A chorus of answers from the kids confirmed it. Then Riley asked. "Where are you going, Danny?"
Danny leaned forward to answer him, "We're going to the other town, where they have the doggies!"
"We're going to Ashbury," Rob told them since they seemed puzzled by this town full of doggies.
"That's over there," Sammy said, and she and the other kids all pointed in different directions while Wyatt shook his head. "I went there lots of times, but I never saw any doggies."
"Me neither," Riley chimed in. "I only saw one dog and another dog."
The adults tried to make sense of his nonsensical claim then gave up. But Danny didn't like what he was hearing. He frowned at Rob and Julian worriedly.
"We'll find where they keep the doggies. Don't worry," Rob reassured him.
"I know where it is and how to get there," Julian told Danny and gave him a smile.
"Good luck, guys," Wyatt told them. He could probably figure out why they were going to look at the doggies, but knew not to say anything. "Lets get you to school. You guys have a lot to learn, like geography."
"Have a good day at school," Rob said to the kids and they all waved. Danny waved back even after he couldn't see them any more.
"I don't go to school," Danny said once he was done waving.
"But you will," Rob told him.
"With everyone?" Danny wondered.
"Yes, with everyone. You'll have lots of fun," Rob told him.
Until now, Julian expected Danny to be apprehensive about school, but seeing all those kids going there together made him want to go too. That was very different from the way he had been at daycare, where the unkind children made him shrink back inside himself.
Judging by his own unhappy experience at school, Julian had assumed that it might always be like that for Danny too. That was obviously a mistake. He couldn't let his own skewed expectations cast a shadow over his little brother.
Glancing into the rearview mirror, Julian caught Rob's eye. Looking into those deep, green eyes, Julian felt that Rob was the key to him finding his way. If Rob would only stay with them, live the small town life a little longer despite the kind of social life he must be missing, Julian knew everything would turn out well.
Ashbury was significantly bigger than Peach Tree, but not so big that they could easily get lost in it. They found Dr. Vallarta's office easily and were soon sitting in the colorful waiting room.
"I'll go in first," Julian said to Danny when the receptionist told him he could go in. "You stay here with Rob. I'll be back soon."
Going inside the bright and cheerful office, he found that Dr. Vallarta was fairly young for a psychologist. She carried herself confidently and greeted Julian with a firm handshake and a warm smile. They sat to talk for a while and Julian eyed the play area, where she would probably be talking to Danny.
"I've been in touch with Danny's previous therapist. Dr Sadler sings your praises," she told him.
"He does?" Julian said as he turned back to face her.
"He saw a marked improvement once you entered Danny's life," she said.
"Danny is coming out of his shell more every day. And today we'll be visiting an animal shelter to see if we can adopt a dog. He did well when he met some dogs from the neighborhood. You don't see a problem with that, do you?" It was a question in form only and Dr. Vallarta noticed.
"You don't want to hear any objections to this, do you?" she said and raised an eyebrow at him.
"No," he admitted. "Danny doesn't know we're adopting, only that we're visiting some dogs, so we'll see how it goes."
"As long as you don't rush into anything, it should be fine," Dr. Vallarta said and made some sort of note.
"I don't rush in as a general rule," Julian said, but he could think of a recent job offer he made at record speed. And he invited Rob to move in as well, like he had to grab the man for himself right then and there.
That's not what he told Dr. Vallarta as he described Danny's current living situation and that Rob was helping with him. They went over a few more things, then Julian went to get Danny.
The little guy was still apprehensive, but his reaction to Dr. Vallarta was generally positive. Still, Julian had a feeling he wouldn't be too chatty his first time speaking with her.
