Chapter 2: Defend

On the ride home to his apartment, Dean & Daniela played countless of car ride games while Punk just sat there in his thoughts.

He was absolutely floored by AJ's words to him a while ago. It wasn't like anything she said was false, but to hear it out loud was a punch to the gut. He knew he hasn't been the best father these past months, and now he wondered if his daughter did think he doesn't love her. That's far from the truth, she's the reason he's alive. Figuratively, and literally.

11 months ago

"I'm gonna hear an earful from your mother about this." Punk shook his head as he handed his daughter a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. AJ sent them both out to her dinner and they somehow ended up in a ice cream parlor.

"What? I can have ice cream." She said with a sly smile as she licked her ice cream cone. She knew she had Punk wrapped around her finger.

"Yeah but not before dinner, you goofball." Punk let out a little laugh. "I'll tell you what, you don't say anything and I won't."

"Deal but if mom asks, then I won't lie to her." Daniela shrugged, as they walked out of the ice cream parlor.

Punk couldn't help but laugh at his daughters fierce loyalty to her mother.

"No way! CM Punk?!" A short slim man who looked to be in about his 20s exclaimed. "Huge fan, dude. Can I get a picture?"

"Thank you man, but I'm out with my daughter right now. Maybe another time." Punk didn't mind meeting and greeting fans. But when he was out with his daughter, he made a deal of giving her his full attention. Especially since his training has been cutting into that quality time with her.

"Oh c'mon man. It'll just take a second. Don't be a dick about it." The fan persisted, clearly not gonna take no for an answer. "Let's get out of here, Squirt." Punk put his hand on his daughter's back and guided her down the street passed the man. He knew better than to bite that bait at this point in his life.

"Wow. Not only a dick but a pussy as well. That's why you're gonna get your ass beat." The man yelled out to Punk but he continued to ignore the man. "And that hot wife of yours gonna dump your ass as well. I mean, who would wanna be married to a loser. Hell, maybe that daughter of yours has more heart than you."

There were things that Punk could ignore. He's been in the fight game for so long that he's used to the heckling. But there are lines you don't cross. His wife & daughter were those lines for him.

"Hey, stay here, okay?" Punk leaned down and told his daughter and she nodded while still licking her ice cream. Punk stood back up and started to make his way back towards the talkative man who was still running his mouth. If attention is what he wants, attention is what he'll get.

"Woah, woah, woah. I'm just joking man." The man put his hands up once he saw Punk making his way towards him with anything but good intentions. Punk reached the guy and grabbed him by his shirt lifting him so so they were eye to eye.

"You wanna talk all shit, huh? Don't ever mention my wife or daughter again in your life. Do you understand me?" Punk shook the man in his hands feeling his rage overtake him.

"Yes.. yes.. I understand. I meant no harm, man. Please let me go. I have a kid and a wife of my own. See?" The man held up his ring finger which had a wedding band on it. "It's just trash talk. That's all."

Punk looked at the hand but still didn't let go of the guy. He knew exactly what he was doing, and people like him need to realize there are real life consequences for their words.

"Dad." Daniela yelled out to father. She was watching the whole situation go down. "Can we just go home, please?"

Punk looked over his shoulder at his 10 year old daughter who was standing there, ice cream in hand, & looking at him like she was scared of what he would do to the disrespectful man.

"Please." She pleaded once again with her big, glossy brown eyes. She didn't want her dad to get in trouble or even for the guy to get hurt by her father. At this point, she just wanted to go home. Punk looked back that the guy one last time then let go of his grip on him by pushing him away.

He shook his head, then turned around and walked back to his daughter. While his back was turned, the guy reached into his pocket and pulled out a blade, then started to run towards Punk with it.

"Dad, watch out!" Daniela exclaimed, as she saw the man running towards her dad with something in his hand. And in an instance, Punk turned around and grabbed the guys arm before he could use the knife, tackling him to ground & pinning his arms behind his back.

Not only did she prevent him from beating the man to a bloody pulp & landing himself in jail, but she also saved him from who knows what that man was gonna do with that knife in his hand. He never wanted her to feel like he doesn't love her. Unlike how it feels with AJ, he feels like his relationship with his daughter can be saved. And will try to do better... no he will do better for her.

"You are a life saver." AJ smiled up at the woman who entered her office with a cup of coffee in hand. AJ is a screenwriter for a little local company in Chicago. She wrote & produced some small indie films, but nothing big. She liked to be in the shadows which became more difficult once Punk started to make a name for himself in the fighting world. She was constantly brought up. Mainly from Punk's opponents who wanted to tick him off.

"Perks of having a friend who works just around the street." The blonde short haired lady said, walking over to AJ's desk & handing her the coffee.

"Thank you, my dear sweet Renee." AJ said, taking the hot coffee from her hands, but she noticed something. "Where's yours?"

"Oh, I'm taking a break from caffeine." Renee brushed off as she sat down in the chair across from AJ. The moment Dean introduced Punk & AJ to Renee, they hit it off. AJ didn't have a lot of girlfriends so she was thankful that Renee came into her life.

"Dean texted me that Dani got into some trouble earlier?" Renee questioned.

"Gave a kid a black eye because they said something to her then refuses to tell anyone what they said. So, she gets detention for the next few days." AJ told Renee as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Damn, a black eye? I mean the girl had no chance, Dani's a firecracker." Renee said.

"It was a boy, actually." AJ corrected.

"Oh? Now I know for sure the kid had zero chances." Renee remarked, then she gave AJ a look.

"No. Don't even say it, Renee." AJ shook her head then sat the coffee down on her desk as Renee just let out a laugh. "She's so smart. Like extremely smart for her age. She's gonna be a doctor, or a lawyer, or... maybe even a writer like her mommy."

"Or a fighter like her daddy." Renee slipped in.

"Don't put that out in the universe. You should've seen Phil's reaction to the whole thing." AJ rolled her eyes. "He was so proud of her. I can't have her thinking that she can use violence whenever someone says something she doesn't like."

"Wait, you actually called him down there?" Renee was in shocked considering she's seen first hand the lengths AJ has gone to keep her distance from Punk.

"No, Dean brought him. Tell him I said 'thanks' for the heads up, by the way. But I did end up telling Phil off because he was angry at the fact he wasn't on the pickup list." AJ informed.

"How did he react to that? Dean and I try to get through to him, but everything we say goes in one ear and out the other." Renee sighed. "And he lashes out."

"He actually looked... hurt. Like the words I said actually had some affect on him." AJ replied, thinking back to obvious look of pain on her husbands face. "I kinda feel bad. I pulled the Dani card, and even though he needed to hear it—I could've went about it a better way."

"And he could've went about this whole situation a better way a long time ago. You know he's like a brother to me, but the way he's been acting out is unacceptable." Renee shrugged. "Look, I just want him to come to his senses. It's unfair to Dani. It's also unfair to you. I know you're holding out on the hope of you two getting back together."

"Please. That ship has sailed." AJ scoffed.

"Oh, really? You can put on the hard act for Punk and everyone else but I can see right through that bullshit." Renee raised her eyebrow. "You've been completely faithful to him even though you two are basically separated."

"Hey, I have not been faithful.. by choice. I've been busy. With work & Dani..." AJ defended. "Besides, contrary to popular belief, men aren't hurrying to get in the pants of a married woman. This especially rings true when said married woman's husband is a former professional fighter."

"That could be an easy fix considering you have a pile of divorce papers in your kitchen drawer." Renee pointed out. "If you were really over him, those wouldn't be sitting in your drawer right now. It's okay to admit that after everything he put you through this past year, you still love him."

AJ sat silent, watching and taking in what Renee had to say.

"You know I want you two to work things out. For Dani's sake, yours and his. Even if he's an asshole right now. But if you really are over it, then you need to think about your optio-" Renee continued but was cut off by AJ.

"You're right." She quietly acknowledged.

"I just don't know what to do." She closed her eyes shut, letting out a hampered breath.

Renee just looked on. She felt horrible for AJ. Her mentality is to keep everything bottled up and put on a hard exterior for the outside. She won't ever admit it but she's probably suffering worse than both Punk & Dani. She's silently dealing with her own pain while also taking on Punk's and Dani's, as well.

"Can we just... can we just not talk about my problems for the time being?" AJ asked, opening her eyes to which Renee nodded in understanding.

"Thank you. Now, when were you gonna tell me you are pregnant?"

Daniela sat on the couch with the remote in one hand, flipping through the channels, and a spoon in the other hand eating ice cream out a bowl that was bigger than her head. When they arrived to Punk's apartment, Dean had to immediately leave again because there was an emergency down at the gym. And Punk had to freshen up which is what he was doing now so Daniela helped herself to a bowl of ice cream while she waited for her dad to get out the shower.

She loved spending time with him. It reminded her of how her life was just months ago. They weren't the perfect family, Daniela was now old enough to recognize that. At least they were all together, and in those times it really felt like they were. Nowadays, she'd be lucky to even get them in the same room.

"What are you doing?" Punk playfully snuck up behind Daniela causing her to jump a little.

"You scared me." Daniela managed to muster out with a mouth full of ice cream.

"Ice cream before dinner? Why am I not surprised." Punk shook his head with a smile then jumped over the back of the couch so he'd be sitting right next to Daniela. "Lemme have some."

She handed him the spoon, and he helped himself to a spoonful of ice cream.

"Did you do your homework?" Punk asked.

"Um.. not yet." She replied, taking the spoon back from him. "Come on, it's easy. I can do it later. Let's watch a scary movie." She suggested.

"I promised your mom you would get your homework done. I think we can both agree that we don't wanna be on your mom's bad side." Punk pointed out, and Daniela made a face like she was contemplating on whether to do it or not.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, and Punk just chuckled at how much she looked like AJ when she did that. "But after, Halloween? Mom doesn't let me watch scary movies anymore because she's says they're not good for me. But we all know it's because she's scared of them."

"Sounds like your mom. And we have a deal." Punk nodded in agreement. "I am curious about something, though."

"What?"

"You tell your mom everything. But you didn't tell her what the kid said to you. What exactly did he say?"

Daniela looked at her dad, pondering if she should tell him or not.

"He called you a loser and a sucky fighter." Daniela confessed to her dad. "Remember when that guy was talking bad about me & mom, and you went after him? You told me in the car ride after that you had to defend the people you love, and that's what I did. I was defending you." Daniela shrugged.

"Oh Dani..." Punk sighed. He didn't want his daughter to think that violence is the answer because it wasn't. At one point he was dumb enough to think that it was. "Remember that guy also pulled a knife out on me? I don't want you fighting people. At all."

"But you do." Daniela pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's because I was a professional. And when I used violence outside the octagon, it was because I was an idiot." Punk clarified. "I appreciate you defending me, but what if the guy hit you back? Then I'd have to fight his dad. Violence just escalates into more violence."

Daniela put her head down, feeling horrible for what she did now.

"Hey, don't let it get you down, Squirt. Everyone makes mistakes." Punk told her, not wanting her to beat herself up about this.

"Even mom?" Daniela wondered, picking her head up and Punk laughed.

"Yes, even mom." Punk smirked. "But life's about how you learn from those mistakes. How you bounce back from them."

Punk was saying this speech to Daniela but somewhere deep down he felt this speech was for him as well.

"I understand now, dad." Daniela nodded. "No violence. Unless I become a professional fighter. Or against uncle Dean when he takes my snacks."

"Good, you get it." Punk said, ruffling her hair a little.

"Now, let me finish my ice cream." Daniela looked back down at her ice cream and got a another spoon full while Punk just stared on at her, smiling.

"Hey." Punk called out to her and she looked up with her eyebrow raised. "I love you."

"What do you want.. ?" Daniela question with her eyebrow still raised.

"What do you mean, 'what do I want?'" Punk now had his eyebrow raised.

"I sometimes tell you and mom that I love you guys out of the blue because I want something." Daniela shrugged, and Punk laughed.

"I'm telling you it because I do. And I want you to know I do. Don't ever doubt it." Punk clarified.

"I won't." She promised, seeing that her dad's tone was actually serious and returning that seriousness in hers.

"Good. Now go get your homework." Punk said as he took the spoon & bowl of ice cream from his daughter. Holding the bowl up away from her as she tried to reach for it. "Go."

Daniela groaned, then stomped off to get her homework. While Punk just laughed, and continued to eat the rest of the ice cream.

Punk was walking out of his apartment with his sleeping daughter draped over his shoulder & her backpack in his other hand. After she finished her homework, they watched Halloween. Well, Punk watched Halloween because 10 minutes in Daniela was knocked out. About an hour later AJ texted Punk that she was outside. Punk was a bit nervous to see AJ after earlier but he was prepared if she had any more to dish out.

"She'll probably be up all night." Punk said as he approached AJ who was standing by her car.

"I don't know, she may sleep through the night she's had a long day." AJ replied, feeling just as much of nervousness as Punk. Punk opened the backseat, setting down Daniela's backpack on the car floor, and buckling her in the backseat. She stirred a bit but still remained sleep.

"Don't let her do that, she only ate ice cream, so she'll need to eat some real food." Punk said, giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead then closing the door. "She got her homework done, though. So a positive, I guess." Punk smirked over at AJ.

"Thank you. For watching her." AJ told Punk sincerely.

"You don't have to thank me for watching my own kid. I wanna spend more time with her. I know I have been a shitty father, husband, person this past year, but I'm trying to work on it." Punk confessed while AJ just looked on at him. "I'm pretty sure Dani's the only person that likes me right now. Maybe I can get her on weekends or something?"

"Phil, If this is because what I said earlier then-"

"No... well kinda.. what you said earlier, I was already thinking it but I needed to hear someone else say it. Dean & Renee have been trying to get through to me, but I've been an absolute dick to the both of them." Punk took a deep breath then continued.

"I don't wanna miss her games, her awards. I wanna be in her life again, and I wanna be on the goddamn list of people that gets to pick her up." Punk said that last part in a bit of teasing way which caused AJ to actually crack a smile.

"She absolutely deserves to be put first. I know you don't trust me right now, and you have every right to not. But.. you gotta give me a chance." Punk pleaded.

"Okay." AJ nodded.

"Okay? That's it?" Punk questioned, thinking AJ was gonna put up more of a fight.

"It's dumb of me to complain about you not being there for her then go around preventing you from actually being there for her." AJ had to roll her eyes at her own logic. "And even though I still do not trust your word at this point, I'm gonna give you a chance. How about every other weekend, you get her? We start there."

"Yeah.. uh, yeah. That sounds great. Thank you." Punk said with a smile, and AJ nodded.

"Don't thank me for letting you hang out with your own daughter." AJ teased, using Punk's words from earlier. "Well, I have to go now. Need a meal and some rest." AJ nodded.

"Long day?" Punk asked with a smirk.

"Don't do that." AJ shook her head. "I'm letting you back into Dani's life. Not mine. Let's just keep it at that."

Punk couldn't lie and say that didn't hurt. But he understood where his wife was coming from. All he put her through this past year. He couldn't see her ever looking at him the same way again, but that wasn't gonna stop him from trying.

"I'm fighting for you too, Ape. I wanna be your guy again. I want both of my girls back." Punk made clear.

"Goodnight, Phil." AJ said then got into her car, started it up & drove off. Not even waiting for him to say it back.

"Goodnight." Punk said, looking on as she drove off.