Confused

"Daddy!" Rudy squealed happily, entering her house and finding her father in the kitchen, dropping her book bag and running to him.

"Hi princess." Punk chuckled. It never failed to make him smile so big when he saw his kids after a long day.

"What are you doing?" Rudy asked as Punk lifted her up and kissed her cheek.

"I'm making you guys dinner." Punk told her, "How was pre-k?" He asked, putting her down and scooping up Thomas who giggled and tried to get down.

"Let me go." Thomas giggled.

"No, not until I get my hug." Punk demanded as Thomas grinned, wrapping his arms around his father's neck, "Missed you today, buddy." He told him.

"Missed you too, daddy." Thomas said before Punk put him down.

"I missed you more." Rudy inserted as Thomas just ignored her.

"So… how was pre-k? What did you learn?" Punk asked.

He noticed AJ had come in with the kids, but she was sorting out their bookbags in the living room, no doubt avoiding him after their fight this morning.

"We learned about never eat shredded wheat." Rudy told him.

"Huh?" Punk looked at her with confusion.

"And never eat soggy worms." Thomas added as Punk stared at them both, completely lost.

"You learnt about worms?" Punk asked.

"No." Rudy sighed with frustration, "North East South and West." She said, rolling her eyes at him for not knowing.

"Oh." Punk realised, "You know what that's called? A mnemonic." He nodded.

"A what?" Thomas made a face.

"It's a phrase you make up to remember something. Like you guys did for North East South and West." Punk told them, "Why were you learning about that, anyway?" He asked.

"I don't know." Rudy shrugged.

"We're in the West." Thomas told him as Punk nodded.

"Mid-west." Punk corrected.

"We told Abuela, and she said she's been to the East before." Rudy said.

"Yeah, Abuela has been lots of places." Punk nodded, "Did you behave for Abuela?" He asked them.

"Yes." Rudy and Thomas both said in sync as Punk smiled.

"Good." Punk said, "Go wash your hands. Dinner is almost ready." He told them as they both dashed away to wash their hands.

Meanwhile AJ eventually came into the kitchen, sitting the twins bookbags over and taking a can of pop from the fridge.

"I don't want any dinner." She told him.

"You just not gonna eat?" Punk asked her.

"Not hungry." She said, "And I'd rather not sit here and pretend I'm not mad with you." She said.

"You're mad with me? Are you kidding?" Punk turned to her angrily, "If anyone gets to be mad here it's me." He said.

"No… no, you don't get to speak to me like that. You could have just asked me about it… calmly."

"You've been lying." Punk shook his head, "I just don't understand why you have to give her money when you never see her. Ever."

"Exactly. You don't understand." She spat, "I'm going for a bath." She said, walking by him.

"April." Punk rolled his eyes as she left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

Shiv had to give herself a pep talk as she walked up to Carol's door to pick Brianna up. She knew Daryl would be there as he always left a little early from work to spend an hour or two with Brianna. She had no idea what things would be like with them. Awkward? Tense? Weird? And she had no idea what to say to him.

"Hi, Siobhan. Come in." Carol smiled, answering the door once Shiv gained the courage to knock.

"Hey." Shiv smiled, walking into the house, "She ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just getting her bag." Carol said as Shiv nodded, "She got her teacher to sign her cast." She chuckled as Shiv smiled.

"Oh, she's loving it." Shiv chuckled, "I just hope she sleeps better tonight. She got a bit restless last night."

"It'll just take time to get used to." Carol said, "I'll go see what's keeping her. Daryl is in the living room." She said before disappearing upstairs.

"Great." Shiv said to herself, walking into the living room with a racing heart where she saw Daryl tidying away Twister.

"Hi." Daryl noticed her as he was folding up the mat.

"Hey." Shiv said, "How the hell was she playing that with a broken wrist?" She wondered curiously.

"She's a talented kid." Daryl nodded, "And I'm as stiff as an eighty-year-old." He realised as Shiv smiled.

"How is she? Not in pain or anything?" Shiv asked.

"No, just her usual self." Daryl nodded, "I think she liked the attention at school."

"Who doesn't? I loved when I broke my ankle in second grade." Shiv said as Daryl shook his head.

"Weird." He told her as she shrugged.

She figured this was bound to happen. Them talking about Brianna to avoid talking about what happened between them. Although she could feel it in the way he was looking at her that he wanted to say something.

"Listen… about last night…" She began as Daryl just shook his head.

"We don't have to talk about it." He said, "Although I had to put up with the girls at The Brewberry making comments all day. Thank you for that." He nodded to her.

"Yeah well I got the same from Finn. You're just as guilty." She said defensively as Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." He nodded, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "We just… we had a crazy day and-"

"If Brianna never woke up…" Shiv said quietly, looking across at him.

She had been thinking about it all last night in bed. What would their night have looked like if their daughter never woke up and interrupted them? Would they have slept together? Would they have woke up next to each other in the morning? Or would they have stopped and realised on their own that it was a step too far?

"She did." Daryl said, "And we weren't thinking, right?" He said, hoping she'd agree.

"Yeah… yeah, right." Shiv nodded along as they both looked at one another, "It felt really good." She admitted, not having it in her any more to pretend or lie.

Daryl just gave her a small smirk and nodded, "Yeah." He agreed, "Sorry I left you hanging, though." He laughed a little.

"I took care of it." She assured him as he gulped, trying not to picture what she'd just said, the way she'd said it. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was flirting.

"Mommy!" Brianna yelled as she came running into the living room, breaking the tense silence which had come over her and Daryl.

"Hey, baby." Shiv smiled, picking Brianna up and spinning her around as Daryl smiled at the sight, "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Brianna smiled as Shiv put her back down, "I beat daddy at Twister. He's not very good at it." She said quietly.

"Hey, I heard that." Daryl gasped dramatically.

"Damn, you beat him with only one hand too. You're too good." Shiv said as Brianna smiled.

"Ok, alright. Easy on the ganging up." Daryl said.

"Hey, did you notice anything weird with AJ today?" Shiv remembered to ask, "It's just that Phil was in an awful mood all day."

"Oh, yeah. They had a big fight outside The Brewberry." Daryl nodded, "We all saw it."

"Oh." Shiv said with concern, "That sucks. It's not like them to have a big fight." She said.

"I know." Daryl said, "They'll work it out, I'm sure." He nodded.

"Mommy, can daddy come over to my house again?" Brianna asked Shiv, "And can we make him our ice-cream sundae's?" She asked as Shiv looked over to Daryl.

"Is this an ice-cream sundae where you put every single sugary item you have in it?" Daryl asked.

"How did you know?" Brianna gasped.

"Me and your mom invented that." Daryl nodded.

"Cool." Brianna smiled, "Can he?" She turned to Shiv hopefully.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course he can." Shiv nodded. She couldn't deny her daughter anything. Especially not when she so desperately wanted to hang out with her dad. Something she couldn't believe was finally happening.

"When?" Brianna asked.

"What about Saturday night? You have gymnastics tomorrow." Shiv told her.

"Ok." Brianna nodded.

"I guess I'll see you then." Daryl smiled to her before picking her up for a goodbye hug.

"You have to bring lots and lots of candy." Brianna whispered into his ear as Daryl chuckled.

"Got it." Daryl nodded, putting her back down before she went running to Shiv.

"I'll see you Saturday then." Shiv nodded to him.

"Yeah, see you Saturday." Daryl said, watching as her and Brianna left.

He was confused. Confused on how he felt, on what he should do, on what Shiv was thinking about. He didn't want to mess anything up when it came to being Brianna's dad and learning how to be in her life, but he knew he'd be lying if he said he didn't care about Shiv. He always would. But he had no idea where they stood now. It was certainly a grey area they were floating in.

"They're asleep." Punk said, walking into he and AJ's bedroom where he saw her taking her pillows and her book, "What are you doing?" He shook his head.

"Sleeping downstairs." AJ said, "Or you can go instead if you like."

"April, c'mon. Yes, we're clearly having a disagreement, but I think we can manage to sleep in the same bed." Punk shook his head.

"I'd rather not." She said.

"Aren't we at least going to talk? You've been hiding from me ever since you came home." Punk said.

"I've not been hiding." AJ scoffed, "I just don't want the confrontation. And I'm too mad to have a conversation about it right now."

"Too mad? What are you mad about? You're the one who has lied this whole time. Christ, your mom doesn't even know you have two kids, and you're still sending her money every month. It's a bullshit relationship." He said.

"You don't think I'm aware of that?" AJ spat harshly, "You don't think I know how odd and strange it is? You don't think it hurts me that my own mother didn't come visit me when I was raped?" She asked him as he looked across at her.

"Of course I know it hurts you. That's why I don't understand." He said, "She… she doesn't deserve you. Forget about the money, that's… that's not the issue. The issue is she's taking advantage of you. You've said it yourself, your aunt Nico is your mom. She's our kids Abuela. She's the one whose been here for you." He said, "So why do you keep giving money to your mom?"

"Because if I don't then I'll have to admit that she really doesn't care about me." AJ said, "My own mom. And that hurts." She swallowed the lump in her throat, "I look at the twins and… I would literally do anything for them. I'd jump in front a train, I'd kill, I'd… steal. I'd do anything to keep them safe and make sure they know mommy is always here." She said as Punk looked across at her, "My mom barely knows me. She hasn't seen me since I was eighteen… I send her money because it means I don't have to think about how much she's failed me. Sending her money means she still calls and we still pretend like we're mom and daughter."

"Is it really worth it? For a five-minute phone call every few months?" Punk asked, "Short of two grand every month because you don't want to admit you have a shit mom?"

"Thank you. For your understanding." She spat.

"I do understand." Punk said, "I had a shit mom. I never pretended like I didn't."

"Then you're my hero." She shook her head.

"What I'm saying is… I know it sucks. The way you are with the twins… I see it and the weird mommy issues in me gets jealous. Cause I think… what would I have been like if I had a mom as good as that." He said.

"Maybe you would have been a bit more sensitive to other people's feelings." AJ shook her head, "Not everyone thinks like you, Phil."

"Maybe." Punk said, "But I'm your husband, I'm here to tell you the truth. And the truth is, she's taking advantage of you. And I fucking hate it because you are… the best person I know. The kindest most selfless person. And this woman who has never been there for you has got you trapped in this mind fuck." He said.

"I'm aware." AJ said, "I'm going to bed." She said.

"Just sleep here." He rolled his eyes.

"No. I want to be on my own." She said, walking past him with her pillows and leaving their bedroom.