An: I wanted to thank pickles-cat24 and Otter-Love-ASL for their reviews on the last chapter. I honestly didn't expect to get any feedback because it has been so long since I have updated this. So thank you so much for the kind words. I hope you like this update. Please review!

Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.

Chapter 14: Revelations

Ryan and Seth were scanning the shelves of Barnes and Noble trying to decide what to get for themselves. Ryan found the fantasy section and spotted the book series he was looking for. He grabbed it as someone else was also grabbing for it.

"Oh, sorry," Ryan apologized as he saw it was a teenage girl.

"No, you had it first," she smiled.

"It's ok-"

"There's another set right here," she picked it up off the shelf. "You go to my school. I think you're in my english class. Your brother is super talkative."

"Right," Ryan offered her a smile.

"I'm Madison, but everyone calls me Maddie."

"Ryan,"

"Ryan," Seth came upto him. "I found some really cool novelty items up front. Oh, hi."

"This is Maddie," Ryan told Seth. "She goes to our school. She's in our English class."

"Oh yes," Seth nodded. "The snarky girl that sits in front of me."

"And proud of it," Maddie smiled as she looked towards the entrance of the store. "My parents are getting impatient, so I guess I'll see you around."

"Bye," Ryan called as he followed Seth up to the front of the store.

Sandy and Kirsten were heading towards the electronics store to try to find a home phone when they passed by the bookstore and saw Ryan having a conversation with a teenage girl. Seth came up to join them and the girl departed as she joined a couple at the register.

"Someone from school?" Sandy asked.

"Maybe," Kirsten responded. "They haven't mentioned anything about making any new friends yet."

"It's only the first week. Give it some time."

The family met to have a quick lunch at the food court that consisted of soft pretzels and slushies. They all walked out to the parking lot together and climbed back into the car. It was a short drive and they all took their new purchases inside. Ryan and Seth took their things upstairs while Kirsten got the new phone hooked up in the home office.

"Does it work?" Sandy asked.

"It has a dial tone. Let's test it out." Kirsten dialed the familiar number and held it back up to her ear. "Mom, it's me."

"Kirsten!" Rose's voice drifted out. "How is everyone adjusting?"

"It's been an adjustment for sure," Kirsten sighed. "I need your advice. I messed up with Ryan big time."

"Tell me what happened,"

Kirsten started telling her mom what had happened the past week and Rose listened quietly, not responding vocally until Kirsten was done talking.

"So you emotionally blackmailed a teenage boy who has trust issues?"

"I know," Kirsten sighed. "I told you I messed up."

"It could be worse. Tell me, is Ryan's therapist male, by chance?"

"Yes, why?"

"Then I can see why he responded that way. Remember what the social worker told you? Ryan is not comfortable around male authority figures. Too many have betrayed him in his short life."

"Oh god, why didn't I see that?" Kirsten sighed.

"Because you're too focused on making sure that everyone is adjusting well to the new surroundings."

"So what do I do now?"

"Let me talk to Ryan for a little bit,"

Ryan was opening his new purchase when there was a light knock on his door. He looked up as the door opened and Sandy slowly came in with the portable house phone in his hand.

"Hey kid, Rose is on the phone. She would like to talk to you."

"She does?"

"Yes, she wants to hear about your first week at school,"

"Right," Ryan took it from him and Sandy left the room as he held it up to his ear. "Ms. Rose?"

"So I hear that you've had an interesting first week of school."

"I guess so,"

"Let's just cut to the chase," Rose spoke sternly. "I heard about the therapy session."

"I figured that's what this was about," Ryan sighed.

"So tell me what happened and why you ran out in the middle of the session,"

"I just don't like Dr. Thomas," Ryan said softly. "He made me uncomfortable."

"Why is that?"

"He reminded me of a school counselor that I had in Chino-before everything happened-I confided in him about some things. He called me a liar…."

Sandy and Kirsten were sitting in the kitchen as they waited for Ryan to finish talking to Kirsten's mom. It had been well over an hour and they were getting concerned that they were still talking. They looked up as they heard noise on the stairs and watched Seth come into them with the phone in his hand.

"Grandma wants to talk to you again," Seth handed the portable to his mom.

"You were also talking to her?" Sandy looked at him.

"She wanted to know how my first week of school was as well," he shrugged. "She didn't want me to feel left out since she had already talked to Ryan."

Sandy watched Seth go back up the stairs as Kirsten held the phone up to her ear again.

"Hi mom," she greeted. "So did you find out anything?"

"You guys need to get a new therapist," Rose told her.

"Why?"

"His current one reminds him of a counselor he had in Chino. He decided to confide in him about some things that were happening and he was told that he was making it all up for attention."

Kirsten continued to listen to what her mom was telling her for the next half hour before hanging up with her. She sighed as she slowly revealed it all to Sandy, who was just speechless.

Ryan was setting up his new book series in his bookcase when there was another knock on his door. He looked over as the door opened again and Kirsten came in.

"Ms. Rose told you what we talked about," Ryan looked at her.

"Truthfully, I called her first," Kirsten said. "To get her advice for how to handle our situation."

"And?"

"Come sit down. We need to talk," Kirsten sat at the end of the bed and Ryan sat down a little farther away. "First, we will be calling Dr. Thomas on Monday to let him know that we won't be needing his services after all."

"Thank you,"

"Now why didn't you tell us how you felt about him?"

"Because you blackmailed me," Ryan mumbled.

"I willingly admit that was wrong," Kirsten told him. "I also admit that I have no idea what I am doing here."

"What do you mean?"

"Being a foster parent. I did not prepare myself or you for that matter for this new situation and your new environment."

"You're doing better than my biological parents," Ryan assured her.

"So we're going to start over," Kirsten told him. "You will be allowed to try out for soccer no matter what, we will find you a new therapist because it is a requirement from social services."

"Agreed,"

"Also, we would like to have one-on-one time with you. Both me and Sandy. We want to know you better, and we want you to be comfortable around us too."

"All right," Ryan sighed.

"Now can you do something for me?" she looked at him.

"Sure," he shrugged. "What do you need?"

"I need you to try on all your soccer gear that we got today so that I can make sure that it fits."

"Really?" Ryan gave her a look.

"Yes, really. I need to make sure that it will be safe for you during practices and games."

"Fine," Ryan sighed as he found the bag from the sports store and went to the bathroom to start trying everything on.

An: So what did you all think? I hope you liked this. Please review!