"I'm nervous about taking D.J. to the speech therapist…what if D.J. feels stupid and wants to leave the therapist's office? Should we just cancel the entire thing?!"

Renee didn't say anything as she grabbed a blanket out of the closet, took Dean's hand into hers as he was already standing behind her in the closet, and led him out to his truck. She pulled the door to the back of the truck open and was helped up by Dean who followed after her and helped her spread the blanket out so they could both lie down on it.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" Dean asked.

"I have. That's why I've been quiet for the last ten minutes," Renee responded.

"Oh."

"You can keep talking. I want to know what's on your mind because then I'll tell you what's on my mind."

"You can speak."

"You're not finished."

Dean chuckled to himself as he knew Renee was right but he was almost done with his mini rant and wanted to hear Renee's opinion on taking D.J. to see a speech therapist.

"Yeah, you're right. See…I wanted to tell D.J. that we're going to take him to see a speech therapist however I didn't. I know I should've, I'm stupid for doing that, and I'm sorry for not telling him."

Renee took a deep breath as she looked up towards the dark sky that had bright stars decorating it like a Christmas tree then turned to look at Dean who was also gazing up towards the sky but this time with a solemn look on his face that was now looking at her. The full moon outside allowed Renee to get a good look at her husband's face which she was now touching as she had placed her right hand on his bearded cheek. She knew Dean was waiting for a response because he his gaze never broke from hers, not even for a split second.

"It'll be okay."

Those three simple words made Dean realize that even though it was okay for him to be nervous about what was going to happen the next day, he didn't need to be scared.

"I trust you…"

"Good. Let's look up at the wonderful sky for a bit before going back in."

Dean didn't say anything else as she nodded his head in response and looked up at the sky as he held hands with Renee.


Dean hadn't said much in the morning to anyone, even as he dropped off Destinee and Daisy to school, and then went to take D.J. to a speech therapist who had an opening for him as another client had rescheduled. Renee had been the one to tell D.J. that he was going to miss a day of school to see the therapist and to her delight and surprise, he had hugged her and told her he was excited for the day.

Renee had also been the one to hold a conversation with D.J. as Dean had drove. He still remained quiet on the drive there as he honestly didn't know what to say as he still felt bad for not telling D.J. what he needed to and when he needed to. He had exited the freeway, stopped at the red light, and was still in his own zone and was finally snapped out of his thoughts when Renee had tapped him on his shoulder lightly to get his attention.

"D.J. asked you a question," Renee said.

"Yes?" Dean looked into the review mirror to see his mini counterpart looking back at him with a slight frown on his face.

"Why h-haven't you t-talked to m-me much? Or Destinee? Or D-Daisy? Today, w-we didn't play "I, Spy". And y-you haven't t-talked to Mommy, either."

"Daddy Just has a lot on his mind right now, D.J."

"You d-don't want to t-take me to the th-ther-therapist, do you?"

"I'm just nervous for you is all. I'm sorry I haven't been speaking to you, your sisters, and Mommy. We'll go for some pizza and ice cream later to cheer you up. How does that sound?"

"Great! B-but we-we have to play o-one g-game of "I, Spy"!

"Okay. You start it off."

Renee smiled at Dean as he played I, Spy with D.J. and even joined in on the game until they got to their destination.


Dean was back to being anxious as he sat in the lobby waiting for the therapist to see D.J. He was agitated because he had arrived twenty minutes early to the appointment without even bothering to look at the time and couldn't stay still. He had leaned forward in his seat with his hands intertwined with each other as he rested his elbows on his legs, one of which was furiously going up and down as he couldn't keep it still. Renee took sight of this as she had been sitting right next to him and tried to sooth him but to no avail as he gently pushed her hand away when put her hand on his shoulder and got up to get some air outside.

Renee had told D.J. to stay put in the chair he was sitting in as she got up, went to the receptionist at the desk and asked her to watch D.J. because she had to see about Dean, and left when the receptionist had agreed to look after D.J.

"Stay put," Renee said to D.J.

He nodded his head as he continued to play with his Transformer Optimus Prime while he waited for his name to be called.

Dean had lit himself a cigarette as he stood near his truck and was smoking the hell out of it as if it was going to grow feet, jump out of his mouth, and take off down the freeway to safety. He hadn't noticed Renee behind him until he looked up in the window of his truck to see her standing right behind him with her hands on her hips.

"And what do you think you're doing?" she said angrily. "Why the hell are you smoking, Dean?"

"I can't be in there right now. I can't wait in that damn lobby, I just can't do it." Dean sucked on the cigarette and exhaled the smoke through his nostrils.

"So, you're going to smoke as if it's going to make things better? Why are you so nervous, Dean? Is something bothering you that you're not telling me about still? You agreed to take D.J. to see this speech therapist but you've been…paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid." Dean smoked the last of his cigarette and threw the butt down on the ground to stomp on it. He picked it up and tossed it in a trash can that was on the sidewalk and continued to pace back and forth.

"Your actions say otherwise."

"I just feel bad."

"Stop pacing back and forth and talk to me, Dean. You need to say whatever it is you need to say to me because D.J.'s appointment starts soon."

Dean stopped pacing, leaned against the hood of his truck, and took a deep breath. Renee stood next to him as she was eager to hear what he had to say.

"I overheard D.J. one day…it was like a week or so before he had talked to me about seeing someone about his stuttering…he was talking to Destinee one morning. I was on my way downstairs to get some coffee and I overheard him tell Destinee that he felt that his stuttering made him feel stupid. Destinee told him he wasn't stupid because he stutters. I began to feel bad because I feel like I should've done something about this a long time ago. I'm sure he always felt that way and I just…I just should've done something sooner. He used to tell me that sometimes, too. How he felt stupid and I just…damn…I should've done and said something sooner…but…I didn't."

Renee held Dean in her arms as he cried into her shoulder and reminded him of what she had told him the night before.

"It'll be okay. It'll be okay, baby. Trust me."