Getting Too Much


"Why would he think I lied to him?" Cassie cried, sitting on her parent's sofa, leaning into her mother who had her arm wrapped around her whilst Punk stood over by the mantel, arms folded unhappily as they listened to what was going on with Cassie and Theo.

"I don't think he thinks you lied." AJ shook her head, "I don't know what's going on with him but… I don't think he really believes that Chase isn't his. It's ridiculous. This is Mark getting into his head. Manipulating him into thinking things that just aren't true. People can do that. People can warp your entire mind. Have you thinking the most craziest things." AJ nodded, trying to say anything to assure her daughter. She'd never saw Cassie upset like this.

"And to point out the obvious, Chase is like a miniature version of him." Punk shook his head with confusion.

"That's what I said." Cassie cried even more with frustration, "He said Mark wants a paternity test." She said.

"Oh for God sake." AJ rolled her eyes as Punk looked at Cassie. She didn't normally crumble like this. She always held her own and stood her ground, but he could see how upset and shocked she was by this and that hurt him a lot.

"Babe I don't think Theo is thinking straight. I don't think he really believes what he's insinuating here. I think Mark is just getting at him, this whole thing with Jake's job is probably getting at him, hell Jake dying has probably got to him. They were close." Punk nodded.

"Don't defend him!" Cassie yelled.

"Shh." AJ soothed, brushing her hand over Cassie's hair.

"I'm not. Believe me, I think he's acting like a dick and if you want me to go talk to him I will." Punk assured her, "I'm just trying to help you figure out where his head might be-"

"Up his damn ass." Cassie spat angrily, "I do not cry over men. It's a waste of tears." She said, angry about the fact she was so upset, sitting up and drying her face as Punk watched her.

"You can stay here for the night if you don't wanna go home." Punk nodded.

"I don't think I can look at his face. Not right now." Cassie shook her head, "Why would he believe him over me? Mark even knows there's no way Chase is his and he's still trying to get at Theo."

"Maybe it would be better if you went back and spoke this through with him." AJ nodded, "We'll keep Chase here if you want."

"No, I'm afraid of what I might say to him." Cassie shook her head, "I need to calm down before I see him again."

"Look, I reckon he's gonna sleep on this and wake up and realise how dumb he's being." Punk nodded, "And he'll be over here with his apologies."

"Yeah well he can stuff his apologies." Cassie stood up from the couch, "Can I borrow your hairdryer?" She asked her mother, sniffing.

"Yeah, of course." AJ nodded, "It's in my room." She smiled.

"You want something to eat?" Punk asked.

"No, I think I'm just gonna go to sleep once I dry my hair. I've got a bit of a headache now." She shook her head as they nodded.

"Ok." Punk frowned, "Well I'll make you your favourite breakfast in the morning. You and Chase." He smiled.

"Thanks, dad." Cassie sighed as she walked out of the living room and headed upstairs.

"Phil." AJ shook her head unhappily as Punk nodded in agreement.

"He's well out of line for this." Punk shook his head, "What an awful thing to question. I mean, seriously?" He shook his head, pacing.

"I think this is a case of manipulation and getting inside someone's head." AJ nodded, knowing that was exactly the problem, "He loves the bones off Cassie. You know that." She said.

"Then what the hell is he thinking?" Punk shook his head, "Chase is literally his mini me. Is he stupid?" He questioned.

"I think Mark is getting the best of him." AJ nodded, "So just… calm down. There's obviously a lot going on in his head and it's somehow projected onto Cassie-"

"Yeah well that's bullshit." Punk said, "She never cries."

"I know." AJ sighed, "She's obviously upset about it. I would be too." She scoffed.

"If he comes to the door tonight you can answer it. I'll end up going off on him if I do." Punk said as AJ nodded in agreement, noticing he was getting angrier by the second the more he let it digest.

"You just need to calm down. They'll work this out." AJ nodded.

"Yeah after he apologises." Punk said.

"Without our interference." AJ added as Punk nodded along by default.

"I never would have expected something like that from him-"

"Exactly, so… clearly he doesn't mean it. He probably doesn't even believe it really. That scumbag has just gotten into his ear." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah he's a scumbag alright." Punk nodded, "You think I should go check on her?" He asked.

"No, just leave her." AJ shook her head, "Just watch, she'll wake up in the morning the same grounded Cassie she always is. And she'll be ready to hear an apology." She nodded, "She just needed to let all of that out first." She said. She knew her youngest daughter well. She had thick skin and held her own, but this had certainly knocked her off balance.

"Well that's me not sleeping tonight." Punk sighed, sitting down on the couch beside her as she lay her hand on his thigh and her head on his shoulder.


"Hey, why aren't you asleep?" Thea asked, walking into her middle child's room where Sofia was sat up on her bed.

"Because it's not my bed time yet." The ten year old shrugged.

"It was your bed time an hour ago." Thea folded her arms.

"That was Sam's bed time." Sofia corrected.

"You have the same bedtime." Thea narrowed her eyes at her.

"Why? She's a baby." Sofia shook her head, rolling her eyes, "And I'm not."

"You're all babies." Thea concluded, "Did you open these back up after I shut them?" She asked, walking over to the drapes and closing them back over again.

"James stays up later." Sofia said.

"You know you don't always have to fight with him and hate him." Thea nodded, "I know little sisters are supposed to hate their big brothers… apparently." She said, "But wouldn't you guys try and be friends? It'd make my life a lot easier." She smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"He's mean to me." Sofia shook her head.

"You're mean to him." Thea smiled a little, "You squirted ketchup at him last week and he got it in his eye… we had to take him to the hospital-"

"That was after he said I was ugly with my new glasses." Sofia remembered, "You always yell at me but not him." She added quietly as Thea looked at her. She often worried as a mother if she, without noticing, treated her children any differently from the other. She could never remember feeling like her own mother treated her and her sisters differently. Sure there were different bonds and relationships they all shared, but it was never anything negative.

"That's not true." Thea frowned, "And I love your new glasses."

"Well I don't." Sofia said as Thea looked at her, frowning a little. She saw so much of herself in Sofia. More than she did with James or even Sam. The quietness in her, the built up anger and frustration, even just at ten years old.

"Well I do. And so does your dad." Thea nodded, "And Sam. And James loves them too, he just likes to tease you. It's what the oldest does. I know. I used to tease Aunt Jude and Aunt Cassie all the time."

"But that's different." Sofia shook her head, "He always makes fun of what I look like." She said unhappily as Thea watched her. She'd simply put it down to siblings being siblings, but she could see a little closer that Sofia was genuinely affected by her brother's teasing. Like her confidence was being knocked. She was way too young to have insecurities and Thea was not about to let her own brother be the root of that.

"Ok, baby. I'll speak to him." Thea assured her, "But you listen to me… you don't have to listen to what anyone has to say about how you look, how you dress, your glasses, the things you like, the people you like." She nodded, "You're perfect just the way you are." She said, cupping Sofia's cheeks as Sofia smiled a little, "I love you so much." She said, kissing Sofia's cheek and standing up off the bed.

"I love you too." Sofia said, laying down to go to sleep as Thea tucked her in.

"You have sweet dreams." Thea said, kissing her head and turning out the night light by the bed before leaving the bedroom and heading downstairs.

"Hey, that was a long bath you had. I was getting worried you'd fell asleep up there." Dominic said as Thea sat down beside him on the couch.

"Well I was putting the kids to bed and then I went for my bath and I was doing my check on them and Sofia was still up." Thea said, feeling a little bothered after her conversation with her daughter.

"She alright?" Dominic asked her.

"Well she still thinks her glasses are ugly." Thea shook her head.

"No they're not." Dominic scoffed, "She suits them."

"I know." Thea nodded, "I think one of us has to speak to James about all the teasing he does to her." She said, "I think… well she's getting older and the things he says to her isn't really helping her confidence."

"What does he say to her? Anytime I turn around, she's the one yelling abuse at him." Dominic laughed a little.

"Yeah, exactly. We never hear what he says to her. What if he's saying really awful things? He could be picking up… bad words at school or something." Thea said as Dominic turned to her, realising she was being serious, "Yeah, I'm serious about this." Thea nodded.

"Why? What did she say to you?" Dominic asked, turning the TV down.

"Well she thinks I always yell at her and never James. And he always makes fun of how she looks apparently." Thea said, "I mean… she is sensitive." She nodded, "But I don't want her believing him. I think we need to talk to him."

"Yeah well if she's this upset then clearly we do." Dominic nodded, "He could just be… being an older brother, though." He said, "I'm an older brother. I did terrible things to Scott when we were growing up." He scoffed.

"Well it's different when it's a brother and sister, obviously." Thea said, "They used to get along so well when they were younger." She frowned.

"They still do sometimes." Dominic said.

"I just worry about her." Thea sighed, "I really want to do right by her. Her and Sam." She nodded.

"And what makes you think you're not?" Dominic questioned.

"I don't know." Thea shrugged, "Sometimes I just feel like I'm not doing enough. I know it's probably just my head messing with me, as it does." She nodded.

"You're doing enough." Dominic assured her as she smiled, "Everything is amplified when you're a kid. They're gonna go through all these different phases and we're just gonna need to be there to guide them. Give them advice if they want it." He nodded.

"I just don't want any of them to go through what I did as a kid. Or as a teenager." She said, "Maybe I'm just scared of that happening-"

"Well don't be. Stop worrying about things that aren't happening." He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek, "It's not good for you."

"I know." Thea sighed exhaustedly, "How are you so calm about everything?" She asked with jealousy as he chuckled a little, "How you put up with me, I'll never know." She waved her hand with confusion.

"Because I love you." Dominic nodded, "It's that simple." He said as she smiled, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head.


The next morning, Cassie woke up to Chase asking questions about why they were at his grandparents' house, and where was Theo, and how did he get here during the night. Cassie fed him as much simple answers as she could before luckily her dad came and collected him for breakfast.

Part of her had thought that Theo would show up last night, knocking on her parents door and begging to speak to her, but he never, and that only made her more upset.

She took a shower and joined her parents and son for breakfast. She felt bad for not touching the mini pancakes her father made, but she simply couldn't stomach anything.

"How did you sleep?" AJ asked Cassie.

"I didn't." Cassie said, "And I have a briefing at 10am today." She nodded tiredly.

"Can't you cancel it?" Punk asked.

"No." Cassie shook her head.

"Well at least eat something." Punk said, "It'll give you energy." He nodded as Cassie took a handful of blueberries from the bowl in the centre of the table, "More than that." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not hungry." Cassie shook her head.

"Mommy only has coffee for breakfast." Chase inserted.

"Stop telling on me." Cassie scoffed as Chase grinned deviously, turning to Punk and nodding to confirm it was true as Punk chuckled.

Cassie got up from the table when she heard her phone vibrating over on the counter, noticing it was the station and picking up, even though she wasn't due in until 10am.

"Hey." Cassie answered tiredly whilst Chase explained to his grandparents which breakfast meals he enjoyed the most. Pancakes were his favourite. He also liked toast with chocolate spread.

"Are you serious right now?" Cassie said on the phone as Punk looked up curiously, "Is he there right now?" She asked, "Ok, I'll… I'll be there as soon as I can." She nodded, hanging up on the call and turning to her parents who were waiting on details.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked.

"Theo's been arrested." Cassie nodded, as if things couldn't get any worse, "Speeding and… driving under the influence." She shook her head as Punk looked at AJ, both of them exchanging worried glances before turning back to Cassie, "I gotta go get him." She figured as Punk nodded.

"Is he alright?" Punk asked.

"Well I'll know when I see him." Cassie dreaded.

"No, I mean… overall." Punk said as Cassie looked at him, "I'm not saying he had a right to question you on… what he's questioning, but he's been through the ringer these past few months. The shooting, the PTSD and the guilt, losing Jake, this stuff with Mark." He said as Cassie sighed.

"I should go." Cassie nodded, looking over at Chase who was looking at her, trying to figure out what they were discussing.

"Where's daddy?" Chase asked quietly as Cassie smiled, putting on her best face.

"He's at work." Cassie smiled, "Working hard." She nodded as Chase smiled, "You be good for Papa and A, ok?" She nodded, walking over to him and kissing his cheek, turning to her parents who gave her a nod of reassurance, "Ok, I'll see you guys later." She sighed, grabbing her jacket and leaving the house.