[ discovering you ] - sequel to camp discovery || a tayvis story.

outtake two.

JULY 3, 2013

11:32 AM

"Hi, Dr. Humphries," Michael said as the Skype call started.

"There's my boy!" She exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in so long. How are you?"

"Good," Michael replied. At his last therapy session he told her about how he was going to miss his school and his friends. They talked about him not knowing where he was going and how he felt about it. Michael has grown to love his therapist and was extremely comfortable talking to her. It took him some time, but now that he was comfortable with her, there was nothing he held back from her.

"So, where are you and Mom?" Dr. Humphries asked. Michael shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I like it here. Everybody is nice and doesn't yell. Grammy used to tell me I couldn't have snacks, but I can have snacks here." Michael was drawing as he spoke, a common occurrence during his therapy sessions.

"That's great. What kind of snacks are you eating there?" She asked him, smiling at the boy through the screen.

"Fruit snacks and chips and cookies. And Mommy got these ice cream things that are really good, too."

"So Mommy is eating snacks too?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! She eats so much more now. Not just whatever I don't want to eat. I like seeing her eat more." Michael explained. "And we have so much more food here, not just noodles and eggs and pop-tarts. Like for breakfast, we had bacon and waffles with juice instead of water. And last night we had chicken and rice and broccoli. It was really good, even though broccoli is a vegetable."

"Still hate vegetables, huh?" Dr. Humphries asked with a laugh.

"Just green ones and carrots." Michael corrected.

"Let me see your drawing." She said, wanting to analyze his artwork quickly, the way she would if he was sitting in her office.

"Okay," Michael replied. He quickly finished what he was working on and held up the picture in front of the camera.

"Can you explain to me what you've drawn?"

"Yeah," Michael started. "This is me, and Mommy, and Daddy. And we're at camp. Back here is Uncle Jason, and Aunt Kylie, and Uncle Ross. Then there's the lake and the cabins." Michael explained. Showing off his picture by pointing to each thing as he names it. "I still have to draw more people. So many good people at camp, like Jasmine and Troy. I don't think they're all going to fit on this one page." Michael said, laughing at his discovery.

"Daddy?"Dr. Humphries asked after he mentioned a father or a father figure. Everything else that came from his lips seemed to blur together.

"Yeah. We found Daddy. He was at camp. He taught me how to swim, and ride a bike, and hike!" Michael said with so much excitement in his voice that the therapist thought her heart would explode.

"That's great, Michael. I know how much you wanted to meet him. Does he look like the picture?"

"No, he has way more hair on his face than in the picture. I think Mommy likes the hair on his face. She's always touching it."

"Speaking of Mommy, where is she?"

"On a date with Daddy," Michael said quickly with a shrug. He put the paper he had been holding up to the screen down. "HONEY, I NEED MORE PAPER!" He yelled for Tree.

"Who's Honey?"

"My new Grammy. She's way nicer than the old one. She cuddles me, and we watch shows together. She's a really good Grammy."

"Is therapy over?" Tree asked, coming into the kitchen with a stack of white paper for Michael.

"No. I was telling Dr. Humphries about you," Michael announced proudly.

"Oh goodness," Tree replied, stepping into the frame where she could be seen on accident.

"You're Tree, aren't you?" Dr. Humphries asked. Tree looked at Michael's iPad screen, seeing that she had made her way into view. 

"Yes, I am," she answered, smiling at the therapist that Michael had been talking to. 

"Other than the red hair being a giveaway. I can see the kindness in your eyes that Taylor always mentions."

"She talked about me in therapy?" Tree asked, a shocked look on her face. She knew she meant a lot to Taylor, and Taylor called her her "camp mom" from a very early age, but she never thought about the fact that maybe she held a role in her life when she was away from the camp.

"All the time. She always mentioned you and how she wished you and your husband, Lance, I think his name is, were her parents," Dr. Humphries said to the red-headed woman she was speaking to.  "Do you mind if I ask you some questions? About yourself, about what you know about Taylor and her past home life. Just to maybe fill in some gaps." The woman got up from where she was sitting in front of her computer. Tree heard her shuffling around her office, and eventually, she came back with what seemed like a file in her hand. 

"Sure, I don't see the harm in that," Tree told the woman. She picked Michael up and sat in the chair he was sitting in, and sat him on her lap. He went back to drawing on his paper without a fuss. 

"Do you know if either of them has been having nightmares recently? Given that they are in a new place, I would suspect that they are; I just want a bit of confirmation," Dr. Humphries asked, sitting at her desk with her pen in hand. 

"Yes, they have. When was your last bad dream, bud? A couple of nights ago?" Michael nodded. "And Taylor hasn't mentioned having one in the last week, but she did have one her first night of camp, and she had a flashback."

"Was it triggered by a loud noise? Something breaking, perhaps?"

"Now that you mention it, I think it was."

"Babe!" Lance called from another part of the house. 

"Sorry, hold on a second," Tree told the therapist. "In the kitchen with Michael!" She called back to her husband. Lance walked into the kitchen and kissed Tree quickly. 

"I'm heading to the store really quick. Do you need anything?" Lance asked his wife as he ruffled Michael's hair.

"No. Thank you for asking." Tree replied. 

"They're always kissing!" Michael exclaimed, laughing a little, which made Tree, Lance, and Dr. Humphries laugh. "Just like Mommy and Daddy are always kissing!"

"It means you're surrounded by love, Michael. They love each other, and they love you," Dr. Humphries told the seven-year-old. 

"I'll be back in a little bit to get you, bud. Then we can go get the surprise I promised you for the backyard." Michael's face lit up, remembering what Lance told him. 

"Awesome!" Michael said. "We have to hurry up now, Dr. Humphries!" Michael told her.