Three Years Later…
Three years had come and gone, just like that. The children weren't so little anymore, all three of them. In the space of three years, so much good at came to their family. Punk had been promoted to executive writer for the Chicago division newspapers. AJ had became so popular to mentally deprived people in the neighbourhood, that she had to start doing overtime just to see everybody. Tate had made it through two school years while Thomas had made it through one, only being in the class below Tate. And little Jessie, she was ploughing through life the easy way, enjoying her home comforts and being outside. It was a fight every night to try and get her to come inside. She loved sitting on the grass and playing with the flowers, she was very much all for nature, but Punk stated that was because she was growing up around it.
It had been such a fun ride to watch another one of their children grow up, speak their first words, take their first steps. It was hard to believe for Punk and AJ, but Jessie was just as mischievous as Tate was, and Tate was rather hard to compete with in the mischevious category.
There was so much calm and peace throughout their small home. The boys were grown up, spending their days in school now, actually getting on with one another instead of fighting like they always done.
AJ was finally satisfied now that she had her complete family. She was all opened to looking forward to growing old now that her daughter was here and she had everything she ever wanted.
"If you're quiet enough, he'll come over." Punk told his daughter, sitting crossed legged out in the back garden, Jessie sitting cross legged too beside her father as she desired for the squirrel in the distance to come over, a handful of nuts in her hand to give to the friendly animals. She loved woodland creatures. She loved flowers and the fresh air. Punk was convinced she would wind up going to some sort of natures camp when she got older.
"Why won't he come over." The three year old moaned impatiently to her father. She had dark, fair hair that was normally in pigtails or all curly when left down and her eyes were even greener than Punks, Tates or Thomas's. She very much had her own personality, even if she only was three. She loved playing with her brothers, but had no fear in telling them to leave her alone when they annoyed her. She didn't mess around, she was a very honest little girl and AJ was very proud of that, although many times she had told AJ she didn't like the dinner she had made or the top she was wearing.
"Just be patient." Punk told his daughter. He had a different bond with his daughter than what he had with his sons. He was all for playing with her and messing around with her, of course. But at the end of the day, she was his little girl, and he still shielded her eyes from bad television ads, or covered her ears when he accidentally swore, or stayed awake with her all night because she had a bad dream.
"Look…" Punk tapped her softly, "He's coming over." He told her as she got excited with a gorgeous smile appearing on her face, watching the furry little creature creep slowly towards them both, having smelt the nuts in the infant's hands. Punk could still remember all the countless times he found AJ out in the back garden feeding the squirrels. Mother like daughter.
Punk smiled as he watched Jessie giggle like never before, watching her slide the nuts along the grass as the squirrel picked them up and stuffed them in his pouches.
"Look daddy… look at his cheeks." Jessie giggled as she tapped Punk's shoulder, not being able to stop laughing at the sight of the squirrels puffed out cheeks with the nuts stuffed in its pouches.
Punk smiled with pride, no better feeling than hearing his daughter's laugh, overlapping with AJ's who had shouted out into the back garden from their home back door.
"Jessie, sweetheart do you want to come get a snack?" AJ asked her daughter who noticed the squirrel had disappeared after she ran out of nuts.
"Coming." Jessie stood up and skipped away to the back door where her mother was there to take her hand.
Punk smiled and stood up himself, dusting his shorts off from the grass on them and making his way to the back door, into his home to see what snack AJ had made. He always loved when him and AJ got the same day off work. It meant they could be together with Jessie all day, just them two, and then have the boys join after they came home from school, to which Jessie waited at the window for them every weekday.
"What'd you make?" Punk asked. Jessie was sitting up on the kitchen counter crunching into a cookie, so from what he assumed, AJ had made cookies, which brought joy to his rumbling stomach.
"Cookies." AJ smiled, passing him the plate as he took one off it.
"You better leave some for Tate and Thomas. They'll go nuts if they found out you made some and they never got any." Punk said as AJ nodded.
"Well I don't think we're going to eat the full batch." AJ chuckled.
"I don't know." Punk said, "They're just so good. You should probably hide them from me." He said as his wife laughed. Still as beautiful as ever. She hadn't changed one bit, she was still the same April, inside and out. Oddly enough he hadn't changed either.
"The boys should be home soon." AJ got a glimpse of the clock in the kitchen, "Jessie, why don't you go watch for them." AJ suggested, lifting Jessie down from the kitchen counter as she skipped away into the living room, jumping up on the couch and leaning forward to look out the window.
Punk crept towards his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist to her surprise and leaning down to give her a passionate and loving kiss, feeling her melt against it like she had been doing for the past nine years now.
He pulled back, laughing lightly at her dreamy eyes.
"What… What was that for?" AJ shook her head.
"Just because I love you." He smiled, running his hands up and down her soft arms.
"Yeah?" AJ smiled, still wondering how she got so lucky, "Well, I love you too." She said, returning the favour and planting another kiss on his lips. They never lost their spark, they never would.
"Tate and Thomas are home!" Jessie squealed from the living room, breaking Punk and AJ apart from their kiss.
Tate and Thomas got the school bus every morning at the end of the long road up to their home, and were dropped off at the same spot coming home, to which they both ran up the long road to get home, desperate to tell their parents and sister about their day.
AJ and Punk heard the school bags drop at the front door, watching as Jessie greeted her brother with hugs, which would make anyone smile, not just AJ and Punk.
AJ smiled nervously as Tate walked through the kitchen door first, acting as casual as he normally did, reaching for the spotted plate of cookies and taking one as AJ stared at him waiting for some answers.
"Well..." AJ looked at her oldest son, "How did the try outs go?" She asked him as he shrugged and sat down at the kitchen table, not saying anything as Thomas walked in through the kitchen, taking a cookie too while Jessie crept her way back outside again, she really was addicted to nature.
"Tate…" Punk said after staring at AJ nervously, "It's alright if you didn't get in. There will be other opportunities." Punk told his son who ever since going to school had began taking a further love in football, going thus far and trying out for the small unders football team at the school.
"I got in." Tate said as he looked at his parents, a smile creeping on his face as he stood up, "I got in!" He yelled as Punk spun him around with excitement.
"That's my boy." Punk swelled with pride as AJ smiled, so happy for her son, only her smile dropping as she seen Thomas walk by and out of the kitchen without saying a word, picking his school bag up and walking out of sight to his room.
Punk put Tate down and looked at AJ who looked concerned for her youngest son who seemed to have a little bit of the green eyed monster on him.
"I'll go talk to him." Punk told AJ, walking into the living room and heading for Tate and Thomas's room while Tate sat and told his mom all about the try outs. Hey may have been nine, but little Tate already had his dreams planned out. His mother had always taught him to dream big.
Punk crept through into Tate and Thomas's room, frowning as he watched Thomas sit on his bed, lifting out books from his bag carefully and sitting them on his nightstand. Unlike Tate, Thomas had no interest for sports or try outs, he enjoyed reading comics, doing his homework and being very much like AJ, quiet and shy.
"Hey, buddy." Punk said, walking towards the eight year old who looked up at him, "You ok?" Punk asked, sitting down beside Thomas.
"Yeah, I guess." Thomas shrugged.
"You guess?" Punk said as Thomas nodded.
"Is Tate better than me because he can play football?" Thomas asked his father with a genuine look of confusion.
"What? Of course not. What made you think that?" Punk said.
"I don't know. It just seems like a big deal." Thomas said, flicking through his comic as Punk frowned.
"Well yeah, sure. It's good, we're happy for Tate, I'm sure you are. But… it doesn't mean he's better than you, or Jessie." Punk explained to his son, "We're all different, Thomas. Jessie likes animals, you like comics and Tate likes football. It'd be boring if you all liked the same stuff wouldn't it?" Punk said as Thomas nodded, "I liked comics when I was younger. I hated football." Punk chuckled as Thomas smiled, not feeling so alone now that he knew his father liked comics.
"What comics did you read?" Thomas asked his father.
"Well I was a Batman guy of course." Punk said, "But I liked other ones, the punisher, hawkeye, stuff like that." Punk smiled as Thomas smiled too.
"I've never heard of those ones." Thomas said.
"Maybe I'll try dig some out from under my bed later, see if I can find any you might like." Punk smiled as Thomas nodded, "Just promise me one thing though?" Punk stood up as his son looked up at him.
"Yeah?" Thomas nodded.
"Promise me you won't think that you mean less to me than Tate. Because you don't." Punk said.
"Ok." Thomas nodded, feeling reassured and convinced like always from his father.
"Ok, good." Punk smiled, "Now since it's Friday, I think we're going to get pizza, so come see what you want." Punk said, watching Thomas jump off the bed and run past him through the living room and into the kitchen.
Later that night…
"I'm so proud of him." AJ leaned her head against Punk's shoulder, staring at Tate tucking into his pizza, sitting on the floor with Thomas and Jessie, watching her daughter brush her curly hair out of her face, little Thomas sitting crossed legged watching the TV in the middle of the line they created.
"I'm proud of all of them." Punk said, "They're all perfect in their own ways." He told his wife.
"I know." AJ nodded, "Kudos to us for making such great children." She smiled as he laughed.
After the pizza boxes gone empty and Jessie was the first to fall asleep, Punk done the honours for tonight and put all of the kids to bed while AJ cleared the pizza boxes away and tidied up. It was no chore for Punk to help his daughter into her pyjamas and tuck her and her brothers into bed. He loved watching their sleepy little heads drift off into sleepy land.
After AJ had tidied up everywhere in the kitchen and living room, she headed into her and Punks bedroom, after locking the front door of course, watching Punk digging underneath the bed and through boxes.
"What are you doing, Phil?" AJ asked.
"I'm just looking for a few comics, that's all." Punk said.
"You haven't read your comics in years." AJ stated. Once they had children, Punks hobby of reading comics began to fade out.
"I know. They're for Thomas. Do you know where they are?" Punk asked AJ.
"Try the bottom of the wardrobe maybe." AJ suggested, stripping her clothes off and getting changed into her pyjamas as Punk found what he was looking for, a smile appearing on his face as he headed for the boys room.
"Oh, Phil…" AJ said as Punk rewinded his steps to see what she wanted.
"Yeah?" He nodded.
"Give Thomas and Tate a kiss from me. And Jessie. I never got a chance." AJ sighed as Punk smiled with a nod, continuing in his steps and heading into his son's room, being as quiet as he could, creeping over to Thomas's bed first, smiling at his sleeping little frame. He sat the comics on his bedside table and leaned down, pressing a kiss on his head from him and AJ as she insisted. It killed him to think for a moment Thomas thought he was less important than Tate, which would never ever happen, Punk loved all his kids, equally together and individually.
He walked across the room, pulling Tate's messy covers over his body and pressing a kiss on his head too. He was proud of Tate, extremely proud. He was just nine years old and had his dreams all set out and Punk loved that. Tate knew what he wanted and he was already on a mission. He was a proud father today, extremely proud.
He left the room and closed the door over, moving onto his special little princess, walking into Jessie's room and smiling at her sleepy little body, her chest rising and falling slowly as she slept peacefully. She was his pride and joy, his shadow, his little nature loving princess. She was the cherry on top to their family and she just kept everyone with a huge smile on their face.
He pressed a soft kissed on her head and left the room, heading into his own bedroom, suddenly feeling tired, chuckling as he seen AJ out cold, fast asleep on her side of the bed. She was hard working, dedicated and not just to her job, but to being the best mother and wife in the world.
He got into bed beside her, shutting the lamp off and sinking down beside her with a smile. This life had taught him a lot of things, but number one being to never underestimate an unstable, mentally ill womans determination to get better and turn into the most amazing wife and mother in the world, because his wife… she done that alright.
The end.
Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing, both stories. Would love to hear some story suggestions from you guys in what you want me to write about next. I am opened to private messages or just leave your idea in a review. But again, thank you guys for the support throughout this story and the first one. You guys rock! Much love.