Understanding

"What the hell are you talking about?" Punk shook his head as he looked across at Coleen.

"Uh… so, when we were working on tackling this group, I… I ended up finding the house. But at first I thought it was a mistake. A dead end." Coleen said, "That's why I never told anyone about it." She said, "I went to the house and I saw this woman going to and from it, so I took pictures." She nodded, "And then I… I followed her one day-"

"How stupid are you?" AJ spat.

"I was trying to figure this out before anyone else had to get involved." Coleen defended.

"How do you know it's my mom?" Punk questioned.

"Because I… I spoke to her." Coleen nodded slowly as Punk stared at her.

"Coleen." AJ shook her head, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What did she say?" Punk questioned.

"Not much. I approached her and I… I asked her about the house. I told her I worked with an organization and that we were onto activity in that house. She told me the house was nothing, it was an old friend she was visiting." Coleen said, "She then told me that she left that life a long time ago. I then asked her name, she told me Hilary and I… I done some searching." She nodded, "She's your mom." She nodded.

"And how about you come talk to me like a normal person instead of leaving a damn picture?" Punk shook his head.

"You're impossible to talk to." Coleen said, "You always avoid me." She said as AJ folded her arms. She knew there was definitely restraint on her sister and husband's relationship and she knew why. She hated to see it but there had been a time where they had their own problems with one another.

"I don't always avoid you." Punk scoffed, "I'm approachable. I'd always listen to what you have to say."

"Phil, you walk in the other direction when I walk into a room." Coleen said.

"No, I don't." Punk denied.

"Ok, this is not helping." AJ made clear, "You're an idiot for this." AJ nodded to her sister, telling her the truth, "If you couldn't talk to Phil, then you could have told me about it and I could have let him know." AJ said, "Leaving that picture was childish and ridiculous."

"I'm sorry." Coleen said, "It was a busy time. I was getting married and I didn't want to keep it to myself any longer-"

"Then use your damn mouth and talk to us. Don't leave us codes and clues." Punk screwed his face up.

"What did she say to you exactly?" AJ asked.

"That's all she said. I approached her and I said I was from an organization that tackles human trafficking. She immediately looked scared. I said I spotted her in and out of a house that we believed was a hot spot for a group. She denied it right away and said it was just a friend, that the house is nothing to worry about and that she left that life a long time ago."

"That life?" AJ questioned, looking up at Punk, "What… What does she mean by that?"

"Why are you asking me? I don't know anything about her." Punk said.

"You know nothing?" Coleen asked as Punk nodded, "Uh… well I made a folder." She said as AJ rolled her eyes.

AJ followed Coleen closely across the room, nipping her arm angrily as Coleen yelped.

"Oops." AJ smirked as Coleen nudged her and shook her head.

"Here." Coleen said, "And actually, this was before I knew she was your mom so… don't nip me." She warned AJ who took the folder.

"Oh God." AJ groaned, looking on at the folder as Punk looked over, "She's been arrested for prostitution like… 13 times." AJ shook her head, "Attempted overdose-"

"You know what… I… I actually don't want to know." Punk admitted as AJ looked over, "You guys do whatever with the information, find her, find the house… whatever." He waved his hand, grabbing his jacket, "I'm out of here."

"Phil." AJ sighed.

"Hey, bud… you wanna go get ice-cream?" Punk asked James.

"Yeah!" James exclaimed.

"Phil, baby c'mon." AJ sighed, "We can work it out together-"

"Do what you want with it." Punk said, "I don't want involved." He made clear, picking up James and leaving the office as AJ sighed, turning to Coleen who looked at her.

"You're a fucking idiot." AJ told her sister.

"Me? What have I done?" Coleen questioned.

"You don't do this behind my back, behind Phil's-"

"I didn't have all the facts. I didn't want to come out with all of this for it to not make sense. And I had my wedding. I was trying to focus on that." Coleen said, "Don't turn this around and make me the bad guy."

"I'm not. You just should have thought a little harder about what this might do to him. This is his mom."

"Who he doesn't know." Coleen corrected.

"It's still his mother who abandoned him." AJ said, "It's not like me and you. Our parents were evil human beings. Terrible people who did terrible things." AJ nodded, "We can hate our parents." She said, "Phil's mother did what she thought was best and he… he still struggles to accept that."

"How would I know all of that?" Coleen asked.

"Because you use your brain." AJ shook her head.

"Well now that he's out of the room." Coleen sighed, "It's pretty easy to confirm that she's… she's been through what we have." She nodded as AJ looked at the folder, "She was reported missing from her home when she was 15. She gave birth at 16." She said, "It's obvious that someone tricked her, got her into one of these groups and… well… you know the rest."

"Phil thinks his dad is just some boyfriend his mom had." AJ sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"More like a stranger that paid to have sex with his mom." Coleen nodded as AJ sighed.

"I can't work on this and not tell him any of it." AJ sighed to herself, "He needs to know." She shook her head.

"Just give him a bit of space. He's probably connected the dots anyway." Coleen said, "Give him space and tell him about."

"And what are we gonna do about the whole thing?" AJ asked.

"I say we find her and we talk to her again." Coleen said, "She's clearly hiding stuff. If anyone is gonna understand her, it's us two." She shrugged, "Best not to say you're married to her son, though."

"This is a disaster." AJ sighed.

"Looking at it from our business, our organization, we have to find out what's going on in that house and help the girls who are trapped there and who are being sent out to sell themselves." Coleen said, "Forget Phil's mom for a second, this is what this organization is about. We help these people."

"I know that." AJ said, "And we will. We'll get them to a safe house and we'll… we'll notify the cops about what's going on." AJ nodded, "But if Phil's mom said she left that life a while ago, what was she doing at the house?" AJ questioned.

"Well that's what we need to find out." Coleen nodded.

"I gotta talk to Phil about it." AJ nodded, "You should have said to me. We were freaking out over that picture thinking someone was trying to play games." She said, "Instead it was your stupid ass."

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"You were just an idiot." AJ finished for her as Coleen sighed.

"Do you think he hates me?" Coleen asked.

"Probably." AJ nodded, "This isn't just one of our break throughs, this is involving his mom. He finds it really hard to even talk about her never mind… see her in the flesh." AJ said.

"Well I didn't know that." Coleen said, "I thought he hated her and it wouldn't be a big deal."

"Well it is." AJ said, "It is a big deal."

AJ got home later that night, walking into the house where she could see Punk was in the kitchen with the kids. She took her coat off and dumped her bag down. She hadn't seen him for most of the day, she figured he needed his space, but they had to talk about it at some point. It wasn't just his mom, it was her job and she wouldn't be doing anything behind his back. She wanted him to know all about it.

"Hey." AJ smiled happily.

"Hi mommy." Vivian smiled, eating her dinner with her siblings at the table.

"Hi, mom." Raimy smiled.

"Hi babies." AJ smiled, squeezing them both and kissing them lots, "Hi monster." AJ moved onto James who tried to offer his mother a chicken nugget, "I'm ok, thank you." AJ smiled, turning around to Punk who was clearing up the kitchen, "Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." Punk nodded to her, "You ok?" He asked.

"Me? I'm fine." AJ nodded, "You?" She asked as he just nodded casually, "Can we go talk somewhere that isn't… here." She turned around to their children who were talking to one another and in Vivian's case, throwing food at her siblings.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, drying his hands and following her out of the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Vivian pointed her fork at them.

"We're just going into the living room. Stop throwing your food and put that fork down." AJ warned as Vivian sat her fork back down, flicking a piece of broccoli over to James who kicked her under the table whilst Raimy rolled her eyes.

"If this is about my mom, I don't want to hear it." Punk said, closing the living room door and looking across at AJ.

"Of course it's about your mom." AJ said, "I know you struggle with it. I know you always have. Coleen, she doesn't think and she didn't know that you don't like to talk about your mom or… whatever, it's not about her." AJ made clear, "I know you have no obligation to this woman. She's the one who abandoned you. If anyone is gonna get that, I do." AJ assured him as he nodded, "But I just want you to know that I can't ignore this, from a work point of view. It's my job to help those girls in that house and get whoever it is running this group arrested. Unfortunately your mom is involved in this." AJ said, "And I refuse to see her, work with her, whatever… behind your back."

"Work with her?" Punk screwed his eyes up.

"Me and Coleen are gonna speak to her." AJ said, "I'm sure you've already figured but… your mom… she was reported missing from her family when she was fifteen. She's had arrests for prostitution. She's had drug overdoses. She gave birth to you at sixteen-"

"I get the point." Punk nodded.

"The point is… I'm not looking at her as your mom, I'm looking at her as someone who needs our help. It's obvious she's been through what I've been through and I don't care who it is, your mom, your sister, your whatever… she's a woman who has been abused, she's been manipulated, drugged… I can't turn away from that. I'm gonna help her." AJ nodded as Punk folded his arms and looked across at her, "And it's fine if you want no part in it. I understand. But I won't be keeping information from you. I'll be updating you, I'll be letting you know what she's been saying... because you're my husband and I won't lie to you." She made clear as Punk sighed, looking across at her and nodding.

"Well thank you for that." Punk nodded to her, "It's just… it's a lot to take in." Punk shook his head, sitting down on the couch as AJ nodded.

"I know." AJ sighed, "And I know you struggle with finding ways to feel about it. On one hand, she was maybe doing the best thing for you by giving you away, but… on the other, she's still your mom and you're still allowed to feel abandoned." AJ nodded, sitting down next to him, rubbing his back softly, "I'm sorry it's having to unfold like this."

"It's not your fault." Punk shook his head, "I'm just not used to it." He said as she nodded, "But of course if she's in trouble then… we should help her."

"I think she is." AJ nodded.

"You think she's in with some group?" Punk asked her as AJ nodded. She'd always be honest with him.

"Like I said, if you don't want to be a part of this, you don't have to. But… at the end of the day, it's my job, it's what I do." She said, "Your mom or not, I… I help these girls." She nodded, "But I don't want it to be done in secret like I'm tiptoeing around you." She said as Punk nodded.

"I don't think I can deal with it all… I don't think I can see her." Punk told her as AJ nodded.

"And that's ok." AJ assured him, "That's ok." She said, kissing his arm as James burst through the door, tomato ketchup all over his face as AJ and Punk watched him.

"So I'm finished my dinner." James told them, placing his hands on his hips.

"Why do you have ketchup in your eyebrows?" Punk shook his head.

"That's Vivian's fault." James concluded.

"No it's not!" Vivian exclaimed from the kitchen as AJ smiled.

"You're getting in the bath anyway." AJ nodded, "Go on upstairs." She told her son who ran away as she smiled and turned to Punk.

"Thank you." Punk said to her.

"For what?" AJ shook her head.

"For being you. For understanding." Punk nodded as she smiled, kissing him softly, cupping the back of his head.

"We can talk more later once the kids are in bed." She said as he nodded, watching her get up and leave the living room as he sighed to himself. He wasn't really sure how to handle this at all.