The Rules of Parenthood by Cara Malone

Author:Cara Malone
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Lisbon Press
Published: 2018-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Ruby

Even though Ruby and Max did their best to gently introduce Aiden to the idea of seeing a therapist, he was anxious about what exactly it entailed. Ruby tried to explain all the different things Aiden could talk to his therapist about – from missing his mom to his struggles in school and his feelings about living with Ruby and Max.

When he talked to his mom that week, Stacy spent at least an hour trying to get him comfortable with the idea and telling him that she thought it was a good idea for him to have someone to talk to who wasn’t a relative or a teacher. Regardless of all this, Aiden spent most of the week leading up to his appointment trying to convince them all that he didn’t need to talk to anyone.

On the morning of the appointment, he was irritable and stubborn.

“I don’t want to talk,” he said when they pulled into the parking lot behind the therapist’s office. He crossed his arms over his chest in the back seat. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“It’s not about something being wrong,” Ruby said gently. “We just want you to have someone you can talk to about how you’re feeling.”

“You said I can talk to you,” Aiden said.

“Sure you can,” Max agreed, turning around in the passenger seat to face him. “You don’t have to talk to the therapist if you don’t want to. We just want you to meet him.”

Aiden looked out the window at the parking lot beyond. There were only two other cars – the therapist’s, and probably that of his office assistant. It was a small practice in an office that looked like a house, and that was one of the reasons Ruby and Max had chosen it – they thought it would make Aiden feel more comfortable than some large, impersonal building in downtown Granville.

“What do you say?” Ruby asked gently. “Should we go in?”

“Okay,” Aiden said, although he still looked guarded.

The three of them got out of the car and Aiden slipped his hand into Max’s as they headed for the building. The inside looked even more like a house than Ruby was expecting. There was a waiting room decorated with plush couches and nice wall art so that it felt like sitting in a living room – the only thing that gave it away as a therapist’s office was the check-in desk in the corner.

Ruby went over and greeted the office assistant, then signed Aiden in while Max led him over to one of the couches.

“Doctor Graham will be with you shortly,” the woman said with a friendly smile, and Ruby went over to sit beside Aiden. He was quiet and it was clear that even though they’d convinced him to come inside, he still didn’t want to be here. Ruby was just wondering how many sessions it would take before he warmed up to the doctor when Max started talking to him.

“I used to see a therapist when I was around your age,” she said.

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