Mom

"So do you like this place?" Rey asked, sitting in the kitchen in her mother's new place. She'd spent the night with her and Amelia, having dinner with them. AJ had just put Amelia to bed which gave her and Rey a little more time on their own.

"I love it." AJ smiled, "I barely even had a place on my own." She admitted, "I only lived on my own at college for a little while before moving into a place with Tom." She said, "I feel like I need it." She admitted, sitting down at the table.

"It's a nice house." Rey nodded, "How are you dealing with this break up thing?" She asked.

"It's not been the best, obviously." AJ nodded, "But… my marriage wasn't good for a long time. I guess it was unfair to myself to stay in something that wasn't healthy." She said, "Instead of talking about it, my husband decided to have an affair which… I get to be mad about that."

"Hell yeah you do." Rey agreed, "Sounds like an asshole." She nodded as AJ smiled.

"Living back here means I get to see you more. I get to see Bob. I get-"

"To see my dad?" Rey smirked as AJ looked at her, "Come on. I'm not stupid." She said, "I mean I think it's amazing that you can still be in love with him after so long." She shook her head.

"I guess we went through a lot together." AJ nodded, "He wasn't just my boyfriend, he was my best friend. I lost my family and he was there for me." She said, "He was always there for me."

"Why'd you break up then?" Rey questioned.

"He broke up with me." AJ shrugged, "He had this idea that he was weighing me down from my full potential which… was completely ridiculous." She said, "He had good intentions. He wanted me to go to college. To go live my life. And… I did." AJ nodded.

"Couldn't you do all of that with him?" Rey asked.

"He didn't think so." AJ nodded, "I was so mad at him for so long. But then… then I graduated college and it was such a good feeling. I know he didn't want me to miss out on that." She smiled.

"Speaking of…" Rey said, "I… got accepted for a nursing and medicine course at college." She smiled.

"You're kidding." AJ gasped as Rey shook her head, "Oh my God, that's amazing." AJ smiled, "I didn't even know you applied."

"I was keeping it down low until I got an email back." Rey said, "You're actually the first person I've told." She smiled as AJ smiled to herself, "I used to dream about stuff like this. Talking to you. Telling you about things that meant a lot to me." She nodded, "It sucked not having a mom." She said as AJ nodded.

"I'm sorry." AJ nodded to her.

"No, I'm not having a dig… I'm just telling you how I felt. I never told anyone that I hated not having a mom. I pretended like I didn't care." She said, "But… I guess you can only take so much."

"What do you mean?" AJ questioned.

"It wasn't easy growing up in care." Rey said, "I never really felt like I belonged anywhere." She shrugged, "So I pretended like I didn't care, I hung around with people who weren't good for me. I… got into bad things." She nodded, "Kids used to make rumours up about me at school. Really… degrading stuff." She nodded, playing with her hands nervously as AJ looked across at her, "That's what made me hate you and dad. Not because you had to give me away." She shook her head as AJ nodded, "I just think about all the stuff that could have been avoided if… if I just had a mom and dad." She shrugged.

"I'm so sorry you had such a tough time." AJ shook her head, "I can't imagine how difficult it was. But… we always thought that you'd have a family. That's what we were told. Hadn't that been the case then we would never have gave you away."

"I know that now." Rey smiled to her, "I don't want you to feel guilty. I'm just… I'm telling you what happened." She nodded as AJ nodded, "This is what… moms and daughters are supposed to do, right?" She laughed nervously as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. We're both pretty new to this." AJ smiled as Rey nodded, "I think you came out stronger because of everything. You're… so smart, you have such a good head on your shoulders, you're… so beautiful." AJ nodded as Rey looked down at the table, "And I'm really proud of you." She said as Rey looked up at her.

"Thanks." Rey smiled to herself, "It still feels surreal that I'm actually talking to you and dad." She admitted, "I never thought it would happen."

"Me neither." AJ smiled, "But I'm so glad it did." She said. She felt so lucky and blessed to get to know her daughter now. She wouldn't change it for the world.

"Me too." Rey nodded, "And I get two little sisters out of it too." She smiled, "I get to be this… cool big sister." She nodded.

"Amelia loves you." AJ nodded, "And you met Lily?"

"Yeah. She's a little fiery one." Rey laughed a little as AJ nodded.

"I feel bad for your dad." AJ admitted, "His ex… she's not exactly being fair with him. I mean… I hate Tom for what he did to me but I would never take Amelia from him. We're Amelia's parents together and… I would never just rip her from him."

"Yeah, I think she sounds like she likes playing games." Rey nodded, "But hopefully she starts letting him see her more."

"Yeah, I'm hoping so." AJ nodded, "I think he's giving himself a hard time for it but… it's not his fault." AJ shook her head.

"What's his story?" Rey asked, "I know you don't speak to your family but… what about him?" She asked.

"He didn't really have the best upbringing." AJ nodded, "His mom was always in and out of hospital with… psychiatric problems." She said, "His dad was a drug addict, alcoholic horrible man." AJ said, "Him and Dean grew up with nothing." She nodded.

"How the hell did he end up getting a girl like you?" Rey asked, "No offence but… it doesn't really add up."

"I thought he was super attractive." AJ shrugged as Rey cringed a little, "What? If I didn't you wouldn't be here now, would you?"

"Ok, that's enough." Rey laughed a little as AJ smiled.

"Wait a minute." AJ stood up, walking over to the cabinet above the stove, "I think I have some old high school pictures. For you to laugh at, of course." She said, reaching up and pulling out a box, sitting it over on the table and lifting the lid from it.

"I was expecting it to be black and white." Rey scoffed.

"Hey." AJ laughed, "We're not that old." She smiled, taking out some pictures and shuffling her seat closer to Rey's, "I was seventeen here." She nodded, looking on at the class picture that was taken of their year.

"Is that dad?" Rey noticed immediately as AJ nodded, "He's so messy."

"I liked it." AJ smiled, "Feels like a lifetime ago." AJ shook her head as she looked back at the pictures.

"Do you still love him?" Rey asked as AJ turned to her and nodded, "So don't hold back. Look at all of this…" She pointed to the pictures, "You guys had something nice and I… I came and ruined that." She shook her head.

"You didn't ruin anything." AJ shook her head.

"Who's to say that if I didn't happen… that you two would have had a happily ever after?" Rey questioned.

"You did happen, and I don't regret any of it." AJ nodded.

"You're just saying that because I'm here." Rey scoffed with a smirk as AJ smiled.

"We're taking things slow. We've been apart for a long time. It's taking a while to get used to." She nodded, "We both have kids with other people too. It's not like how it was before." She said.

"No one wants boring." Rey nodded.

"Well enough about my love life." AJ tutted, "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Rey shrugged, "For once."

"Really? I thought you were with someone?" AJ questioned, "Or do you just not want to tell me?" She smiled.

"I was but… I don't think I'm that interested in a relationship right now." Rey said, "I want to put me first."

"You should. Boys will always be here." AJ shrugged, "Take your pick once you have that degree." She smirked as Rey smiled.

"You're really not how I expected you to be." Rey admitted.

"What did you expect me to be like?" AJ laughed a little.

"I don't know. Boring, maybe. Or a crackhead. Either or." Rey nodded as AJ smiled.

"Well I'm definitely not boring but who knows about the crack?" AJ shrugged as Rey smiled. She couldn't believe how well she was getting along with her mother. For having missed so much, it felt like they'd been mother and daughter for forever.

"You're gonna have to give me some tips on how to survive college." Rey nodded.

"Oh, I will." AJ smiled, "Are you moving?"

"Oh, no." Rey shook her head, "My apartment is my baby. I could never leave." She said as AJ smiled.

"You should be really proud of everything you have. Having an apartment at your age isn't common." AJ said.

"I just always wanted my own place to call home." Rey said, "It means a lot to me." She nodded as AJ smiled, "If I had a shitty day at school, I could never go home… I had to go back to care. It was really hard." Rey shook her head. She never thought she'd open up to her mother so quickly, but it felt natural. It felt right. She felt so comfortable talking to her so openly.

"Did they treat you badly?" AJ asked.

"I mean it wasn't like abusive or anything but… it just wasn't a home. It was just a bunch of kids who didn't have parents. When people started finding out I was in care, I got nicknames in high school. Someone made flyers with my face on them with lost dog written above it." She said as AJ looked across at her, "So I decided that I would just hate everyone. It's how I got through it." She nodded, "I slept around, I drank, I smoked… I wasn't someone I was proud of." She shook her head, "But I came such a long way." She nodded, wiping her tears as AJ smiled.

"I know I wasn't there but… I'm so proud of you." AJ nodded, placing her hand over Rey's who nodded and cried a little more.

"I've never had anyone to be proud of me before." Rey admitted tearfully as AJ cupped her cheek.

"I'm proud of you. So proud of you." AJ nodded, "More than you will ever know. And I know your dad is too." She said as Rey nodded and smiled, "And yeah maybe us being around would have helped you out a lot but… I think us not being there has made you the strong, amazing person you are right now." She said.

"Bob always says that." Rey smiled, brushing her tears for her cheeks.

"And he's right." AJ smiled, "But I'm so glad we can be a part of your life now." She nodded as Rey smiled.

"Me too." Rey nodded, "I'm glad you're here." She said as AJ smiled.

To AJ it meant everything to be able to have this moment with her daughter, to be let into her life, to be able to finally be her mom after all of this time. It was a blessing.

"I am too." AJ smiled, leaning over and wrapping her arms around her as Rey hugged her back, resting her chin on her mother's shoulder. She never thought this moment could be possible. To feel relief in her mother's arms, "I love you." AJ nodded, pulling back and cupping her cheeks, drying her tears with a smile.

"I love you too." Rey laughed through her tears as AJ smiled.

"What's this?" Dean asked, walking into the living room where he found his brother sitting with photos scattered over the coffee table.

"It's Rey." Punk nodded as Dean sat down beside him, "When she was younger." He said as Dean smiled, looking on at the pictures.

"She kinda looks like Lily here." Dean picked a picture up.

"Yeah, I thought that too." Punk nodded.

"When did she give you these?" Dean asked him.

"Tonight when she stopped by earlier. She met Lily." Punk said.

"How did things go with Lily?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah it went well. I dropped her off earlier to Chrissy and… I'm seeing her again in a few days." Punk nodded hopefully as Dean smiled, patting Punk on the back.

"Good." Dean nodded, "That's good, man."

"Look at her in this picture." Punk smiled, taking a picture up and showing it to Dean. It was a picture of Rey when she was around five or six, sitting with a few other kids, scowling at the camera whilst the other kids smiled.

"If looks could kill." Dean chuckled as Punk smiled and nodded.

It was difficult having to see his daughter grow up through pictures, but it was amazing to see them and see pictures of her when she was younger.

"Pink hair." Punk said, showing Dean another picture as Dean laughed.

"Ok, I'm definitely bullying her for this." Dean laughed, "What age is she here?"

"Fifteen. The ages are on the back." He said as Dean nodded, "I can't believe she's actually twenty." Punk shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, it's crazy." Dean nodded, "She's a good kid. Got a good head on her shoulders." He said, "You should be proud of her."

"I am." Punk nodded, "I really am." He said as Dean smiled.

"Things are looking up, brother." Dean nodded, standing up from the couch, patting Punk on the back as Punk nodded.