Disclaimer: Rebecca and Kathryn Lennox and Michael Montgomery are my creations – I stole everyone else.
A/N: Back to university! Ahh! I have an advanced composition class so that should be fun...anyways enjoy this installment! (I like exclamation points!)
A/N2: My stories have no sense of time...has anyone else noticed that?
Zoe sat facing the kids, awaiting a response from the three about the idea of Dan moving in. Finally Taylor spoke,
"I think it's an okay idea. I mean it'll take some getting used to but Dan's a good guy and you obviously like him so why not?" Cliff piped up when Taylor finished,
"It'd be nice to not be the only guy in the house!" he joked. Finally Hannah, who had been carefully mulling over the idea spoke.
"It would be like having a daddy. We'd be a normal family!" she smiled in wonder at the idea. Zoe stood from her seat and hugged all of the kids.
"I love you guys so much!" she whispered fiercely.
"We love you too aunt Zoe!" Hannah proclaimed from her aunt's embrace.
"And you love Dan and he loves you," Taylor added.
"And Dan loves all three of you," Zoe smiled and released her hold on the kids, feeling as though an immense weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The youngest two children ran upstairs to get ready for their busy day and Taylor went to clean up the breakfast dishes. Zoe remained in the living room for a moment, silently reflecting on how everything seemed to be going right for once. She was startled out of her moment of solitude by the shrill ringing of the telephone, "Hello?" she answered on the second ring.
"Morning Zoe, it's Rebecca. I was wondering if I could have another session with Taylor this afternoon?"
"Let me check with her," Zoe covered the mouthpiece of the phone to muffle her voice, "Tay Rebecca wants to have another session with you this afternoon."
"Okay!" Taylor called back. Zoe raised the phone back to her ear,
"She says that's fine."
"So I heard," Rebecca laughed, "I'll probably be over around two, okay?"
"Sure that's fine."
"Alright, see you then Zoe."
"Bye."
Rebecca knocked on Zoe's door at 2:13pm, Katy and Dan in tow. "I'll get it," Hannah called from inside the house before yanking the door open. "Aunt Zoe! Mr. Lennox and Rebecca are here!" hollered the excited young girl.
"Okay Hannah, chill," Zoe admonished, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin at her niece's boundless energy. Rebecca and Dan entered the house, greeting Taylor and Cliff as they did so.
"We can go to my room if you want Rebecca," Taylor said. Rebecca nodded and handed Katy to Dan.
"Be good for your uncle Dan, Kat. Mommy will be back later," Rebecca tickled the babies stomach, winning herself a wide grin. Taylor began to head up the stairs, followed closely by Rebecca as the rest of the family went into the livingroom. Taylor's hands shook as she opened the door to her room, nervous about what would happen during the session. Taylor sank down onto her bed and Rebecca pulled a chair closer, clipboard appearing in her hands seemingly out of thin air. "So how have things been going?" Rebecca asked.
"About the same...I-I'm still pulling it out and sometimes I don't even notice! I just look down and there's a pile of h-hair in front of me. That's the scary part...how am I gonna stop if I don't even know when I'm doin' it?" Taylor spoke quietly, distinct contrast between her and her younger sister.
"Well one of the goals of these sessions will be to increase your awareness, make you notice when you start pulling and hopefully find you ways to stop. Do you notice certain times now when you do it? Like maybe when you're watching tv or doing homework or even sitting in class?"
"Not in class! Someone might notice!" Taylor looked embarrassed, "But yeah, watching tv or reading and doing homework."
"What are you thinking when you're doing it? Are you stressed, calm, anxious, something else?"
"Well when I notice I'm usually thinking about something stressful, like school or boys or," Taylor stopped, a bright red blush spreading through her cheeks.
"Or what?" Rebecca asked, curious what had caused Taylor's reaction.
"Or sex...and being like the only virgin in my class," Taylor whispered, her blush deepening to a crimson. "It used to be thinking about my mom...when she first died. I didn't talk about it a whole lot and whenever I thought of her I'd start to pull at my hair and then I guess it just got worse." Rebecca stayed silent a moment, writing on her clipboard;
- initial trigger: mother's death
- current triggers: stress (school, being a virgin), thoughts of sex, possibly boredom (times when it's not noticed)
- most frequent pull times: homework, tv, reading - alone times
"Rebecca...can I ask you something...uh...personal?" Taylor asked shyly. Now that she had begun talking about sex, it had piqued her curiosity.
"Sure," Rebecca smiled reassuringly, "that's what I'm here for...well kind of."
"Well," Taylor started, blushing furiously, "How old were you when you...ya know...lost it?"
"Sixteen. I've regretted it ever since," Rebecca answered honestly, pulling Taylor's hand away from her head and dropping a koosh ball into it. "Play with this while we talk about uncomfortable stuff okay?" Taylor nodded.
"How come you regret it?" Taylor continued.
"I was young and stupid. I thought I loved him and he loved me but it turns out he was just trying to get into my pants, which he unfortunately accomplished," Rebecca reflected, sighing softly as she thought of how naive she had once been. "I was lucky, actually. Sex ed wasn't exactly high on the priority list at my school and my parents were really conservative so I furthered my stupidity by having unprotected sex with him. I could have ended up pregnant or with and STD. Having sex with him is the one thing I would change if I ever had the opportunity to go back in time." Rebecca scribbled onto her clipboard,
Session Two:
- talked about sex, answered a lot of questions, hopefully relieved some of the related stress.
Rebecca looked back at Taylor as she sensed another question coming on, noting that Taylor was pulling at the rubbery strands of the koosh ball. "What –,"Taylor paused, her hand drifting towards her head before she pulled it back down and began pulling on the koosh ball again, winning a smile of approval from Rebecca. "What does it feel like? The first time, I mean...a lot of girls say it hurts."
"My first time hurt...I know why now," Rebecca paused, rolling her eyes, "Voice of experience I suppose. But when you're with a partner who actually does love you then it is an incredible feeling," a flush rose into Rebecca's cheeks as she quickly banished steamy and unbidden thoughts of her fiancé. Taylor noticed and couldn't stop the question before it slipped out,
"Why are you blushing?" Rebecca's blush deepened to a crimson, the thoughts of her fiancé slipping back to her mind. Rebecca shut her eyes and breathed deeply to regain her composure.
"I...I was thinking about..." she sighed, "I was thinking about my fiancé. I miss him, being down here."
"Oh...I'm sorry. Maybe Mr. Lennox shouldn't have called you...I didn't mean to be a burden," Taylor looked away from Rebecca, glancing back up when she felt a hand on her arm.
"You are not a burden Taylor. I miss my fiancé but I'm here to help you because I want to be. Okay?" Rebecca smiled at her.
"Yeah," Taylor replied, smiling back.
"Okay that'll about do it for today's session. I want you to keep the koosh ball with you all the time, especially when you know you'll be stressed or bored. Rebecca scrawled her cell phone number onto the back of a business card, "Call me if you need anything, even if it's just to talk, that's what I'm here for. I don't expect you to be perfect at not pulling right away, but trying is a big step okay?" Taylor nodded, "You have any more questions right now?" Taylor shook her head and rose from the bed, reaching to Rebecca for a hug.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"Any time Taylor," Rebecca replied. They broke the hug and headed downstairs.
As the pair reached the bottom of the stairs Dan came over and pulled his baby sister into a hug, "Zoe and I are moving in together," he told her. Rebecca hugged him back tightly,
"Mike and I are moving down here," she let the secret slip. Dan released her,
"Really? What about..." he dropped his voice, "what about Tom?" Rebecca swallowed hard,
"He's in prison...he killed someone," tears glistened in her eyes, the terror of her last days with Tom coming back to haunt her. Dan pulled her close, shutting his eyes as the nightmares he'd had cam back.
"Love you sis," he whispered before releasing her.
"Love you too bro."
TBC