Taking Action
AJ couldn't stay in the bedroom on her own for long. There was no way she could sleep with what was going on in her head. And she couldn't sleep feeling like she and her husband were now on opposites sides.
She got out of bed and left the room, walking downstairs and into the kitchen where she saw Punk making coffee.
"Phil." She said quietly as he turned around, "We need to talk about this."
"No. We don't." Punk turned back around as AJ sighed.
"I'm sorry you're involved with this. Trust me, I wish mine and my mother's relationship just stayed between us." She shook her head, "I know you never wanted to find out about your biological parents-"
"She had no right." Punk turned around, looking across at her, "I mean… what the hell is wrong with her?"
"There's a lot wrong with her." AJ shook her head, "But this is what she wants. She wants us to fight. She wants… she wants you to hate me and then… then you'll leave me." She panicked foolishly as Punk looked across at her, sighing to himself, aching to swaddle her up in a cuddle right there and then.
"April that's not gonna happen." Punk promised her, "She's not gonna get what she wants."
"I think I had a brother or sister." She nodded quickly. She had to say it before she convinced herself otherwise. The more people she told, the more dangerous it felt to talk about.
"What?" He shook his head.
"When I was young. I think I had a little brother or sister. I remember my mom always holding them. Not for long but… I do remember it." AJ nodded to herself, "Then it just disappeared one day."
"It wouldn't have just disappeared." Punk shook his head.
"It did." AJ nodded, "And I think I must have noticed and asked my mom… that's when the burning started."
"Burning?" Punk asked.
"She would put me in the bath. Little bit of water. Quarter tub of bleach." She nodded as Punk looked at her, horrified, "She'd tell me it… it only burned when I told lies." She gulped as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "So I stopped asking about the baby and… it stopped burning." She said as Punk shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"Ok, come sit down." He nodded to her, noticing her ringing out her hands nervously, "It's ok." He said, extending his hand out as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I thought I could just forget about it." She sobbed into his chest as he placed his hand on the back of her head softly. He wasn't sure how to navigate this. He could always be a shoulder to cry on. He would always be there for her for anything, but what she had just told him… he didn't know what to say or do.
"I got you." He said softly, kissing her head. He could almost hear the relief in her sobbing, that she had finally told him. He realised now there was much more to her mother than just manipulation. There was evil there. Pure evil.
"Ok, come sit down." He encouraged, walking over to the kitchen table with her, moving some of Matteo's things out of the way as she sat down.
"I'm sorry I know she's brought you into this now and she's hurting you and I can't… I can't do anything to stop that." AJ sighed, drying her tears.
"It's not your fault. This isn't about me." He made clear, sitting down across from her, "Are you sure you had a sibling?" He asked her.
"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I think my mom did something to it." She said as he looked across at her.
"Have you ever heard her talking about another baby? Or is there any record of a baby?" Punk asked.
"Phil, I was four or five." AJ shook her head, "When I grew up I guess I pushed it to the back of my mind. Did everything I could to pretend it didn't happen. And I was still worried my mom would hurt me." She rolled her eyes with embarrassment.
"What about your dad? He must have knew something." Punk shook his head, trying to make sense of it. Although he'd come to terms with the fact he probably wouldn't ever make sense of her mother.
"Well it's not like I can ask him." AJ shrugged, "He was never there growing up anyway. Not that I'm saying he wouldn't have noticed a new baby." She rolled her eyes.
"W-What… what do you think happened?" Punk asked.
"I don't know." AJ shook her head, "I don't know if something happened medically or if… if she did something."
"Maybe it died in its sleep." Punk nodded, "That can happen, right? And you were so young you probably don't remember the aftermath-"
"Then why was she so cruel whenever I asked about it?" AJ shook her head, "She was trying to keep me quiet. Burn it out of me." She said as Punk looked at her.
"Does she have any idea you remember this now?" Punk asked.
"I think she does now." AJ nodded, "Jason stopped by a few nights ago and told me she was acting crazy. More than the usual kind-"
"He was here?" Punk questioned.
"Only to warn me that my mom was probably about to break. And he told me she was the one meeting up with him and harassing him basically. He's moved back out of state." AJ nodded to him as Punk nodded along pleasantly.
"I think you gotta go to the police." He nodded.
"And say what?" AJ shook her head.
"Exactly what you've told me." He nodded, "This is… April, this is a big deal. She should be arrested."
"God, it's just a nightmare." AJ ran her hands over her face, "I just wanna wake up."
"Is this why Shauna didn't want me to see your medical records?" Punk realised as AJ looked at him, "She knows?"
"Not the details." AJ said, "She asked me about it after I gave birth to Matteo. She also used to see my mom steal burn bandages from the hospital." She nodded, "And she's the head of psych so… I guess she can spot things like this from a mile away." She nodded.
"You could have told me sooner." Punk sighed, "And all this time with you being at the house on your own… I should have taken more time off work-"
"No, that's not the problem." AJ shook her head, "I love being here with Matteo. If anything he's my distraction." She smiled, "Between finding out she found your biological mother and me trying to come to terms with what she might or might not have done when I was younger… I couldn't keep it in any longer."
"You don't have to." Punk shook his head.
"I'm sorry you can't even ask Gerry about everything." AJ sighed, "I'm sorry my mom did this to you-"
"Stop apologising. I'll… I'll be fine. Just cause I know what happened now doesn't mean that I need to go meet the woman. I know who my parents are." He nodded to her.
"I still have the number from the police officer I spoke to about the case, if you ever want to know more. He seemed pretty clued up on it. He was nice." AJ nodded to him.
"I think we gotta focus on what the hell happened when you were a kid. I can figure my shit with my biological mom whenever… but this is serious." He nodded to her seriously, "If something did happen to the baby by accident… there would still be record of it-"
"She obviously took care of it herself." AJ shook her head at the thought.
"You gotta go to the police, Ape. What have we got to lose? She can't hurt us anymore. She needs to suffer now. The abuse she's put you through deserves a prison sentence on its own, never mind what else she did." He said as AJ sighed.
When he first met her and learned about her mother, he just assumed she had a hostile and difficult relationship with her. He never thought it was like this.
"I don't know what she'd do if she found out I'd went to the police." AJ shook her head worriedly.
"Hey, look at me." He nodded as she looked at him, "I'm not gonna let her do anything to you. She's not gonna hurt you." He promised her.
"What about Matteo?" AJ worried.
"She's certainly not gonna hurt Matteo." Punk promised, "Don't you want to know? If you… If you did have a sibling?"
"It was easier to pretend it didn't happen. And less painful. I was only a little kid. I must have been so confused." She shook her head. She often thought of herself as a young child, and what she would have wanted to do to help her. To make her feel safer.
"You should have been taken away from them." Punk said.
"I know. I could have gotten real parents like you did." AJ nodded as he looked across at her, "I think that's maybe why my dad eventually became even more distant. And then we moved here to Chicago. Probably to leave what happened behind, right?" She thought to herself, trying to piece it together. Piece it together the way she as incapable of doing as an innocent child.
"Please… please go to the police. I'll come with you. I'll be right beside you." Punk nodded, "We're talking about her potentially killing a baby. And years of abusing you." He shook his head.
"What if it's all in my head?" AJ panicked. Words often uttered by her mother towards her. It's all in your head, April.
"It's not." Punk shook his head, "I believe you. Look at me." He nodded as she looked at him, "I believe you, April." He nodded. He wanted her to know that. He wanted her to know he believed everything she was suffering, and that he was here. Suddenly his own family revelations didn't seem so big and terrifying.
"You'll come with me?" AJ nodded.
"I'll come with you." Punk said.
"But you have your last night shift tomorrow." AJ said.
"We can go in the morning." He nodded.
"It's already the morning." She whispered as Punk looked at the clock in the kitchen, realising he'd lost all sense of time, "You should sleep. You need to sleep."
"Then we'll go in the afternoon." He nodded.
"But Phil I don't really remember anything. I… I won't have much to tell-"
"Hey, it's worth investigating. And your word should be enough for them to take it seriously." Punk nodded as AJ sighed, "You've got this far with it. You've told me. You can keep going, and I'm here to help you."
He knew his wife was strong, but he didn't realise just how strong she was, to have carried something like this with her for so long, to have presented herself as though nothing was wrong. It was strength but he could also see it was fear of the repercussions of her mother finding out.
They were broken out of their conversation when AJ heard Matteo crying from the sound monitor in the kitchen. She looked at the time and realised he'd slept an extra half hour later.
"Extra half hour." AJ nodded to Punk, "He's such a good guy." She frowned, getting up from the table and heading upstairs whilst Punk made her some coffee and breakfast to take up to her whilst she was feeding their son.
He headed upstairs, finding her in their bedroom, sitting on the bed feeding Matteo.
"Here, eat this when you get a chance." He told her, sitting down the bagel on the bedside table with her coffee.
"Thank you." AJ smiled, "You should sleep. You're working so hard. You need to rest."
"I'll get a couple of hours and then we'll go to the police." He nodded to her, watching as she caressed Matteo's head softly whilst nursing him, "It's gonna be ok." He said as she looked up at him.
"You don't know that." She shook her head.
"I know that you've got me." He nodded, crouching down in front of her, "You've got me and you've got Matteo. And we love you so much." He said as she smiled, "And I don't wanna see you struggle with this anymore. You've struggled silently for too long already. It's time to talk." He nodded to her calmingly as she nodded with him. With him, she felt like she could do it.
