Done Adulting Vol. 1 Ch. 59 (Patreon)

“Nice to meet you, Jamie. You can call me Mary,” the therapist said.

“Nice to meet you as well, Mary.” Jamie was good at being polite and professional.

“If it’s alright with you, Amanda and your mom are going to wait in the outer room while we talk alone.”

“That’s fine.”

“See you soon, Jamie,” Becky said with a small wave as Mary closed the door behind them. Amanda flashed an encouraging smile.

Mary turned on a floor fan and pointed it at the door. “Sorry. Just helps makes sure everything we say in here stays in here. Please, have a seat.” Jamie sat down on a regular sofa, one meant for littles. It wasn’t a psychiatrist’s couch either, just a regular sofa with a regular coffee table in front of it. If he ignored everything else in the room, it was like being back where people his size belonged.

Mary sat down in a chair next to the sofa. It was awkward, her being so close and looming over him, but Jamie liked being on furniture his size, not up on something he’d have to scramble up or ask her help with. Still, he was craning up his neck to look at her.

“Do you mind if I lay down. It’s just hard to talk to you from down here.”

“No, go right ahead. Most of my patients do.” Jamie got situated, reclining against the opposite arm so he could face her. “Comfortable?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“So, introductions then. My name is Dr. Mary Thomas. I specialize in littles only. I don’t see bigs or big children. You should know up front two things. One, I will never tell anyone exactly what you say in here. Two, I will tell your mom and Amanda what we talk about in here, and only them.” They wouldn’t get the exact words, but they’d get the gist, in other words.

“Why them? Isn’t there some sort of privilege?”

“No, just like if you were an Amazon kid. I can tell your mom anything I think she needs to know in order for us to help you, and your mom wants Amanda to know too. If there’s something specifically you don’t want me to tell them, I’ll do my best to abide by that, but I can’t promise. And I won’t tell them anything I don’t think they need to know.”

Jamie was trying to keep an open mind, but that he wouldn’t have confidentiality just reminded him of his place in the power structure, specifically at the bottom of it. He understood why she would tell guardians what their littles said, but it required him to accept that he was a little and that he had no privacy this doctor needed to respect. Therapy works when the patient is open and honest, and already Jamie felt he would have to hold back before they even got started.

Jamie asked, “How do I know what you think they need to know? I don’t mean to get us off on the wrong foot here, but I mean, why should I be open if I get no privacy? What if I want to talk about them, for instance?”

Mary had worked with a few unregressed littles, and this was always the conversation at first. “I won’t tell them any details unless they absolutely need to know. Otherwise, I’ll keep it vague. As for why you should be open, because it will help you. Do you believe that?”

Jamie did, though he also realized the potential for conflict between his therapeutic interests and needing to live with Becky and Amanda. He was too aware sometimes the best way to live with others is to leave some things unsaid; everyone knows that.

“I believe that.” To an extent, he wanted to add.

“Good. So you know, I do have experience with unregressed littles. There aren’t many of you, and I’m one of the only therapists in Itali who works with them. I’m not bragging; I say that just to let you know I understand your cognitive level. So, I have your file from the agency and notes from what your mom and Amanda told me. Why don’t we start by you telling me about what your time here has been like so far?”

Geez, Jamie thought, that’s so much to review. “That’s …” Jamie wasn’t even sure where to start.

“How about starting with easy stuff? What makes you happy here?”

“Amanda, Mom … Amanda’s friend Mel … Mom’s friend Jane … April, my daycare teacher, she’s nice to me … Most little food … Not having to go to work, but that’s a mixed blessing … I like feeling younger physically … I exercise a lot here. I feel healthier.”

When he didn’t add anything after a few seconds, Mary asked, “What don’t you like here?”

“When people treat me like a regressed little, you know, like when they think I’m dumb – sorry, not dumb – cognitively … undeveloped, I guess, or immature? Cognitively immature? That might be a better phrase for it. Other things I don’t like … Not having many people to talk to, getting bored at daycare, getting bored in general sometimes … Feeling like I don’t contribute … Having to ask for things, you know, bothering people for little stuff … Not fitting, physically, but I knew that was going to be a problem … Missing my friend, Cheryl.”

After another pause, “And what are you maybe not sure if you like or dislike?”

“Ella, this girl at daycare. I like that she’s there and is also unregressed, but she’s really hard to figure out too. That sometimes I like being treated like a little … I mean, I like when Mom or Amanda snuggle with me, and sometimes when they feed me a bottle … I just don’t like that I like those things, sometimes, I think. And I guess, just being here. I’m not sure if I like it here or not, to be honest. I like my people, and I like not having to deal with a lot of stuff I had to deal with back there, but at the same time I miss certain things … And I feel that I walked away from things, people, I shouldn’t have.”

Mary gave it a few beats in case he had anything more to say. “That gives us an awful lot to talk about.”

Jamie laughed for the first time all day. “Ya think?”