Chapter 7: Missing

"So, she just didn't show up?" Dean asked.

"Yep." Punk replied into the phone.

It was the next day, and Punk was pissed off to say the least. AJ had told him she was coming over so they could talk things out but she never showed.

"She's not answering my calls, I've left several of voice messages, and still nothing." Punk told him.

"Well, if she's not answering calls do you think something maybe happened to her?" Dean asked.

"I doubt it." Punk shot down. "You know, this time I thought things were different. She seemed ready to talk. It seems like we take one step forward just to take ten steps back. In the beginning I know it was my fault, but lately it's like she's stringing me along to believe that I still even have a chance with her."

"And if she is, can you blame her? She's hurt, man. She's been through a lot this year with the.." Dean thought about if he should even bring it up. "With, uh.. everything with you, you know."

"I know, and I know I'm the root of all her problems. But I'm trying to fix things." Punk defended. "She obviously doesn't want to fix things. It's useless."

"I really hate to say it because you guys were great together, but maybe you're right." Dean sighed.

"All great things must come to an end." Punk said. "Anyways, how are you & Renee and my little niece doing?"

"Niece? We don't even know the gender yet." Dean scoffed.

"Oh c'mon Dean, your past with women? The universe is definitely giving you a girl." Punk said confidently.

"Fuck. You're right." Dean said. "Two Dani's, huh?"

"Two Dani's." Punk repeated.

"We're screwed." Dean groaned. "Anyways, we're all doing great. Very tempted to move up here once the little stinker is born."

"So you're telling me to get rid of you all I had to do was buy you a ticket to Canada?" Punk teased.

"I'm an easy man to please." Dean said.

Punk laughed at his friend, and then his phone started to vibrate.

"Wait lemme put you on hold, Dean. Looks like someone is calling." Punk said, looking at the unknown number that popped up on his phone.

"Okay." Dean said as Punk put him on hold, and answered the call.

"Hello." Punk greeted.

"Is this Phil Brooks?" The woman on the phone asked.

"This is him." Punk replied. "Who's this?"

"Hi, Mr. Brooks. Your daughter, Daniela, slept over our house last night but now she's ready to go home." The woman informed. "I tried calling her mom, but I got no answer. So, your daughter gave us your number."

"Um.. yea I'll uh.. come get her." Punk was stumbling a bit on his words hearing that AJ wasn't even answering calls about Dani. Did something really happen? "Just text me the address."

"Will do." The woman said, and hung up.

"Who was it?" Dean asked, seeing he was off hold.

"Dani went to a sleepover last night, and the mother of the girl just called me to pick her up. April's not answering her phone." Punk told him.

"She'd never not answer her phone when it comes to Dani." Dean noted.

"I know. Fuck. You were right. Something happened." Punk was rushing to put on his shoes.

"That's not something I wanna be right about, dude." Dean said in a worried voice. "I'll let you go figure it out. Keep me updated."

"Yeah, I gotcha. Bye." Punk hung up the phone, put it in his pockets, and grabbed his keys to pick up Dani & find out where the hell AJ was at.

"I've ran several tests, and all seem to come back that everything is okay." The doctor entered the room AJ was in.

The pain in her stomach was becoming more frequent so she decided to get it checked out.

"Are you sure?" AJ asked. "The pain doesn't last long but it's gotten more frequent."

"Sharp pain that you have described to me is actually a normal thing that happens." The doctor informed her.

"I'm sorry if it seems like I'm questioning what you're saying but it's just I've been through this before, and this time it just seems different." AJ expressed.

This wasn't her normal doctor. He was a bit on the younger side so she was making sure to get as much clarification as she could about the problems she's having.

"Every time it's a different experience." The doctor replied.

"Okay. Thank you." She nodded then stood up from off the exam table.

She was on her way out the door but stopped when she saw a paper on his clipboard.

"Can I have that?" She asked, pointing to the paper.

"Oh. Yes, of course." The doctor handed the paper to her.

"Thank you." She said then walked out the doctors office.

AJ sped walked to her car, and got in. She tried to start up her car but it didn't start.

"Dammit." AJ hit her steering wheel then put her head down on it in frustration.

She couldn't do this anymore. She was dealing with this all on her own. She had to tell someone. She had to tell him.

AJ pulled out her phone.

"Hey. I know you're busy, but my car broke down. Do you think you can come and get me? I, also just really need to tell you something." AJ said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Why can't I come with you? Where's mom?" Daniela asked her dad as they stood in the gym.

"Just stay here real quick. I have to go do something." Punk said, leaning down on his knee so he was at her height.

"Where's mom?" She asked, once again. She hasn't stopped asking him that since he picked her up from her friend's house.

Punk didn't blame her; he couldn't stop thinking about AJ either. Where was she? Why wasn't she answering her phone? Did something bad happen?

He left her more voicemails. He was constantly checking while driving if he saw her car around. Punk wasn't a religious man whatsoever, but he went as far to pray she was okay.

"She should be at home." Punk told her. At least that is where he was hoping she was at. "I'll take you to her when I'm done running my errand."

"Why can't you take me to her now? Is she okay? Please don't lie to me, dad." She prodded.

Fuck. Not only did she look like AJ but she also was able to see through his bull just like her. He wasn't gonna tell her he had no clue where AJ was. But her big brown glossy eyes are giving him no choice.

"Dani, look-" Punk stopped when he saw Tate entered the room. "L-look there's Papa Tate."

"Is that my little one?" Tate walked over to them, and Punk sighed in relief at his timing.

"Hey, Papa." Daniela said in a bit of a seldom tone and gave him a hug.

"Not excited to see me?" Tate teased as they hugged.

"I am. It's just... my mom's not answering her phone, and dad keeps lying to me about where's she's at." She shrugged, and Tate looked over to Punk with his eyebrow raised.

"Do you think you can watch her for a bit?" Punk asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Of course." Tate nodded as him and Dani broke the hug. "Dani, why don't you go downstairs? I know the guys and gals would love to see you. Also, there's a kid wrestling practice going on right now. Jamie's there."

"He is?" That got her attention, and Punk rolled his eyes at that.

Jamie was the son of one of fighters at the gym, and him and Dani became friends because they basically grew up here together. She hasn't seen him in a while.

"Yeah, he is." Tate nodded.

Dani looked at her dad then back to Tate.

"Fine." She reluctantly gave in.

"I love you, have fun." Punk told her.

"I love you, too. Be safe and call me as soon as you find mom." Daniela said back then walked downstairs to the gym.

"You find mom?" Tate questioned once he knew Dani was gone. "What's happening?"

"Ape's not answering anyone's calls, and the last time I talked to her was about twenty-four hours ago." Punk informed him.

"So, she's missing? Did you call the cops?"

"Call the cops? Weren't you the one who taught me that you can't always trust the cops?" Punk pointed out.

"Your wife is missing in a massive city like Chicago, and you think you're gonna find her by yourself? Don't be a dumbass, son." Tate scowled.

"She's not missing. She's probably just at home." Punk was in denial.

"And if she's not?"

"Then I'll handle it, okay? I'm not a fucking kid anymore, Tate." Punk bit back. "You don't think I'm freaking out about this? Standing here talking to you isn't helping anything."

"Okay, okay, okay. You're right. You're all grown up now, and you can handle things on your own." Tate put his hands up.

"I can, and I will." Punk assured him then walked out the gym.

Tate just shook his head at Punk's stubbornness.

Punk pulled up to AJ's place, and sighed in relief once he saw her car in the driveway. But was taken aback when he saw another car parked next to hers.

He got out the car, locking it then walked up to the front door. When he got to the front door, he saw the door was slightly opened.

"What the hell." He whispered to himself then reached for the door but before he could open it, someone opened it from the other side.

"Whoa." A shirtless Jeremy jumped a little when he saw Punk. "You scared the hell out of me, man."

Punk looked up in annoyance at Jeremy as he was smiling at Punk while putting his shirt on.

"Lookin for April?" He smirked, and Punk just stared him down. "She's sleeping, been for a while now actually. I guess I have that affect."

"I can believe it. She told me you bored her to death on your guys date." Punk gritted out, and Jeremy laughed.

"When April wakes up and asks for me tell her I had an errand to run. I'll see you around, dude." Jeremy patted Punk's shoulder as he walked past him to his car.

Punk rolled his eyes and was about to walk into the house when he heard Jeremy say something else.

"You know, I've always wanted to be a stepdad." Jeremy yelled out to him, and Punk fought the urge to turn around & punch him in his face.

Instead, he shook the comment off and walked into the house, closing and locking the door behind him to see how AJ was doing.

Punk ran straight upstairs to AJ's room. When he entered her room, he finally exhaled. There she was completely knocked out. The room was a bit of a mess. Pillows and blankets everywhere. But what caught his eyes was a bottle of something on the dresser. He walked over the dresser and picked up the bottle.

"Vodka?" Punk read the bottle.

AJ, for the most part, didn't drink. Sure, she indulged on a little wine once and awhile. But it's been years since she even drank that. So, to see she was drinking hard liquor like this concerned him.

Punk sat the bottle back down and sat on the edge of the bed, turning his attention back to AJ.

"Ape." Punk said softly as he tried to lightly shake her awake. "Wake up."

AJ stirred a little as Punk kept trying to wake her up.

"April, wake up." He started to shake her a little harder now.

"Phil?" AJ asked groggy as she slightly opened her eyes.

"Yeah. Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm..." AJ sat up and put her hand on her head. It was pounding. "Water?"

"Yeah.. yeah, I got it." Punk got up from the bed, grabbed the empty cup that was at her bedside and walked over to the sink in the bathroom and filled up the cup with water.

AJ just sat up still holding her head as he did so.

"Here." He said walking back over to her and handing her the cup, she took the cupped and chugged all the water down. "Damn."

He chuckled, sitting back on the edge of the bed, and AJ sat the cup on her nightstand.

"What are you doing here?" AJ asked. "Where's Jeremy?"

"He left. Passed him on my way in. You know, your little boyfriend didn't even have the courtesy to wake you." Punk told her. "You basically slept through the half of the day."

"What? Oh, shit. Dani." AJ was about to jump up from the bed when Punk stopped her.

"I picked her up. She's at the gym with Tate." Punk said, and AJ sat back down. "Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why did you sleep with him? Why are you drinking?" Punk pointed to the bottle on the dresser.

"It's really none of your business, Phil." AJ spat.

"It is my business when you got everyone worried sick about why you aren't answering your phone." Punk snapped. "Including our 11-year-old daughter which I guess it slipped your mind when you had your little sleepover."

"You're kidding me, right?" AJ could not help but laugh.

"I'm glad you find hilarity in this because I sure as hell don't." He asserted.

"I find hilarity in you, of all people, trying to make me seem like I'm a bad mom when you've been the poster boy for bad parenting this past year." She bit back.

"Don't you think I know that? You, Dean, Renee, Tate—all of you constantly remind me of how much of a screw up I've been." Punk said. "I'm trying to be better. But it seems like there's no room for improvement for me. One minute you're telling me you wanna talk & fix things, the next you're fucking someone else."

"I idiotically had a lapse of judgement and was going to give you another chance." AJ said. "And once again you make me look stupid."

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Punk asked her, very confused. "I feel like you're just trying to find ways to push me away."

"No, you did that all on your own. You've given me no choice but to push you away." AJ clarified. "What sucks most is every time I think we've made progressive you show me that we never will."

"April.. what... what did I do?" Punk scooted closer to AJ and grabbed her hands. "Tell me what I did, and I'll fix it. Tell me, and I'll make it better-."

"You can't fix it, Phil." AJ cut him off.

"No, no. I refuse to believe that. After all we've been through together. We've had nothing together; we've had everything together." Punk continued. "We've literally been put through the ringer together. So why is this any different-."

"I saw Stacy leaving your place." She blurted out.

"What?" Punk replied.

"I saw her, and don't even try to deny." AJ warned him.

"I'm not denying it. She was leaving because I sent her away. Nothing happened." Punk shook his head.

"Why was she even there?" AJ asked.

"I don't know. She was going on about how we have a connection or some bullshit like that." Punk answered. "But again, I shot her down. Nothing happened."

"Have you slept with her?" AJ flat out asked.

"I..I.." Punk tried to formulate words, but he couldn't. "Yeah. I have."

AJ snatched her hands away from Punk.

"Don't. It happened during our break. Not when you think it did." Punk clarified.

"Does it matter? I knew you had feelings for her. You made me feel so stupid for thinking there's a possibility there could be something going on. All those days.. nights.. you would spend at the gym with her while I was here feeling like a single parent." AJ shook her head.

"I wasn't there just hanging out with her. I was training. She was just a friend." Punk explained.

"You don't have sex with friends." She simply said.

"It meant nothing." He shook his head.

"Did it happen more than once?" She questioned, and Punk just looked at her. "That's what I thought. You know, even if you didn't have any feelings—you knew how I felt about her. About your friendship with her. It hurts more if there were no feelings involved because then that means you did it to hurt me."

"I didn't do it to hurt you. I did it because I was stupid. I was so stupid, and I wish I could take it all back. Everything." Punk said sincerely.

"Yeah, well you can't." AJ shrugged.

Punk just looked at her. There was such coldness in her eyes, and he couldn't shake the fact that he was the one who did this to her. Her eyes that were once warm and welcoming were now ice cold and closed off.

He didn't know what to do or say to make matters better, so he did what he always did. Make things worse.

"You're one to talk, you know. Like you didn't sleep with Jeremy to try and hurt me." Punk scowled. "You say I changed but it's obvious you have as well."

"Get out." AJ pointed to the door in her room.

Punk looked at her for a second but then got up from the bed, and walked towards the door.

"You know..." He stopped at door and turned back around to AJ who looked at him. "Lashing out won't work. I know it feels good in the moment but after you'll feel like shit. The whole self-sabotaging, closing yourself off shtick will only make things worse. Use me as your cautionary tale."

"Bring my daughter home." AJ said, coldly.

Punk shook his head then left the room. He had really blown it this time.

"I can't believe he sent you." AJ said as Dean closed the hood of her car after fixing the issue.

"Nice to see you, too." Dean teased.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." AJ shook her head. "It's just... I... I thought he'd come."

"He has a scrimmage today. Coaches don't really let you miss those." Dean defended.

"Yeah, well I'm sure if anyone could get out of those it'd be Phil." AJ shrugged, not buying it.

"Come on, cut him some slack. You know how he gets." Dean tried to soothe things over.

"Yeah, I know. Still sucks, though." AJ sighed.

"What are you doing up here, anyways?" Dean asked. "This ain't your doctor."

"Just had some tests and stuff, nothing serious." She shook her head. "What exactly was Phil doing that was so important?"

"He had a scrimmage and after I think he has a lesson to give." Dean told her.

"With Stacy?" She asked.

"Probably." He shrugged, and AJ looked away from him. "No. Don't tell me you think something's going on between them."

"Well..." AJ started.

"No. He's crazy about you, AJ. Has been since the day you two met." Dean smirked. "Annoyed the hell out me with number of times he spoke about you at nauseam. He's not cheating, okay? He just really wants to win this fight. May be going about it the wrong way but you know how stubborn he is."

"Yeah, yeah." AJ nodded. "You're right, I'm just.. all over the place as of late."

"You doing okay?" Dean asked, noting she didn't seem like herself.

"Stressed. The normal." She shrugged off, and he nodded.

"Okay well car's all back up and running. I better get back to the gym. Make sure Phil's not making out with Stacy on the mat." He teased.

"Not funny." AJ rolled her eyes, and Dean laughed and was about to walk to his car.

AJ watched as he was walking away. This was her chance to tell someone. To get this off her chest. She had to.

"Dean." She called out.

He turned back around to her, and AJ walked up to him.

"I'm pregnant." AJ finally said out loud.

"Um.. congrats? I guess? I didn't know you two were trying. That's weird he didn't tell me." Dean said taken a back.

"We weren't, and he doesn't know. Hence why I came to a different doctor to get a checkup."

"Oh? How far along are you?

"About 5 weeks. I found out right before his fight, and I was gonna tell him after. But things didn't go the way he expected, and he got so depressed that he loss. Then, next thing I know he's booking another fight." AJ rambled.

"Calm down, calm down." Dean stopped her from freaking out. "You need to tell him, AJ."

"I'm trying. He's just been so busy with training, and everything. I... I.. don't even think he wants another kid right now." She confided.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked. "Dani's got him wrapped around his finger. He'd love another kid."

"Maybe. But he barely even has time for her anymore. Another kid makes things complicated." AJ explained.

"You gotta tell him, AJ." Dean said. "You have to."

"I know, I know. I will." AJ told him. "Our anniversary is coming up, I was planning on telling him then. Just please let him hear it from me?"

"Okay." Dean nodded then pulled her into a hug. "I'm happy for you two."

"Me too." AJ said, hugging him back with a forced smile.

It wasn't as easy as Dean was making it out to be. She was scared that after she told him, he'd become more distant than he already was. She knew she was running out of time. She knew she had to tell him. She came so close plenty of times. That fear of him not wanting another baby stayed in the back in her mind, and she couldn't shake it.