Disclaimer: I have absolutely no experience with children's therapy. Because of this I have taken creative license with the therapy portion of this story. If anyone has experience and would like to contribute their ideas feel free to express them in the reviews. I appreciate any and all criticism. Also I sat down to finally figure out the timing on this thing now, so if it seems a little off I am sorry. It is now early September in the story which means that Meredith got pregnant in April, it also means that Chris and Ainsley are in school now.
Ainsley's legs swung slowly, thumping against the chair leg again and again. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she threaded the colored beads onto the yarn in her hand. Dr. Weller sat across from her, his own string of beads lay in front of him although decidedly less garish in color.
"Ainsley, would you like to tell me more about your family?" he asked after another minute of silence.
"I have lots of people in my family," she said, her blue eyes meeting the psychologist's brown.
"You do?" he prodded.
"Yeah. I have Meredith and Daddy and Christopher and Jacob. And I have a Christina and Uncle Owen. And Uncle Alex and ummm…Uncle Mark and Aunt Lexie and Sean and Kennedy. Oh…and I have Nonna and daddy has lots of sisters," Ainsley listed returning to the necklace in front of her.
"Do you like having a big family?" Dr. Weller asked, picking up a pen to make a note on his notepad.
"Sometimes," Ainsley replied.
"Sometimes?" he questioned watching the girl intently.
"Yeah. Sometimes I like it, but sometimes I like being by myself," she reiterated once again.
Dr. Weller stood moving to a bin full of art supplies and pulling out a pad of thick paper and a set of paints.
"Okay Ainsley. Let's put down the beads for awhile and work on something else," he ordered gently setting the paper and paints on an easel and taking a seat nearby.
Ainsley reviewed her work one last time before laying it carefully on the table and moving toward Dr. Weller.
"I want you to sit right there. In front of the easel," he directed waiting for her to sit on the tiny stool, "okay. I want you to paint me a picture of your favorite place."
"Anywhere I want?" she asked hesitantly.
"Any place you want, but it has to be your favorite place," he repeated.
He watched as she picked up the paintbrush dipping in the blue paint before putting it to the paper. They sat quietly again, the gentle scratching of pen on paper as Dr. Weller continued to make notes, the only sound.
"Okay. I want you to tell me about what happened a few weeks ago," he said after a moment.
"About when I ran away?" she questioned between switching colors.
"Yes. What made you want to run away?" he asked.
"I was mad," she shrugged, once again changing colors.
"What made you so mad?" he prompted.
"They were going to have another baby," she replied.
He watched as she dipped the brush into the blue, black, and green before swirling it on the paper purposefully.
"Who was going to have another baby? Your dad and Meredith?" he questioned once again putting pen to paper.
"Yeah," she once again shrugged.
"You don't want them to have another baby? Don't you like being a big sister?" he asked.
"I guess, but I already have Christopher and Jake. I don't think they needed another baby," Ainsley replied.
"Are you afraid that the baby is going to get more attention than you?" the therapist questioned.
"No…maybe," she sighed, "I changed my mind though."
"What do you mean you changed your mind?" he prodded, making a note of the change of subject.
"I changed my mind. I didn't want to run away, but I was scared that they would be mad," she explained.
"Mad?" he questioned.
"Yeah, because I wanted to run away. I went on to the conference room where daddy let me do my homework during his meeting with Uncle Owen. And then I hid under the table," she recalled then added, "I'm done."
Dr. Weller stood and moved around her to look at the painting.
"What did you paint?" he asked studying the paper intently.
"It's the lake by our house," she pointed to the bluish, greenish, blackish smudge, "sometimes daddy takes me down there and we go fishing just the two of us."
"You like spending time by yourself with your dad?" the psychologist asked.
"I like spending time with Meredith too," she nodded.
"You know Ainsley, when the baby comes, I bet Meredith and your dad are going to need your help. That could be fun. Getting to help with the baby," Dr. Weller tried.
"Maybe," Ainsley shrugged yet again.
Dr. Weller looked at his watch, noting that their hour was up.
"Okay, this is what I want you to do," he moved to a bookshelf pulling out a blank diary and handing it to the little girl, "every time you get mad or sad or happy I want you to write down why."
"That's it?" she questioned, taking the book from the doctor.
"That's it. And then I want you to bring it with you next time you come see me," he confirmed, "you better get your necklace."
Ainsley nodded moving to the table and picking up each end of the string gingerly.
"Here, let me tie it for you," Dr. Weller offered taking it from her and tying a quick knot. She pulled the loop of string over her head and settled it around her neck before running her fingers over the colorful beads. Dr. Weller led her to the door and walked her out to the reception area where Derek sat. Derek stood to shake his hand and thank him, but was stopped short when Dr. Weller began to speak.
"In her next session I would like you to come in with us. I want to do a feeling validation session. Basically we will just be letting her know that it's normal to have these feelings so that we can help her to work through them," he explained.
"Of course. Whatever I can do to help," Derek agreed glancing over at Ainsley who had moved to watch the fish in the tank by the reception area.
He shook the doctor's hand once more and watched as he turned to return to his office, before moving toward the receptionist's desk.
"Can I confirm my other children's appointments?" he asked the woman at the desk, he thought her name might have been Cheryl.
"Of course Dr. Shepherd. Let me pull up our appointment calendar," she said as she began clicking away at the keyboard keys.
Ainsley moved to stand next to Derek and he automatically placed his arm around her shoulders pulling her in to his side.
"Okay. Christopher Shepherd is yours?" she questioned.
"Yes," he replied.
"I have him scheduled tomorrow at 3, let me see…Jacob, right?" she continued.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
"We have him scheduled Friday at 1. He's blocked in for a pre-kinder session, is that correct?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered as Ainsley grabbed his hand and leaned toward the door, "I guess someone is ready to leave. Thank you."
"Bye Ainsley. I'll see you next week," Cheryl called as they disappeared through the door.
He settled in beside Ainsley as they made their way through the building and toward the car.
"Did you make that necklace?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Do you like Dr. Weller?" he questioned, holding the door open for the little girl as they moved from the building into the warm day.
"He's nice," she shrugged.
Derek unlocked the car and slid into the driver seat, waiting for Ainsley to buckle herself in before turning the key. He drove in silence, still not entirely sure how to deal with the situation he found himself in. He sighed, his hands squeezing the steering wheel ever so slightly tighter.
"Daddy?" Ainsley sounded from the backseat.
"Yeah?" he replied glancing into the rearview mirror to look at the little girl.
"When is the baby going to get here?" she asked quietly.
Derek's breath caught in his throat. Ainsley had not willingly entered into conversation the conversation about the baby since they had told the kids about it nearly a month ago.
"Ummm…they should get here in January, unless they decide to come early," he finally choked out.
"Oh. Okay," Ainsley replied, her eyes moving back to the world beyond the window.
Derek couldn't help the slight smile that broke on his face, he knew that it wasn't much, but he felt that Ainsley's acceptance of the baby was finally a step in the right direction for their family.
I like this chapter too. Reviews are the best.
Updated: It was brought to my attention that the "they" that Derek says can be seen as them having twins. There is still only one baby.