Loss


"He's a beautiful baby." Shauna smiled, having come to check on AJ, getting a hold of Matteo who was still sleeping like an angel, "What's his name?" She asked.

"Matteo." AJ smiled, listening as Punk coughed beside her sitting on the chair, "Matteo Phillip Brooks." She added as Punk smiled to himself.

"Oh, hi Matteo. You're just beautiful." Shauna said, "Congratulations you two." She nodded to them both, "He sure picked a crazy night to make his entrance."

"Yeah tell me about it." Punk nodded, "Do you know how my brother is doing?" He asked her.

"He's still in surgery. When I know more I'll let you know." Shauna nodded, "You doing ok?" She asked him as Punk nodded.

"It's just some scratches." Punk said modestly as AJ looked over at him.

"Scratches don't need stitches." AJ looked at him with a raised brow.

"Big ones do." He smiled.

"You know if there's anything else you want us to check out we can." Shauna nodded, "If you're in any pain then tell us." She said.

"I'm not. Trust me." Punk assured her, "Just a cut up head and arm."

"Yeah I… I heard you were one of the lucky ones." Shauna said as Punk nodded, "It's awful." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Did you know it was as bad as it was?" AJ asked Shauna.

"I knew it was bad just going by the ER. You were in labour. I didn't want to worry you about Phil." Shauna said, "I was scared you would refuse to give birth." She rolled her eyes as Punk turned to AJ.

"You were refusing to give birth?" He raised a brow.

"Not literally." AJ rolled her eyes, "I was just scared. I didn't wanna do it on my own." She shrugged as Punk nodded, reaching over and taking her hand.

"Well he's beautiful. Maybe he did pick a good night to make his entrance. Bring some happiness." Shauna smiled as Punk nodded, "I'm gonna pop off and do my rounds." She told them, carefully putting Matteo back in the bassinet before leaving the room.

"So what actually happened?" AJ asked Punk.

"You should sleep. You'll be exhausted." He said.

"Talk to me." She shook her head as he looked at her, "Cause so far you haven't said much, and I know there's a lot going on but… I kinda feel like everyone knows what's going on besides me." She nodded.

"We got there and it was pretty blown up anyway so we figured we were just doing our routine of checking for… bodies or people who were still alive." He said, "Some part was still on fire so Frank and Drew headed inside." He nodded, "Next thing I knew, it blew up again." He shook his head as AJ sighed to herself.

She couldn't have imagined how scary it must have been, and how heartbroken he had to have been to lose two good friends and colleagues.

"Is that how you got your cuts?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I rocked myself against the ground. I don't even know what happened to Dean, he was further in than me so he must have landed bad on his leg." He said, "We got taken to the hospital right away." He nodded.

"I'm so sorry about Frank and Drew." AJ nodded, "You guys really do put your life on the line, huh?" She sighed. It terrified her because she knew it could have been him. It was an awful thought to think about anything happening to him, especially now with Matteo here, their life together just felt all the more sacred.

"Yeah we do." Punk sighed, "It's not supposed to go like that though." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Of course it's not." She sighed, "Was anyone else hurt?" She asked him.

"The rest of us just had some minor injuries." Punk said, "Dean will be fine, right? I think they need to operate because of the bone. So that's not dangerous or anything, right?" He asked her, "I know you deal with heads but-"

"It's not dangerous." AJ assured him, "It's a simple procedure. Long rehab probably but he'll… he'll be fine." AJ nodded.

"What a night." Punk shook his head.

"It's ok for you to be upset." AJ nodded.

"I'm upset and then I look over at him." Punk smiled, looking over at Matteo in his bassinet, "And it feels like everything will be ok."

"It will." AJ said.

"I'm sorry you had to do this on your own." He shook his head. It wasn't what they'd planned, and he was devastated he'd missed his son's very first moments.

"I wasn't alone. I had Renee." AJ assured him.

"You're a champ." He smiled, "No drugs?" He asked her.

"No drugs." AJ nodded, "I do not recommend it." She shook her head as he smiled, both of them looking over as they heard Matteo begin to cry, "Ok I gotta try this feeding thing again." AJ nodded tiredly as Punk lifted Matteo from the bassinet, passing him over to AJ who sat up ready to feed him.

"Is this your first time trying?" He asked her.

"No, I tried earlier but he wasn't latching on properly." AJ shook her head, "Doctor Jones said it takes a couple goes at it sometimes." She shrugged as Punk nodded.

"When did your water break?" Punk asked curiously.

"Not long after you left the house." AJ nodded, "I was just clearing the food away and just… felt this water running down my legs." She said.

"Did you drive yourself here?" He asked.

"Yeah, my contractions weren't bad then. I remembered the carrier. It's in the car." AJ told him as he nodded, "I think he's feeding." AJ nodded, looking down as Punk smiled over, "You're so clever, Matteo." AJ smiled, "Yes you are." She nodded, stroking his cheek softly as Punk watched. It was impossible not to smile.


"Hi, baby." Renee smiled, standing at the bottom of Dean's bed as he began to wake up after his surgery, "You seeing double of me?" She asked.

"No." Dean said.

"Well that's good." Renee nodded, walking around the bed and taking a seat beside him, "The surgery went well." She told him as he nodded, still sleepy and distant.

"So I can walk out of here?" He teased with a tired smile as she cupped his cheek, leaning over and kissing him softly, "Sympathy kiss." He scoffed as Renee chuckled.

"You can't walk out of here but… you will walk again soon." She assured him as Dean nodded, "You want to hear some good news?"

"I do." Dean nodded.

"You have a nephew." She smiled as Dean looked at her, "April gave birth whilst you guys were out." She nodded.

"She couldn't have waited until we were finished?" Dean scoffed jokingly as Renee chuckled.

"Yeah, labour don't work like that." Renee said.

"Are they healthy?" Dean asked as Renee nodded.

"Yeah, they're both great. Matteo. That's his name." Renee said.

"Sweet." Dean nodded, "We can take him to hockey games." He mumbled to himself as Renee smiled.

"Maybe we could… get him a buddy at some point." She said as he smirked, "I'm so glad you're ok." She sighed with relief, "I heard how bad it was. None of us were allowed to tell April because she was in labour."

"Yeah, it was bad." Dean nodded, "Normally we get a heads up if we're gonna get a second blow but… it just went off." He shook his head, "Man, it hurt." He sighed, thinking about the excruciating pain he was in when he got injured. He was glad he had the hospital drugs now that was for sure.

"I'm sorry about your friends, your work colleagues." She nodded, "I know you guys are a huge family."

"Yeah, we are." Dean nodded, "Does Matteo look like Phil or April?" He asked, doing his best to avoid thinking about the pain of losing two great guys.

"Uh… he's got April's eyes but I think he's a lot like Phil." Renee nodded, "He's the sweetest thing."

"Will they get out of here before me?" Dean asked.

"Probably. I'm sure they'll come stop by before they leave in the morning." Renee said as Dean nodded, "You just need to get some rest." She said, brushing his hair from his face, "Are you in any pain?" She asked him.

"A little bit but not nearly as much as I was before." He said as Renee nodded, "Sorry if I scared you."

"You did." She nodded, "But you don't have to be sorry. I'm here to take care of you." She assured him, leaning back down and kissing him softly.


Later that night, AJ had fallen asleep after feeding Matteo, completely exhausted and drained. She simply couldn't keep her eyes opened any more.

Punk was sitting by the bed, holding Matteo in his arms as the baby boy was peacefully sleeping again. Holding him just made him feel better, it brought a calm within him he didn't know he had. He was trying not to give himself a hard time for missing the birth. He was here now and he promised he was going to do everything in his power to protect and love this little boy with everything he had.

"Hey." Shauna said quietly, walking into the room as Punk looked over.

"Hey." Punk said quietly.

"Your brother is out of surgery and he's doing good. Renee is with him. It all went well." Shauna nodded to him as Punk sighed with relief.

"That's good." Punk nodded, "Thank you for letting me know." He said as Shauna nodded, looking over at AJ who was fast asleep.

"She did good." Shauna said as Punk looked over at AJ, "I've had three babies and I took all the drugs they could give me, and I was still in a lot of pain." She said, "So she's a warrior alright." She nodded, admiring AJ for her strength and how she had handled the night without her husband being there.

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing." Punk agreed, "She fed him not too long ago. Yeah, he finally latched on." He nodded as Shauna smiled.

"You know you should go home and get some sleep. You've had a pretty exhausting day too." Shauna said.

"I'll just stay here." Punk insisted, "I like staring at him." He nodded as Shauna laughed a little.

"He's beautiful. And he's lucky to have you both." Shauna said as Punk smiled.

"This is weird. You're not normally soft and nice." Punk said as Shauna chuckled.

"Yeah don't get used to it. As soon as she's back working with me, the sweet baby talk is over." She pointed over to AJ as Punk smiled, "But… for now, if she has any mama questions, I'm here for that too."

"I know she appreciates it." Punk nodded.

"How are you holding up?" Shauna asked, "After what happened?"

"Trying not to think about it." Punk admitted.

"Well, that never helps anyone." Shauna said.

"You see a lot as a firefighter. Sights that you can't really explain. Cutting people out of car crashes. Saving people who are literally burning alive." He shook his head, "It's a lot. But… tonight was just horrific." He nodded, "And we lost two good guys."

"I'm sorry." Shauna said as he nodded, "If you need anything just let me know."

"Thank you." Punk said, watching as she left the room which fell silent as Punk looked over to AJ, watching her sleeping, thankful she was getting some much needed rest.

"Hey, Matteo." He whispered, taking hold of Matteo's hand as the baby boy slept in his arms, "You got the most amazing mommy." He spoke quietly, "She got you here all by herself. She was so brave. And now you're here." He whispered, "And we're gonna love you so much."