Therapy Session Two


It was a week later and Punk hadn't spoken to Dean since their fight, and neither had AJ since she stormed up at his doorstep at 2am. She hadn't told Punk that she had words with Dean. She didn't see how it mattered. She only said what he was thinking.

AJ was finally getting the chance to meet Nova's therapist for the first time. She was extremely excited, if that was even possible, and also a little nervous. It did seem like her and Punk were more nervous than Nova. Punk stayed at home with Maggie whilst AJ took Nova to therapy.

"Why isn't daddy taking me to David like last?" Nova wondered whilst sitting with her mother outside the office. Her problems weren't going away by any means, but every day she made a little improvement, and AJ and Punk were so proud. Things did seem like they were going back to normal, despite the chaos with Dean that both she and Punk were trying to ignore.

"Daddy is staying at home with Maggie this time." AJ said, "We'll take turns of taking you." She said, playing with Nova's hair as they waited on David calling on them.

"Do you know David? He's my friend." Nova told her proudly as AJ laughed lightly.

"Baby, you've only met him once." AJ chuckled lightly.

"Yes but he played with me and he told me that even adults can get scared of things." Nova said, "I didn't know that." She admitted cutely as AJ smiled.

"We can get terrified." AJ nodded.

"Even you and daddy?" Nova asked, swinging her legs back and forth, dangling off the chair.

"Yeah." AJ nodded. Little Nova had no idea just how scared her mother and father could be.

"Hey, Nova." David smiled as he opened up his room door as AJ looked over at him and smiled. She understood what Punk meant by him looking kind. They never judged anyone by their looks, but David really did have a soft aura about him.

"Hi, David." Nova stood up, "This is my mommy." She took her mother's hand, as if leading her the way as AJ laughed a little.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm April." AJ smiled pleasantly, extending her hand as David shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too." David said, "Please, come in." He nodded as AJ and Nova walked into the room. AJ looked around of course, just like Punk did. Punk had tried to describe it as best as he possibly could, but now she could see for herself, "So how have you been Nova?" David asked as AJ took a soft seat with Nova sitting beside her.

David could already see a big difference in Nova, especially in the way she was carrying herself. He knew part of it was obviously because this wasn't their first meeting, and the first meeting was a little awkward and scary for her, but she seemed keen to see him which made him smile.

"I'm good." Nova nodded, "I can get my cast off soon." She pointed to her healing arm.

"Well that's terrific news." David smiled, "How is school?" He asked, just starting off with some simple things before getting into any sort of physical play and talking.

"Good I had a cake sale last week and I selled the most cakes, didn't I mommy?" She turned to her mother who smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, you did, baby." AJ smiled.

"What kind of cakes did you sell?" David asked.

"Uh well daddy had to buy them but only because I forgot. But there were cupcakes, fairycakes, muffins and cookies." Nova nodded.

"That sounds delicious." David smiled.

AJ loved how out of her shell Nova had become. She obviously knew she struggled a little last week when Punk took her, but clearly there had been a big improvement, which was a great thing.

"Can we go play?" Nova asked whilst struggling to take her jacket off, getting help from her mother.

"Woah, someone is very eager today." David laughed a little.

"Well I gotta get back to watch the hockey with daddy. Mommy isn't allowed to watch it she gets too angry." Nova said as AJ nudged her a little, "What?" Nova turned to her innocently as AJ just smiled to David.

"I think we all get a little angry when it comes to our favourite sports, don't worry." David smiled.

The thing that AJ loved already about it, was that it didn't look like a therapist's office. Obviously, she knew he worked with younger kids, but the place was bright and colourful, and nice to sit in. She also loved how unaware Nova was about it all. She just thought it was a place to come play, which she supposed was the nature of the therapy.

"Here you hold this mommy." Nova said as she handed her jacket to AJ who nodded and folded her jacket up over her lap.

"Ok, then Nova. Let's go get some things out." David nodded as AJ smiled, watching Nova hop down off the chair and rush over to the table where some toys were already sitting. She was fascinated by it already, how Nova could be expressing things through the way she played. It was pretty cool.


She sat for the session and watched as Nova played with David whilst answering some questions and talking. She was really good at answering the questions, but some were either too hard for her to understand, or just too scary for her to reflect on. She wasn't quite there yet, although she did acknowledge what had happened to her with Bray hurting her. She understood now what Punk was saying about it being therapeutic for them, for both of them to see their little girl opening up and being able to talk about something she was so scared of, it was great, and David was amazing the way he handled it.

Like last time, David left Nova to play for the remaining ten minutes and joined AJ over on the soft seats.

"She's doing good." David smiled, "I've saw such a huge difference in her, in only a week." David said, "She said she's still not having very good sleeps." He said.

"Yeah, she's still having a few nightmares." AJ nodded, "They aren't as frequent or as intense though, I've noticed." AJ added.

"Well that's good. That's still progress." David smiled, "She seems much more aware of what happened to her, and like I said to your husband last week, it's like her little brain is already trying to just shove it to the back of her head. Like most of us all day, I guess." He laughed a little, "But I want to help her accept what happened, so that when she does put it to the back of her mind, it's not a burden." He said as AJ nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, I'd rather that." AJ smiled, "She looks like she really enjoys it which… was my biggest concern with this." She admitted truthfully.

"Yeah, your husband said that. Most kids get so distracted in playing with the toys that they naturally spill out what they're thinking, if they're asked the right questions." He nodded.

"We're uh… we're not married." AJ nodded.

"Oh." David shook his head, "Oh, my apologies." He said.

"It's ok." AJ smiled pleasantly, "We just really want Nova to… not be afraid, you know. She's so young, too young to be afraid of anything. I feel so much better being here and seeing how well she gets on." She nodded.

She felt good, like Punk had said, it was almost therapeutic for them too because they could sit and watch Nova explain how she really felt, even if it was short and brief sometimes. Of course it broke her heart when she heard about how scared her daughter was, and how scared she was to even close her eyes sometimes because all she saw was Bray, but it was things they could work on, there was already so much improvement already.

"I'm excited to see Nova's progression. She's a bright, sweet little girl. I have no doubt that with a little bit more time and patience, she'll be able to accept what happened to her." He nodded as AJ smiled, "It's also great that you and her father are taking a part in it also. Some parents like to just drop their kids off and then pick them up but I think it's important for a parent to be in the room." He nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I wanna be there for her. To make sure she knows she can come talk to us." AJ nodded

"Well that's one of the main things. I don't want this just to help Nova talk more about what happened and how she feels in this room, but also when she goes home too. That's a big thing." David said.

"Yeah, I agree." AJ smiled, "I really appreciate what you're doing. You must have a lot of patience." She said, standing up as David stood too.

"I have some, yeah." David smiled, "So… you and Nova's father, you guys get on ok, right?" He asked as AJ blushed a little.

"Yeah, we get on just fine." AJ smiled to him. She wrongly assumed he was after winning her with charm but...

"He's a very handsome man." David nodded as AJ's smile started to fade a little, "Very handsome." David emphasised as AJ nodded.

"I… completely agree." AJ smiled softly as he laughed lightly. She really liked him, he was sweet and pleasant and kind and she didn't even feel threatened that he perhaps had his eyes on Punk, "Ok, bug. Come get your jacket on." AJ smiled as Nova quickly got up and ran over to her, "We'll see David next week, ok?" She said as Nova nodded, smiling up at David.


"What do you mean he likes me?" Punk shook his head, standing in Maggie's nursery, bouncing the screaming four-week-old in his arms as she cried harshly.

"I mean, he thinks you're very handsome and asked if me and you got on ok." AJ smiled, "I really like him."

"What? Because he fancies me?" Punk shook his head.

"I'm not meaning that, I mean for Nova. He's great with her, he really gets her to open up." AJ nodded, "And I find it cute that he thinks you're handsome. I think he has a boyfriend though, I looked over at his desk." She said.

"Oh, well that's alright then." Punk shook his head, "You're not normally this calm when other women say I'm handsome." He said with offence.

"No other women are calling you handsome." AJ chuckled to herself as he rolled his eyes, "What's wrong with my baby?" She sighed, walking closer to him and scooping her into her arms, "What's the matter, baby girl? What's all the tears for?" She cooed in a soft voice whilst Punk watched, listening as Maggie went dead silent and began to doze back to sleep.

"She's having me on." Punk grunted, "She's only a month old and she's playing me." Punk shook his head as AJ smiled, placing Maggie down in her crib after bouncing her lightly to sleep.

"She just wanted momma to put her to sleep." AJ said softly, placing their baby girl down, stroking her cheek softly as they left the nursery.

"So you and Nova got on ok?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah. I feel better after having been now. And I totally get what you meant when you said you found it therapeutic for you. I felt the same." AJ nodded, "Just knowing she can open up a little bit better there is great." AJ said, "I'm so glad we're doing something about it. I mean if that was me as a little girl, I would have just been told to get on with it." She said, walking into the kitchen with him as he nodded.

"Yeah, me too. I got told once to just get on with it when I cracked my head off the side of the mantel. Mike kicked our dog so I started a fight with him and he pushed me back. Mom and dad told me to walk it off. Turns out I cracked my skull and had internal bleeding." Punk said.

"So that's why you're dumb." AJ teased as Punk nudged her side playfully. He saw her playful side coming back out slowly but surely. Things were getting better for them, and it was because they were focusing on themselves and their family. Of course they were both thinking of Dean, but they knew they had to put their family first at the moment, to keep themselves healthy.

"I was looking at some places to stay for weekends away." Punk said as AJ nodded, "If you're still up to it that is."

"Yeah, of course I am." AJ smiled, "I think we need it." She admitted truthfully, "And I wanna get the girls away, get them some fresh air somewhere."

"Well a lot of the places I was looking at were like little log cabins and cottages. They were really cute, you'd like them." He nodded.

"I'll switch the kettle on and we can have a look on the laptop." She said as he nodded, leaning over and kissing her cheek softly as she smiled to herself.

One step at a time.


A/N: Coming up, vacation time, more on Dean, the trials are approaching and lots more! More calmer chapters just on our cute little family of four coming up though just so I can prep you all. LOL. Thanks for the support and the reviews. I really appreciate it. Keep letting me know what you think.