Dancing atop the Cellarium Ceiling

Courtroom Condemning

Noah was going to have to go to court anyway. Confrontations were not his strong suit, before she died Renee made it clear her twins were to stay away from their conformist parents for as long as possible. It was in a sense a custody hearing that Renee and he avoided because even though he was required to testify on behalf of children in his role as a psychiatrist every day, doing so gave him a walking anxiety attack.

Oddly enough, the anxiety attacks humanized the practice of therapy for his patients. He would never confess that on that stand, which would be in his mind leading sheep to the lion. His twins the sheep and the other part of their family, the lions. Noah answers a litany of questions that if he was honest, he wasn’t listening to: “Dr. Riley, have you heard me?”. Ms. Brown, The state lawyer had to use her whole name, so people knew she was honest, cheap, and fair.

“Yes, I heard, but I don’t know what that has to do with our relationship at all”.

They will say that during a manic episode she had a lot of s*x and doesn’t remember who the father is?

“Why weren’t you ever married?”

“I proposed three times to all of which her response was “no”, and the reason was after twenty-one years if her parents couldn’t; keep it together. She didn’t expect to either”.

“Keep my children off to a stand, they already have trouble sleeping”.

To intercept your next question. Counselor, the twins aren’t on anything harder than valerian root and lavender”.

“I can promise they’ll sleep through the night if I have to question them”. Her eyes softened toward Noah. “I can’t say the same for opposing counsel”.

“How do I help them through this?”. Noah questioned as if he were asking a question she could answer. She patted him on the shoulders as if to say: “You’re the therapist”.

“I’ll set an appointment with the twins on Tuesday”. “No one is asking how they feel, they are reacting to the grief they think should be feeling”.

“I don’t understand”...

“Don’t you?”

“They’ve lost the one who had been their anchor__”

“Only for nine months”.

“Then the anchor went back to the sea”...

Is that what you tell them?”.

“Why not?”

“She left no word of instruction to indicate the contrary”.

They said their goodbyes and they agreed to meet next Thursday at two-thirty at which time Noah agreed to bring the twins.