Mom Meeting
"Look, if you're a reporter I got nothing to say. You'd think you people would move on at this point." Nickie spoke into the telephone.
"I'm not a reporter." Jeanette shook her head.
"You look like a reporter." Nickie scoffed as Jeanette looked at her.
"What's that horrid looking thing on your throat?" Jeanette asked, not being able to keep her eyes off it.
"What does it look like?" Nickie questioned.
"Stupid. That's what it looks like." Jeanette nodded as Nickie chuckled a little.
"Got it when I was seventeen." Nickie nodded, "To piss my parents off. Let's just say it was successful." She said, grazing her fingers over the tattoo on her throat.
"When do you get out of this dump?" Jeanette wondered as Nickie looked across at her.
"I'm not saying shit to you until you tell me who you are. And why you're here." Nickie made clear.
"I'm just a woman who is curious about your case." Jeanette shrugged.
"So you're a lawyer? A detective opening the case back up? I've seen it all before. Nothing ever happens." Nickie shook her head.
"Nothing ever happens because you're guilty." Jeanette gave her a patronising smile as Nickie nodded in agreement.
"Oh, I'm guilty as sin." Nickie agreed, "But it's always fun to know someone is working super hard for no reward. It's the only form of entertainment I've gotten over the years." She said.
"When do you get out of here?" Jeanette asked.
"I don't." Nickie smiled, "I'm a lifer, baby." She nodded.
"And that's what? A proud accomplishment?" Jeanette spoke into the telephone.
"No. It means I don't have to care. I got nothing to lose. The only time I live here is when I'm headed seven foot under. So I get a kick whenever reporters or lawyers come to me. It's fun." She nodded as Jeanette looked at her.
"I'm neither of those things. I'm just a woman who is curious about your case." Jeanette reiterated.
"Oh, so you're like a fan? You wanna do what I did? You want some tips?" Nickie gave her a smile with wide eyes.
"No, I don't need tips." Jeanette assured her, "And believe me, I'm not a fan. I'd never admire anyone who lives in this building. I say bring back capital punishment." She shrugged.
"Not here in Illinois." Nickie smiled, "Streets that raised me has always been my saving grace."
"That does not surprise me." Jeanette shook her head.
"So you're not reporter or a lawyer. You're not a cop. You're not a fan." Nickie said, "Now is when you should probably tell me who you really are. I don't get curious often but… well, I'm kinda curious now." She smiled.
"It pains me to say it, believe me. But you and I… well, we're family." Jeanette said with a twisted smile as Nickie looked across at her.
She stayed silent for a while before letting out a cackle into the telephone, leaning back on the chair and placing her hand on her chest.
"Family?" Nickie questioned, leaning her elbows back on the table, inching her face closer to the glass to look better at Jeanette, "The only family I got left is a sister who lives in Ottawa and hates my guts. I mean… she literally hates my guts."
"Most people would." Jeanette nodded, "You don't just have a sister, though. Do you?" She said as Nickie looked across at her.
"I do. My parents are both dead. Aunts and Uncles didn't speak to me before I got in here so they sure as hell won't speak to me now." Nickie said.
"And your sons?" Jeanette tilted her head as Nickie looked at her, the telephone slipping from her hand for a second, hitting the table loudly before she gathered it back to her ear.
"Who the hell are you?" Nickie asked in a more serious tone, "Is Gerry dead? Are you a care worker from that home she's in?"
"No. I don't know who Gerry is." Jeanette shrugged, "Your son is married to my daughter." She nodded as Nickie looked across at her angrily, "My beautiful, sweet April… married to someone who came from a crazy murderer." She spat angrily as Nickie looked at her.
"Those boys are not mine. They… They have their parents." Nickie made clear, "I don't know why you came here but-"
"I wanna know why you killed your husband. Cause then I'm gonna hope it scares my daughter, and I can convince her to come home with me." Jeanette smiled, as though chatting about the weather with her over a coffee.
"He's asleep." AJ smiled, looking into the back of the car, noticing in the little mirror they had to see Matteo in his carrier, that he was fast asleep, "He's such a happy baby." AJ said with a relaxed sigh.
"Cause he is the best momma." Punk nodded as she smiled.
"His daddy ain't so bad either." She smiled, reaching over and stroking his cheek, playing with the back of his hair.
They'd just gotten back into the car after a day out, driving to a local beauty spot and spending the day walking around, stopping for ice-cream, having some lunch and taking pictures with their baby boy. AJ felt pretty accomplished in clearing her head.
"I kinda wish I could just fall asleep back there with him." Punk chuckled. They hadn't set off to go back home yet. Punk hadn't even turned the car on yet.
"Did all the walking and ice-cream take it out of you?" She smiled as he laughed a little.
"It's hard work having a day off sometimes." He nodded as she smiled.
"Yeah it's like you don't know what to do with yourself." AJ agreed, "I'm definitely not ready to go back to work soon but I do feel closer to it." She told him.
"You'll know when you're ready." Punk nodded, "And they'll be so glad to have you back I'm sure."
"We haven't really talked about… where Matteo goes when I go back to work." AJ said. Perhaps it was foolish they had put it off for so long, but as it did get closer, they did have to consider their options for their son when they were both working.
"So I've been thinking about." He told her, "I could just do night shifts." He turned to her.
"No you can't. Cause you'd be asleep during the day. Plus we'd never see each other so… that's not gonna work." She shook her head, "I think it just has to be daycare, right?" She nodded to him, "It's not gonna be tomorrow. He'll be a few months old."
"Still seems really small." Punk said as she nodded.
"We can always alternate it around our days off. And if Dean and Renee ever wanna have him for the day if they're off." AJ said, "I mean what do all these other parents do?"
"Grandparents." Punk nodded to himself.
"Yeah." AJ whispered with a sigh.
"My mom would have loved being grandparent. I feel like she was just built for it." He nodded to himself as she reached over and placed her hand on his thigh comfortingly.
"I'm not ready to go back to work any time soon anyway." She said.
"Don't stress it. We'll figure something out. Maybe we can hire a nanny." He nodded to her as AJ rolled her eyes.
"What? Like some eighteen year old college student? No." AJ shook her head as he laughed a little.
"Kids gotta make money somehow." Punk shrugged, "Plus, not all nannies are eighteen. You watch too many movies." He poked her teasingly as she smiled.
"No, it's not that. I just don't want a stranger in my house I don't think." AJ shook her head, "But hey, we can consider all our options nearer the time. I just know I'm gonna be a mess leaving him." She sighed, turning back around and looking at Matteo sleeping.
"You'll be fine." Punk assured her.
"You have like five night shifts in a row starting from tomorrow now, don't you?" AJ frowned, looking at him beside her.
"Yeah, exciting." Punk sighed to himself, "At least I can get some play time in the afternoon with Matteo." He said as AJ smiled.
"Is it busier? Doing a night shift?" AJ asked him curiously.
"Yeah, it's normally different kinds of call outs. More house fires. People leaving the stove on and falling asleep kind of thing." He nodded, turning to her as he watched her looking out the car window, "How you feeling?" He asked as she turned to him.
"I'm ok." She nodded, "This really cleared my head. You have a really good ability of knowing what I need before I do." She said.
"Marriage." He nodded as she smiled.
"I know what's important to me in my life. That's you and Matteo. Our family." She nodded, "Not my mom. Not anyone else." She shook her head as he nodded.
"You're allowed to be upset about her. Even if she's not bothering you. You're allowed to be angry and upset about the things she did, and how she made you feel growing up." He assured her as she nodded.
"And I always kept that in." She said, "I told myself it was normal. It was just being a protective mom." She shook her head, "Now I'm a mom I just… I know what she did to me was just unforgivable. The complete opposite of being a mother." She said as Punk nodded.
"You don't need her in your life. But it's ok if some part of you wishes she was a better mom and that she was in your life. That's ok." He said as she nodded.
"Thank you." AJ smiled, "I was kinda cruel to myself before I met you. You let me be me and let me pour everything out to you. I love you so much for that." She nodded sincerely as he smiled.
"I love you too." He said, watching her lean over and cup his cheeks, kissing him softly, her head nudging the top of his cap as he took it off and cupped her face.
