Chapter 10: Ultrasound

"So, he looked into your daughters' room?" The officer asked AJ.

"Yes." She answered. "I walked in the hallway and saw he had her door open."

After making the phone call to Dean, she called the police next, and now she was standing in the living room talking to the two cops.

"But he didn't go in?" He questioned.

"He didn't. Well, to my knowledge, he didn't. I caught him before he did." AJ nodded.

"So.. you called us because he looked in your daughter's room?" The officer was clearly annoyed. "What exactly do you want us to do about that?"

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Punk spoke up after staying quiet since arriving. "She's basically telling you that this guy was creeping on our daughter and this is how you're responding?"

"Look, we have more important things to be worried than some guy looking in a room." The officer bit back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Officer Mike. Are we keeping you from harassing the innocent by pointing out to you an actual bad guy who's sneaking off to look in the room of an 11-year-old child?" Punk was fuming. "How about at least attempt to track down this creep."

"And then what, hot shot? You want us to lock him up because he looked in your daughter's room?" Officer Mike groaned. "He didn't force his way in. He was in invited over and seems like your wife over here liked him enough to do that."

"What the hell are you trying to get at?" Punk stepped forward to Officer Mike.

"You being some big celebrity fighter means nothing to me. Step any closer and I will not hesitate to put your ass down." Officer Mike threatened.

"Phil.." AJ tugged at this arm.

"Mike, can I talk to you over here?" The other Officer, Andrew, asked his partner.

Officer Mike reluctantly stepped over to the side to talk to his partner.

"Calm down, please." AJ whispered to Punk then turned him so that he was facing her. "It's not worth it."

"They're useless." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious what's going here? She got caught having an affair by her husband, and now she's doing damage control by making up this story about the guy she's banging looking in their daughter's room." Punk and AJ could overhear Officer Mike say to Officer Andrew.

"Hey." Punk nudged AJ to distract her from what they were saying. "Ignore them. I don't know why you even called them."

"I don't know, either. I guess I was kinda scared he was gonna come back." AJ told him.

"Yeah, well, why not call me then?" Punk asked and AJ could sense the hurt in his voice. "I thought we were pass this bullshit of you not telling me when something goes on."

"Phil-" AJ started but was interrupted by Officer Andrew walking over to them both while Officer Mike left out of the house.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about my partner. He could be a bit.. aggressive." Officer Andrew told them.

"Well, isn't that great for the citizens of Chicago that he chose a career in law enforcement." Punk sarcastically noted.

"Anyways, even though he didn't put it the best—he's right. There's really nothing we could do, ma'am." He told them. "This guy, Jeremy, we can't exactly charge him with anything."

"What about a restraining order or something?" AJ inquired. "I can't have him around me or my family."

"It's a sticky situation. Especially when you two work together, but you could definitely look into getting one." He responded.

"We will." Punk said sternly.

"Okay, then. I have to go now. If anything else happens, just give us a call." He said.

"We won't." Punk put on a fake smile which caused AJ to side eye him.

"What he means is thank you, we will." AJ corrected, and Officer Andrew nodded at them both then walked out the door, closing it behind him. "Really, Phil?"

"What? They didn't do shit." Punk rolled his eyes. "I'm staying here tonight."

"That's not necessary." AJ shook her head.

"Then you two are coming with me to Dean and Renee's." Punk told her.

"No." AJ declined.

"April, please don't be difficult about this. I'm not leaving you two alone. You're obviously shaken up." Punk pointed out.

"I'll be fine, and I assure you if I have stay up all night and guard Dani's room then I will." AJ said. "She's safe with me."

"But you shouldn't have to, Ape. Just let me stay over or you to come with me so I can keep you both safe." Punk sighed, and AJ folded her arms not giving into Punk's wishes. "Fine, I'll just go look for Jeremy myself so I can bash his head in and assure that he won't able come back even if he wanted to."

Punk started to walk towards the front door, but AJ reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Okay, okay." She gave in. "Take Dani with you to Dean and Renee's."

"And leave you here by yourself? Nope." Punk shook his head.

"I'll be fine. He obviously wasn't coming after me. I'll feel better if she's with you." AJ said.

"He wasn't after you, huh? What about the drugs he gave you?" Punk questioned.

"Who told you-?" AJ's eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter who told me, Ape. He still gave them to you." Punk cut her off.

"I saw them, and I asked for them." AJ brushed off.

"So? He still had those kinds of drugs on him." Punk said. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

"I didn't call you because I was embarrassed." AJ sighed.

"Embarrassed about that?" Punk raised an eyebrow.

"Everything. I invited him into this house, around our daughter. Even after I took drugs from him that had me completely out of it." AJ sighed. "And he may be some kind of... creep. If he were to come back and hurt someone it should be me."

"No, it should be no one." Punk walked closer to AJ and softly cupped her face in his hands. "It's not your fault."

"It is." AJ nodded. "I've been so onto you about being a bad father when the truth is I'm a horrible mother."

"April, do you even hear yourself right now? You're not a horrible mother." Punk sincerely assured her.

"I am." AJ reached up and moved his hands away from her face. "Don't even pretend like you weren't thinking it."

"I wasn't thinking that." Punk shot down. "What I was thinking is how fucking grateful I am that the mother of my child was able to sense danger and get it out of the house."

"Yeah, but she was also stupid enough to let the danger in, in the first place." AJ mentally kicked herself. "What if I didn't wake up? What if I got drugged by him? Or voluntarily took them again?"

"Stop with the what ifs. You woke up and got him the hell outta here and that's all that matter." Punk assured her.

"I guess you're right. There's no point in thinking about the what ifs." AJ agreed, Punk just stared at her. "What?"

"Now I really don't wanna leave you here alone especially with how recklessly you're talking." Punk sighed. "Just come with us, April."

"I'll be fine, okay?" AJ said sternly. "Let's go wake up Dani so you can take her with you."

"You're so stubborn." Punk couldn't help but let out a laugh at how difficult AJ could be at times.

"That's what you like about me." AJ smiled at him.

"Leaving this earlier?" Stacy walked up to Punk who had his bags and was heading out of the gym for the night.

"It's 5. I always try to leave at 5." Punk chuckled.

"Yeah, but you always end up staying. I hate when you leave." Stacy smirked. "Stay for a bit longer."

"Nah. I gotta get home to my wife and daughter." Punk told her.

"I understand. It's just you've been so busy preparing for you fight, I haven't got to spend time with you lately." Stacy said. "You're like my best friend here."

"I'm flattered, but I'm already in deep hot water with my wife." Punk said.

"She's still getting mad you for doing your job?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah, but it's like I don't deserve it. I need to learn how to balance my time." Punk defended.

"It's not your fault, Punk. This is your job and you wanna get that win back." Stacy said. "She should be more understanding of that. Is she the reason you've been avoiding me lately? I saw the way she she was looking at me when she came to the gym that one time."

"It's not you. She was pissed at me that day." Punk told her. "She's not one to stop me from hanging out someone."

"Then, stay. At least for an hour." Stacy suggested. "You're the best striker here and I could really use some help."

Punk thought about it. He didn't want to be in more hot water with AJ. But he had to admit that with the amount of arguing they've been doing lately, he'd much rather be in the gym than go home. It also helped that he'd be putting more work in for his fight.

"I-I- I don't know." Punk shook his head.

"Oh, c'mon. Just an hour. Pretty please?" Stacy playfully stuck her lip out, and Punk sighed.

"Fine. An hour, and you better be ready to drill some combos." Punk smirked. "Maybe even a spare, young lady."

"Are you kidding? I was born ready." Stacy smiled. "Now get your gear back on."

Punk walked into the living room and saw Dean and Dani eyes glued to the screen, clicking away on their controllers.

"I thought you were sleepy." Punk smirked, referring to when him & AJ woke her up and she wasn't a happy camper because of it.

"Uncle Dean needed someone to play with." Dani shrugged, eyes not leaving the screen.

"She's better than you at this game. We're kicking these dude's ass." Dean smirked, still clicking away on the control.

"Yeah dad, we're kicking these dude's ass." Dani repeated which caused Dean and Punk to laugh.

"God, I love this kid." Dean shook his head. "Hey, Phil, can you get the bottle opener from the kitchen drawer and open my beer."

"What? Do it yourself." Punk scoffed.

"We're in a middle of a game here." Dean scoffed back. "I can't let Dani down. Tell him, kiddo."

"He can't let me down, dad." Dani repeated her Uncle once again, not fully paying attention to the conversation because she was so engrossed in the game.

"Fine." Punk rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen.

"Thanks, brutha." Dean yelled out.

Punk walked in the kitchen and opened the first drawer he saw, and luckily spotted the bottle opener in it.

"Jackpot." Punk whispered to himself, but something else in the drawer caught his eye. It was folded up, but Punk could tell just by looking at that it was an ultrasound.

Punk interested peaked and grabbed the ultrasound. He knew if Renee wasn't far enough along to determine the gender, but he still wanted to see what his little niece or nephew looked like.

He unfolded the ultrasound and started at it the picture smiled. It was a tiny little thing, but you could clearly see it in the photo. Punk was about to fold the ultrasound back up when something made him do a double take.

The date on the ultrasound. It was dated June of last year. What really made his eyes nearly pop out of his socket was the name on the ultrasound.

April Mendez-Brooks.

He couldn't believe his eyes. What the hell was he looking at? Was this some sick kind of joke? This couldn't be real. There's this paper telling him his wife was pregnant June of last year, but no baby in sight. There's no way this was real. Why does Dean and Renee have something like this just lying in their kitchen drawer. He was getting nauseous.

"They're still playing that game." Renee walked into the kitchen smiling but her smile quickly faded when she looked up at Punk and saw what he was holding in his hands. "What's that you got in your hands?"

"I don't know. You tell me." He gritted out but didn't even bother looking up at Renee. He just stared at the ultrasound.

"Dani is a beast at the game, I swear. Dude, what's taking so long?" Dean groaned as he walked in the kitchen, having just finished his game with Dani. "Oh, hey, babe."

Dean greeted his wife with a peck on the cheek but quickly saw from the expression on her face that something was wrong. That's when he finally looked over to Punk and saw what he was holding.

"Shit." He mentally kicked himself. "Phil.."

"What the hell is this?" Punk raised his voice while he held up the ultrasound. "Is this real?"

"Just calm down, please." Renee begged.

"Is this real?" Punk repeated himself, not satisfied until he got an answer.

"Yes." Dean answered him.

Punk shook his head at Dean angrily then looked at the ultrasound one last time before walking out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

"Phil, just wait a minute." Dean called out to him as him and Renee walked after him. "Just calm down and we'll tell you everything."

"Oh gee, now you wanna tell me everything." Punk halted in his tracks and turned around to Dean and Renee. "No need. I'm gonna get the story directly from the source."

"Dad." Dani appeared behind Renee. "Are you okay?"

Punk was angry but just seeing his daughter softened his expression.

"I'm fine, Squirt. I just need to go take care of something." Punk forced a smile. "Think you could stay here with your Uncle and Aunt?"

"I can't come with you?" Dani whined.

"It's late, baby. You should be in bed anyways." Punk told her. "I'll see you in the morning. I'll make you some pancakes."

"With strawberries and whip cream?" Dani inquired.

"I'll even make it into a smiley face." Punk chuckled.

"I'm way too old for that dad but if you insist." Dani playfully rolled her eyes then walked up Punk and hugged him. "I love you. See you in morning."

"I love you too, princess." Punk leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Be good."

"You be good." She quipped back, pulling away from Punk and he laughed.

"I'll help you get you ready for bed, Dani." Renee told her and Dani walked back over to her. She put her arm around Dani and walked with her into the guest room she usually sleeps in.

Once Dani was out of sight, Punk turned his attention back to Dean.

"Keep an eye on her. I'll be back in the morning." Punk told him then turned to walk out the front door.

"Phil, wait." Dean called out but Punk ignored him and walked out the front door. "Fuck."

AJ was sitting at the dining table, waiting for Punk to get home. It was their wedding anniversary, and the night she planned to tell him she was pregnant. She was terrified but knew she couldn't wait until she was showing to tell him.

Dani was over at Dean and Renee's place for the night, and she had left work early to cook an anniversary dinner for her and Punk. The thing is, Punk texted her around 5 that he was gonna be a little late, but it was 7 now and there was still no sign of him.

It was either Punk had forgotten it was their anniversary or he was planning something big for her. She wanted to believe it was the latter but, in her heart, she knew it was the former.

The food was already cold, and she was feeling lightheaded because she hadn't eaten since lunch. But she was determined to wait on Punk.

He said he had to stay a bit later because he was helping someone train. She knew it was her. And by her she was referring to Stacy, the woman she saw Punk chatting it up with at the gym. She knew Punk wasn't a cheater or was cheating on her. But his time was valuable. The fact that he was choosing to spend it with this woman than his own wife—hurt.

AJ was broken from her thoughts when she heard the door open. Punk walked in the front door with his head in his phone, and his gym bag over his shoulder. He sat the bag down, and looked up from his phone—meeting AJ's eyes.

"Hey? You still up?" Punk raised an eyebrow then noticed the food on the table. "Aww, you shouldn't have waited up for me."

"You're right, I shouldn't have." AJ agreed with hostility.

"Ape, I'm really sorry. I didn't know I was gonna be this long. I just got sidetracked." Punk apologized.

"Yeah, okay Phil. At this point, it's becoming the same sound and dance with you." AJ rolled her eyes. "I just thought that maybe today of all days, you'd have the decency to change up the routine."

"Today.. today is..." Punk was trying to remember what today was but he couldn't. He turned on his phone, looked at the date and his eyes widened. "Today is.."

"Our anniversary." AJ finished his sentence. "Of course, you forgot."

"April.. I feel terrible. I'm so sorry. I've just been so busy—that's not an excuse. I know." Punk started to ramble. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower, and then we can eat and celebrate.. and.."

"There's no point. I'm going to bed. Think you can manage to put the food away? I lost my appetite." AJ stood up from the table.

"C'mon, babe. I'm trying here. Can't you see that?" Punk stepped forward.

"No, you aren't trying. If you were trying, then you wouldn't have forgotten our anniversary." AJ snapped. "If you would rather spend your time in gym with that Stacy girl instead of me, just say that."

"God dammit, Ape. For the last time, I'm not cheating on you with Stacy." Punk shook his head.

"But you're at the gym laughing, and spending time with her when I have to beg you to make time for me." AJ stressed.

"It's not my fault she trains at the gym that I do." Punk let out a frustrated laugh. "I'm not at the gym to hang with her. I'm there because I'm getting ready for what may be the biggest fight of my career. You know, avenge that embarrassing lost I had which you clearly don't care about."

"I do care, but you.. you care too much. It's like this fight is the be-all end-all for you." AJ said.

"Well, sometimes it feels like it is." Punk blurted out. "Ever think I like being at the gym because I have people there that actually support what I'm doing. They don't argue me over every little thing, and they understand me. They don't look at me like I'm some failure."

"Wow. Tell me how you really feel." AJ held back tears. "I'm sorry I'm such a buzz kill for you."

"I didn't mean like that." Punk immediately regretted.

"Just leave, then. Go be at your precious gym. With your precious Stacy... and everyone groveling at your feet... and treating you like a king." AJ said sarcastically then shook her head. "Since, your wife, you know the one that just asks that you make time for her, has been bringing you down so much."

"April, let's just talk this out." Punk begged.

"I have nothing more to say to you. Just leave because I'm done." She sighed.

"What do you mean you're done?" He asked but AJ just stayed silent. "Fine, I'll go. But only so you can calm down."

Next thing AJ knew, Punk was out the door. Again.

After collecting herself, AJ decided to put the food away. While packing the food up in containers, AJ felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She hadn't been getting this kind of pain in a while so this shocked her. But this pain wasn't leaving like the others. It was excruciating, and it caused AJ to drop to the ground on the kitchen floor.

She needed to call someone for help, but her phone was on the dining table, and she was in so much pain that she couldn't move.

She didn't know if it was flight to fight instincts or an adrenaline rush, but she managed to crawl over to the table, grab her phone and called her most recent contact which was Dean.

"Hey, I need you to come here right now. I'm in so much pain. I think it's the baby. Please come." She mustered out then the pain got too much, and her phone slipped out of her hand & onto floor.

"AJ, you have to talk about this." Renee and Dean raced after AJ who was currently making a speed walk to the car after coming out the hospital.

"I don't have anything to talk about." AJ yelled out at them as she continued her sprint to the car.

"Renee's right, AJ. You just... you just loss your baby. You just spent 4 hours in the hospital, and you're acting like nothing happened." Dean said in frustration. "Just like you've been acting like you weren't even pregnant."

"Dean, calm down." Renee scolded.

"I'm not gonna calm down. Phil should be here. He should know about the baby. He should've known." Dean snapped them AJ stopped her in her tracks and turned around to them.

"Then tell him, Dean. Tell him. Tell him that I am- that I.. was pregnant. And that I was stupid that I loss the baby." AJ tried to fight the tears, but they were trickling down her face.

"Honey.. you couldn't have prevented this." Renee told her softly.

"I mean, couldn't I? I've been having those pains for weeks, and I should've seeked another opinion. I should've just gone to my regular doctor. I didn't even eat dinner tonight." AJ was mentally kicking herself then looked over to Dean. "I should've just told Phil. This some sorta karma because I didn't tell him. It has to be."

"I did not mean it like that. I'm sorry. You don't deserve this." Dean said. "To have this happen to you. To feel this kind of pain. He should know about it, AJ."

"What's the point? The baby is gone so he has all the time he needs to focus on the things that matter to him which is his fight." AJ coldly said which caused both Renee and Dean to sigh. "Can you guys just take me home? I know you guys drop Dani off at Tate's when I called but maybe we can pick her up? She could come home with me?"

"It's really late so that's probably not the best idea, but we'll bring her home to you first thing in the morning." Renee told her, and Dean nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right." AJ agreed then looked in her handbag and pulled out the folded sonogram. "Would you guys mind taking this from me? I don't wanna see it ever again. You could throw it away or whatever. I just can't risk Phil finding it at the house."

Dean nodded and grabbed the sonogram from AJ's hands then looked at it before folding it and placing it in his pocket.

"Thank you two for everything." AJ told them sincerely then turned back around to walk to car.

Dean and Renee gave each other a weary look then followed behind her.

AJ had just put on her night clothes after scrubbing herself down for about two hours. She felt disgusted that she slept, more than once, with Jeremy who may be a creep.

She was secretly glad that Punk took Dani with him because she did fear that Jeremy would come back. At least with him, she'd know for sure Dani would be safe. She meant it when she told Punk that she didn't care what happened to her as long as Dani was safe.

The doorbell rang which startled AJ. Spoke too soon. She didn't know if that was Jeremy at the door, but she wasn't taken any chances. She grabbed the nearby mace that was on her nightstand and made her way downstairs.

"Crap." She said as she heard her phone ring from upstairs. It would probably be a good idea to have it with her in case it was Jeremy behind that door.

She was gonna turn around and go back upstairs but the ringing of doorbell increased, and the person behind the door also started to bang on the door.

To hell with it. She made a beeline to the door and stood on her toes so she could look through the peephole.

"Phil?" She raised an eyebrow then sat the mace down on the nearby table and hurried and unlocked then opened the door. "What are you doing here? Is Dani okay?"

"We need to talk." He told her sternly. Unlike earlier, he looked cold and completely devoid of any emotions. Then pulled out the ultrasound from his pocket and held it up. "What the hell is this?