Just Us Girls Part 3


"You never properly told me what happened between you and Mark. Why was he even there?" Cassie asked, sitting on the sofa later that night with Theo who had his arm around the couch behind her.

"He was just trying to get under my skin." Theo shook his head.

"Really? He's been playing the nice guy act with everyone else." Cassie scoffed.

"Yeah well he knows I can see through him." Theo said, "He really thinks he's getting this job." He nodded nervously.

"Well he's stupid then. Because you are." Cassie said.

"You don't know that." Theo reminded her.

"What did he say specifically?" Cassie asked suspiciously, "I know you. You're not a violent person unless someone really pisses you off." She said as Theo just shook his head.

"I told you. Just that he's gonna get the job and that I'll have to call him boss." Theo nodded briefly as Cassie looked at him, sussing him out.

"What did he say about me?" Cassie asked, figuring that was really the result of the fist fight, "Don't make me sound egotistical. You don't lose your cool easily unless it concerns me or Chase." She said, "So what did he say?"

"He's just playing mind games when no one is watching. Like you said, plays the nice guy around everyone but he's still the same guy that sent your sister those photographs." Theo said, "He said if… if I'd stayed in Puerto Rico then he'd be the one… screwing you every night." He nodded.

"Charming." Cassie said, "In his dreams." She shook her head.

"And then he said that we're only together because of…" He paused, too angry to say it as he looked over at the TV.

"Because of what?" Cassie sat up a little.

"The bastard kid we had together." Theo said.

"Oh, he is seriously asking for it." Cassie said angrily, standing up, "He said that to you? To your face?" She asked as Theo nodded.

"That was when I punched him." Theo added.

"I'm gonna kill him if I see him." Cassie paced the living room, "Seriously? Who does he think he is? The fact we even have to accept him stepping foot into our station is ridiculous. He should still be in prison." She nodded, "He cannot get this job." She said with concern, clasping her hands over her mouth and looking at him.

"Nobody is guaranteed it." Theo said, "But if it's survival of the fittest, I'm not surviving." He shook his head, massaging his side as Cassie sat down beside him and sighed.

"You're doing too much." Cassie sighed, "Stress isn't going to help either."

"Well I can't help that." Theo said, "I'm sorry. For today." He looked at her, staring into her eyes, "I knew how nervous you were for it and I'm sorry that she was there and saw what she saw." He shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. He deserved it." Cassie nodded, cupping his cheek, "And she was actually really sweet about it. She didn't seem phased." She laughed a little.

"Yeah." Theo laughed a little, "But still… I am taking this seriously. Way more seriously than you think. Us getting this baby." He said.

"I know you are." Cassie assured him, "We're pretty much screwed anyway as soon as they run a background check on me and my family." She shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know how legit that is." Theo said, "Maybe they just need names. It's us that's raising the kid. It's us they're gonna pay the most attention to." He nodded as she smiled.

"I just keep thinking… In like a few months, or even if it's a year… we could have a baby." She shook her head, amazed by the thought.

"Wild, right?" Theo nodded.

"Do you ever get nervous about it? About the conversations we'll have to have with them when they get older?" She asked him, "Cause we will have to have them."

"I've thought about it here and there." Theo nodded, "But… I think this baby is gonna come into our lives and we're… we're gonna forget the fact he or she's adopted. Seriously." He nodded to Cassie.

"Yeah, I think so too." Cassie smiled.


"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Punk smiled, watching his wife appear at the docks where he was finishing his shift for the night.

"I brought you a romantic meal." She smiled, holding up the take-out bag from one of their favourite spots, "And I threw some candles in my purse before I left the house."

"Well aren't you full of surprises." Punk smiled, "I'm just finishing up so pick a boat and I'll get to you in a second." He nodded.

"Alright." AJ smiled.

"You need a hand getting on-"

"No!" AJ called, walking off down the boardwalk as Punk nodded to himself, knowing that would be the answer of course.

He cleared up the docks, officially finishing his shift before making his way down the boardwalk to the boat AJ had gotten onto, making his way on and heading to the end where she was sat at the outside table.

"I think we spend way too much time down here for the amount of ugly memories we have to remind us." He admitted.

"Exposure therapy." AJ winked as he nodded, sitting down beside her, kissing her sweetly a proper hello.

"I could have brought dinner home, you know." He said.

"I know but I thought we could have it down here." She shrugged, digging into her purse and pulling out the candles she'd brought.

"Oh, you were serious." Punk realised as she nodded, sitting them on the table and lighting them.

"Cassie text me earlier. She said the visit with the adoption agency went ok, and that she would fill us in when she saw us." AJ said, "Whatever that means. With Cassie that could be it went amazing or it went terrible. Who knows." She shrugged.

"There is no reason for them not to get the green light." Punk said confidently as AJ nodded in agreement.

"So…" She smiled, turning her body in to face him, leaning her elbow on the edge of the boat, "How are the letters doing?" She asked. It was strange for her, knowing he was reading the letters she'd practically wrote to herself over the eight years he was in prison. She knew there was definitely things in them that would upset and hurt him, but she figured their relationship was so solid at this point, there was nothing that could wound them anymore. That was the beauty of growing old with one another.

"If you didn't direct a fashion magazine company, you could have been a writer." Punk nodded.

"Well I did start off as a writer." AJ smiled, "I practically wrote about you and Thea in all my college assignments."

"That's right." Punk remembered, "And then the corporate world sucked you in."

"And I get paid handsomely for it." AJ nodded.

"I won't lie to you, I have to put some of them down and take a break." He said, "I guess you've told me little bits here and there over the years, things that happened when I was gone, but there was never… detail, I guess." He said, "It's hard to read." He nodded.

"You don't have to read them." She assured them, "I mean I wasn't ever gonna give you them. I did it like a journal. Just so I could get my feelings out." She said.

"It gives me a better idea of what you all went through, though. And I think that's important. Even after all this time." He said as AJ nodded, "Thea breaks my heart." He shook his head as AJ nodded, "And Jude." He said, "All three of them do." He shook his head.

"They always had each other." AJ nodded, "At least we gave them that." She said.

"I couldn't have picked a better mom for my kids, you know." He nodded as she smiled, "I'm serious." He said, "You got them through everything. I mean… how you handled everything with Thea. The way you never took Jude away from me when she wanted to visit. Having Cassie on your own." He nodded, "I doubt I could have done all of that by myself. In fact, I know I couldn't have."

"You don't know what you're capable of until you're facing it." AJ nodded, "You would have done what you had to do. And you would have just screamed into your pillow every night. The key to getting by." She said.

"It still eats at me that I missed so much time with you all. I think it will always eat at me." He figured.

"Look at the bigger picture." AJ said, "You've had way more time with us outside of prison now than anytime you missed."

"I don't know if I ever apologised to you." He admitted truthfully, confused as he thought about it, "For what I said to you. That last time you came to visit me." He said.

"You've apologised." She nodded, looking across at him, "And I've very much forgave you." She smiled.

"I like reading the happy letters. I just finished reading a few from when you took them away. When Thea was in recovery." He said as AJ smiled, remembering, "You and your girls." He smiled.

"Me and my girls." AJ nodded.


"How did it go?" AJ asked, sitting in the car behind the wheel whilst Thea sat in the passenger's side, having just got in after AJ picked her up from her rehab appointment.

"One year clean." Nineteen year old Thea said, not being able to help the smile, showing her mother the stamp on her booklet, a stamp that meant so much, that symbolised the hardest year of her life.

"Of course you are." AJ smiled proudly, leaning over and hugging her tightly as Thea smiled.

"Go Thea!" Six year old Cassie cheered, sitting in the back with Jude.

"Well done." Jude smiled as Thea reached her hand into the back of the car, feeling both of theirs pile on top of hers.

"Does this mean we can get ice-cream?" Cassie asked, focusing on the important things.

"You guys decide where we eat." AJ nodded.

"I don't mind." Thea shook her head. She had to admit, it did feel good to reach that one year mark. It had been a difficult, challenging year full of ups and downs. But she had kept it together and made it through, finally starting to feel like a human being again. She'd become a daughter and a sister again, when so long she'd hidden from everyone.

"I'm so proud of you." AJ said with tears in her eyes as Thea just smiled, looking ahead out the car windscreen. The change in her daughter was profound. She had energy, smiles for those she loved, enjoyment for the things she loved. She had a life again.

"Thanks." Thea smiled to her as AJ stroked her hair lovingly.

"I'm hungry." Cassie made it known, "I was told I might get ice-cream." She reminded her mother.

"I know you were told that." AJ scoffed, "But you have to eat some dinner first."

"I thought ice-cream was the dinner." Cassie shook her head with confusion.

"No-"

"I thought that too." Thea smiled at her mother cockily as AJ scoffed.

"Is this a three against one situation?" AJ figured, "Jude?"

"Well obviously I want ice-cream for dinner." Jude nodded as Thea chuckled.

"Well alright." AJ nodded, "Ice-cream for dinner it is." She said as Cassie cheered.

"Why don't we just go to the parlour a few blocks down?" Thea suggested, "They do good ice-cream there. I was there a few weeks ago with Jackson."

"Ok, let's do it." AJ nodded, getting out of the car whilst the girls got out too.

"What do I want? What flavour?" Cassie asked herself, jumping out of the car and kicking the door shut with her foot.

"Stop doing that, mom will kill you." Thea scoffed, "Just shut it with your hand."

"I'll shut you with my hand." Cassie raised her hand as Thea chuckled.

"You're a terror." Thea nodded whilst Jude joined them.

"Jude what are you getting? What ice-cream?" Cassie asked Jude.

"Mint, like I always do." Jude said, "And you'll get a banana split like you always do." She nudged Cassie who nudged her back.

"Maybe I won't." She folded her arms, walking along the street between Thea and Jude, "Does anyone want to race to that car up there?"

"Not really." Thea shook her head.

"Fine. But I'll beat you." Jude nodded.

"I'd beat both of you." Thea shook her head.

"I do the soccer." Cassie shook her head, "I'd win."

"On your marks." Jude smirked down at Cassie, "Get set."

"Go!" Thea said quickly, running ahead as Jude and Cassie ran too.

"But my legs are smaller!" Cassie yelled as she ran after her sisters.

AJ walked behind, smiling as she watched them running down the street, Thea nudging Jude out of the way whilst Cassie tried to keep up as best as she could, never giving up.

"I win!" Thea exclaimed, reaching the car they'd mapped out, "I win." She chuckled, shoving Jude teasingly who laughed, "I win, Cassie!" She tormented her littlest sister who eventually reached them.

"You cheated." Cassie said unhappily as Thea chuckled, wrapping her arm around Cassie, squishing her into a hug as they walked down the street.


"You want another one?" Cassie looked across at Jude, sitting at the hotel bar which Jude was staying at.

"I probably shouldn't." Jude shook her head, resting the temple of her head on her hand.

"You want another water?" Cassie asked Thea, sitting across from both of them.

"I'm good." Thea nodded, "You heard anything from New York?" She turned to Jude beside her.

"No. Sean just checked in earlier to see how the girls were and to speak to them." Jude nodded, looking over at Mirren and Leela asleep on the couches beside them.

"How come you're not staying with mom and dad?" Cassie asked.

"They've done enough babysitting for me. I figured I'd get out of their hair." Jude shook her head, "I've been looking at houses."

"You sound thrilled about that." Cassie nodded.

"It's a nice house." Jude admitted, "About ten minutes away from mom and dad. The girls would go to the same school as their cousins." She nodded, "I could work at the institute again." She shrugged.

"And when the girls ask you to take them to the park across from the house with the black door?" Thea asked as Jude turned to her.

"I take them to the park." Jude nodded.

"And the husband?" Cassie asked, "Or ex-husband? Soon to be ex-husband? Ex-husband who I still fuck? Which one is it?" She asked.

"Well he said he'd move here if I was. He wouldn't want to be in a different state from the girls." Jude said, "But I'm gonna be that woman." She admitted, shrugging, "I'm gonna be that woman who takes her husband back who cheated." She nodded, "And not because of her children, or because she doesn't want to be alone." She shook her head.

"But because she loves him and wants to give him a chance?" Cassie nodded, "It's ok to be that woman." She said.

"It is." Thea nodded to Jude.

"That's where I'm at." Jude told them.

"Sounds about the most sure of something you've been in months." Cassie nodded, "Just do what you think will make you happy." She said as Jude nodded.

"And you? Are you getting a baby?" Jude asked her.

"I hope so." Cassie sighed, "If my husband behaves himself and stops beating up people in front of the adoption agency people then yeah, hopefully."

"I'd beat that little bastard up too." Thea nodded.

"Oh, well now I know what he said to Theo, I'm glad he beat him up." Cassie nodded, "He puts on this good guy act with everyone, smiling, telling everyone he's changed… I can see straight through him." She nodded, "And he thinks he's gonna be my boss?" She chuckled to herself.

"What if he does become your boss?" Jude asked, "Then what?"

"I'll ask for a transfer." Cassie said, "I am not working for him." She made clear, "Theo deserves that job. It's what Jake would have wanted." She shook her head.

"His funeral is tomorrow, right?" Thea asked as Cassie nodded, "I'll come on my break."

"Yeah, I'll come along." Jude nodded.

"Thank you." Cassie said.

"What about you?" Jude turned to Thea who looked at her, "What's your dilemma?" She chuckled a little, taking a sip of her drink.

"Nightmares about my abusive rapist narcissist ex-boyfriend." Thea nodded as Jude turned to her.

"What the hell happened to us?" Cassie groaned, leaning her forehead on the table whilst Jude kept looking at Thea.

"If this was because of what I said-"

"It's not." Thea said, "Believe me, I've been experiencing it for a long time." She nodded, "I'm in therapy, remember, no one has to panic." She scoffed.

"You can still talk to us, you know." Cassie lifted her head, "I mean… I know Jude would rather be anywhere but here, and I'm always emotionally unavailable." She said with her dry wit as Thea smiled, "But we're here. Drop of a hat."

"I know." Thea smiled, placing her hand in the centre of the table as Jude placed hers on top, followed by Cassie placing hers on top of both of their hands. The more things had changed in their life, the more they'd stayed the same. It always came back to the three of them.