Page 52 of Forever Love

Intense

Maia

“Youreadyforthis?”

Braden gives me a troublemaking smile as he braces himself against the door frame of my car. “I’m ready. The question is, are you? Ready to have everything you’re saying and not saying evaluated? I got used to this in the hospital. It’s your first round of therapy.”

I grab his crutches and put them in the back seat. “I’ll be fine. I’m… glad we’re finally doing this.”

“Yep. Only been years in the making.” Gripping the sides of the door, he lowers himself onto the seat and spins around, only groaning a few times. It’s been six weeks since the accident and he started the intensive PT yesterday. He still has plenty of pain and not everything is fully healed, but his mobility has increased and his mood is better now that he can move around his house again and take care of himself more.

Shutting the door behind him, I make my way to my side of the car and get in. “You’re surprisingly upbeat about this.”

When he meets my gaze, his face falters. “I’m trying to have a positive outlook. I know this isn’t going to be easy.”

I stare out the front window for a moment before turning to look at him. “No. It’s not.” I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. “But I promise, no matter how difficult talking about these things might be, or if we get angry with each other, we’re still in it together. When we walk out of that office, we’re going to be just like we are right now. Hopefully, a little more healed.”

He squeezes my hand back and says, “Okay. In it together.” He flashes me another smile. “Let’s do this.”

When we get to Dr. Jim’s office, set in an apartment in a converted Victorian home in downtown Ida, I help Braden out of the car and we make our way inside. His office is homey and relaxed, with comfortable chairs, which makes it easier to settle in.

After greetings and introductions, Dr. Jim, who is in his midfifties and has a calming presence, says, “Obviously, I have your notes and intake information here, but in your own words, tell me a little bit about why you’ve decided to come here, take things on together, and what you hope to get out of it.”

Braden and I stare at each other for a moment. Finally, he nods toward me.Of course, he wants me to go first. Chicken.

“Uh, well, Braden and I have been through a lot together. Best friends, then dating, teen pregnancy, and a breakup followed by a pretty rough year. We want to figure out how to heal from the hard stuff between us and improve our relationship, as well as work on co-parenting together.”

Dr. Jim nods. “I see. And your end goal is a healthier overall relationship, not continuing a romantic relationship with one another?”

Again, Braden and I glance at each other, knowing that’s a big part of what we need to heal from. “Correct,” I say quietly.

“Maia’s with someone else. A friend of ours.” He looks at me.

“Right. That’s probably helpful to know.” Another piece of this complicated puzzle.

He looks at Braden. “Okay. Braden, same questions.”

“I… I want to move forward with Maia. We have a long history that means a lot to me, but we’re also kind of a mess right now—a lot of that is on me. I want us to have a healthier relationship for ourselves and Harper—our daughter—but I also want to deal with the things that got us here.”

“Good. You’re in the right place,” he says with a smile. “I have some extensive notes here from your intake form.”

Braden smirks at me. “She’s thorough.”

“This gives me a good sense of your early history, but it seems this last year or two have been more complicated. Let’s start by talking about the end of your romantic relationship. How did the breakup come about?”

My eyes go to Braden as my stomach twists with anxiety. I know this is important, but I don’t want to revisit a lot of this. He reaches down and squeezes my hand.

“Things had been getting increasingly worse between us. I was on edge a lot of the time. We’d had a couple bad fights and Braden had left for the night saying he needed space.”

“What did you fight about?”

I hesitate. The feelings swirling in my stomach are so fresh this whole thing could’ve happened yesterday.

“I came home drunk,” Braden says. “I’d done it several times, but that was the worst. I smelled like perfume… it was bad. I don’t remember a lot, but when she got home from work the next day, we fought. She asked if I cheated on her and said she didn’t feel like she could trust me.”

“You got mad,” I say softly, addressing him. “Mad that I was mad at you. Mad that I accused you of cheating. Mad that I thought I was perfect. Even though I don’t.”

“Let’s stop there,” Dr. Jim says, looking between us. “Braden, did you cheat on Maia?”

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