Celebration
"I'm so proud of you, you know." Punk nodded, sitting next to Jude in the restaurant they had gathered at to surprise Jude and celebrate her new job.
"I know." Jude nodded, taking a sip of her champagne.
"I'm still not sure you realise what a talent you have." Punk said.
"Dad." Jude scoffed modestly, "You have to say all these nice things to me."
"Hey, I'm serious." Punk shook his head, "Even when you were a kid. And we got you that blackboard. You'd have a different drawing on it every morning. And they were always amazing." He said.
"I loved that blackboard." Jude smiled, "You and mom were always encouraging me and hyping my drawings up. That was always helpful." She nodded.
"Well it's pretty much in our job description to be your biggest fan, right?" He smiled.
"I guess it is." Jude nodded, "But you guys always went the extra mile to help me believe in myself. That stuff goes a long way. And I'm gonna try and be like that for Mirren and Leela. With whatever it is they want to do or whatever their interests might be." She said as Punk smiled.
"What are we gossiping about?" Thea joined them, sitting down next to Punk who was now in the middle of them both, "Mom's purple hair?" She wondered, looking over at AJ who was sat talking to Dominic. They had hired out a section of the restaurant for some drinks and finger food platters, and had the space to spread themselves out, which was well received as such a big family.
"How does she still look good?" Jude shook her head, "It's mind boggling."
"She's really aged like fine wine." Thea said as Jude nodded in agreement.
"And I haven't?" Punk interrupted as they both turned to him.
"Well… you have a missing tooth." Thea shrugged, "And grey hair. Grey beard."
"Well, I'm sixty. What do you expect?" Punk shook his head.
"You look fine." Jude assured him, "For a man who spent almost a decade in prison, you look wonderful, actually."
"That is true." Thea agreed, "You could look worse." She looked him up and down.
"Well thank you very much." Punk rolled his eyes.
"How's the decorating coming along?" Thea asked him.
"We got three strips up." Punk nodded.
"You took a whole week to put three strips up?" Thea asked as Jude turned to him with horror.
"What?" Jude shook her head.
"Excuse me but your mother said I can take as long as I need. So me and Dean have had several coffee breaks." Punk shrugged.
"Take all the time you need cause that wallpaper is damn ugly." Thea nodded.
"I like it." Jude looked over at Thea.
"It's too bright. It does not fit the home owners." Thea made clear as Jude rolled her eyes.
"I actually agree." Punk nodded, "But… what your mom wants, your mom gets." He shrugged.
"How do you feel about the purple hair?" Jude asked him.
"I like it." Punk shrugged, "I mean… when I first saw it was I was like… oh my God what the hell have you done." He nodded, "But I'm starting to enjoy it. And she's extremely happy with her decision to do it so… that's even better." He said.
"Oh, you sweet little man." Jude smiled.
"Have you guys heard from Cassie?" Punk asked them.
"Not since we Facetimed her earlier in the week." Thea told him, "Pretty rough what's going on with Theo's dad, huh?"
"Yeah, it's sucks." Punk nodded, "Especially given the tough relationship they have. It must be a difficult one to… approach, I guess."
"Should we send something or do something?" Jude wondered.
"I don't know. I don't know if they're gonna stay there until… you know." Punk said.
"He dies?" Thea questioned as Punk nodded, "It could be a few months or more, though. They can't stay out there all that time."
"Why can't they?" Jude said, "If that's what Theo wants to do then Cassie will back him. I don't doubt that."
"I don't either but what if he doesn't kick the can until several months?" Thea asked as Punk rolled his eyes.
"You could try and be a bit more subtle every now and then. I promise it won't hurt." Punk nodded.
"Chase does have school to go to. And they got jobs." Jude figured.
"I'm sure they'll come to a plan that works for them." Punk said, "Alright, I'm going in for more chicken nuggets." He stood up.
"I think the restaurant are calling them strips of breaded, succulent chicken." Jude nodded.
"They're chicken nuggets." Punk assured her, walking away over to the food table as they both chuckled.
"Theodore Sanchez? Is that you?"
Theo turned around in his seat at Don's bar, looking at the elderly women standing behind him, using her walking stick to keep balance as she waddled her way closer to get a better look at him.
He immediately recognised who it was. She looked just as old as she did when he was younger.
"Ms Torres." Theo smiled, standing up. He was pretty shocked she was even still alive.
"It is you." Elma Torres looked him up and down, "Just as handsome as I remember." She took his hand and squeezed it with a warm smile.
"And you're just as lovely as I remember." Theo smiled, "Do you want to take a seat-"
"No, I won't get back up." Elma shook her head seriously, "My my, I haven't seen you here in so long. How are you?"
"I'm doing alright." Theo nodded, "You recognised me just by looking at my back?" He asked curiously.
"Yes, and well… at the town hall meeting tonight, there was talks of you being here in Mexicali again and I just… I couldn't believe it." She admitted.
"Those town hall meetings still exist?" Theo scoffed, "And I was a subject matter?" He placed his hand on his chest with a sarcastic awe.
"Every Saturday. Six O'clock, sharp." Elma nudged him with her walking stick, "Well I'm sorry about your poor father, Theo. It really is a shame. Such a good man. A man of our community. Always helping when he can. You know he donated to my charity shop last year. Four figures." Elma said.
"You still work?" Theo questioned.
"It's my daughter's shop but… I like to pretend I help out, you see." Elma waved her hand.
"What about the library?" He asked.
"Oh, I retired years ago from there. And then it shut down not long after." She said, turning to her left and noticing Cassie stopping at the table, parking Lena's stroller beside, "And who is this girl? With the most beautiful hair I've ever seen?" Elma looked Cassie up and down with a smile.
"Ms Torres, this is my wife, Cassie." Theo said as Cassie smiled politely.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Cassie nodded.
"Ms Torres worked in the library here, when we were growing up." Theo told Cassie who nodded along.
"Let me see the baby." Elma insisted, making her way to the stroller and looking in at Lena who was pulling her feet and making sweet baby noises, very happy after her diaper had been changed.
"That's Lena." Cassie smiled.
"Oh, well isn't she a sweet little thing." Elma said.
"And we have a son. Chase." Theo said, "He's made a friend. By friend I mean Don." Theo pointed over to Chase who was helping Don unload the dishwasher behind the bar.
"Beautiful family." Elma mumbled to herself, nodding happily.
"Can we get you a drink?" Cassie wondered.
"No. I just came to do my rounds for the evening. And I wanted to see this handsome face. It's been so long." Elma smiled, patting Theo's arm, "How's Matteo? And your mother? Jill was never meant for this town. She needed something bigger." Elma said in a gossipy tone, nodding to herself.
"Matteo and mom are good." Theo kept it brief.
"Well good. Matteo still a trouble maker?" Elma scoffed.
"No, he's all good. Got a house, good job, nice girlfriend." Theo said, "He's doing good."
"Good." Elma nodded firmly, "Well I won't keep you from your night. Theo, you should come to next week's meeting. You know… we've been trying so hard to keep them from building houses on the old football pitch. The one you and your friends played on all the time. But the housing association won't budge. It's really hurting so many people." She sighed to herself whilst Cassie sat down, entertained by the frail old gossiper to say the least.
"I… I might come, sure." Theo humoured her.
"Alright, my love. Take care." Elma said, nodding to Cassie as she shuffled on by, talking to another table a few feet away.
"You have so many fans here." Cassie teased as Theo sat down across from her, "What meeting is she talking about?"
"There's a town hall meeting every Saturday night here. I can't believe they still do it. It's just the locals getting together to bitch and complain about stuff in the town." Theo shook his head.
"Oh, we have to go." Cassie said, "This small town shit is amazing." She shook her head.
"I wouldn't say it's amazing." Theo scoffed.
"How does she know you so well anyway?" Cassie asked him.
"Well she worked in the library and we'd hang out there a lot. Mostly get into trouble for being too loud. But she'd always bring in homemade bread she used to bake. She'd give us a slice." Theo said, "Matthew stole a whole loaf from her one time."
"Ahh… the bold Matteo." Cassie nodded, "Something is telling me he has less fans around here than you?"
"He was just a little wise ass." Theo shrugged, "We all were but he… well he took it too far sometimes. And I'd be guilty by brother association." He shook his head.
"Sounds like people really miss you. It's nice to see how kindly people think of you." Cassie told him truthfully as he just nodded along.
"You don't get the impression that some are being a little fake? I know what all these busy bodies thought of me when word got out that I was a cop." He shook his head.
"It doesn't seem fake to me, Theo. A lot of these people seem to really appreciate you." Cassie nodded, "I think it's a really sweet place, actually. It's homely."
"And we stick out like two sore thumbs." Theo assured her, "I think we should go home when we were scheduled to." He told her truthfully.
"You sure?" Cassie asked.
"We can't stay here until…" He didn't bother stating the obvious, "It could be months. And I don't know how I feel about being here and watching him… dying." He shook his head.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do." Cassie assured him as he smiled.
"I know." He nodded, "I think we should go. I can call him every week. And make visits by myself if I have to. When things get… when it starts going really bad… I'll come out here and stay-"
"I'll come with you." Cassie made clear as he nodded.
"I just hope he doesn't get mad about it. About us leaving." Theo said.
"Well as unreasonable as he can be, he's actually been pretty ok this past week. And I don't think he wants much of an audience for whatever time he has left. Going by what he's been saying. I think he wants to just… carry on as normal." Cassie said as Theo nodded.
"Yeah." Theo said, watching as Chase ran out from behind the bar towards their table, holding a bag of chips, wearing a 'can I please have these' face.
"Mommy, can I have these chips? Don gave me them." Chase stood beside Cassie.
"Only if I can have one." Cassie smiled.
"One." Chase agreed cautiously, opening the bag and taking one chip out, handing it over to her.
"My generous baby." Cassie smiled sarcastically.
"Is this you on your work break?" Theo chuckled as Chase nodded.
"Yeah, I have to be quick." Chase said seriously as Cassie and Theo exchanged smiles.
"We could use that kind of spirit in the station." Theo scoffed, messing with Chase's hair as Chase shoved him away to which Theo shoved him back playfully, both of them messing around until Chase jumped on Theo, toppling them back over onto the cushioned sofa booth.
"Alright alright, I give up." Theo chuckled, "I give up." He smiled as Chase giggled.
"She's just so cool." Thea nodded, sitting on the back step in the yard having a cigarette whilst Dominic stood in front, pacing whilst he had his.
"She is." Dominic agreed.
"Illustrator of an actual children's book." Thea shook her head with amazement, "I just can't wait to see what she comes up with."
"She's talented that's for sure." Dominic nodded, "I remember when I'd come to pick you up for a date, she'd show me all her new drawings whilst you were getting ready."
"Yeah I forget that you've known them for-"
"As long as I've known you?" He chuckled a little.
"You know what I mean. I guess cause they were younger it was kinda different." Thea shrugged, "They're both amazing. Very proud big sister right now."
"They're ok." Dominic teased as she smiled, "You imagine if you had two little brothers instead?"
"I can't imagine that." Thea shook her head, "Growing up, our house was just… it was always a girls house. Occasionally featuring my dad." She nodded, "Even then, he was basically one of the girls most of the time anyway. He kinda had to be." She chuckled a little.
"God knows the man has patience that's for sure." Dominic nodded, putting his cigarette out.
"Yeah, just you wait. Sofia and Sam are gonna send you over the edge." Thea assured him as he chuckled.
"I'm very prepared." Dominic assured her, sitting down beside her on the step.
"How you been feeling?" She nudged her knee against his.
"You mean am I still a flight risk?" He turned to her as she gave him a serious look, "I'm fine, Thea."
"You weren't fine." Thea said, "And that's ok. This marriage works both ways. It's not just… you taking care of me. I'm here to give back."
"You're a giver, alright." Dominic nodded as she scoffed.
"Can you be serious with me for one second?" She smiled a little as he shook his head, smiling as he looked into her eyes.
"I'm ok." He said quietly, "Seriously."
"She's ok." Thea added, "There's gonna be bumps in the road and so many challenges, ones we probably haven't even thought about yet but… she's got us. She's got her family and that's… that's always been our biggest asset. The fact we always have each other's back." She said.
"Yeah, I know. I think it really did just all catch up with me. Not even the fact that she's lost her sight but… we almost lost her completely." He shook his head, running his hand through his hair.
"Yeah, but we didn't." Thea kissed his shoulder as he nodded.
"We gotta quit smoking, babe." He said as Thea groaned, leaning her head against his arm.
"I don't wanna." Thea sighed dramatically as he chuckled, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head, listening to the sound of light tapping getting closer to them as they both turned around, watching Chance strolling into the kitchen to get a drink from his water bowl.
"I only had two glasses of champagne and they both went straight to my head." Jude shook her head, sitting on the edge of the bed whilst Sean crouched down and took her heels off, which she had been struggling to do before giving in to his help, "Is it possible that I'm becoming a lightweight in my older age?" She wondered.
"You've always been a lightweight, Jude." Sean scoffed.
"Hey." She laughed a little as he smiled up at her, "Thank you for tonight. I know you had something to do with it."
"Thea helped." Sean said modestly, taking her other heel off and sitting the pair over by the closet.
"I think my excitement might be disguising the fact that I'm absolutely terrified." She admitted to him as he unbuttoned his shirt.
"Why?" He questioned as she stood up, looking over at him with the bed in between them.
"What if I mess it up? What if she doesn't like what I produce? What if… it's not good enough?" She shrugged as he looked at her.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked as she nodded, "When you were a little girl, and you drew pictures, painted, chalked up that blackboard you got for your birthday…" He said as she smiled, appreciating the fact he remembered such little details about her life that she'd told him.
"Yeah?" She waited.
"Were you ever worried about not being good enough? Or did you just… love to draw? And create?" He asked her as she thought about it.
"I'm not a kid anymore, Sean." She reminded him with a small smile.
"No, but just like when you were a kid, you love to draw. You love what you do. And it shows." He said, walking around the bed towards her, "There's a reason this publisher wants you to work with her. It's cause you're talented. And you deserve every bit of the opportunity. And I can't wait to have this book that you designed, sitting in our daughter's bedrooms. I'm gonna annoy the hell out of them with it, reading it every single night. Cause I think it's super important they know how amazing and talented their mother is." He said as she smiled to herself, folding her arms and looking down, hoping he wouldn't notice her glistening eyes.
"Thank you." She eventually looked up at him with a smile, wrapping her arms around him as he held her tightly, kissing her on top of her head.
"So, you have to take me to one of these town hall meetings before we go. I insist." Cassie said, making her way out to the balcony of their apartment after they'd arrived home and got the kids to bed.
"You won't know what they're even talking about. It's just a bunch of small-town bitching and gossiping." Theo shook his head.
"That's exactly why I want to go." She chuckled, sitting across from him behind the table, "You know, if I wasn't so dedicated to my job and the city life, I could really live here." She admitted.
"Yeah?" He smiled a little.
"Sure." Cassie said, "Everyone is super friendly."
"That's because you're with me." He teased, "They'd pounce on you if you came here alone. A stranger in a foreign land. They'd chase you out with pitch forks." He nodded as she raised a brow.
"Why do all the grandmothers love you here?" She asked suspiciously as he chuckled into his bottle of beer, "You're a nice guy, sure, but you're not that nice." She said.
"All the grandmothers in Chicago love me too. I see the way your mom looks at me." He teased cockily as Cassie chuckled.
"You really think so?" She asked as he nodded confidently, "Seriously… if you were never really here, how come these people treat you like you've never even left?" She wondered.
"I spent a lot of Summers here. Summers that I didn't really spend with my dad. I'd be outside all day and night, which meant everyone kinda got to know me and the friends I hung around with. It's like we became everyone's sons. And I guess cause it is such a small town here, it's like one big family." He said, "It's disgusting really." He nodded, taking another drink from his beer.
"Well I like it." She said seriously as he smiled, "And Chase really likes it."
"Ah yes, our future barman." Theo nodded.
"We should keep coming back." Cassie said, "I like seeing this side of your life." She told him.
"I like you seeing it." He told her honestly as she smiled, standing up and making her way over to him, planking herself down on his lap.
"We've made great use of this balcony, don't you think?" She mumbled against his lips as he smiled, sitting his beer on the table to free his hand, allowing him to roam his hands up her back.
"Mhm." He mumbled back, deepening the kiss and burying his hand in her hair, "Here I was thinking we'd have to keep our hands to ourselves because of the kids in the same room."
"Thank God for the balcony." She smiled, lifting his t-shirt off his body whilst his hand went up her sundress, pushing her panties to the side and parting her folds with his fingers.
"Thank God for a sundress." He said, kissing her neck as she smiled, rolling her head back as he kissed her throat back up to her lips, undoing more of themselves until they fit together the way they had every night so far.
