Temptation

Mac and Cheese

"Do you think she's okay with this?" Cassie asked as her Ben waited for Ellie to finish up her session with Ben's psychologist friend, Doctor Bailey. He nodded as he told her, "I think she will be. Once she realizes she can discuss anything with him and that he'll actually help her, it'll be fine."

Sighing, Cassie looked to Turner who was happily playing with his cars on the floor. "What if I gave this to her?" She asked. Ben looked at her from the magazine he was reading. "You didn't," he told her. "This is just something she was born with. It could be from either of our sides. Unfortunately, that's just genetics."

He went back to reading, but was interrupted when she asked, "What if I give them my anxiety? Or depression? What if I give them the alcoholic gene? I can't live with myself if that happens, Ben." Ben set down the magazine and scooted over until she was wrapped up in his arms. 

"If any of that happens," he told her, "then we will deal with it. Besides, you are the one who would be able to guide them through it, right? All I could offer would be words of encouragement, but you would offer so much more. Now, that's only if it happens, however, I promise you that it won't."

He pressed a kiss to her cheek, but then felt Turner tugging at his pants. He seems to have gotten bored with his cars. "Come here, you," Ben said as he picked up his son. "Tell mummy how much you love her."

Turner turned to his mom and gave her a wide smile as he said, "I wuv'ou big, mama!" Cassie laughed as she told him, "I love you big, too, sweetie. Come here." She took him from Ben and brought him in for a cuddle. Ever since Turner was born, he loved cuddling with her. She can only hope it stays that way. 

After a few minutes of Ben admiring his wife and son, the door to Doctor Bailey's office opened and Ellie came walking out. She had a small smile on her face, which Ben assumed meant this idea seemed to work. 

Doctor Bailey came out a moment later and asked, "Ben, may I have a word with you and your wife?" Cassie set Turner on the couch and Ellie made sure to take on her older sister duties by sticking by him.

Once Cassie and Ben were in the office, Doctor Bailey had them sit. "Usually, I don't diagnose patients within the first session," he started. "I typically like to see where things go, if their behavior is repetitive, or if their personalities change. With Ella, however, I have come to a diagnosis already. As a matter of fact, I came to it just twenty minutes in."

Cassie took Ben's hand and squeezed it. He continued, "I know you said you believed your daughter has Tourettes, which is a fine assumption, only there are little things that tell me that is not the case. Do you see these?"

He pushed over some papers that looked almost like homework. There were math problems on one, patterns on an other and questions with answers on the last. Ben and Cassie looked them over as Doctor Bailey explained, "Those are just some exercises I had her do. If I expect a child has developmental problems, I have them fill these out. Ella is...she is incredibly smart. Her attention to detail is almost alarming."

"She did this?" Ben asked. "These are problems that are above her grade." Doctor Bailey nodded and told him, "I know. That is one of the reasons I was able to diagnose her so quickly. Ben, Cassie...there is no easy way to say this, but I strongly believe that Ella has Aspergers. It's clear that she is smart beyond her years, which is common with this type of autism, but she also cannot function correctly when it comes to social skills. From what she's told me and from what I've gathered, she doesn't have a sense of other people's emotions. She also seems to have anxiety and a bit of depression."

Cassie closed her eyes and tried her best not to cry. This was all her fault. 

"What do we do?" Ben asked. Doctor Bailey stood up and started to pace as he said, "I've taken the liberty of prescribing her medication. They will help with the anxiety and depression. I will also be providing you with a medical bracelet that states her condition, should she get in trouble at school or in public. You need to send her to behavioral therapy and communication training. I can give you a referral to the best doctor I know for this and he will be the one you go to if you need refills on the prescriptions, or need higher doses."