A/N: Thanks so much for all the positive feedback! I can't promise I'll update every day (life gets in the way), but I'll try to update regularly.

Chapter 3 – Real Progress Begins

One month later

Beca was doing very well professionally. She had a lot of clients for her music therapy business, all different with different needs and approaches. The local children's hospital had also hired them to do a weekly group session for their inpatients. She was still able to keep some of Friday afternoons free to meet with Flo and Jessica, but they'd had to shorten the meetings just a little to squeeze in some clients. They just couldn't turn anyone away if they thought they could help them. The trio was pretty creative, so they usually figured out a way to help everyone who pursued music therapy.

Personally, her life was about the same. She was great friends with Flo and Jessica, but she rarely spent time with them outside of work. Occasionally she'd run into Jessica at the dog park or Flo at the grocery store, but Flo and Jessica had their own lives and both had boyfriends. Beca always felt like the "third wheel" when hanging out with them. Her dog Treble kept her company, but it was hardly the same as having a girlfriend. She knew she should probably go out and try to find someone to date, but she kept talking herself out of it. She would tell herself she was too busy with all of her clients, but she was making excuses. She was really, really interested in Chloe Beale, but she didn't want to pursue a client's mother.

She'd been working with Megan for a month now. Megan had begun to appropriately respond to her name during the hello song. She'd look directly at the stuffed cat when they sang Old McDonald. The coloring goal was taking a little longer. She was at the point where she would hold the crayon now, but she still didn't want to mark the paper. Megan really liked banging on the xylophone, and Beca got her to hit a color other than red a few times. It was slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

Beca still saw Chloe, but Chloe had backed off quite a bit during Megan's sessions. She was generally in the next room on her laptop. She said she was working on her patient charts, but Beca had a feeling she was trying to avoid staring at her. Beca had hoped it would lessen her feelings for Chloe, but it hadn't worked yet. She made a mental note to talk to Flo and Jessica at the meeting that afternoon. They generally only spoke about the clients during their meetings, but Beca really needed to talk to someone about her feelings. Flo and Jessica were her best friends, so maybe they could help her sort things out.

She pulled up to Chloe's house and took a deep breath. Her feelings for Chloe, like always, came bubbling to the surface every single time she was over there. She willed herself to keep control for Megan's sake.

"Hi, Chloe. Hello, Megan," said Beca. Megan looked directly at Beca. "Good looking!" exclaimed Beca. She noticed Chloe's eyes welling up with tears. "What's wrong, Chloe?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong. Megan just responded to her name without you having to sing!" Chloe exclaimed. Before she knew it, she threw her arms around Beca for a tight hug. "You are a miracle worker," she said.

"It's all due to hard work. I can tell you've been singing the song at home," said Beca, smiling. Chloe nodded. "It shows."

Beca sang the hello song to Chloe (calling her Mommy, of course), and Megan looked right at Chloe and smiled. "That's right, Megan. That's Mommy! Good job!" exclaimed Beca.

Beca could see Chloe's eyes welling up again. Beca was mesmerized by Chloe's eyes, and seeing them well up with tears squeezed Beca's heart. She knew it was because Chloe was happy. Beca had to bite her lip to avoid the urge to wipe those tears away and plant a kiss on Chloe's lips. "Oh, boy," thought Beca. "I'm seriously going to have to cool it or I'm going to cross a line with Chloe."

"Let's work on coloring," said Beca. Megan saw the crayon and turned away. She hated coloring, but it was important that she develop the skill to mark on a paper. It would be years before she'd try to write anything, but she needed to start with crayons now to develop the pre-writing skills.

The "coloring song" that Beca and her colleagues had written hadn't been doing the trick for Megan. Beca thought it would be a good time to try another method. "Chloe, do you have a CD player I can use? Normally I play instruments, but I think this might work a little better with Big Bird singing it."

Chloe grabbed a small boom box from Megan's room. "Here," said Chloe. "This one works. I play music for Megan on it all the time."

"Thanks." Beca loaded a CD that Jessica had loaned her with songs sung by Big Bird. She cued up the track for "Just Three Colors." She grabbed a crayon and a piece of paper for herself and made a big show of giving Chloe a crayon and a piece of paper. She started the song and began to sing along with Big Bird:

Just three colors
Red and yellow and blue
Enough to make a rainbow
For me and for you

Megan looked as Beca and Chloe were "coloring" on their papers. She grabbed the red crayon and tapped the paper with it.

"Good coloring!" exclaimed Beca. "I'll keep the song playing while you color."

Megan tapped the paper a few more times with the crayon before dropping it and getting up to walk away. Beca turned off the music.

"Hey, it's progress," said Beca.

"Yeah, it's more than I've ever gotten her to do with a crayon," said Chloe.

"Okay, Megan. I have to go. I'll see you and your Mommy next week," said Beca. Megan looked up at Beca for a few seconds and went to go play with her Elmo toy.

"Thanks so much," said Chloe.

"My pleasure," said Beca. "Megan's a special little girl."

This time Beca caught herself staring at Chloe. She had no idea how a pair of eyes such a gorgeous shade of blue could exist on an actual human being. Chloe was so expressive with them, and she'd teared up so much at today's appointment. Those eyes were going to be the death of Beca.

Beca headed to the office for her weekly meeting. Flo had come up with the idea of the three women having lunch together on Fridays and beginning the meeting at that point. That would leave extra time to meet.

"Before we discuss our clients, I really think we need to find another therapist to add to the business," said Jessica.

"We have so many clients right now that we're having to shorten our meetings. I'm worried we won't have time to discuss everyone," said Flo.

"Anyone know a music therapist looking for work?" asked Beca.

"I got an email from Aubrey the other day," said Jessica. "Remember her? She was our mentor back in grad school."

"You mean our drill sergeant," said Beca, rolling her eyes.

"She wasn't that bad," said Flo.

"You were on her good side," said Beca. "Aubrey kept telling me my tattoos and ear spike would scare little children."

"So, she was wrong about that," said Jessica. "She also had a real gift with the kids. She's been working at the school system in her hometown, but she's moving here."

"She'd be a great addition," said Flo.

"I'll think about it," said Beca. "Jessica, could you please forward me her e-mail, or at least pass on her contact information?"

"Sure," said Jessica.

They discussed their clients for a while. They suggested ideas to each other for some of their new clients, and then Beca brought up Megan.

"I had a great session with Megan Beale today," said Beca. "I said hello to her without the song and she looked right at me. Her mom hugged me and called me a miracle worker."

"And you hated that," said Jessica, jokingly.

Beca blushed. "Ummm...let me finish talking about the session before you guys pick on me. Anyway, the colors song from Sesame Street got Megan to color a little."

"Big Bird is magical," said Jessica.

"Megan thinks so," said Beca. "She only marked the paper a couple times, but that's the first time I've had any luck with that."

"That's awesome," said Flo. Jessica nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," said Beca. "But I am having a really hard time controlling myself around Chloe. Lately, she's been in a different room, but she was there for most of today's session. I kept things professional, even when she hugged me, but I'm really struggling. I admit it. I'm into her, and I don't know what to do."

"I said I could take the case," said Flo.

"I know, but I've made progress with Megan. I'm worried the change might set her back."

"Then I don't know what to tell you," said Flo.

Beca sighed. She didn't know what to tell herself either.

Chloe scolded herself after Beca left. Why did she hug Beca like that? She was excited, of course, but she had forgotten herself for a minute and had thrown her arms around her daughter's very hot music therapist. She had thought she caught Beca staring at her at the end of the session, but Chloe told herself she was imagining things. Besides, she couldn't date Beca. Even if Beca was single, she was sure Beca wouldn't date a client's mom.

She decided she absolutely needed to be out of the room as much as possible if she was going to control herself and have Megan continue to progress. Music therapy was helping her so much, and the early intervention workers had noticed. It still wasn't helping Megan eat better, but she was progressing much faster in the rest of the areas. She couldn't wait to tell the occupational therapist about the crayon breakthrough. She even looked online and downloaded the color song Beca had used so the OT could try it with her.

She fed Megan her lunch, put her down for a nap, and then called her mother. She updated her on Megan's progress and then told her about her predicament with Beca.

"So, I think I might have a problem," said Chloe. "I hugged Beca really tightly after I saw Megan respond to her name."

"You were excited. What's wrong with that?" asked her mom.

"Did I mention Beca's gorgeous?" asked Chloe.

"More than a few times," said her mother, laughing.

"I think I'm falling for her, Mom," said Chloe.

"Are you sure it's not just because she's so good with Megan?" asked her mom.

"I don't know, maybe."

"That's probably it. Just keep your distance during Megan's appointments, and I'm sure you can handle it."

"I'll try. Thanks, Mom."

Chloe hung up and distracted herself by working on patient charts. It was easiest to do this when Megan napped. She hated plopping Megan in front of the TV so she could catch up on work, especially when she only had one day home with her during the week.

She finished her paperwork and was just getting herself a drink when Megan woke up.

"Nice nap?" she asked Megan as she got her out of her toddler bed and went to change her diaper. Megan looked at her. "Good looking at me," she praised.

It was nice out, so she put Megan in the stroller and walked her to the neighborhood park. Megan was fearful of most of the playground equipment, but she loved to swing. The park in Chloe's neighborhood had quite a few baby swings, and there was usually a free one at this time of day.

She walked to the park and was lucky to find one of the baby swings was free. She put Megan in, and Megan giggled as Chloe pushed her in the swing.

The child in the swing next to Megan appeared to be about the same age. His mother began to chat with Chloe.

"How old is your daughter?" she asked.

"She'll be three in a few months," Chloe answered. "I'm Chloe, by the way, and this is Megan."

"Hi, I'm Gail," she said. "This is John. He just turned three."

While Chloe considered herself to be very sociable, sometimes she hated meeting other parents of children Megan's age. While nobody ever meant to say anything hurtful, she always felt awkward talking to parents of typical children Megan's age. They were usually venting about potty training while Megan was nowhere near ready, or complaining that their child never shuts up. Chloe would be thrilled to have that problem with her daughter.

"Have you found a preschool for her yet?" asked Gail.

"Oh...well...no," said Chloe.

"John just got into Little Barden Academy. They have very few openings left, so you should apply if you want her to go there," said Gail with a bit of arrogance.

"Thanks," said Chloe. "I'll look into it." Chloe had no intention of even considering the Little Barden Academy. Just the way Gail said it, made her think that there was no way this school had a special needs program.

"They took John right away," said Gail. "He already knows his letters and colors. He can even spell his name."

Chloe suppressed an eye roll. She was reluctant to tell people that Megan was autistic. She wasn't embarrassed about it at all, but she hated the ridiculous assumptions people made the minute she used the term.

"Oh, that's great," said Chloe.

"I've had tutors working with him for a year. I can give you their information if you want," said Gail.

"No, that's okay," said Chloe.

"All done, Mommy," said John. Gail lifted her son out of the baby swing. "John, this is Miss Chloe. Tell Miss Chloe how you spell your name."

"J-O-H-N," said John. Gail beamed. Chloe cringed inwardly. Bragging mothers were the worst!

"Are you sure you don't want the information on his tutor?" asked Gail.

"I'm sure. I don't think it's right for Megan."

"Well, if you don't want to give her a head start, that's none of my business." Chloe was fuming at this point.

She took a deep breath and said, "That's not it. Megan's autistic."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Gail. "So, what's her special talent?"

"Her what?"

"Her talent? Can't she play an instrument or do math or something?"

"Umm...no. She's two."

"But don't autistic people have a special talent?"

"That's not really how that works."

"But my friend said..." said Gail.

"I don't care what your friend said," said Chloe, cutting her off. "It doesn't apply to Megan."

"Are you sure?" asked Gail.

"I think I know my own daughter," said Chloe. Megan began to fuss. It was one of the few times Chloe was relieved to hear her daughter complain. "I think Megan's done. I need to get her home."

Chloe left before Gail could say anything else. It drove her crazy how many weird assumptions people made about autism. Megan was a little girl, not some circus freak. Why couldn't people just see Megan as a little girl rather than someone with a label?