Murder In The Family

A few months down the road AJ was in Hartley's room folding baby clothes since she could be arriving any day now. She was pulling tags off the new stuff and throwing them into a laundry basket to wash and folding the ones she already washed.

"I think our daughter has more clothes than you and I combined." Punk said from the doorway looking down at AJ who was on the floor.

"Yea. She's spoiled already and she's not even out of the womb." AJ grinned smugly.

"I can help." He offered.

"No. You did all the work into this room, clothing is all me." She told him. "Besides since I can't work I need something to do."

"And why can't you work?" He asked innocently and she glared at him. "Because you went on a case and you fell."

"That was no reason for the doctor to tell me I had to stay home. She only said that because you said I wouldn't stay put at work and now we're losing money by the day." She argued.

"Didn't Kevin Scott hire you to do some research?" He asked her. "And haven't you been doing that from home?"

"Maybe." She mumbled. "He does pay well. He's putting Hart through college and doesn't even realize it."

"I'm sure he realizes it." Punk scoffed.

"Do you think she'll like this?" AJ asked holding up a yellow shirt with a sunflower on it.

"I don't know." He admitted. "I haven't really met her yet."

"I don't think she'll like this." She said tossing it behind her. "Our daughter is going to be a rebel."

"I wish you'd stop saying that." He groaned.

"Don't want to raise a little rebel like yourself?" She teased going back to folding.

"I have no problems raising a little me but I know a little you is going to get over on me all of the time. I won't be able to yell at her if she does something wrong or ground her I'm going to be doormat and I know this." He told her and she smiled a bit.

"Daddys girl." AJ teased. "You're home awfully early. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I have to go back in." He admitted. "I just wanted to stop in and check in on you."

"Haven't been murdered by Dickie McCall yet." She teased and glared at her.

"What did I say about jokes like that?" He asked annoyed.

"That you hate them." She smiled proudly.

"Dean and Renee are coming over." He told her and she looked up at him.

"And I look like this?" She asked.

"What do you care what you look like for them?" He asked.

"Since I'm working late they're going to bring dinner over and they said they have some things for the baby." He shrugged.

"Aren't you running out of babysitters for me?" She asked. "Monday was Pam, last Friday was Peyton and Jack."

"They want to spend time with you." He shrugged.

"Right." She scoffed. "But I do like baby presents." she had to admit.

"Speaking of I have a present for you that should be arriving soon." He told her.

"It's like it's my birthday." She grinned. "Oh." She gasped then smiled.

"What?" He frowned.

"She's kicking so hard." AJ said amused placing her hand over her belly.

"Maybe she's mad you're stealing her presents." He teased helping AJ up and placing his hand over her stomach. "Holy crap." He grinned. "Maybe she liked that sunflower shirt."

"No she didn't." AJ scoffed. "Ugly shirt."

The doorbell rang and Punk removed his hand from her stomach.

"My sitters have arrived." AJ mocked.

"Or your present." He pointed out and she grinned.

"I hope its the present." AJ said to him.

Punk jogged down the stairs and opened the front door.

"Is it the present?" AJ asked from the top of the stairs.

"The present." Punk said and she appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Oh my god!" AJ cheered slowly making her way down the stairs upon seeing her good friend Celeste at the door.

"She moves as fast as a turtle." Celeste mocked with a smile.

"Told you." He whispered.

"Come here!" AJ yelled throwing her arms around her friend.

"I can't believe how big you are!" Celeste said to her pulling away. "Wow!" She said in awe of her friend.

"Are you staying here?" AJ asked anxiously.

"I am for a few days. You can thank your hubby for flying me in." Celeste told her. "I have time off from school and I missed your baby shower so I thought this was a good time."

"It's always a good time." AJ said hugging her again.

"Baby makes you hug a lot, huh?" Celeste teased.

"And cry." AJ added. "Celeste can stay with us, right?"

"Of course." He said grabbing Celeste's bag.

"I've been so bored here at home! I'm so glad you're here." AJ cheered.

"So I've heard." Celeste teased closing the door behind her. "This house! The pictures don't do it justice!" she marveled. "You're living in a rich person's home." Celeste pointed out.

"Phil bought it." AJ mumbled. "Don't bring that up."

"He's such a bastard." Celeste teased. "I can't believe how pregnant you are." She said to he friend. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." AJ said to her. "I'll show you around, or at least to the living room then I have to sit for five minutes before I can move around again."

"That's alright. I'll snoop around on my own." Celeste teased.

"Dean is coming over." AJ told her.

"Oh good." Celeste said to her looking around the living room.

"Are you ok?" AJ asked her.

"Yea." Celeste said turning to look at her then sat next to her. "I'm so sorry I couldn't fly back when your father passed."

"Oh, please." AJ said waving it off.

"Or when Punk was hurt." Celeste told her.

"You couldn't have done anything in either situation." AJ pointed out.

"I know that but it bothers me. I'm sorry." Celeste said to her.

"It's fine." AJ promised.

"How are you doing?" Celeste asked.

"Phil talked my doctor into keeping me home." AJ remarked.

"I mean emotionally." Celeste corrected. "With everything happening with your dad and Eliza walking."

"I think my mom isn't mad at me for sticking by Phil while he was hurt." AJ said to her. "Eliza will get what's coming to her, karma is real." AJ said to her. "And my dad is a daily battle. Some days I'm mad at him and other days I feel guilty."

"That's natural." Celeste said to her. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be." AJ said brushing it off.

"You two alright?" Punk asked sticking his head in the living room.

"Yea." AJ smiled. "Best present ever, thank you." She said to him.

"Celeste I put your stuff up in the second guest room." Punk told her.

"Second guest room?" Celeste marveled. "Rich people."

"Right." AJ snorted and Punk kissed AJ.

"I won't be too late." He told her and AJ nodded.

"Be careful." She warned as he put on his jacket.

"How many guest rooms do you have?" Celeste asked seriously.

In downtown Chicago Punk entered a dimly lit bar. Even for the end of the week the bar was fairly empty. Maybe ten people total. All men hanging around probably fresh off work. Punk scanned the place before heading over to the bar and took a seat on a stool.

"Hey there." The female bartender greeted. Blonde, short cut shirt and jeans that looked painted on. "You're a new face."

"I am." Punk admitted.

"What can I get you? First timers get their first drink on me." The woman flirted leaning over the counter slightly to let her breasts pop out of her top a bit more.

"I'll take…" He trailed off leaning closer to her. "A glass of water." He remarked sitting further back now and gave a her a sarcastic smile and she rolled her eyes and grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

"You're in the wrong spot if you just want water." The woman remarked placing the glass in front of her and he didn't respond. "If you're not here to drink what are you here for?" She asked annoyed and Punk showed her his badge.

"Alright let me see who you're looking for I'm pretty good with faces." The woman groaned placing her hand on her hip.

"No need." A male voice said coming from the back. "I got this Alex." He told the bartender.

"Fine." She said walking off and the male took her place from across the bar.

"Lost, little brother?" Nate Brooks asked his brother.

"I wish." He said looking around. "Great place you got here."

"It's honest work, Phil." Nate said pouring himself a glass of beer. "I've done nothing wrong if you're looking to shut me down-"

"I'm not looking to cause trouble." Punk told him.

"That's a first." Nate remarked sipping his beer. "I heard about you on the news a few months back."

"Yea, thanks for reaching out it meant it a lot." Punk remarked sarcastically.

"Like you'd give a shit if I'd reach out." Nate scoffed.

"Fair." Punk agreed.

"What do you want?" Nate asked with a sigh. "I don't want to fight."

"I don't either." Punk said to him. "I'm having a kid."

"Yea? No shit." Nate remarked. "Good on you."

"My wife wants to know medical history." Punk told him.

"And you don't want to know medical history?" Nate remarked. "Selfish."

"She's been through a lot and I want to do this for her and I'd rather have her not sneaking around for it." Punk said to him. "Mom is bipolar I know but what about cancer or anything else that runs in the family?"

"Mom and Dad are good, thanks for asking." Nate remarked. "Don't worry it hasn't been a burden on my life taking care of them."

"You stayed." Punk remarked. "They didn't give a shit about me why should I care?"

"Because they gave you life." Nate remarked.

"This was a waste of time." Punk said with a laugh. "I knew it would be but yet here I am."

"I didn't know you were married." Nate remarked.

"Almost a year now." Punk told him and he nodded.

"She pretty?" Nate asked with a smirk and Punk had to laugh.

"Prettiest woman I've ever met." Punk told him. "Did you follow a year or so ago the woman who was abducted out here? She was a PI?"

"Yea her mom was killed by the same guy." Nate nodded then it hit him. "You married her?"

"I did." Punk confirmed.

"She was pretty." Nate had to admit. "Mom is better now that she's medicated and dad is better since he stopped drinking ten years ago." He told him. "But addiction clearly runs in the family so that's something to look out for. I don't really remember any cancer cases in the family but I have to look back a bit. How far along?"

"She's eight months going on nine." He told his brother.

"Scared?" Nate asked with a smile.

"A little." Punk admitted thinking about it. "You have kids?"

"I might and just not know about it." Nate shrugged. "You better stop almost getting killed now that you have a family that depends on you." He suggested.

"You sound like my wife." Punk said to him.

"It's true." Nate said to him. "There's more to life now than chasing down bad guys."

"I love my job." Punk told him.

"Great. I love my job too." Nate remarked. "But I have a better chance of going home at the end of the night than you do." He shrugged.

"Why is your wife worried about medical history?" Nate asked. "Cancer run on her side or something?"

"No. But she found out her father was bipolar after he passed away. We each have a bipolar parent." Punk said to him.

"Those are shitty odds." Nate told him bluntly. "But it's manageable it's not like how it was years ago with mom. People take it seriously nowadays."

"Yea I guess." Punk agreed.

"What are you having?" Nate asked curiously.

"A girl." Punk said letting out a nervous breath.

"Ah." Nate laughed a bit.

"What? Why is that funny?" Punk asked.

"You were a little womanizing jerk when you were a teen. Karma." Nate said to him.

"No I wasn't." Punk defended.

"Yea you were." Nate insisted. "Now you're going to have a daughter. It's called karma."

"Whatever." Punk said throwing some bills onto the counter. "If you think of anything-"

"Yea I'll just put up the bat signal to reach you." Nate remarked and Punk put his card down.

"Call me." Punk said to him and Nate took the card.

"Good luck." Nate said before Punk left. "You'll do fine."

Punk just nodded and walked out of the bar.

When Punk made it home it wasn't that late but Dean, Renee and Celeste were in the kitchen drinking wine and AJ was nowhere to be found. He headed up the stairs and found his wife laying in bed.

"Baby makes me tired. I can't party late." AJ said knowing it was Punk who walked into the bedroom.

"Well it seems like a wild party." He said taking his badge and gun off and putting it on the bedside table.

"Thank you for flying Celeste out." She yawned with her eyes closed. "I'll like having her here."

"I had a feeling you would." He said to her.

"We ordered food for you, go down there and eat and party I'll clean up in the morning." She insisted.

"I'll go down there, eat and clean up you just rest. I need a five minute rest." He said crawling into the bed next to her and wrapping his arms around her and her eyes shot open.

"You went to a bar?" She gasped rolling over to face him and it startled him.

"How the fuck could you possibly know that?" Punk asked fearfully.

"Because I can smell bar all over you." She said sitting up.

"Bar?" He asked smelling his shirt.

"Cigarettes and cheap women." AJ said to him and he narrowed his eyes at her and smelled his shirt again. "Ok just the cigarettes but I'm sure there were cheap women. I thought you were going to your office. Did you meet a CI? Did you meet a CI and not tell Dean after what happened last time-"

"Ape, relax." He laughed pulling his shirt off. "My brother owns a bar I went there to try to get some family medical history."

"You went to meet your brother?" AJ asked with a smile. "Did you two make up?"

"Yea after years of fights and resentment we kissed and made up." He told her and she nearly cried tears of joy. "You can smell I went to a bar but not sense the sarcasm in my voice? Amazing." He laughed getting off the bed. "Sorry." She sighed. "How did it go?"

"My mom is bipolar but that seems to be the only thing in the family." Punk shrugged. "I caught him off guard." He shrugged.

"How was he?" AJ asked. "Was he nice?"

"Yea I guess. He think you're pretty." Punk teased.

"He has good taste." AJ admitted nodding her head.

"Did you look deeper into your family history by the way?" He asked her.

"I did actually." AJ told him.

"And what runs in your family?" He asked.

"Murder." She told him bluntly and casually.

"Ape." He scolded.

"It does!" She defended. "My mom, my dad, my great uncle, my great great grandmother, my third cousin twice removed- all murdered. Murder is a major cause of death in my family." She shrugged.

"That's horrifying." He remarked opening his dresser and she sat up on her knees.

"You're putting a shirt on?" She pouted.

"We do have company." He laughed.

"You don't have to run down there right this very second do you?" She asked. "I'd like to look at you like this for a while."

"This isn't a free show." He said walking over to her.

"I suppose I could pay." She grinned pulling him into a kiss.

Later that night Punk made his way downstairs because he was now starving.

"When did you get in?" Dean asked as he washed the wine glasses the girls used.

"An hour ago." Punk said opening the pizza box.

"You've been home for an hour?" Dean asked him. "What were you even doing- never mind." He said quickly.

"Wise." Punk said taking a bite of the cold pizza. "Where are the girls."

"Ugh I don't know going over stuff for AJ's surprise baby shower." Dean said to him. "Well setting up for it. Smart to have it here."

"It was my mom's idea." Punk said sitting on the counter.

"How did it go tonight?" Dean asked him.

"I didn't get a bad family rundown but I don't think my brother knew much." Punk shrugged. "I did my part and delved as deep as I could I kept my promise to Ape."

"She should look into her family history." Dean said to him.

"Oh she did." Punk said amused. "Murder." he said to him and Dean let out a laugh.

"I guess that does run in the family." Dean had to agree.

"It's super comforting." Punk remarked.

"Please, this place is locked down like a prison, this baby is going to have so many people looking after her." Dean said to him.

"I wish I was kept more in the loop on Dickie's case." Punk said to him.

"Yea, after you left I heard a few of the guys got a tip and they went to check it out but it was a no go." Dean told him.

"Where is his money coming from?" Punk asked him and Dean looked up. "No one can stay gone like this for this long with out having cash. Cards we'd trace."

"That's a fair point." Dean said to him. "Probably coming from Eliza."

"If that's the case maybe we can check out her finances." Punk suggested casually.

"I mean we can casually check in on her records." Dena shrugged. "It could be linked to what happened to you in some way." He reasoned. "Just in case anyone asks why we're looking."

"I want this guy before the baby is born." Punk told him.

"I know you do." Dean said to him. "But I think you're going to have to accept the fact that AJ is going to pop very soon and we're not going to get him in time."

"She's so scared of him." Punk told him quietly. "Of course she don't say it out loud but I know it. She thinks he's going to go after the baby because he's taken everyone from her. She checks the nursery windows constantly, she's moving baby furniture into our room, she had three baby camera's installed in the nursery and the baby isn't even allowed to sleep in there until he's caught."

"I get it I do. But we're doing everything." Dean reminded him.

"Everything but getting him." Punk said to him bitterly. "I worry about her. I'm afraid for her. I don't see any reason for him to want her gone now that Eliza is free."

"Maybe because she's the only witness to him kidnapping her." Dean reasoned. "She goes away and most of his case goes away."

"Yea I guess." Punk groaned. "I fucking hate this. And he keeps getting spotted but not caught."

"He's been spotted downtown you know how that is." Dean remarked. "Should have hung his picture up at your brothers bar."

"I should have." Punk said thinking about it.

"Just enjoy your daughter. Enjoy the peace before she gets here because you two have an army looking out for you." Dean reminded him.

"We need help hanging the banner." Renee said walking into the kitchen.

"You're taller." Dean said to Punk.

"Come on, dad." Renee teased.

The next morning Punk opened his eyes slowly and met AJ's eyes.

"Good morning." Punk had to smile.

"It is." She agreed. "I've been waiting for you to wake up."

"Oh." Punk grinned tugging her against him. "A little morning delight?"

"On the morning of my baby shower you want to get laid?" She scoffed and his face dropped.

"How did you know that?" He asked. "What baby shower?"

"Oh please." She snorted. "You think you and Renee could plan a baby shower for me without me knowing? I've been on to your plan for weeks. Minus Celeste being here for it, that you did surprise me with."

"You're not an easy woman to surprise." He said to her. "Will you act surprised at least? My mother and Renee would be crushed if you weren't."

"Of course. I've been practicing my surprise face for three days now." She told him. "They did really nice with the decorations too."

"You snuck out of bed last night?" He asked.

"Babe, I've been sneaking out of bed every night at 3 am for cookies. Hart wants cookies." AJ said simply and sat up. "I have to shower, do my hair and makeup and I think when I hacked Peyton's work email the invitation said 12?" She asked herself.

"I'm supposed to keep you up here until 12." He confirmed. "I had other ideas for how to keep you up here…" He trailed off and she laughed in his face.

"Your mom is here." She scolded getting out of the bed. "Do you know how long it's going to take me to shower and do my hair? What you CAN do is grab me a bagel with butter, a donut and two eggs scrambled so I can have a light snack before lunch."

"Light snack?" He asked himself.

"I'm eating for two, Phillip." She defended.

"No it's fine." He said getting out of the bed.

"I thought I told you a few months ago I didn't want a shower." She said to him.

"I know you did." He said to her. "You said it wouldn't be the same without your mom." He remembered. "But my mom and Renee insisted on it and then I thought about it and I don't think your mom wouldn't want you to celebrate our daughter."

"You were right." AJ said to him. "I've been looking forward to this for three weeks when I first overheard you talking to Renee about it on the phone."

"I have to be careful around you." He groaned shaking his head and she cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I really needed this today."

"You deserve it." He told her and grinned when he saw her happily skip away in the bathroom.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you all are enjoying!