Wandering Mind

"Did you tell dad about Joey?" Jude asked, walking through the mall with her mother in the afternoon, having done some retail therapy together whilst Punk had offered to babysit the girls after daycare and school.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Yeah, he took it surprisingly well." She admitted.

"As he should." Jude said, "I know it's weird but it's not like he can get mad about it. Things worked out fine for you both in the end. That's all he probably cares about." She said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, I just worry that he's just trying to act all calm and fine about it. And then he'll go gossip to Dean about it when we get home." AJ shook her head as Jude smiled a little, "Or he'll be phoning him right now."

"No he won't." Jude scoffed, walking into another clothing store as they browsed the racks.

"I just feel kinda weird about it. I wish I didn't." AJ said, "Like when he came into my office the other day and was speaking to me, I felt like I was doing something wrong. I know I wasn't but… it just felt like that." She said.

"Well it's obviously gonna be awkward, right?" Jude nodded, "But maybe… maybe he's married and got kids now. Maybe he was just being friendly and introducing himself again rather than having you bump into him." She shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe." AJ thought to herself.

"He wasn't a bad guy. At the time I wanted him to piss off but that was for selfish reasons. And I know Thea felt the same. He was always really nice to us. To you." Jude said as AJ nodded.

"He got a little nasty towards the end." AJ told her.

"What do you mean?" Jude asked, holding up a shirt against her body, looking in the mirror.

"Well I think he just got frustrated. Which I can understand why. I got three kids. Husband is in prison. It's a lot to deal with when you're dating someone." AJ nodded, "But I just remember him saying that I was just using him to fill a space. That I was shallow and empty." She shrugged.

"He said that to you?" Jude questioned.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I never mentioned it because… well let's face it, Thea would have beaten him up." She rolled her eyes.

"Well maybe she should have." Jude scoffed, "If that's how it ended."

"I know I wasn't perfect. I was… pretty closed off. I mean we spent like a few months dating and I don't think I actually let him get to know me." AJ said, "I guess I just… I still wanted your dad to be the only one who knew certain things about me. That's when I knew it wasn't working and we had to just… call it a day." She said.

"Well it's not like he didn't know the situation." Jude said.

"Yeah, I know. And he would… he would freak me out a lot. He'd talk about wanting to get married and have kids in his future and that just… that was alarm bells to me cause I'd done all of that. I didn't want more kids or… another marriage." She said, "It was just never gonna work."

"Can you imagine? Dad gets out of prison and you've got another kid?" Jude laughed a little, "I don't think you really wanted it to work anyway." Jude said as AJ nodded.

"It's just gonna be weird working with him again." AJ said.

"You work in your office. You'll barely see him." Jude assured her.

"Yeah, you're right." AJ waved her hand.

"This is a cute dress." Jude nodded, picking up the dress from the rack.

"It is." AJ agreed, "Are you shopping for something in particular?" She asked.

"It's Sean's birthday next week and we were gonna go out." Jude said, "Only thing about us going out without the girls is that we need to find a babysitter and I just… I don't like it."

"You don't like going out?" AJ asked.

"No, I don't like leaving the girls with a babysitter." Jude sighed, "Like right now I feel so relaxed because I know they're with dad, but if I know they're with a sitter than I'm like… just worried about them. Then it ruins my night." She shook her head.

"Yeah but you gotta have some time to yourselves." AJ nodded.

"What did you do with us? I know Thea used to babysit me and Cass when she got older but when me and Thea were younger." Jude said.

"You'd go to Dean's." AJ said, "Your dad always had a Saturday off and I didn't work weekends so we'd go out Friday night and you and Thea would stay with Dean and Renee." AJ nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I sort of remember that." Jude said, "Guess it's the downside of moving away." She nodded.

"You can trust a babysitter as long as you've gotten to know her." AJ nodded.

"Some of them on the ads are like seventeen. As if I'm going to trust my girls with a seventeen year old." Jude scoffed.

"That's just a kid trying to make money." AJ shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." Jude nodded, "I'm gonna go try this dress on." She decided.

"Just watch, this guy is gonna start bothering her again." Punk nodded, sitting on the couch in his daughter's house, on a phone call with his brother.

"I don't think so." Dean shook his head, sitting on his lunch break at the docks, "April doesn't give a shit about other guys. I can't believe you're actually worried about this."

"It's not April I'm worried about." Punk sighed, "He's working on the same floor as her. I mean why would he go speak to her anyway? That's weird. Would you go up and speak to someone you've slept with?" He asked him.

"Most women I slept with when I was younger are either dead or in prison." Dean admitted as Punk rolled his eyes.

"She really had like… a relationship with this guy. It's just weird." Punk shook his head, "We never really talked about it because we didn't have to. It was just something that was in the past. And I don't blame her for trying to move on. I don't." He said.

"Dude, as long as he ain't making her uncomfortable then you shouldn't worry about it." Dean told him, "I was there when they were dating. April was just trying to make time go by faster. I think she was just alone." Dean said, "I knew it wasn't gonna go anywhere."

"What were the girls like with him?" Punk asked curiously.

"As far as I know, Jude never spoke to him and Thea was… of course just being Thea." Dean nodded.

"The bastard told Cassie that I was dead." Punk scoffed.

"Maybe he just panicked." Dean said, "I'm sure it wasn't deliberate." He said.

"Probably not." Punk said.

"Just switch off from it and enjoy your weekend." Dean said.

"Yeah, I'm on babysitting duty right now. AJ and Jude are shopping." Punk nodded.

"Well have fun, and don't think about this guy." Dean shook his head.

"I'll try." Punk said, "I'll see you later."

"Bye, buddy." Dean hung up as Punk threw his phone on the couch beside him, watching Mirren and Leela playing with some of their toys in the living room.

He wasn't at all mad with his wife. They had a mutual understanding that the eight years they spent apart was hard for both of them, and that they both did things they regretted. But naturally it just made him wonder.

"Papa." Mirren sat on the floor as Punk looked over.

"What is it, sweetie?" Punk smiled, sitting up.

"Do you want tea?" Mirren asked him, playing with her little tea set whilst Leela sat, more interested in the TV.

"I'd love some." Punk nodded, "You got some sugar?" He asked.

"Uh…yes." Mirren checked as Punk smiled.

"Two for me." Punk nodded, sitting down beside her, "Lee, are you having some?" He asked Leela who shook her head, causing Punk to chuckle, "Not into tea, huh?" He smiled. He cherished the time he got to spend with them due to not being able to see them as frequently as his other grandchildren. They were sure to brighten up his worries.

"Hey, I'm home." Cassie called tiredly, getting home late on, dumping her things at the bottom of the stairs, taking her jacket off and heading through to the kitchen, "Man, what a day." She shook her head, walking into the kitchen and pausing with a small smile when she saw the candles on the table and her favourite dinner.

"You like?" Theo smiled.

"You're too sweet." Cassie smiled to herself, "Makes me sick." She nodded as he chuckled, "How's my baby?" She asked.

"I'm ok. A little tired after cooking this." He teased as Cassie smiled.

"And my other baby?" She asked.

"He's fine." Theo nodded.

"You didn't have to do this." Cassie said, walking over to him.

"But I really like when you do that little smile thing when something makes you happy." He nodded as she smiled, "Like that." He pointed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you." Cassie nodded as he smiled, "And you're gonna get some good love tonight." She assured as he chuckled.

"I mean… we don't gotta eat if you don't want to." He teased as she smiled.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm actually really hungry." She chuckled.

"I'm just teasing, me too." He said, "How was your day?" He asked her.

"Pretty chaotic." She nodded, sitting down at the table, "But a good chaotic. Like wow I'm using my time efficiently and I'm doing a good job chaotic." She said.

"So what happened?" He asked her.

"There was a car accident I got called to this morning. Pretty similar to the one my mom was in. Crossroads. One fatality and a couple are in hospital. But… this is the second car accident at that spot in just three months. So I'm doing a whole enquiry about it." She nodded.

"How bad are the couple in hospital?" Theo asked.

"I think they're stable but pretty banged up." Cassie said, "That's literally my worst fear. Waking up in hospital and remembering your family or your husband was in a car accident and you… you don't know if they're ok or not." She shook her head, "Oh, it's awful." She shivered at the thought.

"Sounds it." Theo nodded, sitting down at the table just as there was a knock at the door, "I'll get it." He said, getting up from the table and heading down the hall, opening up the door and stiffening a little when he saw Jake standing.

"Hey." Jake nodded to him.

"Hi." Theo said.

"It's… not a bad time, is it?" Jake wondered.

"Uh… no, not if you're quick." Theo said, letting him into the house, "We're just having dinner." He told him, walking through to the kitchen as Jake followed.

Cassie looked up when she saw Theo walk back into the kitchen with Jake, a little confused as to why their boss was coming to their house. It made her panic a little.

"Hey." Cassie shook her head nervously.

"Don't worry, nothing is wrong." Jake assured them both, "I uh… I was here to apologise to both of you. You in particular, Theo." He nodded as Theo folded his arms, "I know you worked really hard on this case and sometimes I can run away with things without thinking." He said.

"Yeah, I know." Theo nodded.

"I shouldn't have let it get to a point where you were in physical danger. Both of you." He nodded to Cassie, "You're both two of my best in the station and… maybe I take that for granted sometimes." He said, "But I know that I went about things the wrong way and I just wanted to apologise." He said as Theo looked at him, nodding slowly.

"Theo worked really hard on that case." Cassie nodded.

"Cass." Theo shook his head.

"No, you did." Cassie nodded, "If anyone deserves the apology it's him." She said as Jake nodded.

"I know. I apologise." Jake nodded to Theo.

"Well, apology accepted." Theo said, "It was a… a tough case, I can understand that. Maybe just communicate with me about it a little more." He shrugged.

"I'll work on it." Jake said, "I'll let you guys get back to dinner." He said as Theo walked him out and returned back to the kitchen.

"An apology? From Jake?" Cassie raised her eyebrows, "Colour me shocked."

"Yeah, that doesn't happen often." Theo shook his head.

"Well at least… at least he did apologise. He should know damn well how much you're worth." Cassie said.

"Until the next time he pisses us off." Theo raised his beer as Cassie chuckled and nodded.

"Cheers to that." She raised her soda.