Invisible Scars


"Morning." Punk smiled, opening their bedroom door with his foot as he walked in with breakfast and coffee for AJ who was now awake.

"Hey." AJ smiled, "What's this?" She asked.

"Well Matteo is still sleeping so I thought you could have some breakfast in bed. I got your favourites." He said, sitting the breakfast tray on the bedside table.

"You're too sweet." AJ smiled, "And this smells great." She nodded.

"I wish I could stay and eat with you but I gotta get to work." He said, leaning over and kissing her as she kissed back whilst cupping his cheek softly.

He knew she'd had a restless night. He'd felt her toss and turn in bed beside him, heard her go to the bathroom at least three times, he knew her mother and her ex were on her mind.

"You didn't have to do this." AJ said.

"I wanted to. Plus, take advantage of the little guy sleeping late." He nodded.

"Did you check on him?" AJ asked, taking a piece of toast and her mug of coffee.

"Yeah, he's fine." Punk chuckled, "He's just being lazy."

"That's fine with me." AJ nodded, "It is still early." She said. Her eyes were nipping from the lack of sleep she'd gotten, so a hot coffee and favourite breakfast was very appreciated.

"I'll see you when I get home." Punk nodded, leaning over and kissing her head as she smiled, watching him leave the bedroom, listening to the door shut over downstairs as she rested her head against the wall behind her.

It was hard to explain to someone that hadn't had her mother as a mother, why it affected her so much. Why she had so much anxiety around what her mother said and did. There was the paranoia creeping up on her, convincing herself to talk to her mother, forgive her. Forgive her because she was her mother and she raised her and she should have respect for her. The stronger version of herself, the one she'd worked on these past few years, always pushed her way through with the assurance similar to her husbands. That her mother did not deserve her time. And that her mother really wasn't a mother to her.

There was a fine line between it all. Growing up with a psychologically abusive parent had left her with the inability to see the wrong in it. Even as a grown adult.


"How's April?" Dean asked, taking his helmet off and joining Punk at the back of the fire truck after they attended to a house, "Renee said she was kinda spooked about her mom and Jason having some sort of rendezvous at Kat's." He said.

"I don't think she slept last night." Punk shook his head.

"What's the deal with her mom?" Dean asked, "I mean… you have a good mom, you talk to them. You don't have a good mom, you don't talk to them. It's kinda simple." He shrugged.

"Yeah not for her." Punk shook his head, "It's like her mom being back has triggered something." He nodded as Dean looked at him, "She's told me some things about what she was like growing up. Not everything. But some things." He nodded, "And from the things I've heard, I don't think it was just a bad relationship. Tons of people have bad relationships with their folks. But with her and her mom it's just… it's different." He shook his head.

"Well then what's the deal with the ex?" Dean asked, chugging some water, "Why is he getting involved?"

"I don't know. I'd love to know what they were talking about but at the same time I just… I don't care." Punk shrugged truthfully, "But I know Ape does."

"She can't just switch off from it? She's done so well without her mom these past few years." Dean said.

"That's because she's stayed gone." Punk nodded, "It's like when her mom is around she turns into a twelve year old again." He shook his head.

"Well obviously there's some scarring. You can't dismiss how she feels." Dean said.

"Oh, I've not." Punk assured him, "I… I'm just not in a position to know how she's feeling. Cause our mom was good to us growing up." He nodded.

"Well there's being a shitty mom and then there's being a mom that needs her kid taken from her." Dean pointed out, "How shitty are we thinking Jeanette was?" He asked as Punk looked at him.

"I'm gonna go with the second." Punk nodded as Dean frowned a little.

"Well you can only be there for her." Dean said, "Hopefully these feelings will pass and those two clowns will stay away. If not, bust out the restraining order. It's literally made for situations like this." He nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't hesitate if I have to." Punk said, "I don't know why her mother is so obsessed with Matteo."

"Isn't she just being a typical grandmother?" Dean asked.

"No, it's different. She brought gifts and she was telling April what to do with him." Punk shook his head unhappily, "I would have thought that him being my son wouldn't have been good enough for her." He shrugged.

"What's her problem with you anyway? You're an ok guy." Dean teased as Punk laughed a little.

"Yeah, thanks." Punk nodded, "Well I'm just the guy that took her daughter away from the guy she wanted her to marry. I'm always gonna be the guy. Especially now that we know she's still talking with Jason." He said.

"Doesn't she work or something?" Dean scoffed with rolling eyes.

"No, she retired young apparently. Her husband was a surgeon so… she's probably set for life somehow. Even though they hated each other." Punk said.

"Yeah that does not sound like a house I'd wanna grow up in." Dean shook his head.

"You ever think about it? About our biological parents?" He wondered.

"Who?" Dean raised a brow.

"The sperm guy and the surrogate." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Oh, them?" Dean nodded, "No, I don't." He said bluntly.

"I never did either until we had Matteo." He admitted, "When I first held him… the thought of doing anything but being there for him and watching him grow up with my own eyes just wasn't there."

"You don't know what the situation was." Dean shrugged, "Maybe we were just terrors."

"You were a baby and I could barely speak." Punk scoffed, "I doubt it was anything we did."

"Well it's nothing I think about. I know who my parents are." Dean nodded to himself.

"I just hope April's mom doesn't get to her too much." Punk shook his head, "And whatever it is they her and Jason were talking about, I swear if it affects April…" He shook his head angrily.

"We'll deal with it." Dean nodded.


Punk got home from work later that night, tired but excited to see his family. Finishing a shift at work had a whole new meaning to it now that he was a father. He knew he was getting to go home to his favourite people and see what his son and best girl had gotten up to.

He got through the door, not hearing anything downstairs as he searched the living room and kitchen, figuring they were upstairs.

He headed on up, opening the door to Matteo's nursery, walking in where he found him peacefully asleep in his crib. No doubt fed, bathed and changed, ready to do some more sleeping.

He smiled as he watched his little chest rising and falling, brushing his hand over his wispy hair before leaving the nursery and heading through to his own bedroom.

"April?" Punk said quietly, noticing the room empty, looking over to the breakfast which he'd made this morning for her, which hadn't been eaten besides a bite from a slice of toast, "Ape?" He walked over to the on suite bathroom, opening the door where he saw her sitting in a shallow bath, hugging her knees.

It looked the opposite of what a bath was usually about. Relaxing peacefully.

"April?" He walked into the bathroom as she turned to him, "W-What are you doing?" He shook his head as AJ looked at him.

"I'm… I'm just having a bath." AJ nodded to him, hugging her knees to her chest tightly.

"There's barely any water." He said, leaning his hand over the bath where he felt the icy cold water, "And it's freezing." He said with concern, wondering how long she'd been sitting there.

"It's just gotten cold." AJ shook her head.

"Ok, put some hot water on." He suggested, reaching for the faucet to fill the bath with more hot water, placing his hand on her arm, "April, you're freezing." He worried, "Why are you sitting in here?" He shook his head.

"I was just having a bath." AJ told him, "I was… I was just about to get out." She said.

"You didn't eat breakfast." He noticed, crouching down by the bath as she looked at him, "Are you ok?" He asked her seriously as she nodded.

"I'm fine. I just… I wasn't very hungry and then Matteo woke up so I had to go feed him." AJ nodded, "I went to the groceries." She nodded to him, as if assuring him she hadn't been sat in the bath tub all day.

"Ok." Punk nodded along, "Are you feeling ok? Has Matteo had a bad day or something?"

"No, he's fine. He's sleeping right now." AJ nodded to him.

"Have you had dinner? I can make us something." He said.

"Sure." AJ nodded along, "Can you pass me my razor it's under the sink." She said, feeling the water fill up around her, getting warmer thankfully.

"Yeah." He said, taking the razor and handing it to her, "I'll go get you some clothes for when you're done." He told her as she nodded.

He left the bathroom, pausing as he looked back at her in the bath, still sitting in the centre of the tub hugging her knees so tightly to her chest. It was a position someone sat in when they were frightened.

He grabbed some clothes for her and a towel, walking back into the bathroom and hanging the towel up for her as she watched.

"Thank you." AJ said, beginning to drag the razor up her leg as he watched wearily, "My mom shaved my legs up until I was eighteen. She wouldn't let me." She told him, carefully going around her ankles as Punk watched.

"She hasn't come by here today, has she?" He asked curiously as AJ shook her head.

"She wouldn't let me use hot water either. She said it doesn't clean you properly. But I'm a doctor and I know that hot water does clean properly." AJ nodded to herself as he looked over at her.

"Well it's not surprising she doesn't know what she's talking about." Punk shook his head as AJ looked up at him, "Your mom isn't gonna be in your life." He nodded, crouching down by the bath and looking at her, "You don't have to be… afraid of her." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"I know." She whispered.

"Are you gonna be ok in here?" He asked, brushing his hand through her hair as she nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah I'll be fine." She leaned over and kissed his cheek as he nodded, walking out of the bathroom, looking back at her as she continued to shave her legs. He underestimated just what kind of relationship she had with her mother. He could tell he didn't even know the half of it.