Part 11

Timeline Note: 4.15, the therapy episode. Fun times!

He's in Sheldon's office again, and he has a plan.

"I want to talk to her about the ring," he says.

Sheldon sits back, the very picture of impassive calm. "What about it?"

"She isn't wearing it."

"And?"

"There are steps, Sheldon. Sex, moving in, ring, marriage. We're on the ring."

"Uh huh."

"Uh huh? That's all you're going to tell me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you were on the ring- in the track you were on before all this. It's why you're obsessing about it. It's a symbol of where you were before."

"And now?"

"Now you're on a different track: crisis, reaction, therapy, recovery. You're on the therapy part right now."

"But..."

"Look, you want to get to the recovery part, so you can get back to where you were before this happened? Bring her with you here, Cooper. Get her into therapy too."

"You know how that turned out the last time."

"Okay, so she may not do it for herself again. But would she do it for you?"

"Can I ask her to?"

"You're in love, Cooper. Both of you are. And in my experiences with love, I've found that doing for the other is sometimes a more powerful motivator than doing for oneself."

"She won't see you."

"She doesn't have to. I'll give you some names."

"Sheldon..."

"It won't replace what we're doing here, of course. But if you really can get her to talk to you about this, in a therapeutic setting, I think it'll give both of you some understanding of where the other one's at right now."

That's food for thought. And he spends the rest of the afternoon thinking about which fancy restaurant he'll take her to to bribe her into this. She's coming to therapy. He has things to say.


He catches her just before his last patient, and she's packing up to leave already.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey."

"You done here?"

"Yeah."

"You're not going to wait for me?"

"No."

He folds his arms, waits. And she sighs, puts on a half-hearted smile. "I'm gonna warn you that I'm in a mood," she says.

"Any reason?"

"Too much work. Too little sleep. Didn't get lunch."

"Ah. Well, I was thinking that for dinner, we could..."

"I'll be late."

"Char..."

"I have to go to a meeting, Coop."

His heart sinks. There is no good comeback for that one.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" he finally says.

"I love you?"

"That's great. I love you too. Look at me. You okay?"

She finally softens, puts down her bag, holds out her hand and lets him pull her into a hug. "I had a hard day," she says.

She's a little tearful, and he hugs her close. "Uh huh."

"It's weird. There's no...no reason, really. No one thing that set it off. Just went through my day in a pissy mood that just got pissier, and I just...just feel off. And tense. And like I want to go to a meeting."

"Okay. So, you'll go, and then...you want me to meet you somewhere? Or have anything in particular waiting for you at home?"

"Just you," she says. "Just you waiting."

"Can I ask you something? Will you come to therapy with me?"

"Cooper..."

"Just hear me out," he says. "Let's talk about this now, so when you come home it can all about the relaxing. Char, I know your experiences with this sort of thing have been...variable. But in the right hands, it can help, I know it can, because it's been helping me. And I feel like if you could experience that...if I was there with you and it was safe and it was right and you could experience that with me...it might help both of us. It might be something you could do for me, to help me with some of MY stuff."

She sighs, but to her credit, she stays in the hug with him and doesn't pull away. "Well, fine. I'll go. For you."

"So. I have another patient. And then..."

"Then you go get a pizza. A nice one, from a fancy place. Caesar salad, and some parmesan to shave on top of it- none of that fake stuff that comes in a can, you go and buy the real thing.

"Okay."

"And maybe a bottle of wine...oh, and cheesecake. I'm having a craving. Can you find some nice little place and get a good cheesecake, Coop?"

"I think that can be arranged."

"All right. I'm meeting Amelia just after six, so I'll be home by 7:30. You keep it waiting for me, and we'll eat together. Have a little evening."

He's picturing it already- a tablecloth, some candles, maybe some music...

"I love you, Coop."

"I love you too, baby. See you later?"

"Right. Coop? One more hug?"

He smiles, already having forgiven her for the mood she was in. He's a sucker for these little signs that she needs him.


He sees his patient, then prowls the hallways, looking for help. Naomi is the first one he sees, and he corners her.

"Nae?"

"Hey, Coop. What's up?"

"I need fancy pizza. And a good cheesecake. And some real parmesan cheese."

She frowns. "Um..."

"Charlotte needs a little TLC today."

"Ah."

"So, this is what she wants. And I want to make sure that when she gets it, it's going to be the best. So...where do I go? Will you help me?"

"All right, you go on home. Shower, clean the place a little, do what you need to do. I'll make some calls and have it delivered."

"Naomi, you're a saint."

"Go home, Coop."

He goes home. Forty minutes later, the doorbell rings, and there she is.

"You know, you didn't have to deliver it yourself."

Naomi shrugs. "It was on my way."

"On your way to where?"

"Sam's. I've had Olivia for the afternoon, and I'm dropping her off with him for a bit."

And he notices that, in addition to the bags with his food, she's juggling a baby carrier.

"Awww. Hey, cutie..."

Olivia burbles and holds out a tiny baby hand. He tickles it, and she laughs.

"Nae? You think Char and I will ever have this?"

"It's not really my place to say that, Coop."

"Just...she and you are kinda friendly now. Has it ever come up?"

"No. Not really."

"She doesn't really want kids. Or at least, she didn't, before."

"But?"

"But she's...she's different now. And maybe this is different too?"

"Maybe it is. But I'm not sure she's ready to have that conversation."

"Well, she's not even wearing the ring, so..."

"Coop? I feel like I need to remind you that it really hasn't been that long."

"Naomi..."

"I mean, she's come a long way. But since the...it really hasn't been that long. And you need to go slow with this, or you're gonna scare her away."

He thinks about what Sheldon said. It's not just sex, moving in, ring, marriage, kids anymore. It's sex, moving in, crisis, therapy, recovery- then marriage, then kids. He still has three more stages to work on before he even gets to the normal stuff again. And, with a sinking feeling, he realizes that there's more to talk about than just the ring, at least on his end. He has to come clean with her. He has to know that they can go into the recovery stage with each of them being right with what's happened, and his indiscretion was part of that.

"Yeah," he tells Naomi. "I know. Thanks for the pizza."

"Oh, that was the easy part. Had to drive a little, for the cheesecake."

"Yeah?"

"It's okay. Olivia finds the motion of the car very soothing."

"Oh. Happy to help, than."

"Coop, just go slow, okay? Eat the pizza. Enjoy the night. Just start with that, maybe, and build from there."

"She'll be here soon."

"Well, okay. Night, Cooper."

She leaves with Olivia, and he brings the bags in and gets himself ready for the calm before the storm.