Tony ended up spending that first night in Charlie's room. The boy was prone to nightmares and Tony felt it would be best if he stayed close to his son. He curled up on the bottom bunk and kept close watch on his son. He drifted off to a deep sleep and he assumed that Charlie had as well. Maybe he had but it was not long before the boy was sitting up and screaming his head off. Forgetting about the top bunk, Tony bolted up and hit his head hard on the wood. He rubbed his throbbing skull and surrpressed his urge to swear. Charlie was still screaming when Tony made it to the top bunk. He was sitting up and screaming but not awake. Tony gently shook the boy until he finally came around.
"You were having a nightmare." Tony explained.
"The car" Charlie replied vaguly before dragging the covers over his head.
Meanwhile the other DiNozzo boys were keeping Ziva awake. Maybe she had blocked it out or forgotten after all these years, but she did not remember AJ being this active. Of course AJ had not had a friend to play with. It almost felt like they were roughhousing in the womb. She knew that was impossible but that's how it felt. A jolt surgred through her body and she was suddenly desperate for the bathroom. She drug herself to the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror. She looked more fat than pregnant and she swore she was more exhausted than she ever had been with AJ. Even all those nights he had been so sick.
"At least they are healthy." Ziva whispered to herself as she rubbed her stomach and made herself smile.
Marley was the first person awake in the morning. She put on a pot of coffee, stuffed two pop-tarts in the toaster and went outside to collect the paper. She found a current event for her history class and then turned to the Sports section.
"Big meeting?" Tony joked, as he poured a cup of coffee.
"Just getting a head start on my morning." Marley replied.
"Glad you put the coffee on, Charlie kept me awake most of the night." Tony explained.
"At least you can drink coffee." Ziva yawned.
"Is caffine really that bad?" Marley asked.
"I don't know but I am not taking the risk." Ziva replied.
Charlie's appointment with Dr. Roshel was at two in the afternoon. Ziva got her work done early and Tony rescheduled his own appointment. Dr. Roshel's office was nothing like any of the psychologists office's Tony had ever seen. The walls were bright colors and murals were painted in the hall and on one of the walls in the waiting room. There was a half wall dividing the waiting room, with toys and books for varying ages on one side, and chairs, magazines, and grown up books on the other side. Tony and Ziva took seats in the back corner and Charlie plopped down beside them. He eyed the play area whistfully but did not move. Instead he picked up an ancient copy of People magazine and opened it to an article about "The Goldern Girls.". Ziva looked down at her son and then back up at Tony.
"You can go play if you want. We will call you when it's your turn." Tony offered.
"No thanks, I don't need to go." Charlie replied nervously.
"Would you feel better if I went with you?" Tony asked.
"I guess" Charlie replied nervously.
Dr. Roshel was just as different as her office. She was not the gray haired, suit wearing psychologists you would see on television. She was young probably only in her later twenties, she wore a bright green button down shirt and navy blue slacks, her hair was dyed bright pink and she dawned retro cat's eye glasses.
"Do you prefer Charles of Charlie?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"Charlie" Charlie replied.
"So what do you like? Sports? Art? Dinosaurs?" Dr. Rosehel asked.
"I was taking a drawing class. Before." Charlie replied.
"Very good!" Dr. Roshel cried, clapping her hands.
"I thought you were going to talk to me." Charlie commented.
"We are going to talk but if I wanted to just sit in a stuffy office and talk, I would have become a grown-up psychologists." Dr. Roshel explained.
"So I get to draw at all my sessions?" Charlie asked.
"If you want to. If not we can shoot hoops or play with toys. We can even play a little music. As long as it's appropriate." Dr. Roshel explained.
"OK" Charlie replied.
"Alright just draw what you feel." Dr. Roshel instructed handing Charlie a pad of paper and pack of colored pencils.
Charlie followed Dr. Roshel's instructions and drew what he felt. He drew a picture of his family but it was not your typical family portrait. He drew them the way he last saw them. He drew his parents bodies mangled beyond recognition. He drew his older brother Davey seemingly OK but with a large bandage on his head and a tubes in his throat and stomach. He drew his older sister Carrie with her neck broken and her eyes rolled back. His drew his younger brother Wally with his small body crushed but his head OK. He drew his baby sister Evie with her body seemingly OK, her little eyes were even wide open. It still didn't make sense to Charlie that she was dead. She had cried for a long time but was quiet when help arrived. She even looked alive in the hospital but she was cold and her eyes no longer showed life.
"Is that how they looked after the accident?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"Yes" Charlie replied.
"What are these blurs?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"My parents, I didn't get to see them but the front of the car was crushed." Charlie replied.
"So your sister broke her neck?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"Yes, she was nine" Charlie replied.
"How did your brother get crushed?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"The seat went into him. He was four." Charlie explained.
"What about your big brother? Why does he have tubes and a bandage?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"He was alive but he hurt his head bad. The tubes are called a tracheosotmy and G-Tube. They were supposed to keep him alive but he got pneumonia He was twelve."Charlie explained.
"What about the baby? She looks OK?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"She looked OK even after she died. The doctor said she hit her head, just like Davey but her brain stem broke." Charlie explained.
"That must have been scary." Dr. Roshel commented.
"It was bad" Charlie replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Dr. Roshel asked.
"Do I have to?" Charlie asked.
"Not this week but eventually." Dr. Roshel replied.
A/N: Is this the start of Charlie coming around? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.