Memory Lane

AJ and Punk arrived once again in Hillsborough. They took about five days to drive in and stopped often and enjoyed each others company. When they arrived back in town AJ requested to go to the diner.

"You really are more attractive while eating." He teased watching her chump down a double cheeseburger with all the fixings with fries and pickles on the side.

"Your baby makes me hungry." AJ defended.

"She's my baby when she bothers you but our baby when she's cute." Punk pointed out.

"Yup." AJ said then looked around the diner.

"No Celeste today?" Punk asked.

"No she's taking classes at the local university but we'll see her tonight." AJ said then looked behind the counter.

"What?" He asked turning his head and seeing it. "Your mom is kind of like the face of this town." He remarked seeing a framed photo of her mother that had been added.

"Yea." AJ said with a light smile.

"Is it hard for you to see things like that?" He asked curiously.

"No." She said thinking about it. "I mean it's weird but she was a badass and people should know that and respect it."

"Yea." Punk agreed. "I really do wish I could have met her."

"She would have hit on you." AJ teased. "Seriously though she'd love you. She always hated Elliot. And I don't know if it's all because of Eliza but she truly couldn't stand him. And he tried so hard to get in her good graces."

"She sounds very smart." Punk smirked.

"She was." AJ agreed. "She would have been a great Grandmother too."

"This baby is going to know all about your mother." Punk assured her. "Last time we were here at the storage place there was some baby stuff of yours there."

"Oh god that stuff is so old." AJ cringed.

"Yea but for nostalgia it might be nice to look through it." Punk shrugged.

"I guess." She shrugged. "There might be something we could use."

"Clothes are expensive." Punk reminded her.

"That is true." AJ agreed. "Alright we can do that."

"Good." He said to her. "You know I think we should start thinking names over. I would like to know her name before I finish the room."

"So, I've been thinking about it actually." AJ said to him. "And if you are against it I'll understand but for her middle name I'd really like to be Elizabeth which was my mother's middle name."

"I like that." Punk smiled a bit. "I thought you'd pick Daria."

"My mother would haunt me if I did that she HATED her name." AJ told him.

"I think it's a nice name." Punk shrugged.

"Yea but I want our daughter to have her own name. I want it to be original." She told him.

"Ok. I like that too." He said to her.

"Are you ready for late night feedings and diaper changes?" She asked curiously.

"Ape, I've read so many baby books I think I'm a pro already." Punk told her smugly.

"Oh really?" She asked with a laugh.

"Yea. I mean every sound, every face, I am prepared." Punk informed her.

"Maybe I should catch up on my baby reading." AJ frowned thinking about it.

"I've had a lot of free time." He defended. "Speaking of that, when are you going leave? I mean I know you're your own boss but you heard the doctor you shouldn't work right up until the end."

"I was thinking around the eight month mark." She told him and he just nodded. "No good?"

"I just want you to be able to rest." He said to her. "I know a big part of you wanted to work so much since I was out of work but I'll be back to work. You can slow down."

"I know." She said with a light smile.

"I also noticed how much of your checks you're taking out of your business account and putting into our shared account. It's ok Ape." He smiled. "We have money."

"I know. I just like to make sure." She said to him.

"You need your business account to pay Peyton and cover your daily expenses I don't want you sacrificing that."

"I'm not. I've done the math." AJ assured him.

"It's really not lost on me how you ran the whole house while I was out." He noted casually. "You really took care of everything. The bills, the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning, the working and me."

"It was my pleasure." She smiled proudly.

"You're going to be an incredible mother." He told her seriously, looking at her in awe. "You're already an incredible wife but I know that my child is lucky to have you has her mother."

"Phil." She said with a light smile. "That's really sweet."

"Well, I wanted to thank you." He said reaching into his pocket and pulling a long slender box out.

"A present?" She grinned eyeing the box.

"Oh, yea and it's just for you." He said sliding it over to her and she opened it.

"Phil." She gasped open the box to reveal a locket. "It looks just like my moms."

"It's as close as I could get to it." Punk said to her. "I know you wanted hers back and you will get it back but with Dickie out there it's still evidence." He reasoned.

"This is perfect." She said taking it out of the box and opening it.

Inside was a small sonogram photo of their baby's face from their 3D sonogram.

"Our girl is in there for you." He told her and AJ felt a tear escape her eye. "When she's born we can add her actual picture."

"I love it." AJ said not able to take her eyes off of it.

"It's just my way of saying thank you for being so good to me and holding down the fort these last few months." He said to her.

"We're a team." She reminded him. "You pick up the slack when I can't all of the time. It's what we do."

"We are a great team." He agreed and watched her put the locket on.

"It's beautiful." She said to him.

"You're beautiful." He corrected. "The necklace is lucky to be worn by you."

After the diner they check in on Larry at the motel and then Punk drove AJ over to see her mother. He stood back while she laid a bouquet flowers at her mothers grave and spoke to her. He leaned against the hood of the car and watched as she sat on her knees and cleaned the weeds from around her grave.

"I see you're in one piece." A voice greeted and Punk turned his head and eyed the man unimpressed.

"You lost?" Punk asked Elliot Daniels.

"It's Daria's birthday. Her and my grandmother had the same birthday thought I'd bring her flowers." Elliot shrugged. "I heard you were in pretty shape."

"I was." Punk nodded. "No thanks to your hired help."

"I have nothing to do with Dickie McCall." Elliot told him. "I wish AJ could have testified though."

"Do you? You're not thrilled that your mother walked?" Punk asked.

"No." Elliot said with a bitter laugh. "I can forgive a lot of things but my not my mother. She's a stranger to me."

"She in town?" Punk asked.

"Oh, yea." Elliot said to him. "Shes living down the block from my building. She doesn't even have remorse for what she did."

"Signs of a true sociopath." Punk told him.

"How's she doing?" Elliot asked nodding towards AJ who was chatting full on to her mother's headstone.

"She's really strong." Punk said watching his wife with amazement. "She would have testified if she could."

"I get it. I wouldn't expect AJ to leave your side when you were so hurt. She's a special woman." Elliot said to him.

"I know that." Punk said back to him and they watched AJ stand up and Elliot's mouth dropped. "Did you not hear she was expecting?"

"I did not." Elliot forced out. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Punk replied smugly.

"Leave these for Daria." Elliot said placing the flowers on the hood of Punk's car and walked off.

AJ made her way back over and looked at the flowers.

"Was that Elliot I saw running out of here?" AJ asked.

"Our baby scared him." Punk teased her.

"Let's hope you repel shitty men when you're out of the womb too." AJ said tapping her belly.

"I'll be repelling all men away from you so don't worry." Punk said then kissed her belly. "Let me bring these over." He said to her grabbing the flowers and AJ smiled watching him walk over.

"Your daddy is a good man." AJ said rubbing her belly. "A really good man."

"This is some great stuff!" Punk said looking through the boxes of AJ's baby things. "We won't have to buy her clothes."

"We have to buy her clothes." AJ scolded. "I've been working really hard and my daughter is going to have a top quality wardrobe."

"Fine but we can use some of this." He said to her looking through the boxes.

"I haven't ready any books." AJ said to Punk who was still going through things.

"Oh, man this highchair has to be an antique. We can fit this in the car, right?" He asked her.

"Did you hear me?" She asked him.

"You haven't ready any books." He repeated. "What of it?"

"Phil you've done all this research." She whined. "You know the things we need I don't know how to change a diaper. I don't know the different noises kids make."

"You'll be fine." He said waving it off opening more boxes.

"Phil I'm serious." She said snatching the box he was looking at. "I keep thinking about what you said at lunch. You're so confident and ready."

"You're her mother." Punk reminded her. "You had an amazing mother raise you you're going to be fine." he chuckled. "I didn't have any good parents growing up." He reminded her. "I needed the books. You're going to be a natural."

"I don't know." She said shaking her head and sitting on a box. "I just keep thinking about how seriously you're taking this. You're building our baby's room and reading books and my biggest worry is if I'm going to get a second lunch. I haven't thought much about the baby being out of me but you have me this locket and soon I'm going to put a picture of her and I haven't thought about being a mother."

"You should never be scared of that." He said to her seriously. "You nurture people, you're loyal, you're smart and your heart is the size of a watermelon. You'll get it."

"You don't know that." AJ said to him. "Can't we just keep her inside forever?"

"That would be comforting." He teased. "But no. We gotta let her out when it's time and help her grow."

"If she's like me she's never going to grow." AJ pointed out and he laughed. "I'm serious I don't know. I'm not as prepared as you I'm not a planner I'm a think as I go gal."

"And I love that about you." He said to her. "That's why we're a great team. I plan, sometimes I over plan and you are like the wind. That's why we're the best team. We need planning but we need thinking on our feet too. You're not doing this alone just in case you forgot." He teased.

"What if she hates us?" AJ asked him seriously.

"Doubt that will happen. We're very likeable people." He teased.

"What if she's out of control? Like a rebel we can't contain?" She asked next.

"I'd contain her." He scoffed. "But she'll turn out how we raise her which will be a good girl who doesn't date or talk back."

"I'm serious." She sighed.

"You're ridiculous. You can't learn how to parent from a book anyway. I know this because it says that in the books." He said to her.

"I've just been so busy with you and work I hadn't given much thought to being a mom and everything it entails." She confided.

"I think we do a great job with Larry." He pointed out and she laughed.

"I don't think we can leave the baby in a motel room and walk her once every four hours." AJ teased.

"Probably not." He agreed. "Don't sweat this, we'll make mistakes but we'll learn from them. It's ok."

"I guess." She said and he pulled something out of a box. "Oh, that's my stuffed elephant." She smiled.

"I think it's going to go really nice in she who shall not be nameds room." He said putting it in a different box to take back.

"She'll have a name." AJ insisted. "She is a good name." She said thinking about it.

"Let's start out on the right foot with our kid and give her a decent name." He smirked.

"So was Elliot gloating about his mommy being out of prison?" AJ asked eyeing some old stuff.

"No actually." Punk said to her. "He seemed upset about it. Said he hasn't spoken to her. Doesn't seem to be getting along with Bret either."

"Really." AJ noted thinking about it. "That doesn't sound like him."

"He seemed a bit lost actually." Punk said to her.

"Today is his grandmother's birthday too. He was very close to her. He always get a little weird around this time of year." AJ shrugged.

"Didn't know you were pregnant." Punk told her.

"I should have spoken to him I suppose." AJ said thinking about it. "He ran off too quick though."

"You don't owe him a damn thing." Punk reminded her.

"I know that." She said quietly. "But he was a part of my life for a long time. We're always going to be linked over our mothers."

"Crap." Punk groaned.

"What?" She asked.

"This is going to end with us being late for dinner because you're going to stop at his place." Punk said to her.

"Would you mind taking me there?" She asked hopefully.

"Would I mind taking my wife to her exes house? No why would I." He mocked closing up a box.

"It's not like we're going to run off together." She said gesturing to her belly.

"I would find you both and I would kill him." He promised her.

"I just want to say I know what it's like to be disappointed by your parent and he's a grown man he doesn't have to depend on them anymore." She said to him.

"Fine." Punk sighed. "I hope you realize no other husband would ever do this."

"I know. But I don't marry an ordinary man, I married an extraordinary man." She pointed out.

"Buttering me up won't make me feel better." He said to her.

"What about whipped cream?" She suggested and his eyebrows perked up. "Will that make you feel better? Because I'm hungry tonight."

"Let's get this over with quick then we can have dinner then we can have room service." He said closing up the box he was taking with them.

AJ walked up to Elliot's penthouse door with Punk following behind.

"You can come in if you want." AJ said pulling a key out of her purse.

"Ape, do you still have your key?" He asked stunned.

"Yea. I have keys to my old house, this house, his parents house, my dad's house, your old house, our old apartment-" She trailed off and he eyed her. "I'm a PI, Phil she reminded him."

"That's so wrong." Punk whispered as she shrugged and unlocked the door.

"Sure you don't want to come in?" She asked opening the door.

"No, Ape just do what you have to do." He said feeling embarrassed.

"You really should give that key back." Elliot greeted from the couch where he was drinking a scotch.

"I could still get in." She said closing the door behind her.

"At least make it challenging." Elliot remarked. "Don't suppose you want a drink."

"Nope." She said placing her hand over her belly.

"Congratulations." Elliot said with a light smile.

"Thanks." She said sitting down. "How are you doing?"

"My mother is OJ Simpson practically, I resent my father and my ex girlfriend is married and pregnant." Elliot said to her. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"That good, huh?" She teased but he didn't even crack a smile. "I know this isn't easy for you."

"Do you?" Elliot asked amused.

"You're not the only one hurting." AJ reminded him.

"Your mother, god rest her soul, died a hero." Elliot pointed out. "My mother is a monster and I'm reminded of that everywhere I go everyday."

"My mother shouldn't have died at all." AJ corrected. "She didn't get to see me get married and she'll never know my daughter."

"I'm sorry, April. I didn't know my mother was involved." Elliot insisted.

"I know you didn't." AJ said quietly. "But I've spent so much time being angry at my father and being angry at your mom and what happened to her that I was about to miss out on my own life."

"When I heard what happened to Detective Brooks and that Richard McCall was involved I confronted my mother." Elliot confided.

"What did she say?" AJ asked intrigued.

"That she had nothing to do with Richard McCall anymore but she wasn't horrified by what happened to him, you know?" Elliot asked confused. "Believe me if anyone shouldn't be a fan of his it's me. But he's a human being. He means so much to you and she didn't even flinch. I've never seen someone so cold before. I stopped going to the trial after that I couldn't even look at her."

"Phil was very lucky giving his circumstances." AJ said to him. "I've never felt so scared in my life."

"I'm sure you did." Elliot said to her with a sad smile. "He didn't deserve that. No one deserves that."

"What about your father?" AJ asked.

"He just pretends like nothing happened. I mean at least when he heard Punk he stepped up security and showed some kind of sympathy but it's all about reelection for him. I don't know if you rubbed off on him or what but they're not the people I thought they were." Elliot confided.

"I think you've always been a good person." AJ insisted. "You've made some bad choices but at the end of the day you have a good heart and that's the part I used to love. Stay true that and you'll be just fine."

"How is your dad doing by the way?" Elliot asked. "I saw him in town a few weeks ago."

"Really?" AJ asked slowly. "I'm sure to see Eliza."

"He was leaving her house when I saw him." Elliot told her and AJ tried to hide the hurt.

"I've given up on him doing the right thing a long time ago." AJ told him honestly. "I wonder if they're dating again."

"I only saw him once and my mom can't leave town." Elliot said to her. "I didn't want to stop him and speak to him because ya know, he hates me." He smiled a bit.

"He has no right to hate anyone." AJ remarked.

"At least he loves you." Elliot told her. "I haven't spoken to my folks in a while and I haven't heard a thing from thing."

"My dad tried a few weeks after Phil was hurt but he always tries when the worst is over." AJ said to him. "I don't like him but I love him if that makes sense."

"It does." He said to her. "That's how I feel about my dad."

"And your mom?" She asked.

"I feel nothing." He said bluntly.

"I'm sorry." She frowned then stood up. "I have to get going." She said and he stood up as well and pulled her into a hug.

"If you ever need anything I'll be here." Elliot promised kissing the top of her head.

"Same for you." She said to him.

"I could have used your heads up a while back when you were working for Kevin Scott." He joked.

"Heard that was me, huh?" She asked uncomfortably.

"Yea. It's your job." Elliot shrugged. "Just take care of yourself."

"You too. I mean I don't think Dickie has a problem with you but-" She began.

"I've got my eyes open." He assured her and she walked to the door. "April." He said once before she left and she turned her head.

"You're going to be an incredible mother." He told her genuinely and it made her smile.

She gave him a nod with a sad smile and walked out of the penthouse.

"How did that go?" Punk asked.

"We were going to run away together but you were in the hall and I can't crawl out the window and down the fire escape." She teased in a serious voice.

"I hope our daughter has your sense of humor." He shot back just as serious.

"You were right he's lost." AJ agreed taking his hand and as they walked down the hall to the elevator. "But he'll be ok."

Later that evening after dinner and fun AJ was out cold and even snoring in bed in their hotel room. The snorting was so obnoxious even Larry didn't want to sleep. Punk wanted to turn her over or something so he could sleep but she looked so peaceful. He rolled onto his side and tried to close his eyes but then he heard his phone vibrating.

"Brooks." He answered quietly as he carefully got out of the bed.

"It's me." Dean greeted.

"Do you realize what time it is?" Punk asked in a whisper.

"Yea it's 3 in the morning in Jersey." Dean said simply. "But I just got a call and you have to talk to April."

"What happened?" Punk sighed knowing it must be bad news.

"Robert is dead." Dean told him and he felt his heart sink. He knew AJ had issues with her father but that was HER father at the end of the day.

"Dickie got to him." Punk stated.

"Autopsy is under way." Dean told him. "But uh- they said he was hanging."

"Suicide?" Punk asked stunned.

"Yea it what it sounds like to me." Dean confirmed. "They need someone to ID the body."

"Dean I can't ask her-" Punk began.

"I can't either. Which is why I'm calling you from the road." Dean told him. "I'm going to ID him. She can't see that, not right now."

"I appreciate that." Punk said relieved. "Jesus Christ." He said running his hand over his face.

"I know." Dean said to him. "I fucking know."

"You need to check out where they found him." Punk told him in a whisper to not wake AJ. "The timing is off."

"I'm going to." Dean assured him. "Just take care of her."

"I'm not waking her." Punk told him. "Knowing now or in the morning won't change what happened." He said looking over to his wife who was actually sleeping with a smile as she snored.

"I agree. She's been through a lot and I know she's had her issues with her father but that's her dad at the end of the day. It's going to hurt." Dean told him.

"I agree." Punk said to him. "I'll take care of her."

"You better." Dean warned. "I'll call you when I get there."

"Alright." Punk said then hung up.

Punk walked back over to the bed and there was no way he was going to sleep tonight but he was going to

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! What happened to Robert?