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A/N: Hey guys! So I had it in my head that I had wrapped up the Paths/Always/Wars Within trilogy and was happy with the ending but since I started my new story Lost and Found, I've been struggling to find the inspiration for it as ideas for this story keep popping back into my head. I think there's a lot more stories to tell with this one and I grew unhealthily attached to the characters. I've written so many AJPunk stories but this series always felt fresh and different, and I don't think we're done just yet. My other story Lost and Found will be put on hold for the time being (I WILL go back to it) But for now... we got some more gorund to cover for this one so strap in and get ready! As always, I appreciate the support and the love. Let me know what you guys think!
"Sofia!" Thea yelled, running downstairs frantically as she heard hysterical giggling coming from her three year old daughter who had fled in the midst of coming out the bath, "Sofia you have no clothes on." Thea said stressfully, running into the kitchen where she watched her daughter hiding behind a chair, giggling cheekily.
"Mommy I don't wanna put clothes on." Sofia objected.
"Well you are." Thea said bluntly, "And it's not up for debate." She made clear, walking around the table as Sofia ran away from her again, running out of the kitchen and back upstairs as Thea put her hands on her hips. She often thought about joining the gym, but as Sofia grew from a baby into a toddler, she got all the work-out she'd ever need.
She left the kitchen and walked back upstairs, heading into Sofia's room where she was sitting butt naked on her bed.
"Can I wear my pjs?" Sofia asked her.
"It's 9am. No." Thea scoffed, "Look, I picked you out your favourite hoodie with the unicorn on it." She showed her.
"I don't like that anymore." Sofia shook her head, "I want to wear something else."
"Like what?" Thea asked, watching the three year old jump down from the bed and head on over to the closet, which she of course could not reach anything in it, "Babe, can you please put some underwear on at least for now?" She groaned.
"No." Sofia said simply, looking at all her clothes as Thea rolled her eyes.
"Mommy's gonna be late for work." Thea said.
"I want to wear that." Sofia pointed.
"Last year's Halloween costume?" Thea questioned, sitting down on the bedroom floor.
"Yes." Sofia smiled excitedly.
"What about some comfy sweats and the hoodie?" Thea asked.
"No, the costume." Sofia said as Thea sighed to herself.
"Fine, ok." Thea nodded, standing up and taking the costume out from the closet as Sofia grinned happily.
"Where is James?" Sofia asked for her brother.
"He's at school, baby." Thea said, taking the costume off the hanger, "You'll see him when he gets home."
"Why am I not at school, mommy?" Sofia questioned.
"You're too young." Thea said, helping her get ready into the odd outfit she'd chosen for the day, "You'll go to school in a few years." She nodded.
"Oh." Sofia said, "Maybe I don't want to." She shrugged.
"Well you're going." Thea smiled firmly, "What do you want in your backpack?" She asked.
"Umm… some cookies." Sofia nodded.
"I'm pretty sure Punk and A have cookies at their house." Thea nodded, "What toys?"
"My furby!" Sofia gasped, running over to the top of her bed, grabbing her furby which was sitting on her pillow.
"Anything else?" Thea asked.
"No." Sofia said, "Just my furby." She told her mother.
"Ok." Thea nodded, "Mommy's already late, we need to go." She said, noticing the time.
"Mommy do you have to go fix sick people?" Sofia asked, taking her mother's hand as Thea headed downstairs with her.
"I do, yeah." Thea nodded, grabbing her coat and putting it on, equally taking Sofia's and helping her put it on over her costume.
"Do you think Papa will like my outfit today?" Sofia asked Thea.
"I reckon he will." Thea nodded, "Ok, shoes on and let's roll." She nodded as Sofia sat down on the bottom of the stairs put her converse on.
Another crazy morning, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Hey, I really can't stay. I'm running late, as usual." Thea said, rushing into her parents' house as Sofia ran ahead wildly.
"Are you aware she's wearing a witch's Halloween costume?" Punk asked his daughter.
"Yeah, it's the only way I could get her to put something on. She was… running around the house naked all morning." Thea rolled her eyes as Punk nodded.
"You used to do that." Punk nodded, "It's annoying isn't it?" He said as Thea made a face at him.
"I really gotta go. Dom will be around about 4 to pick her up." Thea said as Punk nodded.
"Ok, sweetie. Have a good day." Punk said, kissing her cheek as Thea patted his arm, rushing back out of the house and into her car to go to work.
Punk closed the door over and walked down the hallway into the kitchen where his granddaughter and wife were. They were chief babysitters for Sofia on their days off. AJ had cut down her shifts which meant most days she babysat Sofia.
"Sofia, it's not Halloween, babe." Punk said, looking over at Sofia who was sat up at the kitchen table showing her witches hat to AJ. Sofia was just like Thea when she was younger. In fact, they were almost identical. She was always up to no good.
"I know, papa but I wanted to be a witch today." Sofia explained.
"Well I think you look cool." AJ smiled, "You're very in style right now actually." She nodded as Sofia smiled happily.
"You had breakfast?" Punk asked Sofia.
"No, mommy said… shit we have no time." Sofia repeated as Punk chuckled whilst AJ hit his leg.
"Baby, that's a bad word, don't say that." AJ smiled, "Did mommy also forget to do your hair too?" She wondered, brushing Sofia's hear behind her ear.
"No, I did my hair." Sofia stared at AJ.
"Oh… well it's lovely." AJ smiled to her as Sofia looked at her suspiciously. If anything, Sofia was a lot more mischievous than Thea ever was, and a lot more opinionated to their disbelief.
"I know it is." Sofia smiled.
"What cereal do you want?" Punk asked her as Sofia turned around.
"Umm… cheerios." Sofia said as Punk nodded, grabbing a bowl out and pouring the cereal in.
Being a grandparent was all kinds of fun. It was kind of like being a parent but without all the stress and hard parts. They were fortunate enough to have two grandchildren who they got to spend so much time with.
"So why did you wanna be a witch today?" AJ asked Sofia, who reminded her of Thea when she was that age. They were insanely alike.
"Because." Sofia answered as AJ nodded. Fair enough, she thought to herself.
"Aren't witches supposed to have big noses? And warts? And long finger nails?" Punk teased as Sofia gasped.
"No." Sofia said, "No, that's only the ugly witches." She said as Punk nodded, sitting her cereal down for her, "I'm a good witch."
"Oh, yeah? What's so good about you?" He teased.
"Everything." Sofia said confidently as Punk nodded.
"I gotta say, I agree." AJ nodded as Sofia smiled, picking her cheerio's up with her spoon one by one as Punk chuckled, looking over to AJ who shook her head at the craziness. Sofia definitely had character just like her mother.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Thea asked, standing outside the hospital on her lunch break having a cigarette.
"I hope you're not campaigning out here whilst doing that." Jude approached her, "It's not the best message for a hospital."
"Shut up." Thea scoffed, "I can't do it at home because the kids so I gotta do it here." She said.
"Why can't you do it at home?" Jude shook her head as Thea shrugged, "What?"
"Sofia got a hold of my lighter and almost set her hair on fire." Thea said as Jude raised her eyebrows, "So Dominic had a go at me and said no more smoking in the house, not even at the back door so… I have a few here." She shrugged.
"She almost set her hair on fire?" Jude chuckled.
"It's not funny." Thea said seriously, "I don't even know how she figured out how to use it. The kid is insane." She shook her head as Jude smiled.
"Like mother like daughter." Jude said, "Is she with mom and dad?"
"Yeah." Thea nodded.
"You told them yet?" Jude asked.
"No." Thea shook her head, "I don't even know how I'm going to tell them." She sighed to herself, "I can just picture their faces already."
"I know they're gonna kick off about not being able to see Sofia and James." Thea sighed.
"Isn't there any way around it?" Jude sighed, "I'm not too thrilled about you moving either, I mean you couldn't have picked a worse time really." She shook her head.
"I can't do anything about it. I'm getting transferred." Thea shrugged, "I hate it. The fact I have to move James schools when he's just started, the fact I have to ask Dominic to be ok with leaving his job and finding a new one, just for me… I hate all of it." She shook her head.
"Is that why you're puffing away on these?" Jude pointed to the cigarette.
"Yes. It's either this or wine, what would you prefer?" Thea raised a brow as Jude nodded.
"Puff away." Jude encouraged as Thea nodded, "I just can't believe you're not gonna be around here." She folded her arms.
"Oh, come on. I… I mean it's not like I'm moving country. I'm a two hour drive away." Thea smiled, "Speaking of not telling mom and dad things… have you told them about-"
"No, not yet." Jude scoffed, "I can't find a good enough time." She said.
"Well I'd hurry up about it. You're already starting to show a little." Thea looked down at her sister's tummy.
"You think?" Jude asked curiously, looking down at her stomach, "I didn't think I was."
"You are. Plus you're getting a puffy face." Thea nodded.
"Are you telling me I look fat?" Jude laughed.
"No, you look pregnant. Insane, right? Considering you are." Thea nodded as Jude rolled her eyes.
"Sean has been gone all weekend. I wanted to wait for him to get back for both of us to tell them." Jude said.
"Oh, I have a great idea." Thea nodded, putting her cigarette out and clapping her hands, "Ok, we'll all go to mom's for dinner, me and Dominic will drop our shitty news that we're moving to Milwaukee and then boom, you swoop in with the baby news." Thea smiled, impressed with herself.
"That's not gonna keep them from being upset about you moving." Jude scoffed.
"No, but it might help." Thea nodded.
"Isn't there any way you coud get a job closer? So you don't have to move?" Jude huffed, "What am I gonna do when I have baby questions?" She questioned unhappily.
"You're telling me you want my parenting advice? Me? Whose daughter almost perished her hair with my lighter?" Thea asked as Jude nodded to herself.
"Yeah, ok. Fair enough." Jude nodded, "But still… I wanted my baby to have aunt Thea and uncle Dom close by. And it's big cousins." She frowned as Thea looked across at her.
"I know." Thea said, "I just… I can't do anything about it. I wish I could." She nodded as Jude frowned.
"Well I'm on my lunch break." Jude said, "You got time to grab a coffee?" She asked.
"I do, but no coffee for you." Thea said.
"Why not?" Jude shook her head.
"Bad for the baby." Thea said.
"Really?" Jude asked as Thea nodded, "You see, this is why you need to stay." She huffed childishly as Thea smiled, wrapping her arm around her and heading across the road for lunch.
"I hate working nights!" Twenty-one year old Cassie got home where she still lived with her parents, slamming the door shut and trailing into the living room, collapsing onto the couch face first.
She had been working night shift, at the police station, where she was still in semi-training as a rookie, which meant she was under supervision by a more experienced cop at all times. She had done her difficult years at the academy and bargained herself a job at the station. It was the best but toughest job in the world.
"Hey, baby." AJ walked into the living room, "How was work?" She asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Cassie muffled, her face pressed against the couch as AJ smiled.
"Rough night?" AJ wondered.
"I got elbowed in the boob." Cassie groaned as AJ nodded.
"That's not good." AJ said.
"No, it's not." Cassie agreed as AJ smiled.
They'd watch Cassie vow to quit so many times, but she never did. She never gave up, even when she was crying and wishing to give up, she always got back up and headed back to the job. AJ and Punk had saw first-hand just how hard she worked, and they knew she was frustrated with the lack of control she had over things right now as she started off as a rookie.
"You gotta start somewhere, babe." AJ reminded her.
"Theo keeps yelling at me." Cassie sighed, rolling around onto her back, "He doesn't let me do anything. How am I supposed to learn anything?" She questioned with frustration.
"Why don't you talk to Sean?" AJ asked.
"He's not in town this weekend, plus I… I'm not gonna be the person who uses her family connections to get her way." Cassie said, "He's just so disrespectful. Always calls me kid."
"Isn't it just playful banter?" AJ asked.
"No, believe me." Cassie groaned.
"Aunt Cassie!" Sofia squealed, running into the living room past AJ and jumping on her aunt as Cassie smiled.
"Hey, you." Cassie smiled, giving her a tight squeeze, "Why are you dressed as a witch?" She chuckled.
"Because." Sofia said simply, sitting on her aunts hip, "I wanted to."
"Fair enough." Cassie chuckled, "Did you save any cats today?" She giggled as Cassie scoffed.
"There's more to my job than that." Cassie said.
"Papa Punk says you save cats." Sofia said sweetly as AJ laughed to herself.
"Of course he did." Cassie shook her head as AJ smiled, walking back out of the living room where Cassie was getting comfy with Sofia.
"Another bad day?" Punk asked AJ, sitting at the kitchen table.
"Yeah. Said she got elbowed on the boob and Theo keeps shouting at her." AJ nodded as Punk shook his head.
"She just doesn't like being told what to do." Punk shook his head, reading the paper.
"Yeah, that's true." AJ laughed to herself, "Sofia is in there asking her if she saved any cats today. You're mean."
"What?" Punk sniggered. No matter what age he was, he got a kick out of teasing and tormenting all his daughters to the fullest, "The teasing helps her, trust me." He said as AJ smiled.
"You want a donut?" AJ asked him as Punk turned around and looked over at her opening the box.
"You wanna half one?" Punk compromised.
"Look at you, trying to be healthy." AJ chuckled to herself.
"I'm just keeping my dad bod in shape." He patted his stomach as AJ shook her head.
"You're ageing with grace, baby. Don't you forget it." AJ patted his shoulder as Punk nodded to himself.