Where We Are Now


A/N: You guys should start betting on wether or not I've REALLY finished this series. Different tone for one of these stories this time. More small town, personal conflicts going on amongst the characters. Appreciate anyone who still follows my writing no matter what it is. I know there's some unfinished stuff on my page, some which I've completely just lost inspirtation for, so I apologise for that. I'm hoping you enjoy regardless.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters besides the ones I've made up! Rated M for the obvious reasons.


"Hey! Thank you thank you for this." Thea rushed into her parent's house frantically, holding eight year old Sofia's hand whilst carrying three year old Sam in her arms.

"I wasn't doing anything anyway." Punk said, "Well, if you don't count anything as crossword puzzles." He nodded as Thea looked over at the set up on the kitchen table. The coffee, the crossword puzzle and the newspaper.

"You really are old, aren't you?" Thea frowned a little. Sometimes she forgot that whilst she was getting older, her parents were also ageing.

"You've justice noticed?" Punk asked, taking Sam from her who squished his cheeks with her hands and giggled, "Oh, hi." He smiled.

"Dominic is going to get James from school and then he'll come by and pick them up." Thea nodded, sitting her mom bag down for him to use anything he needed from it.

"Why did you get called into work anyway?" Punk asked, "I swear you never get a day off."

"I know, tell me about it." Thea shook her head, "One of the doctors in the department had her baby early."

"That bitch." Punk shook his head sarcastically.

"I know." Thea agreed seriously as Punk laughed to himself.

"You said we were going to the skating rink today." Sofia looked up at her mother unhappily as Punk looked over discretely.

"I know. I know I did but I have to work now. I promise when I get my next day off we'll go." Thea nodded, watching as Sofia walked by her and out of the kitchen.

"You making promises you can't keep?" Punk hummed.

"You sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?" Thea looked back at him.

"The skating rink?" Punk asked with confusion.

"Yeah she wants to learn how to skate. Aunt Cassie was supposed to take her but she's… busy." Thea nodded, "So I promised I would rent out some ice and we'd go down… have some fun. I keep getting called into work." She shook her head unhappily.

"Well I can take her." Punk suggested, looking on at Sam in his arms as she pulled at his beard, "Why does she always pick at me like a monkey?"

"You don't have to take her, it's fine. I'll make time for it." Thea shook her head, "I have to or she'll murder me probably." She nodded, "Ok, I gotta go. Thank you for this. You'll go to heaven." She told him.

"No such place." Punk mumbled, watching as she rushed out of the kitchen and out of the house, "How come your mommy is always in a rush?" He asked Sam, walking his way into the living room where Sofia was sat watching TV.

"Hey." Punk nodded to her as she looked up at him, "You wanna go skate?"


"I won't be sick of seeing these walls that's for damn sure." Theo shook his head, sitting in the waiting room with Cassie sitting beside reading a magazine.

"You don't know that this is our last appointment." Cassie said calmly.

"It's gotta be." Theo said, "Not that I haven't enjoyed jerking off into a cup." He said sarcastically as she smiled to herself.

"At least your part feels good. I get machinery shoved inside me." Cassie rolled her eyes, "I blame my mom for this."

"That's… a little odd." Theo nodded.

"No, she was the one who said we should… I should get checked out. But it's so normal for it to take a while to get pregnant." Cassie shrugged to him, "I don't know why we're even bothering to be honest."

"Cause it's been two years and nothing has happened." Theo nodded to her.

"Well maybe nothing is supposed to happen." Cassie said, "Maybe it's not the right time."

"If you were gonna get pregnant, you'd be pregnant by now." Theo said.

"So you're saying I'm the one who is broken?" Cassie put her magazine down.

"I'm not saying that." Theo shook his head, "We had Chase. I don't get it." He folded his arms.

"I was younger." Cassie shrugged.

"It was only six years ago." Theo raised a brow.

"I know." Cassie nodded, "What if he was like… a miracle baby and I didn't even know?" She turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Theo asked.

"Cassie." A woman walked out of one of the offices, Rena, a fertility doctor they had been seeing for several weeks for tests and consultations.

"Hey." Cassie forced a smile, a believable one she was so famous for forcing as Theo got up and followed her into the office.

"How are you both doing?" Rena asked, taking a seat behind the desk as they sat in front, "Straight from work?" She smiled, noticing Cassie in her suit with her detective badge clipped to the front.

"On our break, actually." Cassie nodded, turning to Theo who also had a suit on, and who also worked second in command under Jake now, running the whole precinct.

"Well I'll try not keep you both too long." Rena said, "I've got all the tests back. To put your minds both at ease, there's nothing to worry about." She started off, "Theo, everything looks fine for you. Nothing abnormal going on." She nodded.

"Alright." Theo nodded.

"So it's me?" Cassie asked as Rena looked across at her.

"Cassie have you ever had any problems with your monthly cycle?" Rena asked, "Irregular, painful periods? That kind of thing?" She asked.

"I'm always late by like… a couple weeks but I always put it down to stress or working out too much." Cassie shrugged, "And aren't everyone's periods painful?" She shook her head.

"Have you ever heard of endometriosis?" Rena asked as Cassie shook her head.

"Uh… no, that's a big word." Cassie raised her eyebrows.

"It's where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow on another organs in the body. Like the ovaries and fallopian tubes." Rena said.

"And that's what you found?" Cassie asked as Rena nodded.

"Makes it harder to get pregnant." Rena said as Theo turned to Cassie who wasn't saying anything.

"She uh… well we've had a baby already so, is this something that just happens?" Theo asked.

"It's possible you had it back then too. There's different stages." Rena nodded, "It's not impossible to have a baby with this condition it just… it makes it a little bit more difficult. A lot more difficult. There is the option of surgery to remove the tissue." She said.

"No, I… I don't want surgery." Cassie shook her head.

"Is it a big surgery?" Theo asked as Cassie turned to him.

"I don't want any surgery at all." Cassie made clear to him, turning back to Rena.

"Uh… to answer your question, it's not a big surgery." Rena shook her head, "And some have found that after surgery they've been able to conceive almost right away." She nodded.

"No, I don't want any kind of surgery. Not if I don't need it." Cassie shook her head as Rena nodded.

"That's entirely your decision." Rena nodded.

"So we can keep trying but… odds are nothing is going to happen?" Theo asked.

"I've seen many people who have come into this room and beaten the odds without surgery." Rena nodded with a reassuring smile, "It's up to you both where we take it from here. It's a lot to process, I know."

"Well I'm not doing the surgery thing so… how likely is it I get pregnant? Give me statistics or something?" Cassie shook her head, brushing her hands down her pants nervously, scratching her palms as Theo watched her.

"Well it's estimated around 70% of women with mild to moderate endometriosis can get pregnant without treatment." Rena nodded, "My only concern is that you've been trying for two years now."

"So you think I'm the other thirty percent?" Cassie asked.

"No, I can't say that." Rena said, "Some people do find when they stop trying so hard, it eventually happens." She said, "Because they finally relax a little. Coming in here for tests isn't exactly relaxing, am I right?" She asked them both as they gave her a smile.

"I think it's all something we have to go and discuss." Theo said as Rena nodded.

"Absolutely. Well you know to book in with me again if there's anything I can do. Or if you just have any questions." She said as they both nodded.


"Hey." Sean knocked as he walked into Jude's class which she taught in, in the academy in New York.

"Oh, hey." Jude said, piling up some pieces on her desk.

"How much am I betting that you have the most colourful class in this entire place?" He asked

"Well of course I do." Jude said, "What are you doing here? I have a class in half an hour." She looked over at the clock.

"I was here on work duties actually." He said, walking over to the desk.

"Did someone spill some paint?" Jude smiled, throwing her paintbrushes over to the sink in the corner.

"No, there was a body found on the third floor." Sean said as Jude turned around, "In the elevator."

"Seriously?" Jude asked him.

"Yeah." Sean said, "Female, suspected age around twenty-one." He nodded, sitting on the edge of one of the desks.

"How? How was she killed? That's awful." Jude said, steadying herself by placing her hand on her desk. She always saw her place of work as a peaceful place. Somewhere she felt safe.

"Stabbed three times. Bled out." Sean told her, "I'll get a name soon. Maybe you'll know who she is." He said as Jude sighed, sitting down behind her desk and looking over at him, "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"Well you don't normally come with good news. I expect it mostly." Jude nodded to him, silence filling the air for a little while before he stood up from the desk across.

"So I'll pick the girls up around four?" He asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Jude nodded, "They're excited to see you." She gave a smile as he nodded.

"I'm excited to see them." Sean said, "It's still early so I should get wrapped up with everything I need for this case pretty soon."

"It's your case now?" Jude asked, "Isn't that a… a conflict of interest?" She wondered.

"Because my soon to be ex-wife works here? No, I don't think so." Sean shook his head as Jude looked across at him, "If we need to interview you or ask you some things… I'll get someone else to do it."

"I think I can sit in a room with you longer than five minutes." Jude rolled her eyes.

"I don't know about that." Sean mumbled, "Ok, girls at four." He nodded to himself as he headed for the door.

"Sean." Jude said as he turned around, "Should I be worried about this?"

"No." Sean shook his head before leaving the class.


"Oh, hey you." AJ smiled, sitting behind her desk at work as Cassie came through the door.

"Hey." Cassie said tiredly as AJ studied her.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked immediately.

"What?" Cassie laughed, although it felt hard to do so. The entire day at work after their appointment she'd just wanted to go running to her mother.

"There's something wrong." AJ figured, "Is it your dad? Is it his back?"

"Dad's back is fine." Cassie rolled her eyes, "Well… I think." She shook her head, "I think Theo might leave me." She said casually, as though she was commenting on the miserable weather outside.

"What?" AJ shook her head. She already had one daughter whose marriage was about to end, her stomach sunk at the thought of another one.

"We had our appointment with the fertility doctor." Cassie said, sitting down in front of her mother's desk as AJ leaned her elbows on the table and clasped her hands in front of her mouth, "He's perfect. All of his… stuff… works just fine." She nodded jealously, "I got the issues."

"Well what's wrong?" AJ frowned.

"Something called endometriosis." Cassie said, wondering if she had said it right, "Tissue grows on different organs and it can make it difficult to get pregnant-"

"I've heard of it." AJ nodded, "But you had Chase."

"Well it's obviously gotten worse since then." Cassie shrugged, "And he was obviously… a miracle or something." She nodded.

"There's still a chance that you can have another baby, though. It doesn't mean complete infertility, right?" AJ asked.

"No, but it just… it may take a while... or it might not happen at all. I can get surgery but I don't want that." She sighed, "We haven't said a thing to each other all day."

"Well he is not going to leave you because of this. Don't be ridiculous." AJ scoffed.

"He wants another baby." Cassie said, "And I'm clearly not equipped for that."

"It could still happen." AJ nodded, "And he loves you. He wouldn't leave you over something like that."

"He didn't say a word to me in the car going back to work." Cassie shook her head.

"Maybe he just doesn't know what to say." AJ said, "He's not going to leave you-"

"Like you thought Sean wouldn't leave Jude?" Cassie looked across at her.

"It's not the same thing." AJ dismissed immediately, "You guys will talk it through. And regardless of you guys having another baby or not… you'll get through it."

"What if it breaks us?" Cassie asked worriedly, "What if we can't get past it? I mean… that's two years now we've been trying. If it hasn't happened now then… surely it's just never going to happen-"

"It doesn't work like that." AJ shook her head.

"Oh, what would you know? You'd get pregnant at the drop of a hat." Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Well you definitely won't get pregnant when you're as stressed as you are right now." AJ said, "There's a lot going on. Be kinder to yourself and… just have a conversation with Theo about it all."

"I don't like serious conversations." Cassie sighed.

"Well tough." AJ said, "If you can wear that big girl suit and pants, and be a fancy detective, you can do this." She nodded as Cassie nodded to herself.


"Hey, how come you're skyping me this late?" Thea asked, sitting in the kitchen with the laptop in front of her, skyping Jude who was also sat in her kitchen.

"I can't sleep." Jude told her, "I had a nap when I got home from work. My fault I guess."

"A nap? I haven't napped in twelve years." Thea shook her head.

"Well Sean has the girls tonight. He picked them up at four." Jude said as Thea nodded.

"Well don't send him my love." Thea said fiercely.

"Noted." Jude nodded, "There was a girl killed at the academy today. Found in an elevator stabbed three times." She told her sister.

"That's not ideal." Thea said, "I figured all art students are too boring to have anyone kill them."

"You're pretty awful sometimes, you know that?" Jude nodded.

"What?" Thea shrugged, "Guess what?"

"What?" Jude asked unenthusiastically. She'd gotten into the habit of skyping her older sister pretty much every night. Talking to her parents wasn't an option considering they just spewed their hatred for Sean. With Thea she could still have an actual conversation.

"I think my daughter hates me." Thea nodded.

"Which one?" Jude asked.

"Sofia." Thea said.

"No, she's just a middle child. Trust me, coming from a middle child, it can be annoying." Jude shook her head.

"No, I keep letting her down. I was supposed to take her skating today and I got called into work. So dad took her and of course she had the best time ever and now she only wants to go with him." Thea shook her head.

"Damn, what an awful grandparent he is." Jude said sarcastically.

"It's not about that. It's just… I feel bad that I'm not doing that stuff with her." Thea shrugged, "And Sam is just a sociopath. She took off her sock this morning and put it in her cereal."

"You named her Sam, what did you expect?" Jude shook her head, "How's my guy?" She asked, referring to her nephew.

"He's good. Kinda turning into my best friend and I don't hate it." She nodded.

"He's the coolest." Jude smiled.

"You know I was thinking about what it would have been like if we had a brother." Thea said.

"Please… Cassie is more like a brother than she is a sister. She bails on you for sports, she has no emotions-"

"Hey, she's going through some stuff right now." Thea warned a little.

"I know." Jude sighed, "How'd she got on at the doctors?"

"I've not heard." Thea said, "So it's just you in the house tonight?"

"Me and Rex." Jude nodded, referring to the bearded dragon they had. Or more so, she had now.

"Is he still at the apartment?" Thea asked.

"You can say his name." Jude rolled her eyes, disappearing out of the frame to get a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"I know I can but I don't want to." Thea said, watching her sister appear back onto the screen, "Don't be pounding too many of them." She warned.

"My husband cheated on me. I'll pound whatever I like." Jude assured her, "He's still at the apartment."

"That's been what? Six months? Is he waiting for you to take him back?" Thea laughed at the thought.

"I don't know." Jude shrugged.

"Have you guys actually had a conversation about it?" Thea asked.

"If Dominic cheated on you would you be able to have a normal conversation with him?" Jude questioned.

"Dominic knows better." Thea folded her arms.

"That's not helping." Jude sighed, "I literally feel like one of those depressed single moms." She admitted.

"Well you're not. This is his mess." Thea shook her head, "He's lucky he's in New York."

"Yeah well that's what I thought until dad showed up and almost killed him." Jude rolled her eyes, "You need to… keep a better eye on him."

"I'm not his mother." Thea scoffed.

"You know what the really horrible, annoying thing is?" Jude asked her sister.

"What?" Thea asked.

"I still love him." Jude shook her head, "I mean… how is that even possible? How can he cheat on me and I still… love him?" She questioned, "I should hate his guts. I should wanna murder him. I need to feel how dad feels right now. I need that." Jude nodded.

"Well you're never gonna get rid of him. He is the father of your children." Thea said, "So you guys haven't properly had a conversation about it?"

"We have but they all end in me screaming and crying." Jude nodded, "I'm just not emotionally built for situations like this. You are. Cassie is." She said, "I'm the weak one that can't handle shit like this."

"No you're not. Are you kidding?" Thea scoffed, "You can handle this. I don't know every detail. It's your marriage. You gotta figure out yourself if you can work past this-"

"I don't think so." Jude shook her head. Where her head was at right now, she wasn't sure her relationship with her husband would ever be the same, "And I'm not staying with him just for the girls. I'm not doing that to them."

"But you still love him?" Thea asked as Jude nodded.

"Nothing will ever be the same again, though. If I took him back… mom and dad would never treat him the same. I probably wouldn't treat him the same." Jude sighed, "I wanna hate him so bad." She ran her hands over her face.

"Maybe you'll hate him eventually." Thea shrugged, "I mean… maybe you're still just in shock."

"No." Jude shook her head, "He's been here for me for… a long time." She nodded, "He's saw me the way… no one else will ever see me. How am I supposed to just wake up one day and move on from that?"

"I don't know." Thea frowned a little. She didn't envy her sisters situation right now. Not one bit.


"I am the world's greatest papa." Punk smiled, walking into the living room where his wife was sat reading her book.

"Well I know that." AJ nodded.

"No really. I am." Punk said, "Sofia said it herself."

"I heard you took her skating. I figured you'd come home either sliced up or bruised up." AJ said, "At your age you need to be careful-"

"Yeah ok." Punk scoffed, "I'm not in my grave yet." He sat down beside her and nudged her as she smiled.

"Did Sam do any skating?" AJ smiled.

"No, she just sort of stood there and watched." Punk said.

"How come James wasn't there?" AJ asked him.

"He was at soccer practise." Punk nodded, "Which Aunt Cassie was supposed to be coaching and bailed for the second time in a row-"

"Aunt Cassie has some stuff going on." AJ said in a warning tone.

"They had that appointment with the doctor today, didn't they?" Punk remembered as AJ nodded, "Good or bad news?"

"She's got a condition that just makes it hard to get pregnant." AJ nodded, "She can have surgery to give her more of a chance but she doesn't want it. And… now she thinks Theo is going to leave her because of it-"

"That's ridiculous." Punk shook his head.

"That's what I said." AJ said.

"A chance is still a chance, right? It doesn't mean it really will never happen." Punk said.

"I think she feels like it won't." AJ said, "They clearly want another one. It's gotta be rough." She sighed, siting her book over on the coffee table.

"They'll talk it through." Punk nodded with confidence.

"Didn't hear from Jude today. I get the feeling she's avoiding us." AJ nodded, "And I get the feeling it's your fault."

"How is it my fault?" Punk turned to her.

"You almost murdered her husband." AJ rolled her eyes.

"That's not her husband." Punk mumbled angrily.

"Phil, this isn't our business." AJ reminded him.

"That's our daughter. Their marriage wasn't our business until he… did what he did." He said.

"It's still Mirren and Leela's father." AJ said as Punk grunted unhappily, "He's never gonna disappear so you need to… get used to him still being around. Whether a divorce happens or not. He's still going to be there."

"Yeah don't remind me." Punk shook his head, "There was always something about him." He nodded to himself.

"No there wasn't." AJ rolled her eyes, "He's a good person-"

"No." Punk said, sticking his fingers in his ears, "Don't even try it with me, April Jeanette." He made clear, turning away from her.

"Would you stop that!" AJ pulled his hands from his ears as he tutted, "He was there for Jude through things most guys probably wouldn't be able to handle. Now I don't know what's happened in the last year between them. But I do know Jude loves him and… this is gotta be the hardest thing for her. I mean he… he did tell her right away-"

"Oh… what a gentleman." Punk said sarcastically, "I'm so glad he has manners."

"Phil." AJ said.

"No, I warned all three of them before they all got married. I said if any of them hurt any of the girls then that was it. No second chances." Punk said.

"It's up to Jude to forgive him if she wants to. Not you." AJ rolled her eyes.

"Well he won't be back in this house ever again." Punk warned.

"I think I'm gonna go visit her." AJ said, "On my own." She made clear.

"Cause I'm so unhelpful?" Punk scoffed.

"Well… yeah." AJ shrugged, "She's on her own out there. I just want to be there for her and spend some time with her."

"Do you think they'll get divorced?" Punk asked her for a truthful answer, "It's been what? Six months now since it happened."

"I don't know. As far as I know they aren't really talking much about anything, never mind a divorce." AJ said, "He's still living in a rented apartment."

"Good. He can stay there." Punk said childishly as AJ just nodded along, used to his behaviour at this point.

"You wouldn't mind if I went to New York for a few days, would you?" AJ asked him.

"No, of course not." Punk shook his head, "Just… give her my love, I guess." He nodded.

"Maybe you could speak with the little one-"

"About her fertility problems?" Punk raised a brow.

"No, not in detail." AJ rolled her eyes, "Just check on her and make sure she's alright. You know how she avoids things."

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "I can check in on her."

"Ok." AJ said, "I'll look at flights before we go to bed. I'm thinking maybe she just needs her mom around."

"Yeah ok, I get it, I'm unhelpful." Punk folded his arms.

"No, I'm just… I'm a little more diplomatic." She patted his leg as he tutted, although he knew it was very true.

"Maybe." He nodded along, "Well I'll miss you." He frowned a little.

"It'll only be a few days." She said, "I'll call you."

"To say what?" He smirked as AJ rolled her eyes.

"To make sure your back hasn't gave out on you." She patted his leg, picking her book back up again as he chuckled, taking the book from her and leaning in to kiss her as she smiled against the kiss and pulled him close.