Page 89 of The Ones We Fight For

“Oh,” Colin nodded, seeming unfazed by talking about sex at all.

“There were definitely some benefits,” Carter stated smugly.

She should have known that Carter would call bullshit immediately. Out of everyone who could possibly walk in on her makeout session with Walker, Talia couldn’t decide if Carter was the worst or best option. She honestly might have liked for Carter to just explain to her what she and Walker were, because after their bedroom rendezvous, she could still feel an electric current running in the small space that divided her and Walker. She had to fight to stop herself from closing the gap.

“Watch it,” Walker scolded his nephew with a stern look, then dropped his eyes to the floor. “What I have to tell all of you has nothing to do with Tal. It has more to do with all of you.”

“Are you okay?” Pearl’s voice was sweet and full of concern. Her emotional intelligence far outweighed that of someone her age and even some adults. The fact that she even called Talia to come in the first place proved that.

“I will be,” Walker smiled softly at Pearl. “I’ve been having trouble for a while now, and I’ve been trying really hard to keep it hidden from all of you, but I’m starting to realize that maybe that isn't the best way to go about this.” Walker glanced over at Talia again, and she moved her hand down from his back, lacing her fingers easily with his. He continued on, his voice steadying. “I get panic attacks. I had them before when I was younger, and your dad used to help me with them, but since he died, they’ve been uncontrollable.”

“What’s a panic attack?” Cooper inquired.

“It’s an episode of extreme anxiety that can give you increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and nausea if it’s really bad,” Colin explained.

“How do you know? Do you get them?” Carter asked Colin.

“No. I saw Walker have one last week, and I researched it,” Colin stated offhandedly.

“You saw Walker have a panic attack and didn’t do anything about it?” Piper glared at Colin.

“You saw me?” Walker’s mouth opened slightly in surprise.

“I did do something. I got him a book. It’s supposed to be here on Tuesday,” Colin said.

“Okay,” Walker dropped Talia’s hand, and she returned to her original spot, brushing his back softly with her fingertips while he massaged his temples. “Colin, I appreciate that, but I’m going to need a little more help than a book. I don’t want any of you to think that being your guardian is too much for me, because I would do anything for you guys, but I do need to see someone so I can be better. Do better. We’re going to have to become a therapy-going family.”

“Then Talia has to go to therapy, too,” Pearl chimed in. “She’s family.”

It was one thing for Talia to feel like she’d found her family and quite another for them to declare it wasn’t all in her head, that they thought of her as family, too. The remaining heads in the room bobbed in unison, like they didn’t have to think twice about including her in the decisions that impacted all of them, like she was meant to be there. A tear slipped down Talia’s face, and Walker reached his hand up to swipe it away.

“I, um,” Talia sniffed. “I actually started going a few weeks ago.”

“Good.” Colin nodded. “Therapy was a suggestion in that book that I got for Walker,” he said matter-of-factly. ”It’s a lot of going over feelings and stuff, but it’s pretty helpful. It’s a quick read. I got through it in one sitting with the e-version, but I thought you’d want a hard copy. Tal, do you want one, too? I can order you one.”

“I—sure, that’d be great, Colin.” Talia smiled.

“Is there something we can do to make it better for you?” Piper directed her question to Walker as she moved her butt to the edge of the couch, ready to spring out of her seat at his request.

“No.” Walker shook his head. “For now, I just need to go get some help. Everything that happened after the accident was so traumatic that I don’t think I got to really grieve them, ya know? And I don’t want any of you to feel like you don’t have the space to feel sad or feel whatever you want to feel just because I’ve been shoving my own feelings down. You can help me by working on your own healing. I don’t want to fail any of you, and I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing. If I’m being honest… I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Neither do we,” Carter said.

“So, maybe it’s time we just all admit that no one in life really knows what they’re doing,” Talia suggested. “But we can walk through all of that together.”

“Does that mean you’re going to start helping us clean the house now?” Carter smiled hopefully.

“No. Absolutely not,” Walker replied in amusement. “Nice try. You tried to sell Talia to a crowd of people at an auction. Your punishment stands.”

“When they go to clean Jayla’s tomorrow, can I go, too?” Cooper bounced in his seat. “She’s going to teach me how to do a backflip off a swing.”

“Sounds… dangerous,” Walker considered. “Go for it.”

“Is that going to be your ‘thing that you’ve never done before’ that dad always made us do?” Piper patted Cooper’s back with a smile.

“I guess so. Just not on his birthday.” Cooper nodded sadly.

“What if we did something new today?” Talia suggested

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