Storm Part Three

"You're fidgeting." AJ whispered, lying on her side watching her husband on his back fidgeting around with the bed sheets. The twins were in between them, fast asleep. Thomas' arm was over Rudy's face, but they didn't want to move it in case they woke up. It made them laugh.

"I don't like sleeping in other places." He whispered back.

"You've slept in a hotel before." AJ scoffed.

"Yeah, but you've normally worn me out to exhaustion." He said as she smiled.

"Sorry, none of that here, I'm afraid." She said.

"It sounds crazy out there." He said. The sound of the wind was frightening, blowing different things around outside. They could hear the occasional plant pot smashing.

"I hope there's no significant damage." AJ sighed.

"Everyone always chips in after a storm. We'll have it cleared up in no time tomorrow." He said.

"I can't believe Becca is going to have a baby." She said, "She's going to be so great. She pretends she's all tough and grumpy but… she'll be the best mom." She said, "We're like a proper mom's club now." She smiled to herself.

"Yeah, with one member who isn't a mom." Punk turned to her, "You should keep an eye on Lyla."

"Why?" AJ shook her head.

"She just might start to feel a little left out. She's not been lucky in love and she might feel like she's being left behind." Punk said.

"You think?" AJ wondered. She was so consumed by her excitement for Becca, she hadn't really thought about how Lyla would feel. Now that Punk had mentioned it, she totally saw his point of view.

"I'm just saying… she might feel a little out of place. Wouldn't you?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, I suppose." AJ said.

"Unless she doesn't want kids. Which… who cares then?" He shrugged.

"No, she does. She's talked with me about it before." AJ said, "Oh, now I want to go check on her and see if she's ok." She sighed.

"She'll be fine. It's best not to make a fuss or draw attention to it." Punk said, "I'm just saying… it might be worth considering." He said.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Gosh, you're so observant. I bet Rudy will talk to you about relationship problems before she talks to me." She said.

"I'd rather she didn't." Punk rolled his eyes.

"They're little angels." AJ smiled, watching the twins sleep, her heart bursting at their soft breathing, their little chests rising and falling, the peacefulness on their faces.

"They are." Punk said, looking on at them, "Do you think you'd want another one? In the future?" He asked curiously, still speaking in quiet voices.

"Oh, I don't know." AJ admitted, "I've thought about it. Sometimes I've thought yes, sometimes I've thought no." She said, "I love our life how it is. And they're so different. I thought when we found out we were having twins, that they'd be so similar. But it's great they're so drastically different."

"So is that a no?" He wondered.

"Do you want another one?" She asked.

"It's not really up to me." Punk shrugged, "I'm happy if you're happy."

"The least helpful answer ever. You need to stop using that line." She said as he smiled.

"But it's true." He shrugged, "It's like you said… I love our life and we get the best of both worlds. I get to geek out over superheroes with Thomas and be a girl dad too. But it's not to say that if we had another kid I wouldn't love the shit out of it the way I love them." He said, "It's your body that takes the hit. It's your decision."

"Well… I don't know. That's where I'm at." She said.

"When do you think you're gonna call your mom?" He asked her quietly. He wouldn't say, but he was slightly mad that it had been over a week since their fight, and yet AJ still hadn't contacted her mom about stopping the money she'd been sending over. He understood it was difficult for her, but he got the feeling she was just going to keep putting it off.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to think about it." AJ said briefly.

"Tomorrow?" Punk turned his head to look at her.

"God, you're so pushy." She said, half joking and half being serious.

"Well it's been a week. I feel like you're just putting it off." Punk said.

"Yeah, well we've talked about it, Phil." AJ said.

"And you said you were going to call her." He said.

"And I told you I was finding it difficult and just needed some time." She said.

"Another four years?" He asked with a tone of frustration.

"We're not doing this again." She whispered harshly.

"I'm afraid if I don't keep asking you, you'll never call her." Punk said.

"I will. I've just been busy." AJ said.

"Wrong. You've been putting it off." Punk said, "Does Nico know? That you still send her money?"

"Why are you starting this all over again?" AJ asked, sitting up in bed and looking down at him.

"I'm not starting anything. I asked when you were going to call her. You still haven't given me a proper answer." He said.

"No. You're starting an argument." AJ shook her head, "We talked about."

"We talked about it. Then we had sex." Punk said, "There wasn't much of a solution to the problem." He said. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like their fight had come to a strange conclusion with them having sex and never speaking about it again.

"What's us having sex got to do with it?" AJ shook her head.

"Felt like a little bit of a distraction." Punk admitted.

"Are you accusing me of using sex as a scapegoat?" She asked him angrily.

"I didn't say that." He said.

"No, but it's implied." AJ said, "You thought I used sex to get you off my back?"

"Kinda feels like it. Since you still haven't called her." Punk nodded.

"Oh, fuck you." She whispered, "I'm not doing this right now." She said, getting out of the bed.

"I understand how you feel about it, but if I don't keep asking you, you'll never do it." He sat up.

"And if I never do it, that will be my decision." AJ spat quietly, "Not yours."

"April." Punk said, watching her open the door and leave the room as he collapsed back down in the bed, running his hands over his face with frustration. He had a feeling their fight hadn't been resolved, only parked until the subject was brought up again.

"You think it was the meat?" Patrick asked, standing at the door of their on-suite bathroom where Becca was kneeling down by the toilet bowl.

"I don't know." She groaned, "It better not be. I love my meat." She sighed as Patrick chuckled like a kid.

"I know you do." He assured her as she shook her head.

"Immature. You're gonna be a dad, you know." She reminded him.

"I know." Patrick smiled, "We got a couple of months to work on being mature."

"We? I'm perfectly mature." Becca said as he just gave her a 'don't think so' look.

"Maybe you've just ate too much." Patrick said.

"I don't know… I think tonight it finally sunk in for me. Telling everyone." She said, "It's… kinda scary." She admitted truthfully.

"Good scary." Patrick nodded.

"I don't know… I don't really have a great example to go by with my own mom. I'm kinda worried I end up like her. Or… pass her genes down to the baby." She sighed.

"Rebecca." Patrick shook his head, "C'mon. You're not like your mom." He said, crouching down beside her.

"I could be. My mom didn't get really bad until she had me. It's like I amplified her illness. Like being a mother made it worse for her." Becca said.

"Your mom was on her own. You've talked to me about how she basically didn't have anyone around her to help. That wouldn't have made it easy for her to raise a baby and maintain her illness." Patrick said, "You have me. And look at our house right now… it's filled with people who love you and would do anything for you." He said.

"Still doesn't stop me from worrying." Becca said.

"I know." Patrick nodded, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, "But you're not your mom."

"There's always time." Becca rolled her eyes.

"You're twenty-seven. I don't know much about schizophrenia but… I'm pretty sure you would have had some symptoms by now." He said, "And even if you did, you wouldn't be rid of me. We'd work through it."

"You don't know what it's like." Becca shook her head, "I spent my whole childhood looking after my mom like she was the kid and I was the parent. One time she didn't eat for four days because she was so manic. I had to feed her and make sure she took her meds every day. I'd have to listen to her talk about stuff that wasn't real. I had to watch her be paranoid all the time about stuff that I didn't understand."

"I wish you never had to deal with that, but it's made you who you are. You're the toughest women I know. And I got female farmer cousins who scare the shit outta me." He reminded her as she smiled, "But even they don't come close to you."

"I'm not scary." Becca scoffed.

"No, but you're the bravest person I know. With the biggest heart." Patrick said, "And you're gonna be the best mom."

"You think so?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"I know it." Patrick nodded.

"You're going to be the best dad." She said, "They're gonna love going out on the farm with you."

"I hope so. There's no escaping it here." He chuckled a little.

"Well… I definitely know it's a boy so if he's anything like you he'll be rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck in by the time he can walk." She smiled.

"You don't know it's a boy." Patrick scoffed.

"I do. I can sense. And you know how good I am at sensing things." She pointed to him.

"That's true." He nodded, listening to the wind picking up outside.

"I really hope there's not too much damage." She sighed, "You called your grandad, right?"

"Yeah, before we came to bed." Patrick nodded, "The crazy bastard wanted to come here and check on us." He shook his head, "I had to assure him ten times that we were all ok and that he needed to stay put."

"Bless him." Becca frowned, "I still can't believe he gave us this house. I know you've basically took over the farm for him but… I never expected it."

"I guess he appreciates the work I've done and… he loves you." Patrick shrugged.

"I'm hard not to love." She shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right with that." He nodded.

"You think everyone is alright?" She asked him.

"Yeah. They're probably all fast asleep." He nodded, caressing the back of her head softly.