Page 139 of Certified To Handle You 2

“You both look different today,” she said as she looked between us. “There’s more ease between you.”

I glanced toward Pluto and rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand before answerin’. “We been good. We ain’t perfect, but we ain’t tryna act like nothin’ happened either.”

“That matters,” Dr. V replied. “Healing usually gets harder when people rush to prove they’re healed.”

Pluto squeezed my hand and nodded. “I’ve been saying something before I get too overwhelmed. It still feels weird asking for help, but I’ve been doing it.”

“And how does Pressure respond when you ask?” Dr. V questioned while turnin’ her attention toward me.

“I handle it,” I answered. “If she tell me she tired, I don’t ask her to explain why she tired enough for me to believe it. I take the baby, deal with the kids or tell everybody in the house to leave my wife alone.”

Pluto smiled and leaned a lil’ closer to me. “He does more than that. Sometimes he notices before I say anything.”

“That’s ‘cause I know my wife,” I said while kissin’ the side of her head. “She got a certain face when everybody gettin’ on her damn nerves.”

Pluto looked at me and shook her head. “See, this why I don’t give you compliments.”

Dr. V laughed softly while watchin’ us. “Humor returning is another good sign.”

“It never left,” I told her. “Pluto just stopped thinkin’ I was funny for a minute, though.”

“I still don’t think you’re funny,” Pluto replied, but the smile on her face gave her away.

Dr. V let us have the moment before asking about the trip. “You said the two of you are leaving today?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “We goin’ to Soléya for two weeks. It’s a small country off the coast of Nambara. Mountains, beaches, natural springs and all that spiritual stuff Pluto like.”

Pluto looked over at me. “You picked half the spiritual stuff.”

“I picked what I thought would make you happy,” I corrected her. “I ain’t finna be sittin’ under no tree hummin’ unless you right beside me.”

Dr. V smiled again. “What made you choose Soléya?”

“I wanted to take her somewhere neither one of us been,” I explained. “Somewhere we could see a different part of the world, eat some shit we can’t get here and let people work on our bodies while we work on our minds. They got mineral baths, massages, prayer gardens, private villas and doctors who do recovery treatments. I booked everything we could possibly need.”

“And the children?” Dr. V asked.

“With my parents and the nannies,” I answered. “They got more people watchin’ them than some countries got soldiers. They gon’ be straight.”

Pluto laughed under her breath before Dr. V turned toward her. “How are you feeling about leaving them for two weeks?”

Pluto looked down at our joined hands before answerin’. “Nervous, but excited. I know they’ll be safe, and I know I need time away. I haven’t been anywhere with just my husband without at least one child attached to me in years.”

“That makes this trip important,” Dr. V said. “It isn’t only rest. It gives you a chance to remember who you are together when neither of you is actively parenting.”

I nodded ‘cause that was exactly what I wanted. I loved bein’ a father, and Pluto loved bein’ a mother, but our whole marriage couldn’t survive on bottles, school schedules and somebody always yellin’ from another room.

Dr. V looked toward me again. “And how are you feeling about physical intimacy during the trip?”

I shifted in the chair and looked at Pluto before I answered. There wasn’t no embarrassment in me about the question, but it still felt strange talkin’ about sex after months of treatin’ it like somethin’ dangerous.

“I feel ready,” I admitted. “Not like I gotta prove nothin’ or rush her. I just ain’t scared the same way I was before.”

“What changed?” Dr. V asked.

“I finally separated what happened from lovin’ my wife,” I replied. “Pluto almost dyin’ wasn’t ‘cause I touched her. It was a medical emergency after childbirth, and we made changes so we don’t end up back there. She on birth control now, and we understand the risks. I still got fear, but I ain’t lettin’ it run my marriage.”

Pluto squeezed my hand harder, and I brought it to my mouth before kissin’ her fingers.