What If? II

"Bye bye, Daddy." Brandon said. "I go play with my toys now." he ran off to go upstairs.

It just left Punk and Lacy. "I'm sorry about Allison. I'll talk to her. So..." she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Zoe, huh?"

"Zoe." he nodded as he put his hands in his pockets. "You and Cena?"

"We're just testing things out right now," she told him. It was sort of the truth. "Zoe seems... nice."

"Ah." he nodded. "Yeah, she's really nice." he told her.

"Yeah. I wish you would have told me she was coming, though."

"I thought John was going to eat dinner with us too, so I just brought her along. Next time, I'll be sure to ask if she can even come."

"Its just always been a family thing, y'know." Lacy said nonchalantly, "Even though she's the new... thing in your life, she's not really family." That might have come out a lot shittier than she meant it to.

"New girlfriend in my life." he told her. "And she gets it, which is why she left. She didn't want to ruin our family dinner."

"If she was that concerned about it then surely she wouldn't have come in the first place?" She rose a brow. Girlfriend, hmph.

"She was, but I told her to come anyway." he told her.

"Then you're kind of at fault for that." Lacy shrugged gently. 'And I really don't want the kids getting confused so I'd appreciate it if they didn't spend so much time with her when you take them for the weekend."

"Excuse me?"

"What?" Lacy shrugged. "They're just getting used to us being apart, and with you bringing another woman into the picture and I am sure that you treat her as more than just a friend when they're around, I don't want them to get confused. It's just a favor that I'm asking of you. It's not a big deal."

"Well then I want the same thing. I don't want John around them as much when you have them."

"Well.." Lacy chuckled. "For one, I'm their primary guardian, so I have them 99% of the time anyway. You have them when your schedule allows for it. Secondly, John is here once a week, if that, so don't go there with me.'

He shook his head. "Fine, whatever you want Lacy. I'm not going to argue."

"It took a divorce for you to learn not to argue with me." Lacy snorted bitterly with a sad smirk on her face.

"Yeah well, apparently I'm not a fast learner." he said as he shook his head. "I'm leaving. I'll see you when I come to get the kids next weekend."

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out." She turned on her heel and went upstairs.

He rolled his eyes and shut the door, heading out to go home.

-

A couple weeks later, lol. Punk was visiting his Mom in the hospital. She had been sick for a couple of days now and was there, trying to get better. She spoke to him and gave him advice on dealing with the divorce and so on. While she liked Zoe, because she was a very nice girl, she just wasn't as close to her as she was with Lacy. She knew Punk was trying to move on, but he didn't seem happy. From what he told her, he was depressed. His daughter hated him, Lacy was being cold with him and he was trying to make everybody happy that he forgot about himself. He had ended things with Zoe the night before. They were still going to be friends. Even she knew he wasn't really in it and she was very understanding. Anyway, Punk went home to try to sleep when his phone rang. Apparently his mother had suffered a heart attack over night and wasn't doing well. He sped over to the hospital and went to go see her. After a few moments of staying by her side, with his sisters....he heard it. The dreaded flatline. His mother was gone. He was hurt, angry, upset and just in shock. He left the room and headed out to the hallway, breaking down. Punk had called Colt to let him know too, since he was close to his Mother as well....but he needed somebody to talk to...and he knew who to call. Even though Punk and Lacy weren't on good terms...he needed her. He dialed her number, hoping she'd pick up.

Since their last... talk, I guess, Punk hadn't really made an effort to contact her unless he was telling her he was on his way to come and pick up Brandon and Allison, so it struck her as odd that he'd call now. She answered the phone. "Yes, Phil?"

"Lace..." he said as he tried to hold back from crying...but she could probably tell in his voice that he was. "She's gone."

She heard how choked up he was and frowned, sitting up straighter. "What? Who's gone? Talk to me."

"Ma." he said. "She....she's dead."

"What?" And that was when she felt tears sting her own eyes. Mary was like the mother she never had. "I... where are you?"