The Unknown

Listen to me

Shane's pov

Once Julie calmed down enough that I could get her to listen to me, I carried her over to Mike's room for her last night of bunking with him. It didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep after Mike tucked her into her sleeping bag as she was pretty worn out already from what occurred in my room. Knowing Julie was now safe and in good hands, I decided to call Dr. Evans.

When I informed Marlena of everything that transpired with Julie over the past week, she told me to bring her into her office the next day so she could speak with her as soon as possible. Dr. Evans wanted Mike and I to attend a session with her as well, citing the importance of a strong support network in order for Julie's treatment plan to be successful.

So the next morning the three of us went to meet with Dr. Evans. Two of us went willingly and one was pretty much dragged there against her will, with the added threat of a spanking from Mike being the ultimate catalyst in garnering her cooperation. After speaking alone with Julie in her office for over an hour, Marlena was ready to have a private session with Mike and I while Julie sat in the waiting room.

Dr. Evans agreed that Julie was indeed showing signs of anxiety which may or may not be attributed to stress from a prior traumatic event. I knew she was sugar coating her true diagnosis for my benefit but it didn't stop me from blaming myself for Julie's issues. Marlena explained to us the available treatment options and then gave us her clinical recommendations.

We all agreed that we would prefer to give behavioural cognitive therapy a try as first line treatment before turning to medications. Marlena recommended a combination of cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure as a means to treat Julie's anxiety. She wanted to schedule two sessions a week to start so that's exactly what we did, much to the dismay of our second oldest daughter.

Julie didn't understand the need for all these sessions with Dr. Evans as she insisted nothing was wrong with her. When Mike and I reminded her of the fact she ran away and had a panic attack in the midst of me administering her punishment, she brushed it off as no big deal, claiming she was just tired and stressed out from school. She didn't even remember most of what happened when I had her over my knee about to spank her. We made it very clear to her that these sessions with Dr. Evans were not optional so she might as well get on board and embrace the process as they would occur either way. Julie's only choice being whether to attend with a sore bottom, or not.

During the time Julie would be in therapy, Dr. Evans suggested Mike be her main disciplinarian since she suffered an anxiety attack while facing one of my punishments. I was more than willing to do whatever it would take to aid in Julie's treatment process so I backed off. After more than a month of this arrangement, however, I couldn't help feeling Julie was taking advantage of the situation and pushing the boundaries with me every chance she got.

I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut though because I really wanted her to get better more than anything, that is until Mike went to Africa on business for a week. Julie wasted no time capitalizing on the fact her main disciplinarian was over six thousand miles and an ocean away. I did my best to remain calm and patient in all my dealings with her as the last thing I wanted was to trigger another anxiety episode but a man has his limits and long about day two of Mike's absence, I was fast approaching mine.

Julie had been testing me all day with her blatant disrespect and flagrant disregard for my rules. If I didn't know any better, I would swear Julie was practically begging me to punish her. I would later find out this was in fact exactly what she was doing based on a recommendation from Marlena as part of her therapy. Since this was unbeknownst to me now, I continued to avoid punishing Julie for her misbehaviour until I could no longer ignore her belligerent obstinance.