Adam sat nervously in the waiting room, his leg bouncing up and down, Kim couldn't take it anymore, her hand landing on his thigh.
"Can you stop...please? You're making the entire row of seats wiggle" she mumbled, she couldn't deny the fact that she was suddenly nervous.
Why exactly she wasn't sure, if Nicky did have ADHD it wasn't that big of a deal. She just hated the fact that he'd have a 'label', her mother tried to convince her that it didn't matter, Nicholas was still Nicholas that wouldn't change.
He was still the sweet, fun loving, athletic little boy she knew and loved, nothing would change that. It made perfect sense when she spoke those words, but they didn't make sense to her heart.
She never wanted to see him struggle, and it was exactly what he was doing. He was only in the second grade and he hated school. School was supposed to be fun at that age but he hated it, even started pretending to be sick to get out of it.
Kim had finally been able to get him to admit to having a problem at school. He had told her it was hard to pay attention to the teacher, that he couldn't pay attention. That he'd miss what the directions were and because he didn't know what to do and didn't want to 'look stupid', he'd make a joke or do something to get the entire class off task.
It didn't bother him that he got in trouble, it was better than the entire class thinking he was stupid.
Adam groaned, "I can't sit still..." He hunched over in his seat, "I hate waiting..you know that" he exhaled.
"It's going to be fine Adam..no matter what" she rubbed his back, she knew he felt guilty over all of this as irrational as it was, she tried to convince him otherwise but he wouldn't listen.
"He's a smart kid Kim" he announced, he could remember his own teachers questioning his intelligence during his school years. It was starting to feel like a noose around his neck, as a kid thought it was why his mother left him.
"His intelligence isn't it doubt Adam, he's a bright boy" Kim hated seeing Adam like this, she never thought of him as insecure and it was exactly how he looked at this very moment.
Finally the nurse called them back, she sat them in the doctors office, "He'll be right with you" she said as she pulled the door closed.
The wait wasn't long and the doctor joined them, "Sorry guys" he smiled warmly, Kim loved him. He reminded her of her late father, he refused to have patients call him doctor, he felt it was too formal.
"Hi Saul" Kim smiled as she reached for Adam's hand.
"How's my boy doing? Did he win that game last week?" Saul asked shifting in the chair, "I know he was excited about pitching"
Adam felt at ease speaking about his son's athletic abilities, "He did. They won, he was fantastic" he beamed Adam was proud of his son.
"Good..good" Saul responded as he pulled Nicky's file from the desk drawer, "Guess we should get to it..right?"
Kim and Adam both nodded.
"As suspected, Nick does indeed have ADHD" he scanned the reports, the specialist had sent over, "they did a battery of tests and assessments, Nicholas is an extremely bright boy and I think a large part of the problem is he's bored"
Adam exhaled, he wasn't sure why. He didn't need a doctor to validate his son's worth. He knew that kid was his most prized possession, he was his world. It was just nice to hear someone else say those things.
"What do you suggest?" Kim asked.
"I'd like to start him on a low dose of concerta and see how he responds.."
Adam rose from his chair.
"Absolutely not. My son isn't going on some pill" he huffed, his hands waving around frantically, no way in hell would he allow it.
Kim was shocked by his sudden outburst, it was obvious the doctor was as well.
"Go home and discuss it, I really think it will benefit him" he told them sliding the prescription across his desk to Kim, she took it from him.
Her eyes left Adam who already had his hand on the doorknob and went to the doctor briefly, "Thank you" she said softly, cutting her eyes at her husband.
She was angry and embarrassed and thankful Nicholas was spending the night with their parents.
Adam stormed out of the office he knew he was in deep shit but he wasn't gonna medicate his son. He'd seen what these pills did to people and he wouldn't allow his son to be put on them.
"Adam!" She yelled across the parking lot and he stopped in his tracks and looked skyward, he was foolish to think she'd be able to bite her tongue until they got home.
He placed his hands on his hips, "What?" He growled.
"That was ridiculous..whatever that was" she said through her clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice low.
He shook his head in disgust, "We're not doing this here." He told her as he opened her car door, he waited for her to get in.
"I'll walk" She told him, she didn't want to occupy the same space with him at the moment, he'd embarrassed the shit out of her with his little display.
Adam laughed at her, though it wasn't funny, "No you won't. I will" he tossed the keys on the passenger seat and stormed off.
She finally let the tears slip from her eyes as she watched him walk off, the sun was just beginning to set. She'd had high hopes for the evening, even had gone to Victoria's Secret and bought a negligee for their rare night without Nicholas and neither one having to work the next day.
He was pleased when Kevin agreed to meet him at Molly's he needed to get out of his head and he knew Kevin was just the drinking buddy he needed. He could live vicariously through his single childless friend.
Kevin was already at the bar with Jay, both having just downed a celebratory shot.
"What're we celebrating?" Adam asked as he requested his own shot, quickly downing it and clearing his throat after the liquid had slid down into his belly.
"Super Sperm!" Kevin laughed pointing at Jay.
Jay blushed, "it's not super Kev...it's just effective" he stated matter of factly obviously proud of his latest creation.
"Lucky you" Adam huffed, that was the last thing he'd wanted to hear. It was certainly the last thing he wanted to tell his wife, he knew she'd feel that all too familiar pang of jealousy which would quickly be replaced by guilt.
"Ruzek? You alright?" Jay asked.
Adam quickly downed another shot, "Will be in a little bit" his response gruff as he downed the second shot.
He could hardly walk, he leaned on Kevin who helped him up the steps, unlocking the door for him.
"You good?" Kevin asked as Adam steadied himself in the entryway of his house, he couldn't think straight and it took all he had to stay upright.
"Fine" he mumbled, unsure of how he'd get to his bedroom, after locking the door he decided to crash on the couch.
Kim woke up with a jolt, she reached out for Adam only to find his side of the bed empty, it was after four in the morning and she was concerned.
Relief filled her when she found him passed out on the couch, she pulled a blanket from the closet and covered him.
--NOTE--
Things'll start picking up soon, I hope you've read 'Is Love Enough', since some of the stuff coming up won't make much sense if you haven't read it.
