A couple days later, Cooper was in the kitchen, making a pot of coffee, when Charlotte walked down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and smiled. "Mornin, Coop."

He turned his head. "Morning, beautiful. Coffee?"

"Half a cup," she said, sitting at the island.

"So how do you want to do this—the whole telling Mason about Dr. Gilbert?"

"You're askin' me?"

He nodded, pouring her a cup of coffee. He added the cream and sugar and handed her the mug, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Why wouldn't I?"

She shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You may not be his biological mom, but you are his momma and my wife, so we make these decisions together."

She smiled and took a whiff of her coffee. "I guess we just tell him. I don't know. How do you tell a ten year-old he has to see a therapist?"

He rested his hands on her shoulders and dug his fingers into her tight muscles. "If you were him, how'd you want to be told that?"

"I wouldn't wanna be told that at all, Coop." She paused and set her mug on the counter. She relaxed as he gave her a gentle massage. "We just tell him and explain to him why he needs to see Dr. Gilbert."

Cooper nodded. "Are you sure you can't do this?"

She turned her head. "Cooper, you're a father now. You can't pin this on me all the time."

"I know."

"I get that tellin' your son he needs help is, well, it's scary and depressin', but if it'll help, he needs this and we have to be the one to tell him." She paused. "I mean this in a loving way, but you need to grow up and suck it up."

Cooper grunted.

She smiled and rested her hand on top of his. "You're makin' this harder than it has to be. The kid likes honesty, Coop. He thanked me when I finally told him the truth about his momma's condition. He's you. You remember how you acted when I finally told you about Billy. We just gotta tell him and be there for him every step of the way. It'll be ok."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "What would I do without you, Char?"

She grabbed his wrists and leaned back on the chair.

Mason walked into the kitchen and hopped up onto the stool next to Charlotte. He looked at her and then at his dad. "What?"

Charlotte squeezed Cooper's wrist and let out a breath. "We have to talk to you, Mason."

"Am I in trouble?"

She shook her head. "No." She looked at Cooper and nodded.

Cooper dropped one of his hands, keeping one on her shoulder, and looked at Mason. "So Charlotte and I have been talking and we're worried about you. There's a lot that you've had to deal with—meeting me, going through all that with your mom, and now, with your baby sister coming into the family." He let out a breath. "Charlotte and I think that you should talk to someone about all this."

"Like you or Charlotte?"

"No, like a professional—someone like Violet or Sheldon." He paused. "We met a doctor and she's really nice. She can help you work through all this."

"You think there's something wrong with me?"

Cooper sighed. "No, bud, we just think there's a lot of stuff going on in your head that you need to work through." He paused and messed up Mason's hair. "We can meet with Dr. Gilbert and you can tell us if you like her or not—if you feel comfortable talking to her about stuff. We'll find someone else if you don't, that's not a problem, but we really think this will help you."

Mason stared at Cooper.

"We still love you, Mason," Charlotte added.

Mason looked down at his hands and swallowed. "Right away?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah." He grabbed Mason's hand and squeezed tight. He kissed the top of his head and smiled. "Look at me, Mason."

Mason turned his head and looked at his dad.

"This is to help you."

Mason nodded. "I can just meet this lady and decide?"

"Charlotte and I really think you should talk to someone, but if you don't want to see Dr. Gilbert, that's ok, we can find someone else—someone you like better."

Mason bit his bottom lip. "So we're doing this today?"

"If you feel up to it."

"Eh—why can't I just talk to you or Charlotte?"

"You've been through a lot and Char and I aren't trained to deal with that kind of stuff."

"But why not? You're my dad. Can't I just talk to you?"

Cooper sighed. "Mason."

"Is this about Ava? Do you not have time for me, is that why you're making me someone else's problem?" Mason started to get up but Charlotte stopped him.

"Mason, your dad and I are just tryin' to help you. You want to feel better, don't ya? We can talk to you too. We want you to be able to talk to us too, but it'll be good to have someone objective talk to you too—someone who's not so close." She smiled. "We have all the time in the world for ya, Mason, and you're not anyone's problem. We love you, which is why we want you to talk to Dr. Gilbert."

Mason looked at her.

"So what do you say? Give it a try? No harm in tryin', right?"

Mason half smiled. "I guess not."

Cooper smiled and ran his fingers through Mason's hair. "Go get ready for school. I'll pick you up from school today and we'll go see Dr. Gilbert."

Mason nodded and hopped off the stool. He ran out of the kitchen and up the steps.

Cooper let his shoulders drop and he sank into the stool next to Charlotte. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

Charlotte leaned against him and took his hand in hers. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He opened his head and looked at her. "That was the hardest thing I've ever done."

She kissed his shoulder. "But it needed to be done. This is a good thin', Coop. This'll help him." She squeezed his neck and kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you."

He smiled. "Thanks for the help. I needed it."

"You're welcome and thank you for the coffee but I have to get to the practice." She stood up and put her mug in the sink. "I'll be at the hospital until late, so call me and let me know how it went with Mason and Dr. Gilbert."

He nodded. "You busy for lunch?"

She shook her head. "Nope. You wanna do lunch?"

He smiled. "Uh-huh."

"I'll be at the hospital for lunch."

"I'll come by around 12:30."

She smiled. "I'll probably be in my office."

"Ok. See you later."

She leaned down and closed the gap between their lips. She broke the kiss and walked out of the kitchen. She disappeared upstairs to get Ava before walking out of the house.

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