“Mabel,” I approached her cautiously, and she stopped her pacing without me having to touch her.“Honey, when you are feeling this way, how does your dad help you?I’m new to this.I’m not scared.I’m not worried.I just want to help.Help me help you.How do you calm your nervous system down when you’re dysregulated like this?”
Danica cleared her throat and approached Mabel with caution as well.“With Tom and Sam’s anxiety, it's deep pressure.A hand squeeze, a tight hug, even a weighted blanket.I have a weighted blanket in Sam’s room.Would you like it?”
Mabel nodded.“I have a weighted blanket.”
“I’ll be right back.”Danica rushed out the door.
“Th-then my dad asks me to name things for my senses.”
That was a new one to me, but Raina’s nod implied she understood.
“Gotcha,” Raina said.“All right, Mabel.Tell me five things you can see.”
Mabel glanced around the tasting room.“I … I see the wine bottles.”
“Good,” Raina praised.“What else?”
“I see the wrought iron light fixtures.And the labels.And the bottle of rubbing alcohol.And the cloth.”
“Now four things you can hear,” Raina said, without missing a beat.
Mabel closed her eyes, her eyes moved quite a bit behind her lids.“I can hear birds outside.”Really?Because I couldn’t.“And the hum of the fridge over there.”
The fridge was irritatingly loud.I’d need to look at that later.
“I hear … I hear the boys outside yelling as they’re playing soccer.One of them just cheered.”
That was definitely Austin.He had a bellow like a silverback gorilla.
“And I hear my pulse in my ears.”
“Mabel,” Gabrielle said, prompting the young girl to open her eyes.“All of your concerns are valid.Every single one of them.We are not trying to dismiss you, or what you’re saying.Those are real, big worries.I can see why you’re so upset.Your mom just got out on parole, your dad is all you have, you’ve started this new life and nosy people won’t let you live in peace.That’s a lot for a thirteen-year-old to process.Even a gifted one.But honey, even though you feel like you’re alone, like it’s just you and your dad against the world, you’re not.”
Raina and I both bobbed our heads.
“Do you need to keep going through your senses?”Raina asked her.
Mabel nodded, her thumbs still moved over her fingers like she were trying to snap.I thought they call that “stimming.”
“Okay, what can you smell?”
“I can smell rubbing alcohol, and wine.And cleaner—it’s lemony.”
Should we have called Lennox even though Mabel told us not to?Would that be betraying her?I would want to be called if this were my kid.But I also knew my kids would be pissed at the person who called me.They were also younger than Mabel.
And Lennox had already been through so much; he deserved this night with the guys to just relax and unwind.I also felt that if Mabel wanted us to call him, she would ask us to.She wasn’t so far gone in her panic attack that she couldn’t articulate her needs.
The tasting room door flew open, and Danica came rushing inside, out of breath and carrying a gray weighted blanket.Her cheeks were rosy, and she grunted as she unfolded it.“I forgot how much this weighs.”
“Come sit down, sweetie,” Gabrielle encouraged, not touching Mabel, but guiding her back to the booth.“Then we’ll put the blanket on you.”
Mabel moved to the booth, and we draped the big weighted blanket over her until just her head poked out.Gabrielle, Danica, and I stood, waiting for her breathing to settle while Raina observed from the other side of the booth.
Slowly, Mabel’s breathing became deeper and slower.She blinked a couple of times and swallowed.“Why does this woman want to meet me so badly?”
“Because she’s a nosy wench who needs to know everyone’s business,” Raina said, her brows furrowed.“She’s relentless in her pursuit of gossip.Even when you tell her to back the fuck off, she just takes that as a challenge.Thinks you’re hiding something really juicy because you’re so adamant she butt out.”
Mabel’s gaze shifted to Raina.“What did she do to you?”
