The three women started seeing Dembe the week after Red and Kate met them. Red had no interest in knowing the sordid details (or so he thought of it) of their work with him, but he began to notice little changes in the young man: Dembe started patting him on the back and once, much to his surprise, Dembe hugged him quickly when Red had returned home after being out of town for a few days.

Red was still reluctant to initiate touching between them, so he reveled in Dembe's displays of affection and took them to mean that progress was being made in his therapy.

Dembe had been seeing the women for just over five months when he came home one day and went to find Raymond. He found him in his office talking on the phone. Usually, if he saw Raymond was working, he would wave and indicate that he would return later. But not today; today, he had something very important to tell his mentor. He entered the room and closed the door behind him and then stood quietly waiting for Raymond to finish his call.

Red saw the look on Dembe's face and said, "Billy, I have to go. You will get your goods in three days. I'll expect my payment at delivery. Goodbye." He stood up and walked around the desk to stand in front of the young man. "What is it, Dembe?" he asked softly. "What's wrong?" He was astonished to see tears in Dembe's eyes before he collapsed sobbing into Red as he threw his arms around Red's neck.

Red gathered Dembe close to him as he rubbed his back in an effort to calm the teenager. He had no idea what had upset him, but he was thinking that something had gone terribly wrong in his sex therapy session. He continued to comfort Dembe even as he was trying to decide what form of punishment he was going to mete out to the doctor for insisting Dembe undergo sex therapy and suggesting those women for the job. He almost didn't realize that Dembe had begun speaking between sobs. "What are you saying, Dembe?"

"I didn't know! I didn't know!"

Red gently guided Dembe, who had refused to let him go, to the couch and sat the both of them down. Rubbing Dembe's head with his cheek, he asked, "What didn't you know? Tell me, please."

Dembe sat up and quickly wiped his face clear of tears. "I didn't know…that sex could be…like that. That it could be about two people's pleasure, that it does not have to mean pain and degradation." He leaned forward again and wrapped Raymond in his arms. "Thank you, Raymond."

"For what?"

"For saving me, for wanting to help me, for loving me enough to pay for this…I feel…like I'm whole." He turned his head and kissed Red's cheek. "I will never forget what you have done for me."

"You're welcome," Red managed to squeak out past the lump in his throat. "I have to get back to work." He hugged Dembe tightly for a second before letting go. "If you want to, we can go out to dinner to celebrate. I'll see you later."

"All right, Raymond."

Once Dembe closed the door behind him, Red allowed his own tears of happiness to fall. Once he regained his composure, he called Dr. Benoit. "I want to thank you, Doctor, for all of your help. Apparently, Dembe's sessions with the women reached the sexual stage."

"Oh? He told you about it?"

"Yes. He was…overwhelmed, but in a good way. He thanked me for getting him help."

"Good, good. Yes, I suggested that he speak to you about it. I'm glad he did. Effective immediately, he will no longer be seeing the surrogates; to go any further with him would be inappropriate on their parts. I want him to continue seeing me for at least another four months so I can continue helping him process his feelings, but after that, I think it will be a good idea to discharge him from therapy. Of course, you can always call me after that if either one of you feels he could benefit from a session."

"You have my eternal gratitude, Doctor Benoit."

He dialed Kate Kaplan immediately after hanging up from the doctor. "Kate, I think the therapy has been successful. We're going out to dinner to celebrate. Join us."

"That's great news, Raymond! As much as I would like to be with you, I'm going to let you boys enjoy yourselves without me. Give him a hug for me."

"I will, Kate. I will."

"And Raymond."

"Yes."

"I'm so proud of you and you should be proud of yourself. You saved Dembe's physical life years ago, but by getting him the help he needed, you saved his emotional life, too. You have changed his life again, Raymond. I love you for doing that."

Red listened quietly to the woman he called half – jokingly his "better half" as tears ran down his face. "I love you, too. I…didn't know I would be this emotional, but I am just so grateful and happy that Dembe is going to be all right."

"I know. Me, too. Goodnight, Raymond."

"Goodnight, Kate."