Moving Forward

"She's still not told them?" Dominic asked, sitting at the kitchen table with his wife and two children having dinner.

"No, she said she wanted to wait for Sean to get back." Thea said.

"Isn't she like 14 weeks pregnant?" Dominic scoffed.

"Yeah. I told her today that she's showing. She's gotta tell them." Thea nodded.

"Why is she holding back so much?" Dominic questioned.

"I don't know." Thea shrugged, "I think she's just nervous about it." She nodded, "I came up with a brilliant plan, though." She smirked.

"What's the plan?" Dominic asked as Sofia slid her plate over to him, sitting beside him.

"I'm finished." Sofia told him whilst James sat beside Thea.

"No you're not." James got his eyes on his sisters plate.

"Yes I am." Sofia pointed her fork across at her brother.

"Ok, put the fork down." Thea groaned, "Babe, eat your veg please."

"But I don't like it." Sofia huffed, sitting her fork down and placing her hands on her cheeks stressfully.

"But it makes you all healthy and strong." Dominic said, sliding her plate back to her, "Just a little bit." He nodded.

"Ok." Sofia grinned, taking a piece of broccoli and eating the tiniest bite from the top as Thea raised a brow, "There… I ate a little bit." She said happily.

"Baby, I wanna see you trying to eat all of it." Thea nodded, "Look, James is almost finished." She said, brushing her hand through her son's hair, "Don't you wanna beat him?" She asked. She had no shame in pitting her children against each other if it meant they ate their veg, went to bed quicker and behaved.

"I don't wanna beat him at eating veg. Yuck." Sofia folded her arms as Dominic chuckled to himself which caused Thea to kick him under the table.

"What?" Dominic laughed.

"No ice-cream if you don't finish your dinner." Thea warned as Sofia looked over at her mother with an angered expression, "Yeah, you don't like that, do you?" Thea teased as Sofia scoffed, picking her fork up and forcing the veg into her mouth as Thea smirked to herself. The good old ice-cream threat always worked.

"So what's your plan?" Dominic asked her.

"So… we go have dinner with my parents at their house. We tell them that we're moving to Milwaukee, explain it all to them and then boom, just as my mom will probably start to cry Jude announces she's pregnant. The heat is taken off of us and put onto Jude." Thea smiled.

"Not bad." Dominic nodded.

"Right?" Thea said.

"It's not gonna stop them from being upset, though." Dominic said, "I think they're gonna be more crushed that… they're not gonna see the kids as much."

"I know." Thea sighed to herself, "I know, look… I feel awful about it. The whole thing sucks but… I'm out of a job if we don't go and… the healthcare industry right now is so overcrowded. They'll let me go in a heartbeat." She said as Dominic nodded, "We need the money."

"Yeah, I know." Dominic nodded, "I just hope you're gonna be ok. I know how much your parents and your sisters play a role in your life." He said.

"I'm a big girl. I'll be fine." Thea nodded, "I'll miss them but I mean we're just two hours away in the car. It's not like we're going to a different country." She said as Dominic nodded.

"Yeah, I know. There's always a bright side." Dominic agreed.

"I know it's gonna be tough but… I can't turn it down." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, we'll be fine." Dominic nodded.

"It's just gonna be weird leaving this place." Thea nodded to herself. It was a scary thought having to move to another state where they didn't know anyone and their family were all further away than usual, but it was a career move and it was just something they had to do.

"Yeah, but… we'll have a new home. New memories and adventures." Dominic assured her as she smiled.

"Yeah." Thea smiled.

"Are we actually going to your parents for dinner?" Dominic asked.

"Yeah, on Sunday." Thea nodded, "So… we'll drop our bomb and then Jude will drop hers."

"Cassie got anything she wants to get off her chest? Probably would be a good time." He said as Thea chuckled.

"I'm sure if she does she'll take the opportunity." Thea chuckled.

"Finished." James announced.

"Good job, buddy." Dominic smiled as Sofia looked over jealously.

"No fair, he cheated." Sofia declared as Thea scoffed.

"How did he cheat?" Thea asked.

"I don't know. But he did." Sofia said.

"You're not getting ice-cream." James teased as Sofia picked up her carrot and threw it at him angrily.

"Hey, no." Thea warned, "None of that." She said, "Or you really won't be getting ice-cream." She said as Sofia folded her arms unhappily. She was definitely a handful. Mischievous. Stubborn. Always up to no good. Argumentative. In other words… her own mini me. James was a lot more like Dominic. Even though he was just six he had a very humorous and jokey personality. And like any big brother, he enjoyed teasing his little sister the most.

"C'mon, sweetie. Finish your dinner." Dominic nodded to Sofia.

"I don't want to, daddy." Sofia sighed, hugging into his arm sweetly as Dominic smiled, "I'm finished." She said as Dominic smiled, enjoying the sweet hug.

"Ok." Dominic nodded, "Ok, you did good." He said as Thea rolled her eyes. It amused her how whipped her children had her husband. Especially Sofia. She could say anything to Dominic, give him those huge brown eyes and a sweet hug, and he'd easily comply with whatever she was saying.

"You're a sucker." Thea shook her head as Dominic shrugged. He knew he was and he didn't care.

"Mommy, miss Nelson gave me homework to do." James said.

"Oh, yeah? What's the homework?" Thea asked, clearing the dinner plates away.

"Spelling." James said.

"Ok, baby. Go bust it out and we'll get to spelling." Thea nodded, smiling as she watched James run off to go get his backpack.

"I'll take this one for her bath." Dominic announced as Thea nodded. It was her favourite time of the night where they could all unwind from the long day, and she could relax with her family.

"Hey, you ok?" Punk asked, walking into the kitchen later on as he saw Cassie sitting at the table doing some work.

"Yeah." Cassie said as Punk looked at her, unconvinced. He saw the stress her job was bringing her and he hated it, but he knew that this was what she wanted. She worked extremely hard, and she had every bit of courage and skill to be a cop, he knew she did.

"You sure?" He asked, sitting down across from her at the table.

"I don't know." Cassie shrugged as he nodded, "No one even talks to me." She said as Punk looked across at her, "And look, I get it… I'm the rookie, they're allowed to have the superiority but… I just feel like they're constantly laughing at me."

"Why?" Punk shook his head.

"I don't know." Cassie said, "The Brooks thing doesn't really help." She looked across at him as he nodded. He assumed that.

"I figured." Punk nodded, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Cassie shook her head, "I just wanna be taken seriously." She said.

"Isn't it just a rookie thing? You're still a baby? You're still learning? Isn't it just… playful teasing? Part of the job?" Punk shrugged.

"No. They hate me." Cassie rolled her eyes, "If it wasn't for the fact that… when I'm out there and I get to actually do things that I feel I'm good at… I would have gave up a long time ago." She shook her head.

"So then look at this as one big giant hurdle you need to get over. You won't be a rookie forever." He said, "And prove these fuckers that you're better than them." He nodded, "Make them eat their own words." He said.

"I just thought it'd be different." Cassie said, "I got out the academy and I thought… this is it. I can actually go be a cop now." She shook her head.

"Maybe you could ask for a new mentor? I don't like this Theo guy." Punk said.

"Niether do I." Cassie shook her head.

"Why don't you go to Sean? Tell him about it-"

"No, I'm not being that person who uses her family to get out of things. I've said this to mom. I'll just deal with it on my own." Cassie said as Punk smiled. Stubborn. Just like all the girls in his life.

"I figured you would anyway." Punk smiled, "You're doing real good. In case no one in that hell hole is telling you. You are." He nodded as she looked across at him.

"I'm trying." Cassie nodded, "Theo said I'm too pretty to be a cop."

She was torn between being in love with the career she had picked, the path she wanted to go down, and her co-workers who almost didn't take her seriously, especially considering her family's history.

"Fuck him. He sounds like a damn asshole and I give you permission to kick him in the dick." Punk nodded as she smiled.

"Yeah, well… I do that and I get fired." Cassie said, "I just wanna be taken seriously."

"You will be. You're way too determined. I know you." He smiled, "Prove them wrong." He nodded as she smiled. She was trying.

"How have you been feeling?" Sean asked, unpacking his bag in he and Jude's bedroom after he'd gotten home from a late light, having been gone for a few days for work.

"I'm feeling fine." Jude nodded, "I don't know if I should be worried." She admitted.

"Not all pregnant women have morning sickness." Sean said.

"Yeah, I know that." Jude scoffed, sitting up in bed with some of her drawings sitting in front of her, "Me and Thea came up with a plan on how to tell my parents."

"Well go on, let me hear it." Sean chuckled already.

"Well her and Dominic are gonna tell my parents about moving to Milwaukee, so to stop them from getting too sad, we'll swoop in and tell them I'm pregnant." Jude said.

"That's a lot of information for your poor parents in the one go." Sean chuckled.

"I know but it all balances out." Jude waved her hand, "We're going on Sunday for dinner."

"Whenever you wanna tell them we can tell them." Sean said as she smiled.

"Thea said she could see I'm already getting big." Jude said, getting out of bed and standing over in front of the mirror as Sean watched her, "Maybe I am." She wondered, standing side on, deliberately pushing her stomach out as Sean chuckled, "I guess there is a little bump there." She smiled to herself as Sean watched her.

"There is." He noticed to his amazement.

It was nothing they had planned for. They weren't married but had been together for a very long time, coming up for seven years. They had their own house together and very much shared a life together, and were excited (after the shock died down) to be welcoming a baby into a family of their own.

"I'm nervous about telling my parents." Jude admitted, rushing back over to the bed and jumping back in under the covers.

"Why?" Sean asked, "They'll be happy. You see how they are with James and Sofia."

"I know, it's just… I really don't think they'd expect it." Jude said, "I think with Thea… she was married, she was kinda giving off settling down vibes for a while-"

"And we're not?" Sean wondered.

"Well… yeah, we are but… I don't know, it's just different." Jude shrugged.

"Yeah, it's different because you're not your sister." Sean nodded, "You're you, and they're gonna be really happy."

"Yeah, I know." Jude nodded, "I'm being silly."

"No you're not. It's a big thing." Sean said.

"It is." Jude said.

"What you been drawing?" He asked, collapsing down on the bed beside her as he looked at some of her sketches.

"Oh, just… some bits here and there." Jude nodded. She still taught classes at the institute as well as doing her own projects on the side. Art was still one of her biggest therapies amongst many other things.

"I'll never get used to how amazing you are at this." Sean shook his head, looking at her drawings as she smiled.

"I was thinking about painting the nursery myself." She nodded.

"Yeah?" Sean smiled as she nodded.

"Yeah, it'll give me something to focus on." Jude said, "I already got some ideas." She said excitedly as he smiled.

"I can't wait to see what this kid is gonna draw for the fridge when it's like 3. I bet it will be a miniature Picasso." He nodded as Jude chuckled.

"I don't know if I can handle competition like that." Jude teased as he smiled, "Could be a miniature cop."

"Could be." Sean chuckled.

"Hey, I think Cass is having a tough time at the station." Jude nodded to him.

"Yeah, I figured." Sean said, "Your sister can stand her ground, though."

"I know but… she's still my little sister. I feel like they're giving her a hard time because of… where she comes from." Jude said, "Or… more so who she comes from." She said as Sean nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, and her mentor is Theo so… that's a bad day all round anyway." Sean said, "He told me the other day she's too pretty to be a cop. Followed with some other profanity that I had to walk away from."

"Can't you do something about it?" Jude asked angrily.

"What am I supposed to do? I barely even see Cassie." Sean said, "She's tough. She'll shut them all up, you know that."

"Yeah well I don't want her being picked on. Especially by an older guy who is talking about her like that." Jude said worriedly.

"Theo isn't a bad guy. He's just opinionated, and I think he's kinda intimidated by her to be honest. I think they all are." Sean nodded.

"Well I don't want her to be in any sort of uncomfortable position with any guy who talks about her like they own her… ok?" Jude said seriously, "Because I'm not… that can't happen to her…"

"Hey… it's ok." Sean nodded to her, "That's not going to happen to her." He assured her, "Cass is doing good. It's a tough place to work. You gotta have thick skin and she does. She'll stick it out and prove them wrong." He said as Jude nodded, "You don't need to worry about her." He nodded, kissing her hand.

"I always worry about her." Jude shook her head.

"I know you do." Sean said.

There had been everlasting impact left with her since her attack over six years ago. Never had it left her mind. It'd gotten easier for sure, but it'd never left. Instead now she suffered from severe anxiety and paranoia, not just for herself but for those she loved around her. Sean recognised it and helped her through it. It wasn't something that had gone away, and she was learning to manage it the best she could, with his help. She'd come to terms with the fact her attack had left her with these problems that she knew would stay with her for the rest of her life, and that was sometimes hard to accept.

"You'll still look out for her, won't you?" Jude nodded.

"Of course I will." Sean said, "But she is doing fine on her own. Believe me. She's good." He nodded.

"Yeah well she's dedicated that's for sure." Jude nodded, "Do you wanna see the ideas I have for the nursery?" She asked him.

"Of course I do. What masterpiece are you planning?" He smiled as she opened up her books to show him her ideas. She was glad he was back home after a few nights of being on her own in the house. Something she also struggled with. The struggle never quite left. It was always there.