The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 18 - Denial and Diagnosis

The five weeks Eva and Hayden had together before he went away seemed to exist in an impossible time bubble. Even as the days seemed hours long and their parting raced towards them unstoppable and heartbreaking, their feelings deepened naturally and gradually, as if they'd been together for months or years rather than days.

After only a fortnight Hayden told Eva he loved her, something he'd never told anyone, not even his high school girlfriend of three years. Once the shock had worn off Eva admitted to him what she'd known but refused to admit for months of tutoring. That she loved him too.

Glowing from this long imagined revelation the pair were inseparable, Gray and Rachel looked on fondly, remembering those early days they'd spent together. Hayden was a nice young man, he brought out the best in Eva and clearly adored her, besides how much trouble could he cause in five short weeks?

Those five weeks were gone too soon and despite Hayden's protestations that they should wait and make it special, the high emotions and passionate mood of their last evening together taught Eva that sex could be so much more than a quick fix. Even as they lay exhausted, just breathing together and falling softly into sleep Eva couldn't believe the closeness and safety she felt in Hayden's arms. She could still feel his hands on her, see the wonder of his expression as they'd finally given in to their bodies. It had been more than what Eva had felt missing with all the guys before him, she felt as if somehow it had changed her.

Though Hayden's departure was hard on them both it was better than expected. Before they had fought to convince themselves it was a fling which meant it would be over once Hayden left. Last night had shown them that this was something with a future. Knowing that they'd be together again tempered the sadness of parting with the hopes they had for that future.

Eva's final results were in a few days later and having just fallen short of what she needed she had summer school to distract her from the space that Hayden had left. Lillia had less to fill her days, her sister was preoccupied, her parents working and her brother off in his own world. She had passed well enough that school was on hold for a couple of months and with no athletics and soccer out of season she spent most of her time with Daisy and Rose.

The three girls were not so little anymore and would start middle school at the top of the social ladder, they were pretty, popular and had big personalities. Rose was the definite ringleader, she spoke for the group, started the trends and made the plans. Daisy was the trendy one, she came from a very wealthy family and was always in the best outfit, judging the dorky kids and restyling Lillia and Rose's hair. Lillia was the back-up girl, swim practice kept her busy enough that she wasn't with the others every time they hung out and without really noticing she found herself following them more than she walked her own path.

But follower or not, being with the Flowers was fun. They had pool parties and slumber parties, Rose and Daisy giggled about boys and Lillia laughed along though she didn't exactly see why Austin Carter was so exciting. Other girls wanted to hang out with them, even the older kids, and that made life exciting. Lillia was barely home that summer between swimming and her friends and when school started back not much changed.

Gray tried to keep an eye on Lillia, noticing her gradual transformation from the little girl who idolised her sister in to a self-consciously trendy tween but he never saw any cause for concern. The Flowers seemed like sweet girls and he was glad that one of his children was having the normal school experience. Eva's rocky start and Casper's strange behaviour gave him enough to worry about.

Casper's school experience became less simple as he moved into class with a less understanding teacher. It turned out that his old one had been quite lenient over Tia's "involvement" in class activities but the new teacher was old-fashioned and would have none of Casper's flights of fancy.

Casper responded in kind by fighting the teacher. When Tia didn't have a space on the coach to a field trip things came to a head. Casper wouldn't get in the coach, screaming and shouting that Tia would love to visit the science museum and discover more about his potion table while the teacher refused to let him on until he had apologised.

A horrified Gray arrived at the scene, shocked to see his son almost unrecognisable in his fury, wildly gesturing at the empty air beside him. After a meeting with the principal Gray drove his now exhausted son home, troubled by what he'd seen and knowing that he and Rachel couldn't ignore this any longer. A conversation weeks before with his brother Jet, who had had his own imaginary friend in childhood had confirmed what Gray had long feared, that Casper's relationship with Tia was more dependent than even his brother's had been, and that relationship had been co-dependent enough to merit Jet's transferral to a specialist school.

Determined not to send his son away Gray made an appointment with a leading child psychologist and after many weeks of consultation and tests they finally had a diagnosis. Rachel cried when she found out, it was such an unknown and unexpected concept and sounded like a sentence to a difficult life. Gray felt strangely relieved to have a name for Casper's problems, perhaps this wasn't something they could simply fix but at least they now knew what they were dealing with.

Aspergers explained a lot of Casper's more outlandish behaviour. A high functioning autism it is often accompanied by above average intelligence and difficulties deciphering and handling social situations, Casper's obsessions and loner ways were textbook symptoms but without the Tia outburst it might have gone undiagnosed for months or even years.

Through the imaginary friend wasn't a common behaviour, it was certainly not unheard of and hinted at Casper's condition being borderline rather than severe. His interactions with Tia were more developed than his interactions with the wider world and his therapist felt this was hopeful and possibly transferable to a certain degree . She believed there was a good chance that with proper treatment and behavioural therapy Casper would be able to live a full and independent life with his condition.

That said, the next few years would not be easy. Casper's destructive and disruptive behaviours would have to be managed, he'd need coping mechanisms for those parts of life that would always be a struggle for him. Most of all he would need those who loved him to be patient, to help him find his way but also let him be himself.

As they began to work with their son on making sense of the world Gray and Rachel thanked heaven that they had each other, any time either of them broke down or lost faith the other was there to carry them through. They began to notice tiny changes sooner than they'd thought, all of their reading about the condition allowed them to decipher some of Casper's actions. Gray tried hard to engage with Casper's interests and after a long afternoon as potion ingredient measurer was rewarded with a fleeting pat on the arm and a feeling of closeness he hadn't realised until that moment he had never felt. For a few hours Tia was noticeably absent.

With Gray and Rachel's focus leaning towards Casper and his needs, their daughters tried to work out their problems alone. Lillia had started to notice a less pleasant side to hanging out with the Flowers. There was a controlling and sometimes bullying influence that her friends used to get what they wanted. Without an outlet at home to express her discomfort she found herself going along with it. Home was in turmoil and at least with The Flowers she knew her place in school was secure.

Eva's crisis was rather more urgent. She'd ignored the niggling doubts for as long as she could, burying herself in schoolwork  and long emails to Hayden but almost three months after his departure she knew that if she didn't find a way to face it then she wouldn't be able to hide for much longer.

As the strip turned pink Eva buried her face in her hands, everything had finally been on track, her future had been bright and now it was going to change permanently. Hayden was half way round the world, she wasn't even nineteen and she'd always been so careful but there was no escaping it.

She was going to be a mother.

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Read on now - Chapter 19 - Losing Sleep