Christmas

"Phillip!" AJ yelled, walking into the living room as Punk jumped.

"What? I wasn't doing anything." Punk backed away from the stocking which he was peeping in.

"You were trying to sneak a present." AJ shook her head, "Every year."

"Come on, just let me open one." Punk nodded.

"No." AJ chuckled, "You're worse than a child." She smiled, sitting down some cookies on the coffee table.

"Are those for Santa or can I eat them?" Punk pointed.

"You can eat them." She smiled as Punk nodded, walking over to the couch and sitting down, reaching for a cookie as AJ sat down beside him comfortably. There was something about Christmas Eve that just soothed her. Knowing they were about to have a great day with all their family the next day, looking forward to watching everyone open their gifts and sitting round the table.

"The girls used to get so excited for Christmas." Punk smiled.

"They still do." AJ assured him.

"I know but when they were kids. Remember Thea and Jude woke us up at like 4am one time and we had to convince them that Santa hadn't been yet." He smiled to her as she nodded fondly.

"I remember you wanting to just take them down at 4am." AJ scoffed.

"I just loved watching their faces when they walked into the living room." Punk smiled, "Did Cassie get excited for Christmas?" He turned to her.

"You were there for Christmas when she was young." AJ nodded.

"Yeah well, from eight onwards. I missed eight." Punk said.

"She was super excited, yeah." AJ smiled, "There was one Christmas that she was sad, though. I was horrified because I thought maybe I'd missed something she wanted for Christmas, but I also know she wasn't a brat so it couldn't have been that." AJ said, "It was the Christmas that Thea was… ill." She nodded, "Cassie was just a little kid but she knew her sister wasn't herself and I think that bothered her."

"Must have been hard to put on a brave face for Cassie and Jude through all of that." Punk said as she nodded.

"It was." AJ nodded, "I'm sitting there, smile on my face, excited for both of them and watching them tear into presents, show me what they got… and then Thea's sitting there and she just doesn't care." She shook her head.

"Wish I could have been there. I would have done anything." He shook his head.

"I know." She whispered, "What was prison like at Christmas time?" She wondered, "I don't think you've ever told me."

"It's just another day, babe." Punk assured her, "They would allow longer family visits but I never wanted you guys to come see me on Christmas day. I didn't ever want the girls to associate Christmas with coming to see me in there." He shook his head, "I would sleep better knowing they were having fun at home."

"The night was the toughest." AJ nodded, "We'd always tidy up together, the girls would be in bed with their new toys and they'd be so happy, and then we'd finally get our time to just sit and relax." She smiled, "That was really tough coming into an empty living room and sitting by myself." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "It's all just one big nightmare now."

"So happy that we can look back on it instead of living through it." She nodded.

"Please can I just open one present?" He asked.

"No." She laughed, "You need to wait until tomorrow." She said as he huffed like a child.

"Not even a little one?" He asked.

"No." She smiled, "Let's find a movie to watch." She nudged him playfully, reaching over for a cookie, cuddling into him on the sofa, enjoying the quiet before the chaos.

Everyone arrived to AJ and Punk's house around the same time the next day. It was loud, gifts were passed continuously to each other, the kids were going crazy as expected and it felt just like Christmas.

"Oh, wait… who is this from?" Cassie asked sitting on the couch as she opened up a vinyl, struggling to find the tag on it.

"Oh, that's from us." Renee smiled, "We thought you'd like it."

"I love it." Cassie smiled, "Theo got me so many rare ones, I can't wait to play all of them." She nodded as Dean smiled. It wasn't so much about the gifts and what they were, but it was watching the happiness on people's faces.

"Look, mommy." Mirren tugged on Jude's hand in amongst shreds of wrapping paper all on the floor, "I can… I can paint my own tea set." She showed Jude the box.

"Oh, wow." Jude smiled, "This looks so fun." She nodded, looking over to her parents who were smiling.

"We figured you'd like that one too." AJ chuckled.

"I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it." Jude admitted, "We can bust all this out when we get home, and have tons of fun with it." She told Mirren who nodded, moving onto another present, showing her cousins different gifts.

Punk left the living room to check on the dinner which was cooking, finding Thea standing with her hands behind her back, looking at the desserts which were defrosting.

"Hungry?" Punk chuckled as she jumped a little.

"I think I just want this full cake to myself." Thea nodded.

"I think they still got some defrosting to do." Punk said as she smiled.

"You guys have done way too much, I mean all those gifts for the kids… you're both crazy." Thea said as Punk shrugged.

"Well it's priceless seeing their faces light up." Punk smiled, "I like your Christmas sweater." He pointed.

"Yeah?" Thea smiled, looking down at it, "I thought I'd wear something comfortable. This baby is getting big and I intend to eat a whole lot of food today." She smiled as Punk nodded.

"As you should." Punk nodded, "How you been feeling?" He asked her.

"I'm good." Thea nodded to him honestly, "I mean I look at all that stuff and I don't feel much anymore." She said, looking over at the alcohol which was for her aunt and uncle, her sisters and their husbands.

"You can tell me the truth." Punk assured her.

"That is the truth." Thea nodded, "It's always gonna be there. I know that. But I just feel more comfortable, I guess. I think I finally figured out why I use it as a coping mechanism, and I'm trying to improve that so it's making it real easier." She said as Punk nodded, "I guess recognising a mental illness has its benefits sometimes." She said.

"Well of course, cause it means you get the right help. I just want you to know how proud we are of you. You… You look a lot happier." He nodded, "And that obviously makes me extremely happy."

"Thanks." Thea smiled to him, "I've had a good support system."

"You'll always have that." Punk nodded.

"You wanna help me with these potatoes?" Punk asked her.

"Oh, yeah. Let's put a shit ton of butter in there." Thea nodded excitedly.

"Maybe it's a bad idea to ask the pregnant one to help with the food." Punk realised.

"Yeah I'm notorious for eating dinner as I cook it." She laughed a little.

Meanwhile back in the living room Jude was sitting with her cousin, Chrissy, the chaos of opening gifts starting to die down as the kids opened some toys to play with.

"How you been?" Jude asked Chrissy.

"I'm ok." Chrissy shrugged, "I'm just glad to be in my own place. I actually really love the apartment."

"I'll need to swing by whilst I'm in town to see it." Jude nodded, "You didn't even wanna fight him on the house?"

"No, I… I don't think I cared enough." Chrissy admitted, "I just wanted a fresh start. Somewhere new and somewhere I can feel safer."

"That's a good step in the right direction." Jude nodded, "You had any contact with him?"

"No, not since we finalised the divorce, which is still taking it's time to be finished with." Chrissy rolled her eyes, "My mom has gone to the house to get my things. I think she's the only one who can be trusted. My dad has been forbidden to go anywhere near him."

"I think we all know why." Jude said as Chrissy smiled.

"Honestly, I'm doing ok." Chrissy nodded to her, "I've had my family to help me through it. I just desperately want to be on the other side of it now. I know it's gonna take some time."

"You'll get there." Jude nodded, "Do you have pictures of the apartment? I'd love to see it." She said.

"Oh, yeah. I do actually." Chrissy nodded, getting her phone from her purse to show her.

Meanwhile across the living room, Cassie was watching Chase playing with his space rocket, showing James, his oldest and only boy cousin. It was the sweetest of sights, watching them all play together and have fun.

"I think he likes the space rocket." AJ smiled, sitting down beside Cassie after finding the seat beside her empty.

"He loves it." Cassie smiled, "You and dad got him way too much. It's insane."

"Well we are fond of them all." AJ nodded sarcastically.

"Don't I know it." Cassie said, "Whatever is cooking smells really good. I'm starving."

"Good, cause there's enough in there to feed one hundred people." AJ chuckled, "I think Thea is helping your dad."

"Oh, she'll eat everything in there." Cassie scoffed as AJ smiled.

"Have you heard anything about the job yet?" AJ asked her quietly.

"No." Cassie shook her head, "I think it might be towards the end of the month."

"Do you think the interview went well?" AJ asked.

"I mean… I'm always gonna think I can do better but I think it went ok." Cassie said, "There are other people who they're looking at to fill the job spot too so I really am not trying to get my hopes up." Cassie nodded to her, "Which is why I didn't want to tell anyone but apparently you told dad who told Thea who told Jude." She looked at her mother who gasped.

"I did not." AJ lied, turning away from her as Cassie rolled her eyes, "It's your father's fault. I told him not to tell anyone."

"I told you not to tell anyone." Cassie laughed.

"I'm just so proud of you for even being considered. It's a huge deal." AJ said.

"Yeah that's what Theo keeps saying." Cassie nodded, "It'd be a really good pay rise too." She whispered.

"Well whatever happens, we're so proud of you no matter what." AJ smiled.

"Thanks, mom." Cassie nodded.

Dinner eventually made the table where they all sat up to tuck into the feast AJ and Punk had prepared. The kids got to have their section at the end of the table where they could talk to one another and pretend they were as sophisticated as the adults, which truthfully wasn't very sophisticated anyway.

"Ok, just keep passing everything around." AJ nodded, passing over casseroles and spoons.

Jude, like every Christmas since her attack, didn't eat any Christmas dinner. The smell of it just brought her back to that morning and it was something she did her best to avoid at all costs…

"Uh… I think I'll have what everyone else is having." Jude nodded, not realising she picked a moment to speak where everyone was quiet, watching as her parents looked over at her, as well as her sisters, "If that's ok." She said quickly.

"You sure?" Sean asked beside quietly as she nodded.

"Y-Yeah." Jude nodded, "Yeah, it looks so good." She said. It was the first year where the date of her attack had passed and she finally had the truth, and some form of justice. And she really just wanted to live her life as close to normal as she could.

"Alright, get stuck in." Dean broke the silence, nodding to Jude, handing her some potatoes without hesitation as Jude smiled to him.

"Alright." Jude smiled, dishing some onto her plate.

"It's not like there's not enough." Cassie chuckled.

"I'd like to remind everyone that if there's any leftovers, they automatically come home with me." Thea made clear.

"Uh… and me." Sarah piped up, just days away from her due date.

"We can split it." Thea nodded to her as Sarah smiled.

Punk took his seat next to AJ, smiling to her as she patted his leg under the table comfortingly. He then turned to Jude across the table who was adding more things to her plate, watching her clock eyes with him as he gave her a discrete wink, causing her to smile.

A/N: Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate! I hope you have a wonderful time and stay safe.