< Thursday >
{ Maddie }
I picked Landyn up from Crystal and we headed downtown for his therapy session. He's been seeing a therapist since his dad went to jail. Landyn needs a lot of help recovering, even if he doesn't show it much. It's mainly his sleep. He relives everything. At almost four years old, he's already been diagnosed with PTSD and Anxiety. They've even put him on watch for Depression.
I parked in the parking garage and helped Landyn out of the car, taking his hand and leading him into the building. We hopped on the elevator from the third level and Landyn hit the button for the sixth floor.
My son's hand was shaking in mine and he was squeezing his stuffed giraffe to his chest with his other. He gets like this every time, but as soon as he's in there, he's fine.
"Landyn Walker for Dr. Kate," I told the receptionist. It was a different lady at the desk than usual. Dr. Kate came out seconds later and took us back. Landyn went in with the doctor, his stuffed giraffe tight in his hand, while I took a seat right outside the office.
I scrolled through my phone while Landyn was in his session.
An hour later, Dr. Kate's door opened and she and Landyn walked out,
"I'm going to talk to Mom for a minute okay?" She told Landyn. He nodded and sat in the seat I was previously in. I followed the therapist in and took a seat,
"Is everything okay?" I asked. Usually, she just emails me what happened,
"He was very happy today," she told me with a smile, "He has never been as happy as he was today"
"Can I ask what he said?" I questioned. I know she can tell me because that's the paper we signed when we first came,
"He talked about Calum. He's never mentioned Calum before" she told me,
"Yeah. He's kinda new in our lives. He and I are, we're not dating exactly, but it's going there" I explained,
"Landyn told me that he spent the day with Calum. He told me everything they did. He also told me how happy he is that he met Calum. He said Calum makes him happy and he makes you happy. He went on and on. This Calum, Landyn adores him" she smiled, "This was a big moment. He's typically shy, won't say anything until I ask. Today he jumped right in and spoke about Calum. He was all we talked about"
My heart was swelling,
"I'll see you guys next week" she smiled.
Landyn and I left the office and got back in the car, going home,
"Dr. Kate told me you were really happy today" I spoke, taking a glance at Landyn in the mirror,
"I was happy" he giggled, "I told her about Calum and how he makes me happy and you happy"
"I'm really glad you're happy" I smiled,
"Mommy, I'm glad you're happy. Daddy was mean and made you sad. I don't like you sad" Landyn spoke, bringing tears to the brim of my eyes,
"I love you Landyn" I told him,
"I love you too Mommy" he smiled.
We got home and I grabbed my work bag and purse and helped Landyn out, heading to our section of the complex.
We walked up the stairs where I was met with two police officers, standing in front of my open door,
"Hi. Can I help you?" I asked,
"Is this your apartment?" The one asked. I nodded,
"We got a call about it being broken into. We've already walked through and there is nobody inside, but the place is pretty torn up" the other told me,
"We just need to see if anything's missing" the first one spoke again. I nodded and took Landyn in. My mouth dropped. It was destroyed,
"Do you have anyone you can call to come over?" The cop asked. I nodded and pulled my phone out and called Calum. I handed the phone to Landyn and told him to tell Calum to come over.
I walked through the apartment while Landyn was talking to Calum to see if anything was missing. Nothing was, which I told the cop,
"Okay. Would you like us to stay until your friend gets here?" He asked,
"No. We will be okay" I answered. He nodded and told me they had already filed a report, then the two left. I already know who did this. It was Josh. I'm not stupid.
Landyn gave my phone back, telling me Calum was on his way, then went to his room to make sure his toys were okay. I sighed. I could tell Landyn was scared.
I followed Landyn into his room and helped him put all his toys up that were scattered around the room. Then we couldn't find his blankie- resulting in a complete meltdown.
"Hey, we will find him," I told him, kissing his head as we started picking up everything on the floor,
"Maddie!" I heard Calum's voice enter the apartment. He soon came to Landyn's room, seeing Landyn in a complete breakdown,
"We can't find his baby blanket," I told him. Calum nodded and immediately started looking,
Finally, I lifted a pillow and found the blue baby blanket,
"Lanny!" I smiled. The tears stopped and he ran to me and took it. I sighed with relief,
"Hey, why don't you guys pack some clothes. You can stay with me tonight" Calum suggested, hugging me. I thanked him and he sent me to get my clothes while he helped Landyn.
Once I had an overnight bag, I tossed it on my back and went back to Landyn's room. Landyn had a backpack together and Calum was helping him change into his two piece monster pjs set,
"Already putting pjs on?" I laughed,
"Yeah" Landyn groaned as his head popped through the neck hole,
"Sorry. I hope it's okay that I helped" Calum slightly panicked,
"It's fine Cal. I mean you babysat the other day so you had to help him use the bathroom. Changing his clothes isn't a big deal" I assured.
"You guys ready? We can run through a drive-thru for some food on the way" Calum stood and grabbed Landyn's bag. I nodded and Landyn grabbed blankie and his giraffe.
Calum led us down to his Jeep and we put Landyn's carseat in then headed off,
We pulled into the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru and Calum rolled down his window after asking me what Landyn and I wanted,
"Can I get two Cobb Salads with ranch- one with no chicken. Two lemonades. Then a kids 4 count nugget meal with a Hi-C" Calum spoke. The girl gave us our total and we pulled around,
"Weirdo" I joked to him about his no chicken salad,
"I don't eat meat" he defended. I laughed.
The girl handed us our food and Calum passed it to me so he could drive,
"Nuggies!" Landyn cheered.
After we ate and hung out, Calum let me use his shower. I didn't want to use too much of his water so I took a fast one. I towel dried my hair quickly then put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
As I walked back into Calum's room, I noticed Landyn was asleep in his bed. I gave my son a kiss then went back to the main area where I found Calum in the kitchen,
"He fell asleep so I just laid him in bed. I'm going to let you guys sleep in my room" he smiled,
"Thank you" I hugged him,
"How about we get some wine, then go sit out back. I'll leave the door open with the screen door closed so we can hear Landyn" Calum suggested, throwing a hoodie that was draped on a chair at me.
I nodded and he grabbed to wine classes, pouring the wine in and handing me my glass. Then we headed out back.
We cuddled up next to each other on the outdoor couch in front of the electric fire pit.
We finished our glasses and Calum sat them on the ground next to us. He pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head.
"I'm guessing Josh is the one who trashed your place?" Calum spoke after some silence,
"I assume. He's the only person I could think of. Plus my apartment was the only one" I shrugged, letting my head rest on Calum's shoulder,
"Thank you for letting us stay" I smiled,
"I'm glad you called me. I don't think you should've stayed the night there anyway" he hugged me a little tighter,
"Tomorrow we will go get you a new lock and clean up" he whispered.
"Oh, you said Landyn had therapy. How'd that go?" Calum asked, genuinely wanting to know,
"He talked about you and how you make us happy" I smiled,
"He did?" Calum was grinning,
"It was a big breakthrough today" I nodded
then looked up at him,
He smiled down at me then pressed his lips to mine. It was a slow kiss. One that lingered. We slightly pulled back, then attached our lips again,
"I'm glad I'm apart of what makes you two happy"