Midnight Thinking
"Hey, the kids are in bed." Dominic said, walking into the kitchen where Thea was sitting at the kitchen table, reading one of her books.
"That's good." Thea smiled as he nodded.
"Can I… interrupt your book for just a few minutes?" Dominic asked her.
"Just a few minutes?" She smiled a little, "I can give you more than that I think." She nodded, sliding her book over, "I know we haven't really gotten a chance to speak about this. Well… without getting interrupted that is." She said as Dominic nodded, sitting down across from her.
"How you feeling?" Dominic asked her as she nodded to herself.
"I feel ok." Thea nodded, "Explains why I've been eating our entire fridge every night, I guess." She laughed a little as Dominic smiled.
"How far along do you think you are?" He asked her.
"I have no idea." Thea admitted, "I've had no symptoms like I did with James and Sofia. I've not felt sick. I guess I've been a little tired but I thought that was just because of work." Thea nodded.
"Caught me off guard, I'm not gonna lie." He laughed a little as she nodded.
"Yeah, me too." Thea said, "Not something we planned for but… I can't say I'm mad about it." She shrugged.
"Me neither." Dominic nodded, "I just… I thought you were really adamant about not having any more kids."
"I was." Thea chuckled, "I mean I… I just felt like our family was complete. I was happy." She nodded, "But… I guess not." She shrugged as he smiled.
"You told anyone else?" Dominic asked her.
"I told Cassie. I know she won't tell anyone." Thea nodded with confidence.
"Three kids." Dominic nodded to himself.
"How do you feel about it?" Thea asked him.
"I'm surprised but… maybe you're right, maybe our family isn't complete just yet. Maybe this is it. Five of us." Dominic nodded to her as she smiled.
"Yeah." Thea smiled, "Sofia and the baby are gonna have the same age gap that me and Jude has." She thought to herself, "It's crazy to think there's gonna be three of them." Thea shook her head as Dominic nodded, "From my experience, it's… it's good to have two other siblings." She smiled to herself as Dominic nodded.
"James is gonna be so mad." Dominic laughed to himself.
"No he won't. He loves being Sofia's big brother." Thea smiled, "This year has been… so crazy." She whispered to herself as Dominic nodded.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Dominic agreed.
"Lost Sam at the start of the year. Relapsed. Almost died. Got diagnosed with BPD. And now this." Thea raised her eyebrows.
"The good will always follow after the bad." He nodded, "I don't know about you but… I couldn't think of a better way to close out this year." He said as she smiled.
"Me neither." She nodded.
"Three kids, Thea." Dominic laughed a little as she nodded with wide eyes.
"I know, Dominic." She shook her head with a smile as he leaned over the table, kissing her sweetly.
"Hey." Theo grumbled, turning around in bed through the night, noticing Cassie was wide awake beside him on her back, staring up at the ceiling, "Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked her.
"I… I don't know. I can't." Cassie shook her head.
"Bad dream?" He asked her, brushing her hair out of her face.
"No, nothing like that." Cassie said, turning to him, "Just restless I guess." She nodded to him.
"Do you need my assistance with anything?" He asked her as she smiled a little.
"No, I'm ok. You go back to sleep." She assured him, "I'll pass out with my thoughts eventually."
"What's the thoughts?" Theo asked curiously.
"Just… life thoughts." Cassie nodded, "I probably shouldn't tell you but… Thea's pregnant." She told him.
"Get out." Theo raised his eyebrows, "Really?"
"Yeah." Cassie smiled, "I think she's happy about it. I couldn't really tell." She laughed a little.
"Well that's nice. Nothing wrong with another adorable baby in the family." Theo said, "Right?" He smiled to her as she turned to him.
"I'm still not there yet." Cassie told him as he nodded.
"I know you're not." Theo assured her.
"I'm happy for her." Cassie nodded, "She's a good mom. And you're right, it's always good to hear good news." She said as Theo nodded.
"Is that what you're thinking about?" Theo asked, "Or is it something else?" He asked.
"I don't know, just thinking about everything." Cassie said.
"That's a lot to think about." Theo teased as she smiled.
"I know." Cassie said, "I'm sad you're not coming to the Halloween party. It's always good fun." She frowned to him as he nodded.
"I know, I wish I could come but I don't think I can get out of it. You know how busy we are on Halloween night." Theo said as Cassie nodded.
"Yeah, I know. I get it." Cassie said.
"What's Chase dressing up as again?" Theo asked.
"A mummy." Cassie nodded, "I'm basically going to TP my son." She turned to him as he chuckled.
"You gotta send me tons of pictures." Theo nodded as she smiled, "You sure there's nothing bothering you? Cause you know you can always tell me." He said,
"I'm fine." Cassie nodded to him, "Just thinking about the past and stuff. Things that have happened."
"Like what?" Theo asked her.
"Jude." Cassie admitted, "What happened to her." She nodded as Theo shuffled a little closer to her, "I know it was a long time ago. I mean… I was sixteen at the time." She said, "I just… can't imagine living with that sort of memory."
"Yeah but she does exactly that. She lives with it. Pretty well. She's a strong woman." Theo nodded, "And I'm sure she wouldn't want you to think about it."
"I know but sometimes you can't control your mind." Cassie said, "And you're right, she's one of the strongest people I know. But having to live with that-"
"Yeah, I know." Theo nodded, "It's gotta be rough."
"She still can't eat Christmas dinner. My mom makes her tacos. And I can just tell she hates Christmas. I don't blame her." Cassie shook her head.
"Well when we go through something traumatic, we tend to associate certain things with it." Theo nodded, "I kinda hate Christmas too. My parents got divorced at Christmas. I can't really remember being a kid and having a good Christmas." Theo shook his head, "Not that I'm comparing that to what Jude went through." He said quickly.
"I know." Cassie nodded, "She hates the pity, though. And I feel like she has moved on. She does all that charity work and… she's figured out things that help her. Working out. Therapy. Art." She said, "She's in a good place." She nodded to herself.
"Yeah, of course she is." Theo nodded, "You don't have to worry about her. She'd be sad that you were thinking about it." He said as Cassie nodded.
"I know." Cassie sighed, "It's just the 3am thoughts, I guess." She nodded.
"Ok well I can give you something else to think about if you want." Theo smiled, leaning over and kissing her neck as she smiled.
"Where's your restrain, Theodore?" Cassie hummed.
"Don't give me my Sunday name." Theo chuckled as she rolled on top of him, pressing her lips against his as he put his hands on her thighs, pulling her into his body.
Punk woke up through the night to the sound of someone in the kitchen. He got out of bed, putting on some clothes, checking on his wife who was fast asleep. He was naturally a light sleeper, especially ever since he'd spent eight years in prison. He pretty much heard every movement in the house.
He headed downstairs, walking down the hall where he saw Jude in the kitchen.
"Hey." Punk laughed a little as Jude turned to him.
"Oh, hey." Jude smiled.
"You still have a key for here?" Punk realised.
"Yeah, for emergencies I guess." Jude nodded.
"What's the emergency?" He asked her.
"Uh…" Jude paused, "Coffee?" She questioned as he smiled a little.
"Sit down. I'll make it." Punk told her as she nodded.
"I couldn't sleep." Jude told him, sitting down at the table.
"Why not?" He asked her, taking two mugs out.
"I don't know. I don't sleep much at home either." Jude admitted, "I go to bed at like 1am and then I'm up at 5 or 6." She shook her head.
"That's a far cry from how you were as a kid. You never stopped sleeping." Punk chuckled to himself.
"Yeah I wish I could go back to that." Jude nodded, watching as he turned around, sitting the coffee down and sitting down across from her, "How's things going with your dad?" She asked him.
"They're ok." Punk nodded to her, "He came by earlier to give me a birthday cake. I've been speaking to him a lot more. And it's not felt like a chore either, it's been… nice to talk to him." Punk shrugged, "Still trying to get Dean on board."
"He'll follow after you eventually." Jude smiled, "You finding out anything interesting?" She asked him, taking a sip of the coffee.
"Yeah, I guess. I didn't know he had a pretty bad drug addiction." Punk said, "Oh and let me tell you this. Everyone I've told so far had a pop at it." He said, "So apparently Sam actually dated Hamilton first."
"The brother?" Jude gasped a little, "The cop?"
"Yeah." Punk laughed a little, "That's how she met my dad. They hit it off better and… Hamilton became the bitter estranged brother."
"I guess that kinda makes sense. Explains why he took out his frustration on you and Uncle Dean." Jude nodded, "If you want a relationship with him you can't hold back. You shouldn't be afraid or tell yourself that there's no point."
"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "It's good to talk to him. And… it's nice to hear that at some point, he and Sam did have a sort of normal relationship, and they clearly loved one another."
"It's a shame that so much got in the way." Jude said as Punk nodded.
"How have you been? Besides adopting a dragon." Punk shook his head, chuckling into his coffee.
"Hey, leave him alone." Jude said protectively, "He's a good pet."
"Dogs are also good pets." Punk nodded to her.
"The girls love him. He's so sweet and calm." Jude nodded.
"Who's with him right now?" Punk asked her.
"A friend from the academy has a key to our house so she's been checking in on him and feeding him." Jude nodded.
"How's the art coming along?" Punk asked.
"I've not actually been doing much projects for myself lately. It's folio season so I've been marking a ton of pieces from students." Jude nodded, "And having some panic attacks in between. The usual." She shrugged.
"The usual?" Punk questioned.
"They just come out of nowhere." Jude shook her head.
"You been going to therapy?" Punk asked her.
"Yeah. Twice a week." Jude nodded, "Sometimes I'm just lying in bed, trying to fall asleep and it's like someone is standing on my chest with all their weight." She shook her head as he sighed, "I know you… know the feeling."
"I do." Punk nodded, "And you know what works for you, what helps you."
"Yeah, I do but… it can just get a little too much sometimes." Jude said as Punk nodded, "I'm glad we came here for the week. It's nice to be home." She smiled.
"Maybe you're doing too much. You're teaching, you got the charity work, the girls, the dragon." He said as she smiled, which caused him to smile.
"His name is Rex." Jude reminded him.
"Forgive me." Punk smiled, "That can all build up and become stressful. The kind of stress that a morning run doesn't fix all the time." He said as she nodded.
"Yeah, I know." Jude nodded, "I've sort of mastered picking myself back up after a little roadblock, I know it won't last forever and I'll get over it." She said as he nodded.
"Yeah, of course you will." Punk said, "Now tell me what your Halloween costume is?" He asked. It was great to be able to talk to Jude in person, and to comfort her worries sitting across from her instead of through a laptop screen.
