A/N: Hello everyone! Here's one of my latest fics that's been a passion project of mine for a while. This is based on the Hey Arnold episode 'Helga on the Couch' except its about Ronnie Anne going to see Dr. Lopez and talk about her life. This is a two-shot and this is part one. I hope you guys enjoy!
The Santiagos were on their way to Royal Woods to see Dr. Lopez. Even after moving to the city, Maria Santiago noticed that her daughter Ronnie Anne was showing signs of feeling depressed and wouldn't talk to any of her family members about it. Maria remembered her good friend Jane Lopez from college who headed out to med school to become a doctor and knew she'd be the right choice. That's when she told her daughter that she had set up an appointment to see the doctor, and Ronnie Anne was not happy.
"Mom, I don't want to see some lame doctor!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed to her mother while they were driving to Dr. Lopez' office. Maria kept her eyes on the road, but responded to her daughter.
"Come on sweetie. Dr. Lopez is one of the best therapists out there. It would really help to talk to a professional like her."
"Yeah, Nini." Ronnie Anne's older brother Bobby responded. "I remember I went to see Dr. Lopez during my senior year at Royal Woods High School. She really helped me out when I was feeling stressed."
Maria nodded at her son. "Exactly. What we're trying to say here is that we're worried about you, dear. You should at least give this therapy session a try."
Ronnie Anne slid back on her seat. "F-Fine…"
An hour later, the car pulled up to a small one-story house and the Santiagos got out of the car. They entered into Dr. Lopez' office and Maria went to check Ronnie Anne in. Ronnie Anne and Bobby went to sit down and there was someone else in the waiting room too. Ronnie Anne recognized the afro-haired African American child as Lincoln's best friend Clyde. He was reading one of the pamphlets, looked up from it and saw Ronnie Anne.
"Ronnie Anne! Bobby! Is that you?" Clyde called out to her.
Ronnie Anne smiled awkwardly to him. "Oh hey, Clyde."
"Clydesdale! Good to see you!" Bobby replied.
"I didn't know you guys see Dr. Lopez too."
"Well I did," Bobby replied, "but this is Ronnie Anne's first time."
"Oh cool! Does Lincoln know you guys are in town?"
"No, I didn't tell him. We're only here for the day." Ronnie Anne said.
"That's cool. I'm just waiting for my Dads to finish with their session." Then, Clyde heard the door open and saw his dads coming out of the room. "Well, looks like they're done. I hope things go well with you, Ronnie Anne."
"Thanks, and if you see Lincoln, tell him I said 'hey'."
"No problem! See you around, Ronnie Anne." And Clyde headed out the exit with his dads.
The family waited for Dr. Lopez to call Ronnie Anne in. The Hispanic girl was looking down and rocking her feet. She hadn't been this nervous in a while. What was she going to tell the doctor? Would she want to tell her everything? These questions were buzzing in her head. Then, the door opened again and Dr. Lopez appeared in front of the three.
The doctor looked down at her clipboard. "Are you Miss Ronalda Anne Santiago?"
"Y-Yes, but I liked to be called Ronnie Anne." She responded back.
Maria placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Are you ready, sweetie?"
Ronnie Anne sighed "I-I guess so." She slowly got up from her seat, turned to her mother and brother and hugged them both. The three stayed in the hug, until Ronnie Anne let go and turned to Dr. Lopez. "Okay, I'm ready doc."
"Good luck, Nini." Bobby said to her.
"Yes, good luck." Maria responded. "We'll be here in the waiting room if you need us. We love you, Ronnie Anne."
Ronnie Anne smiled at them both. "I love you guys too."
"Come this way, Miss Ronnie Anne." Dr. Lopez said, as she led Ronnie Anne to the therapy room. She took notice of how small the room was, and walls were painted the color beige. There was a couch and chair on one side and a table on the other. She watched as the doctor walked over to her table and grabbed her glasses from the top. Then, she walked over to the couch and sat in the chair next to it. Dr. Lopez gestured to the couch and then to Ronnie Anne.
"Please have a seat over here."
Ronnie Anne shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the couch. She crossed her legs and folded her arms. "Okay doc, how long is this going to take?"
The doctor took notice of her attitude and started taking down notes. "As long as we need it to be, Ronnie Anne. Now, can you tell me why you're here?"
"Honestly, I don't know." Ronnie Anne replied. "My mom thought it would be a good idea that I come and see you. She somehow thinks something is bothering me."
"Ah, yes. Your mother was a good friend of mine back in college. I've even seen your older brother Roberto for a few sessions. A very intelligent young man." Dr. Lopez nodded. "Well, do you think something is bothering you?"
Ronnie Anne pouted. "No, not at all! I don't know why my mom would even think that!"
The doctor took notice of this and started writing it down. "Are you sure, Ronnie Anne? Isn't there anything you want to talk about? How about your family? I know you have your mother and brother, but what about—"
"..My dad?" She interrupted Dr. Lopez's question.
"..Yes." Dr. Lopez replied.
The Hispanic looked down at the ground. She hadn't thought of her father in a while and having the doctor ask her about him was scary.
"If you don't want to talk about it, we can change the subject."
"No no, it's fine." Ronnie Anne looked up at Dr. Lopez. "Since you brought it up, I might as well talk about him." She took in a deep breath and memories of her mother telling her the story of how she and her father met were playing in her head.
"If I remember correctly, it all started at Cleveland Middle School. My mom Maria Casagrande was living with my huge family in the city at the time. She wasn't the most popular kid in school. Honestly, she used to get picked on. Until someone actually stood up for her
…that was my dad Roberto Santiago."
[Flashback]
"Oh hey, are you okay?" The Hispanic boy said to the other.
The young lady was on the floor, covering her face with her hand. She still thought that the bullies that were teasing her were still circling her. However, when she removed her hand, she actually saw a boy smiling down at her. He held his hand out to her, and helped her up from the ground.
"I-I...t-thank you." She replied softy.
"You're welcome! I'm Roberto!"
"I-I'm Maria."
"Maria…that's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard."
Maria stuttered. "I-I...I." and ran away from Roberto. He didn't know why she did this and just headed off to his next class. The Hispanic girl watched him from behind a locker and swooned softly.
[End Flashback]
"Soon enough, my mom started developing feelings for my dad, but didn't know to show them." Ronnie Anne chuckled. "She thought throwing paper airplanes at him in class was a good way to get his attention."
[Flashback]
"Hey, what was that?" Roberto called out, as the paper airplane landed on him. He turned around and saw Maria's face covered with a book. He could hear small giggles from the girl, but decided to ignore them.
"Ugh, why is he so cute?" Maria said to herself, as she continued to look at her book.
[End Flashback]
"She kept giving my dad these kind of hints…"
[Flashback]
After a long day of classes, Roberto walked up to his locker, opened it and saw a note attached to the door. He pulled the letter off of it and read the letter.
Dear Roberto,
Sorry about that paper airplane.
I realized it wasn't the best way to get your attention.
How about we hang out sometime?
Maria Casagrande
The letter was signed with a heart next to her name. He smiled down at the letter and placed in his pocket.
[End Flashback]
"…After that, they got together in high school. They weren't one of those popular couples but stayed together into graduation." Ronnie Anne continued. "Once my mom finished her time at nursing school and my dad in the military, they decided to get married."
[Flashback]
"Maria Anne Casagrande..." Roberto said, as he got down on his knees, "I remember how our meeting was one of strangest experiences for me, especially when you threw that paper airplane at my head. But I wouldn't trade it for the world." he pulled a small box from his pocket and opened up to reveal a ring, "Maria, would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"
Maria pressed her hands up to her face and started crying, "Oh Roberto…I just can't believe. Of course I will!" and wrapped her arms around him.
[End Flashback]
"After my parents got married, my mother moved out of the city and they moved to the small town of Royal Woods, where they would have my brother and me." Ronnie Anne sighed. "That's where the story changes."
[Flashback]
Roberto Jr and his younger sister Ronnie Anne were playing with toys in their room. Then, they hear the sound of parents and decided to check it out. The two were in the kitchen arguing over something.
"But Roberto, you promised take care of the kids!"
"Well excuse me if I had a meeting to go to!"
"You should know never to leave the kids alone!"
"The kids? What about me? I have a life too!"
"I thought the kids were part of our life!"
"You know what, Maria? I can't do this anymore!" and a loud SLAM from the front door filled the small house.
A few minutes passed as the house remained silent. Maria stood there for a moment and breathed heavily. She slowly went over to the couch and kept her head down. She couldn't believe that her husband had walked out on her like this. She felt her whole life flashing before her eyes and the tears started dripping down her face.
Then, she heard tiny footsteps coming into the room.
"Mommy?" The voice said, as she looked down with teary eyes. She saw her son and daughter looking at with her from a distance. Maria stared at them for a moment.
"Ronalda, Roberto Jr…I." She said to them.
"Mom, what happened?" Bobby said, as he picked up his baby sister and brought her over to their mother.
Maria wiped the tears away from her face. "Daddy. Walked out on me." She reached for her daughter and held Ronnie Anne in her arms. Her children stared up at their mother, and Bobby placed a hand on her arm.
"So, we wouldn't be seeing him anymore?"
She nodded her head. "I don't think so."
Bobby wrapped his arms around his mother. "It's okay, mom. We'll get through this together."
Ronnie Anne smiled at Maria. "Together."
Maria kept crying and held her children tight in her arms. "Thank you, kids. As long as I have you both, I'll be fine. I love you guys so much."
"We love you too, mom." Bobby smiled at his mother as well.
[End Flashback]
"I see. So, you haven't seen or spoken to your father in years?"
Ronnie Anne nodded. "That's correct."
"And what happened after your father left?"
"Well, my mom decided that she would take care of us on her own and chose to work double shifts every weekend. Even Bobby decided to chip in by working different jobs every single month."
[Flashback]
"Are you sure you want to do this, Roberto?" Maria said to her son. She was adjusting the collar on his work shirt.
"I'm sure, mom. I don't want you to be the only one working."
Maria smiled at him. "Thank you so much, Bobby. This means so much to me."
Then, she looked over to her daughter, who was watching TV on the couch. She was worried about leaving her all by herself, but what could she do?
[End Flashback]
"And what did you do?"
She sighed. "I took it upon myself to learn cooking and took care of my brother while my mother was working."
[Flashback]
"Roberto, Ronalda! I'm home!" Maria exclaimed as she came into the house. She smelled something cooking from the kitchen. She walked over to the room and saw Ronnie Anne cooking something on the stove.
"Sweetie! What are you doing?"
"Oh, I was just cooking dinner for you and Bobby. We're having chicken tonight."
"You learned to cook?"
Ronnie Anne walked over to her mother. "Yeah. After you and Bobby have been working so hard, I figured I would help out too."
Maria hugged her daughter. "How did I get so lucky with you?"
[End Flashback]
Dr. Lopez nodded and continued writing. "Wow. I'm impressed that you able to learn how to cook at such a young age."
"Thanks, doc." Ronnie Anne replied.
"So, I think I have a general idea of your family life. How about you past experiences at Royal Woods Elementary School?"
Ronnie Anne flinched from that question. First, she had ask about her dad and now school. The flashbacks started coming back to her. The ones that she wanted to forget forever.
"S-School?" The Hispanic stuttered. "Nothing! Really!"
The doctor looked up from her clipboard. "It doesn't seem like it's nothing."
Ronnie Anne looked down at her legs. "W-Well I mean. Do you promise not to judge me?"
"I would never judge you, Ronnie Anne."
She twiddled her fingers and sighed. "Well, when I used to go to that school…
I was known to be a bully."
A/N: So that's Part 1 of 'Ronnie Anne on The Couch'. In the next part, we were learn about Ronnie Anne's school life and how some very important people changed her life forever.