Growth


"I'm looking for my daughter." Jeanette nodded as Punk looked across at her, "I was told that this would be the address I would find her at." She said, unhappiness in her voice as she looked at him.

"Told by who?" Punk questioned.

"The people at the hospital." Jeanette explained.

"I'm pretty sure they aren't justified in giving April's address to anyone." Punk shook his head.

"I'm not anyone. I'm her mother." Jeanette said, "Is she here? It's her I'd like to see, not you." She glared at him as he smiled a little.

"She's in the bath and I'll be honest, I think it would be best for everyone if you just turned around and left. I can tell her it was my brother at the door and we can all keep living our lives." Punk nodded to her.

"I want to see my daughter." Jeanette said adamantly as Punk looked at her.

"Mom?" AJ questioned, walking down the stairs. She figured she would go down and say hello to Dean. She was getting warm in the bath, and stiff, so she got out and dried off, putting on some pyjamas and heading downstairs, only to find a nightmare at the door instead.

"April." Jeanette placed her hand on her chest with relief as Punk looked at her, shaking his head at her phoniness, "Oh my goodness you're… you're pregnant." She raised her eyebrows as she saw AJ's baby bump, which was hard to miss at this stage, "You're having a baby?" She looked at her daughter as AJ nodded, looking over to Punk who folded his arms, unimpressed.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" AJ shook her head. It felt weird to see her again after such a long time. Almost two years.

"I saw the news. The hospital." Jeanette said, "I had to see if you were ok." She shook her head, "You're having a baby." She shook her head, still disbelief as AJ folded her arms.

"And I'm married." AJ nodded, "And this is my house." She said. She wanted to be smug about it because in the past two years she'd grown to realise her mother's approval was not everything. Not anymore.

"It's a… beautiful house." Jeanette nodded. She wouldn't lie about that.

"Well… I'm alive, I'm well… better than ever actually." AJ nodded, "So you can go now."

"April." Jeanette shook her head.

"No… two years, mom." AJ looked across at her.

"April a phone call works both ways." Jeanette said sternly.

"So does a marriage, but you didn't care about that." Punk jumped in as Jeanette looked at him unhappily, "I'm going to make some coffee." He shook his head, walking off, squeezing AJ's hand as he passed her by. He knew she could handle this.

"You married him." Jeanette nodded to herself with a disappointed sigh, "The man you… cheated with. That's who you married?"

"Yeah, I did." AJ nodded, "And I got my wedding dress from a charity shop. And I planned my wedding. It was everything I wanted and it was the best day ever." She said as Jeanette looked across at her. She could see a drastic change in her daughter. An outspoken change. That scared her. That wasn't the April she was used to controlling and belittling.

"Well… if that's what you wanted." Jeanette nodded.

"It is." AJ nodded.

"Are you going to invite me?" Jeanette questioned as AJ looked at her.

"You can step inside." AJ nodded briefly as Jeanette stepped into the hallway, letting AJ shut the door over, "But you're not staying." She made clear.

"April, why are you so cold?" Jeanette shook her head, "I mean you're… you're glowing." Jeanette nodded, "You look beautiful and you're so… angry."

"I'm angry at you." AJ nodded, "I walk out on my wedding day, hurt and confused, and my mom doesn't even check on me. No, she's just more humiliated for the friends and family who watched me walk out on my wedding day. She's just upset that I'm not marrying the man she wanted me to marry." She said, "That is why I'm angry."

"You and Jason were made for each other." Jeanette tutted, "Everybody knew it."

"No. We weren't. And you didn't let me have an original thought about any of it." AJ shook her head as Jeanette looked across at her.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Jeanette asked.

"Not that it's your business, we don't know." AJ said.

"Not my business? This is my first grandchild." Jeanette said, "You should have… you should have contacted me and told me."

"No, because you're not going to be in the baby's life." AJ nodded, "Because you're not going to be in mine."

"April." Jeanette shook her head, "What is the matter with you? Is this him?" She pointed to the kitchen where Punk had disappeared to, "Is this what he's done to you? Turned you cold?"

"That him is my husband." AJ spat, "And I am far from cold. I'm happy. Extremely happy." She nodded, "You don't get to just show up after almost two years and act like everything is fine."

"Well I was disappointed in you." Jeanette said, "You were so sure when you met Jason that he was the one. So sure when you accepted his proposal. This man you met changed you, and not for the good." She shook her head.

"You're always disappointed in me. It doesn't matter what I do." AJ shook her head, "Sometimes people fall out of love and in love with someone else. It's common. It does happen." AJ nodded, "I didn't wanna be the woman stuck in a marriage I couldn't stand… like you." She said as Jeanette looked across at her.

"You would never speak to me like that. I don't know what has happened to you." Jeanette shook her head with worry.

"What happened is I got free from you telling me what to do, and I became my own person." AJ nodded.

"April, I want to see my grandchild." Jeanette nodded seriously, "We can put our differences aside for that, can't we?"

"No." AJ shook her head, "No, we can't." She said.

"You won't let me see the baby?" Jeanette shook her head.

"No… because I don't wanna see you. You made your feelings perfectly clear by not contacting me for almost two years. That's on you." She nodded as Jeanette looked across at her, "If you just let me be me, and supported me, you'd get to be in your grandchild's life." She nodded.

"You're being cruel." Jeanette nodded.

"No, I think I'm being fair, actually." AJ said. It had only been two years but she felt so grown talking to her mother. She felt so much more wise and sure of herself than ever before, and that felt good. But there was still that side of her that wanted to believe her mother could change, her mother could be proud of her and accept her new life.

"Well I can't say that doesn't hurt me, April." Jeanette nodded.

"Why are you even here? Why are you showing up like this?" AJ shook her head.

"I saw the news about the hospital, I was worried about you." Jeanette nodded, "I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Well I'm fine." AJ nodded, "If that's all you came to check on, I guess you can leave now." She said.

"April, please. You shouldn't make this ugly." Jeanette shook her head.

"You made this ugly." AJ said, "And I don't need to put up with it anymore." She shook her head as Jeanette looked at her unhappily.

"Well… I hope you do change your mind. Maybe once you first hold your child, you'll want him or her to meet the person who brought you into this world." Jeanette nodded, "And who raised you." She sighed, opening up the door and walking out as AJ closed it behind her.

She leaned her back against the door, rolling her head back and sighing to herself. Something still made her feel guilty about speaking to her mother like that, even though it was rightly deserved.

"She gone?" Punk came out from the kitchen as AJ nodded.

"I told her she wasn't seeing the baby." AJ said bravely as he nodded.

"Well that's your call." Punk nodded.

"Is that… harsh?" AJ asked him as he looked down at her.

"After what you've just told me, about what happened to you in high school and what she did about it, which was nothing… I don't think anything you could say or do to her would be harsh enough." He nodded as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"She came to see if I was ok. She saw what happened at the hospital on the news." AJ said, "Maybe I'd feel different if she showed up sooner. Maybe I'd be willing to forgive or… whatever-"

"I don't think you should." Punk said, "I think she's a nasty woman who likes when she gets to control you. And I think you do just fine, and much better, when you're on your own." He nodded.

"But she's my mother." AJ sighed, "She still… brought me into this world and raised me-"

"The woman who brought me into this world gave me away." He nodded to her, "That shit doesn't mean anything. A mom is there for you when you need her and she's not been there for you." He said as she looked at him.

"You just don't like her." AJ sighed.

"I don't, but if it made sense for you to consider forgiving her or just talking to her again, I'd be all for it but it doesn't. She made you miserable." Punk reminded her as she nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ sighed, "She just makes me feel like such a push over." She shook her head.

"You weren't a push over just now. I heard you. You told her exactly what she needed to hear." He nodded positively.

"Yeah." AJ nodded to herself, "I did." She said proudly, "I did tell her." She nodded as he smiled.

"I know she's your mom and it's easier for me to say these things from where I'm standing but… you know what she's like." He said. He didn't want her to think that just because she was her mom, meant she had to forgive her and talk to her.

"I know." AJ nodded, "It just felt really cruel saying to someone that I'm not gonna let them see my baby. Feels like the worst punishment I could give someone."

"Well… if you ask me, I think it's the right call." He nodded, "Cruel or not. You don't need her." He said as she nodded.

"Yeah, I don't." AJ agreed, "I really just told her off, didn't I?" She smiled a little as he chuckled.

"You did." He smiled.

"Maybe that concussion is still lingering. Making me all bold." She nodded as he smiled.

"No, I think you just know how much you really don't need her." He nodded, "And there's nothing wrong with that." He said as she smiled, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.