Check-Up

"Hey, me and Lyla made you some soup." Punk said, getting home to the apartment later that day where he saw AJ was sitting on the sofa, "Hopefully you'll be able to keep it down." He said, closing the apartment door behind him.

"I've been bleeding." AJ said as Punk turned to her.

"What?" Punk said, "What do you mean?"

"There was blood on my underwear when I woke up. And when I done the toilet." She looked up at him, "I… I don't know. Google says it's normal sometimes at the beginning of pregnancy but… I mean… how do I know nothing is wrong?" She panicked.

"Ok. Ok, well we'll go to the hospital." Punk nodded to her, trying to stay calm, "Are you in any pain?"

"No." AJ shook her head.

"Ok. We'll go to the hospital, and you can get checked out." Punk said as she nodded.

"Ok." AJ said, watching Punk bring her tennis shoes over to her, as it appeared she was frozen on the sofa with nerves and fear.

"I'll get you a jacket. It's freezing out there." He said, heading away into their bedroom whilst she put her shoes on.

"Did you see Shiv?" AJ asked, "Is she ok?"

"I stopped by her house, but she wasn't in." Punk said, bringing her jacket out from the bedroom, "I figured she was with Daryl, so I text him and he said they were at Mister Eckles farm seeing the kittens." He said as AJ nodded.

"That might take her mind off things." AJ nodded, standing up from the sofa as Punk helped her into her jacket.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." Punk said.

"You made me soup." AJ said, noticing the container at the door which he'd dropped immediately once she'd told him she had been bleeding.

"Yeah, me and Lyla went to The Brewberry to make it." Punk nodded, grabbing her scarf from the coat rack and wrapping it around her neck, "We can have some when we get back." He nodded.

"Phil." AJ sighed, looking up at him with a quivering lip.

"I know." Punk nodded, cupping her cheek and kissing her softly. He wasn't going to tell her it would be ok when he didn't know for sure. All he could do was comfort her and stay by her side the whole time.

"What if…" She pulled away from his lips.

"Let's not do that." Punk nodded, "Let's go and get it checked out. It might be nothing." He said as she nodded.

"Ok." She swallowed the lump in her throat as he kissed her head and lead her out of the apartment.

"This one is Mallow." Daryl said, standing outside in an empty pen where the kittens and Maple were prowling around, "Like Marshmallow."

"Mhm, I get it." Shiv nodded, picking up Mallow into her arms, "They're getting so big." She frowned, petting the kitten in her arms as Daryl smiled.

"Yeah, it's wild." Daryl nodded, "I think they like it here. They got tons of space. And they can be together."

"I know. A little family." Shiv smiled, "I wonder where their daddy is." She scoffed.

"Next town over with another family probably." Daryl said as Shiv chuckled.

"And Mister Eckles doesn't mind them being here?" Shiv asked.

"No, he was happy to take them. There's plenty of people around to look after them. Becca sends me pictures of them all the time." He said.

"I forgot she practically lives here now." Shiv nodded.

"She's probably lurking around here somewhere right now. It is Sunday." Daryl said.

"This life kinda suits her I think." Shiv nodded, "She's all about the simple things. She always said she needed a man who worked with his hands."

"Of course she did." Daryl rolled his eyes, picking up one of the other kittens who was rubbing up against his legs, "This is Lafayette. I call him Laffy."

"That's a big name for a poor little kitten to carry around." Shiv smiled.

"He's the mad one of the group." Daryl said, "He's escaped into the stables a couple of times."

"Maybe he likes the horses." Shiv smiled as Daryl watched her hugging into the kitten.

"When do you go back to college?" He asked her.

"Tomorrow morning." Shiv said, "I'm sure I'll get lots of questions about why I look like this."

"Tell them to mind their own business." Daryl shook his head, "When will you be coming back?"

"Thanksgiving probably." Shiv nodded, "Few weeks."

"You'll text me to let me know how you're doing, right?" He said.

"Yes, I'll text you to let you know when I've stopped looking like a cabbage patch doll." She nodded, "Hopefully by the time I come back they'll have the caught the guy."

"Hopefully." Daryl nodded, "I just don't want you to feel scared or anything. Or alone."

"It was scary." Shiv said, "But I'll be ok. I told you, you don't have to worry about me." She said, sitting the kitten she was holding back down, folding her arms over herself.

"And I told you I'll worry anyway." He said, sitting the kitten in his arms down and turning to face her, "Do you… wear that all the time?" He pointed to the necklace he'd given her which was around her neck.

"Haven't taken it off since you gave me it." Shiv said, taking a hold of the pendant resting against her neck, "Reminds me of home." She shrugged.

"Home." Daryl nodded.

"Of you." Shiv corrected, looking up at him as he stepped a little closer.

"Shiv." He shook his head, looking down at her as she looked up, barely any space separating them. He was shaking his head but moving closer to her without even realising it.

"I know it won't work but…" She said quietly, "It wouldn't hurt just once, would it?" She asked.

"It'll be worse when you have to leave." He said.

"Just don't think about that part." She nodded, placing her hand on his chest, looking up at him and inching closer when they heard the door to the barn opening up, both of them separating quickly.

"There you are. Patrick told me he thought he seen you guys." Becca said, walking into the barn as Shiv nodded to her.

"Yeah, Daryl was showing me the kittens." Shiv smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Becca asked, walking over to them, "Your face doesn't look too bad."

"Gee, thanks." Shiv rolled her eyes, "I'm alright."

"Are you wearing farming boots?" Daryl asked Becca, looking closely.

"I was feeding the pigs." Becca nodded.

"Today is your only day off from The Brewberry and you're spending it working here?" Shiv laughed a little, "You really must be in love."

"I like it here." Becca shrugged, "And I don't mind helping out. It means I get to spend the day with Patrick. And then Mister Eckles makes a huge Sunday Roast for dinner. It's great."

"It's sick." Daryl said, "Eating your farm friends."

"We don't eat anything that lives here." Becca growled at him as Shiv chuckled, "When do you go back to college?" She asked Shiv.

"Tomorrow morning." Shiv said.

"Not fair." Becca huffed, "You know I really think we're going to have to hire someone at The Brewberry soon."

"Why? To replace me?" Shiv asked unhappily.

"No. Well, yeah. You're only here every few weeks and then AJ will be going off to have the baby, it'll be just me and Lyla." Becca worried as Shiv widened her eyes at her in a 'you shouldn't have said that' notion.

"Wait, what?" Daryl turned to them, "AJ is having a baby?" He shook his head.

"God, I forgot you were here." Becca sighed, unhappy with herself.

"AJ is pregnant?! They're having a baby?" Daryl asked, looking back and forth between Becca and Shiv.

"Yes, but you shouldn't know." Shiv shoved him.

"Jesus. I did not expect that." Daryl said, "That's wild. I mean… it's pretty fast. Do they even have a room for a baby?"

"You're worse than a girl with questions." Becca shook her head.

"They'll probably move." Shiv nodded to him, "Don't say anything until Phil tells you himself. You're not supposed to know."

"How do you all know?" Daryl said unhappily, "If you guys know then I should know. And Finn should know."

"Don't tell Finn." Becca warned, "We know because we can be trusted. You're a big blabber mouth."

"I am no such thing." Daryl said.

"You do tend to spill the beans sometimes." Shiv nodded to him, "You told me Phil was disbarred when you weren't supposed to."

"I was drunk. That was different." Daryl rolled his eyes.

"They'll want to wait a few weeks. Maybe get a scan. Before they tell anyone." Becca nodded, "So keep quiet." She pointed to Daryl.

"Alright, I won't say anything." Daryl put his hands up, "Maybe they'll make me godfather." He smiled as Shiv rolled her eyes.

"They're not religious." Shiv scoffed.

"And you're a child. I wouldn't trust you to hold my coffee." Becca shook her head, "Never mind a child."

"Hey, easy." Daryl said as Shiv chuckled.

"You guys could stick around and have dinner with us if you want." Becca suggested, "There's always plenty of food." She said as Shiv turned to Daryl who nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Daryl nodded.

"Sounds great." Shiv smiled.

She was glad to have spent the day with people she cared about. It helped take her mind off of the events of last night.

"You never told me how it went at the sheriff's office." AJ said, sitting in the waiting room at the hospital with Punk.

"I thought it could wait." He said.

"No, tell me." She nodded, placing her hand on his thigh, "Any development?"

"Yeah, actually. They've got a guy. Spotted a few counties over. Fits the profile and matches the car. Craig Porter his name is." Punk nodded.

"Does Shiv recognise him?" She asked.

"No. He's thirty-four." Punk told her, "He was just released from prison five months ago. Same one my brother is in." He said as AJ turned to him.

"That's… probably just a coincidence." AJ shook her head. She could read his mind and his body language. She knew he was clearly thinking about his brother's possible connection to this guy.

"Or it's not." Punk said, running his hand through his hair stressfully.

"You said you and your brother left things on decent terms." AJ said, "And it doesn't make sense for the guy to attack Shiv. I think it's just a coincidence." She nodded to him.

"Yeah." Punk said. The rational part of his brain told him it was probably just a coincidence. But the part that knew his brother. That had spent his life growing up with him. That knew the unpredictability and venomous nature of his. He was concerned.

"It's good they have a name." AJ nodded just as a doctor walked down the corridor.

"April?" She said as AJ nodded, standing up as Punk took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

They followed the doctor into a private room where AJ was asked to lie up on the bed, with Punk taking a seat beside her, not letting go of her hand.

"I'm Doctor Murray. But you can just call me Jean." She said with a warm smile as AJ nodded, "So you've had some spotting?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Well… it seemed like a lot of blood. Not just spotting." AJ said.

"Have you had any cramping or pain in your stomach?" Jean asked whilst setting up her equipment to do an exam.

"No. Well, I had a lot of sickness through the night and earlier this morning but… no pain in my stomach." AJ explained, "I haven't had a doctor's appointment yet. I don't know how far along I am or… if everything is ok." She admitted.

"That's ok. We'll take a look and see how things are doing." Jean smiled, "It's normal to bleed a little in the first trimester. And sickness can unfortunately be a huge part of pregnancy." She said, handing AJ a gown, "Can I get you to go change into this gown in the bathroom there? I'll do an internal examination, if that's ok with you?"

"Uh… yeah." AJ nodded, taking the gown and getting off the bed, "Yeah, ok." She said, heading off into the bathroom to change whilst Punk waited anxiously, clasping his hands and leaning them over his mouth as he rocked back and forth on the chair.

AJ eventually came out of the bathroom in the hospital gown and laid back up on the hospital bed, putting her feet in the stirrups and leaning her head back on the pillow.

The last time she had an internal examination in a hospital was the morning after she was raped. She felt her heart beating a million miles an hour as it brought back all the memories from that horrible morning. The swabs. The pictures. The blood tests.

"Ok, let's have a look at your baby." Jean nodded, proceeding with the examination, looking at the monitor in front of her whilst positioning herself down between AJ's legs.

Punk kept a hold of AJ's hand, noticing his girlfriend's eyes were tightly closed throughout the examination. It only made her squeeze her hand tighter, to make sure she knew he was here.

"Hmm." Jean said whilst looking at the monitor.

"Is something wrong?" AJ asked, opening her eyes and looking over at the monitor. She wouldn't pretend to know what she was supposed to be looking for on the monitor.

"No, nothing is wrong." Jean assured her, "I'm just double checking…" She said, looking closely at the monitor, "Mhm." She smiled a little.

"Everything is ok?" Punk asked.

"I can see two placentas and two sacs." Jean turned to them, "You're having twins. And everything looks perfect."