Nyefield University pt 2

Epilogue

Bambi 15 years later
"KANE, ASPEN BREAKFAST NOW!" I call up the stairs to the kids. Who knew getting teenagers out of bed in the mornings was such a nightmare!

"Morning firecracker." Dax comes into the kitchen and wraps his arms around me before giving me a kiss. Even now his touch still sends shivers down my spine. His tongue works a dance with mine as I taste him.

"Eww mum. Gross." Aspen yells, making a gagging noise. She's absorbed my sass over the years.

"Eww Aspen. Brush your hair." Dax teases our 15 year old daughter.

"Fuck off dad." She says sticking her tongue out and giving him the finger before sitting down at the breakfast bar.

"Oi less of that missy!" Dax roughs her hair up even more then starts tickling her until she screams for mercy. I hear a grunt behind me and Kane pads into the kitchen still in just his boxers.

"Morning sleepyhead. Come on we're leaving in half an hour. I made pancakes." I give him a quick hug before he mumbles a thanks and sits down. He groans and plonks his forehead down on the bar.

"Do I have to go to school today." He groans.

"Yes, just as you do every day. Remember you've got mma later aswell. Pack your sports stuff and chuck it in the car." He perks up a bit at the mention of MMA. He's enjoyed any kind of fighting since before he could walk. After being excluded from 3 different schools we finally found one that works with him. He got diagnosed with ADHD at a fairly young age but it's been a constant fight to get the right support for him. As a social worker and therapist myself it's the hardest thing in the world watching your children struggle through life when people just don't know how to support them and shun them for being 'different'.

"Aspen you've got self defence aswell so can you pack your sports stuff too." Again her face lights up too. Whilst she isn't so much into the fighting side she does everything and anything to learn how to defend herself. We adopted Aspen when she was 8 years old. We rescued her from a sex trafficking ring and when her family couldn't be found we decided to take her in. After Kane I never managed to get pregnant again and we always wanted a larger family so she became ours. We foster here and there, aswell as do emergency over night placements too. And not just humans, we ended up buying the mansion off of the twins and I turned the land into my own personal petting zoo. I specialise in rescuing reptiles mainly but we also have various farm animals and we currently have 14 dogs. My spaniel just had puppies 3 weeks ago so the house is the definition of a mad house. Dax can't say no to me when I bring an animal home so I just get to rescue everything I can. We do rehome alot of animals but some of them are permanent fixture, like our donkey Maisie. The kids love her and used to ride her when they were smaller, she's a great animal for the foster placements aswell, they open up to her and learn to care for something at the same time.

I do all my therapy work from home and Dax works from home too. Its not been the easiest 15 years but we've created this amazing home and have two amazing children. I can't believe sometimes that this is really my life. I have to pinch myself most days to check I'm not dreaming. I still have occasional nightmares that I'm back in that basement but that's what PTSD will do to you. After Kane was born my mental health blew up on a massive scale, I had postnatal depression badly. When Kane was one I tried to drive me and Kane over a bridge into a lake, if Dax hadn't been able to ram us off the road I hate to think what would've happened to us. That was the final straw and Dax got me admitted, I was detained under the mental health act for three months straight into a PICU. For the first four to six weeks I was shut off from everyone. I refused to see Dax or the twins or my baby. The doctors tried various different medications until they found a balance that worked. I also went to all different types of therapy; emotional behaviour therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, animal therapy, anger therapy etc... you name it, I've probably done it. The final diagnosis was postnatal depression, psychosis and C-PTSD. I was also tested for schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder but they were ruled out in the end. It was a tough time of my life and I struggled to bond with Kane because or it, I felt so guilty that Dax was out there being the perfect dad whilst I was locked within the same four walls. Eventually I allowed visitors and I worked with my therpists to help build the relationships again and get back to being me. It was a bloody tough, but we made it out the other side. I still take all my meds but just on a lower dose and as far as therapy goes I'm not personally signed up to any other than the stuff mandated by the agency I do my social work with. But honestly that kind of councilling does fuck all, it is literally just talking about what you've been through. That's the kind of thing that will make people worse if they don't know how to help themselves. I've spent alot of years bringing awareness to the issue and in the early days I was the spokesperson for my agency. Now I take more of a back seat and occasionally dip my toe on the other side of the line with the boys.