Leaving
"Hey." Dominic said, walking into the empty kitchen where Thea was standing in the centre of, folded arms as she looked across at him, "The van has left." He told her, holding the car keys, "If we wanna get there at the same time, and get some stuff unloaded into the house, we really gotta head off now." He said.
"Yeah… yeah, I know." Thea sighed to herself, "It's just… harder than I ever thought it would be." She shook her head as Dominic nodded.
"I know." Dominic nodded, "Still kinda feels like just yesterday we moved in. No kids. No marriage yet." He smiled as Thea nodded, "We did a lot in this place."
"Yeah, we did." Thea nodded, "Where are the kids?"
"Your mom and dad are outside with them." Dominic said as Thea nodded.
"I hate that this feels like goodbye." Thea sighed, "Because I know it's not."
"Of course it's not." Dominic said, "They're gonna drive down this weekend to see us." He chuckled a little, "It's just a couple days."
"God, I know. I'm being ridiculous." Thea shook her head.
"No, you're not." Dominic shook his head, "You've got good parents. I get it." He nodded.
"Ok, just take my hand and drag me out." Thea sighed, extending her hand out as Dominic smiled, taking her hand and leaning over to place a kiss on her lips as she kissed back before he lead the way out of their empty house.
"No, Papa… like this!" Sofia exclaimed, showing Punk how to play hop scotch on the pavement. Punk kept messing up, pretending he had no clue what he was doing. He enjoyed watching her freak out over it.
"That's what I'm doing." Punk insisted, hopping on both feet on the slabs.
"One foot!" Sofia exclaimed whilst Cassie shook her head and chuckled.
"Is Jude still not here?" Thea asked, walking out of the house with Dominic, "We really have to get ready to go." She sighed.
"Wait it out five more minutes. She's at her hospital appointment remember." AJ said as Thea nodded, "You got everything? Have the kids got everything?" She asked motherly.
"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Yeah, it's just one big echo in there." She said as AJ smiled softly.
"Try not worry so much." AJ cupped her cheeks, "You've got this." She nodded as Thea smiled.
"Thanks, mom." Thea smiled, wrapping her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly. To think the time with her mother would be decreasing now was perhaps affecting her the most. Looking back on her life, she really wasn't sure if she'd be here without her mother.
"Why is everyone hugging?" James wondered, looking up at Cassie who had dashed away from work on her break to see Thea and Dominic before they left.
"What's wrong with hugging?" Cassie asked him, "Huh?" She smiled, picking James up and hugging him tightly as he laughed.
"Stop." James giggled as Cassie squeezed him tightly, "Aunt Cassie." He got her attention.
"What?" Cassie said, putting him down on his feet.
"Do you know our new home? Because it's not here anymore." James said. He was worried that none of his family knew where they were going. While Sofia had no idea what was going on, James was slightly aware that they were leaving.
"Of course I know." Cassie said, "And I'm gonna come visit you this weekend." Cassie crouched down in front of him, "So… I'll see you in a few days." She smiled.
"Oh." James said in a thankful tone, "Ok." He smiled as Cassie messed his hair up playfully.
"Hey, you." Thea came up behind James, "Go see what snacks daddy got you for the car." She told him as James ran away to his father as Cassie stood up straight.
"He was just making sure I had your new address." Cassie smiled.
"And do you?" Thea asked.
"Yeah, I got it." Cassie smiled, "And I'll see you in a couple days." She said as Thea chuckled and nodded.
"It's all so stupid, isn't it?" Thea said as Cassie shook her head.
"No… you're still leaving this place." Cassie understood, "But… it's not a goodbye."
"It's not." Thea agreed, "You gonna tell him?" She asked, looking over at their father who was playing with the kids. A few weeks had gone by and Cassie had told her oldest sister about her findings in the stations computer systems. Her findings about their potential grandfather.
"I'm still looking into it. I don't wanna cause any unnecessary distress for him. It's the last thing he needs." Cassie shook her head.
"Yeah, I know but it's his dad." Thea said, "He's too proud to admit to any of us but I bet there's a part of him that would like to know." She nodded.
"Yeah, I think so too." Cassie said, "I gotta know everything about it first."
"Just be careful." Thea said as Cassie smiled and nodded, "If you ever need anything just… call me. I'm still your big sister." She nodded.
"I know." Cassie nodded.
"And you're gonna be the best damn cop ever." Thea nodded as Cassie chuckled happily, "Don't let anyone else trick you into thinking you don't got what it takes. Because you sure as hell do." She said as Cassie smiled.
"Thank you." Cassie smiled as Thea wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"Don't tell Jude but… James thinks you're the coolest." Thea said as Cassie chuckled in the embrace.
"Yeah, I know he does." Cassie smiled, "I'm gonna miss them both." She sighed, looking over at James and Sofia playing with Punk.
"You'll see them in a couple of days." Thea said, trying not to get upset as Cassie nodded, hugging her sister tightly.
Just then Jude and Sean pulled up outside the house. Jude was relieved they'd managed to get back in time before her sister took off.
"Hey." Jude said with relief, "I didn't know if we were gonna catch you guys." Jude said as Sean joined her.
"How did the appointment go?" AJ asked.
"Yeah, tell us the gender." Thea nodded.
"Wait, is everyone here?" Jude asked, looking around.
"Yeah. Go on, tell us." Punk nodded eagerly as Jude looked up at Sean.
"You tell them." Sean smiled to her as Jude nodded.
"We're having a girl." Jude smiled happily as they cheered, embracing Jude and Sean with congratulations and excitement on the announcement.
"You hear that?" Punk turned to James and Sofia, "You're getting a little girl cousin." He said as James folded his arms unhappily.
"Why is everyone a girl?" James asked unhappily as Punk chuckled to himself.
"Yeah… welcome to my world, buddy." Punk messed with his hair, "You'll learn to love it." He nodded, overjoyed by the news of gaining another granddaughter.
"T, we really gotta get going." Dominic nodded to Thea.
"I know, I know." Thea sighed, embracing Jude, "Ok, call me whenever you want." She told her little sister as Jude nodded.
"I can't believe you're going." Jude sighed sadly.
"I know." Thea shook her head, "But I'll see you soon, it's fine." Thea chuckled lightly whilst Dominic helped the kids into their car seats with AJ and Punk's help.
"You're the best big sister ever." Jude nodded as Thea smiled.
"Really? I think you could have gotten better." Thea nodded as Jude pushed her, "Hey, don't push me." Thea warned sisterly as Jude smiled, "You take care of this baby." She warned.
"I will." Jude smiled, "I love you." She shook her head. Her big sister had really been there for her over the past years. Dealing with the aftermath of being raped was something she never thought she'd have to go through, and her family had been the best support system she could have asked for. Especially her big sister.
"I love you too." Thea smiled, "Make sure Cassie doesn't put up with any shit at the station, yeah?" She whispered.
"I'm already on it." Jude promised as Thea smiled.
"Ok… Ok, I will call you." Thea said as Jude nodded, watching as Thea headed over to the car, "Are they in?" She asked Dominic, looking into the back seat where James was already watching a film on his console whilst Sofia was playing with her dolls.
"Yeah, they're good." Dominic nodded, saying his final goodbyes to everyone whilst Thea only had one more to say.
"You got your toys for the journey?" Punk asked her as Thea laughed a little.
"Toys? I'm gonna be taking a nap." Thea said.
"Yeah? Welcome to parenthood." Punk nodded as she smiled, "You're gonna be just fine." He said as Thea nodded.
"I hope so." Thea chuckled a little, "You'll look out for Jude, won't you?"
"Who's that?" Punk teased as Thea scoffed, "Why are you saying it like that?" He chuckled.
"Because maybe I never let onto how much she still struggles." Thea said as Punk looked over at Jude who was saying goodbye to Dominic, "She still sometimes shows up to my house crying. Reliving it all." She said, "And I can't bear the thought of her not being able to talk to someone about it now just because I've left." She said.
"We'll take care of her, don't worry." Punk said. The best thing about having three daughter's sometimes wasn't about his bond with them, but their bond with each other. He loved seeing that.
"And take care of mom." Thea nodded as Punk chuckled a little.
"My wife? Yeah, I will." Punk smiled.
"And Cassie. She works so hard and she's so good at what she does… please make sure she doesn't get discouraged by morons." Thea said as Punk nodded.
"I'll do my best." Punk smiled.
"Ok, we gotta go." Dominic nodded to Thea.
"Ok." Thea sighed, turning to Punk and nodding, wrapping her arms around him tightly as Punk hugged her back, kissing her head.
"You got this." He said, "And you know exactly where we are." He said as Thea nodded, blinking a few tears out which ran down her cheeks.
"Ok." Thea took a deep breath, breaking away from the hug, opening up the car door and getting in, drying her tears as Dominic also got into the car.
Punk watched as they drove away, sighing to himself. The worry was there, of course it was. But he knew his oldest daughter like the back of his hand. She had her own, wonderful family now, and this was a new journey for her.
"You ok?" Punk asked, walking over to AJ who nodded.
"Miss her already." AJ frowned as Punk smiled, kissing her head and nodding. It was sad, but he also felt some sort of pride. It really was like his baby was fleeing the nest, for real.