Nothing To Know

"Is this guy still in prison?" Jude asked.

"No, he was released three years ago." Cassie said, "Did dad ever talk about his dad?" She asked.

"No… no, as far as I know he and Dean didn't know anything about him." Jude said, "You think it's him?"

"I mean… it adds up, right?" Jude said as Cassie nodded.

"Yeah, it does." Cassie said, "I just came across it. It was all highlighted which means it's… a high profile case." She said.

"Murder?" Jude raised her eyebrows as Cassie nodded, "In what context?"

"A hit and run." Cassie said, "Eighteen year old girl."

"Jesus Christ." Jude shook her head, "Do you think dad knows?"

"There's no way." Cassie said, "Sam probably doesn't even know."

"Wait… what prison was he in?" Jude asked.

"I'm sure it was cook county." Cassie nodded.

"That means dad was in prison at the same time as him." Jude said, "Oh my God." She shook her head.

"This is what I get for not minding my own business." Cassie folded her arms, annoyed with herself at awakening this burden, "Do you think I should say something?"

"No, are you kidding?" Jude said, "Dad and Dean are not interested in some guy who abandoned them. Some guy they don't even know."

"I don't like knowing." Cassie said, "I gotta tell people." She said childishly.

"What good is it going to do? Hey dad, by the way, your dad who abandoned you, he's not just scum for that but he's scum for killing an eighteen year old girl." Jude said, "I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

"Doesn't he deserve to know? Him and Uncle Dean." Cassie said as Jude sighed.

"Well… yeah, yeah of course they do but is it really worth bringing it up? This guy is a total stranger to them." Jude shrugged.

"Dad was a total stranger to me when I met him." Cassie pointed out.

"That's different. You were a child." Jude scoffed, "Plus how keen are we on introducing ourselves to a murderer?" She raised a brow.

"People can make mistakes. Don't you believe in redemption?" Cassie asked.

"Not for murderers." Jude shook her head.

"So just for drug dealers?" Cassie asked as Jude looked across at her.

"This is why being a cop was gonna be extra hard for you." Jude nodded, "There's stuff I know that mom and dad have done, that I'm happy not knowing about. I don't need to know that stuff. We don't." Jude said, "But you might come across it. You might find things that you don't like…"

"This hasn't anything to do with mom and dad. Not really. This is a guy who is our family, who is still out there… that no one knows anything about." Cassie said, "At least with mom's parents we know they hate us and want nothing to do with us. This guy probably doesn't even know we exist."

"Yeah and… we've done fine without him so far. And so has dad." Jude said.

"Then what about Sam? Maybe she'd like to know what happened to him and where he is." Cassie said as Jude scoffed, "I just don't like knowing when everyone else doesn't. It feels wrong."

"If you want to tell dad and Dean, go ahead. I'm just saying it might open up a can of worms." Jude said.

"I knew I should have gone to Thea." Cassie scoffed as Jude smiled.

"She'd probably say the same as me. She's got wise in her old age." Jude nodded as Cassie shook her head.

"She's still insane." Cassie nodded, "I'm kinda worried about her going off and living in a different state."

"Yeah, me too." Jude nodded, "But she's gonna be fine. She's got Dominic. And the kids. She's starting a new chapter." She said, "And she's really not that far away."

"Yeah, I know." Cassie agreed.

"So what are you gonna do?" Jude asked.

"I don't know…" Cassie huffed, "Maybe I'll find out more about what happened before I decide to tell anyone else. Maybe find out a little bit more about who Daniel Brooks is." She said.

"Ok, but don't go looking for things. Don't get yourself in trouble." Jude said.

"Well they already hate me at work anyway. It's not gonna make a difference." Cassie shrugged.

"Sofia, it's time for bed, baby." Thea walked into her daughter's bedroom where Sofia was lying on the floor.

"I want to sleep here tonight." Sofia explained.

"Well you can't do that. Wouldn't you rather be all comfy under the covers?" Thea asked, pulling back Sofia's bed covers.

"No, I want to sleep here." Sofia said as Thea looked over at her. Her daughter was a handful for sure. She had been told by her parents that she was just like her when she was a little girl. She figured this was her karma perhaps.

"Do you forget I can just come over there and lift you up?" Thea asked.

"No." Sofia giggled.

"Yes." Thea said, walking over and lifting her up under her arms as Sofia giggled, "You'll never beat mommy." She teased, putting Sofia down into her bed, pulling the covers over her.

"Mommy." Sofia said.

"What?" Thea said, tucking the covers over her, crouching down by the side of the bed.

"I want to be a big girl." Sofia said, "Like you. And… And aunt Jude. And Aunt Cassie." She explained, holding onto her furby.

"No you don't." Thea smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed, tucking Sofia's hair behind her ear, "Believe me." She whispered to herself.

"I don't wanna be a baby." Sofia huffed.

"But it's so fun being all little." Thea said, "I wish I could be little again like you."

"You do?" Sofia gasped. She couldn't imagine that.

"Yeah." Thea nodded.

"We'll swap!" Sofia exclaimed as Thea chuckled.

"No, baby… you're perfect just as you are. Don't ever wish to be anyone else." Thea said, leaning down and kissing her cheek softly as Sofia smiled, playing with Thea's hair sweetly, "You have sweet dreams." She said.

"I'll try." Sofia nodded as Thea smiled, getting up from the bed and heading out of the room, watching Sofia turning onto her side, hugging into her furby tightly. There was no denying she was raising the sweetest kids in the world.

She headed into James' bedroom where the six year old was already sleeping, walking over to his bed and crouching down, brushing her hand over his hair and smiling.

"Sweet dreams, buddy." Thea smiled, leaning forward and kissing his head, making sure the covers were tucked up over him before leaving the room, heading downstairs and finding Dominic in the kitchen.

"Did she go down?" Dominic asked her.

"Yeah. She wanted to sleep on the floor but… I got her in the bed." Thea said as Dominic chuckled to himself.

"James went out like a light. Little guy must have been tired." Dominic said.

"Well this school thing can be stressful." Thea said as Dominic smiled and nodded, "You want some coffee?" She asked him, placing her hand on his back as she walked further into the kitchen.

"I've just made some in the pot." Dominic nodded.

"Oh." Thea smiled, taking a mug out and pouring herself some coffee.

"So we can start moving stuff into the new house. I got a call from the realtor whilst I was at work today."

"Really?" Thea said, sitting down at the table across from him, "God, I feel like we've barely packed up anything yet. I've not even touched anything in the kids rooms." She sighed to herself.

"Yeah, we should probably get a move on. Your dad said he'd swing by and help box up some stuff." Dominic said as Thea nodded.

"I think I'm just putting it off and putting it off." Thea said, "Because I don't want to leave." She shrugged.

"Yeah, I know." Dominic said, "But… thing of it as a new chapter. We can make it like an adventure for the kids." He said, "It doesn't have to be a negative thing. It might be the best thing we'll ever do."

"I'm just gonna miss my family." Thea shook her head, "I was never one of those people who always dreamed about getting out of their home. I like living here. I love Chicago." She shook her head.

"I do too." Dominic said, "But this is what we gotta do." He said, "We'll still come back here, your parents and sisters can come visit. We're not too far away." He assured her.

"I know, I know… I guess they're just a safety blanket for me." Thea shook her head, "They always know when something is wrong… they're always looking out for me." She said, "For both of us." She said, "And we're not gonna have that anymore."

"We have each other, though." Dominic nodded, "We'll be fine." He smiled as she nodded.

"Oh, I know we will." Thea nodded, reaching over and taking his hand, "But I suck at making friends." She said as he chuckled, "I'm serious. My… my best friends are my sisters." She said truthfully as Dominic nodded.

"I know that." Dominic smiled, "I don't think you'll be able to replace them as friends but… we'll try make some people like us. The neighbours at least." He teased as Thea smiled.

"Yeah, we'll try." Thea smiled, leaning over and kissing him sweetly.

"Hey, you." AJ smiled, getting home later that night, walking into the kitchen where Cassie was sitting at the table in her pyjamas, wet hair from the shower she'd taken, using her laptop in front of her.

"Hey, mom." Cassie smiled as AJ hugged her from behind, "How was your night?"

"Oh, it was nice." AJ smiled peacefully.

"Where'd you go?" Cassie asked. As an adult, she was able to appreciate seeing her parents at peace, especially with the life they'd lived.

"Just a bar downtown." AJ said, "It was the cutest place, you would have loved it." She said.

"Hey." Punk smiled, walking into the kitchen where he tossed his car keys onto the counter.

"Hey." Cassie nodded, "Nice night?" She smiled.

"You kidding? Any night with this one is more than nice." Punk smiled, wrapping his arm around AJ as she smiled up at him, scratching under his stubbly chin as Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, alright." Cassie looked back at her laptop as Punk smiled.

"I'm gonna put my sweats on." AJ said, looking up at Punk as he smiled.

"Why?" He chuckled.

"Because I ate too many bar snacks tonight." AJ looked up at him as he kissed her, "And I've been dying to unbutton my jeans forever." She said as he pecked her lips again, continuing to do so as she spoke about how much she'd overrate.

"Alright, a girl is working here." Cassie announced, getting irritated as Punk chuckled.

"What you working on?" Punk asked her as AJ disappeared out of the kitchen to go change into her sweats desperately.

"Reports." Cassie said, "I never finished them at the station a few days ago so… Theo told me to finish them at home." She said.

"Homework, huh?" Punk said, sitting down across from her at the table.

"Yeah." Cassie nodded tiredly.

"You look kinda tired." Punk noticed.

"I am." Cassie said, "Here I was thinking I'd just get to eat donuts and drink coffee all day." She teased as Punk smiled.

"Yeah that's just the shitty cops who do that." Punk nodded, "You ate?"

"Yeah, I grabbed something on my way home." Cassie said. Even though she was twenty-one and could obviously take care of herself, AJ and Punk still felt obliged to do so since she still stayed at the house with them, "Swung by to see Jude too."

"How is she? She sent your mom a pic of her scan." He smiled.

"Yeah, she showed me." Cassie nodded, "She's fine. I gave her some blue lemonade and cake… I've never saw her face light up so quickly." She said as Punk chuckled, "Hey, dad can I ask you something?" She asked.

"You just did." Punk smiled as Cassie raised a brow, "What's up?" He nodded.

"Did you ever meet your dad?" Cassie asked him.

"My dad?" Punk asked as Cassie nodded, "No… no, I never met the guy."

"What about Uncle Dean?" Cassie asked, "Why didn't you guys ever see him?"

"He left when Dean was just born." Punk said, "I was one. I don't know anything about him." He shook his head.

"Nothing at all?" Cassie asked.

"Not even his name." Punk said.

"You never asked Sam?" Cassie shook her head.

"No… no, I didn't see the point. He wasn't in my life. I had no interest in it." Punk said truthfully as Cassie nodded slowly.

"So you don't have any interest on finding out who he is? Doesn't it bother you?" Cassie asked.

"No." Punk shook his head, "It's not something I think about honestly. Sure when I was young, growing up, a teenager… yeah, I kinda wished I had a normal set of parents. But then… you grow up. You move on." He nodded.

"He could be anyone, though." Cassie said, "You could pass him on the street and you wouldn't even know."

"Exactly. He's just a stranger." Punk nodded, "And as far as I'm concerned, someone who walks out on two kids… probably not a decent guy anyway." He shrugged as Cassie looked across at him, "Why the questions?" He asked her.

"Just… wondering." Cassie smiled, "I know about mom's parents and what they're like but… I guess I never really knew about your dad."

"Not much to know, honey." Punk nodded as she smiled watching him stand up and leave the kitchen as she sighed to herself.