Splendid Fall

Ch. 41 Secrets

Chapter 41 

Nine months later

"And how are the dreams?" Dr. Reed, a tall woman in her late fifties with greying hair, asked as she tilted her head slightly to listen to Birdie.

"I still have them," Birdie answered, not wanting to hide anything from her doctor. "But I have been writing them down."

Lies.

Birdie didn't write about those nightmares. She didn't want to remember them.

"Good," Dr. Reed nodded. "Has that been helping you understand them better?"

"Yes," Birdie nodded.

"Good," Dr. Reed said once more in her soothing voice. "And how are things with Adan?"

Taking in a long deep breath, Birdie rubbed her palms against her jeans and thought about her words before speaking.

"Things are progressing," she said. "We had dinner last week."

"How was that?"

"Different?"

"How so?"

"I had a good time at dinner," Birdie said.

"How did you feel afterwards?"

"Fine," Birdie said. "Maybe very tired. We stayed out late."

"What did you guys talk about during dinner?"

"About our old friends, family, movies, Kiara and Killian's new baby."

"Have you gone to see the baby?"

"Yes," Birdie smiled. "He is adorable. Looks just like Killian."

"Do they have a name yet?" Dr. Reed asked. "I know they were still thinking of something."

"Mathias," Birdie smiled thinking of the little boy in Kiara's arms.

"That's a beautiful name."

"It is," Birdie said. "Much better than the other names they were thinking of."

"Did you go with Adan to see the baby?"

"Yes, we went together."

"How was that?" Dr. Reed asked. "You two have been making more public appearances together. How do you feel about that?"

"Everyone knows we're just trying things out," Birdie said. "It's been fine. He's always been my friend first before anything else. I like spending time with him."

"In the past two weeks have you thought about Wren?"

Birdie felt her heart contract painfully, "....No."

Dr. Reed patiently waited for Birdie with her hands folded on her notepad and her pen down.

"Just a bit," Birdie looked past the doctor to the blank wall behind her.

"When did you think about him?"

Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, Birdie pushed down on her thoughts, "Just randomly."

Dr. Reed slowly nodded and wrote down something on her paper. When she looked back up, Birdie was waiting for her to respond.

"I'm lying," Birdie said.

"I know," Dr. Reed conformed.

"I thought about him a lot."

"And you will continue to think about him a lot," Dr. Reed explained. "Like we talked about before, he's not just going to disappear from your memories. It will take time."