Fall - A Rocky Lynch Story

Chapter 19

"I hate that you're having to do this alone." Rocky said into the phone.
I opened the door of the doctor's office and brought Mason in, "I'm not alone, honey... I have him. And I'll go get Ellie from your mom's after this." I assured Rocky.
"This is one of the most important things our son could be going through as a child and I'm missing it because of a meeting." He seethed.
"Rocky, it's not your fault. You knew this. With the job comes more responsibility." I sighed and signed Mason into the office. "Mase..." I called to him and asked if he would sit on my lap. He nodded and sat down.
"I have to go," Rocky mumbled, "I'm so sorry."
"Stop apologizing." I told him. "It's going to be okay no matter what. You'll be home around two?"
"Yes. And not a second later." He said eagerly. "I love you."
"I love you." I replied with a smile, "I'll call you the moment we get out."
"Please." He hung up the phone and I sighed.
I knew he wanted to be here more than anything. "Mason?" A small woman called to us and I asked him to stand up. I took his hand and we walked in.
"I'm gonna check your temperature okay?" The nurse asked him. He nodded slowly and walked towards her with his hand tightly on mine.
"Sorry... He's very skiddish." I told her. She led us into a bright room with lots of pictures and colors.
Immediately I could see a change in Mason when we walked in. His eyes darted from place to place and he refused to sit on the table alone. I let him up onto my lap and we waited for the doctor to arrive. She came in with a light knock and a smile and I looked down at my little boy. "Mase... This is Dr. Sampson... Remember her?"
He nodded and she stuck out her hand. "Can I shake your hand?"
"Yes." He replied.
They shook hands and she sat down next to me to explain the series of tests they would be doing on Mason. I was listening to every word she spoke and Mason put his head against my chest. After several tests and lots of tears (from me and from him) the doctor brought us back into the room we had been in before.
This time Mason wouldn't sit still when we reentered the room. He was walking around stroking his hand against the walls and humming to himself. That was out of the ordinary.
"In order to get genuine reactions out of him we had to see how he acted in these environments." She concluded, "He was a recluse when we first had him in here." She pointed to Mason, "But when we ran tests and brought him back he was over stimulated to the point where he's observing everything." She told me, "Do you understand?"
"Not really..." I made a face, "Masey, come here." I asked him. He stood next to me and I waited for the doctor to ask him a question.
"Mason, does it hurt when someone surprises you?" She asked.
"Yeah, when mommy woke me up," He told the doctor. She looked up at me and I explained to her what had happened.
"What about when there are loud noises?" She questioned, "Does that hurt?"
"My ears," He replied and plugged them, "The Movies. The TV." He said to us.
"That's what hurts?" She asked.
"Mhm." He nodded.
He sat down on the floor and read the letters of the alphabet from the carpeted floor. "Mrs. Lynch, has your son always been able to recognize letters and numbers?"
"For a while..." I shrugged, "But we taught him early, so we figured."
"Do the other kids in his class know them as well as he does?" She asked.
"No..." I put two and two together, "Is that a symptom of something?"
"We really don't like to say symptom. It's not a disease." She assured me, "It's a mental disability, but it doesn't mean his life will be all too different from your other children."
"What is it?" I asked her impatiently.
"It is a very high functioning form of autism..." She replied slowly.
I closed my eyes, "Oh..." I took a deep breath and held back tears, "This isn't necessarily a bad thing." I said aloud.
"No it's not." She told me.
"What do we need to be doing?" I asked her.
"Well, first of all... The therapy is a great thing and if it's being done correctly, which I believe it is, then you should be good with his behavior." She told me, "Things that would help... Take the toys out of his room. The plainer you make it, the more calming it will be." She continued, "Keep the TV at a lower volume, listen to him if he's having a hard time, and try to keep a relatively calm household."
"We have four kids and my husband is 1 of five." I told her, "We always have nieces and nephews running around our house."
"Then he's used to a larger amount of chaos?" She questioned.
"I guess he is, yeah," I shrugged.
"So he should continue to do okay with those types of situations. If he's used to it, he'll be okay. You'll just run into problems when it comes to surprises or new situations. He's kind of like a t-o-d-d-l-e-r in a way," she spelled, "And that means you'll need to tell him ahead of time when things are going to happen so he can know."
"Well we have a toddler at home so we already know what that's like." I kind of smiled at looked down at Mason.
"I'll recommend some books for you to read and things you and your husband can do to..." She thought for a moment, "Help him I guess."
"Okay." I smiled softly, "Thank you."
"It's my pleasure. Nice to see you again Mason." She told him and waved good bye.
I walked out with him quietly and went through the drive through to get him his favorite treat, a chocolate milkshake, just like his dad.
We made it home and I noticed Rocky's car was sitting in the driveway. I got Ellie out of her car and brought the two kids inside. "Hi babe..." I smiled at him, "I need to put Ellie down for her nap, but let's talk please?"
He appeared through the doorway and gave me a hug an a quick kiss. "Mase are you tired?" He asked me.
"Yeah," He sighed, "Can I take a nap-nap?"
"Of course buddy." I told him, "Why don't we all go upstairs?"
Each of the kids went down quietly and easily. Rocky took my hand and he led me into our bedroom. "What happened?" He questioned.
I broke. I cried. "He's got a high level honey..." Rocky rubbed my back after I explained it all to him. "So we move his room around this weekend. We get the playroom in order. We get rid of some toys our kids surely don't need. We change his diet a bit." He brought me close to his chest and kissed me, "We will be fine... What has you so worked up?"
"I'm supposed to be working on this wedding and this stuff is happening and Rydel had the baby early so we had three less weeks than i thought we would and Mason and Carter has a girlfriend and Avelyn's attitude is just out of this world and..." I rambled.
"And you feel like you need to catch it all." He hushed me.
"Why does it seem like we keep doing this?" I questioned, "Why do I keep doing this?"
"I wish I knew." Rocky kissed my head, "But again. Let go baby." He put his hands on my back and rubbed up and down. I felt my muscles relax underneath him and I sighed as my head fell onto his shoulder. He massaged gently into my shoulder blades and I yawned contently.
"How long until I go get the kids?" He asked.
"I can go..." I nodded and he encouraged me to lay down next to him. I curled into his chest and he continued to run his hands comfortingly along my back.
"How long?" He asked again.
"About 4 hours..." I told him.
"So plenty of time for this..." He sighed and kissed the top of my head, "Just sleep babe."
"I don't need to sleep." I told him, "I just need to be near you."
"I should have skipped that meeting and been with you today." He concluded, "That wasn't fair to send you alone."
"It's okay." I sighed, "I'm a big girl, I should be able to do these things."
"But you didn't have to and you did." He said again.
"Mhm..." I relaxed and felt my body fall slightly.
"Sleep Juliette..." He whispered and I nodded back to him.
The last thing I saw was the rose tattooed on his arm. The last thing I smelled was his cologne.  The last thing I heard was his voice. "I love you."