A fall breeze lazily dragged through the ends of Spencer's hair as he attempted to drink the coffee he had just picked up at the coffee shop on his way into work. While it wasn't as chilly as it would soon become, it was enough to break out his favorite purple scarf, an early birthday gift from Elena. Garcia had asked him last week where he got it but he sputtered trying to play it off as a thrift store find last time he went to Vegas. Spencer hadn't been back to Vegas in several years between his constant guilt and his job which sometimes served as a perfect excuse. He wanted Ellie to go with him for support, but he stopped short at the idea of bringing the twins to a sanitarium. Instead, he used the PTO and privately informed Gideon that he needed a day for a specialist's appointment.
The doctor looked up from his results to the young mother in front of him. Slight judgement peered through at Elena and Spencer as each one held a child in their lap. Spencer kept Olivia, who he christened Livvy, a little farther so her normal chattiness didn't distract Elena from what the doctor had to say. Oliver, Ollie, sat in his usual quietness in his mother's lap slightly confused and frightened in the new environment. Elena's appearance always drew out the judgement when people realized she was the mother, not the drastically older sister.
Tattoos littered her entire body while the dramatic black smoked eyeliner and black lipstick kept her face from being naked. Beanies, leather jacket, and all black clothing led the assumptions from strangers that were always wrong. Her young age of 19 never helping the fact. She knew her and Spencer looked odd standing next to each other with his uniform of dress pants, colorful cardigans, and too large for his face glasses. It always gave her flashbacks to unwillingly bullying the smart kids because someone above her told her to.
Elena tried hard to focus on what the doctor was saying but it seemed so surreal. Completely deaf. Showing signs of moderate autism. Those words seemed almost foreign but explained the strange habits Ollie started exhibiting at nearly 3 months old. Now a year old, they only became more obvious. Never turning his head to any sound or his name. Screaming and fussing whenever she tried to put socks on him. Crying when tummy time ended up on the carpet without his normal blanket. Gagging his way through the baby food stage that he was hospitalized multiple times for lack of eating. CPS stopped visiting after the second time when a nurse tried to feed him and witnessed the gagging herself.
Every night, Elena cried herself to sleep questioning what she was doing wrong. Livvy was dramatically different, always babbling, always eating anything, nothing seemed to bother the first born daughter. Multiple times did Elena tell the pediatrician that sometimes was wrong, but he chalked it up to Elena's parenting. Spencer searched for a highly recommended pediatrician after Elena lamented to him time after time. This specialist was the first thing the new doctor referred after hearing the concerns.
"Is there any history of this on either side of the family?"
"Not on the father's. I don't know about my side. I was in foster care so it's possible."
"Did you drink any alcohol during the pregnancy?"
As much as she knew these questions were standard, she couldn't help the rage, "No."
"Did you take or smoke any drugs and/or cigarettes?"
"No."
"Did you ever have any traumatic injuries within any trimester?"
Both of them froze at this question. Spencer covered Olivia's ears and Elena hung her head in a shame she didn't deserve to feel. He wanted to take her out of this room, away from the invasive questions and Ollie's new reality. However, it wouldn't do anybody any good. Elena's voice grew quiet and hesitant as she explained what caused her to leave New York.
"Yes... their father used to hit me...more often than I'm willing to admit. I haven't seen him since my fourth month."
The doctor made a few notes in the file. "That could be the cause for the deafness, if he was in front more often than his sister was. However, the autism is only genetic but we don't have enough research on which parent it is more likely to come from. The father's side might have it but it might be so mild it went undetected. With the lack of family medical history on your side, there is a stronger possibly that the genes are maternal."
