Chapter 14: Understanding
Frank hadn't been surprised when Gwen darted out of his arms and up the stairs. He'd seen the kids like this often enough. Ben probably needed some calming down. He'd immediately saw that Nat had slowed the pace on dinner in the kitchen. She'd noticed it too. Moving to the kitchen, he hugged her from behind, placing a kiss on her neck, feeling her curl into the touch and, with the kids out of the room, lean fully against him.
"What's this, a sudden onset of romance?" She quipped, even as she raised a hand to paw at his jaw.
He smiled against her skin, grabbing the raised hand and bringing it to his lips, delighted to feel a shudder run through her. "With the kids being so adorable, I just feel inspired."
His wife rolled her eyes. "This again… Gwen can do better, Frank. And she knows it."
He hummed, but didn't argue, moving instead to sit at the kitchen table as Nat continued with dinner. There was plenty to read lying about on the table, but all he was interested in was watching his wife move. Even after over twenty years together, the way she moved still threw him.
They spend half an hour like that, waiting for the kids, which was again nothing new; these things could run their course in minutes, but the fallout left them broken up for quite a bit longer. And it always left them broken up.
So it hadn't surprised him either that the kids came back downstairs and into the kitchen looking like they'd had three tequilas and an ass whooping.
He wished he could be surprised that they were holding hands. He gave Natalie a pointed look but she ignored it.
The kids didn't seem to pay him much attention either, instead turning as one to where Natalie was leaning against the counter, next to the oven where the lasagna was warming.
Gwen made to speak, lips working soundlessly for a long moment, eyes red-rimmed and shoulders hunched, but Ben cut her off, stepping forward. "Can Gwen come with me?"
Frank smiled, hiding the expression behind his fist, masking his laugh as a cough. Sure, it was phrased as a question, but it really wasn't one if the determined look in the boy's eyes was anything to go by. He let his eyes slip to his beautiful wife, wondering how she would handle this. He knew she wasn't overly fond of their interdependence either, but how to tell them no? Especially when it was clear that not indulging it would not end well. The indentations on Ben's wrist spoke volumes of the near miss they'd had.
Natalie shot him a look, very aware of the smile he was hiding, before she quirked a sardonic brow at the children. Ben flinched, but he didn't back down, even as Gwen all but wilted behind him. The woman clucked her tongue. "Do you really need her around, or do you just want to?" She asked critically. Ben was unfazed.
"Both." He said, simply. "It's the same thing at this point." And… wow. That was a pretty loaded statement, and all possible interpretations of it were mind boggling. Gwen seemed to be aware of that too, as she shot the small boy a surprised look; a surprised look that also very tender.
He knew that look. It was the look of someone who knew the words were true, but was still pleasantly surprised to have them actually spoken out loud. Natalie still looked at him like that every time he told her that he loved her. She knew he did, every bit of her inside and out, but she still enjoyed hearing it.
Natalie was silent for a moment, shooting him a glance. He shrugged. They're asking you, beautiful. Nat snorted and he fought the urge to grin.
"Seeing as tomorrow is Sunday, you can stay another night. Less of a hassle than Gwen going with you." She conceded. Before the kids could so much as grin, she continued. "But, you have to do something for me in return, little freeloader."
She knelt down so she was at eye level with the two children, who looked back at her with varying degrees of apprehension. "Tomorrow, we're going to have a talk." She told them, sternly. "I'm going to teach you how to deal with this," she poked a finger in Ben's chest, over his heart. "and you go back to your parents afterwards. They miss you too, you know. Deal?"
Ben looked like he was going to protest, but changed his tune when Gwen, very subtly, squeezed his hand. The boy shot her a look, before sighing. "Alright." Gwen gave him another squeeze and Ben sheepishly added "Thanks, aunt Nat."
Nat pinched the boy's cheek, to his dismay and Gwen's delight. She stood, giving the kids a crooked smile. "I guess you won't want to stay in the guest room, considering..." Considering the boy had clearly just had an attack there. Frank finished mentally. Natalie sighed. "I guess you two will have to share, than. Or Ben has to sleep on the floor."
"Floor it is."
"But Gwen!" The boy whined, putting on a puppy eyed look that made Frank wince sympathetically. That would've worked on him, alright.
But Gwen had always had more of her mother in her. She merely quirked an eyebrow. "Suck it up, doofus."
Natalie interrupted their bickering. "Alright alright, save the dramatics for the theater and go get those faces cleaned up before dinner is ready. You look so ragged that it makes me want to cry."
"Actually, that's a perfectly natural response to seeing Ben, mom-"
"I'm giving you a two seconds head start, dweeb."
Gwen grinned before racing up the stairs, Ben hot on her heels, yelling threats. Natalie shook her head, standing. Frank grinned at her. "You're starting to like him." He accused.
Nat scoffed. "I tolerate him." He quirked a disbelieving brow at her and she caved a few seconds later. He could say with pride that he was the only man on the planet who could make Natalie Tennyson cave on anything. Though he might have competition from Ben these days. "Fine. I like him, insufferable cheeky little brat that he is. And he's good for Gwen."
Frank quirked his other brow as well and she held up a warning finger. "Good for her recovery. Not like that. It's. Just. A. Phase. If it's anything at all and you're not just imagining things."
"So that's why you're dropping them in the same bed?" He asked, skeptically. Much as he respected his wife's opinion on most anything, she'd never been very astute in matters of the heart.
"Exactly." She asserted, sauntering over. He gulped. "Because I'm confident it won't matter. You're reading too much into this because you favorite soap got canceled and the romance serial you're reading isn't due another novel for two months."
"Ouch." Not untrue, though. "And here I thought you liked my romantic side."
"Oh, I love it." Natalie leaned over him. "So why don't you stop worrying about some little, probably imagined, crush between two kids just looking for comfort, and give your wife some attention?"
He grinned, standing up to go for a kiss. He didn't agree with her; much as him and Carl had grown up to be different people, they'd been much alike when they were children. He saw a lot of himself in little Ben, and even more of Natalie in Gwen. He could tell, at least as far as Ben was concerned, that there was something there that went well beyond a little crush.
Gwen was harder to read, but he knew she'd been surreptitiously stealing his romance novels for years. There was more of him in her than Natalie was aware of, and if Frank knew anything about his little girl, its that she was a sucker for a good romance under all that sharp intelligence.
And that had always been a Tennyson forte.
Overall, Natalie thought, Ben was a way more positive influence on Gwen than she'd ever given the boy credit for. Sure, he was loud, crass and distracting in a million different ways, but these days, he also kept her daughter stable. That counted for a lot in Natalie's books.
That the boy also oozed that Tennyson charm that had always made her like her husband's side of the family (despite her parents' misgivings) didn't hurt. She'd always been hard on Sandra and Carl for raising such a rascal, for letting him have his way so often, but she had to admit that it was hard to tell the brat 'no.'
But he'd grown some on the summer trip, that much was obvious. He was calmer than he used to be, and had less trouble focusing. It made him mesh much better with Gwen than he had in the past, even if she still thought Frank was overthinking it when he suspected there was something more going on. Because really, the two had spent a decade hating each other. Their friendship was unlikely already, but romance? Quite unthinkable, even if there was a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that stranger things had happened.
That voice sounded like Frank and she ignored it. Ben was better than she'd expected of him, but still. There were times like today, when she was pretty sure that every bit of silliness that Gwen had in her was pulled to the surface by the boy. Because, honestly now-
"You're going down, brainiac. Years of gaming have trained this thumb to awesomeness."
"Years of gaming didn't save you from getting your butt handed to you at Sumo Slammer, and it won't save you now!"
-a thumb war? For real?
Behind her, Frank stifled a bout of snickers. "Have fun, honey." He choked out before walking away, leaving the living room occupied by only her and the children. She sighed, approaching the couch. The kids hadn't noticed her; they would often get completely engrossed in whatever they were doing, while at other times being so hyper aware of their surroundings that they were jumpy.
The first usually meant they were relaxed, the latter that a panic attack was imminent or had just happened.
Taking a seat on the other side of the low table between their couch and hers, she leaned back, putting down her notebook. Leaning back, she observed for a moment longer, quirking a surprised eyebrow when Ben leaned way into Gwen's personal space to blow in her ear.
A shudder ran through Gwen and she whined. "Ben! That's cheating!"
Ben cheered. "That's victory! Ha!" With a sound of triumph, he pinned Gwen's thumb down.
"No fair! I should get full points for that just because you cheated." Gwen grumbled, glaring darkly at the boy, who immediately poked his tongue out at her.
"No way. I pinned the thumb, I win. Them's da rulez."
Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's like talking to a brick wall..."
Natalie had to concur. She cleared her throat and both their heads snapped up in surprise.
"Oh, hi mom." Gwen grinned, sheepishly. Ben immediately stiffened, seeming to try to hide in the plush couch pillows.
"Uhm, hey aunt Nat." Natalie wanted to smirk. She liked that Ben was warming up to her, but it was heartening that she could still get him in line.
"If you two are quite done, I think we should begin." The two children nodded, suddenly serious. That was not a new trait for Gwen, but coming from Ben it was a pleasant surprise whenever it reared its head. She guessed Max hadn't spoiled them that much, after all. "I want you to keep in mind that this isn't a therapy session per se. We're mostly going to focus on practical things for when we do start the sessions." At their affirming nods, she raised a finger.
"First off, during our actual sessions, I'll be your therapist first, your family second." She had a feeling that would be easier for Gwen than for Ben, ironically, as her daughter and her had plenty of experience being cool toward each other. They had grown closer lately, but that was hardly enough to overcome years of being used distant. She'd never regretted that; it was the way her parents had done it. Well, hadn't regretted it until recently. "That means that you can tell me anything, anything, and I will not let it let it affect how I treat you. I will not tell anyone, safe Max, as you've told me I could. If that changes, let me know."
She leaned forward, looking at the kids intently. "I need you to understand this. It is unconventional to receive treatment from someone who is related to you in the way that I am, and it can only work if we all agree that there is a clear line where family ends and therapy begins. Can you do that?" Natalie knew she was asking a lot there. Not just in terms of the mental gymnastics required, but because of the trust she was asking of them. The things that these sessions could drag to the surface could be quite jarring, she knew from experience, and to share them with a family member, a mother even in Gwen's case, had to be wrecking... because what if?
What if Natalie didn't hold true to her word? What if she did treat them differently? What if they couldn't keep it straight? What if it affected what they felt comfortable talking about? What if it affected what she was comfortable asking about?
"That's fine." Gwen remarked with an almost flippant air. She'd clearly already considered this and made up her mind about it. Natalie smiled at the certainty. Gwen had always been as coolly observant as Natalie had been, but whereas Natalie only felt confident making a move when she knew she could make it work, her daughter had always been better at taking leaps of faith.
Ben on the other hand, looked troubled, as it seemed all the issues with this set-up were just sinking in. And they had never quite gotten along, and a patient really needed to feel comfortable around their therapist…
She smiled her warmest smile at the boy, and he returned it hesitantly. "And you, little man?" She asked, banking on their recent familiarity. It was a long shot, and perhaps one she shouldn't rely on at all, because hadn't they just established that there needed to be a line between where family ended and this began?
But, Natalie considered, some patients needed a more involved treatment. Natalie had often passed those cases along to coworkers in the past. Now, she couldn't. And perhaps she wouldn't need to. Gwen elbowed the small boy.
"Don't worry, doofus. Mom always keep her promises." The small redhead asserted, and Nat would be lying if she said the faith wasn't heartening. "Trust me on this one."
Ben was silent for a moment longer before he closed his eyes, inhaled a deep breath and exhaled a second later. When he opened his eyes again, they were determined. "Alright." He looked Natalie in the eye. "Yes, I can do that Mrs. Tennyson." He replied politely. She gave the boy a thumbs up and he relaxed slightly, grinning at her. Gwen rolled her eyes, but Nat could see the pride in them. She couldn't blame the girl.
The juxtaposition of Ben seeming to need a need a more involved treatment but him trying to follow Gwen's lead in being more distant was one she could resolve in later sessions. They'd figure out which worked best for him down the line.
"The second thing," Natalie started, bringing the conversation back on track. "Is that while I'm providing the treatment, you are taking the lead. You tell what you feel ready to tell, and if that's nothing, then that's fine. But I will ask. I will push you. You can walk away anytime you want, though."
Ben stood from the couch and made as if to leave before Gwen snatched the back of his shirt. The boy grinned sheepishly at the small redhead before sitting down. "Sorry. Had to do it."
Natalie let it slide; she wasn't here to parent him, that wasn't her role right now. But she made a mental note to ask after that humor in a session with just Ben sometime. She was starting to think that that joking disposition was a shield more than anything. "For this conversation, though, I want to talk to you about something you have in common, hence why you are both here for this one." She let that hang in the air for a second, gauging their reaction. They tensed, but didn't back out. Good. "Your feelings of panic." She finished.
Strangely, this seemed to relax them more than anything. Then again, they'd been sitting on this for so long now, having it out in the open could only be relief. "I'm going to tell you about how a panic attack usually works, so you can get a handle on it and use that as a base to learn to fight them." She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and found it amusing how both kids slid off the couch to sit on the floor at the low table between them for a closer look.
She wrote 'bodily sensation' on the paper, angling it so they could read it as well. "Usually, a panic attack has five steps, which cause the attack to become self sustaining. The first is a bodily sensation that gets it going. As far as I cal tell, that's an accelerated heart rate for the both of you."
Ben morosely grabbed his shirt, right over his heart, averting his gaze to the floor. Gwen, though, furrowed her brow, looking down at the paper. Natalie quirked an eyebrow. "Unless there's more…?" She left the question hanging, and Gwen looked up to her, all business. She used to think that that was a sign of Gwen's maturity, and in a way it was, but Ben had told her a few days ago that Gwen did it to hide her feelings.
As a psychologist, she really should've picked up on that faster. Guess the old adage 'you only see what you want to see' held true for her as much as anyone.
"Breathing." Gwen said, clearly, but obviously forcing the words past her lips. "Sometimes, I feel like I can't breathe, no matter how much air I suck in."
Natalie nodded, scribbling the word on the paper. "And you, Ben?"
The boy didn't answer immediately, seeming to mull it over, before he shook his head. "Not a body thing. It's really just the heart for me. But..." He trailed off, hesitant. Gwen poked him in the side and he jumped.
"You're overthinking." She scolded. "That's my job. Stick to your guns, lame brain. Just blurt it out."
Ben glared at her before he sighed and turned to Natalie. "I get it a lot that it's a dream or a memory that starts it. How does that fit into this?"
"That's what we call a 'trigger.'" She explained. "A bodily sensation getting out of hand will often 'trigger' a flashback to whatever is at the root of your panic. However, it is just as possible that the trigger itself causes the bodily sensation. Because the triggers tend to be more obvious, people often try to avoid things that cause them." She gave Gwen a pointed look. "Such as locations that they associate with their trauma," Before shifting her eyes back to Ben. Or, more specifically, his wrist. "or objects."
The kids fell silent at that, so she steamrolled over it in an attempt to snap them out of it. It worked, as they refocused their attention. "But the actual panic attack always goes hand in hand with the bodily sensation, whereas it doesn't always involve a flashback." She drew an arrow from the words 'bodily sensation' and at the tip of it scribbled 'triggers' before drawing an arrow from the word back to it, creating a small loop.
"Triggers are not part of the circle as a whole, but it can be part of the first step, though it can come up later as well. We'll get to that in a second. Is this clear or enough for now?"
Ben gave her a thumbs up and in response, she drew another arrow, this one away from 'bodily sensations', scribbling 'attention' at the tip.
"This one is rather simple. Having a bodily sensation is, after all, not a guarantee for an attack. However, when you feel that the sensation is abnormal, you'll focus on it, which often causes the symptom to magnify in your head."
"You mean like-" Ben spoke up before cutting himself off. Nat waved him off.
"You can interrupt me anytime, Ben. Remember, this is about what feels right for you."
The boy quirked a smile, probably enjoying the irony of her telling him to indulge in what was, by her normal standards, a bad habit. "You mean like when someone's snoring, and you try not to hear it, but then it only gets louder?" He gave Gwen a sidelong glance and the redhead huffed indignantly.
Natalie hid a smile behind her hand. "Exactly. You feel a bodily sensation getting out of hand, like your breathing being too quick for your taste, and then you get stuck on that. This leads to part three of the circle-"
"How many parts are there in this thing? Ow- Gwen! She said I could ask..."
Natalie took it in stride. "Five. The third is where the symptom gets magnified," She jotted that down as 'sensation increases.' "because you focus on it. Again, straightforward I presume?"
At two small nodding heads, she proceeded. "Next, we get to the 'catastrophic thoughts' part. These vary from person to person. These can be related to the trauma, but are often as not inspired by the panic attack itself. They are usually triggers in their own right." She noticed the two children pale and offered them a comforting smile; at least she hoped it was. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to talk about them. You can, if you want to, or ask questions about them, but like I said: this isn't a session." That seemed to relax them a little, even if Gwen stared at the paper with a troubled expression.
"…'catastrophic thoughts' implies that they make sense." Gwen wondered. "What if they aren't?"
The woman gestured for the girl to eleborate. With a nod, she did. "Look, I see where this is going. The next step is panic, which makes the heart and the breath go crazy even more, which feeds into more thoughts. I get that. It's a circle." She took a deep breath. "But it feels like the last two steps are the same, like the triggers are inter-spaced throughout the whole thing, like the catastrophic thoughts are just an incoherent mess of..."
"Fear." Ben finished, looking slightly pale and so, so very small. "Just fear."
Natalie hummed, silently finishing the circle before putting down her pencil and sitting back in her chair, eyeing the kids thoughtfully. She hadn't intended for this conversation to linger on this topic, but if Gwen was willing, and didn't mind Ben being here, she'd indulge the girl. She doubted it would last long.
"Usually," She started. "that fear still has a reason, even if it manifests as something that doesn't feel logical. It depends on what you are afraid of."
Gwen's jaw immediately snapped shut and she shook her head. Nat wasn't surprised. It was too soon to discuss that, and perhaps Gwen didn't want to touch upon her fears in front of Ben-
"Dying."
Her head snapped to the small boy, same as Gwen's, but he was looking down at the sheet of paper. They boy sat completely still for a moment before he shook his head. "Can we drop this part for now, please?" He asked, so timid that she barely felt like she was talking to her headstrong nephew anymore.
Natalie was about to respond when Gwen pulled the boy in and bumped foreheads with him, holding him still for long moments. Ben seemed to melt into the touch, exhaling a breath as the tension drained out of him.
"You're fine." Gwen said, closing her eyes, an action Ben mirrored. She tilted her head slightly, and for one heart stopping moment Natalie thought the girl was going to kiss her cousin (and Frank would never let her live that one down) but she spoke again instead. "I'm fine. We're both fine. Okay?"
Ben's eyes scrunched and his jaw clenched, but he nodded, soaking in the words. With a nod of her own, they broke apart. Ben's gaze trailed back to the piece of paper and he sucked in fortifying breaths, using, she noted with pride, the breathing exercises she taught him weeks ago. He looked back up to Natalie, and this time, there was no fear in his eyes. "Alright, so we have this circle thing. What do we do with it?"
Natalie recovered as quickly as she could. "Like I said: while the circle is far from perfect; you've already noticed that the steps aren't as straightforward as the drawing suggests. But it is a good way to rationalize what's happening to you both. As to what you actually need to do with it, that, dear boy, is your homework." She couldn't quite contain a smile at the grimace that stole across the boy's face, and Gwen snickered beside him.
"You have got to be kidding me. You did say this was voluntary, right? Can I volunteer not to do the homework?"
Natalie snorted. Cheeky. "Afraid not." She deadpanned and Ben groaned before dropping his head on the table. Gwen patted his back sympathetically, a move completely ruined by the giggles escaping from her.
"If the circle is clear to you, I want you figure out how it applies to you. What triggers you, what your catastrophic thoughts are, you name it. And even if you get no further than 'incoherent mess', that's fine. It's not about having all the answers, this is about thinking about your panic attacks as something that can be understood and can be beaten."
She gave them both a meaningful look, leaning forward in her seat. "And I need you to understand that: panic attacks are terrible to experience, but they are not complex. They can be understood, and they can be beaten back, even without understanding the underlying trauma fully. So that's what we're going to do." She grinned, faintly sheepish. "We can't expect you to talk about your problems when you're afraid that doing so is going to trigger a panic attack. That's why you didn't tell us about it, right?"
Silence met her question before the kids nodded. Natalie didn't think they were lying when they did so, but a part of her screamed that it wasn't the whole truth either. It was eerily like trying to get something out of Max. But she wouldn't press them; it'd come up in due time. They set the pace. She'd give the treatment.
She sat back again. "Ben's first session is on Wednesday. Gwen's is on Friday. You can tell me what you've learned from your homework, if you feel comfortable telling me that. And if either of you has a question, you can always call. Always, even if it's three in the morning."
The kids were silent for another moment before Ben spoke up, grinning. A week ago she would've thought it was genuine, but she could now see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Soooo you're not expecting me to actually turn anything in?" He asked, innocently. Judging by Gwen's eyeroll, the girl saw right through him. So did Natalie, for that matter.
"No, Benjamin. I will not have any way to check if you really did anything with this. But-" She gave the boy a stern look. "-you are doing this to get a handle on your problems. In the end, you're the first and last victim of your negligence here." Her eyes shifted pointedly to Gwen. "Well, maybe Gwen too. She does worry about you, after all." They all did, for that matter, but if there was anything that would convince the boy to take this seriously…
She hadn't quite expected Ben's guilt over that thought to be so obvious. For a moment, she thought she'd made a huge miscalculation, but when the child's gaze hardened and he nodded, she felt relief wash over her. She picked up the piece of paper and handed it to him. "In case you need reference material. I can make another one for Gwen later."
Ben snatched the paper, folding it and putting it in his back pocket. Satisfied, Natalie turned to Gwen. "Why don't you go find your father so he can take Ben home?"
Gwen hid her discontent with that well, Natalie had to give it too her. But the forced way she smiled, the stiff way she got up, told her a lot. She wasn't very adept at reading Ben, but Gwen was at least someone she was familiar with, even if she hadn't always interpreted the signals right. Ben looked like he was about to protest, but she raised a hand to forestall him, shooting him a look. His jaw clamped shut, but his fierce look didn't settle. If anything, it became more heated.
When Gwen had left the room, Ben still sat fuming. Natalie considered him for a moment before standing up from her couch and walking over to sit on the couch behind where the boy still remained on the floor. She saw him tense, and she considered that a problem. Because if this was how he'd respond to being alone with her, the sessions were not going to work, and Ben needed them even more than Gwen did.
She had to fix that. And though a part of her was screaming that it was a bad idea, she had just the thing. Silence reigned for a long moment before she spoke. "She's coming back after school tomorrow. After that, you have homework, and so does Gwen. After that, enough is enough."
The boy turned around to look at her in confusion before realization dawned and his face lit up like a sunrise. She had expected some gratitude perhaps, but what she got was the boy launching himself at her, arms wrapping around her waist, head buried in her belly. His muffled words of thanks were still clear though. Pulling back, the boy grinned up at her, enormous green eyes dancing with mirth.
"You're the best!" And what she wouldn't give to record this and play it back to Sandra, just for once. She smiled, ruffling his hair. Yes, Ben was still… odd, by her standards, but he was definitely nice to have around, and she was glad to get to know him better.
"Oh, I see how it is. First you charm my daughter, and now my wife. Does your need for hair ruffles know no bounds, little man?!" Frank's voice cut through the merriment, and Natalie glanced up to see him glare the boy down; fighting a smile while at it though. Or by Gwen standing next to him in the doorway, quirking an amused brow at them. It was like looking in a mirror, really.
Rather than jump off, Ben doubled down by sprawling across her lap, folding his arms behind his head as he laid it down on the armrest. "What can I say, I'm just irresistible." Natalie snorted before pushing him off, causing him to roll onto the floor.
"So glad to see that you're still a Tennyson, at the end of the day." She remarked dryly, rolling her eyes at the sunny grin Ben shot up her from where he lay on the floor. A shadow fell over him though, as Gwen walked up to extend a hand, looking a bit sad.
"C'mon doofus, you gotta get home." Gwen hesitated a bit on the last word. Natalie didn't know why, but she did know that the girl was in for a surprise. Ben let himself be hauled to his feet before he smirked in the redhead's face.
"You mean,we gotta get home. Get packing for the night, freak."
Gwen looked confused for all of half a second before a grin split her face. "You didn't!"
Ben winked at little girl before shooting Natalie an amused look. "Told ya, I'm irresistible." Natalie almost snorted. The brat hadn't even had to ask. But she'd let him have this one. The boy spun Gwen around by her shoulders and started pushing her towards the stairs.
"Ben!" She giggled. "I'm going already!"
"Not fast enough! Move it, slowpoke!"
"I'll see you Wednesday, Ben!" Natalie called after them, amused.
"Yes ma'am!" Was the cheery response before the kids disappeared up the stairs again. Natalie smiled. She had a feeling that that session had just become a lot easier for them both.
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