Superhero

AJ got home later that night after grabbing Coleen and dropping her off home. She hadn't said anything about her encounter with the young girl, whom she could only assume was her husband's sister, not his mother. She had just said Hilary had left and she lost sight of her.

When she got home it was the middle of the night and she knew her family would all be asleep, so she was as quiet as she could be when coming in the door and locking it over behind her.

She was still in her dress with the wig on. She had a slight limp and her cut legs had dried in blood from the scrap she got in with Hilary. It wasn't particularly the best first meeting with her in-laws.

She got upstairs and headed into the main bathroom in the hall, sighing to herself as she looked in the mirror, realising the side of her eye was slightly cut and bruised. She began taking her make-up off when she heard a fragile voice standing at the opened door.

"Mommy." Vivian looked at her mother strangely, holding her Elmo glow bear under hear as she watched her mother turn around. She wasn't even sure it was her mother. She didn't look how her mother normally looked and she wasn't quite sure what was going on.

AJ gulped, looking across at Vivian standing staring at her, watching her look at her cut knees, her tight dress, her blonde wig and dirty feet from walking home with no shoes.

"Hey baby." AJ whispered softly as Vivian looked at her, "Hey, you should be in bed." AJ said quietly as Vivian looked across at her.

"Mommy, you look funny." Vivian said truthfully as AJ looked across at her and nodded.

"Mommy was just… she was just dressing up." AJ nodded, ripping her wig off and shaking her long dark hair out of the band as Vivian smiled to herself, realising it really was her mother.

"But only kids dress up." Vivian said with confusion as AJ smiled a little and crouched down.

"Adults can dress up too." AJ nodded.

"But what happened to your knees and your eye?" Vivian asked, noticing everything.

"Uh… I… I fell." AJ rolled her eyes dramatically, "Silly mommy." She smiled, "I tripped up."

"Will I get the first aid box?" Vivian wondered, sitting Elmo down on the floor and walking into the bathroom as AJ watched her go under the sink.

"It's ok, baby I'm just-"

"But you need to clean your knees." Vivian interrupted, bringing out the first aid box and opening it up as AJ watched her, "Sit down." The six year old told her mother as AJ smiled a little and sat down on the edge of the bath, watching as she took out some anti-sceptic wipes.

"You could be a doctor." AJ smiled, watching as Vivian cleaned her knees from the dried in blood, "I think they're just grazed." AJ nodded.

"You shouldn't be clumsy, mommy." Vivian said as AJ watched her and nodded.

"I know, baby." AJ sighed. It was hard for her to watch Vivian and Raimy as they got older. All she could see in them was herself and she really, truly would do anything to protect them. Watching Vivian clean her up reminded her so much of herself when she was that age. When she was forced into a world where she could really only depend on herself, and she really had to look after herself. She saw those same instincts in her daughters one hundred percent, but nothing could ever stop her from being their mother and taking care of them.

"There." Vivian smiled once she had cleaned the dried in blood away, "Now some band aids." She nodded as she went through the first aid box as AJ smiled.

"Hey, what did you get up to tonight with daddy?" AJ asked her.

"Daddy got us pizza." Vivian explained, "And then we watched a movie with him."

"What movie?" AJ asked.

"Um… The Batman lego movie. James picked." Vivian rolled her eyes as AJ smiled.

"Well that would be a first. You guys normally get the picks of the movie." AJ said.

"Maybe." Vivian said, not wanting to agree, sticking the band aids on AJ's legs, "There." She smiled.

"Wow, baby. Thank you." AJ smiled, "I feel so much better." She nodded as Vivian smiled.

"Where were you? You-You look pretty." Vivian smiled, grabbing Elmo back into her arms and walking over to sit on the toilet seat whilst AJ looked at her.

"I was just… I was just out with Aunt Coleen." AJ nodded, "We just went to a little party."

"Oh, a dress up party." Vivian realised as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, exactly that." AJ smiled.

"But what did you dress up as?" Vivian asked.

"I dressed up as… a pretty woman." AJ nodded.

"But you're already pretty, mommy. You don't have to dress up." Vivian shook her head as AJ smiled to herself.

"Thanks, baby." AJ smiled.

"Can I put the wig on?" Vivian giggled, jumping down and reaching out for the wig as AJ held it back from her.

"No, don't." AJ shook her head seriously as Vivian looked at her, "Just… it's… it's all dirty." AJ shrugged as Vivian frowned. She didn't want to see her daughter touch the wig. She always associated it with her past struggles, when she would hide from herself, when she was lost and used for her talents. She couldn't see her precious daughter put it on her head, "You have… such beautiful hair." AJ nodded, sitting the wig in the bath behind her, cupping her daughter's cheeks, "So don't you ever try and cover it up. You promise me?" AJ asked her.

"I like the blonde though." Vivian smirked as AJ laughed a little.

"Trust me, baby. You're perfect the way you are." AJ smiled, "And you always will be." She nodded, "Don't let anyone tell you different." She said.

"I won't." Vivian smiled, "I like your dress too, it's pretty." Vivian nodded.

"Really?" AJ smiled.

"Yes. I want to wear pretty dresses like that." Vivian nodded.

"Something is telling me you're going to be trouble when you get to my age." AJ sensed as Vivian shrugged.

"No I won't." Vivian smirked, "Daddy always says I'm as much trouble as you."

"Yeah, exactly." AJ laughed a little.

"Mommy." Vivian said, sitting back up on the toilet seat.

"What?" AJ looked at her.

"Did you have a nice mommy and daddy? The way I have?" Vivian asked as AJ looked across at her, turning away for a second to gather herself.

"Uh… no, I didn't." AJ shook her head, "I wasn't that lucky, not like you." AJ nodded.

"I'm very lucky." Vivian nodded, swinging her legs back and forth whilst cradling Elmo in her arms, "I'm lucky because I have a nice mommy and daddy and I have a… a sister and a brother. One of each." She said.

"You are lucky. You're so right." AJ smiled.

"I'm sorry you weren't lucky like that." Vivian sighed sadly, "Were your mommy and daddy mean to you?" She asked as AJ looked at her, turning away again.

"A little, yeah." AJ said, trying to make light of what was just an awful situation. To awful to describe to her little girl, "But I'm so lucky now so it doesn't even matter. Because I have… I have daddy and I have Coleen and… and my three babies." AJ smiled, "I'm so lucky."

"I'm not a baby, mommy." Vivian scoffed.

"You're my baby." AJ smiled, "You'll always be my baby. Even when you're old like me." AJ nodded.

"All my friends think you're cool. So do Raimy's." Vivian nodded.

"Cool?" AJ laughed a little.

"Yeah." Vivian said, "Because you let us pick our outfits and you give us good snacks and… and you wear cool clothes. And I'm gonna tell my friends that you wear wigs too." She got carried away, "You're-You're like a superhero, mommy." Vivian nodded as AJ laughed to herself.

"Oh, no quite." AJ said, "I'm glad someone thinks I'm cool." AJ nodded, "But don't… don't tell them I wear wigs. In fact, why don't me and you keep that our little secret? Just between me and you." AJ nodded.

"Oh, ok." Vivian smiled, "I can keep a secret."

"Yeah?" AJ said as Vivian nodded, "Ok, good." She smiled as she heard Punk come out of their bedroom, walking through into the bathroom.

"What's going on in here?" Punk questioned tiredly with sleepy eyes, "Why aren't you in bed, miss?" Punk asked Vivian who hopped down from the toilet seat.

"Mommy had some grazes on her legs so I helped her." Vivian said, "And she was dressed up and wearing a wig like a superhero." She told her father as Punk raised his eyebrows, turning to AJ who smiled.

"A superhero?" Punk questioned, "She's better than a superhero." He scoffed as AJ smiled, "C'mon, back into bed." Punk told her.

"Hey, can I get a kiss goodnight?" AJ asked Vivian who nodded, running over and climbing up onto her as AJ hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek as Vivian hugged her, "I love you, sweet girl."

"Love you, mommy." Vivian smiled, jumping down and taking her father's hand as he led her back into her bedroom to put her back into bed.

AJ smiled to herself, turning around and looking at the wig behind her. She stood up and began taking the rest of her make-up off as Punk eventually appeared back into the bathroom.

"How'd it go?" Punk asked her, kissing her cheek as she watched him sit down on the edge of the bath. She wasn't even sure what to say to him, "That silence doesn't sound good." He scratched the back of his neck as she turned around, "The plus side is, you look gorgeous." He nodded as she smiled.

"Gosh, you and Viv are full of the compliments tonight." AJ said, "Where is James to tell me I look… fat and old?" AJ chuckled to herself as Punk smiled, "I forgot how… how it felt to put that wig on and… dress up… haven't done since we got married." AJ admitted, "Brings back a lot of scary memories." She nodded, "Brings me back to meeting you." She smiled, tapping her foot against his leg, "Do you remember the first time we had sex?" AJ asked him curiously.

"Of course I do." Punk nodded, "In that hotel in London." He said.

"I told you that… it was ok if you wanted to hit me." AJ looked across at him as Punk stared at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I remember." Punk nodded.

"Didn't you think I was some… cheap, used, filthy whore?" AJ shook her head, "Because I looked like one." She nodded, "I acted like one."

"No, I didn't." Punk shook his head, "I thought you were beautiful, and smart, so strong." He shook his head, "You weren't cheap or… or a whore." He shook his head, "Anyone who thinks that about women, just because they dress a certain way or they act a certain way… they're wrong." Punk said, "I thought you were beautiful. I still do. And I always will." He nodded as she smiled to him.

"Can you promise me something?" AJ asked.

"Anything." Punk nodded.

"Help me raise our girls to grow up and… not turn out like me." She said as Punk tilted his head and looked at her with confusion.

"I'm… I'm not gonna promise you that. I'm sorry." Punk said as AJ looked at him, "Because I think if they grow up to be as beautiful and strong as you, I've done a great job." He said.

"And I thought I was worth taking beatings and sex from strangers." AJ said, "They need to know they're worth." AJ nodded, "Because someone will come along and they'll tell them they're worth for them." She said, "And I don't want that."

"Don't worry about that, by the time they're sixteen they're gonna be sick of hearing me telling them how amazing they are." Punk nodded, "Are you ok?" He wondered, noticing she seemed a little down.

"Yeah." AJ sighed, "It's just weird to go back to that place again." She nodded.

"Yeah, I bet." Punk nodded, "I always thought your wigs were cool." He nodded to himself, picking up the blonde wig, "We've had a few fun nights with them." He smirked to her as she nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I know." AJ laughed.

"So how did it go? Did you guys… did you speak to her?" Punk asked as AJ sighed to herself, realising she was gonna have to explain everything to him, and what she think was actually happening.

"Are you ready to hear all of this at 3am?" AJ asked him.

"Well I'm awake now." Punk shrugged as AJ nodded.