Tuesday…
AJ had a certain love for Tuesdays as the majority of the day she had the house to herself. Her mother always popped into town to take care of the boys and take them out of the house, while Punk was of course working. She felt like she could really work to her best potential on a Tuesday as there was no one around to distract her.
She'd discussed furthermore with Punk about the situation she was in with Jenny, and she decided that she would give the young girl one more chance, even though there was a chance she didn't deserve it after speaking to Thomas the way she did.
"I really appreciate you seeing me after my visit on Sunday." Jenny said, unzipping her coat as she sat across from AJ on the couch.
"Look, Jenny. I don't have to help you, ok. I could easily send you to someone else or worse, just leave you hanging. I'm trying to help and get to the bottom of why you're feeling so down, but I can't concentrate due to you either bringing up my past or being horrible to my son." AJ sighed.
"I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know what comes over me and I just… I say things I don't mean. I know you understand that more than anyone." Jenny said.
"Yeah, I do. But I won't have you talk to my son like that. Neither will my husband." AJ said, hoping maybe the threat of Punk would showcase how serious she was being towards Jenny.
"I promise you, it won't happen again. I just… I just want to get better." Jenny said.
"And I want to help you get better. Let's just focus on you getting better and us getting to the bottom of things from now on." AJ said as Jenny nodded.
"I'd like that." Jenny smiled as AJ smiled too, hoping that this would be the end of this rationally weird spell that Jenny was going through.
They both talked for the next hour, mainly about thoughts and feelings, the way every session was meant to go. AJ went over some rituals and some ways to help Jenny control these thoughts and feelings that she had. She also made a statement that Jenny was afraid of rejection, from what AJ was hearing, all her notes added up and seemed to be the case that Jenny was feeling this type of way because she feared being rejected by people. Why? She hadn't got to the bottom of that yet.
"I really enjoyed our session today." Jenny stood up with a smile, putting her coat on as AJ agreed, the session did go well, better than what she expected and she was extremely glad. She didn't want to send any patients away.
"So did I." AJ smiled, "I'm glad we're finally getting somewhere." AJ said as Jenny could only agree, being walked out of the living room and to the front door.
AJ couldn't complain with how the session went, it was relaxed and there was a calm atmosphere in the air. She assumed that she had finally gotten through to Jenny about interfering in her own personal and family life the way she had no right to. She hoped this was the end of the weird incidents and questioning Jenny seemed to give her.
Later on…
"So there was no questioning today? She just sat there like a good patient?" Punk asked his wife, sitting at the kitchen table with his sons, attempting to get them to eat their vegetables which, like every child, they dodged around.
"Yeah. She apologised, I accepted it and warned her if she done it again, I'd have to send her some place else to get help." AJ said, folding up some washing on the kitchen counter that had to be hung out in the back garden.
"Well, good. The bitch needs to be set some ground rules." Punk said, as AJ turned to him quickly.
"Phil." She shook her head, not wanting that type of language around her sons who seemed to let it slip over their heads anyway.
"Sorry." Punk said, sometimes his tongue just slipped.
"And what are these ground rules?" AJ asked, leaning against the counter and folding her arms with a smile.
"Well, one… don't call my son a brat, two… don't make my wife uncomfortable, three… respect your elders… she's what? nineteen." Punk rolled his eyes.
"Done." Tate put his hands up, pushing his plate away which still had vegetables on it, smiling charmingly to his mother and father, hoping for some sort of sweet or ice cream for after his dinner. Thomas was still taking his time, unlike Tate who inhaled his food.
"I don't think so, mister." Punk shook his head, sliding the plate back over to Tate, "Vegetables, now." He clicked his fingers as Tate rolled his eyes, figuring he could have just dodged his way around the greens.
"Tate, why don't you tell dad what you done with gran today?" AJ said, picking up the washing and walking out of the back door to go hang the washing out while Punk sat at the kitchen table listening to Tate and Thomas tell him all about their day out with Fiona.
Sunday…
It had been another long week for both AJ and Punk, but nothing out of the ordinary. Punk was of course working late again while AJ spent her day off with her sons, playing with them out in the garden and even baking with them, making Punks favourite, Chocolate chip cookies.
After a few tries after Tate spilling nearly the full bag of flour in the bowl and Thomas dropping some eggs on the floor, they finally made a perfect batch of cookies and put them in the oven.
"How long?" Tate asked, squatting down to look in the oven, expecting the cookies to bake in seconds no doubt.
"About ten minutes." AJ wiped her hands on the dish towel, "Come on, let's go get your pyjamas on, they should be ready when we come back down." AJ told them as they both scuttered out of the kitchen to climb the stairs, AJ trailing behind with a tired smile.
After putting the boys in their pyjamas, they couldn't have ran downstairs quick enough to see if their cookies were ready, which they were.
A few additional minutes later, AJ was sitting on the couch, Tate and Thomas sitting at either side with their cookies and small glass of milk each. It seemed to make them more tired and calm, which was great for AJ.
She soon received her normal phone call around 8pm from Punk on his break at work, both boys having fell asleep straight after their cookies, lying in against their mother for comfort.
"We made cookies." AJ announced to Punk, knowing he would be delighted to be coming home to a batch of cookies.
"You three are so kind." Punk smiled as he held his phone to his ear, "It's like you love me." He joked, hearing AJ laugh through the phone.
"Imagine that." AJ played along, "How is work?" She asked, running her hands through Thomas's hair.
"Same old, same old." He told his wife, "We're really busy at the moment, I didn't even know if I was going to get this break." He said. He was completely exhausted these past weeks. Work was pretty hard going, and coming home to AJ waiting in their bed to expect a night of passion and intimacy took every bit of energy he had left out of him.
"I suppose I could give you the night off tonight." AJ smiled, knowing she had been going pretty strong on him with the whole 'lets have a baby' thing.
"Who said I wanted a night off?" Punk smiled. Yeah, he was tired. But he wasn't complaining about all the sex. What man would?
"I just don't want you to be tired. I want to have fun whilst doing this, not have you yawning in my ear." She said as he laughed.
"Well, if you insist." Punk said, "I look forward to a cuddle when I get home then." He said as she smiled to herself.
"Of course." AJ agreed.
"Well, I better go. I'll be home soon. Give the boys a kiss goodnight and make sure you lock the door." He reminded her as she nodded.
"I will. I love you, Phil." AJ smiled to herself, even just the smallest of phone calls from him could make her smile.
"I love you too, baby." Punk replied, with that hanging up his mobile as AJ did too, getting back to work while his family were unsafe at home without him.
AJ carried Tate and Thomas upstairs, completely forgetting about locking the door like Punk reminded her specifically, tucking the boys into their own beds in their own rooms.
She trailed her tired self into her own room, enjoying the silence of the house and laying on top of the covers on their bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes yet. She herself was rather looking forward to having a nice, relaxed sleep with her husband, all this making a baby stuff was hard work.
It was nice every now and then to just lay down, shut her eyes and take deep breaths, enjoy these moments to herself. It was very rare to have a quiet house and a chance to listen to her own thoughts. Sometimes she couldn't believe the life she was living. It was all she ever wanted with Punk since she met him.
Fifteen minutes had gone by of AJ just laying down on her bed, her eyes shut but not asleep yet, trying to wait for Punk to come home to fall asleep. However, her eyes darted open when she heard the front door downstairs slam open.
She sat up immediately, knowing fine well that it wasn't Punk who had just walked into her home. Her heart began to beat rapidly, her feet landing on the ground softly as she tip toed quietly out of her room, looking over the banister at the stairs, her hand flying to her mouth as she seen a man wandering through into the kitchen with his hood up.
She backed up quietly int Thomas's room, lifting him from his bed and walking into Tate's room, lifting him up too and opening the cupboard in her eldest sons room. Her mobile was downstairs, she couldn't phone for help, she just had to stay calm and protect her sons from the intruder in her home. She hoped he was just after valuables which he could take for all she cared, as long as he didn't come anywhere near her or her sons.
She held her son's close as their eyes began to open, looking up at their terrified mother who put her finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet.
She never heard anything for quite a while, hoping that the intruder had passed, but then suddenly she began to hear footsteps being climbed up the stairs.
She had never been so scared in her life, she needed Punk right now, to scare away whoever this was. She climbed into the cupboard, holding Tate and Thomas around the waist by each of her arms, closing the cupboard over and crouching down, thanking the lord she was small enough to fit into somewhere so small, along with her sons.
She had never been this terrified, she felt like she couldn't breathe, and she could see her sons getting restless and cranky from being woken from their sleep and pulled in a cupboard.
She listened closely as she heard doors open along the hall, shutting her eyes as tears poured from them, her whole body shaking as she held her sons as tightly as she could. She needed Punk more than ever.
She looked at her son's, wrapping her two hands around their mouths as she heard the intruder get closer to Tate's room in which she was in. She was praying and praying that this man wasn't physically here for her or her sons, she hoped it was just a burglar looking for money and a TV set. Her breathing was uncontrolled and her sons were trying to remove her hands from around their mouths, but they were breathing so loud she couldn't risk it.
"Please sh." AJ whispered as quietly as she could to her sons, listening as Tate's door creaked open, slow footsteps walking into the four year olds room as AJ cried silently with so much fear. If it came to it, whoever it was could have her, but not her sons, not her precious boys.
She watched through the gap in the cupboard wardrobe as the figure floated in front of the cupboard, her breath being held to try and prevent any noise, her sons struggling to keep quiet beside her. She seen through the gap, a hand approach the door handle, her eyes closing tightly as she prayed this was just a big nightmare…
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