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Normal slouched further into the couch as the shouting between his uncle Lark and grandpa Henry started up for the fifth time in the last hour, not that Henry was doing much shouting. That was all on Lark. He bunched his shoulders up around his ears as his dad sighed and once again tried to mediate, Normal was beginning to wonder how Dad even convinced Lark to do this family therapy thing, the doodler may not be a problem anymore but his uncle still didn't seem like the type, especially with how deep the grudge he holds against his dad goes. Normal wondered if it might have been something to do with Nicky hanging around and trying to repair his friendship with the rest of the dads now that Hell was no longer in danger. As far as he knew that was making slow and steady progress with Nicky now being invited to barbecues at Linc's house whenever they happened as opposed to just Taylor and Cassandra.
In an effort to tune out the yelling, he looked up at the therapist, Erin O'Neill, freshly liberated from heaven. Though maybe liberated was too generous, it was more like she’d been kidnapped because how in the hells were they supposed to go to a normal therapist? What normal person would listen to their story and not think they were playing some sort of elaborate prank? His dad had suggested that they go with a regular therapist and just leave the bits with the doodler but his grandpa had quickly shut that down. He was a big believer in not hiding anything from therapists and he recommended Erin himself as apparently her alter-ego, Dr Not-me, helped Scary’s step-step-grandfather after he’d uncovered some trauma surrounding his dad, which definitely made sense after meeting the guy a few months back. Willy Stampler had apparently been a recurring problem for years at this point and Normal was just glad that it was over.
Erin sighed louder than she should have been able to, apparently having used a spell to amplify her voice. “Children, can we please settle down? My time is precious” she said in the most deadpan tone of voice Normal had ever heard. Lark paused the rant he was on and whipped around to face the woman, one finger pointing at her chest “I am not a child” he said, voice full of venom. Erin raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged “stop acting like one then” she told him before turning to her notes as Lark threw himself down on the opposite end of the couch to Henry.
She looked up at Normal and shuffled through the papers before stopping on a page, “well it seems focusing on Lark and Henry isn’t getting anywhere for now, let's focus on you Normal” she offered, raising an eyebrow at the boy as he found himself wishing he had Teeny to hide in, away from the expectant eyes of his dad, away from the pitying look of his grandpa and the guilt of his uncle. He spent far too long pretending to be far too interested in the carpet that Erin had chosen for the small office, picking at a stray thread in the jeans that he'd worn out to the appointment to try and make his dad think that this was a good thing that was going to go well. He took a couple of deep breaths, like Scary's step-dad told him to do a few weeks back when he had a panic attack at their house, big breath in and a long blow out. Just like blowing out birthday candles. He let out one last little puff of air before thinking carefully about his next words "I guess…i want to work on my self-confidence? And uh, being a son my dad can be proud off?" He said, voice trembling with unsureness, not daring to look over to his right at his dad. He wasn't sure he could bare the devastated look he knew would be there.
Erin nodded and jotted some notes down in a little notepad she was keeping next to her with a hum before looking at the assorted men sat in front of her, three generations, all suffering due to circumstances outside their control. She crossed her legs in front of her and looked at her notes again "Those are some interesting goals there Normal, we can definitely start looking at them today" she said before turning to Sparrow "I am curious though, why doesn't your son think you can be proud of him?"
Normal saw his dad pause at the question, going so still he almost appeared to be a statue, a look of deep shame overtaking his face. He didn't think it was possible but he curled his shoulders even more inwards, almost like the second hand shame radiating off the older man was consuming him, Normal fidgeted even more with the loose thread and refused to meet anyone's eyes. He couldn't make his dad feel any worse or give his grandpa any more reasons to be mad at his dad and uncle, he had to be the glue.
Lark put his hand on his dad's shoulder before sharing the look that made Normal think they were telepathic as a child, which in hindsight given everything that had been hidden from him as a child could be true. He sat and contemplated it whilst both twins started trying to explain how badly they'd managed to fuck up both himself and his sister, almost withering under the look Erin was giving them. Normal took this opportunity to glance over at his grandpa, who'd only looked more and more distraught the longer the appointment went on. He was sure he'd tried his best with his dad and uncle but it hadn't been enough to spare them this, yelling in a small office on a Tuesday afternoon when Normal was supposed to be in cheer rehearsals. He let out a deep sigh, prompting his grandpa to look over with a soft smile "Whats eating at you there kiddo?" he asked. The teen paused a moment, trying not to cringe under the seemingly endless love that the older man could hold in just a look.
"It's nothing! I'm just not sure how much use all this is, you know?" He said, not noticing the three heads that had turned towards him. "I mean, they've been holding onto all this for years at this point and even when I brought Dood to Oakvale and told them that they're harmless, Uncle Lark still would have shot them if I hadn't stepped in the way! How many generations of Oaks have been fucked over by all this? How long is too long to fix it?" He took a deep breath, not having noticed his voice rising in volume as he spoke. He froze as he heard sniffling from his dad's side of the sofa, suddenly realizing how silent the room had become.
Normal stayed frozen, surely if he didn't move the silence would never break, he'd never have to confront the hopelessness of his situation. He wouldn't have to think about how scared he is that he's permanently broken and doomed to repeat the perpetual cycle his family had found themselves in. He sucked in breath after breath, trying to get rid of the tightness in his chest, almost flinching as he felt his dad move towards him. He was so sure he'd be in trouble, he screwed his eyes shut as his dad wrapped his arms around him and brought him close to his chest.
"Oh Normie, I'm so sorry" his dad whispered "Is that really how you feel?"
Normal opened his eyes, looking into the now familiar devastated look of his father. The teen began to shake his head until another set of arms enveloped him from the other side as his grandpa joined in the hug, sniffling the entire time.
"Oh father don't cry, I'll cry too!" his dad wailed, holding Normal tighter. He wiggled slightly from between the two crying men, who seemed to be more clinging to each other than him now. He locked eyes with his uncle in a silent plea for aid, only to be met with a vaguely amused shake of the head as he reached out to ruffle his hair "You're on your own there kid" he chuckled, moving to rub his twin's shoulder.
Maybe they'd be okay. Definitely not today, but someday.