Once again, I own nothing. Well, in my dreams... but we won't go there.
BTW Spoilers for the books, Vicki's only joking, but she does vaguely mention her mother's fate.
"I'm sorry for the interruption, Vicki, where were we?"
"Well, you were asking about my mother, and I was about to say there wasn't enough time in the world to discuss her."
"Really, Vicki, because generally strong, independent women such as yourself-"
"Bitches," Vicki supplied, not offended.
"...Strong, independent women feel strong ties to their mothers. I imagine that is one of the places from which they draw their strength of will."
"Doc, how long will we go at this till you understand, I'm just like this," Vicki said, exasperated.
"Vicki, you admitted even Henry and Mike don't believe you're 'just like this.' And you also admit to speaking with your mother, Maureen is it? on a pretty much daily basis. Why is that do you think?"
"You know, I'm getting very offended. Seriously, it took an hour of me shouting to coax you into using my first name, and yet you have no compunction using Mike, Henry and now mom's. What the f?" Vicki asked in an effort to misdirect.
"I could call you Ms Nelson, if you'd prefer," Dr. Lawrence countered.
"Don't you start that again. I have a baton and I'm not afraid to use it," Vicki threatened, not entirely in jest.
"Well, that's one thing we can cross off our list," smiling, Dr. Lawrence made a note in his notebook.
"Huh?"
"I am pleased to report that you have no problem at all with unexpressed anger. Now, misdirected rage, well, we'll see where that takes us, but there is at least one emotion you are not afraid to feel in full doses, and that is anger," he replied.
"You know Doc, while we're on the topic of things that are not my problem, you should really talk to my undead associate... he seems to think it's totally okay to practice psychotherapy without a license. He's always trying to get me to talk about my feelings," Vicki said making a face.
"That must be awful for you," Dr. Lawrence said sarcastically, "and don't think I've forgotten the original topic of discussion for today..."
"Jerk. Okay, well, mom is ... mom is mom I guess. I mean she calls all the time. She's nosy as hell, which she rationalizes as caring about me. She really wants me to marry Mike and have lots of babies."
"And that's distasteful to you? Why? Most women your age-"
"Watch it Doc!" she warned.
"-would be seriously considering slowing down, maybe starting a family. Do you feel it's wrong to desire those things?" he continued to probe.
"No. They're just wrong for me. Let's be honest Doc, in 5, 10 years tops, I'll be walking blind and I refuse to be a charity case to anyone. Although, I'll tell you, I did get some sick pleasure out of shocking mom with the information that I was 'with' both Mike and Henry," Vicki admitted with a wicked smirk.
"Slightly sadistic, bordering on defiant," Dr. Lawrence mumbled again picking up his pen.
"Come on Doc, you know she's mom... she drives me crazy, no pun intended, but it's not like she's a zombie shuffling around the Royal Ontario Museum trying to find me. I mean, it could totally be worse," Vicki said honestly. "And she is a good mom. She was strong even when my dad left, and she cared for me the best way she knew how."
"Well Vicki, that brings me to our next topic, you are a raging commitment-phobe. I'd like to discuss why you refuse to allow either Mike or Henry to have a more important stake in your life," Dr. Lawrence began.
"Whoops," Vicki interjected as the timer buzzed, "looks like we're out of time!"
"That's my line. See you on Tuesday?"
"Of course, but only if you stop letting Mike and Henry tell you what subjects they want you to pump me for information on," Vicki said leaving the office.