Love of Autism Ch. 12

"Two?" Katie asked to confirm.

"Yep, two. I'm going to make regular and chocolate chip pancakes."

That brought a smile to Katie's face. "Chocolate chip pancakes are my favorite."

"Really?" Keith said somewhat exaggerated. "I had no idea."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Now I see where Scott gets it from."

Keith smiled and laughed. "Just means he has a good sense of humor."

Katie grabbed the mixing bowls and brought them down. "Where are the chocolate chips?"

"Top shelf of the pantry. I have to try to hide them from Scott so he doesn't just eat them all."

"Yeah, he does like to cover his ice cream in chocolate chips."

"No, he literally will just get a handful of chocolate chips out of the bag and eat them."

"Damn, and I thought I had a sweet tooth when I'm on my time."

"You haven't seen the secret chocolate stash my wife has for her time."

"Oh, I can imagine," Katie said, knowing where her mother keeps her secret stash and how often she replenishes it.

The two of them worked together to make a lot of pancakes. After Keith was done using the griddle, Katie offered to clean it up while he cooked some bacon in the pan. A short while later Jackie emerged into the kitchen. "Keith, you didn't have to make me chocolate chip pancakes."

"You're right," Keith agreed. "I didn't have to, but I know they are Katie's favorite."

"Only because I told you after Jillian told me."

"Either way, she and I made them together for her and whoever else wants them. That is if she feels like sharing."

"I think I can share one with you Jackie," Katie said jokingly.

Jackie shook her head. "I expect this from my husband, but not from you Katie."

Katie shrugged her shoulders as she finished cleaning the griddle. "What can I say? I'm just that awesome."

Jackie laughed as Katie was definitely starting to fit in more with the family. Maybe more than she would like, but she couldn't really complain if Katie and Sarah were actually getting along.

"Well, there should be some sort of healthy food also for breakfast. I'll cut up some strawberries."

After all the food was made and ready, Scott finally woke up and got up from the couch. "Looks like I woke up in time for another delicious family breakfast."

"Yes you did," said Jackie, "but you need to wake up your sister AND NOT by screaming for her to wake up."

Scott slouched when his mom told him that. "Way to ruin my fun."

A few minutes later Scott came back with his sister who looked like she needed another hour of sleep, but she wasn't going to say no to breakfast, especially when she saw chocolate chip pancakes.

Once Sarah joined them, everyone sat down and ate their fill, especially Katie and Sarah who fought over the chocolate chip pancakes. Katie volunteered to help clean up the dishes but Jackie wouldn't let her. The cooks never clean up, so instead Scott and Sarah were told to clean the dishes. Scott chose not to complain, but Sarah was tired and grumpy. Even a belly full of food didn't help and was ready to just complain, but her mother gave her a look of "don't you dare complain or else you'll be cleaning up after dinner as well". Once done with cleaning the dishes, griddle, and pans, Scott joined Katie back in the family room as she was watching a random show.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Scott asked, concerned about his girlfriend's mental health as he sat down on the couch next to her.

Katie looked at him and smiled. "I'm doing a little better. Making breakfast with your dad was kinda fun and helped cheer me up a little."

Scott smiled back at her. "Yeah, dad usually knows how to make people laugh and smile when they need it."

"A trait you certainly have picked up Scottie."

Katie laid her back into Scott as he wrapped his arms around her. They sat there and watched the show Katie had picked for a while. "Be honest with me," Scott began, "do you think you still..." he paused for a few second trying to find the right words to say, "have some pain leftover from Jack and your dad hurting you?"

Katie didn't answer right away because she had to think about. "I think there is some wounds that never healed, especially with my dad. Jack...hurt me just as bad." She turned her head to look at Scott. "I'm sorry Scott that you're having to deal with this."

Scott kissed her on her forehead. "Well, I actually have an idea. I know someone that might be able to help you at least address and start to heal those wounds."

"Who?" Katie asked curious as to who he had in mind.

***********************************

Katie parked her car and shut off the engine. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," she said to herself, still not knowing what she is getting herself into. She really wasn't sure if Scott's suggestion was a good idea or not, but the appointment had been made and her mom more than happily offered to pay for it.

After taking a long, deep breath she got out of the car and walked into the building. It took her a second to remember where Scott told her to go, but she figured it out quickly enough. She came to the door and knocked on it. A few seconds later an older man opened it with a big smile on his face.

"Well hellooo there. You must be Katie," the man greeted.

"Yep, I'm Katie," she said nervously.

"Well come on in," he said waving her in. Once in the door she took off her winter coat and sat on the couch on the opposite side of the room. "Scott has told me a lot about you."

"I bet," Katie said not sure how much the man knew.

"Katie, you can relax. Everything he has told me lately has been good. Most importantly he loves you enough to have you see me."

Katie closed her eyes and took another deep breath before opening them again. "I...this is my first time ever seeing a psychologist and it...is just awkward that I'm seeing the same one that my boyfriend has been seeing because of...me."

"Well, I can tell you that he has forgiven you whole heartedly. But it is not the past between you and him that you came to see Bernie for. You are here to talk about some issues you have had with your dad and ex-boyfriend."

Katie nodded her head. "Yeah. There is a lot of stuff I haven't really talked about with anyone, especially when it comes to my dad."

"Well you might as well start from the beginning," said Bernie. "We have two hours today to get as much out there as you feel comfortable with."

"But what if I don't want to share everything Bernie?"

"That is completely fine," said Bernie as he leaned back into his desk chair. "We don't have to cover everything today and nor should we. But I think we should talk about your dad, but before you found out he was cheating on your mom. I want to know what your relationship was like with him when you were small."

Katie started to think back to some of her fondest memories with her dad. She was both happy and sad to think about them. Happy because the memories reminded her of how a dad he could be, but sad because of how everything went bad so fast. However, she was here to hopefully heal some of these wounds and it was going to be hard, but it needed to be done. She started off by telling Bernie one of her favorite memories of when she and her dad would go on daddy-daughter dates together. After that, memory after memory popped back into her head and she couldn't help but remember more good times and told Bernie many of them...until it came time to tell him about the fateful day when the man she called daddy who could do no wrong did the unspeakable.