Making a Decision

Lacy tipped the cab driver and got her bags from him, pulling them behind her as she started to approach the house. She'd spent the last few weeks back in California with her family and old friends, taking some time to sort herself out and figure out what she really wanted. There'd been a lot of frustration on her end, there had been plenty of times where she just considered giving up completely on trying to figure things out, but her friends and most of the time, her Dad were there to kick her in the ass and remind her of why she was there in the first place. She didn't talk to Punk much while she was there, and she did that on purpose. She didn't need any conversations between them confusing her or upsetting her.. she felt like she needed to figure this out on her own.

She came back to Chicago a week earlier than she was supposed to and didn't tell Punk or anyone else that she was coming home. Not even Ellie. Certainly not Punk's mom, because she was already pretty mad at Lacy for "how shes been treating him." Eh.

She got her key out and opened the door, pulling her suitcases in behind her. She didn't see anyone downstairs, so she left her suitcases down by the stairs and went up, looking around. She peeked into the kids rooms and saw that Punk had put them all down for a nap. She smiled a little before taking a small breath and heading down the hall to the bedroom that she shared with Punk. Maybe he'd appreciate the early suprise.. or maybe he'd have some naked bitch in his lap after deciding he was done with putting up with her psychotic bullshit. Who knew.

Taking another breath, she sighed and knocked lightly on the bedroom door, poking her head in slightly.

Punk was busy....fucking around with fans on twitter, lol. He was sitting on the bed and when he heard the knock on the door, he thought it was Ally. "Ally, that was a ten minute nap." he snorted. "I said we could have a tea party after you took a nice, long nap." he shook his head in amusement and looked over at the door....then froze a bit as he saw Lacy. "...Lacy?" he asked, obviously surprised. He blinked a bit and saw that she was still there. "Uh...come on in." he chuckled a bit as he put his phone down and stood up.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said as she made her way into the room.

"Not at all." he shook his head. "I was just messing with some fans." he told her.

"Sounds.. promising." she nodded and sat at the foot of the bed. "So.. I'm home."

"I see that." he chuckled a bit. "How was California?" he asked. "Personally, I think it did you some good because you look great." he complimented with a nod.

"Thanks." she smiled a little. "It was nice to do something different for a while."

He nodded. "Probably was nice to catch up with old friends and your Dad too." he said.

"It was." She nodded. "..how have you been?"

"Been alright." he nodded. "Just been spending time with the kids and at the wrestling school." he told her.

"That's good." She nodded. "I guess you're wondering why I'm home so early."

"I am." he nodded. "I thought you were supposed to come next week."

"I was, but.." she shrugged. Now, she had no idea what she wanted to say. "I guess I missed you guys."

He smiled a little and nodded as he put his hands in his pockets. "I can honestly say that we've definitely missed you too. It's always weird when you're not around."

"You know, I had this huge speech planned on the way here that I was going to give to you.. but that just went out of the window. "I need you to just listen to me, okay?"

"Yeah, I can do that." he nodded and figured he would sit down.

She took a deep breath. "A big part of the reason why I didn't allow us to move on from the little rut that we are.. were in, was because even though you forgave me, I didn't forgive myself. I felt terrible for what I did to you, I blamed myself.. I convinced myself that I didn't deserve you, not after all that I put you through. I didn't understood how you forgave me so easily, because I kinda of know that if the tables were turned, I wouldn't have forgiven you so easily. I would have made you work for my trust, and I didn't feel like I'd earned back your trust.. your respect." she said. "That was the problem I had with it all. But then I realized, that for some strange reason, you want to spend the rest of your life with me, of all the people in the world. Like, you really meant it when you said 'til death. I've never had anyone to love me as unconditionally as you do, so in turn, I didn't know how to love you back. But now I do." She sighed. "Forgive me if this sounds like a bunch of nonsensical bullshit.. but, I love you. I really, really love you. I want to be with you. I've figured things out. I'm not 100% yet, but this time away has allowed me to forgive myself and start to figure how the woman that I need to be to you and our children."

He listened to everything that she told him and thought for a moment after she finished speaking, until he spoke. "I know that if you were married to somebody else, they probably would have just threw you out and gotten rid of you." he told her. "But that's not me as you know. I mean, did it sting a little when you told me what happened? Sure it did, but I was more than willing to move past it and just be with you. You're the only woman that I've ever been in a relationship with that I truly and madly am in love with, so I want us to work and I will fight for you all the time." he said. "After a while though, well...even now when we still have our problems, I stopped thinking about us and thought more about you. I just want you to be happy, Lace. I'm glad that you took time away for yourself because I already felt bad enough constantly nagging you about us and making it more confusing for you. I understand that you're not 100% and I'm more than happy to help you get there." he nodded. "I just...I love you so much." he said.

"I love you, too." she nodded. "I really do."

"...can I hug you or kiss you or something?" he asked as he chuckled a little and ran his hand over his head.

She smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah."

He nodded and figured he would start with a hug first, so he did. "I really missed having you around, Lacy." he told her.

"I missed you, too, Phil." she said as she hugged him back.

He hugged her a little tighter, running his hands through her hair and enjoying her presence. He then kissed the side of the head. "I know the kids will be so happy to see you. Apparently I still can't get the tucking in just right." he chuckled.

She smiled a little. "Maybe it's just a mommy thing."