Beyond Any Experience by Anne E. Terpstra

Author:Anne E. Terpstra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, contemporary, lit/genre fiction, women’s fiction, LGBTQ+ literary fiction, women’s domestic life fiction, romance, mothers and children fiction, lesbian, occupational therapist, age-gap, children, hurt/comfort, over 40, grieving, PTSD, family drama, autism, neurodiversity, interracial/intercultural, #ownvoices, tear-jerker, parenting
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“I REFUSE TO do homework on a Saturday!” Ben’s red face glowed like a Christmas light, the veins in his neck bulging. “I REFUSE! I REFUSE! I REFUSE!”

Ellie twitched when Olivia smacked the dining table to jolt him from his tantrum. “If you say ‘I refuse’ again, you’ll lose computer privileges! I am done with this! You wouldn’t do the work this week, so this is your consequence. No Minecraft until the project is done.”

“You NEVER understand! I. CAN’T. DO. IT!” His plate jumped when he pounded the table in return.

Ellie chewed on her lip as they faced off, hesitant to step in. It had been an edgy morning, Ben stacking grievances like Legos and Olivia biting her tongue so often she should’ve been spitting blood.

“Upstairs. Cool down time. Now.”

Growling, he stomped to his room. When his bedroom door slammed, the house shook.

Olivia pressed a finger between her eyes, a sigh hissing through her gritted teeth. “I suppose that wasn’t an OT-approved method for helping your son with his executive functioning skills.”

“Because no parent ever loses their temper with their kid?” Her wry smile was matched by Olivia. “Natural consequences are the best kind. This is what happens when he leaves homework until the last minute.”

“Bet you’re glad you came for breakfast.”

“I’m always glad to be here.” She streaked her last bite of waffle through some maple syrup and popped it in her mouth. “This might sound strange, but it’s reassuring that he loses it on occasion when I’m around. It means he’s comfortable being himself with me.”

Olivia stabbed at her own waffle, shredding it with her fork. “Oh, he’s comfortable. No worries there.”

“Is everything okay? You’re both wound tight this morning.”

Olivia’s fork dropped with a clatter, and she stacked her plate onto Ben’s. “It’s been a rough week, homework-wise. They’re piling it on as preparation for junior high. Then I have to email his teacher to remind her about his IEP and the limits to what she can assign. And then she tells me which busywork nonsense he actually has to do, and which he can skip.”

“I assume this project is in the ‘can’t skip’ category?”

“Yep. I’ve been trying to help him chip away at it all week, but—” A crash echoed upstairs. Olivia scrubbed at her face, a groan leaking from her hands. “I’ll go check on him.”

“How about I take a turn?”

“Be very sure when you make that offer because I don’t have the strength to turn you down.”

“Sit here and finish your breakfast. I’ll give a shout if things go south.” She planted a kiss on Olivia and headed for Ben’s room. Her knock was met with silence, so she cracked the door. He sat in a rumpled heap, kicking a book with his toe.

“Hey buddy.” When he didn’t yell at her to leave, she inched into his room. “Mind if I ask what this project is about?”

Shrugging, he pouted his lower lip. “Thomas Edison.”

“Like, a biography of his life, or—”

“His inventions.”

“All of them? Because he invented a ton.

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