Pieces Of Us - Until I Find You Again // Book Two

Chapter 17

Emily and I sat down on the couch in Diana's office. I was shocked when rather than sitting on the other end of the couch, she sat right next to me instead. I tried not to show my surprise and focused on Diana as she sat across from us.

She was scribbling on her pad for a few moments, seemingly not even realizing we were in the room yet. When she finally looked up she didn't even bat an eye over our close proximity on the couch. She cleared her throat instead,

"So, let's talk about the last couple of days. How was the exercise I gave you?"

Emily had her arms folded over her stomach, but her fingertips grazed against my hip, rendering me unable to form words. Thankfully no one seemed to notice.

Emily nodded,

"Fine. Good." She glanced at me, "I think. Right?" I simply nodded. Emily looked back at Diana, "I think we understand each other a bit better now...at least in that area anyway."

"Excellent. And we're handling the children together well? No bumps in the road there I assume?"

I cleared my throat, my speech still stunted. Emily nodded again,

"Yes. But we've really never had issues with that."
I shifted uncomfortably, a move that Diana caught immediately. She raised her eyebrow,

"Harry?" I raised my eyebrows but didn't answer. She turned her chair towards me, "Do you have something to add there?"

"I mean...no." I finally said when I felt Em's fingers leave my hip and ball up into a fist.

Diana looked between us,

"That wasn't very convincing. What is your stance on the way you handle the children?"

I rubbed my hand across my forehead nervously, trying not to let it get to me that Emily was stiff as a board next to me,

"I just think sometimes I get shut out of the big decisions."

"Mmhmm...interesting." Diana scribbled onto her pad and then focused on me again, "Like what? Can you give me an example?"

I felt my hands start to sweat,

"I don't really know if I have an example. Just a feeling sometimes. Like she thinks she can handle it on her own. She doesn't have to. I like being involved with them."

Emily relaxed a bit and as such, so did I. Diana nodded,

"Alright, let's expand on that." She looked at Emily, "Are you aware you're shutting him out when it comes to the kids?"

Emily shocked me yet again when she nodded,

"I don't mean to. But it's...I mean..." She shrugged, "He is who he is. And sometimes that creates more problems for him. He gets uncomfortable in situations where people won't allow him to be their dad. They treat him differently, sometimes don't take him seriously. So I try to alleviate the pressure before it happens." She glanced at me, "If that makes sense."
I nodded, smiling weakly,

"It does." It was nice to hear her concern for me. It was also nice to have one of these sessions where we weren't finding out the ways we'd failed each other but rather the ways we supported each other.

Diana joined her hands together, a bright smile on her face,

"Look at that, the two of you communicating. That was great. Do you see how easy it is for you to work through a problem when you can effectively disclose what your issues are?"

We both nodded. It felt weird in the room suddenly. Like the air got a little bit lighter. I felt like we'd just taken a giant step forward.

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