Heal My Heart

F o u r t e e n : S c o t t

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I called the learning specialists home phone number.

He agreed to see Puppy the next day due to circumstances of our missing the last appointment. I went out, checking all the horses. They were all healthy and in good shape.

Kyle had done his job well, running it like I would have. It made me even more confident in my decision. I went back inside, feeling good about the conversation Puppy and I had.

Hopefully after this appointment Puppy could shed more of his quirks and begin to act more appropriately for his age. I wanted our relationship to move forward. For us to finally have sex.

But I couldn't do that with someone who had the mind of a child.

And I knew Puppy was smart--he could do anything if he really put his mind to it. I knocked on the door and let myself into Puppy's room. He was holding his stuffed animal to his chest. He looked at me. "They used to call me Charlie. Be-before they called me Puppy. Maybe you can call me Charlie instead of Puppy so we can get a-a puppy?"

"Charlie. You're a Charlie." I stepped forward, taking his face between my hand, lifting his chin. I leaned down, kissing his mouth. "It's a pleasure to meet you Charlie."

He giggled. "I'm still me--you call me Charlie now!"

I smiled and kissed him gently. "I love you Charlie."

"I love you. But we can get a puppy and a kitten now right? Cos we can't get a baby?"

"Uh you can get a puppy or a kitten. They're a big responsibility Pu--Charlie." I'd have to get used that now. "I don't have time to take care of it so it's all up to you."

"Uhm were do I get it?" He asked.

"You have an appointment tomorrow afternoon. Afterward we'll swing by the shelter and see what they've got."

He smiled excitedly. "I can't wait!"

"Good." I smoothed his hair. "You need to get ready for bed."

"I missed my bed." He told me. "I-I can have Milo right?"

I crouched down to his level. "Well...do you really need Milo? Maybe we can put you stuffed animals in the closet for now?"

His eyes went wide. "Please don't take them away Scott. They're my friends!"

I bit my lip. I didn't want to push too far and hurt him. But I knew he needed a push to really grow up. But... I shook my head. "Alright. How about we put one away."

He gave me a distressed look. "But I love them all equally."

"That's alright. Just pick one."

He turned to looked at the twenty-plus stuffed animals, hesitantly pulling out a stuffed elephant. "I guess Franklin. But I'll really miss him."

"He'll still be here," I assured him, taking the stuffed animal, stowing it away.

"Can-can I go to your room tonight?"

He approached me, placing his palm against my crotch. As usual I conflicted. I felt like I was taking advantage of someone who didn't understand. But he often made the first move.

"I'd love to."

He smiled, taking my hand, putting it against his own erection. I smiled. "But I have things to do right now. Tomorrow night, perhaps?"

"But-but I want to..." He gestured to his erection with a blush.

"You can do that by yourself too."

He stared at me. "What do you mean? That's naughty and-and against the rules."

I rose my brow. "Against whose rules?"

Pu-Charlie blushed. "Sir's."

"Well I'm not Sir. Masturbation is a healthy habit as long as you know there's a time and place."

"Like-like in your bed?"

"Or your bed." I agreed. "Why don't you do that, hm? Then go to bed."

He looked down in shame. "I-I can't."

"It's no different than what we do."

He just sighed heavily. "I don't know."

"Well do whatever you're comfortable with but it's almost ten. Good night." I smiled and leaned down, kissing his forehead. "I love you."

"Love you..."

I closed the door behind me and went to my office. I answered emails and reconciled my expense book and check book. Ten thousand dollars. I felt good about the investment I'd made. And knowing I could improve their way of life a bit was even better.

They deserved to have a child.

It was obvious that financial burdens had strained their relationship and I hoped the extra income would make things easier on them. I was looking forward to seeing their lives progress.

***

I sat across from Richard Deckers.

I'd been in the waiting room for about three hours, anxiously waiting to see what, if anything, was wrong with Puppy--Charlie. "You've got a lovely sub Mr. King. Polite and kind."

"Call me Scott. And thank you."

The gray haired man smiled, picking up a folder. "I had five different specialists go in and test and retest him. I am confident in our diagnosis."

For some reason the anticipation was stressful. I wanted--no, needed to understand.

"So?"

"So he presented with dyslexia early on. It was one of the easier things to see. You mentioned him writing letters backwards--that's a trademark of the disorder."

"So can he learn the alphabet?"

"Of course he can. However you're not qualified to teach it to him. He needs help from a tutor who specializes in this--we have some here. I'll give you their information at the end. He also has an Auditory Processing Disorder or as he puts it 'listening slow'. That's not something that can fixed but there are tips and ways you can use help him. Showing, rather than explaining; reword complicated directions; give one instruction at a time; allow between 5-20 seconds of 'think time' before trying to reword it; use more intact senses to get things across, sight for example but the fact he can't read makes that point unhelpful right now; Oh! Vary your pitch, tone, and pace and really draw out or stress key words."

I took a moment to process it all. "I feel like I should be taking notes." I replied, awkwardly.

He smiled. "It's all outlined in here. I also saw him presenting symptoms of dyspraxia but those tests were inconclusive. His trouble with eating utensils can be drawn back to a fine motor skill disorder but we don't have enough to really diagnose him. However is clearly has what we call a slow processing speed."

"What is that?"

"You mentioned asking him to do something and it can take a while for him to actually get it done. It's not that he's not able to understand, it's just that he needs time to really process the directions and make a plan of what to do. Patience goes a very long way with this disorder." He explained. "I'm aware that this is a lot."

"So...he's not..."

"He's very intelligent Scott. His academic understand is very basic and I suggest he meets with a tutor as soon as possible. Other than that, learning to live with these disorders is really all you can do. Do you have any other questions?"

"No. Thank you. Actually--does he know about what...what he has?"

"Most of the Doms we've worked with like to tell them their-self but we can if you'd like?"

"No... No. I'll deal with it."

"Alright."

Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorder, possible dyspraxia, poor fine motor skills, and slow processing.

What a great mix.

QOTC: What do you think???!!!