First Meetings


"I… I'm here to see Phil Brooks." Lucia nodded to them both. Her heart was racing with nerves. She felt like she could throw up. She wasn't naturally an outgoing person who had good communication skills. This was a situation she'd had to really talk herself into doing, and meeting her potential sisters outside wasn't part of what she was preparing for.

"We figured." Thea smiled a little, "Uh… there was a bit of an incident tonight. I think maybe tomorrow might be better to come see him." She nodded. She knew her father was under a lot of stress, so she just wanted to speak on behalf of him for right now, "Our mom was… attacked at home."

"Oh." Lucia raised her eyebrows, "Is she alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's doing ok." Jude nodded.

"I met her early this morning. She was… really nice to me." Lucia said, "Nicer than she probably has to be." She nodded.

"We like her." Jude teased as Lucia smiled.

"I guess I was chancing my luck anyway, coming at this time of night." Lucia nodded, "I had to kinda talk myself into doing this. My husband said go in the morning but I just had to push myself out the door." She said as Thea nodded.

"Well it's a big deal." Thea nodded, "He's just found out today about the whole thing and he's pretty overwhelmed by it. He… literally had no idea about you."

"And if he did, he would have reached out." Jude added, "He wouldn't have ever ignored you or pretend you didn't exist." Jude nodded.

"April said that." Lucia nodded, "It's just so weird." She shook her head.

"For us too." Thea laughed a little as Lucia nodded.

"Yeah, I bet." Lucia understood, "I'm sorry if… if I've brought any unnecessary tension with all of this. It really wasn't my intention." She made clear.

"You don't have to be sorry." Jude said, "It's not your fault. It's not really anyone's fault."

"Well…" Thea disagreed, "Maybe doing a paternity test when you were born might have helped a little bit." She nodded as Jude looked at her and raised a brow, "What? It would have." She told Jude as Lucia smiled a little watching them.

"I agree." Lucia laughed a little, "My mom was a little scatty. She always had this running joke with me and said that I should pick a different dad every day." She shook her head, "She was insane."

"Sounds it." Jude nodded.

"She's kinda the reason our dad went to prison." Thea let her know.

"I know." Lucia understood, "I was close with my mom. She told me a lot. A lot I didn't wanna hear but… I guess I had to hear it someday." She nodded.

"So you either have a dad who killed your mom or a dad who didn't know you existed for thirty-five years." Thea nodded.

"The dream, huh?" Lucia nodded as Thea smiled.

"Our mom said you were keen to do the test to find out." Jude said as Lucia nodded.

"Yeah well… it can't loom over our heads like this forever. And I couldn't let your dad live with the what if." Lucia said, "I always sort of blocked it out. I was never used to a father so… I didn't need or miss one." She shrugged, "I guess now that he knows I need to find out, finally." She nodded.

"Do you have any idea what you'd want from him?" Thea asked.

"Gosh, I haven't even thought about it. I just doing my best to talk myself into coming here to see him. I've not thought that far ahead." Lucia said, "I guess… I guess I'd like to get to know him, maybe." She shrugged as Thea nodded.

"He's ok." Thea shrugged, "Nothing special." She teased as Lucia smiled. She knew she could have been unwelcomed and disregarded by them, but they seemed like really great, cool people. People that made her feel like this was less of a burden than what she thought it would be to them.

"You guys have another sister, right?" Lucia asked.

"Yeah, the young one." Jude nodded, "Cassie. She's a cop. She's actually all banged up right now. We keep saying she looks like the terminator."

"Oh, God." Lucia laughed a little, "Well, I guess I'll talk myself into coming tomorrow." She thought to herself, looking at the house.

"Well we know he definitely wants to speak with you, too. Just… a lot happened tonight." Jude nodded.

"I understand." Lucia said, "I hope your mom is ok."

"She will be." Thea nodded positively.

"Ok… well, it was nice to meet you." Lucia smiled to them both.

"You too." Jude smiled, watching as she took off back down the street, turning to her sister who looked back at her.

"She's not what I expected." Thea admitted.

"What did you expect?" Jude asked, walking over to the car.

"I don't know. Not that anyway. She's… nice." Thea realised as Jude nodded, getting into the car.


"Morning." Punk smiled, walking into one of their guest bedrooms where AJ had slept for the night, bringing her some breakfast and coffee as she was sitting wide awake.

"You didn't have to bring me breakfast. I was just about to get up." AJ said.

"Well now you don't have to." Punk smiled, sitting the tray on her lap and her coffee on the bedside table.

"Thank you." AJ nodded to him as he smiled.

"How you doing?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Well I actually slept, which I didn't think was going to happen." She admitted, taking a sip of the coffee.

"Well that's good." Punk nodded positively, "The girls came by last night. Thea and Jude. You were already asleep so they said they'd come by later today to see you."

"Well there's no rush." AJ scoffed.

"They just want to make sure you're ok." Punk nodded, "Cassie called this morning. Apparently Theo's gonna need surgery on his shoulder. It's pretty bad. Could be out of work for six months."

"Poor thing." AJ sighed, "Did you see her face?"

"I did." Punk shook his head.

"That bastard did that." AJ shook her head angrily.

"And he's exactly where he deserves to be now." Punk nodded.

"I thought it was you." AJ shook her head, "In bed with me." She nodded, "I thought it was your arms around me and I… I felt safe." She shook her head, "Even after our fight, I was just glad that you were back. And then I didn't see the tattoos on the hands and I just… I felt like my soul left my body."

"He should never have gotten out from the station. Sounds like he just… attacked Cassie and Theo badly, struck a few other people and made a run for it." Punk nodded.

"He wouldn't take his knee off of my hip." She shook her head, rubbing her hip comfortingly, feeling it bruised from the way Joey had handled her. She was in a better state of mind to recall what had happened.

"Do you need anything? Any pain killers?" Punk asked her.

"No, I'll be fine." AJ shook her head, eating some of the breakfast which made Punk feel better that she had an appetite.

"So the girls all know about Lucia." Punk nodded to her, "I think I'm gonna give it a couple of days before I go see her."

"If it's me you're worried about, and you think you gotta stay attached to my hip right now, you don't." AJ reminded him, "You should go see this girl."

"Ape, I don't wanna do any of this if…if it's hurting you. And I don't even know if I can do it on my own." Punk shook his head.

"It's not hurting me." AJ shook her head.

"It is. I know it is." Punk nodded.

"It hurt me at first. And I was upset that you got angry with me." AJ nodded, "But I'm never gonna stop you from doing whatever it is you need to do. I'm never gonna get in the way or make her feel like she isn't welcomed. If… If this is your daughter. I'm gonna love her too, because she's yours. And I'll protect her just the same." She assured him as he looked across at her, "It just… it'll take a little while to get used to it. For all of us."

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "Thank you." He said as she shook her head.

"Don't thank me." AJ said, "It did upset me that the thing you did that hurt me the most in our lives, there's now a girl who symbolises that, but then I realised that's wrong for me to think like that, because she's just a girl, and this isn't her fault either." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I think we need to focus on getting the test done and then… take it from there." Punk said as AJ nodded, "And then I think me and you need to go away for a little while."

"Go away?" AJ questioned.

"Yeah, like a two week vacation. Just away from everything." Punk nodded, "You've been through a whole lot this week. You need to unwind somewhere in peace."

"Well…if you want to whisk me away somewhere beautiful, I won't say no." She said as he smiled.

"I'd do it every day if I could." He nodded as she smiled.

"I love you." AJ nodded, "I'm gonna eat this and then go shower to… waken myself up." She said as Punk nodded.

"Ok, shout me if you need anything." Punk said, leaning over and kissing her head as she smiled, watching as he left the room.

Punk walked down the stairs, heading back into the kitchen to clear up when he heard a knock at the door. He was confused, because if it was the girls they would always just walk into the house, as would his brother.

He walked down the hall and opened up the door, looking on at a woman standing back a little. For some reason, he just knew. He knew it was her. He had a feeling.

"H-Hi." Lucia played with her hands nervously.

"Hi." Punk looked at her.

"I…" She paused, feeling like she was going to throw up. It was a lot more terrifying than she thought it was going to be, "I'm Lucia." She nodded to him as he stared across at her.

"Hi." Punk nodded again, "I'm Phil." He said as she nodded.

"I'm sorry to stop by unannounced." Lucia admitted, "I actually came by last night and I spoke with your daughters. They told me that there had been an incident with April so I… I figured I would just come by this morning." She nodded.

"Of course, yeah… come in." Punk nodded, stepping aside to let her in as she walked into the house, smiling with thanks as he kept the door opened for her before shutting it.

She was the image of Marina, but somehow she seemed warmer and sweeter. He could feel it just by the way she smiled at him.

"Oh, you have a… lovely home." Lucia nodded, looking around.

"Thank you." Punk said, "Can I get you a coffee or something? It's just been made actually." He said.

"That'd be good." She nodded, following him through to the kitchen, "I think it was… Thea and Jude I met last night."

"It would have been." Punk nodded, grabbing a mug and filling it with some coffee from the pot whilst Lucia looked at the fridge, noticing the pictures attached to it, "Here you go." He extended the coffee to her.

"Oh, thanks." Lucia turned away from the fridge, taking the coffee and sitting her purse on the table.

"It's all been a little chaotic this past week." Punk admitted. It was hard to think of things to say to this woman. How to be subtle about their current situation. How to feel about the fact he was potentially meeting his daughter, another daughter he never knew about. It was difficult, and he was sure she felt the same.

"I can imagine." Lucia nodded, "I won't take up much of your time. I guess you obviously know why I'm here and… I assume April told you about her coming to visit me."

"She did." Punk nodded.

"She's nice. I really like her." Lucia smiled, "I hope she's ok." She nodded.

"She's doing ok. She's having some breakfast upstairs and I think she was gonna jump in the shower." Punk nodded, "She told me you were… happy to do the test." He said as she nodded.

"I think we sort of need to." Lucia said, "It's impossible now for us to ignore it. And I know you've only just found out, and that makes me feel kinda guilty that I… I've known for such a long time and never contacted you about it." She shook her head.

"No, that's… that was entirely your decision." Punk nodded.

"I just got really used to not depending on anyone. I had my mom and then she died. I sort of just adapted to being on my own." She shrugged as Punk nodded, "But from what I hear you're not such a bad guy." She said as Punk smiled a little.

"I've had my moments." Punk nodded, "I just want you to know that if… if you are… if you are my daughter, and if I knew that years ago, I would have been there for you. I would have never have just ignored you or abandoned you. I don't know if you'll believe me when I say that but I really wouldn't have." Punk shook his head.

"I believe you." Lucia nodded truthfully, "I was actually hoping that you'd be a terrible person with a fucked up family. It'd be easier to just avoid you then." She laughed a little as he smiled, "But… from everyone I've met, they're all really lovely." She said as Punk nodded.

"I think they're ok." He teased as Lucia smiled.

"I uh… I did some research into getting the DNA test done. I just need a swab of the inside of your cheek." She nodded, digging into her purse for the synthetic tip and plastic bag to put it in, "I do mine and then I send it away."

"I can take care of it if you want." Punk shook his head.

"No, it's alright." Lucia shook her head, "Here you go." She passed over the tip and bag as he looked at it, "Inside of your cheek." She reminded him.

"Right." Punk nodded, taking a swab from in his mouth, making sure to do it properly before sealing it in the plastic bag, "Never done that before." He said, handing her the bag as she took it and put it back in her purse.

"The results take about a week so as soon as I get them I'll give you a call." Lucia nodded to him.

"Sure." Punk said, "Well here, I'll give you my number." He nodded, taking a piece of paper and a pen from the drawer, writing his number down on it as Lucia looked back at the fridge, not being able to smile at some of the happy pictures.

Punk turned around, noticing she was looking at the fridge.

"April is big on photographs." Punk nodded.

"Everyone should be." Lucia smiled, "Looks like a lot of fun times." She nodded as Punk looked at the fridge.

To have just had the conversation that he had with his wife last night, thinking about all the hardships and the down moments, it was ironic to see this woman come in and admire their family for how joyful it seemed. That made him feel good.

"I hope Thea and Jude behaved when they met you." Punk said as she laughed a little.

"They were very nice." Lucia assured him, "Thea seems sort of…"

"Trust me, there's not a word been invented yet to describe her." Punk nodded as Lucia smiled.

"I'm sorry if this was a bad timing to find out you might have another daughter." Lucia nodded.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Punk shook his head.

"I'm not naïve. I know that if you are my father, there was no love what so ever between you and my mom." Lucia said.

"I won't lie to you, there wasn't." Punk nodded.

"I know that." Lucia said, "But… she actually did speak highly of you whenever the few times she did speak about you. I think part of her didn't want to find out who my dad was in case it was Rio. So… she left me with it." She shrugged.

"Well that man is long gone and he… I know he suffered before he died which… as statistic as it sounds, I'm glad." He nodded to her.

"I think most people would be glad." Lucia nodded, "I wasn't close to him much. He was in and out of my life." She shrugged, "I just… I know that I'm not completing your family by any means. I know deep down maybe April doesn't want me here, or your other daughters. And I get that." She nodded, "I just… I figured maybe it's time to put my big girl pants on and figure it all out."

"Nobody doesn't want you here." Punk shook his head, "If… If you are my daughter, we'll figure it out."

"Yeah." Lucia nodded, "Well I should get going. Thanks for the coffee and for… your DNA." She laughed a little as he smiled. She was bubbly and sweet. He thought the spawn of Marina would have come in like a gust of wind but she was extremely nice. It still didn't feel real that she could be his.

"No problem." Punk laughed a little, walking her out to the door and giving her the number he'd written down.

"Well I'll call you when the results are back." Lucia said, "And we can take it from there, I guess."

"Ok." Punk nodded to her, "Thank you for coming here."

"It's ok." She nodded to him, looking up at him. She was overwhelmed by the though that he was possibly her father, and also he was actually really nice. Part of her hoped he was her father in some ways now.

Punk watched as she left the house, walking down the street, his heart still palpitating from the nerves and anxiety. Now all they had to do was wait for the results.