Swings and Friendship

"Daddy, push me higher!" Rudy yelled whilst Punk stood behind her, pushing her on the swings in the park.

"Not too high!" AJ called over, watching Thomas going down the chute as he insisted someone watch him. She'd lost count on how many times he'd gone down.

"Really high!" Rudy yelled back to AJ as Punk chuckled, looking over to AJ who just shook her head with a smile.

"Mom's the boss, kid." Punk told Rudy, "Not too high." He said, pushing her lightly.

"Boring." Rudy rolled her eyes, very much the daredevil, "Can I stand on the swing whilst you push me?" She asked quietly so her mother wouldn't hear.

"Are you trying to get me into trouble?" Punk chuckled.

"Can I push you?" Rudy asked, jumping off the swing whilst it was in mid-air, giggling to herself and turning back to Punk.

"I don't think you'd be able to push me. I'm a bit big." Punk concluded.

"I want to try." Rudy said, taking Punk's hand and dragging him over to the swing, "Sit." She told him, and he sat.

"Ok." Punk hummed, "But I don't think you got enough muscles yet." He said, feeling her tiny hands pressed against his back, trying hard to push him forward but it wasn't going very well.

"I think I'll need help." Rudy realised, "Thomas! Come help me push daddy on the swing." She told her brother, looking over to the chute which Thomas was trying to climb up now.

"I'm busy." Thomas called over, not interested in what his sister was doing.

"Please I need help." Rudy jumped up and down, "Daddy is too heavy. I can't do it on my own."

"Fine." Thomas rolled his eyes, sliding down the chute and running over to his sister.

It was a Saturday, and after spending all day between their parent's coffee shops, AJ and Punk decided to take them to the park after they had closed, with the promise of a pizza on the way home. It was the best way to burn the energy and excitement out of them.

"Maybe you'll need my help too." AJ walked over with a smile, folding her arms and watching the twins standing behind Punk, getting ready to push him.

"I'm not that heavy." Punk rolled his eyes, "Why don't I give you guys a head start?" He said, using his feet to swing himself a little.

"That's better!" Rudy nodded, both her and Thomas pushing Punk every time he swung back their way, both of them giggling as Punk pretended that they were pushing him too fast and high.

"You having fun?" AJ smiled to Punk.

"So much." He nodded to her, "Why don't we push mommy now?" He asked them.

"Yeah!" Rudy cheered.

"Oh, I think I'll pass." AJ said calmly.

"Why?" Thomas asked her, "The swings are fun."

"I… I don't really like swings." She waved her hand as Punk looked over at her with a raised brow, stopping himself on the swing and standing up.

"You don't really like swings?" He asked her with confusion.

"Everybody likes the swings, mommy." Rudy rolled her eyes, sitting back on the swing and getting Thomas to push her.

"I was never a fan of them as a kid." AJ shrugged as Punk laughed a little, "It's not funny. I had a really traumatic experience. Ask my aunt." She shook her head.

"What was the traumatic experience?" Punk scoffed.

"I… I fell off and chipped my tooth." AJ mumbled as Punk looked at her, "They're really dangerous. I bit my tongue too, and there was blood everywhere." She defended.

"How did you ever recover?" Punk asked sarcastically as she smacked his arm.

"It's not funny. It really scarred me." She said.

"Well… you know what they say about fears, right?" He asked as she looked up at him, "You gotta face them." He said, suddenly lifting her up over his shoulder and walking over to the swings.

"Phil, put me down. This isn't funny." AJ slapped his back as she draped over his shoulder, kicking and wriggling to try and get down as the twins watched with fascination.

Punk walked over to the swing next to the one Rudy was on, sitting AJ down on it as she grabbed onto the two metal sides, trying to stand up but Punk had already pulled the swing back and pushed her.

"Phil, I don't like this." AJ said, holding onto the swing tightly.

"Nothing is going to happen." Punk assured her, "Come help me." He nodded to Thomas and Rudy.

"I don't think she likes it." Thomas assessed, noticing his mother's eyes were closed tight.

"Let's push her really high!" Rudy giggled, pushing her mother every time she swung back to them.

"Philip Brooks you're going in my bad book of names!" AJ vowed, not happy about this situation at all, but beginning to see the amusement of it all, and how ridiculous it all was.

"Come on. It's not so bad, is it?" Punk asked her whilst the twins pushed her.

"No, but I do not like you encouraging our children to terrorise me." She said, laughing a little as Punk smiled.

"All part of parenting, babe." Punk chuckled, eventually letting her slow down as she hopped off the swing and turned to Punk unhappily.

"Evil man." She pointed to him.

"I hurt to heal." He shrugged as she smiled, walking over to him and kissing him.

"There's Brianna." Rudy noticed, running over to the gate of the park where Shiv had just walked in with Brianna. The twins are Brianna were good friends, from being in the same pre-k class, to always hanging around together at the coffee shops.

"Hey." Shiv smiled over to them as Punk and AJ walked over.

"You have the same idea as us? Take them here and burn all the energy out of them so they go to sleep easier?" AJ smiled.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Shiv nodded, "And I feel bad for having her cooped up in the coffee shop all day." She admitted as Brianna looked up at her.

"Can I go play?" Brianna asked.

"Yeah, on you go." Shiv smiled, watching Brianna and Rudy run off together whilst Thomas entertained himself over at the monkey bars.

For the past week, things had been quiet and steady. Daryl was moved in with Finn and working at The Brewberry every day, keeping his head down and working hard. They had occasional discussions about Brianna, mostly consisting of Daryl asking questions about what she was like, but they had very few discussions of Shiv.

Shiv, to Punk and Finn's surprise, had become a little more open, talking to them about how she should approach setting up a meeting for Daryl and Brianna. It was as if she finally had to break and talk to someone. With Daryl being here, she couldn't shut everyone out the way she had been.

"They'll still be up at 7am tomorrow." Punk shook his head.

"And it's your Sunday to get up with them. Mama's turn for a lie in." AJ patted his shoulder as Shiv smiled. In a way, she felt immense jealousy over AJ and Punk. The fact they had each other to lean on throughout parenting was something she really wished she had.

"You ever thought about opening your shops on a Sunday?" Shiv wondered, "Sunday seems like a day that everyone needs coffee." She admitted.

"I've thought about it sometimes." AJ nodded, "I have plenty of staff to do it and work out other days off but… I don't know, I'm just so used to it."

"You offering to open up for me on a Sunday?" Punk smiled to Shiv.

"I wouldn't be against it." Shiv shrugged, "I mean… I don't have Brianna tomorrow. She's staying with Carol tonight and… Daryl is going over to spend some time with her." She told them both as AJ and Punk nodded.

"Then you should take some time to yourself. Switch the mom brain off for a few hours." AJ nodded.

"Did you speak with Daryl or…" Punk said to Shiv.

"I just told his mom that she could invite him over tomorrow. So he can spend some time with Brianna." Shiv nodded, "Gotta happen at some point."

"That's good." Punk nodded, "Like AJ said, it gives you a chance to switch off and chill out. God knows it's hard work running around after them." He said, looking over to the kids who were running around playing together.

"Yeah, I'm just worried. She can be shy." Shiv said, "She knows he's her father. We've showed her pictures and talked about him to her but… doesn't change the fact she's never met him properly. I'm scared she gets overwhelmed and rejects him or something." She admitted.

"Sometimes kids are better at dealing with those situations than us adults." AJ said, "I'm sure it'll be fine. It's a step in the right direction." She nodded.

"I don't know. I feel like he's just doing it because he knows it's the right thing to do." Shiv said, "I know he'd rather not have the responsibility."

"You don't know that." Punk said.

"He's been asking me about her all week." AJ told her, "Asking me what she's like and what her favourite things are. Don't mistake his fear for reluctance."

"How is he? Working at The Brewberry I mean. Is he replacing me well?" She asked AJ.

"No one could ever replace you." AJ told her with a smile, "But he's doing ok. Little shaky with some things but he's still trying to adjust to normal life again. It's a lot."

"Yeah, I know." Shiv nodded.

"Things will go fine tomorrow." Punk said, seeing how nervous she looked.

"Don't you want to be there? When he meets her properly?" AJ asked Shiv curiously.

"No. I think it's best if I stay out the way." Shiv nodded, even though deep down she wanted nothing more than to watch Daryl meet their daughter. Something she had only dreamed about up until now.

"Whatever you think is best." AJ nodded to Shiv.

"Daddy, come play!" Rudy yelled over as Punk chuckled.

"Duty calls." Punk nodded to AJ and Shiv, running over to the kids whilst AJ looked at Shiv.

"He's like a big kid." AJ smiled.

"He is. Him and Finn are… interesting to work with." Shiv said as AJ chuckled.

"I can imagine." AJ nodded, looking at Shiv who was smiling as she watched the kids playing.

Her heart bled for her. She considered Shiv to be one of her greatest friends. When she first hired her when she was sixteen, there was instant love and connection. They'd had so much fun. Sleepovers, late nights at the coffee shop, gossip sessions and everything in between. To go from all of that to sudden distance had been heart-breaking. She missed her bright and bubbly friend. The one who always saw the light in everything, even when her home life was dark.

"We really miss you." AJ said, not being able to keep it in as Shiv turned to her, "Like… we really miss you." AJ emphasised as Shiv swallowed the lump in her throat, "And I'm sorry if we weren't very approachable or good with our words. We were just so lost without you here and then when you came back it was like you-"

"Were a different person?" Shiv figured.

"In some ways." AJ nodded.

"I miss you guys, too." Shiv assured her "Like… a lot."

"You know we're still your best friends. You'll never be rid of us. And we'll always be there for you." AJ said.

"I know that." Shiv nodded, "I've just… had my own way with dealing with everything. It's probably not been the best way. I realise that now. I probably should have leaned on my friends more but I just… for so long I couldn't talk about what happened. And I couldn't face all the questions." She said.

"I understand." AJ said, "I've… I've been in a situation before where I developed the coping mechanism of shutting people out and going silent on everyone. It feels helpful at the time until it's suddenly not helpful at all." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, certainly starting to feel like that." Shiv said, "I don't know… maybe it's time for us to have a sleepover or something." Shiv nodded nervously as AJ smiled so big.

"Really?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah." Shiv said, "If… that's ok with you guys?" She wondered. If anything, Daryl coming back had made her realise how much she needed her friends by her side. Her emotional support system. They were all she had, and she hated that she'd shut them out so much, she was starting to realise just how big a mistake that had been.

"Of course it's ok with us." AJ smiled happily, wrapping her arms around Shiv and squeezing her tightly.