Behind Closed Doors
AN: Please note, I have no background in psychology, so please don't stone me. The information I found when researching this subject recommended using simple language. I trust that I've done that. This scenario is not something I have personally experienced, so I hope I did it justice. Regarding the red blob, in the drawing, it was RJ's anger at what represented his father.
Both Carol and Jessie looked at Michonne's retreating figure as she glided out the door and shook their heads, neither woman knew what to say about her revelation. They had both been married and had children and sex after their children were born but neither could recall traumatizing their children from having sex.
Both women had had occasions where an unlocked door allowed an unwanted visitor or two into their bedrooms at an inopportune moment, but neither was summoned to the principal's office because their children felt sad or afraid because of what they witnessed.
"Just what the hell kind of sex were those two having in that house to scare that poor child?" Jessie asked completely and utterly shocked at Michonne's insouciant remark.
"Did you see the way she looked at that drawing? The way her fingers traced over it… it was obscene… almost like she was reliving the experience right here in my damn office." Carol countered.
"The shameless hussy thinks a few sessions with a therapist is going to cure what the poor boy has seen. Does she not have a clue that their child is scarred for life?"
"I have a feeling there'll be more therapy bills in their future because if they succeeded in creating another life… another six years from now we'll be seeing another child in this office. Oh God," Carol sighed at the thought of having to go through a repeat performance of their meeting.
"The sheriff always seemed so respectable," Jessie answered. "I always wondered why he would marry such an uppity bitch… I guess we know why."
"Mrs. Anderson! You're still in my office."
"Pardon me, ma'am."
"It's clear that his officer friendly persona is for the public, but the sheriff's a downright freak behind closed doors. That said, however, Mrs. Anderson, don't think I haven't noticed how your demeanour changes whenever the sheriff drops off and picks up his son."
Jessie gasped. "Ma'am? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, relax, I too have had a lapsed moment or two… but knowing what I know now..." Carol fanned herself as her ordinary pale complexion turned a rosy colour. "Mercy!"
"Ma'am, you can't seriously believe what they are doing is okay?"
"Mrs. Anderson, you can't seriously believe that Father Gabriel doesn't get his freak on with his wife, Rosita. I can guarantee you that the smile on her face is not from the good book.
"What are we going to do?"
"As far as I'm concerned, the Grimes are two healthy, passionate consenting adults engaged in their matrimonial obligations to one another and little RJ Grimes will get over it. Plus, with his little bow-legged strut, it won't be long before he's traumatizing his own kids. There's no abuse, so let it rest.
...
"Mommy, can we go to Nana and Papi's?" RJ asked from the backseat of his mother's car.
"Daddy's home, baby. And he's making supper, your favourites too… nuggets, peas, carrots, with milk."
"I'm not hungry," he answered with a frown.
"Of course you are, mommy's hungry too. Tell you what, if you eat all of your supper, mommy will make us a super sundae, okay?"
"Can I put the whipped cream?"
"Of course you can, baby."
"Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?"
"Sure, you can sleep with mommy and daddy," Michonne responded while watching his reaction in the rearview mirror.
RJ shook his head, no. "Mommy, do we have to sleep with daddy?"
"If we sleep in mommy's bed we do, baby."
"You can sleep in my bed, Mommy. I can share Mr. Snuggles with you."
"Alright, sweetie, but only for tonight, okay?"
Her son smiled, relieved. "Okay."
Just then, her phone rang. Michonne activated Bluetooth and took the call.
"Hey. How did it go?"
"Just a minute, babe."
"RJ, baby, put on your headphones and play on mommy's iPad." The young boy quickly did as he was told. He loved travelling with his mommy because he almost always got to play on her iPad.
Michonne took a deep breath before responding and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she tried hard to focus her thoughts.
"Babe?" Rick called out as he paced around their spacious living room.
"I'm here," Michonne answered, but she had no idea where to begin. Guilt was slowly eating away at her knowing that their actions had caused their baby so much distress. She had missed all the signs thinking it wasn't serious when in fact it was.
She recalled the moment RJ's behaviour changed. After Rick returned to work, she took a nap, woke up and showered. She went next door to her parents to pick up their son, but he begged to stay with his grandparents, his request wasn't out of the ordinary. The next night and every night after that for almost two weeks Rick's schedule was turned upside down. They hardly saw one another, so he would sleep in another bedroom if he managed a split shift so as not to disrupt their sleep. Today was his first full day off in weeks.
"Michonne, is RJ okay?"
Rick's voice jarred her back to the present. A single tear slid down her cheek. She nodded yes, but he couldn't see her response because it wasn't a video chat.
"Michonne, what's wrong?" He asked concerned. "What happened?"
"We're going to therapy," she replied with tears silently streaming down her face.
"Therapy? What the hell for?" Rick asked confused feeling as though he woke up in an altered universe where nothing made sense.
"We traumatized our son… he's afraid of you… and the faculty and staff at his school are convinced that you're abusing me."
"Come again?" Rick asked certain that he missed something in between.
"I'll fill you in later if I continue this conversation I might lose my shit and run off the road." But before he could answer she was gone.
…
Rick opened the door before Michonne could because he had been monitoring them on the security system.
RJ took his mother's hand in his as they walked through the opened door. He didn't look at his father.
Rick kissed Michonne's cheek. He noticed her eyes were slightly red. She had been crying. He reached for his son, but RJ shied away from his touch. It was the second time that day his son shied away from him. He said nothing opting instead for an explanation from his wife, when none came he added, "Why don't y'all clean up, supper will be ready soon."
Suppertime was the quietest it had ever been in their household. Rick could not engage his son and no matter how hard Michonne tried to include Rick the few times RJ spoke, their son would have none of it. He clammed up.
…
While RJ got dressed for bed, Michonne gave Rick the Cliff's notes version of the scenario and the drawing.
Rick studied the drawing with a furrowed brow. Michonne turned it right side up for him. Still, he was unable to determine what he was looking at until Michonne walked him to the doorway of their bedroom and left the door ajar at the approximate angle reflected in the drawing.
Suddenly, he understood. "How?" He asked running his hand over his recent buzzed cut.
"I don't know. I'm going to speak to him in a bit."
"Don't you mean, we?"
"We will just not tonight, okay? Maybe tomorrow we can have a family fun day."
"You're gonna play hooky?"
"Mommy?"
"Our son needs us," she added kissing his cheek and left as her son summoned her.
...
Michonne got under the covers in RJ's bed and RJ snuggled into his mommy's arms. He offered her his favourite stuffed toy, a battered Koala bear which had been mended many times over. Mr. Snuggles had been around ever since RJ was a newborn. His grandparents brought it back from their trip down under and it went everywhere with the family. So RJ's offering was significant.
"Thank you, baby," Michonne whispered kissing both Mr. Snuggles and her son.
"How are you doing, baby?" Michonne asked running her fingers through her son's silky curls, it was a gesture that calmed him whenever he was upset. "You know you can tell mommy anything, right?" She made a point of not saying 'daddy' for the time being because she knew he was the perceived source of their son's distress.
RJ shook his head in agreement. He looked into his mommy's warm brown eyes and added, "Mommies are not supposed to cry."
Michonne bit the inside of her cheek to prevent her tears from falling.
"I'm not crying baby."
"You did. Daddy made you cry. Daddy's bad."
"Daddy didn't make mommy cry, baby and daddy is not a bad person."
"He did, Mommy. I saw him. I heard you, Mommy."
Michonne cringed at the thought of the images and sounds which were now seared into his young brain causing him such distress.
"What you saw and heard… you know sometimes you play cops and robbers with papi and daddy?" RJ nods his head. "Sometimes when you are the policeman you scream at them and have to arrest daddy and papi because they are the bad guys, but it's not real. Sometimes mommy's and daddy's like to play make-believe games too. It's all pretend. That's what you saw. Daddy didn't hurt me."
"Does it mean we don't have to go away?"
"Yes. We don't have to go away."
"You're not afraid of daddy?"
"No, I'm not afraid of daddy and neither should you."
"I was mean to daddy. Do you think he still likes me?"
"Daddy loves you, but it makes him feel bad because you're afraid of him and you thought he was hurting me. Daddy's sad."
"I'm sorry, Mommy, I don't want daddy to be sad," RJ added with remorse. "Can we go see him?"
"Daddy's sleeping, baby" Michonne replied and caressed his tear-stained cheek. "Don't cry, baby… tell you what, tomorrow, you can help mommy make breakfast and we'll serve it to daddy in bed. Would you like that?"
RJ acknowledged his agreement with a nod of his head. "Good. It will make you and daddy feel better."
…
Early that morning, Michonne snuck into their room and locked the door behind her. She roused her sleeping husband whose night didn't exactly go according to plan and led him to the bathroom. There was a pressing need after a two-week drought. Their smouldering hunger exploded in hot stolen kisses and a quickie with her pressed against the steamy shower door with the water on full blast and Rick's hand partially covering her open mouth as the two climaxed.
Later that morning as Rick lay in bed, there was a knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," he instructed.
RJ hesitated and looked at his mommy before opening.
"It's okay… go ahead, baby, open it."
"Hey!
Relieved to see that his father wasn't upset with him, RJ climbed onto the bed and gave him a hug.
"Hey, son, daddy needed that." Rick smiled and tousled his hair.
"We thought we'd make you breakfast," Michonne announced allowing him to sit up and set the tray before him. On it was a coffee for him and a glass of juice for RJ, two plates of food one with a serving huge enough for two people and a smaller plate with RJ's favourite foods and two hot rod cars.
"RJ, why does daddy have so much food?"
"Because you're supposed to share with mommy, silly," he chuckled.
"Mommy, when do I get ready for school?"
"We're not going to school or work today. It's a family fun day!
"Yippee!"
RJ sounds of glee reminded her that she still had to notify the school of his absence and give Aaron a heads up she wouldn't be in. Michonne quickly sent a text to the school and to Aaron.
Michonne: Family emergency still in progress.
Aaron: Seriously? Staying home to fuck your husband is not a family emergency, it's a good thing you're the boss. About that scoop, I'm still waiting… inquiring minds and all.
Michonne: You have no idea how wrong you are. It's a scoop that's much better delivered in person.
Aaron: It's that good, eh?
Michonne: I'm still trying to find the right words. Family Fun Day. Over and Out!
Aaron: Damn, it must be good. I hate you.
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