“No. They couldn’t handle having a gay son. I’m still gay.”
Darcy snorted. “Of course you are. Anyone can see you’re gay by how manly and, you know, manly you are.”
“You said manly twice.” Cody snorted. “Not very professional.”
Darcy straightened and tilted her head up, her gray eyes twinkling. “You’re not here in a professional capacity yet.” Grinning, she leaned on the desk. “Have you seen Siobhan yet? She’d be so happy to know you’re back. Where have you been? What have you been up to?”
Cody sat back in the chair and glanced out of the window. “What have I been up to? At first, I was trying to kill myself in any way I could where I didn’t put a gun to my head.” The barn. His near death, his awakening, passed through his mind, but he put them to one side. Looking back at Darcy, he gave a small smile. “I found myself and therapy was a huge help. If I come here, I’ll need to have my notes sent over.”
“Everything will be treated with full confidentiality. I will never betray you.”
“Still not professional sounding.” Cody waggled his eyebrows and Darcy rolled her eyes. “You always made me laugh.” Cody saw the flash of pain cross her face.
“I don’t remember a lot of that time or you. I don’t like to think about it. I was different then.”
“I used to think you were the cutest little boy,” Darcy sighed. “Can you tell me what I’ll be hearing?”
“Will it determine if I can see you or not?”
“You? Never. You are and will always be my friend.”
Cody did the Spock fingers Vulcan salute, making Darcy chuckle. “You still love that show?”
“My love for that show will never end, though some of the latest incarnations have left a lot to be desired,” Darcy told him primly, then giggled. “I still have a thing for Picard.”
“Who doesn’t?”
Darcy straightened and said, “Tell me what I need to know.”
Cody nodded, then spent five minutes giving a synopsis of what he’d be there for. By the end, he noticed Darcy stare at the desk. “If it’s too much…”
“No,” she whispered. Lifting her head, she looked him straight in the eye. “In this room, I’m your therapist. That doesn’t mean that when I’m outside of this room going over our session that some of the things you’ll tell me won’t hurt. But, here in this place, I’m Doctor Mahon.”
Cody felt some of the tension drain away and sighed. “Thank you.”
“I wish I’d been there for you. I wish I’d known…” Darcy shook her head. “We can’t change any of that now, can we? It’s in the past. All we can do is learn from those experiences and move forward.”
“Some lessons are harder than others.” Cody stood. “I should go. I need to do some shopping. TJ doesn’t have much in the way of groceries, other than food I’m sure someone left for him.”
“Probably Toni. They’re all still close to each other. I look at them and wish more families worked together the way they do.”
“They love each other, and TJ set Toni up on that blind date with Carter. I remember how Cass found it strange that Toni remained close to TJ after they’d divorced, and he’d come out. He couldn’t understand that their love for each other had changed. They were friends before their relationship changed and they got married.”
“That must have been hard for you. Seeing your father react—”
“It didn’t help.” Darcy stepped past him and opened the door. Cody walked down the corridor and when Darcy hugged him, he returned it.
“Carma will book you in and I’ll give you my numbers.” Darcy passed him a business card. “Call me whenever you need to talk. I’m glad you came home, Cody.”
“Me too.”
Cody made an appointment for the following week, and with another hug from Darcy, left. It felt good to have that ticked off. He didn’t need the appointments as much as he used to, but they helped, so he kept going. Now it was grocery shopping. He knew where the grocery store was, and walked there. With his hood up, he garnered a few looks, but most stopped almost as soon as they started. No one recognized him, and why would they? The Cody they knew was long gone.
The shop was where it had always been, located in the middle of Main Street. Cody went in, grabbed a basket, and walked up and down the aisles, grabbing what they’d need for the next few days. While he’d been recovering, he’d been taught to cook, one of the skills he’d acquired from the people he would eventually call family. Which reminded him to call them later to let themknow he’d arrived and had a place to stay. Not that he’d given TJ an opportunity to say no. Cody had returned for him and nothing was going to deter him—even TJ himself.
Once he had what he needed, Cody paid and carried the items back to TJ’s house. After putting them all away, he grabbed his laptop and checked out what courses were available at the local college. He didn’t have a car, but had enough saved up to buy one so he would be able to commute. He’d come back to Robinson to live, not to have a base while he lived elsewhere. TJ was home.
Once that was done, he made a call to Mama and smiled when she answered. “Broke Farm.”
