Naturally
"There's my favourite sister-in-law." Theo smiled, approaching the nurse's station in the ICU unit where Thea was standing behind, filling out paperwork.
"Don't even try it." Thea hummed, "This is the ICU, not an interrogation room. Leave where you came from." She told him without looking up, continue to do her paperwork.
"C'mon, he's gotta be awake by now." Theo huffed.
"He is. But you're not speaking to him until he's out of ICU." Thea nodded, "You know this."
"Yeah, but you're my sister. You could do me a favour?" Theo leaned over her desk, trying to get her to look at him, "Anything you need me to do, I'll do it." He said.
"I need you to leave. Because I'm busy." Thea looked at him, "And you're going to end up with this pen in your hand." She told him as Theo scoffed.
"He's a key witness in my homicide investigation." Theo sighed.
"I'm aware. He's also been stabbed three times and just gone through major surgery. He's still out of it on drugs. Taking any statement from him right now would be completely unethical, not to mention unreliable." Thea shook her head, walking out from behind the desk.
"When did you become a cop?" Theo folded his arms.
"Never. It's common sense." Thea said, "You'll be informed when he's moved out of the ICU."
"Yeah, yeah." Theo said.
"Shouldn't you be at home looking after my baby sister, anyway?" Thea asked him, walking down the corridor with him.
"Cassie? Being looked after?" Theo questioned.
"Good point." Thea nodded, "But I hope she's taking it easy."
"She is. For the most part." Theo nodded, "She's just glad she's not in pain anymore."
"Yeah, well ovarian cysts are no joke. She's lucky it didn't rupture." Thea said.
"I know." Theo said, "She's actually enjoying the time off with Lena."
"How are you? You didn't really give yourself much time off after losing your dad." Thea said.
"I'm alright. Still kinda feels like a fever dream." He admitted, "But I'm happy to be back at work."
"And annoying me?" Thea asked.
"Of course." Theo said, "Can't blame a guy for trying."
"Please leave my hospital." Thea nodded politely.
"I'm going." Theo understood.
"And give Cassie a hug from me." Thea told him as he nodded, walking off towards the elevators to leave the hospital.
"She wouldn't let me in." Theo scoffed, draining some spaghetti at the sink whilst Cassie sat at the table.
"She never lets me in. Why do you think she'd let you in?' Cassie questioned, confused at his optimism.
"Figured one of these times I'm gonna catch her on a good day." Theo shrugged.
"So let me get this straight…" Cassie said, "This guy in the ICU, his hand was put in a blender?" She questioned.
"Yeah." Theo nodded, "I mean, it's looking like a drug deal gone wrong. One guy gets killed, the other stabbed and… slightly blended." He shook his head, "Our murderer flees the scene."
"So was his hand still stuck in the blender?" Cassie wondered.
"He lost three of his fingers and needed skin graph surgery." Theo said, "He's lucky he didn't lose his whole hand." He shook his head.
"Whose house were they in?" Cassie questioned.
"Our dead guy's ex-wife's house." Theo nodded, "So we got an ID on him but not the other. Gonna take some sniffing around."
"Sounds like you had an exciting day." Cassie said, "I'm jealous."
"How you feeling?" He asked, sitting down at the table across from her.
"Ok, I guess." Cassie nodded, "Seem to be healing and getting stronger every day. Just trying hard to be positive."
"I know it's tough. Being out of action." He said, sitting down with their dinner that he'd made.
"Yeah, but I get to snuggle with Lena all day. I'm not really complaining." She smiled, "Thank you for making this, it looks good." She nodded.
"Appetite coming back then?" He asked her.
"Slowly, yeah." She nodded.
"Theodore?" Jillian, Theo's mother called as she walked into the house.
"I could do without this tonight." Theo groaned, looking across at Cassie who smiled.
"We're in the kitchen." Cassie said.
"Can I go out the back door?" Theo asked.
"Behave." Cassie scoffed.
"Hey, you two." Jillian smiled, walking into the kitchen, "Cassie, sweetie, how are you feeling?"
"I'm doing ok, Jill." Cassie nodded, "Taking it easy. And I got a good nurse." She grinned to Theo who smiled.
"I trained him well." Jillian smiled, "Well, I brought you some bone broth, some tortilla soup and a three-bean stew. All good for nurturing you back to good health. I will put some in the fridge and some in the freezer." She said, walking over to the fridge.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that." Cassie said.
"Nonsense. You must look after yourself." Jillian nodded seriously.
"And soup and beans are your ideas of looking after yourself?" Theo scoffed.
"These foods always nursed you and Matteo back to good health when you were sick." Jillian said.
"I appreciate it. Thank you." Cassie smiled, kicking Theo on the shin under the table.
"Are my grandbabies sleeping?" Jillian wondered.
"Yeah." Cassie nodded.
"Guess what, mom?" Theo interrupted.
"What, sweetie?" Jillian smiled.
"I saw three chopped off fingers in a blender today." Theo nodded to her as Jillian raised a brow, turning to Cassie.
"He's not joking." Cassie nodded.
"Oh, Theodore. You know, I'd have lower blood pressure had my son chosen to be a… high school teacher or… a bank manager." Jillian shook her head.
"You'd have low blood pressure and a miserable son." Theo nodded, "That's nowhere near the worst thing I've seen in my career. Me and Cassie, on patrol one time, saw a pigeon eating a dead body down in the sewers." He nodded, "It pecked his eyeballs out and they were sitting beside the body."
"Unfortunately, this is all true." Cassie nodded as Jillian put her hands over her ears.
"That is enough." She made clear as Theo chuckled to himself, "I came here to check on Cassie, not to be terrorised by my immature son." She scolded as Theo shrugged, "Both his eyeballs?" She folded her arms.
"Both." Theo nodded.
"God." Jillian shook her head, turning back to Cassie, "Is there anything you need me to do, Cassie? Any errands you need me to run for you?"
"No, I'm ok. Thank you." Cassie smiled, "I'm on my feet a lot more now and plus, I have my little lap dog to help me." She looked over to Theo, "And my parents' have been great. I'm well looked after."
"Alright, well you know if you need anything you just call me." Jillian said, "And eat that stuff I've gave you. I promise it will help."
"I will." Cassie nodded.
"Ok, I'll leave you both to your dinner." Jillian said, kissing Cassie on the cheek and then kissing Theo on his, "Fingers in a blender." She scoffed, shaking her head as she left the kitchen and headed out.
"I swear she was a witch in another life." Theo shook his head.
"Theo?" Cassie shook her head.
"She thinks soup is going to help you feel better. It's soup." Theo scoffed.
"You're right. Maybe I should smoke some pot." Cassie looked at him.
"You gotta let that go." Theo nodded, "I was a kid. You didn't get up to dumb stuff when you were a kid?" He asked.
"Not really." Cassie admitted, "Thea kinda set the bar high for dumb stuff for us. Me and Jude's antics kinda got unnoticed." She shrugged, "But you were a little pot head." She pointed her fork at him.
"I'm gonna take this into the living room." He pointed to his dinner as she chuckled to herself, "You certainly seem a lot better." He noticed with a smile. For the past few weeks of her recovery, she had been tired, slow and without an appetite. He could finally see her slowly getting back to her normal self.
"I do feel better." Cassie nodded, "And I kinda love being here with Lena all day, and seeing Chase more." She said as he smiled.
"That's good. They make the healing process a lot better." Theo agreed.
"Definitely." Cassie nodded, tapping his foot under the table sweetly as he smiled.
"Hey, it's just me." Jude announced, walking into her parents' house after coming from work. She hadn't realised just how much she had missed having her parents such a short drive away from her. She would never regret her time in New York. She had so many wonderful memories she would cherish from that period in her life, but being back in Chicago, she was starting to truly appreciate her hometown and her family being so close again.
She made her way through her childhood home into the kitchen, not spotting her parents' anywhere. She was about to head through to the living room when she noticed out the kitchen window, her parents in the yard, dancing together amongst the fairy lights.
She smiled to herself, her heart swelling as she watched her father spin her mother under his arm, their smiles both infectious. She was sure she'd never know two people so in love with each other than them.
She opened the door, walking outside where they both noticed her.
"Oh, hi love." AJ smiled.
"Hey." Jude smiled back, "I was… just coming for a coffee but… I can see you guys tomorrow." She shook her head, not taking her coat off, not wanting to ruin their time together.
"No, no stay. Don't be silly." AJ shook her head, "He captured me anyway." She scoffed.
"I didn't see you put up much of a fight." Punk smiled, "I'll be in soon, I'm just going to water the plants." He said whilst AJ rushed over to Jude, hugging her hello before they headed inside to the kitchen.
"I'll make the coffee, you sit." Jude nodded, taking her coat off.
"No, you sit. And pick a donut." She put the box of donuts on the table.
"Oh, these look good." Jude smiled, taking a seat at the kitchen table, looking at all the delicious donuts.
"Dean and Renee dropped them off earlier. They're from that incredible bakery, the one Renee knows the owners. I always forget the name." AJ shook her head, "Are you just home from work?"
"Yeah, straight from the office." Jude nodded, picking a sprinkle glazed donut to have.
"How's the illustrations coming along?" AJ asked, waiting for the coffee to brew and grabbing out some mugs for them.
"I'm actually almost finished. Which… I'm so excited about but… also kinda sad. I've enjoyed it so much." Jude said.
"Well this is only the beginning. Once people can see what you can do, every author will want your illustrations on their book." AJ nodded, pouring the coffee for them and taking them to the table.
"I hope so." Jude nodded, "I'm hoping I can get a longer contract with the publishing house, maybe. I really love working there." She admitted.
"Does that have anything to do with a certain someone?" AJ grinned over her mug.
"No." Jude scoffed, taking a bite of her donut, "Well…" She said, her mouth full of doughy goodness, "It is nice to see him there."
"And how's it been going with you two? Can we meet him yet?" AJ asked.
"It's going good." Jude nodded, "Slow, but good. I need slow."
"Nothing wrong with taking it slow. Especially with everything you've been through." AJ said.
"And no, you can't meet him yet." Jude added.
"Well I would like to meet the man who has been making my daughter smile so much lately." AJ said, watching Jude take a sip of her coffee. The change in Jude had been profound as of late. Of course, dealing with the divorce with Sean had been difficult, but there was light back in her daughter's green eyes.
"The girls are staying with Sean tonight." Jude said, "I don't imagine that I'll ever get used to it. Not seeing them every night before bed."
"Of course not. It'll be incredibly difficult. I can only imagine." AJ said, "But you deserve happiness. And if Sean wasn't that any more then… you had to make that decision."
"Maybe coming to my mom for this sort of advice is a little strange, but… I'm kinda struggling with the intimate side of things with Miles." Jude admitted.
"Why?" AJ asked.
"I have no idea. I really like him. I… I love him." Jude nodded, "I love spending time with him. We've kissed… lots." She confirmed, "But anytime it goes further I chicken out."
"It's new and it's different. You've been with Sean for… fourteen years. It'd be weird if you didn't have hesitations. It'll happen when you're ready." AJ assured her.
"I want it to happen, though. That's the annoying part." Jude shook her head.
"Subconsciously, you obviously don't." AJ said, "So be patient with yourself. There's way more to a relationship than sex. Way more. Don't force it. Let it just happen naturally. Because it will."
"I don't know if it's because I'm still thinking of Sean." Jude admitted, "Not like that. Just… how different my life is now. Us not being together. The girls having to be passed between us."
"You weren't happy, Jude. You have nothing to feel guilty or sorry for." AJ said, "What Sean did to you was wrong, but I don't doubt you'll ever stop loving him. It'll just… I'll turn into a different love. It probably already has. Once you accept that, it'll fall into place with Miles."
"I hope so." Jude nodded, "I really do love him. He's really wonderful."
"Well, me and your father can't wait to meet him." AJ smiled, "As long as your happy, that's all we care about."
"I know." Jude nodded with a smile.