.

"You'd think they'd learn how to do that stuff on their own by now." Sean scoffed sarcastically as Jude smiled.

"Go." Jude smiled, tapping him on the butt as he headed through to the living room, smiling to herself as she heard him round up the excitable girls.

"Is this another book you're reading?" Dominic asked, lying in bed with Thea in the facility. She'd invited him over for a sleepover which the facility allowed. The kids were with AJ and Punk for the night.

"Yeah I just started it." Thea nodded, lying comfily against him as she watched the TV.

"How was your therapy this morning?" He asked her, kissing her head and brushing his hand down her hair.

"It was ok." Thea nodded, "Sometimes I leave feeling good and other times I just… I leave feeling worse." She shrugged, "I have no idea how Jude does it." She shook her head.

"For the long haul, it's probably a really good thing. It's so much better to talk than to just store it all at the back of your head." He said as Thea nodded, "I know a lot of the stuff is probably stuff that's painful to talk about."

"Yeah, well… that's the idea, isn't it?" Thea shrugged, "I do feel better. Physically and mentally." She assured him, "I guess there's just highs and lows. I was always used to just pushing through and not even registering how I was feeling." She said, "I really gotta pay attention to myself." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you do." Dominic agreed, "And I'll be there to make sure you are." He said as she smiled.

"I'm glad you're not a jerk." Thea sighed with comfort as he laughed, "I'm serious. I got… a whole lot of baggage."

"Everyone's got baggage. You know I do." He said, "And I… I love you as a person. All of you. You being diagnosed with this mental illness… it just doesn't change anything about how I see you. I don't think anything could." He nodded.

"See… not a jerk." Thea smiled as he chuckled, "I gotta talk about Jackson a whole lot." She told him as he nodded.

"Yeah I kinda figured." Dominic said, "Tough?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Maybe… Maybe it's not just my dad going to prison that makes me have these weird trust, abandonment issues." She said, "Maybe it had something to do with Jackson too. He was my friend. My only friend, really." She said, "And then he was my boyfriend and I thought… I thought he did love me." She said.

"I don't know what his deal was." Dominic sighed. It was hard finding the right things to say when it came to Jackson. It was almost taboo to talk about him at all, "He had a weird upbringing and… a really dangerous father. He was probably swayed in so many different directions as a kid." He said, "And he… just became a monster. I mean that's the only way I'd describe him."

"Yeah." Thea agreed, "I don't really know how to describe the feeling of… loving someone and then… they just turn on you." Thea shook her head, "Like he'd been faking it the whole time." She said.

"He thought he was getting his last laugh and… the time he spent in prison with his dad probably turned him out worse than what he already was." Dominic said, "He's exactly where he's supposed to be."

"Yeah, I know." Thea said, "Sorry I know not everyone likes talking about him."

"Hey… look at me." Dominic said as Thea looked up at him, "You can always talk to me about anything." He assured her as she smiled softly, leaning back into him.

"How were the kids when you dropped them off with my mom and dad?" Thea asked.

"Excited as always. Oh, that reminds me." Dominic said, "Your dad wanted me to give you this picture." He said, leaning over and grabbing his jacket from the chair, taking the picture out and giving her it as she sat up and looked at it.

"Is… Is this Sam?" Thea raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, apparently." Dominic said, "Dan dropped some things of hers off to your dad the other night and there was some old pictures along with everything. Your dad said you'll probably like that one." He said as Thea smiled.

It was a picture of Sam, no doubt only sixteen or seventeen, sitting on the front step of a house. She was beautiful. Hair down her back, a gigantic smile with some high waisted jeans and a shirt on.

"I would have killed it with the fashion back then." Thea shook her head, smiling upon the picture.

"That's exactly how Cassie dresses." Dominic chuckled as Thea smiled.

"It is." Thea nodded, "That's a good picture." She nodded, sitting it over on the bedside table.

"I think your mom and dad were gonna get pizza with the kids." Dominic said as Thea smiled.

"I hope they have fun. They always do." Thea smiled.

"They can't wait to have you home." Dominic nodded, "Well… me and them." He said as she smiled, looking up at him.

He watched as she climbed over him on the bed, running over to the door and grabbing one of the chairs, putting it under the handle to make sure no one could come in.

"What are you doing?" Dominic chuckled as Thea walked back over to the bed.

"Having a sleepover." Thea shrugged with a grin, getting back into the bed.

"You don't get people coming round to check?" Dominic wondered.

"They've already been." Thea said, "Plus, that's why the chair is there." She smiled, climbing over him, straddling his hips as he placed his hands on her waist.

"I've missed you." Dominic nodded seriously as she smiled, leaning down and kissing him softly.

"Theo? What are you doing up? It's like… 3am." Cassie screwed her eyes up, walking into the kitchen where she found her husband sitting at the table doing some work through the night.

"I couldn't sleep." Theo ran his hand through his hair, "Did I wake you?"

"No, I just woke up and then I… I was confused when you weren't in bed." Cassie said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just… doing some work." Theo said.

"We don't work at 3am, baby." Cassie sighed tiredly, rubbing his shoulder as she walked on by to the fridge to grab water.

"Well when you can't sleep, what else is there to do?" Theo asked her.

"Why can't you sleep?" Cassie asked him.

"Work." Theo said.

"Well that makes sense." Cassie nodded.

"You know the amount of deaths and stabbings that are linked to drug gangs in this area?" Theo asked her.

"No." Cassie said.

"Sixty percent." Theo said, "And we're not just talking drugs, now we're talking money laundering. I mean… is it that hard to just get a normal job?" He shook his head.

"For some people, yeah it might be." Cassie said.

"Don't defend them." Theo scoffed.

"Hey, I'm not." Cassie said, "But… these gangs or… these dealers, some of them are victims too." She nodded.

"Yeah well put your cop hat on for a second." Theo nodded.

"My cop hat is on." Cassie said, "It's the education system and legal system that's failing these people. Some of these gangs are made up of kids. Kids who should be in school." She nodded, "You know how I feel about drugs. It's way more a health issue than a crime issue to me."

"Yeah, if you're taking them. Not if you're dealing them." Theo shook his head, "Look, I know you gotta be bias cause of your dad and stuff but-"

"Hey, hold on." Cassie shook her head, "My dad hasn't done anything like that in over twenty years. I'm not bias." She said angrily, "I hate when you pull that shit with me." She warned him as he nodded.

"I'm sorry." He said as she glared at him, "It's just… this shit is difficult to crack. Takes you forever just to find who is the real puppet masters conducting all this movement." He nodded.

"I know." Cassie understood.

"Hey, do you think it'd be weird if… if I asked your dad some stuff?" Theo asked her.

"Ask my dad about stuff he one hundred percent will not know anything about?" Cassie questioned.

"No, like… process and stuff." Theo said, "You and me don't know how these people work but… your dad probably does."

"I don't know if that's something you should be talking to him about." Cassie shook her head, nervous at the idea.

"It could help." Theo thought to himself.

"Well you ask him if he's ok with it. I'm not asking him." Cassie said.

"Fine, I will." Theo nodded.

"Don't piss him off." Cassie warned him.

"I'm your dad's favourite son-in-law." Theo shook his head.

"You wouldn't be if he knew you bad mouthed him like that." Cassie said.

"I didn't bad mouth him." Theo scoffed.

"You always gotta bring him up when it comes to this stuff." Cassie said, "He was… young and stupid, and then he was doing it against his will. I hate the way you always incriminate him-"

"Hey hey… no I don't." Theo said, "You know I love your dad. He's… probably the only father figure I have in my life." He said, "Just… he knows a lot about this stuff, that's all. Believe me, I know your dad is a good guy." He assured her as Cassie just folded her arms.

"Well stop using him as an example then." Cassie warned, "Or I'll… go crying to him and tell him you made me cry. And then he'll beat you up." She smiled as he laughed a little.

"Ok, please don't do that." Theo nodded as she smiled, feeling him pull her over by her hand as she sat down on his lap.

"Just don't be weird with him. Don't ask him too many questions." Cassie said, "He's got a lot of bad memories from during that time."

"I just want some insight, that's all." Theo said as she nodded.

"Can you come back to bed now?" Cassie smiled.

"Mhm." He nodded, kissing her softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.