Perfect Match

chapter 19-Rae

Rae

"Mom I don't wanna go." I said gripping her hand as we walked into the quiet office and stood at the counter waiting for the lady to get off the telephone to talk to us "I want to go home and play with Daisy."

"I know you do baby" she said with a smile kneeling in front of me "but this is really important and I think it's going to help you sort out all of your feelings."

"But I can just talk to you," I said with a shrug.

"You are absolutely right" she said poking my nose and making me smile "you can talk to me about anything. But I think there are some things that you don't want to talk to me about, and that's okay. This is a chance for you to talk to someone about those things."

"I don't know Mom," I said, shaking my head.

"Did you know that I used to go to a place like this?" she asked after a second.

"You did?" I asked with big eyes.

"I did" she said with a smile "I was really struggling with my thoughts in here" she said pointing to my head "and my feelings in here" she said pointing to my heart. "and I hurt all over because of it, and I think you know what that's like." she said nodding her head with me "It really helped me to talk to someone about how I was feeling. It doesn't have to be forever baby, but I really want you to give this a chance okay? Do you think you can do that for me?"

"I guess." I said with a sigh.

"That's my girl." she said kissing my forehead before standing up and telling the girl at the counter my name. Even though I knew she couldn't come back I was super disappointed when they called my name and Mom stayed in the waiting room.

I nervously sat at a desk with another lady as she smiled at me and pushed a sheet of paper, a coloring book, and a box of crayons at me "Hi Raelynn" she said with a smile "my name is Dr. Smith or Sarah if you prefer." I just glared at her as she crossed her legs and opened the box as she pulled out a second coloring book "Your Mom told me that you liked to color so I was hoping that maybe we could color a few pictures today, what do you think?" I watched her as she flipped through the book and eventually settled on a picture. "I heard you got a new dog" she said "what was her name sunflower, rose, no it was lily."

"Daisy" I said rolling my eyes.

"Ah yes Daisy." she said "what kind of dog is Daisy?"

"I don't know," I said after a second as I grabbed the coloring book. "The paper work says she's a mutt, but Mom says she's probably a mix between a Border Collie and a Lab. I know what you're doing." I said looking at her with squinted eyes.

"What am I doing?" she asks with a smile.

"Using my dog to make me talk." I said "luckily for you, I want to talk about my dog." I said making her chuckle.

"I guess I am lucky" she said with a smile "what do you and Daisy like to do."

"Everything" I said with a smile "She's my best fr-" I stopped what I was about to say and turned back to my coloring book scribbling harder on my page trying not to think about the words I almost said.

"What was that Riley?" she asked as she continued to color her picture.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said with a frown

"That's okay." she said "Why don't you tell me what you and Daisey did yesterday."

"I'm trying to teach her tricks" I said after a second "Buddy knows all sorts of tricks and when Max finally meets Daisy I want her to be smart too."

"Who is Max and Buddy?" she asked

"Max is my best friend and Buddy is Max's dog." I said, setting down my crayon, "I haven't seen Max much since I've been big though" I said with a frown.

"Well that's no fun" she said "why not"

"Do you have a dog?" I ignored her question by changing the subject.

"I don't have a dog" she said with a smile "but I do have a cat, his name is Simba."

"Like the Lion King?" I asked "does he look like a lion?" I asked with a smile.

"Nope" she said walking to a desk and showing me a picture of a black cat "this is Simba."

"He's not a Lion" I said laughing "you should have named him Bagheera."

"You are not the first person to tell me that." she said with a chuckle. The rest of our appointment went like this until she looked at the clock with a smile "our time is just about up for the day."

"I'm going home now?" I asked with a big smile."

"Don't look too excited." she said with a chuckle as she stood up and walked to the door "I'm gonna call your mom back to talk to her real quick so why don't you keep coloring okay?" she asked, stepping out as I nodded my head.

"Hey sweet girl" Mom said smiling at me as she walked into the room and waved at her with a grin "How did it go?" She quietly asked turning to Dr. Smith.

"It went perfect" she said with a smile "Don't expect much out of the first few appointments, we basically talked about Daisy for an hour." she said with a smile.

"so not much progress." Mom said in confusion.

"Kids are different than adults, I have to gain her trust before we even broach surface level trauma." Dr. Smith said "Children are resilient, but any child that has gone through trauma has difficulty trusting. We will get there."

"Trust the process." she said with a smile "Thanks Dr. Smith." She said, turning to me with a smile, "Let's go sweet one." she said holding her hand out for me to take.

"I'm sorry I didn't do better Mom." I said as we walked out to the car "I'll try harder next time."

"No sweetheart" she said as we got to the car "you did perfect, and I am so proud of you."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." she said "I even have a surprise for you when we get back to the house." she said helping me buckle in the backseat before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

"What is it?" I asked

"Wait until we get home." she said.

"But I want to know now" I whined.

"Nope." she said with a smile.

"But-"

"No" she said with a laugh.

"Fine." I huffed with a smile waiting in the back seat until we pulled up to the house. I unbuckled in surprise when the front door opened and looked at my smiling mom before I opened the door and ran out to meet our guest "Mama!"