Date Night


"How do I look for our date night?" AJ smiled, walking into the living room with some sweats and a hoodie on, turning around for him to get a three sixty look as he chuckled to himself, sitting on the sofa.

"Gorgeous as always." Punk nodded as she smiled.

"And what about my hair?" She asked him, pointing to her very messy hair which had been tied up in a bun, with strands hanging out of it.

"Effortlessly beautiful." Punk nodded as she chuckled, collapsing onto the sofa beside him as he wrapped his arm around her, "Did the little man go to sleep ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah, he should be down for the night." AJ nodded, sitting the sound monitor on the coffee table, relaxing back against the couch.

They'd claimed tonight as their date night, which in simple terms revolved around them ordering in and renting some movies whilst wearing nothing but sweats. It was very much their 'adjusting first time parents' date night.

"Maybe our next date night I could take you out." He nodded, reaching for a breadstick from the coffee table where their food was sitting.

"What about Matteo?" AJ shook her head.

"Maybe Uncle Dean can have him for the night." Punk shrugged.

"I kinda like our sweat pants and pizza date nights. They're proving to be very successful." She shrugged as he chuckled.

"They are." Punk agreed, "It's nice to go out, though. I like showing my wife off." He nudged her playfully as she chuckled.

"I am not some accessory to you." AJ scoffed.

"You look good on me." Punk shrugged as she smiled.

"Do you like showing off your post-partum wife, though?" She asked.

"Even more so." Punk assured her as she smiled, leaning into him for comfort.

"We like… made a little person." AJ shook her head, "He's all sweet upstairs sleeping." She said as Punk smiled.

"I know, I think it's really starting to settle in that he's here and well he's here to say." He said as AJ chuckled.

"How many kids do you want?" She patted his leg curiously.

"That's really up to you." Punk laughed a little, "Two would be fine. He needs someone to play with eventually." He figured as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, two would be good for me." AJ agreed, "Is it weird that I sort of missing working?" She wondered.

"No, not really. Why?" He asked.

"I just… I don't know, I feel like I'm supposed to be like having the time of my life, which I am, I love being here with Matteo." She clarified, "But I kinda miss being busy. He's in such a routine now where like… when he's napping in the afternoon I have no idea what to do with myself." She admitted truthfully.

"Well you're someone who is used to being on their feet all day, being super busy. But you're supposed to resting anyway so I think it'll be good for you for the long haul." He nodded.

"Yeah, I bet the second I go back to work I'll be wishing I was at home again." She nodded to herself, "Do you miss us at work?" She smiled.

"Of course I do." He nodded immediately. Sometimes all he thought about during his day of work was getting to go home and see his family, "You know I was talking about this with Dean. He wanted to know if the job felt different now that I had a kid."

"Does it?" AJ asked curiously.

"A little. I think I think about things a lot more. I don't just run into things like I used to." He said, "I mean for so long my job was all I really had. It's kinda slowly falling down the food chain, a lot, these past few years." He nodded, "It's no longer the most important thing to me. I just hope that never affects how good I am at it." He said.

"Of course it won't." AJ assured him, "But I know what you mean. I just know when I go back to work I won't be the same as I was before. I'll probably avoid the paediatric department." She nodded to herself.

"Is that where the sick kids are?" He asked as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "Just feels worse when you're a parent. Especially seeing other parents. You just can't imagine what they're going through." She said as he nodded.

"I think you'd be a great paediatrician actually." Punk nodded, "You'd definitely put smiles on their faces."

"You think?" AJ asked as he nodded, "You know I considered it for a while. Neuro was just for me." She nodded.

"Is that what your dad was in?" He asked as she nodded.

"Yeah he was a neuro surgeon." AJ said, "A good one."

"Was there any sort of relationship between you and him at all?" He asked her.

"No. He wasn't even the type of dad who was just mean because they were protective. He was just mean." AJ nodded, "But he was never really there. He spent all his days at work or… having an affair. And mom took that out on me." She shrugged.

"Must have sucked." He nodded.

"It did." AJ said, "I could never really talk about it with anyone either. I didn't wanna be the weird girl who had a chaotic home life. And I didn't even talk much about it to Jason, cause for some reason he liked my mom, and she liked him." AJ shrugged, "I'm glad I can talk about it with you." She leaned into him as he kissed her head.

"You can talk to me about anything." He assured her, "I know it's been a rollercoaster few weeks. And I know I was pretty hard to reach for a while, but you were there and you didn't let me sink into myself. I appreciate that." He nodded to her.

"It sucks when we lose people we love. I know you were just hurting. And then finding out about Mark, I get it must have been triggering for you." She nodded.

"Yeah, probably." Punk said.

"Do you miss him?" She asked as he nodded.

"Yeah. Not as much as I used to. As time moves on you kinda get used to it." He nodded, "It's like losing a parent." He said as she nodded.

"When the time comes and your mom… passes." AJ nodded quietly, "Do you think when you're going through all of her things, documents, you might come across adoption papers?" She asked curiously.

"I already have. She wanted me to look after all her paper work when she first got ill. I'm in charge of her will and the funeral… all that good stuff." He shook his head, "And I did come across the adoption papers." He told her, "Really not that exciting as you think?"

"So did you get names?" AJ wondered.

"I saw names, yeah." Punk nodded, "But they don't mean anything."

"You're not the tiniest bit curious?" AJ asked, "I understand you don't want to or need to know them but… don't you wanna know why they opted to give you away to another family?" She asked him, placing her hand on his arm.

"You seem way more curious about it than I am." He turned to her with a small smile, "I have one mom and dad. That's it. That's all I see." He nodded.

"You're really not interested?" She asked as he shook his head.

"Not one bit." He said honestly as she looked up at him. She believed him. She could see he was being honest and truthful. He always had been about the situation. But she just wondered if deep down he was curious.

"Does that come from a place of resentment?" She asked him.

"I don't think so." He shook his head, "Paul and Gerry are my parents. They raised me. Put me through school. Tucked me into bed at night. Paul took me to hockey games and Gerry taught me manners. I'm not mad that… these people gave me away. Cause they gave me away to really good people. So there's no problem." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"Yeah whatever the situation was, the clearly put you and Dean first." She nodded, "I don't know if your mom has said anything like this to you before, but when she was in the hospital one time, she uh… she told me that I reminded her of your biological mom." She said as Punk turned to her.

"Well, I doubt it. They never met." Punk shook his head.

"That's what she said." AJ shrugged.

"She also thinks my dad is still alive." Punk reminded her, "She says all sorts."

"I know. It just kinda caught me off guard. I don't know why I never told you. It slipped my mind I guess." AJ said.

"When I visited her yesterday she didn't even say a word to me." Punk shook his head.

"I know." AJ sighed, linking her arm through his and leaning her cheek on his arm, "It's a cruel disease."

"This date night isn't supposed to be depressing." He whispered to her as she chuckled.

"It's not." AJ said, "It's good to talk. Just because I'm love with another guy now doesn't mean you don't get to talk to me." She nodded as he smiled.

"Another guy?" He questioned.

"A little guy." AJ grinned as he smiled.

With the madness that came with having a new baby, it was important they still got their alone time to chat and be there for each other, the way they always were.


"Why is it so busy in here tonight?" Renee scoffed, sitting at the bar in Kat's as Dean came back from the bathroom and sat back down beside her.

"I know." Dean said unhappily, "Maybe we're just getting too old." He turned to her, "Apparently when you get older you get more bothered by people."

"I'm always bothered by people." Renee disagreed, "It just seems abnormally busy." She said, "This is a locals bar only."

"Well Kat's probably making good money." Dean shrugged, taking a drink of his beer.

"A few nurses got let go at work today." Renee told him, "I haven't told April yet cause I don't want her to freak out. She thinks her job is in danger."

"Why?" Dean shook his head.

"Cause she's off on maternity leave." Renee said.

"That's no reason to fire someone." Dean chuckled, "She's just a worrier."

"Yeah, her job will be fine. She's an amazing doctor. They're really missing her in neuro right now." Renee nodded.

"She'll be back soon. Unless she has separation anxiety with Matteo." Dean said.

"What do you know about new moms and separation anxiety?" Renee smiled a little.

"I just know it's a thing." Dean shrugged, "It's pretty logical I mean mom's spend so much time with their baby's the first few months. It's gotta be difficult to part ways." He nodded as Renee smiled.

"You're not normally this sensitive." Renee smiled as Dean nodded.

"Being an uncle has changed me." He teased as she chuckled, nudging him playfully as she took a sip of their wine.

"Hey, you two." Kat smiled, walking over to the side of the bar they were sitting at, "Hard days work over?" She asked them, collecting some empty glasses.

"Yes, thank God." Renee nodded to her.

"Why is it so busy in here tonight?" Dean asked.

"Oh, there's a tour guide at the hotel across the road. So they all came here." Kat told them.

"Oh, it makes sense." Dean nodded, "Good business for you." He said.

"Hell yeah." Kat said, "How's the baby doing?" She asked them.

"He's fine." Renee smiled, "Yeah, they're all doing good." She nodded positively.

"I saw Jason was back." Kat told them, "The other night he was here with what I think was April's mom." She let them know suspiciously as Dean looked at her.

"Her mom was in here?" Renee scoffed.

"With Jason?" Dean clarified.

"Yeah. Sitting over there." She pointed to the seat in the corner, "I wouldn't have known it was her mom if it wasn't for the fact I heard them talking about April. Not sure what about, but I heard her name a couple times."

"How long were they here?" Dean asked.

"About an hour." Kat nodded, "Weird, right?" She thought to herself, turning around to change a barrel whilst Dean looked at Renee.